Chapter thirteen. Thirteen is a number which means bad luck, at least in some cultures (mine included). And unlucky this chapter is, as it marks the return of the powerful Dark Duel Force, and they are just as strong as before. To really hammer home how serious this is, I put extra work into this chapter, and it ended up much longer than most.
Chapter ThirteenReturn of the Dark Duel Force
Teacher’s words filled us with new hope. As long as we could hold out just a bit longer, we stood a chance of seeing this situation come to a happy end. By the time our meeting with Teacher was over it was late, so Teacher let us stay in the castle, giving us plenty of time to dwell on his statements.
The others went almost immediately to their rooms (it had been a long day), but I hung back. I wanted to talk to Teacher alone. He had his assistant get us some tea, and we sat down at the table in Teacher’s Egyptology room. He was a good friend, someone I could talk to, and with all that was going on, I needed to talk to someone.
“Karen, my best student,” Teacher asked, “what can I do for you? I assume that you had another purpose for wanting to meet with me in person? You never do anything for simple reasons, after all.”
I sighed, “Yeah, well, aside from the looming threat of death, I’m doing pretty well for myself, actually. I have a home and friends. I’m happier than I’ve been since my parents…you know. But I needed to talk to someone. I have to stay strong in front of the Duel Force. They aren’t leaders, and they’re looking to me for strength that I frankly don’t have. There’s only one person among my new friends that I think I’d be able to talk to, but he’s…not available.”
“I see,” Teacher replied, sipping his tea. “I’m sure John would feel the same way were your situations reversed. From what you’ve told me recently, he seems as fond of you as you are of him.”
I blushed, “I doubt that.”
We sat there for a while in silence. Finally I asked him the question that had been on my mind since he’d described the ancient passage, the question that was my immediate reason for staying behind, and for asking while the others weren't present, “Teacher, what exactly does the tablet say about the battle between The Duelist and Blackheart?”
“What’s bothering you?” he asked.
“Well, does it, I mean, does it say for sure that the Duelist will win? Is it a guarantee?”
He sighed, “You would ask the hard questions, wouldn’t you? The short answer is no. The tablet says that The Duelist is a being of amazing skill, with a strategic mind that is nearly unrivaled, surpassed only by the Unnamed Pharaoh, the greatest gamer to ever live. It also says, however, that Blackheart is The Duelist, with all of The Duelist’s skills. It also explains that Blackheart is more ambitious than The Duelist, but that The Duelist is more level-headed. Neither has a clear advantage over the other.”
“What happens if The Duelist loses?” I asked.
“The tablet doesn’t say anything specific, but it does say that it will be horrible and far-reaching enough to affect the entire world.”
“Wow,” I said, dripping sarcasm, “awesome.”
“Have faith,” Teacher said, “and stay strong. Things will be alright. Oh, and speaking of strong, I have something for you that should help you if you have to fight Blackheart again. I understand that using my style of dueling is a bit limiting, even for someone of your caliber, as it is impossible to expand your deck with unreleased cards.”
He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a deck of cards. “Use these as you will. They’re yours now.”
"Are you sure?" I asked, eyeing them warily.
"Oh course," Teacher replied warmly. "They are a gift. Take them, please."
I smiled as I took the cards from him and placed them in my pocket, and for the first time since I’d seen Blackheart look at me through my best friend’s eyes, I felt like there might be some hope.
I went to my room and went through the deck that I’d been given, adding many of the cards within it to my deck. Finally, I felt like I could relax. I was trying to sleep when my Soul flashed, alerting me to a presence outside my window. I looked outside, and what I saw made me jump. I leaped out of bed and ran for the window, but the figure was already gone. Without hesitation I grabbed my Duel Disk and my new deck, and I threw my window open, giving chase.
The figure’s trail led me to a large clearing, lit by a full moon, where I found Jen, Tucker, Amanda, and Kimi waiting around an old arena, left over from the Duelist Kingdom Tournament. The arena was worn from the weather and partially overgrown.
“So you saw them too?” I asked my friends.
“Yeah,” said Tucker.
“So I’m not crazy. They really are back.”
“That’s right, Duel Force,” came a familiar voice from the shadows at the opposite side of the clearing. They stepped out of the shadows. Ghost Ruler, Beast Ruler, War Ruler, Guardian Ruler, and Archfiend Ruler. The Dark Duel Force.
“How’d you find us?” Kimi asked, sounding worried.
“And what do you want?” I demanded, just as worried, but not letting it show.
“Did you really think that we wouldn’t return?” said the muscular, blond Guardian Ruler. “You humiliated us while we were dueling in the name of Master Yami. Such a thing isn’t very favorable in our line of work.”
“Now, with Yami dead,” said the spiky-haired young man, Archfiend Ruler, “leadership of the Duelists of the Order of the Divine Cards is up for grabs. We plan to seize it, but first we must redeem ourselves in the eyes of our peers.”
“This time, acting on our own, we were able to play things smart. We waited, and as soon as you five were apart from your allies we made our move,” said the roughly twenty-year-old War Ruler. “If we each gain possession of a Duelist’s Soul it will give us the edge over the others and go a long way toward solidifying our new position in the Order.”
“This is ridiculous,” I told them. “If you’ve been watching us, then you know that we have a new enemy.”
“Blackheart,” Archfiend Ruler said with a sneer.
“If you know his name,” I said, “then you've done your research. You know how dangerous he is. If you control even a small percentage of the Order’s numbers then order them against Blackheart. Help us stop him, because if he’s allowed to continue with his plan to seize all three Gods he’ll be unstoppable.”
Archfiend Ruler swaggered a bit, “I think not. After all, once we beat you we will be able to seize control of the entire remainder of the Order, and we’ll be able to crush this Blackheart without having to ally ourselves with the likes of you.”
“You seem confident that you can beat us,” said Jen.
“And that we’ll agree to duel you in the first place,” Tucker added. “Tell us, why should we risk our Souls fighting some chumps that we’ve already beat?
“Because,” said Beast Ruler, the youngest of the group, “we won’t let you leave until you do.”
I looked around, my friends doing the same, and I saw what I’d missed in the dark of night. We were trapped, surrounded by Shadows. There was no escape. Monty, Lawrence and I had once trapped John and his friends the same way, so I should have seen it coming. The Shadow Game had already begun.
“I’m dueling first this time,” said the maniacal, white-haired Ghost Ruler. “This Shadow Game is a group spell,” he said, “a lot like our last duel, but with one twist. You will have to defeat each of us to break it, and if even one of you loses, all of you will be forced to forfeit your Souls.”
“If that’s the case,” I said, in an attempt to protect the others, “I’ll duel all five of you. If you win, you still take all five of our Duelist's Souls, but the others go free, unharmed.”
I took a step forward, but Amanda cut me off. “You’ve been through a lot today, Karen. I’ll take the first one. Besides, ever since you guys told me about the Dark Duel Force I’ve wanted to fight them myself. I have an idea, too.”
She pointed at Archfiend Ruler, “Your rules aren’t fair, and the rules of a Shadow Game have to be fair. That means you’ll have to forfeit the game and take a penalty unless you let us set some terms of our own, and not Karen's stupid ones, either. We’ll let you keep your terms if you agree that when we beat you, you have to give up your Shadow Items.”
“Shadow Items for Souls,” said Fiend thoughtfully. “Sounds fair, and interesting. You’re on.”
“I move first,” said Ghost. “I want this game to be as exciting as possible, and every exciting game needs the right stage.”
With a wave of his hand, and the flash of his Shadow Bracelet, the growth over the arena dissolved, and he stepped up, plugging his Duel Disk into one of the arena’s battle fields.
“I begin with ‘Malice Doll of Demise’,” Ghost declared, a wooden doll the size of a child appearing in the arena before him (ATK: 1600).
“Next,” Ghost said, “I activate the Continuous Spell ‘Ectoplasmer’. Now, at the end of each of our turns we must sacrifice one face-up monster to deal damage to our opponent equal to half the attack of that monster. And when my ‘Doll’ is sent to the Graveyard by the effect of a Continuous Spell, he returns in my next Standby Phase.
“I place two cards face-down and end my turn. ‘Malice Doll’, give your spirit to ‘Ectoplasmer’. Soul Attack!”
The ‘Malice Doll’’s body collapsed, becoming completely lifeless. Its ghostly spirit rose from its body and flew straight at Amanda, plunging right through her chest (8000-800=7200).
“Wow,” she said, ignoring the pain of the Shadow Game “that was actually pretty cool.” She stepped up to the opposite end of the arena, plugged in her own Duel Disk, drew her sixth card and looked at her hand. Then she looked back up at Ghost and said, “I don’t know much about cards other than my own, but if I counted right, I just won.”
She selected a card from her hand, “I start out with ‘Cyber Harpie Lady’ in attack mode,” a woman with long red hair and feathered wings for arms appeared, wearing purple metallic armor and carrying a whip (ATK: 1800). “Next I play ‘Harpie’s Hunting Ground’, increasing the attack of all of my monsters by two hundred.” A massive updraft rose up all around us, swirling around the arena (1800+200=2000).
“Next,” Amanda said, “I play two copies of ‘Elegant Egotist’, summoning two ‘Harpie Lady Sisters’.” Two groups of three ‘Harpies’ appeared, wearing golden armor instead of purple armor (ATK: 1950+200=2150 (each)).
“Thanks to ‘Hunting Ground’,” Amanda explained, “my ‘Harpies’ attack your face-down cards as they come into play.”
The two ‘Sisters’ crushed Ghost’s two face-down cards and then flew back to Amanda’s side of the field. Ghost discarded his cards; ‘Zoma the Spirit’ and ‘Fires of Doomsday’.
“Finally,” said Amanda, “I activate ‘Triangle Ecstasy Spark’, increasing the Attack of my ‘Sisters’ to twenty-seven hundred each, and I attack with all three of my monsters.” Two X-shaped energy beams and a whip lash tore at Ghost, ripping the front of his skull pattern t-shirt (8000-2700-2700-2000=600).
“I end my turn,” Kimi concluded, “and I sacrifice ‘Cyber Harpie Lady’ for the effect of ‘Ectoplasmer’.”
“What?” Ghost demanded disbelievingly, “this is impossible!”
“‘Harpie’, said Amanda, ignoring him, “Spirit Attack!” The soul of the monster struck, and Ghost Ruler’s Life Points fell to zero.
“Well well,” Fiend told Amanda casually, “I’m glad you weren’t there for our first battle, girl. You would have beaten my entire team, and I would have had to fight all of you myself!”
His aura flared up and his voice turned harsh as he turned to Ghost Ruler, his eyes glowing black, “As for you, you’ve failed me. This is far from the first time. You claim to be so fearsome, and yet you lose every chance you get.”
He stared down his ally and commanded, “Now give them your Item and get out of my sight.”
Ghost Ruler, frightened for probably the first time in his life, dropped his Shadow Bracelet in the grass beside the arena and ran into the darkness.
Jen
“Sorry about him,” said Fiend. “For all he says about being the master of fear and death, he’s really just a big baby. Not to mention the fact that he’s the weakest among us, and he just doesn’t see it. But don’t worry, once I’ve killed all of you, I’ll find him and kill him too.”
He looked us over, “So, now that the girl’s turn is over, who’s next?”
“No one said anything about turns,” Amanda protested.
“I just did,” Archfiend Ruler replied harshly, “deal with it.”
“Don’t worry,” I told Amanda, “I’ve got this one.”
“Delicious,” said Beast Ruler, snarling. “In that case, I’m next.”
I switched places with Amanda, and Beast Ruler took up the position across from me, “Come on. Show me how much stronger you’ve become Bug Duelist. Show me your power!”
I smiled smugly, “Alright. I summon my ‘Insect Knight’ in attack mode.” A human-sized insect wearing armor and carrying a shield and sword appeared within the arena (ATK: 1900).
“I also place one card face-down,” I declared, “and end my turn.”
“You’re as weak as ever,” said Beast Ruler, “if you think that a move like that is any kind of threat to me. I activate ‘Mystical Space Typhoon’!”
A wind picked up, tearing straight through the hologram of my face-down ‘Option Hunter’ card.
“Then I summon one of my strongest Beasts,” he continued. An orange-furred gorilla appeared, “I summon ‘Berserk Gorilla’ (ATK: 2000). Kill the ‘Insect Knight’!”
The ape punched my ‘Insect’, crushing it with his immense strength (8000+ 1900-2000=7900). The irony that this first exchange had gone almost just like our first exchange in our last duel was not lost on me, nor was the fact that this time there was no Kris to help me.
“Now I place three cards face-down, and I end my turn.” Beast laughed, licking his lips. He was just as eager for a fight as ever.
“Finally,” I said, “I can go." As usual, I refused to let my opponent see that I was in fact afraid. This guy had a deck that, in many ways, was the antithesis of mine. I was worried that he would just brush me aside as he had before. Provided that my plan to use those very traits against him failed.
"I begin my turn," I announced, "with ‘Monster Reborn’ to revive my ‘Insect Knight’. Next I play ‘Multiplication of Insects’ to split him into two monsters.” The ‘Insect’ returned from the dead and split into two exact copies of itself (ATK: 950 (each)).
“Now,” I said, “I sacrifice my two Token Monsters-.”
“Not so fast,” said Beast. “Reveal ‘Token Feastevil’ to destroy every Token in play and deal you three hundred points of damage for each one. And to ‘Feastevil’ I chain ‘Ojama Trio’, summoning three ‘Ojama Tokens’ to your side of the field.” Three small creatures in Speedo briefs appeared.
“But I’m not done,” said Beast. “I also chain ‘Scapegoat’, summoning four ‘Sheep Tokens’ to my side of the field.” Four fur balls with goat horns, one of them blue, one of them green, one of them red, and one of them orange, appeared, and all of the Token Monsters swarmed me together and exploded. I took three hundred damage for each Token that was destroyed, and another three hundred for each of the three ‘Ojamas’ (7900-(300x9)=5200/ 5200-(300x3)=4300).
“I set a card,” I said, doing my best impression of a frustrated Insect Duelist, “go.”
“I draw,” said Beast, “and summon ‘Des Kangaroo’.” A kangaroo wearing boxing gloves appeared, shuffling his feet and punching the air (ATK: 1500). “‘Kangaroo’, attack!”
The newest beast lunged at me and punched me in the face, splitting my lit. Blood filled the corner of my mouth. I reached up and wiped it away (4300-1500=2800).
“Now I attack with my ‘Berserk Gorilla’.” The ‘Gorilla’ ran at me, his fist raised.
“Reveal,” I declared, “the Trap card ‘Enchanted Javelin’.” A spear appeared in my hand. I held it out and a barrier came up around me. The ‘Gorilla’’s fist hit the barrier (2800+2000=4800). Then his fist broke through, punching me in the gut. I dropped the spear and it disappeared (4800-2000=2800).
“I place a card face-down,” said Beast, “and I activate ‘Card of Demise’, letting me draw until I hold five cards.” He drew and looked at his hand. “One more face-down card. End turn.”
He thinks he’s ahead, I thought, drawing my card. I guess he’s not as strong as he thinks he is. Either that, or I've gotten stronger than I realized.
“I set two cards of my own,” I declared, “and activate ‘Card of Sanctity’, letting us each draw until we hold six cards. You get two, and I get six!”
I looked over my new hand. Yeah, I thought, this should work.
“I summon ‘Larvae Moth’ in defense mode and equip it with the ‘Cocoon of Evolution’.” A green worm with a spike on its head appeared, shooting sticky thread from its mouth, wrapping itself up. Soon it was a huge cocoon, pulsing with new life (DEF: 2000).
“So, what,” said Beast, “you’re gonna wait for your monster to evolve? Kinda weak don’t ya think?”
I didn’t answer.
“Fine,” he said. “Activate ‘Heavy Storm’ to destroy your Spell and Trap cards, including your ‘Cocoon’.”
I smiled, “Sorry. Reveal, ‘Curse of Royal’, negating your Spell effect.”
A huge wind picked up all around us, but it died down just as fast.
“Then I sacrifice ‘Berserk Gorilla’ and ‘Des Kangaroo’ to summon my, ‘Behemoth the King of All Animals’!” Beast declared. A massive purple beast with huge horns and razor sharp claws appeared with a roar (ATK: 2700). “When I Normal Summon ‘Behemoth’, I can return as many monsters from my Graveyard to my hand as I sacrificed to summon him, so I return ‘Berserk Gorilla’ and ‘Des Kangaroo’ to my hand.”
He smiled as the two cards slid out of his Graveyard.
“‘Behemoth’, attack!”
‘Behemoth’ struck with his claws, but before they could hit the massive beast floated up into the air where he was destroyed, reduced to a cloud of thick black smoke.
“H-how?”
I smiled, “Easy. ‘Zero Gravity’ plus ‘Tragedy’.”
Beast growled, “Fine. I end my turn.” He discarded down to six cards, discarding ‘Maji-Gire Panda’
“That’s what I like to hear,” I told him. “I Draw! Reveal ‘Accelerated Evolution’ to increase the growth rate of my cocoon by an extra turn. Then I play ‘Graceful Charity’.” I drew three cards and discarded two.
“Wow,” I said, “look what I drew. ‘Pot of Greed’, which lets me draw two more cards.” I drew again and examined my new hand.
“I remove from play three Insects in my Graveyard; ‘Insect Knight’, ‘Arsenal Bug’, and ‘Metal Armored Bug’. This lets me Special Summon ‘Doom Dozer’ and ‘Aztekipede, the Worm Warrior’!”
From the ground behind me burst two massive segmented worms with a hundred clawed legs apiece: the red ‘Doom Dozer’ with black plates running down its back (ATK: 2800), and the smaller green ‘Aztekipede’, with razor sharp pincher (ATK: 1900).
“The two worms attack directly,” I commanded. The two massive monsters reached forward and slammed into Beast, throwing him onto his back. He rose to his feet quickly, but the damage was done (8000-2800-1900=3300).
“The effects of my monsters force you to discard two cards from the top of your deck.”
Beast threw his two cards away. I couldn’t see what they were, but it didn’t lessen my good mood.
“That ends my turn,” I said, and Beast drew. He saw his newest card and smiled wide, laughing wickedly.
“Go ahead and summon your ‘Moth’,” said Beast, “because I’m about to summon a monster that will put even the ‘Great Moth’ to shame. With ‘Polymerization’ I fuse ‘Big Koala’ and ‘Des Kangaroo’ into the most powerful Beast card in the game!”
A massive blue-furred koala appeared alongside ‘Des Kangaroo’. The two merged into a thirty-foot-tall kangaroo with a koala’s head, wearing a vest and boxing gloves and carrying a championship belt over his shoulder.
“Presenting,” Beast declared dramatically, “the ‘Master of Oz’ (ATK: 4200)! But I’m not done. I summon ‘Berserk Gorilla’ as well, play ‘Poison Fang’, and I attack both of your monsters.”
‘Berserk Gorilla’ ran up to the smaller worm and jumped at it, punching straight through its oversized head (2800+1900-2000=2700), and ‘Master of Oz’ punched the larger worm, literally crushing it under his massive fist (2700+2800-4200=1300). The Spell card ‘Poison Fang’ kicked in and my Life Points fell even further (1300-1000 =300).
“You’re just as strong as before,” I said.
“Oh yeah,” said Beast, “I rule!”
“I’m not done!” I snapped. My Soul flashed and Beast took a nervous step back. “You are just as strong as you were before,” I said, “but I’ve gotten much stronger. You’re no longer any match for me. I draw, and I activate another ‘Accelerated Evolution’, evolving my monster even further. Now my ‘Cocoon’ opens, revealing my ultimate card, the ‘Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth’!”
The ‘Cocoon’ tore open and a massive moth with a huge body and broad, beautifully-patterned blue wings emerged. He flapped his glistening wings and rose into the air, spreading sparkling blue powder over the field (ATK: 3500).
“Your Moth can’t touch my ‘Oz’,” Beast said, “and I won’t let you attack ‘Gorilla’. Reveal ‘Beast Soul Swap’, returning ‘Gorilla’ to my hand and then Special Summoning my ‘Mad Dog of Darkness’ to the field in defense mode.”
A massive dog with horns and razor sharp claws appeared (DEF: 1400), but it didn't matter.
“My monster can most definitely touch your ‘Master of Oz’,” I said, “once I activate ‘Riryoku’, stealing half of your monsters Attack and giving it to mine!”
Streams of energy transferred from the massive ‘Master of Oz’ into the equally large ‘Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth’ (ATK of ‘Oz’: 2100/ATK of ‘Great Moth’: 5600).
“‘Moth’,” I commanded, “attack, Great Whirlwind!” The giant insect flapped his wings, summoning a tornado that engulfed the ‘Master of Oz’, ripping him to shreds. The whirlwind carried through and hit my opponent, throwing him through the air (3300+2100-5600=0).
“Would you look at that,” I said, crossing my arms proudly, “it looks like Ghost Ruler wasn’t the only weakling around here. Now bring on the next one, because we’re just getting started.”
Card of the Day:
Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth
Played by: Jen
This is a risky card to play, but for a master like Jen, it can be the perfect end game card. After all, not much can stand in the way of this monster's attack and actually survive.
Original Cards in This Chapter:
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