And the duel between John and Damien is over and done with. And yes, I left it on a cliffhanger. And yes, it's that kind of cliffhanger. Say what you want about me doing this, but I needed an instigating incident to justify what happens next. You'll see what I mean next chapter. But let's just say that this event will inspire development in three characters without fridging anyone. I promise that much.
As for the duel itself, I really like the way that I resolved this one. I used the "miracle card" thing again, but at least this one has some set-up. And, to be fair, I don't use this nearly as often as the actual canon. Used sparingly, I think that it's a perfectly good trope. Whether or not I'll use it again later, I have no idea, but I think it fits here.
The conflict with Damien Curran isn't over. It's going to take one more chapter to resolve that, and it's going to be something of a team effort. Then there's a chapter of wrap-up, and DF7 will be complete. But I'll talk more about that in the commentary for chapter thirty-five.
Chapter Thirty-Three
United Across Generations
"I mean really," I continued, "this could not be more perfect. I summon 'Dark Maju'."
A vaguely humanoid, amorphous demon with so many arms, of varying sizes, that it was impossible to count them all, appeared at my side (ATK: 1400).
"When my monster is Normal or flip summoned," I explained, "I can discard a card from my hand to add a Dark Ritual monster and a Ritual Spell from my deck to my hand."
I discarded 'Strike Ninja', and two cards ejected from my deck.
"Now," I announced, "I remove my own 'Djinn Presider of Rituals' in my Graveyard from play, and tribute 'Manju', to activate my own Ritual Spell card, 'Contract with the Dark Master'!"
The rotund demon swordsman appeared alongside 'Manju', and the two monsters were incinerated in twin bursts of fire. The flames flared up and out, parting like a curtain a moment later to reveal my monster. He had dark skin, a wicked, demonic face, long pointed ears, and clawed hands. He had spikes on his shoulders, long green hair, and a crest on his forehead. He wore a menacing red cape that spread behind him like wings, holding him aloft, ready to swoop upon his foes and strike if I were to so command it.
"This is my chosen Ritual Monster," I explained, "the great RPG demon god, 'Dark Master - Zorc' (ATK: 2700)."
My monster descended gracefully to my side, his wings collapsing into a proper cape.
"You probably already know this about me," I told my opponent, "since you know every freaking other thing about me, but I'll tell you anyway. As good as I am at Duel Monsters, I'm even better at two other things, one of which is tabletop RPG's. My favorite is Monster World. And apparently someone on Maximillion Pegasus' dev team likes it too, because they based this monster on the boss monster in that game. This monster represents that side of me."
I held out my hand, and a holographic dice appeared in my open palm.
"My monster shares it's abilities with the 'Zorc' of Monster World. Just like in that game, his true power is unlocked with the roll of a dice. The lower the roll, the greater the power."
I flicked my wrist, tossing the dice without hesitation. It clattered to the floor, and landed on a three. I shot Damien my trademark smirk, and gave him a casual thumbs up, "It's a hit! 'Zorc', destroy 'Demise' with Zorc Black Magic, Dark Catastrophe!"
'Zorc''s cape went rigid again, and spread like wings. He rose into the air, and launched a barrage of dark orbs from his palms, bombarding the demon knight standing opposite him.
"And now, 'Zorc'," I commanded magnanimously, "your normal attack! Dark Catastrophe!"
'Zorc' summoned a single, larger dark orb into both palms at once, and launched it at 'Reborn Tengu'.
"Reveal," Damien declared, somewhat desperately, "the Trap card 'The Transmigration Prophesy', reshuffling the two 'Tengus' in my Graveyard back into my deck."
I smiled, "I had a feeling. I discard 'D.D. Crow' and 'Card Gifter', to remove one of your 'Tengus' from play, negating your Trap, and to draw two new cards from my deck."
"No," Damien gasped. I drew, as 'Zorc''s attack vaporized the third and final 'Tengu' (3400 -> 2400). Damien took another moderate shock, but once it had passed, he seemed more shaken that I would have expected. He looked almost broken.
"Now do you give up?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer. I'd come to know my opponent well enough by now.
Inspired by my words, Damien's eyes turned dark, and he stopped shaking. He clenched his free fist and spat, "No! You may have taken the lead for now, but it can't last. I cannot lose to you. I will not admit defeat. Not to you. Never!"
He drew his next card, "I play 'Card of Demise' to draw until I hold five cards."
He drew again, "And I Activate 'Red-Eyes Fusion'. I fuse 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' and 'Meteor Dragon' in my deck into the most powerful form of the legendary black dragon."
A portal of swirling light blossomed out behind my opponent, and a massive monster stepped through it onto the field. It was even larger than my 'Black Skull Dragon', with purple skin, and glowing red veins like lava shining beneath it. Its stomach was fire orange. It's jaw was solid and square. It's limbs thick and powerful. Thick wings, far too small to carry such a massive creature very far, hung from its back. The light from beneath the dragon's skin lit my opponent menacingly from behind, and the dragon roared. If I could have, I would have taken a step back.
No way, I thought. that's the card! It used to be the most powerful Fusion monster in dad's deck before I lost it!
I don't know how, but I just knew that this wasn't just another copy of that card. Somehow I knew that it was the very same one. Despite myself, my hands started shaking.
"Do you recognize this monster?" Damien asked tauntingly. "This was one of my father's many rare cards, won from his enemies. It was the weapon with which he defeated every Duelist who opposed him. Until your father came along and defeated him and took this monster for himself. The first step in my plan for revenge, years ago, was to take it back from you so that I could use it to defeat you and win back what has always been rightfully mine. It's my 'Meteor Black Dragon' now (ATK: 3500)."
I stopped shaking, and I just stood there, still and silent.
"'Meteor Black Dragon'," Damien commanded, "destroy the 'Dark Master' with Black Burning Meteor!"
Despite the absurdity of it, the dragon rose into the air on its undersized wings, spun itself in black fire, and dropped from the sky, crushing my monster, blasting flames in every direction (2800 -> 2000). I received another shock. It should have been over quickly, but I heard a sharp crackle. Something in whatever device administered the shock had malfunctioned. Sparks danced across my body. One stray spark caught my tattered black overshirt on fire. On instinct, I reached up and ripped the shirt from my torso and tossed it to the floor. I watched apathetically as it burned. Not completely, but enough that I would never be able to wear it again.
Damien set two cards, and he laughed, and mocked, "Oops. It looks like these old torture traps are in worse shape than I realized. I certainly hope that my next attack doesn't kill you."
He looked down at the smoking pile of fabric that had once been my father's old shirt, the one connection that I'd had to him for years, and said, "Hopefully that ratty old thing wasn't important. Honestly, the shape it was in, I would have burned it years ago."
He laughed again, but I didn't care. I turned my eyes to meet his, and he stopped laughing, and gasped. After all, I've never been good at hiding my anger.
"You were in my house," I said simply. "You went into my house, and you stole from me. What would you have done if my sister had found you there? Or my mom?"
He didn't have to answer. I could see the answer in his eyes.
I nodded, and I looked down at the pile of fabric at my feet, "It seems like maybe there's something that you don't know about me. That shirt belonged to my dad. I'd bet money that its what he was wearing when he killed your dad. For a while, it was my last connection to him. My only connection to him. At least as far as I knew. But now, I don't need it anymore. I know now that, no matter what, my dad's always with me. You may think you've won, but you're wrong. With him at my side, I will always have a chance of beating you."
I drew my next card, "I activate 'Heavy Storm' to destroy the two cards you just set."
A powerful gust of wind rose up carried his cards into the air, and away, revealing them as 'Escape from the Dark Dimension' and 'Book of Moon'.
"And I summon 'Strike Ninja' in defense mode," I declared, "to protect my Life Points."
A black-clad ninja warrior wearing a flowing red sash appeared, taking up a defensive stance between myself and the dragon. Despite how hopeless an exchange between the two would be, he didn't waver (DEF: 1200).
"Your 'Ninja' won't last an instant against my monster," Damien stated, "and you have no set cards to save him. But you being you, you could have something in your hand to turn the situation around."
He drew to begin his turn, "But I have something to help with that. I summon 'Card Revealer'!"
A lanky creature in a multi-colored jumpsuit covered in stripes and hinges appeared in the shadow of the dragon's head, across from my 'Strike Ninja' (DEF: 1000).
"Once per turn," Damien explained, "I can discard a card to reveal one card that you have hidden from me, on your field, or in your hand."
He discarded 'Battle Fader', and the clownish monster launched itself into the air, flipped, and landed behind me, taking a card from my hand and turning it around to show to my opponent. His eyes went wide as they fell upon the 'Black Tyranno', my dad's favorite card. 'Card Revealer' returned my card to me, and returned to his master.
I smiled, It looks like I've managed to shake you up a little. Good.
But my opponent was skilled. He regained his composure quickly, and put on a smug smile, and said, "Well well, it looks like your father did leave you something to combat the legacy that mine left me. But unlike my father's legacy, that card won't do you any good."
He chose another card from his hand, "I set a card, and my dragon destroys your monster."
'Meteor Black Dragon' rose once again into the air, spun itself in flames, and then dropped on my 'Ninja', crushing him and blasting apart the remains. I didn't have a single monster left in my hand that I could readily summon.
"I think it's time that I ask you," Damien said with a chuckle, "are you ready to give up? You stand no chance against me. Face facts and save yourself the trouble of continuing this duel."
I looked down at my hand, at my father's 'Black Tyranno' card. At our 'Black Tyranno' card. At the card that united my deck and his across generations. I smiled. As long as I had this card, I couldn't lose to someone like Damien, because I wasn't fighting alone. Wherever he was, whether he was alive or dead, my father fought by my side. He'd defeated the 'Meteor Black Dragon', with a much older deck, with the same monster that I held in my hand, and so would I.
"No, Damien," I said fiercely, "I won't give up. Win or lose, I will fight you until the end. I draw!"
Without even looking, I turned over my card, and I played it. There was only one card in my deck that could give me a fighting chance at this point, so there was no point in doing anything else but taking the chance. Thankfully, I'd managed to draw just what I needed.
"Activate," I declared, "'Double Spell'! I discard 'Polymerization' to activate any Spell card in your Graveyard. And the Spell that I choose to activate is you 'Card of Demise'. I draw four new cards!"
I pulled the top four cards from my deck all at once, in one grand motion. I fanned them out in the edge of my vision, and I smiled, Well, maybe my posturing wasn't for nothing after all.
"I play 'Monster Reborn'," I declared, "to revive your 'Kagetokage'."
The living shadow lizard that my opponent had tributed so many turns ago appeared from within my shadow, its beady red eyes peering around the field.
"But that's not the only monster that I plan to summon," I told him. "While he's on the field or in the Graveyard, 'The Fiend Omegacyber' is treated as 'The Fiend Megacyber', which means that I can play 'Namesake Summon', removing one 'Megacyber' from play to summon the other."
An array of light etched itself into the sky at my side, and the yellow-armored warrior stepped through it onto the field (ATK: 2200).
"Not bad," Damien mocked, "but not even your 'Megacyber' can stand up to my 'Meteor Black Dragon'!"
At the utterance of its name, the dragon roared.
"I told you that my 'Megacyber' and I would beat you together," I countered, "and I meant it. He's just going to need a little help, that's all. I play 'Ultra Evolution Pill', transforming the Reptile-type 'Kagetokage' into the fierce and powerful 'Black Tyranno'!"
The small, flat lizard swelled into a three-dimensional equivalent of itself, and then grew larger and larger, becoming a full-sized stark black tyrannosaurus rex with scales as strong as steel, spikes, and spines, and glowing red eyes. My monster roared, and despite the fact that he didn't hold a candle to the 'Meteor Black Dragon', I could tell that he made my opponent nervous.
"My favorite monster," I explained, "and my father's favorite monster (ATK: 2600) are on the field together. When these two monsters fight side by side, they create a bond across generations, and combine forces to become my most powerful card!"
The dinosaur glowed with a red aura, and the warrior glowed with a yellow one.
"Contact Fusion," I commanded. A noose appeared in 'The Fiend Megacyber''s left hand. He flexed his right arm, and his armor stretched out over his hand, and extended into an irregular blade. He jumped up onto the dinosaur's back, and leashed it with his rope, taming the wildest of ancient beasts.
"Special Summon," I declared, "'The Dinorider Megacyber'."
My monster's massive mount roared, and he brandished his blade (ATK: 3300).
"And before you say anything about my monster still being weaker than yours," I said, "I activate 'Enemy Controller', changing your dragon to defense mode."
The dragon's stance shifted, its arms and wings wrapping protectively around its body (DEF: 2000). I saw Damien glance reflexively down at his face-down card, and I smiled.
"Sorry," I explained, "but your set card won't save you. Since you control at least one defense mode monster, my 'Dinorider' can destroy one Spell or Trap card that you control."
The 'Black Tyranno' stomped its foot, sending a shock wave across the field, shattering Damien's set card.
"No!" he exclaimed.
Then he took a deep breath, "It doesn't matter. My monsters are in defense mode. I won't even feel your attack, and I'll make a comeback next turn."
I laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"When my monster destroys a defense position monster," I answered, "he deals battle damage to its controller equal to its original Attack."
This time I saw real and genuine fear in my opponent's eyes. He exclaimed, "What? No!"
My monster charged. He tore through the dragon with a gnashing of teeth, and a swipe of a sword, and continued on, running my opponent over. Damien's Life Points plummeted to zero, and he was hit with thirty-five hundred points worth of electricity. My shackles came unlatched as our monsters faded from the field, and I took a step toward my opponent's hunched, smoking form.
"It's over," I told him. "You lose at your own game."
I turned my back on him, but I knew that it wasn't over. He'd said it himself, he would never admit defeat to me. He still had his blade, but that wouldn't get him free of his metal shackles.
He keeps escalating this, I remembered. There's only one way that it can escalate further.
"This can't be happening," Damien said, as I heard the doors to the rooms holding my friends slide open with a heavy scraping and a series of loud clangs.
"Sorry," I told him over my shoulder, "but that's what happens when you think that you're entitled to what someone else has, simply on the merit of who you are."
My friends and allies began to pour into the room. They stopped several yards away, and watched the two of us as our conflict seemingly came to an end. But I knew better. I knew that this wasn't over yet.
"I can't take your power from you," Damien said in a low voice, "but I can still get my revenge."
And then I heard the click of the second magic suppressor field controller that my opponent had hidden on his person before the duel had even begun. I felt my connection to my powers return to me. I felt the Shadows shift as my opponent slipped from his shackles. I willed my Duel Disk to change into blade and buckler, and turned on my heel to meet my attacker, but he wasn't there. It wasn't until that moment that I realized that I'd miscalculated.
I felt the Shadows shift again off to my side. I looked over to see Karen just now joining the others. I had no time to react. I was powerless to do anything as Damien Curran appeared from the Shadows, surprising her, and plunged his sword through her back.
Card of the Day:
The Dinorider Megacyber
Played by: John
Of course the miracle card that has no legitimate reason in-universe to exist would earn this slot. Was there ever any doubt? Art by me!
Original Cards in This Chapter:
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