One part allusion to John's dark nature plus one part time jump, mixed with a dash of a duel that has been alluded to since the first chapter, and you have a recipe for win!
Chapter Twenty-SevenAftermath
I used my Soul of Darkness to take the five of us to the Obelisk Blue dorm lobby where the new nurse, Fonda Fontaine, had set up a sort of emergency unit. Seeing it I understood why no one had noticed the duel going on at the school. As soon as the Beasts had appeared, Duelists all over the island had begun falling ill as their Duel Energy was drained from them. Miss Fontaine didn’t know what it was, but my Soul told me that I was right. I could already sense the Duel Energy of the incapacitated Duelists returning. They would be fine. With Sheppard’s help, I managed to move Kagemaru onto a cot. While Nurse Fontaine examined the Chancellor, Sheppard and I stepped away where we could talk.
“I’ve removed the vicious consciousness, the thing that we both dueled, from the Sacred Beast cards, but I underestimated the power of the individual beasts.”
I told him all about Armityle, how he was the fused form of the Beasts, and how he controlled the actions of the Beasts themselves.
“I planned to render the Beasts powerless by destroying this consciousness, but the three Beasts still have willpower enough that, if they ever managed to worm their way into the mind of another Duelist, they might be able to manipulate him into acting as their intelligence the way Armityle did. The only permanent change I made to the Beasts is that, without Armityle’s consciousness, having them on the field together won’t be enough to combine them together anymore. It would take something more than that to summon the ‘Chaos Phantom’ again.”
“Obviously we can’t risk anyone getting hold of these cards again,” Sheppard said, making the obvious assumption that I wanted to hold onto them for myself.
“I couldn’t agree more,” I replied.
Sheppard nodded, “I think I may have a solution to our problem. The school will need to be rebuilt. There will be construction units here already. It will not be difficult to redesign the seal, making it impossible for any one person to access the cards once they have been put back.”
I nodded my understanding, “Then I’ll entrust these to you, for the time being,” and I handed him the sleeping Sacred Beasts. He seemed to understand how much faith I was putting in him, because he looked somewhere between honored, and terrified.
We were silent for several minutes, but finally I spoke up, “Sheppard, I’m still not sure that I agree with the secret purpose of this place. Bringing so many Duelists together so often for such a long period of time is dangerous. But I also see your point, that Duelists need to be trained. Need to be made ready. Maybe I was a little hasty in saying that I’d destroy this place, but you can be sure that I will be keeping an eye on it.”
Sheppard smiled a bit, “After tonight, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
We stood in silence again for several seconds. This time it was Sheppard’s turn to speak first.
“You have great powers,” he said. “I was wondering what powers you might have over the minds of others?”
I hesitated to answer. I don’t like to even think about my powers over peoples’ minds, the same powers that Yami used to brainwash Karen, Monty and Lawrence, and that Blackheart had used to control my body. “Do you really want to know?” I asked Sheppard, “because once you know, you can’t un-know, and you might not trust me so much anymore.”
Sheppard nodded, “I do want to know.”
I took a deep breath, “Okay, well, I don’t use them too much, but I do have limited power over the minds of others. I don’t know their full limits, but they follow the same rules as my other powers. I have domain over darkness, and there is darkness in the mind of every man. I can reach out to that darkness and use it to manipulate all that the darkness touches.”
“Memories?” Sheppard asked.
“Yes,” I said, thinking back to when I’d been allowed to look at Marcus the War Ruler’s memories to learn about the danger posed by the man called Exodus, during the second Grand Championship, and again during the first Shadow Crisis when I’d made the other students forget what they’d seen by wiping their short term memories.
“Can you remove memories?” Sheppard asked.
“Yeah,” I answered, realizing what he wanted me to do, “I think so.”
Sheppard looked over at Kagemaru, lying on a cot, being checked out, “He is a good man. He doesn’t deserve to have to live with the memories of what the Beasts almost did using his body. Make him forget that this is his fault. Make him forget that the Beasts exist at all. Let him live in peace for the first time in so long.”
“You’ll never be able to tell him. I’ll have to patch his memories with a spell, and reminding him of what he did here might rip that patch and cause him harm.”
Sheppard nodded agreement, “Don’t worry, I swear that I won’t ever speak of his role in this ever again, regardless of the situation. I'll also arrange for him to retire, far from here, so that nothing here can worm its way into his mind again and remind him that way.”
I nodded, “Then here I go.”
I reached into Kagemaru’s mind, Forget
My spell succeeded (which is good, since I wasn’t too sure it would). Kagemaru woke up within an hour, with no knowledge of what had happened. He was disoriented in that moment, so it wasn't hard for Sheppard to convince him that he wasn’t up for him role as Chancellor anymore, and he stepped down on the spot. Sheppard, now Chancellor Sheppard, made arrangements for Kagemaru to return to the mainland to recover from the “accidental injuries sustained in the collapse of the school”. Everyone affected by the Beasts’ Shadow Magic returned after they were defeated and their spells were broken, and everyone who had had their energy drained healed. Things were, more or less, back to normal.
Two years later, Kagemaru would return to work, taking a position as DA Superintendent. It would be in this position that he would stumble upon the existence of the temple under Duel Academy, and, upon further investigation, the Sacred Beast cards hidden there. Not much later, when Kagemaru’s health, which had been in part restored by the Beasts, began to fail again, he would enact a plan to gain possession of the Beasts and use their magic to restore his youth. In reality, and unknown to most people, it would be his past connection to the Beasts nagging at the back of his mind that would draw him to their power, rather than easier-to-control magics. He would use the Beasts (or rather, the Beasts would use him) to attack the island, and I wouldn’t have to lift a finger, because by then there would be a new champion strong enough to protect the island from harm.
The next King of Games.
My story at Duel Academy wasn’t over yet, however.
We finished out the year, having classes where we could. Outside, in the dorms, wherever. Meanwhile, work on the new school building began almost immediately, but it wasn’t until the next year that it was finally ready.
“It looks exactly the same,” said Thomas, his mouth full of Raisinets. He, Ria, Karen and I were standing out front, looking up at the restored building’s gleaming façade, which was, as Thomas had pointed out, exactly the same as before. The entire building was the same as before, except for the vault hidden under the school, which only a few people knew about.
“So what,” Ria replied, “it’s the same. What did you expect?”
“I dunno,” Thomas answered, shoving another handful of candy into his mouth, “but as often as this place gets attacked, I was expecting, like, defense towers or something. Or a cool moat, with alligators.”
“It’s a school,” said Karen.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “They don’t wanna scare kids away.”
“I guess you’re right,” Thomas replied, “but it still woulda been cool.”
I smiled, “Oh yeah, so cool.”
Karen sighed, “Boys.”
Ria laughed, “You said it sister.”
“Shut up,” I said playfully. “Come on. Orientation is about to start.”
Orientation was nothing special. It was held in the arena room, which had just been announced would be for the use of Blue students almost exclusively. Sheppard introduced the new year, his first full year as chancellor. Like I said, nothing special.
It was the end of orientation that was interesting.
“And now, before you all go about your business,” Sheppard concluded, “I have a special treat for you all. There are four particular students at this school whom I and others believe deserve special commendation. You all know them by now, whether by face or by name. In addition to being four of the highest ranking students at Duel Academy, they are also the four who risked their lives returning with me to the school last year, during its collapse, to help me rescue the former chancellor. I’d like them all to join me now, on the arena floor.”
Karen, Thomas, Ria and I knew that Sheppard meant us. It was the story we’d given to explain why we’d been in the school when it collapsed. We stood, and we were on our way down even before Sheppard could finish introducing us. As soon as we reached the floor, Sheppard continued.
“Now, I’d like to introduce a special guest to DA, co-founder of the school, and creator of the reason we’re all here, Maxamillion J. Pegasus!”
The crowd had been clapping and cheering for a while now, but now they went crazy. The long-white-haired genius game designer and president of Industrial Illusions stepped into the room, wearing his trademark red suite and childish, over exuberant smile. Karen lit up at the sight of her former teacher. As always I had mixed feelings when I saw Pegasus. It’s not like I dislike the guy. It’s just that I don’t like him either. He’s a little weird.
Sheppard stepped back from the podium, and Pegasus took his place.
“Hello students of Duel Academy!” said Pegasus in his usual flamboyant style. “Thank you for having me here today. I have a very special, very exciting announcement for all of you,” he turned to the four of us, “especially you.”
He turned back to the crowd, and gestured to us, “As all of you know, the entire purpose of this school is to discover greatness, nurture it, and reward it when it grows. These four students embody all that this institution represents, but even greatness cannot flourish without opportunity to help it along. I am only where I am today because I had the opportunity to get here. So I have decided to offer opportunities to these fine young people, giving them the chance to seize their futures.
“I am creating a new creative division at my company. One that is not just devoted to the continuation of Duel Monsters, but to its long-term future, its evolution.”
Pegasus turned to Karen, “My former student, I would like you to head up this department.”
“Really?” Karen asked, completely stunned. She was shaking she was so excited.
“Yes,” Pegasus replied, “really.”
He turned back to the podium, “Additionally, I have decided to start sponsoring a team of Professional Duelists, who will be funded by, and in return represent, Industrial Illusions International all over the world. For the first member of this team, I have chosen a Duelist with the type of no-nonsense spirit that helps one pave the road to success, Gloria ‘Ria’ Hernandez!”
“Who, me?” Ria asked, surprised. Then the reality of the situation sunk in, and she started jumping up and down excitedly, praising in Spanish. I couldn’t help but laugh.
This is it, I thought, my time has come. Pegasus is going to give us his backing. We’ll be able to move on and start living our dreams!
And that’s when things took a turn for the worse.
“Sadly,” said Pegasus, “Industrial Illusions is only, at this time, prepared to sponsor one additional Duelist, and as you can see, there are two young Duelists remaining here with me, so we will have to settle which of these Duelists is right to join Industrial Illusions as it marches for the future. And, of course, there is only one true way for two Duelists to settle anything, with a duel!”
The crowd roared with excitement, but I felt horrified. Duel Thomas? I wanted to fight him, but only for fun. Not over something as important as this! Thomas wanted this as much as I did. What right did I have to take it away from him?
At the same time, however, this was all I’d ever wanted. I had to do as Pegasus had said and seize the opportunity presented to me. I looked from Karen to Ria. They were watching, their eyes a little bit sad, waiting to see what would happen. I looked over at Thomas. He looked about as horrified as I felt, but I saw a spark in his eyes, and I knew that this duel had to happen.
“Well,” Pegasus asked, a mischievous smile playing on his lips, “will you two duel, or should I withdraw my offer?”
Thomas nodded at me, and I took a deep breath.
“Yeah,” I said, “we’ll duel.”
Thomas
The podium was removed from the arena. Karen and Ria stood alongside the arena where they could watch the duel, and wait for the result. Sheppard and Pegasus took a seat side by side in the front row of the stands, but I barely noticed. I was more interested in Ria’s watching eyes. I knew that a big part of her attraction to John was because he’s such a smart, strong Duelist. I would prove to her that I am too.
A ghostly image of my signature monster appeared beside me. An image that I knew only I, my friends, and a select few others could see. I glanced over at the spirit of ‘Ignis’, the last secret that I had from my new friends. After all, you don’t go around telling people that you see monsters. I’d planned to reveal my secret to my friends soon, but now seemed like as good a time as any. After all, it had been ‘Ignis’’ support that had inspired me to help Karen and Ria fight the Shadow the second time around, and was the source of my courage when facing the Sacred Beasts.
“This will be a complete duel, using the rule of eight thousand starting Life Points that people are still so fond of in America,” Pegasus explained. “There are no other special conditions. You are free to begin when ready.”
“I might not have been up to your level last year, during the Beast Attack,” I told John, “but I’ve improved since then. I’ve gotten stronger, and built a better deck, using some of the suggestions you gave me, plus some good old ingenuity. ‘Ignis’ and I are finally the strongest team that we can be, and now we can win against you.”
“Ever since the first day I saw you duel,” John replied, “back during the placement tests, I’ve wanted to duel you. I saw right away that you were strong, and I wanted the challenge. Nothing has changed, except that now we’re friends. I really mean it when I say that I hope you do well.”
I felt a wave of intensity wash over us, and ‘Ignis’ returned to my deck, ready to fight by my side. Without another word, the duel began.
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