Aaaand things suddenly get serious. Good thing you can't sue me for giving you mood whiplash.
Chapter EightMarcus, Agent of the Duelists Elite
The first round was rough, I thought as I made my way back to the competitors’ box.
Yeah, but you made it through, said Hiro, appearing floating beside me in his spirit form. He was invisible to all but me and some members of my team, a situation that I still didn’t really understand.
I looked over at him with a smirk on my face, So you’re eavesdropping again, huh?
Hiro ignored the jibe, You’ve recently managed to increase your skills greatly. Had you not, your duel against that Evo character probably would have ended in your defeat.
I frowned, I was mind controlled by Blackheart and forced to use my powers to hurt my friends because I was too weak to fight back. You’d try hard to get stronger too if that had happened to you.
I didn’t mention the fact that ever since I’d been controlled by Blackheart I’d felt that the dark side within me was even closer to the surface than usual, a fact that scared me even more than Blackheart himself. I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone, and I never intended to.
Yeah, said Hiro, agreeing with my previous observation, and snapping me out of my secret reverie, you’re right about that one.
I reached the box, stepping inside only to find myself face-to-face with War Ruler.
“We need to talk,” he said.
“Sorry,” I said, “but I’m in the middle of a tournament.”
“The pairings for Round Two aren’t for twenty minutes,” said War Ruler. “You can bring your entire team if you want, and I assure you that my Shadow Stone is no match for your Soul.”
“Obviously,” I replied, “which is a big part of why I’m tempted to simply blast you to bits right now and be done with it.”
“You know that would be a mistake,” War Ruler told me, looking into my eyes with intensity. I felt a surge of information from my Soul.
No, I thought, I refuse that power! But it was too late, I knew that War Ruler was right.
“Fine,” I said, “we’ll talk.” I nodded to Tucker, who had been listening to our conversation. He tapped Max on the shoulder, and then got the attention of the rest of the team. They were standing at my side in seconds.
The eight of us headed out into the corridors behind the stands. We found an area in a corner where there weren’t many people, and War Ruler began his story.
“First of all,” he said in a polite, respectful tone of voice, “I want to apologize for everything that I’ve done to you in the past. I didn’t have a choice. I’ve been working undercover along with my team mate Raphael, whom you know as Guardian Ruler, to uncover information on the Order’s inner structure and chain of command to benefit my group.”
“What group would that be?” I asked in a tone that was not nearly as polite or respectful.
“A secret society,” War Ruler replied, “called the Duelists Elite. The Elite is a group that was established by a very courageous and resourceful man named Gregory Hendriks, along with his younger brother Timothy, to oppose the actions of the Duelists of the Order by fighting them off when need be, and by working to retrieve Shadow Items before the Order. I’m a special agent, a double agent who goes undercover, deep undercover, to learn all I can about our enemies. Recently, though, my mission has changed from general surveillance to something more specific.
“An Order agent named Marshal Gates recently went rogue after the fall of Yami. His source of Shadow Magic is a powerful card known as ‘Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord’, a missing God Card. It seems that for some time now he has been secretly using the power of the God ‘Exodius’ to strip Duelists of their life force and store it. We think that once he has enough power stored up he will be able to use ‘Exodius’’ power to summon the ultimate God ‘Exodia the Forbidden One’ and bind it to his will. His power will become unrivaled, and by drawing from ‘Exodia’’s magic Gates could potentially live forever.
“Gates entered this tournament to gain more life force from strong Duelists. I used my magic to rig the first round so that I would fight him first. I managed to gauge his strength in a magical duel and use my Shadow Stone to prevent my life force from being taken, not an easy task. Now I know that my power is not enough to defeat Gates, and no one in the Elite who is strong enough will arrive before the next round, when Gates will make his first kill.”
War Ruler turned to me, “John, from what I can tell you are the only one here who can face him and defeat him before he has the chance to harm anyone else.”
“Why would any member of this team help you,” Lawrence asked, “let alone believe anything you just said?”
“He has a point,” Karen pointed out. “Last time we met, the Dark Duel Force was trying to gather enough power to gain control of the Order. What proof do you have that this isn’t just an attempt to further that goal?”
“I don’t expect you to believe me based on my words alone,” said War Ruler, “but I believe that the Soul of Darkness has the power to reach into peoples’ minds, correct?”
Everyone looked at me, shocked. I sighed, So much for never telling anyone.
“John?” Karen asked almost accusingly. She knew more than most people that brain control magic is evil, and the way she looked at me in that moment, like she was afraid of me, validated my attempt to keep the information from her for as long as I had. She looked at me like she didn’t know me, and it hurt. I had no choice but to explain.
“Ever since Blackheart took me over,” I told my friends, though I was mostly speaking to Karen, “new abilities of my Soul have started waking up. Dark powers that make me uncomfortable. I think they’re Blackheart’s powers, or maybe a mix of the Soul’s power with some of Blackheart’s powers, I don’t know, but sometimes I can read thoughts.”
Not to mention the fact, I thought, that in the process of picking up on those thoughts I feel that I could change them if I wanted to.
I looked War Ruler in the eyes, “But that power is dangerous, and evil. I don’t use it.”
“You have my permission,” War Ruler insisted.
I sighed hard and looked to my friends. They didn’t seem to like it, but they knew that if War Ruler was telling the truth we could all be in danger, so they nodded their support. I nodded back, giving Karen a look that I hope expressed how sorry I was, and my Soul began to glow. My shadow’s arm peeled itself from the ground and stretched forward, reaching into War Ruler’s forehead. I felt for the shadows in his mind, the shadows of his darkest fears and desires, using them to connect with his thoughts. I closed my eyes for a second as I searched War Ruler’s mind for the truth. Then I opened my eyes and retracted my shadow, and I knew, “He’s telling the truth.”
“Then you’ll help?” Marcus asked.
Max started to say something, but I cut him off, “I’ll help. This Exodus guy is dangerous. I’ll take care of him myself.”
I turned to leave.
“John,” said Karen, and I stopped apprehensively. As I turned to face her I expected her to be disgusted with me, or even frightened of me, but instead she stepped in close and took my hand, offering her support, “if this guy is as strong as War Ruler says then you’re going to need help this time.”
“Yeah,” said Tucker. “We should team up against him.”
I was shocked as I looked to each of my friends and saw not fear or anger, but support, even from the perpetually aggressive Lawrence. It almost brought a tear to my eye, and I smiled.
“No,” I said, “I’ve seen this guy’s power first hand through Marcus’ memories. The danger he poses cannot be allowed to continue to exist. To destroy it completely I’ll have to use a power of the Shadow Games that I don’t like using, and I’d rather no one else be around when I do.”
“You mean…” said Karen. She knew what I meant to do. She knew that I meant to use the power of the Shadow Games not to protect myself, but to actually attack and destroy another person.
I didn’t reply. Instead I turned and set out to find Exodus.
Karen
I watched John walk slowly away from us, leaving us with War Ruler, someone who I still had trouble seeing as a friend.
Could John really do that to his opponent? I wondered. He would, I decided, but only if he felt that he had no other choice. After all if Marik’s really dead, then he must have used the Penalty Game on him too, so this wouldn’t be the first time.
“Your leader is strong,” said War Ruler. “I’ve only ever met one other Duelist with that much inner strength.”
“We don’t really care,” said Max. He and Lawrence made their way back to the competitor’s box. War Ruler followed a few moments later.
“I’m gonna get something to eat,” I said, trying to ignore the worry and confusion that I was feeling, “I’m starving.”
“Right behind you,” said Tucker enthusiastically.
“I’ll come too,” said Sarah, “to make sure that Hothead doesn’t eat Kaiba out of house and home.”
It was times like these that I usually enjoyed the most. Time with my friends. But as much as I tried to have fun I couldn’t. Not because I was worried that John would fail, but because I was trying desperately not to think about what John would have to do if this Exodus guy really was as dangerous as War Ruler said he was.
I guess I should start thinking of him as Marcus now, I thought, shaking my head. I’d never fought Marcus myself, but I’d seen how easily he and Guardian Ruler had crushed my friends and stripped them of their spirits. I couldn’t have done anything like that, even to benefit the greater good. As much as I still hated Marcus for doing those things to them, I had to respect his resolve. He had to have tremendous courage.
This group, the Elite, I thought, I wonder why they’ve never approached us before. We fight the Order too, even if all we do is wait for them to attack and then fight them off. I wonder how strong the Elite is and how many members they have. Even if they do have numbers enough to rival the Order, they must be stretched thin if I’ve never heard of them. Then again it seems like they mostly interfere on Shadow Item retrieval missions. Yami never sent us on any of those.
But either way, the fact that the Elite continues to fight just goes to show how serious a problem the Order is even with Marik defeated. After all, the Dark Duel Force told us themselves that the Order was still going strong, continuing on even without a real leader.
We reached the hot dog vendor and I bought myself a hot dog and some chips. Sarah bought a hot dog. Tucker ordered two chili dogs, three chips, and two sodas He turned out his empty pockets, turned to me and said, “Uh, I’m a little short. Could you help me out?”
So I ended up paying for Tucker’s food too.
I turned and headed back toward the competitors’ box. I should have known that this tournament would become more than it seemed. After all, everything always does.
John
As I walked I reached out with my Soul, searching for any sources of powerful Shadow Magic. There were several, including my friends and a few other sources of friendly power, and then there was Gates. His energy was massive, augmented by something evil. I could almost taste the malicious presence that was ‘Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord’ (in case you’re curious it tasted like day-old green beans). ‘Exodia’ was a guardian spirit and a force of good, but Gates’ creature was pure evil with a power strong enough to bind ‘Exodia’ to its master’s will.
Marcus was right, I could sense it. If Gates were to succeed in harvesting the life force of even one or two more strong Duelists he would become virtually unstoppable.
I reached down and touched the deck box at my waste and felt the power of the Gods hidden within.
Alright my great allies, this is it, our first battle together, and probably our most important. I know I’m going to need you, so please lend me your strength.
Then I felt something. Exodus had become aware of my approach. He headed for one of the stadium’s back exits. I paralleled his movements, and soon we were outside, behind the stadium, up against an abandoned parking garage.
There was no need for introductions. We both knew the other’s intentions. We shuffled our decks. A card in Exodus’ deck glowed gold, my Soul flashed blacklight purple as I felt my mind merge its mental capacity with Hiro's, giving me extra focus and strength, and the duel began.
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