And book four ends as well. I'm really cranking these out fast. This chapter had a lot of complex stuff in it. I hope it all came across as intended. In case it isn't clear, Monty's bad attitude toward Lawrence was placed there when Blackheart beat him earlier so that he would grow suspicious of Lawrence and fight him. It was one more way of defeating the Duel Force and taking their energy, but one which Blackheart didn't need to utilize. He could have just broken their Souls and taken their power as he did with the others. Instead he tried to have some fun and make these loyal friends kill each other, but the shock of what he was doing snapped Monty out of Blackheart's influence, and Monty and Lawrence end up stronger for what happens.
Monty and Lawrence are characters which I don't even fully understand. They are friends even though they really shouldn't be. I wanted them to be an extreme version of what a friendship between Yugi and Kaiba would be if it were acknowledged by both parties. As they receive more characterization later on, I hope this becomes obvious.
This book also had very little resolution. It had a big action climax, a short denouement, and then it just ends with a funny line from John. This is meant as a moment of humor, certainly, but it is also meant to be uncomfortable, as it should be disturbing that John is so nonchalant about everyone almost dying.
Chapter TwentySurprise Outcomes
Monty
“This is it,” I said with absolute confidence. “Your time’s up.”
Hiro
“Your time’s up, Blackheart,” I said. “I Flip-Summon ‘Fushio Richie’, reviving my ‘Pharaoh’s Servant’.” The spear-wielding mummy appeared, twirling his weapon (ATK: 900). “Next I summon ‘Avatar of the Spirit’ and tribute him to call my Spirit Monster back to the field. Rise again, ‘Spirit of the Pharaoh’! That means that you discard eight more cards from your deck.”
A mummy wreathed in an electric yellow light appeared. The light flashed brighter and the mummy disappeared, making way for my ‘Spirit of the Pharaoh’ to return.
Blackheart threw out his cards, three of them being monsters. He took more damage from the effect of my ‘Coffin Seller’.
“It’s no use,” Blackheart explained, “you’ll never deal enough damage with ‘Coffin Seller’ to beat me, especially while I control the combo of ‘Skull Lair’ and ‘Soul Absorption’ increasing my Life Points with every passing turn.” He broke out into a fit of maniacal laughter.
I smiled weakly and commanded my monster, “‘Spirit’, attack his ‘Sangan’!”
‘Spirit of the Pharaoh’ sliced the much smaller monster in half. ‘Sangan’ went to the Graveyard and Blackheart was dealt more damage by my Trap card’s effect (7300-300=7000).
“I’d search for a monster with ‘Sangan’’s effect,” said Blackheart, “but you’ve actually managed to discard every legal target from my deck. Not that I need to search for another monster. I know exactly how I’m going to kill you. My plan is already in place!”
Blackheart laughed, cocky as ever. “I reveal my Trap card ‘Michizure’. This card activates when my monster is destroyed and destroys one of my opponent’s monsters as well!”
A transparent hand reached up out of the ground beneath my ‘Spirit of the Pharaoh’ and pulled him back to his grave.
“Next,” said Blackheart, “I activate ‘Burial from the Different Dimension’, returning three of the monsters in my removed from play pile to my Graveyard. Now I can remove them from play again along with four other monsters to destroy your ‘Fushio Richie’ (7000+3500=10,500). Now you’re defenseless!”
I smirked confidently, “Not yet. I play ‘Silent Doom’ to revive ‘Pharaonic Protector’ in defense mode, and I change ‘Pharaoh's Servant’ to defense mode”
The red-ribbon-wearing mummy appeared, crouched down beside his spear-wielding counterpart, ready to defend me with his life (DEF: 0 (each)). Blackheart tossed more cards (10,500-300=10,200).
“All that means is that it's my turn again,” said Blackheart, “and I get the feeling that this will be a turn for plans to come together.”
Monty
“Don’t get so hasty,” Lawrence replied. “I place one card face-down, though at this point I doubt I’ll need it.”
“Then its time,” I said defiantly. “I summon my Soul,” I declared, “the ‘Silent Magician’!”
A girl in white with white hair appeared wearing a wide hat and carrying a jewel-tipped wand (ATK: 1000).
“Now I’ll use a move that a friend taught me," I declared. "I play ‘Card of Sanctity’, forcing us both to draw until we hold six cards.”
“That’s your big move?” Lawrence asked, clearly not impressed. “So what, are you trying to make me draw myself to death?”
“Something like that,” I said with a smile. I gestured to my new magician. When Lawrence saw her he gasped. She had grown. She was now a beautiful young woman with a powerful aura.
“What happened?” Lawrence asked.
I stood with my arms crossed and explained, “My monster grows older and stronger with each card that you draw until you’ve drawn five cards, at which point she becomes the unbeatable ‘Silent Magician LV 8’, the very face of my Soul!”
The magician brandished her staff-length wand (ATK: 3500).
“Now, out of the cards that I drew, I activate ‘Premature Burial’ (4200-800 =3400) to revive ‘Buster Blader’, and ‘Monster Reborn’ to revive my ‘Dark Magician’.” My warrior appeared resting his sword on his shoulder, and my magician appeared at his side in a swirl of light, twirling his staff. He stopped and pointed his staff at Lawrence.
“Next,” I declared, “I play ‘Polymerization’, combining ‘Dark Magician’ with ‘Buster Blader’, forming the ultimate Magical Swordsman.”
The two monsters merged, forming an armored sorcerer, his leather armor turned metallic. He carried a bladed staff (ATK: 2900).
“Lawrence,” I declared, “meet ‘Dark Paladin’! My ‘Paladin’ keeps ‘Buster Blader’’s ability, giving him more power for every dragon on your field or in your Graveyard (2900+2500=5400), and if you do have another Spell capable of turning the tables on him, it doesn’t matter, because my monster can negate Spells.”
“No way,” said Lawrence, “not him! He’s known by every Dragon Duelist as the one monster to always avoid!” It was the first time that I’d seen him truly afraid. At the time I enjoyed seeing him that way.
Good, I thought, it’s about time you realized how serious this duel really is!
“I pay one thousand Life Points (3400-1000=2400) to activate ‘Diffusion Wave Motion’." I said. "Now my ‘Paladin can attack both of your Dragons this turn,”
‘Paladin’ raised his staff and waves of energy poured from it, slicing his dragons to pieces, starting with the ‘Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon’. “When your ‘Paladin’ destroys my ‘Red-Eyes’,” Lawrence said, sounding desperate, “I reveal ‘Option Hunter’, increasing my Life Points by an amount equal to the dragon’s original Attack!” My attack carried through and hit Lawrence, nearly knocking him over (4400+3000+3300 +2400-5400-5400=2300).
“I survived,” said Lawrence. “Your other monsters can’t attack in a turn where you played ‘Diffusion Wave Motion’. Thanks to your 'Card of Sanctity', I have a hand powerful enough to destroy you next turn, ‘Dark Paladin’ or not.”
I smiled confidently, “You’re wrong. I have one more card in my hand. I told you that ‘Silent Magician’ was my trump card, and I wasn’t kidding. You see, I knew you’d survive my ‘Paladin’’s attack. You’re nothing if not tenacious. That’s why I was prepared with this.
“I activate the Spell card ‘Rainbow Aura’,” I declared, smiling darkly, “which lets me select one Spellcaster and give it the power to attack, regardless of any active effects.”
The white aura around my ‘Silent Magician’ changed, becoming rainbow-colored. She rose into the air. She aimed her staff and fired a bolt of magical energy at Lawrence. He was carried into the air and fell onto his back (2300-3500=0).
Lawrence struggled to his feet, facing me, his legs shaking. “I don’t know why you’re so angry with me Monty,” he said, “but it looks like it’s over either way. You won and now you’ll never have to deal with me again.”
A billow of smoke poured from a crack that formed down Lawrence’s Soul and his body began to melt away, becoming part of the Shadows. As soon as his Soul cracked I suddenly felt like a different person. I realized for the first time what Blackheart had done. In my Soul’s memory I saw Blackheart standing over me, planting something evil in my mind. It had made me suspicious and paranoid, and when Lawrence had lost to Blackheart and Blackheart hadn’t taken his Soul my paranoia made me think that Lawrence had betrayed us.
This was all some kind of game to Blackheart. This was all his doing!
“Lawrence!” I cried. I reached out with my Soul, trying to pull him back. Suddenly I was unable to move.
I looked down. My Soul cracked, and started spewing smoke as well. I was melting into the Shadow’s just like Lawrence.
That’s when I remembered:
“Just to be sure,” I said, “I’ll go over the terms with you now before we start. The loser will lose him body and spirit forever to the Shadows, and if either Duelist tries to alter the outcome of the Shadow Game they forfeit their body and spirit to the Shadows. Pretty simple. And of course whoever loses this game won’t be able to return.”
I used my Soul to try and change the outcome of the Game when I tried to save Lawrence, I thought. Now I’m going to the Shadows too. This was Blackheart’s plan all along! Because Blackheart caused this whole thing, he might as well have beaten us himself. Our Souls belong to him now. I killed my best friend and Blackheart gets to sit there and laugh and take our power! And it’s all my fault!
Blackheart
I could finally feel it. Finally those two have destroyed each other. Maybe it would have been easier to kill them and take their magic myself, but making those two kill each other instead was way more fun. After all, there’s nothing funnier than two friends killing each other, and either way their power is mine now!
My Soul of Darkness flashed and became the Soul of Chaos.
“Finally!” I cried, laughing out loud. “Those pitiful Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba wannabes have just finished each other off, and the power that they possessed is mine!”
I saw my foe’s eyes widen with surprise, and I laughed again.
“That’s right. I reshaped the mind of that magic-user and he forced the other one into a Shadow Game with both of their bodies and minds on the line, causing their mutual destruction! You said that the only thing that can kill you completely is the three Gods? You said show me the Gods? Well its time I did what you asked!”
The Duelist scowled, and I laughed again, “In my hand I hold the only Spell card in the Game that can summon all three of my Gods at one time: ‘Dimension Fusion’! Even if they do only remain in play for a turn, that will be plenty of time for me to destroy you with the infinite power of their combined form!”
I laughed softly as the image of my only real opponent finally being destroyed flashed in my mind, at the hands of the greatest God of all. A God that was now mine to command. I looked The Duelist in the eyes and said, “Now, my old friend, it’s time for you to die!”
I reached down, ready to draw my card to begin my turn, but I found that there were no cards left in my deck. I gasped. My deck was gone!
And that’s when it hit me. My opponent’s strategy. It hadn’t been to kill me with the effect of ‘Coffin Seller’. It had been to disassemble my deck, using the combo with ‘Coffin Seller’ to distract from his real goal. And because I had been so sure of myself, I hadn’t even seen it coming, thinking that The Duelist had simply made another mistake! Now it was over, and there was nothing I could do.
“N-no! This can’t be! I had you. I had you!!”
“No Blackheart,” The Duelist said, “I had you. I knew the exactly how this duel was going to end from the start. I just had to play like I was worried or scared at just the right times so that you wouldn’t catch on. I even thought the right thoughts, in case our old bond let you feel what I was thinking. You never stood a chance in this duel, Blackheart, you just never realized it.”
“But it’s my destiny to rule this world for eternity,” I protested, still astonished.
“Your only destiny,” he replied, “was to live long enough so that I could destroy you and my destiny could be fulfilled. You endangered the lives of so many people just because you wanted to increase your own power! That is inexcusable! With this I destroy you once and for all. Penalty Game, Soul Shock!”
He held out his palm and released a bolt of bright energy. It overtook me, and everything went black.
Hiro
My Soul Shock hit Blackheart, and I watched him fall out of John’s body and melt into the Shadows, screaming the entire time.
Finally, I thought, it’s over. I shed my borrowed power and I became my original self again. I felt my temporary body begin to fade. My Pseudo Soul flashed. Time to go back.
My Soul shed several colored lights, as did John’s, and the lights flew out of the temple. They were the energies of the other Souls, returning home, plus several Duelists’ Duel Energies. My Pseudo Soul shattered into tiny flecks of glass, too small to see, and I faded away as I returned to my place in the real Soul of Darkness.
John
I was finally free. I opened my eyes and looked around. I already knew where I was, of course. While Blackheart was controlling me I could see everything he saw and hear everything that he thought or said aloud. I knew everything that he’d done, and it horrified me, but that was the point. Blackheart had enjoyed my misery. Now that he was gone I could start cleaning up the mess that he’d made.
Blackheart was beaten, I thought, but at what cost? What he did to Monty and Lawrence, just because they were friends, is truly horrifying. And putting my entire team through everything that he did, I just can’t think about it. He could have killed them at any time. I did everything I could to fight him, but all I could do in the end was scream in the back of his mind, trying to break his focus. I'll never even know if what I did was any help at all.
I took a deep breath and walked out of the temple, back to my friends who were waiting outside. Hiro? I asked hoping for his support during the conversation to come, but he didn’t answer. He was there, in my Soul, but he was too weak to appear. I would have to wait to get any support, or any answers to the questions burning in my mind.
That’s when my friends saw me. “John!” Karen cried. She ran over and threw her arms around me. I slid out of her embrace. Knowing what I knew, it just didn’t feel right to feel happy.
“What is it?” She asked.
“It’s Monty and Lawrence,” I said. “Blackheart tricked them into fighting each other in a Shadow Game. They both lost. They’re gone.”
Her eyes widened, “No, they can’t be!”
I stood there and waited while the information sunk in. Everyone was silent. Karen seemed to be in shock.
“I’m sorry, Karen,” I said, lending my support.
“No,” she interrupted, and I realized that she wasn’t in shock.
She was concentrating.
“No,” she said, “they aren’t dead. I know they aren’t.” She was trying to remain confident, but she didn’t sound sure. She was just beginning to let the worst of possibilities sink in when someone else spoke.
“Did you guys miss us?”
We turned, and there they were. Monty was walking toward us supporting an injured but still-smiling Lawrence. And by smiling I of course mean sneering.
“But Blackheart killed you,” I said, a bit shocked to see them, “I saw it in his mind when he did.”
“Nah,” said Monty. “I squeezed the last bits of power from my Soul at the last second, breaking the Shadow Game. I’m not sure how. Maybe it was all of the horror I felt about what Blackheart had made me do, or maybe the Shadows just felt bad that we'd been tricked, I dunno, but my Soul lost its power and it still cracked, so Blackheart still got its power and he wasn’t any the wiser. We were stuck somewhere near the edge of the Shadows for a while after that, and then Blackheart lost, breaking his spell, and we returned completely.”
“When our power returned to our Souls,” said Lawrence, “we pooled our magic to bring us here.”
His sneer returned, “I wanted to see if anyone was grieving for us yet.”
Karen walked over and punched him in the face.
“What was that for!?”
“Being a jerk!”
Despite everything, I couldn’t help but laugh. I looked up into the star-filled night sky.
“Oh,” said Karen, walking over to me again. “John, this is yours. I’ve been holding onto it for you.” She took a card from her deck and handed it to me: my ‘Fiend Megacyber’.
“Thanks,” I said. “Thanks for protecting everyone. Thanks for everything.”
She smiled, “Don’t mention it.
I turned to me team and sized them up. They were tired and shaken, but they were alright. So was everyone who had been left back home. Even the kids that Blackheart had killed by taking their energy had a great chance of pulling through. Everyone would be alright.
So as I looked at my team, my friends, my family, only one idea was forthcoming. “Come on guys,” I said, “it’s finally over. Let’s go home. I'm starving.”
Card of the Day:
Dark Paladin
Played by: Monty
Monty doesn't use this card only to counter Dragon players like Lawrence. He uses it to counter Spells. The fact that it counters Lawrence's deck so well is little more than a happy accident.
Original Cards in This Chapter:
Continue to Book 5 >>
No comments:
Post a Comment