Yu-Gi-Oh! The Gods of Balance (Chapter 8: Cards used to Harm added.)

[Merci]

Born out of boredom.

[font="Lucida Console"][center]Long ago, there existed four High Gods, above all others such as the Crimson Dragon, Zone, and even Horakhty. Their names were Bai, Hēisè, Zhōnglì, and Méiyǒu, respectfully representing Yin, Yang, Neutrality, and Nothing. They existed for balance. Without even one of them, everything would fall into chaos far bigger than any evil that can ever [b]be[/b]. And although their secret was unknown to every non-deity, there was one who found out. One with power that transcends reality. One who seeks answers that cannot be answered by anything but Gods of balance themselves.[/center][/font]

[spoiler=Prologue]
[i]Death is a natural part of life
[center]Sooner or later, all beings learn to accept it[/center]
[right]But if that part were removed, was that being truly a being?[/right][/i]

A teen, about nineteen, walked through a hallway. Every part was missing from the puzzle, every puzzle, even the very frame. Some things were confusing, others weren’t, but that was only because of memory, not because he had the piece. There were parts of him that conflicted, and there were others that didn’t. Why was that so? He didn’t have the answer, or the piece. Not even a frame to know the shape of the puzzles.

[i]Time and space make up reality
[center]No one can control them, no matter what they wish[/center]
[right]But say if one could, and did?[/right][/i]

He had gone back, and yet the answers weren’t even there. He was confused, very confused, and not even the past held the answers, the pieces to the puzzle. He had gone back, and he couldn’t even find the frame. They were as lost as a speck in the wind, every piece of every puzzle, his mother, his father, and others too. Answers were lost, but he would find the pieces, the frames, and the specks in the wind.

[i][right]To have immortality and never wither or die[/right]
[center]To be able to go back and forth in time and space[/center]
These were surely never intended to be a natural part of reality.[/i]

As he walked, he went forward, so as to see what would happen in his quest in the forward time. And then he witnessed a forward himself dance about holding a sheet of paper in his hand, although with tattered clothes. He crouched as he heard his forward self say:

“I found the frames!
[center]I found the pieces![/center]
[right]I found the puzzles![/right]
I have the answers at last!"

With renewed hope, he returned back, and for some reason donned a simple mask, a hat, and a coat. The coat was in white, the hat was in black, and the mask was in gray. He then took a clear Duel Disk which looked like it was made from crystal. Yin, Yang, Neutrality, Wuji, all power was needed. Life and Death, Time and Space, they were small compared to the very image of Yin and Yang, let alone Neutrality and Wuji. And he turned and walked into a different world, located nearby the very center of the multiverse.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 1: Ruo = Minor Character]
Ruo, he was fifteen years old, and an albino, those people with white hair. He had light skin and his eyes were as blue as the sky in the morning. He wore the Duel Academy first-year Obelisk Blue uniform, which was a blue long-tailed jacket with white trimmings, and also had the Duel Academy Duel Disk on his arm. It was another day at the Academy. The recent defeat of Chazz at the hands of a Slifer was very shocking news, but that was that. It was probably just luck either way.

When he woke up, he got up from his bed. After an hour, he was already ready for class. He had woken up early, like every day before class, and so he had plenty of time to do everything. The boys’ Obelisk Blue Dorm was the closest to the Duel Academy itself, and so the walk usually wasn’t very long. But it was difficult today. He headed for the Duel Academy through the forest, but for some reason the walk was very long.

He walked through the forest, as the road held too many people. There were bugs here and there but he just ignored them. There were others walking nearby at first, but their footsteps died over time. As he walked, he noticed the sun slowly going higher and higher, and he wasn’t making any progress. It was strange, and a strange feeling crept over him, but he tried to ignore it.

Ruo checked his watch. Half an hour had already passed and he still wasn’t there. In front of him, the Duel Academy stood, as far as before he took his walk. But when he looked back, the Dorm wasn’t there, as it was also far, so he must have made progress. But the distance had never been this far. And then suddenly thousands and thousands of [i]real[/i] Duel Monsters appeared, and floated away quickly, like they were running away from something.

Ruo had never known Duel Monsters were real, though as they passed and ignored him, a headache was slowly going over his head. He collapsed to his knee for a few seconds, but got back up, and looked forward, as he was staring at the ground during the headache. There was an orb of what appeared to be light floating there. He approached it, and then stopped. He noticed it was expanding. The orb expanded until it nearly was bigger than Ruo, and then it stopped.

All the Duel Monsters had passed by then, and then an invisible wave came from the orb, pushing back and knocking Ruo off his feet, but he just continued to stare at the orb, and then it erupted into light that blinded Ruo’s eyes for a short amount of time. He rubbed his eyes, and when he could see again, he saw a man standing in front of him. He wore a blank gray mask with no eyehole to see through, a white coat, and a black hat, like the ones cowboys wear.

He also wore a Duel Disk on his right arm that appeared to be made of clear crystal. Ruo could even see the deck placed inside of that Duel Disk, but there were no mechanics inside of it, so it had to be just display. The man looked down at Ruo like he was an insect, and walked away. Ruo was annoyed at this behavior and got up, before pointing at the man. “Hey, don’t you dare toss me aside! I happen to be a-“
“Shut up, pest.” The man said. The voice sounded like it belonged to a seventeen or eighteen year old, and it was oddly clear for a guy saying it behind a mask with holes for eyes. “You happen to be an Obelisk Blue student, and a minor character with no relation to the story. So shoo.”
“That’s [b]very[/b] insulting to someone like me.”
“Fine, we’ll have a Duel, if that’s what you wish.” Ruo blinked for a moment, and then smirked.
“What, you think you can beat me?”
“Actually yes. And also, I think I’ll add an extra surprise to the Duel.”

“Fine, but I’ll be going first.” Ruo said. He activated his Duel Disk, and was determined to end this Duel fast, as he didn’t want to be late for Duel Academy, abnormal things happening or not. His reputation as an Obelisk Blue was far more important. He first drew five cards from his deck, and the man did the same. “Draw!” And he drew his next card.

He looked at all the cards in his hand and smiled. “First, I activate Meteor of Destruction, which inflicts 1000 points of damage, in case you don’t know.” And then a meteor of flames came from nowhere and hit who Ruo had dubbed ‘Stranger’ (Stranger LP: 3000). “Then, I set a monster and two cards and end my turn.”

“And so begins my turn.” Stranger said. Stranger drew his card, but didn’t bother to work out any plan. “I activate my spell card, An Organization Member Appears, which by paying half my life points (Stranger LP: 1500), I can Special Summon an Organization XIII monster from my hand. And so I Special Summon Organization XIII The Key Counterfeit.” And then a girl about fourteen with black hair and blue eyes appeared, wearing a black coat and wielding an oversized key (ATK 2400).

“And what’s that girl going to do?” Ruo asked.
“Destroy this pathetic excuse for a world. But that comes later. I activate its effect. Once per turn, it can destroy one face-down card on the field, and so I destroy your monster.” And then the Key Counterfeit pointed her oversized key at the face-down monster, and then a beam of light shot from it, piercing the card and sending it to the graveyard.
“So much for Newdoria…..”
“Aha but that’s only one small part. Now I summon XIII Nobody Samurai.” And a humanoid-like being appeared, having a cylindrical head with six diagonal slits on the front, three on each side. Its body appeared to be covered in a grey jumpsuit with bell sleeves, and grey swords floated very close by to it (ATK 2500).
“2400 Attack? What kind of overpowered kind is that?”
“No, minor character. Its original Attack was only 1900, but when I control either The Key Counterfeit or The Key of Destiny, its Attack increases by 500. You’re in Obelisk Blue, you should be smarter than that, surely?”
“I’ve never seen a card like that before, to tell the truth.”
“True enough. Now then, Samurai, attack him directly.” The Samurai then grabbed the swords that were floating by it, and ran towards Ruo, but he just smiled.
And then Ruo declared, right before the Samurai’s attack hit, “Now I activate Dimension Wall!” And as Samurai swung its swords at Ruo, a swirly vortex appeared between them, but Samurai’s attack almost hit anyway, but not at Ruo, for another swirly vortex had appeared behind Stranger, and Samurai’s hands and swords emerged out of it, almost hitting Stranger, but then Stranger just frowned within the few seconds he had before he was hit.

“I activate my trap card, Trap Jammer, negating your trap card at no cost.” And the swirly vortex thing disappeared and Samurai’s attack hit Ruo (Ruo LP: 1500). And to Ruo’s own shock, he was hit back and knocked back onto his feet, where he almost dropped his hand cards. The attack felt real. “You’re lucky the swords only hit you with their face, not their edge. [b]Killing[/b] a Duelist during a Duel really isn’t any fun, even to me.” Ruo didn’t know what to say.
“You mean that monster is real? Then….”
“Yes. Goodbye.” And then the Key Counterfeit charged at Ruo, but he quickly activated his second trap card.
“I refuse to lose; I activate my own trap card, Metal Reflect Slime!” And then a carbon copy of the Key Counterfeit appeared (DEF 3000), made of metallic slime, and blocked the attack (Stranger LP: 900).
“You know, I’m sick of you. Let’s finish this quickly, I set two cards and end my turn.”

Ruo was still in shock, but still had the courage to duel. “Alright, my turn, d-“
“I activate my Trap card, Final Unlocked Potential!” Stranger declared. “I pay all my life points up to 1 (Stranger LP: 1) and then I can double the Attack of one monster I control, and that monster is Organization XIII The Key Counterfeit!” The Key Counterfeit raised its oversized key with both hands, before separating the hands, where two different oversized keys had appeared. One was white and somewhat angelic, while the other was black and somewhat bat-like (ATK 4800).
“….raw.”
“Now I activate my second Trap card, Last Turn!” And all cards on the field, and in both players’ hands, disappeared, all except The Key Counterfeit.
“….That’s a card I know….” Ruo muttered, and Stranger heard it.
“Indeed. And I know you know what to do. Go and summon your monster. I’ll win either way.” And Stranger laughed darkly. The laugh echoed throughout the forest, and even the trees themselves seemed afraid of him.
“Go, Marshmallon!” And Stranger stopped laughing.
“[b]What?[/b]”
“You heard me.”

And a monster that looked like it was a giant pink marshmallow with eyes and a mouth appeared. “You’re kidding me, right?” Stranger asked.
“Nope.” Ruo replied. And the oversized marshmallow charged at the Key Counterfeit. The Key Counterfeit did nothing but watch in complete and utter confusion as the oversized marshmallow floated towards it, slowly. It decided to attack, and ran towards Marshmallon, before swinging, but it was no use. The attack just passed by the harmless creature, and then the creature harmlessly crashed into the Key Counterfeit like a flung paper ball. And then it was a Draw.

“…..[b]What.[/b]” Stranger said, speechless.
“Yep.” Ruo replied, for some reason feeling like he would burst out laughing.
“Perhaps I should have anticipated a move like that. No matter, it is a draw, and so I will reward you. My name is Minerva, soon to be the God That Transcends All. I have come from a different universe to obtain the first piece of my plan, the God of Yin. She is residing in this world, and I will need her, along with three others you don’t need to bother yourself with, minor character.”
“I have a name and it’s Ruo! Stop calling me ‘minor character!’ Why do you keep calling me that?!”
“Because you have absolutely zero influence in the story of Jaden Yuki. Even if you had never existed, his path would be completely undisturbed and carry on as normal. You are but a speck in his story. Now be gone, [i]Ruo[/i], I have no more time to waste with you. I have wasted enough time here, and I have exaggerated my powers far too much, and accomplished nothing. But even so, I shall remember your name, and I shall no longer fall for tricks like this. Here, take this.” Minerva threw the Last Turn card at Ruo, and he caught it, although not knowing what to say. “Farewell, minor character! Watch as your world perishes before your very eyes!”
“What did you say?!” And Minerva darkly laughed once again as an orb of light surrounded him, and then the orb shot into the sky, before heading forward, towards only he knows where.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 2: Abandoned Dorm!]
He knew that Stranger was still on the island. He knew that Stranger was looking for something. But he couldn't look for him. He had also begun to grow increasingly annoyed, because now he could see Duel Monsters often. He usually saw them in the forest. The meeting with Stranger had taken until near-midnight. Time had accelerated while he was there. He said something about the God of Yin. . .

"Ruo," Dr. Crowler said, for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Please explain how Equip Trap cards work."

"Huh?" Ruo asked, before remembering that that wasn't Obelisk Blue-like. "It. . . it equips to a monster on the field, doesn't it?" He knew that that wasn't a proper answer as soon as he had finished saying it. Dr. Crowler sighed before turning to another Obelisk Blue student and asked him the same question.

"Equip Trap Cards do not have the 'Equip' icon that Equip Spell Cards do, instead turning into Equip Cards when they are activated, which can be during your opponent's turn like a Normal Trap Card. When activated and turning into Equip Cards, they can equip to a monster and will either boost or weaken it, depending on what it's meant to do." The student replied. Ruo felt absolutely defeated, as he hadn't payed attention at all. At least he could use the excuse that a fourth of the class was dozing off, all due to the influence of Jaden Yuki.

Jaden Yuki. Stranger had said something about Jaden Yuki as well. Maybe he knew something about Stranger. But he looked too dumb to know anything, even if he had defeated 'the Chazz'. Maybe there was someone else who knew. But that would be unlikely. Plans went around in his head about what he would do until class ended, and he hadn't settled on anything. He got up and slowly made his way outside. He was the last one outside.

-------

Ruo looked at the clock. It was almost midnight and he just couldn't sleep. Something was bothering him very badly. He checked his deck on an impulse, and all forty-one cards were there, including the Last Turn card given by Stranger. Voices went around in his deck, which were like the sounds made by mice, but he knew what they truly were. They bothered him a lot, and had been since his encounter with Stranger.

Ruo got up and decided to sneak outside. He was still in his Obelisk Blue uniform at the time. At that moment, a Duel Monster appeared to him. It was female, and wore a black dress. It had long blonde hair for a child, and also wore a hood in the shape of a bunny. It also wore boots. Ruo immediately identified it as Ebon Magician Curran. He had one in his deck, which had been a gift. Really, he never used it that much. It was only in his deck in the first place because it was a gift.

The Ebon Magician Curran floated in his way, pointing in the direction of somewhere, though he didn't know where. He tried to ignore it, but it was insistent, making small mouse-like sounds, and so he gave up and decided to follow it in that direction. It floated into the forest and Ruo followed inside. They continued on a short walk for a while. Ruo was annoyed and he had a bad feeling about this, but maybe the Duel Monster knew something.

"Where are you taking me?" He asked it. It stopped for a moment, turned to him, and made mouse-like squeaks which Ruo didn't understand. After seeing Ruo's inability to understand it, it then sighed, turned back to the destination and went again. Ruo had a bad feeling about where he was going, but he also had a hopeful feeling. He knew he had to stop Stranger from whatever he was doing.

The abandoned dorm was run-down. Its paint was almost completely gone and plants had begun to make their way inside. A few windows were cracked. He knew that it was forbidden to go inside. But the Ebon Magician Curran insisted on going inside. He knew he wasn't meant to do it. He could even be expelled if he was caught. But still he decided to go inside. He walked through the gate towards the abandoned dorm while the Ebon Magician Curran lead, and entered.

He ignored the smell of dust, as the inside was extremely dusty after having been abandoned for so long. He took out his flashlight since it was nearly completely dark, and checked the inside. It was a wreck, cobwebs were in every corner. The furniture in the area was broken. It seemed it used to be a kind of hall. The Ebon Magician Curran began muttering to itself in its squeaky voice again, and for a moment, Ruo could understand a bit.

"Stupid. . . . human. . . can't understand. . . . . . . . . .shadow games. . . ."

At that moment, Ruo noticed carvings on the wall. He shone his flashlight onto it. On it were Egypian hieroglyphics with images of strange items, all of which had an eye on them. Just what were the students who used to stay here thinking. . . .?

He then noticed the Ebon Magician Curran making its squeaky noises again to him, and was able to discern the words 'shadow', 'spirit', and 'master'. It then turned and pointed in a direction further into the abandoned dorm, before going towards it, and Ruo followed. As it went, it began to go faster and faster, and Ruo had to increase his pace until he had to run to keep up with the Ebon Magician Curran, who seemed more anxious by the minute.

Ruo lost track of his surroundings until the Ebon Magician Curran finally stopped and said something like 'Here'. He looked around. They seemed to be in a cave-like area, which had a big space in the middle made of metal. There were rock pillars around the space, and Ruo then knew that it was a kind of arena. The students must have been insane to duel in a place like this, or whatever they did here.

The Ebon Magician Curran entered the arena, before turning to Ruo, which probably meant he was supposed to enter as well. He walked up onto the arena and checked the space around it. He noticed that there were odd lines on it, which probably formed a symbol. What could have possibly driven the students to create something as insane as this?

A screech then filled the arena. Ruo took a step back, as it seemed to come from the center. The Ebon Magician Curran also seemed surprised and followed Ruo. Darkness erupted from the center, and the sheer force from it blew back both Ruo and the Ebon Magician Curran into a stone pillar.

"What was that?!" Ruo gasped. He turned to the Ebon Magician Curran. "Want to tell me just what this place is?!"

". . . Shadows. . . . master. . . . darkness. . . don't know. . . ."

Ruo figured from the words he was able to discern that the owner of the Ebon Magician Curran was one of the students who disappeared in the abandoned dorm, and it was probably due to 'shadows'. It probably didn't know what that wave of darkness was, either. He had an odd feeling he knew who the owner was. He turned back to the unleashed darkness which began to fill the entire room. He decided it wasn't a good idea to stick around, and turned back towards the exit, but it was enveloped in the darkness. His flashlight didn't work.

"Master! Master!" The Ebon Magician Curran cried happily, and the voice was completely clear now. Ruo looked to where it was calling, and saw a guy who looked a few years older than him. He wore the Duel Academy senior Obelisk Blue uniform, which was basically the same as the first-year one, only inverted, as in white with blue trimmings. His hair, which was dark red, reached towards his shoulders. His eyes were onyx, and his skin looked pale, extremely pale. "Are you OK, Master?!"

The guy smiled. "Of course, Curran." He said. "Glad to know you haven't forgotten about me."

Ruo then recognized the guy. He was Kisho.

- - - - -

"You OK?" Ruo asked Kano, who was his cousin. "Look, I'm sorry about your friend. . . ."

"No, that's OK." Kano replied, though his eyes were red and sore, and looked as if he was about to burst into tears. He then took out a card, which was Ebon Magician Curran. "I heard you'll enroll at Duel Academy soon. This card was found somewhere in the forest after Kisho disappeared. He may have dropped it on his way back to, or from, his dorm. After his mysterious disappearance, I've decided that I don't really want to duel anymore."

"Wait. . . you mean. . ."

"Yes. I'm leaving Duel Academy. . . . So here, take this card."

Ruo looked at the card. He didn't have much use for such a weak card, but it would be absolutely heartless to just say no. "Alright. . ." He said, and took it. He'd have to find some use for it.

- - - - - -

Ruo had thought that by 'the dorm', it meant the ordinary Obelisk Blue male dorm. He had never connected it with the abandoned dorm, as the two thoughts had never coincided before.

"So you're Kisho?" He asked. "How'd you disappear? Kano quit dueling because of that."

Kisho then noticed Ruo at that moment and turned to him in a cold, ruthless manor. His eyes glowed red. The Ebon Magician Curran, which was at that moment about to hug Kisho, flinched and retreated back towards Ruo. Kisho laughed coldly.

"Did he now? Poor guy! Kano was always a coward!"

"But- but you and him were best friends. . . ." Curran, as Ruo had finally accepted it as a being on its own terms, said, in a shaky and fearful tone. It couldn't believe that Kisho had just said that. ". . . . how could you say that. . . .?"

"Hah! As if!" Kisho retorted. "He was a coward and a fool! Couldn't do anything without me! Hah!"

". . . . Kisho!" Ruo replied. "How can you possibly say that?! You go and disappear, leaving Kano in despair, and you call him a coward and a fool?!" His anger rose and he clenched his fists as if he was about to punch Kisho in the face. "I will never forgive you!"

"It seems that we cannot agree with each other." Kisho replied in an absolutely heartless tone. "Very well! I challenge you to a duel! But not just any duel, because this will be a Shadow Game, and the loser loses their soul! Not only that," The Ebon Magician Curran card, which had a blank image, then flew out of Ruo's deck and was suspended above the two. Curran then disappeared in a flash, and reappeared inside the blank image, which was animate, as Ruo could see Curran banging on the boundary between the card and the real world, if this was it. "But the winner gets to keep Curran!"

"Fine then!" Ruo said, and activated his Duel Disk. "I'll defeat you, win back Curran, and prove to you that Kano isn't a fool!"

Kisho thrust his left arm forward. A standard Duel Academy Duel Disk appeared on it, only it was entirely black. A huge demonic grin then began to appear on his face, which slowly distorted.

"Duel!" They said simultaneously.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 3: Duel! Kisho versus Ruo!]
Both players drew five cards from their deck.

"I'll go first, draw." Kisho said coldly, eying Ruo as he drew his next card. "I activate the spell card Card Destruction, which allows me to throw away my entire hand, before I have to draw new ones."

He then inserted his entire hand into the Graveyard zone, before drawing five more cards from his deck.

"I activate the spell card Pot of Pure Greed. When there are at least five cards in my graveyard, I can draw three cards from my deck." He continued, before drawing three more cards from his deck. "Now I summon Doomsday Horror in Attack Position." A horrible dark gremlin-like creature with two small imp wings and fiendish green eyes then appeared in front of Kisho (ATK 0).

"Now I activate the Continuous Spell Card Dimension Distortion from my hand, which allows me to inflict 300 damage to you whenever a card is removed from play."

The sound of a small crack could be heard above Ruo, but he couldn't see it at all, as it seemed to be invisible. "Then I set three cards and end my turn." Three face-down cards then appeared on the field behind the Doomsday Horror.

"My turn, draw!" Ruo declared, and drew his next card. He frowned at his hand cards. They were perfect for his ultimate strategy, but the card vital to the strategy wasn't in there. He swore under his breath. "Fine, I summon Newdoria in Attack Mode!" A reddish reptilian monster then appeared on the field, which wore gold and onyx rings around its body, and a big one to cover its chest, along with another one to shield its eyes (ATK 1200). "Now, Newdoria, attack his Doomsday Horror!"

The reptilian monster then lunged at the gremlin-like creature, making a growling sound.

"I activate my first trap card, Ultimate Offering!" Kisho declared. "Now by paying 500 life points, I can Normal Summon a monster at this moment! So I normal summon Prometheus, King of the Shadows!"

A red aura covered him for a moment, and he appeared to be in pain (Kisho LP: 3500). Then a monster appeared next to the Doomsday Horror. It was mostly in shadows, though its arms looked muscular, flames covered its most of its shadowed face, and it wore golden bone-like armor and a dark purplish cape, instead of legs was only shadows, meaning its entire body was composed of shadows (ATK 1200).

"I activate the effect of Prometheus! When it is Normal Summoned, I can remove from play any number of Dark monsters in my graveyard to increase the Attack of it by 400 for each one!"

"But you don't have any Dark monsters in your-" Ruo began to say but then stopped. "Oh, card destruction."

"Yes. . . and EVERY card sent to the graveyard by that effect was a Dark monster! So that means the Attack of Prometheus becomes 3200!"

"And Doomsday Horror's Attack is equal to the number of removed from play Dark monsters times 300, meaning it becomes 1500."

Ruo muttered. He felt like swearing again. Doomsday Horror was weak, and yet he couldn't suicide Newdoria into it because that would leave him near-defenseless. "And with five removed from play monsters, Dimension Distort-"

From above Ruo came a big crack, and then pain went through his left arm, as if a sharp knife had been planted into it. He tried to endure the pain, and then it went away as quickly as it came (Ruo LP: 2500). "Then I cancel Newdoria's attack. Instead, I set two cards and end my turn." He then continued, though a bit more heavily than necessary. Two more face-down cards then appeared, this time behind Newdoria.

A big grin appeared on Kisho's face again. "Now it's my turn again, draw!" He said in a darker tone than before, and drew his card. "I activate my other two face-down cards, both of whom are continuous trap cards, Destructive Life and Replay! Destructive Life lets me destroy a monster I control, and then I can gain 500 life points! Replay, on the other hand, lets me return a card on the field to my hand only once per turn, and I gain 200 life points! So with Destructive Life, I destroy my Doomsday Horror!"

The gremlin-like creature then exploded into thin air, and a dark aura appeared around Kisho again, only its movement was an inversion of before (Kisho LP: 4000). Then moans could be heard which echoed throughout the darkness, before fading away.

"When Doomsday Horror is destroyed, all removed from play Dark monsters are returned to the graveyard!" Kisho continued. "And now I activate the effect of Replay, to return Prometheus back to my hand!" The King of the Shadows then disappeared in the exact same way it appeared, and Kisho added it to his hand. He was then surrounded by the same dark aura from Destructive Life (Kisho LP: 4200). "Now I summon Prometheus once again, and then remove from play all the monsters in my graveyard!" Then the King of the Shadows appeared on the field once more, and then its Attack increased as all six monsters in his graveyard, including Doomsday Horror, filled it up (ATK 3600). "And now, Dimension Distortion!"

Ruo took a step back as if he could dodge the Dimension Distortion, but then he felt the pain again, this time in his chest, and more intensified. He collapsed to his knees and grasped his own chest to endure the pain. (Ruo LP: 700). "Urgh. . . ." He muttered, getting back up as the pain started to lessen.

Kisho laughed coldly at Ruo's pain, which then reminded Ruo of Curran. He looked up at it, and noticed its picture wasn't moving, and Kisho checked as well. "It seems our princess has went to sleep." Kisho said, in a more humane tone. "She isn't suited to watch a duel like this." He then noticed Ruo again and switched back to his dark persona. "But of course, she isn't even suited to look at you! Hah! I activate the effect of Ultimate Offering again, so I normal summon the Gemini monster, Shadow Delver!"

Kisho was covered in the same aura as last time (Kisho LP: 3700), and then a monster appeared on the field, completely cloaked (ATK 1500). "Now I activate Ultimate Offering once again, and now I Gemini Summon Shadow Delver!" He was covered in the aura once again (Kisho LP: 3200), and then the monster began to be surrounded by a dark reddish glow. "With its effect, I can select a Level 4 or lower monster I control, and that monster can attack you directly! Which is none other than Prometheus, King of the Shadows! Hah!" The Shadow Delver then turned to the King of the Shadows, and then an intense dark aura covered it, and then it began to levitate in the air. Ruo couldn't help but fear what was going to happen next.

"Prometheus, King of the Shadows, attack directly!"

And the powerful shadow monster shot like a bullet at Ruo, but he was prepared.

"Activate trap card, Dimension Wall!" He declared, and a purple vortex appeared between him and the King of the Shadows, and it entered the vortex. There was another vortex in front of Kisho, and the King of the Shadows emerged from it, still about to attack.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card, Dark Wall!" Kisho declared and played a card from his hand. "It allows me to negate damage dealt to me and then increase my life points by the same amount!" A wall made of dark glass then appeared between Kisho and the Shadow King. The Shadow King passed through, but the resultant attack powered up Kisho (Kisho LP: 6800).

He looked at Ruo. "For a first-year, you are powerful." He said, in the same humane tone as Curran was involved, but quickly changed back into his dark cold tone once more. "But not powerful enough! I will spare your Newdoria for now! Now, draw your last pathetic card, newbie! Turn end!"

The pain in Ruo's chest was still there, and so he was still a bit shaky. He looked at the card on top of his deck. If it wasn't [i]that[/i] card, then he would have no chance of winning. He was betting 1/40, a very slim chance. But then he remembered how Kisho called his former best friend a coward, and how he had just imprisoned Curran, and last of all, he was the only one who knew about Stranger. Stranger was a far worse threat than this loser. [i]I can beat him! I can [b]win[/b] this![/i]

"My turn," Ruo said, faltering a bit, but he was determined. "DRAW!"

He had closed his eyes because he was still a bit unsure, but then he opened them, and there it was, [i]the[/i] card, his trump card. The card that was the key to victory. His soul, and his queen, [i]Volcanic Queen[/i].

"Kisho!" He declared. "It's time to say your prayers! I tribute your Prometheus, King of the Shadows, to summon my Volcanic Queen, [b]IN ATTACK POSITION!!!!!![/b]"

[b]"What?! Tributing [i]my[/i] monster?! That's against the rules!"[/b] Kisho said in disbelief.

"No, it isn't! Because I'm summoning it. . . to your side!"

Prometheus, the King of the Shadows was then consumed by an inferno pillar of fire. The inferno pillar blazed, and Kisho could feel the precise heat from it. Then the pillar of fire began to change shape into a serpentine one. Wind from seemingly nowhere came by and blew out some of the fire, revealing its grey body underneath. Two bat-like wings emerged from it, and it gave out a cry as the flames intensified (ATK 2500).

"Aha! So it's like Lava Golem!" Kisho said, realizing. "But I won't let you do it! I activate the effect of Destru-"

"Hold on!" Ruo said. "If you don't like it, then I'll just take it back! I activate my second trap card, Remove Brainwashing,

which returns ownership of all monsters on the field, meaning I get my queen back!"

The Volcanic Queen then flew up, its flames being able to light the darkness revealing that they were still inside the cave on the arena. It passed by the Curran card, which woke it up. The picture blinked for a moment before rubbing its eyes. The Volcanic Queen then dived back down, before stopping next to the Newdoria. It had left a trail of flames in the air which soon disappeared.

"Now I activate my spell card, Flame Spirits!" He continued, and then activated a card from his hand. Then two flames in a humanoid shape appeared. "It allows me to summon a Flame Spirit token onto the field, and when one is sent to the graveyard, you'll take 300 damage! But that's not the main thing. Volcanic Queen, attack his Shadow Delver! [b]Blazing Stream![/b]"

The Volcanic Queen then shot at Shadow Delver, which wasn't given a moment to retaliate, and it was absolutely disintegrated. The Volcanic Queen then turned before it could crash into Kisho and went high into the air again. Kisho had caught a small fire from its tail which began to burn his left arm but he put it out before it could spread and burn his entire deck (Kisho LP: 5400).

"Not done yet! Newdoria, attack directly!"

The Newdoria then charged at Kisho, and punched his face, which sent him flying into something, which was probably a stone pillar. A crack could be heard and the supposed stone pillar broke and fell down (Kisho LP: 4200).

"[i]STILL NOT DONE![/i] I activate the effect of Volcanic Queen! Once per turn, I can send another card I control to the graveyard to inflict 1000 points of damage to you! So, I'll send one of my Flame Spirit Token out, which will deal to you [i]EVEN MORE DAMAGE! FEEL THE HEAT! Volcanic Queen, Burning Flame![/i]"

The Volcanic Queen then ate one of the Flame Spirits, before looking at Kisho directly in the eye. It then opened its mouth. Kisho opened his own mouth as if to swear very badly, but then a pillar of blazing fire came out of the Volcanic Queen's mouth which engulfed him entirely. The picture of Curran turned away to avoid the scene. He screamed from the pain of the flames, but Ruo knew that he deserved it. The flames were then blown up by another wind out of nowhere, and a weak Kisho was still standing (Kisho LP: 2900).

"Finally, I set a card and end my turn." Ruo said, finally satisfied. "Volcanic Queen needs a monster during the End Phase to sustain itself, so I'll send my Newdoria away, because you may try to use it against me." The Volcanic Queen then completely engulfed Newdoria in its mouth before turning back to Kisho.

Kisho, despite everything, was still in his dark persona, and laughed coldly again, before looking at Ruo with a completely inhuman look. "My turn. . . . draw!" He drew the card from his deck as if it was a bomb about to explode. "I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw. . . two cards!"

[i]He's lost it,[/i] Ruo thought.

"I activate the continuous spell card, Temple of the Kings!" The darkness around them them transformed into that of the inside of a temple, with a tomb behind Kisho. "It allows me to activate trap cards straightaway. So, I activate the spell card Return from the Different Dimension! I'll pay half my life points. . . and then I can special summon as many removed from play monsters as possible!"

A dark aura surrounded him and he winced in the pain, but he shook it off easily (Kisho LP: 1450). Then a huge vortex appeared in front of Kisho, and five monsters jumped out. One looked like a rose, only it split into two parts, and the rose part was wilted, while the other part was full of thorns, which was alive and well, it was an Evil Thorn (ATK 100). Then three warriors that looked the same appeared, all of them wore wooden samurai-like armor with metal here and there wearing a red scarf around their face and wielding swords around two meters long, these were Armageddon Knights (ATK 1400). The last monster to come out had long grey hair and wore a purple mask to conceal its face, along with wearing purple robes, which was Chaos Necromancer (ATK 0).

"First, I activate the effect of the three Armageddon Knights!" Kisho continued, his voice now sounding like that of a demon. "When one is summoned, I can send a Dark monster to my graveyard, so I'll send three The 13th Graves to the graveyard!" The three knights pointed their swords towards the ground before stabbing it. Cracks came from where they stabbed, and three low moans could be heard. "Then I activate the effect of Evil Thorn! It allows me to tribute it, and then I can inflict to you 300 points of damage, before two more can be Special Summoned, though with their effects negated! Unfortunately, I will only have space for one!"

The Evil Thorn then launched itself at Ruo and he braced himself as he was hit, and pain went throughout his body as he was hit by the thorns (Ruo LP: 400). Then another Evil Thorn sprouted from where the dead Evil Thorn was, and ran to Kisho's side (ATK 100). "Finally, I activate the effect of Chaos Necromancer! Its Attack is equal to the number of cards in the graveyard, meaning 1800 ATK!"

The Chaos Necromancer was surrounded by a powerful dark aura, and then in the air all six dead monsters appeared above it, Prometheus, Shadow Delver, the three 13th Graves, and the Evil Thorn (1800 ATK). Ruo said nothing. Kisho, on the other hand, was completely consumed in trying to win.

"AND NOW I ACTIVATE THE EFFECT OF DESTRUCTIVE LIFE [i]FOUR TIMES[/i]!" He declared. "That will raise Chaos Necromancer's ATK to 3000, and then I'll [i]destroy[/i] your PATHETIC QUEEN, AND [i]WIN THIS DUEL![/i]"

"Not so fast!" Ruo said. "I activate my trap card. . . ." But Kisho wasn't listening at all.

"[i]I TRIBUTE MY EVIL THORN AND THREE ARMAGEDDON KNIGHTS![/i]" He continued, and laughed maniacally. And one by one, his monsters exploded, and as each one exploded, Chaos Necromancer's ATK rose, until it hit 3000 ATK. Kisho's arms then rose into the air, as if to accept the coming heal.

Instead, he exploded. Four times. The first time he exploded, he blinked in complete shock, and it was so great, he didn't feel the pain from the explosion, or notice he was flying in the air. The second explosion happened while he was still in the air, and it threw him into the ground. After the third explosion, his body was thrown into the air again, and began shaking, wonder what was happening, and muttering 'WHAT. . . ?'. And after the final explosion, which threw him into the ground harshly, he realized that Ruo had played a trap card, and that trap card was none other than Bad Reaction to Simochi, which converts all healing into damage (Kisho LP: 0).

Ruo watched as the temple around them quickly faded away, revealing the cave arena. The Ebon Magician Curran card descended to the ground, but Ruo caught it before it could hit the ground. The picture then exited the card and out came Curran, who then turned to its former master. Kisho struggled to get up, and when he did, though with his legs wobbling, he smiled, a human smile. But then he began to slowly fade away, starting from the feet.

"Master!" Curran called and was about to race towards him, but he held out his hand in a way that meant 'stop'. By then, both of his legs had faded.

"Curran, it is too late for me." He said. His entire dark persona was gone now. "This guy, whoever he is, he's a strong

person. I thought I would never rest in peace, but now. . . now, I can. It is time for me to depart." Kisho's fading away slowed at his chest and then his arms began to fade as well.

"Kisho. . . ." Ruo began, though he didn't know how to put it. "Kisho. . . have you ever seen a man who wears a blank mask, a cloak, a hat, and a crystal duel disk?"

At this, Kisho's face darkened. "Him?" Kisho asked. "He came here once. If you want to know where he is, he's around the volcano now. . . ."

Kisho groaned for a moment as his entire chest then faded away. Curran looked as if it was about to cry.

"Which reminds me. . . . you haven't told me your name yet. What is it?"

"Ruo. Ruo [b]Yu[/b]ketsu."

Kisho smiled as he heard it, and then his entire body was gone. Curran was still sniffling but it wiped away its tears before returning back into its card. Ruo then turned and walked out of the abandoned dorm.

When he exited the dorm, he looked around. No one had seen him, so he wouldn't be expelled. It was still five hours until day, but Ruo knew going back to sleep wasn't an option. He turned to the direction of the inactive volcano and began to walk. Stranger was waiting.

[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 4: Battle over the Volcano!]
Ruo blinked. It was extremely hot.

His mouth was taped. Something was holding him up in the air by the collar. And he also happened to be above a volcano, which was very much active.

"Hotaru, do not drop him." Stranger, who was standing on the ground before the crater. He sighed and shook his head. "This is all my fault. I should never have bothered with him. Now he's a lunatic on the chase, and look, his existence is starting to get noticed. He even has [i]two[/i] Duel Spirits on him."

"So what should I do with him, master?" Hotaru, who was probably the thing holding him in the air, asked in a feminine voice.

"I don't know. But now that he's like this, it would be a pity to dispose of him. He's become the guardian of the god of Yin, even if he is more of a Yang. . . . Hmm. . . . ."

"Master?" Hotaru then asked. "Why don't we just kill him? It's not like his death will kill us."

"That. . . ." The Tao King began, before stopping to think for a moment. "Let's let him decide, with a [i]children's card game.[/i]"

Hotaru let go of Ruo as she began to say something, but caught him before he could fall close enough to die of the heat. Ruo hated being captured like this. One moment he was bravely walking to the volcano in order to defeat Stranger once and for all, the next he's being held up in the air by the collar above a very much active volcano. Then from the lava came two short bursts which threw lava into the air. The lava then hardened into two separate rock platforms which floated in the air, and Ruo was thrown onto one, after the tape over his mouth was taken off, which hurt him. Plus the heat from the quickly-hardened lava surprised him and he jumped to his feet, while careful not to fall.

He was then able to look at Hotaru. [i]He[/i] was actually a [i]she[/i], and [i]she[/i] wore the senior Slifer Red uniform, which made no sense, because all girls who entered Duel Academy were supposed to be automatically entered into Obelisk Blue, due to the lack of other female dorms. The senior female Slifer Red uniform consisted of a white top with red trimming, a red miniskirt, and fiery red boots. She herself had tan skin and short red hair, which was very messy. She was also floating in the air with no support, and then Ruo noticed that by his angle he could see her white-

And then flaming infernos burst from the volcano which threatened to burn Ruo right there and then, and it was very real, so unlike a Shadow Game, where the attack only hit your soul, it was as real as logical reality. So he turned away quickly and focused on the lava below him, and Hotaru made her descent onto her own rock platform. She mouthed something, which Ruo guessed was 'I am [i]so[/i] going to incinerate you later'.

Hotaru then turned to Stranger, and she was obviously bothered.

"Do we have to play Duel Monsters?" She asked.

Stranger only nodded, in such a way that it made his decision absolute, if that was possible. She sighed and looked back at Ruo. They activated their Duel Disks and drew five cards from their deck.

"Duel!" They said simultaneously.

"I'll go first." Hotaru said, slowly, as if Ruo's intelligence wasn't high enough to comprehend it if she said it fast.

"Draw!" She then added another card from her deck into her hand. "I set a monster and a card and end my turn."

Face-down cards, one horizontal and one vertical, appeared floating in front of her.

"My turn, draw!" Ruo declared, and drew his card. "I summon Newdoria in attack mode!"

Newdoria then appeared floating in front of Ruo (ATK 1200).

"Now, Newdoria, attack her face-down monster!" He continued, and the reptilian monster lunged at the face-down monster, which revealed itself to be a girl with black skin wearing a stone dress and tiara, with long hair literally on fire (DEF 200).

"I activate the continuous trap card, Backfire!" Hotaru said, and the face-down card behind the falcon opened up. "Whenever a fire monster I control is destroyed, you take 500 points of damage!"

The Newdoria managed to destroy the eagle-like beast, but then a small spark appeared on Ruo's right hand, burning it a little. The small burn didn't bother him much, though (Ruo LP: 3500).

"It seems like everyone is using Burn decks. . ." He muttered to himself, before putting his attention on the duel again. "I set two cards and end my turn!"

Two face-down cards appeared floating behind Newdoria.

"Now, it's my turn, draw." Hotaru said, and drew her card. "I activate Blaze Accelerator! Once per turn, I can discard a Pyro monster with 500 or less ATK from my hand to the graveyard, and then destroy a monster you control. But then I cannot attack this turn, but that doesn't matter. I discard Tender of the Laval Volcano to destroy your Newdoria!"

A machine then appeared in front of Hotaru which looked like a three-legged camera, only it had a long rod coming out of the camera. As Hotaru discarded a card from her hand, a flame entered the back of the Blaze Accelerator, which then fired a bullet of flame at Newdoria, piercing and destroying it.

"Now I activate the effect of the Tender." She continued. "When it is sent to the graveyard while there is already a Laval monster inside, I can send another Laval monster to the graveyard. So I'll send a third Tender of the Laval Volcano. And that one will send Laval Miller."

Two small flames appeared in front of the Blaze Accelerator, before disappearing.

"Now that there are over three Laval monsters in my graveyard, it allows me to Special Summon Laval Burner from my hand. So go." A pillar of lava rose up from the volcano, before rearranging itself into a vaguely humanoid shape. The lava then cooled down a bit, and then it formed a rock golem with burning arms and literal flaming hair (ATK 2100). "Then I normal summon Laval Lady of the Burning Lake."

Another monster then appeared floating on the field next to the Laval Burner. It looked like the monster earlier destroyed by Newdoria, only its clothes looked less like stone, and it had a sad face (ATK 200).

"Now I activate the effect of the Laval Lady." Hotaru continued. "When there are three or more Laval monsters in my graveyard, I can remove one from play to destroy a set card you control. So I remove from play one of my Tenders to destroy that set card of yours on the left."

The Laval Lady thrust her hands forward, and a small fireball came from them, which then destroyed one of the face-downs Ruo had set, which was Dimension Wall. Ruo had expected that she was finished since Blaze Accelerator didn't allow her to attack, but he was wrong.

"I now activate the quick-play spell card Searing Fire Wall, which allows me by removing from play Laval monsters from my graveyard to Special Summon Laval Tokens of the same amount. So I'll remove both of my other Tenders to Special Summon two Laval Tokens."

Two small flames rose from the volcano next to the Laval Burner, and they took a babyish humanoid shape (DEF 0).

"And what's that supposed to achieve?" Ruo asked, not seeing the point, but Hotaru grinned.

"Did you know that my Laval Lady is a Tuner monster?" She asked him.

"Tuner monster?" Ruo replied. "What on earth is a Tuner monster?"

"A Tuner monster is pretty much a card that tunes in with other cards, so that a Synchro Summon can be conducted. Do you understand me?"

Ruo blinked.

"Then I'll show you.

[i]From the glimmering pyre, the ember-bright aura will ignite the ashes of the fallen stars. Starshade blaze of the vermilion blizzard! [b]Synchro Summon! FIRE DRIVER! Lavalval Dragon![/b][/i]"

As she chanted, the Laval Lady separated into three balls of fire, and the two Laval Tokens turned into balls of fire as well. The two balls which were once Laval Tokens circled around the three flaming balls of the Laval Lady which were circling themselves, and then a pillar of flame engulfed them all, before it disappeared (3 + 1 + 1 = 5). Then, where the five balls of fire once were, was now a dragon made of mostly cooled down lava, although some parts were still extremely hot (ATK 2000).

Ruo was taken off-guard, very off-guard, and he began to take a few steps back, before stopping when he felt no ground behind him.

"Synchro [b]WHAT?![/b]" He said, mostly to himself, but Hotaru ignored him.

"I then set a card and end my turn." She ended. A face-down card appeared behind her Blaze Accelerator.

Although he still mostly didn't understand about Synchro Summons, and didn't know what the resulting monster was capable of, he decided that it was no reason to be afraid.

"Draw!" He said, and grinned when he saw what he drew. "I tribute your Laval Burner to Special Summon my queen, Volcanic Queen to your side of the field!"

The Laval Burner was consumed by a flame, before being replaced by the same almighty burning serpentine monster Ruo had used against Kisho (ATK 2500). Hotaru, though, wasn't surprised or shocked or anything like that.

"So you're going to fight fire with fire?" She asked. "That hardly affects anything."

"I activate the Equip Spell Snatch Steal!" Ruo continued. "It allows me to take control of a monster you control, at the cost of you gaining 1000 life points during each of your Standby Phases. And now, Volcanic Queen, return!"

The serpentine monster dived down until it could nearly touch the lava of the volcano, before flying back up until it was in front of Ruo.

"Then I activate the spell card, Flame Spirit, which allows me to Special Summon two Flame Spirit Tokens to the field, and whenever one is removed, you take 300 points of damage!"

Two flames in a humanoid shape then appeared next to the Volcanic Queen (ATK 300).

"Now I activate the effect of the Volcanic Queen! By sending a card I control to the graveyard, I can inflict 1000 points of damage to you! Now, since I'm sending one of my Flame Spirit Tokens, you'll take 1300 points extra! Now, Volcanic Queen, Burning Flame!"

The Volcanic Queen then ate one of the Flame Spirits, before looking back at the confident Hotaru. It then opened its mouth, and then a pillar of blazing fire came out of the Volcanic Queen's mouth which engulfed Hotaru. But when the pillar disappeared, Hotaru was still standing, and she didn't seem in the least hurt (Hotaru LP: 2700).

"The flames cannot harm me." She explained. "Fire is my friend. Even though your so-called queen has a mind of its own, it uses the same fire that is my friend."

"Well, I wouldn't worry about that, then." Ruo replied. "Volcanic Queen, destroy her Lavalval Dragon now, go! Blazing Stream!"

The Volcanic Queen then shot at its Synchro counterpart, leaving a trail of flame in its path in the air, but then Hotaru activated her face-down card.

"Activate face-down, Negate Attack!" She commanded, and then a red swirling thing shielded Lavalval Dragon from the attack, before forcing the Volcanic Queen back into its original position.. "It negates an attack before immediately ending the Battle Phase!"

"Since I have nothing left to do, I end my turn." Ruo said. "Volcanic Queen needs a monster during the End Phase to sustain itself, so I'll send my other Flame Spirit Token away." The Volcanic Queen then completely engulfed the other Flame Spirit Token in its mouth, and then a small flame came from it as it was engulfed, which hit Hotaru (Hotaru LP: 2400).

"My turn, draw!" Hotaru said, and drew her card. A green aura covered her due to Snatch Steal's effect (Hotaru LP: 3400).

"Now I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two more cards."

A greenish pot with a face on it appeared in front of her, before exploding. Hotaru then drew two cards from her deck.

"I summon Laval Cannoneer in attack position!" She declared.

In front of her then appeared a rock muscular humanoid monster with blue skin and several machine-like attachments made of rock around its body, the most noticeable of which was the huge cannon which replaced its left arm (ATK 1600).

"When Laval Cannoneer is summoned, I can Special Summon one of my removed from play Laval monsters." She explained. "Now, I Special Summon one of my Tenders of the Laval Volcano!"

The same monster which was earlier destroyed by Newdoria then reappeared on the field next to the Cannoneer (ATK 100).

"Now then!

[i]From the glimmering pyre, the ember-bright aura will ignite the ashes of the fallen stars. Starshade blaze of the vermilion blizzard! [b]Synchro Summon! FIRE DRIVER! Lavalval Dragon![/b][/i]"

The same process as last time repeated, only the Tender turned into a single ball of fire while the Cannoneer turned into four (1 + 4 = 5). After the process ended, a second Lavalval Dragon appeared next to the first one (ATK 2000).

"How's that going to defeat my Volcanic Queen?" Ruo asked confidently. "ATK is ATK, and the ATK of my Volcanic Queen is higher than that of your two dragons."

"Perhaps so." Hotaru replied. "But they do have effects. I activate the effect of my first Lavalval Dragon! By returning two monsters in my graveyard, which will be my Laval Cannoneer and the earlier Laval Lady, I can return a card you control back to your hand. So say sayonara to your queen! Lavalval Dragon, [i]Reverse Burn![/i]"

The first Lavalval Dragon charged up a ball of flames in its mouth, before firing it at Ruo's Volcanic Queen. It was hit, and was sent back until it nearly knocked Ruo off his platform, before disappearing and returning to Ruo's hand.

"Now I have no monsters to defend myself with. . ." He muttered to himself.

"Lavalval Dragon number one, attack him directly! Lava Blast!" Hotaru commanded, and the first Lavalval Dragon charged up another ball of flames, and fired it at Ruo directly.

"Not so fast! I activate my face-down, Defense Draw!" Ruo said, and drew a card from his deck as hard as he could, and a shield of yellow energy was generated which shielded him from the first Lavalval Dragon's attack. He took a breath in relief and saw that the card he had drawn was Ebon Magician Curran, but he knew there was nothing left to shield him from the second Lavalval Dragon.

"You're wide open now! Lavalval Dragon number two, attack directly! Laval Blast!"

This time, all Ruo did was crouch down and hold the end of the rock platform that was facing the duel tightly. The second ball of flame hit him, and immense heat engulfed him. It felt even worse than falling into a volcano. It threatened to knock him off his platform, but he held on tightly, and endured the immense flames, and then it was finally over. He took some more deep breaths and got back onto his feet, though still wobbly (Ruo LP: 1500).

Hotaru laughed coldly for a moment before resuming her turn. "Now I set a card and end my turn." She said. "How will you get out of this one, guardian?"

Ruo ignored her. "Draw!" He said, and drew his card. It was a card he knew about but never actually owned, or put in his deck. It was odd, but that didn't matter. "I summon Ebon Magician Curran in attack mode!" A flash of light blinded him for a moment, and then there was Curran, floating in front of him (ATK 1200).

"Your first Duel Spirit is now on the field." Stranger said from nearby. Ruo had forgotten all about him, having been too focused on defeating Hotaru. "But how do you expect it to destroy the Lavalval Dragons?"

"Exactly." Hotaru said, crossing her arms. "A weak monster like that is no match for my Synchro monsters. You as an Obelisk Blue should know that."

Curran began to make frustrated squeaky noises, and for a moment Ruo wondered why he couldn't understand it, until he realized that it wasn't saying everything, just saying random gibberish in anger.

"I know that." Ruo replied. "But I have another card in my hand, and that card is Trial of the Princesses! I activate it, equipping it to Ebon Magician Curran!"

Curran then suddenly lost her anger, and instead became very focused, as if ready for anything (ATK 2000).

"Now, Curran, destroy Hotaru's first Lavalval Dragon!"

She then darted towards the first Lavalval Dragon, who charged up a ball of flame in its mouth. It shot it at Curran, but Curran dodged it. She was then within range of the Lavalval Dragon, and attacked. Lavalval Dragon shot another ball of fire which hit Curran this time, but Curran managed to land a hit which sent Lavalval Dragon back. Curran heaved a breath as the Lavalval Dragon fell into the volcano, dead, but then Curran closed its eyes and began to fall herself.

But before she reached the bottom, a shadow figure wielding a small staff with an orb at the end appeared. The shadowy figure pointed its staff at Curran, and it froze in mid-air. Curran opened its eyes again to look at the shadowy figure, and then it began to approach it. The shadowy figure held out its staff, and Curran, unsure, took it. Curran was then enveloped in a light as the shadowy figure faded away. When the enveloped light went away, it looked a bit older, and wore a more royal dress though still black, with a medal at its neck, along with a bunny-like crown thing. It wielded the staff given to by the shadowy figure, and on its face was a look of confidence (ATK 2000).

"Huh?" Hotaru asked, with no idea on what just happened. Ruo too was a bit confused, because he didn't have that card which was now on his Duel Disk in his deck. But then he laughed.

"You see," He began to explain. "Trial of the Princesses is what it is, a trial. Curran was the subject of the trial, and it succeeded in the trial when it managed to defeat a Level 5 monster, and so it gained the right of the title 'Princess'. This here now, this is Princess Curran!"

Hotaru didn't seem to get it, but then she pointed at Ruo. "Backfire, go." She commanded. Ruo had forgotten about it, and then a small flame appeared on his right hand, which burnt it a little, but it didn't bother him much (Ruo LP: 1000).

"Well, anyway," He continued. "Go! Princess Curran, destroy her remaining Lavalval Dragon!"

Princess Curran pointed its staff at Lavalval Dragon, and a black laser came from it. Lavalval Dragon retaliated with a ball of fire, and the two attacks passed by each other, before hitting their respective targets, and both were engulfed by each other's attacks, and both defeated each other. Another small fire then appeared on Ruo's right hand again, burning it a little again (Ruo LP: 500).

Hotaru crossed her arms. "Now you can't do anything." She pointed out. "In my next turn, I'll draw a monster, and attack you directly for win."

"But I know your deck now, more or less." Ruo replied. "The majority of the monsters in your deck have low ATK. But I admit that I'm gambling here. Turn end."

"Draw!" Hotaru declared, and drew her card, but then frowned. "Lucky you. I set a monster and end my turn."

A face-down card appeared floating horizontally, and then Ruo grinned himself.

"My turn, draw!" He said, and drew his card. "I summon Power Breaker in attack mode!"

A fiendish humanoid monster wearing some kind of armor then appeared on the field (ATK 1900).

"Now, Power Breaker, attack her face-down mon. . ." He began, but then stopped. "No, I'd rather not. Backfire and all. Turn end."

"I'll draw again." Hotaru said, and drew her card. "I flip summon my Kayenn, the Master Magma Blacksmith."

The face-down monster then flipped face-up, which looked like an experienced muscular man wielding a hammer (ATK 300).

"Then I summon another Kayenn."

Another Kayenn then appeared floating next to the other one.

"We're ending this now!" Hotaru then declared suddenly, in a tone which caught Ruo off-guard.

[i]"From the collapse of the vanished universe, the rail of a searing aura will ignite the ripple of a new cosmos. Spire of inferno that burns across the demiurge of a new universe! [b]Exceed Summon! FIRE CROSSER! Lavalval Ignis!"[/b][/i]

As Hotaru chanted, the scenery warped for a moment into that of outer space, and the two monsters turned into two separate balls of fire like the ones used for the earlier Synchro Summon, but they didn't circle around each other (Rank 3). Instead, they rose into the air, and a huge pillar of lava between them from the pit of the volcano, striking the middle of a swirling vortex in the middle of the field above the active volcano. The pillar of lava cooled, and Ruo watched as Hotaru stacked her two monsters on her Duel Disk together before putting her Exceeded monster on top. It was even odder than Synchroes.

The pillar of lava cooled down into a pillar of rock, but then it was blown apart as if something was inside. The space scenery faded away as the pillar crumbled back down into the volcano. Then it was revealed that an entity was trapped inside. It had a humanoid shape and wore extremely big and heavy black armor, and the only revealed parts were its hands and head, all of which were flames with only vaguely humanoid features, and thus it was safe to assume that under all that armor was a spirit of fire itself (ATK 1800).

Ruo was even more taken aback by this, but quickly regained his cool. "It has only 1800 ATK points." He pointed out. "You can't beat Power Breaker with that."

"[I]'That'[/I] happens to be the bloody spirit of this very volcano!" Hotaru replied, rather harshly. "Usually, it would have stayed dormant for a few more years, but you have forced me to awaken it early! Insulting it will do no good! Now, Lavalval Ignis, attack his Power Breaker! Inferno Fist!"

Ruo blinked for a moment, but then decided to see how things would turn up. Ignis launched itself at Ruo's Power Breaker, ready to destroy it.

"Now I activate the effect of Ignis!" Hotaru said. "When it battles, I can remove an overlaid monster from it to increase its ATK by 500 until the End Phase!"

[i]Overlaid?[/i] He asked himself, but then remembered the stacking. [i]Oh! The stacked monsters![/i]

And he was correct, as he saw Hotaru take one of the Kayenn cards below Ignis on her Duel Disk, and send it to the graveyard. Ignis's fire, or rather true body, flamed higher for a moment and one of the two balls of fire which had been following it disappeared (ATK 2300).

It crushed Power Breaker right there and then, and the force from the attack knocked Ruo off his platform, but he managed to grab onto the edge, before pulling himself back up, starting to feel exhausted (Ruo LP: 100). Hotaru laughed as she saw Ruo holding on with only a bit of life points left, but stopped when she heard what Ruo said next.

"I activate the effect of Power Breaker!" He declared then. "When it is destroyed, I can destroy a spell or trap card on the field! So then, I destroy your Backfire, allowing me to continue destroying your Pyro monsters without trouble!"

A dart from where Power Breaker once was passed by Ignis, and then pierced the continuous trap card, destroying it.

"Hmph." Hotaru said. "Now that Ignis has awoken, it won’t be long before this volcano erupts. But that doesn’t matter, I'll just end my turn."

"What?!" Ruo said, but then decided to resume the duel "Draw!" He then drew his card, which was Pot of Greed. His future depended on the next two cards he would draw. He knew it. "I activate Pot of Greed which allows me to draw two cards from my deck!"

He then drew two cards from his deck with his eyes closed.

“So I’ll have to beat you in a duel to stop this volcano!” He said, but Hotaru shook her head.

“No. If you defeat me while Ignis is still active, still on the field, then what does that achieve?” She replied.

He considered her words as he held out the cards he had drawn in front of him, and in order to see the next two cards he had drawn, to see the cards that would determine his future . . . opened his eyes.

He grinned.

[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 5: Continuing]
“I activate the spell card, Fusion Reborn!” Ruo declared. “By discarding a card from my hand, it allows me to Fusion Summon using monsters in my hand and graveyard! So I discard Volcanic Queen!”

He took a card from his hand and discarded it, which happened to be Volcanic Queen.

“Now, go!” He continued. “I fuse Princess Curran and my just-discarded Volcanic Queen, to Fusion Summon. . .”

He thrust his left arm into the air.

“Come forth, [I]Volcanic Rider Curran![/I]”

A swirling portal of flame appeared in front of Ruo, with its center pitch-black. It swirled faster and faster, accelerating until it was at the speed of sound, and then the head of Volcanic Queen emerged, but it wore onyx armor. As the rest of its body emerged, it turned out that Princess Curran, who was now wearing a black knight’s armor though still with her crown, was riding on its back. Around the armored Volcanic Queen’s neck was a chain which Princess Curran used to control it (ATK 3100).

Hotaru took a step back. “What. . . .?” She muttered.

“You see,” Ruo began to explain. “Volcanic Rider Curran’s original ATK is 600, but it gains the ATK of its FIRE Fusion Material, which can be just about anything, so I just used Volcanic Queen.

“But that card. . . It wasn’t in your extra deck!”

Ruo paused for a moment, and wondered why himself, but then he shrugged.

“Ah, who cares?” He said. “So long as I save the world! Now, Volcanic Rider Curran, attack her Lavalval Ignis! [I]Blazed Inferno Stream![/I]”

The Volcanic Queen then instantly fired powerful stream of blazing infernos from its mouth at Ignis, and then the Princess Curran fired a dark laser from its staff which hit the stream and increased its power.

“Lavalval Ignis, counter it!” Hotaru commanded.

Ignis fired itself at the coming supercharged blast. It punched both its fists into the stream, and it was somehow able to hold its own for a while with its own strength, though it was slowly being pushed back.

“I remove its other overlaid monster to increase its ATK by 500!”

The other ball of fire which was still behind Ignis disappeared, and the flames of Ignis blazed further a bit, increasing its power, and it began to resist the Volcanic attack better(ATK 2300).

“Now I activate the effect of both Kayenns, who are now both in the graveyard!” Hotaru declared. “By removing them from play, I can increase the ATK of all Laval monsters on the field by 400, and so that equals 800, equalizing the strength of our two monsters!”

The flames of Ignis blazed even further to the point that Ruo had to squint his eyes to see the rest of the battle (ATK 3100). Ignis then dived into the stream that was pushing against him, and went through it before it appeared at the other end and entered the mouth of the Volcanic Queen. Curran, who was riding it, wondered what was happening inside, until an explosion came from within the Volcanic Queen which presumably incinerated everything in its range. Where it once was, was now a ball of black smoke which had yet to clear.

For a moment, Hotaru grinned, but then all of a sudden a still-intact Ignis, though without its armor, was thrown out of the smoke with surprising speed, and crashed into her platform. She had no time to gasp as it hit her head-on, and knocked her off her platform, but she grabbed onto the edge in time (Hotaru LP: 300).

“What the hell?!” Hotaru shouted, who began to pull herself back onto her platform. “What the hell was that?!”

“It was the effect of Volcanic Rider Curran.” Ruo replied. “Whenever it destroys a monster by battle, it inflicts to the opponent the ATK of the destroyed monster.”

Hotaru, when her head went over the platform, realized that there was still something inside the black smoke. As it cleared, she realized that it was small, and then she knew very well what it was. It was Ebon Magician Curran, all well (ATK 1200).

“What’s that weak little monster doing there?!” Hotaru shouted as she continued to pull herself onto her platform. Ruo wondered why she didn’t just levitate back onto it.

“Well, the final effect of the Volcanic Rider is that when it’s destroyed by battle, Ebon Magician Curran can be Special Summoned from the graveyard! And now, it’s time to end this duel! Ebon Magician Curran, [b]attack directly![/b]”

As Hotaru was halfway pulling herself back onto her platform, Curran pointed its two hands at her. A black blast came from them, and before Hotaru could completely pull herself back onto her platform, she was pushed off completely from the attack (Hotaru LP: 0). Luckily, she was pushed far enough to land outside the crater, though the fall down would have hurt.

And rolling down the volcano as well.

And probably those spiky trees at the bottom as well.

And was that a pond?

. . . Ouch.

Stranger clapped. “So perhaps you are powerful,” He said. “And so perhaps you have earned the right to live. Unfortunately, I have come up with an idea while you and my Fire servant fought.”

“Fire servant?” Ruo asked. He noticed his platform was slowly heading down towards the end of the crater behind him, which would allow him to get off.

“Of course.” Stranger replied. “I have six servants, each one corresponding to an element, and each one working for me. They are all undercover on this very island, but I doubt that you would manage to find any of them.” He laughed darkly for a moment before starting to glow. “But I must admit, you are no minor character. I did some research on you, and it turns out that you have ‘Yu’ in your name.”

“How does that affect anything?!”

“[b]Yu[/b]gi Muto. Jaden [b]Yu[/b]ki. [b]Yu[/b]sei Fudo. [b]Yu[/b]ma Tsukumo. And then there’s you, Ruo [b]Yu[/b]ketsu. Your encounter with me has awakened your destiny, but I have seen my own future! No matter what you do, I shall succeed in obtaining the god of Yin! [b]Major character[/b] or not, I shall obtain [I]OMNIKNOWLEDGE![/I] Prepare yourself, Ruo Yuketsu, as my five other Elemental Seekers search this island inside and out! Stand in their way, and you will be crushed! The god of Yin is not here in this volcano, as Hotaru managed to confirm before you came, but there are still five other places where it could be residing!” He laughed darkly once more as he turned into an orb of light, and then it shot into the sky again before disappearing.

- - - -

[I]A week later. . .[/I]

Ruo was starting to grow anxious. He had looked all around the island, but found no possible clue to the identities of the Elemental Servants, or the true location of the god of Yin. His Duel Spirit, as Stranger had called it, Curran, was sleeping at all times, and he had no idea which one of his cards was his second Duel Spirit.

He was inside his room, sitting at a desk opposite his bed. His entire deck, forty-three cards now with the addition of Trial of the Princesses and Princess Curran, was put out in front of him on his desk. The spell cards were put at the top, the trap cards were put in the middle, and the monster cards were put at the bottom, in three separate lines and sorted in alphabetical order. His extra deck, which so far only contained two monsters, which the addition of Volcanic Rider Curran, was put out at the end of his monster cards line.

He considered which card was his second Duel Spirit. It couldn’t be Volcanic Queen or Newdoria, because Stranger would have been bound to make a comment when he summoned them. He wondered if spell and trap cards could be Duel Spirits, but that seemed unlikely, although Metal Reflect Slime would make sense. His deck was themed mostly around burning and keeping Volcanic Queen in control while defending himself. He needed to find out something, so he set out.

It was after 6 o’clock, so the sun was already almost gone. He looked around, not sure what to do, and decided to walk around the island once more to try his luck and see if he would discover something. He headed into the forest the opposite direction to the Duel Academy.

The forest seemed somewhat quiet, quieter than the last few times he had been there, though not as quiet as when Stranger was around. He continued to walk, while looking around anxiously, and then a shadow caught his eye.

He turned, and saw nothing, but then he noticed leaves falling off a tree. He ran towards it, and then looked up to it.

“Hey, I know you’re up there!” He called. “Show yourself!”

For a moment, nothing happened, and he began to consider whether it was just his insanity, but then a figure fell to the ground. The figure was a female about the same age as himself, with green hair that matched the forest around them, and had light skin, and green eyes. She wore a lime-green cloak with a zipper that went from top to bottom which stopped at the end of her waist, and white shorts, along with wooden sandals.

“I’ve shown myself.” She said calmly. “Now what do you want?”

“Are you an Elemental Seeker?!” Ruo demanded.

“Why are you being so hostile? All I have done is jump from tree to tree and, using the device that man gave me, search for the energy he wants so much.”

“Then you [I]are[/I] one! You’re in league with [I]him[/I]!”

The girl sighed. “There you go again. [I]Calm down.[/I] My name is Caam, and yes, I am a Elemental Seeker. I came from a future where nature has been wiped out entirely by technology, but [I]he[/I], as you so emphasize, offered to send me to the past so I can collect the necessary items to restore nature, and all I would have to do in return is find what he seeks using a simplistic device he gave me.”

“But- but- he’s evil! He’s going to destroy the world!”

Caam sighed again.

“Perhaps,” She replied. “But I have more than enough justification to do this job. And besides, only he can take me back to my world.”

Ruo scratched his head for a moment.

“I won’t let you!” He then said.

Caam simply shook her head and ran up the tree, seriously, as if it was just another part of the horizon. From there, a shadow jumped from it to a tree further into the forest, and went on further and further.

“Hey, come back here!” Ruo called, but she was already too far to be heard.

He decided to chase her. He ran deeper into the forest, searching for a jumping shadow, but he saw nothing. He continued on running, determined to find her, while looking in all directions as he ran. He almost hit a tree once.

He continued on running for a few more minutes deeper, until he saw her, standing in the middle of a clearing in the forest.

“There you are!” He called out, and entered the clearing. He saw that she was holding a circular device which had a screen on it, though he was too far to see what was on it. She turned to see him again, but wasn’t surprised.

“I thought it was here.” She said, still calm. “But it turned out that I was wrong. That man said that there were six different locations on the island that could be the possibly location of the energy he was looking for.”

“That energy you call happens to be the god of Yin, and terrible things will happen if he gets his hands on them!”

“God?” Caam asked, and laughed, though lightly. Ruo hadn’t heard any humane laugh in a while, and it calmed him down a bit. “I’m afraid I don’t believe in gods. I believe that our man believes that the energy source he’s looking for is a god, like the ancient belief of Taoism as entities but I don’t believe that myself. What I do believe in is that the ’god’ he believes he’s looking for is actually a powerful source of energy.”

“Well, so what [I]is[/I] here, then? What could pass as a powerful source of energy?”

“Fifth Dimensional Entities. You call them ‘spirits’ or ‘ghosts’, but in my time, there’s a scientific explanation for them. There should be a ‘string theory’ existing in this dimension, am I right?”

“Yes,” Ruo replied. “About there being ten dimensions, instead of four, but I don’t get-”

“Exactly.” Caam replied, and clapped. “So you are more intelligent than the average person. And that’s it, spirits and ghosts came from the fifth dimension. Do you understand now?”

“I- I guess I do.” He replied. For a moment, he forgot about what he was doing there, but then he remembered again. “But that’s not going to stop me! I’m going to stop you before you can continue your search!”

“. . . with a children’s card game. I was surprised when I found out that this game existed a [I]millennium[/I] years ago, and that it originated over [I]five millennia[/I] ago. The only scientific explanation I can think for this is that the game is so addicting that it would probably never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, [I]ever[/I] stop, until entropy ends at the end of infinity, or zero. Infinity and zero are the same thing, really.”

Ruo had tried to count how many ‘Ever’’s she said, before giving up after thirteen. “Infinity and zero being the same thing makes no sense.” He said at last.

“You wouldn’t be able to comprehend it.” She then turned to leave.

“Hey, wait! The duel! Stopping you in your tracks and all!”

She turned back to him. “Fine. If I win, you lose your soul, but if you win, I will stop my search and instead focus my energy on hiding out until I can find a way to leave this island, and then from there contribute in inventing time travel, and return to my time. It shouldn’t change too much from what I know, because humans are [I]bound[/I] to wipe out nature.”

“Uh. . .” Ruo trailed off for a moment, but then he remembered the duel once more. He activated his Duel Disk, and then Caam pulled up her left sleeve, revealing that she wore a watch-like device which held her deck. A teal energy beam came from it and kept its shape in a half-circle. Ruo assumed that this was the Duel Disk of the future.

“Duel!” They said simultaneously.

[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 6: Hurricane]
Ruo LP: 4000
Caam LP: 4000

“I’ll go first!” Ruo declared. “Draw!”

He drew his card, and then looked at his hand for a moment.

“I summon Ebon Magician Curran in attack mode!” On the field in front of him then appeared the ordinary Curran (ATK 1200). “Then I equip it with the equip spell card Trial of the Princesses!”

He took a card from his hand, and then activated it. Then, Curran on the field became more focused on the duel (ATK 2000).

“Then I set a card and end my turn.”

Ruo LP: 4000
Caam LP: 4000

“Draw.” Caam said calmly, and drew her card. “I summon Gusto Thunbolt in attack position.”

On the field then appeared what looked like a wolf, only its eyes were purple, it wore copper armor, had a yellow horn like that of a unicorn on its head, and emitted electric sparks from its body (ATK 1500).

“Then I activate the card Foolish Burial, which allows me to send a monster from my deck to my graveyard, so I’ll send my Gusto Egul.”

As Caam activated her card, what looked like a greenish baby eagle appeared on the field for a moment, before disappearing.

“Now, Gusto Thunbolt will attack your Ebon Magician Curran.”

“So it’s probably like Hotaru’s Ignis. . .” Ruo muttered, but Caam heard him and shook her head.

“Incorrect.”

The wolf-like monster lunged at Curran, but Curran pointed her arms at it, and dark magic sent it flying towards Caam, but it disappeared before it hit her (Caam LP: 3500).

“You said something about Hotaru.” She said. “So you defeated her? I thank you for that, because she was always rushing into situations.” She then focused on the duel again. “Now, my Battle Phase has ended. The effect of Thunbolt activates, allowing me by removing a Gusto monster from my graveyard, which will be Egul, I can Special Summon a Wind Psychic-Type monster from my deck with 1500 or less DEF. So I special summon Reeze, Whirlwind of Gusto.”

Then from where Thunbolt had earlier disappeared emerged a girl. It had braided green hair and wore a red headband, and held a stylized black staff which had a jade diamond between a kind of ‘C’ at the end of the staff (ATK 1900).

“Now I activate the spell card Double Summon,” Caam continued. “It allows me to normal summon a second time this turn. So I normal summon Gusto Gulldo.”

Then, besides Reeze, appeared a babyish eagle with greenish feathers wearing lime-green armor with spikes around it (ATK 500).

“Now I activate the effect of Reeze, Whirlwind of Gusto. By returning a card in my hand to the bottom of my deck, which another Gusto Egul, I can switch control of a monster you control with a Gusto monster I control. So I’ll switch my Gusto Gulldo for your Ebon Magician Curran.”

Reeze pointed its staff at Gulldo, and then a greenish aura began to cover it. It then pointed at Curran, and the same aura covered that. Then a flash of light came from the jade diamond on its staff, and when the light disappeared, the two monsters Gulldo and Curran had switched places.

“I set a card and end my turn.”

Ruo LP: 4000
Caam LP: 3500

Ruo had not planned that he would lose his Curran, but he would get it back soon enough.

“Draw!”

He looked at the card he had drawn, and grinned.

“I tribute your Reeze in order to summon my queen! Come out, Volcanic Queen!”

Reeze was then consumed by flames which then transformed into Volcanic Queen, which let out a piercing cry (ATK 2500).

“Now, I activate my set card, Remove Brainwashing, which returns all monsters to their rightful owners!”

Volcanic Queen then sped towards Ruo, and the Gulldo given to him began to return to Caam, but he didn’t let that happen.

“I activate the effect of Volcanic Queen, sending Gulldo to the graveyard in order to inflict 1000 points of damage to you! Go, Volcanic Queen, Burning Flame!”

The Volcanic Queen jumped up like a fish and then engulfed Gulldo, before firing a ball of fire at Caam, which passed by Curran and hit her (Caam LP: 2500). Curran then began to fly back to Ruo.

“Activate trap card, Fake Ownership.” Caam said. “It allows me to select a monster on the field, and then I will be treated as the owner, and the card switches to my control, if it isn’t already, until my End Phase.”

A contract then appeared in front of Curran, which blocked it from Ruo, and then the contract began to advance, forcing Curran to return back to Caam’s side of the field.

“Now the effect of the Gulldo you so careless swept away. It allows me to Special Summon, when it is sent to the graveyard, a Level 2 or lower Gusto monster, so I special summon Gusto Falco.”

Then from within the Volcanic Queen’s mouth emerged another green-feathered bird, this one looking like a falcon, which wore metal armor. It hurried to Caam’s side (DEF 1400).

“Well, anyway! Now, Volcanic Queen, attack Curran! Blazing Stream” Ruo commanded, which shocked Curran. It looked in horror as the volcanic beast darted at it, leaving its trail of fire.

“Not so fast.” Caam said calmly. “I activate my other set card, Spiritual Wind Art Miyabi, which allows me by tributing a WIND monster I control to return a card you control back to your hand, so I tribute my recent Gusto Falco.”

Caam’s second face-down flipped up, and then heavy wind came from it, which ripped apart the Gusto Falco. The heavy wind continued until it hit Volcanic Queen, throwing it backwards, but it returned to Ruo’s hand before he was hit by it. Curran, although it was helped by its enemy, seemed a bit relieved, but Ruo tried avoiding its face.

“I activate the effect of my Gusto Falco.” Caam said. “It allows me to Special Summon, when it is sent to the graveyard by any way except by battle, a Gusto monster in defense position, so I will special summon another Gusto Falco.”

Another green-feathered babyish falcon then appeared on the field (DEF 1400).

“Fine, then I’ll tribute Cur- no, your Falco for Volcanic Queen again, and Remove Brainwashing will get it back.” Ruo said, and the Gusto Falco, which had earlier escaped from the stomach of the Volcanic Queen, erupted in flames before turning into Volcanic Queen again, which instantly flew back to Ruo’s side (ATK 2500).

“And with that, I activate the effect of Gusto Falco again, special summoning another Reeze, Whirlwind of Gusto, but in defense position.”

Then a different Reeze appeared on the field, though with holding its staff in front of it diagonally to shield it (DEF 1400).

“But with Remove Brainwashing, the effect of your Reeze is now useless!” Ruo pointed out.

“I have my reasons for special summoning it.” Caam said.

“Alright, turn end.” Though to his surprise, as soon as he finished saying it, he was covered in scorching-hot flames from the Volcanic Queen. At first, he didn’t understand why, but then he remembered what happens if the Volcanic Queen’s hunger wasn’t fed, and so he endured the flaming pain (Ruo LP: 3000).

Ruo LP: 3000
Caam LP: 2500

“Draw.” Caam said, and drew her card. She made no comment on the Volcanic Queen burning Ruo, as he had expected. “Your Remove Brainwashing disrupts my ordinary strategy, but I still have other strategies I can use. I summon the Tuner monster Gusto Egul.”

Then, on the field appeared the same monster which had earlier been sent to the graveyard by Foolish Burial, which had dark-green feathers along with white fur and green armor (ATK 200).

“Now I tune together my Gusto Egul and Reeze, Whirlwind of Gusto.

[center][I]Become one with the roar of the savage hurricane. Absorb all light and become immortal. Synchro Summon. Accelerate, [b]Daigusto Sphreeze.[/b][/I][/center]

As Caam chanted, the Gusto Egul turned into a single ball of wind which began to circle around Reeze, which was turning transparent. Inside of Reeze five balls of wind could be seen. Then the Egul’s ball began to move closer and closer to Reeze during each spin, and then a tornado engulfed them all when it was close enough. The tornado blew away, and there was Reeze, but it was different. Its hair was no longer braided, letting it flow behind her back, and it was all messed up. Her clothes had transformed to be more metallic and cover more of her body, a golden kite-shaped device was attached to her forehead, and her eyes glowed an ominous red (ATK 2000).

Ruo prepared himself. It was another Synchro monster, like the one Hotaru had used. It had low ATK, but he wasn’t about to let that distract him, though he had to admit that he had nothing but the Volcanic Queen to protect him, and that tended to burn him in anger or hunger.

“Now I activate the first effect of Daigusto Sphreeze.” Caam continued. “When it is Synchro Summoned, I can add a Gusto monster in the graveyard back to my hand, and so I add Gusto Thunbolt.”

Sphreeze’s staff glowed, and then Thunbolt appeared out of the ground, before disappearing as Caam added it to her hand.

“Now I activate the quick-play spell card, Rush Recklessly. It increases the ATK of a monster I control by 700, so I increase the ATK of my Ebon Magician Curran.”

The calmness which had been around Curran suddenly broke, and then all of a sudden all it wanted to do was to charge forward, but it was held back by its own conscious (ATK 2700).

“Now, Daigusto Sphreeze will attack your Volcanic Queen. [I]Spear Rush[/I].”

Then Sphreeze began to ‘slide’ to the Volcanic Queen. It was like as if it was on an invisible skateboard, only it went faster than that. It jumped up to attack the Volcanic Queen, and the queen replied by firing a ball of fire at it, and Sphreeze had jumped directly into it. But when the fireball hit, it was reflected like light off a mirror, and hit Ruo (Ruo LP: 2500).

“The second effect of Daigusto Sphreeze is that you suffer all battle damage involving Gusto monsters.” Caam explained. “And its final effect is that it cannot be destroyed by battle. Now, Ebon Magician Curran will destroy your Volcanic Queen.”

Then Curran thrust both its hands forward and unleashed a frenzy of dark magic. Before the Volcanic Queen could retaliate, it was hit mercilessly by invisible forces, and pushed back until it nearly touched Ruo, and then it was destroyed (Ruo LP: 2300). But then he grinned.

“Now I activate the effect of Trial of the Princesses!” Ruo declared. “When Curran successfully destroys a Level 5 or higher monster by battle, I can tribute it to special summon Princess Curran, pretty much ‘evolving’ it!”

A shadowy figure holding a staff then appeared in front of Curran, and held out its staff. Curran snapped out of the effect of Rush Recklessly, and then eagerly accepted the staff, knowing what would happen. It was then covered in a pillar of light, which bended as it went up and hit the ground of Ruo’s side of the field. Then the rest of the pillar followed it, and there was Princess Curran on Ruo’s side, confident (ATK 2000).

“Meaning my destroying it was not beneficial to me.” Caam concluded. “Very well. I end my turn.”

Ruo LP: 2300
Caam LP: 2500

“My turn, draw!” Ruo declared, and drew his card. “Now the effect of Princess Curran activates, which allows it to 600 damage to you for every monster you control! Since you only control Sphreeze, you’ll only suffer that many points of damage!”

Princess Curran then pointed its staff at Caam, and a dark laser was shot from it which hit Sphreeze, before passing through it and refracting to hit Caam, but it didn’t bother her (Caam LP: 1900).

Ruo then looked at the card he drew and grinned.

“Now I tribute my Princess Curran to tribute summon Blizzard Princess, which can be tribute summoned using only one tribute if it’s a Spellcaster!”

Princess Curran was then covered in a tornado of snow which appeared out of nowhere, and then the tornado disappeared. Then, where Princess Curran once was, was now a girl who a snow-white dress and ridiculously long white socks, both with blue trims. It also wore ice slippers and had clear blue eyes and pale skin, as if it had been in the cold for a long time. Despite this, it had a smile on its face. It held a staff made of ice, and attached to the end of the staff was a chain which connected it to a big glacier behind the Blizzard Princess (ATK 2800).

“Now I activate the effect of Blizzard Princess!” Ruo continued. “During the turn it is normal summoned, the effects of all other cards on the field are [I]frozen[/I] Blizzard Princess, [I]Cold Wave[/I]!”

The Blizzard Princess held out its staff, and then icy winds began to form. The ground began to freeze and the temperature began to decrease, but that was it.

“Now, Blizzard Princess, attack Sphreeze! [I]Glacial Destroyer![/I]” He commanded.

The Blizzard Princess then held the staff as if she was about to throw it, and then swung it forward. The glacier behind her was flung forward into the air, and crushed the ability-frozen Sphreeze completely before it could retaliate (Caam LP: 1100).

“Then I end my turn!”

Ruo LP: 2300
Caam LP: 1100

“My turn, draw.” Caam said, and drew her card.

Despite the situation Ruo had put her into, she was calm, as she had been since the beginning of the duel.

“I activate the spell card Call of the Gusto, which allows me to Special Summon two Gusto monsters from my graveyard in attack position by returning four other Gusto monsters back to my deck. I return my Gusto Gulldo, Gusto Egul, and two of Reeze, Whirlwind of Gusto, to Special Summon both of my Gusto Falcos which you destroyed.”

A heavy wind covered the field, but this one was warm unlike the one formed by Blizzard Princess. Then both of the Gusto Falco which had been sent to the graveyard reappeared onto the field (ATK 600).

[center][i]"From the collapse of the vanished universe, the path of the never-ending wind will breath life into a new cosmos. The hurricane that will support the hope of a new universe. [b]Exceed Summon. Take flight, Daigusto Phoenix."[/b][/i][/center]

As Caam chanted, the two monsters turned into two orbs of winds which then spun around each other as they went into the air, and a tornado began to form around them. The tornado thickened and accelerated until it looked like an giant grey stone, and then it was released. Then, flying in the air with the two orbs of wind circling it was a massive bird. It had a very long beak and glowing yellow eyes, with an entirely black face while its lower body was scaly like a dinosaur. Its belly was green while the rest of its scales were orange. And behind it big green flames formed the shape of wings. It made a screeching sound (ATK 1500).

“Now the effects of both Gusto Falco activates.” Caam continued. “I special summon another Gusto Thunbolt and Gusto Falco from my deck, in defense position.”

Then, below the Daigusto Phoenix appeared Thunbolt (DEF 1200) and another Falco (DEF 1400), in separate gusts of wind.

“Now I tune them both together.

[center][I]Become one with the roar of the savage hurricane. Absorb all light and become immortal. Synchro Summon. Accelerate, [b]Daigusto Sphreeze.[/b][/I][/center]”

Both monsters were transformed (2 + 4 = 6) and then once again Daigusto Sphreeze showed itself (ATK 2000).

“The effect of Sphreeze doesn’t activate because I have no monsters in my graveyard anymore. However, the effect of my Gusto Falco now activates. I special summon Gusto Gulldo from my deck.”

As soon as Sphreeze had appeared, a gust of wind covered it, blowing its hair, and then from behind it appeared Gulldo (DEF 500).

“I haven’t normal summoned yet, so I will normal summon my Gusto Thunbolt earlier added to my hand by my previous Daigusto Sphreeze.”

Another Gusto Thunbolt then appeared on the field (ATK 1500).

Ruo took a step back, mainly in fear. He had been so confident that his power could achieve anything, and yet now he was about to be defeated.

“Now, I’ll Synchro Summon again.” She continued.

“[I][center]Clustering storms ravage the sky, Become the chaos that enfolds. [b]Synchro Summon. Take flight, Daigusto Gulldos.”[/i][/center][/b]

As Caam chanted, the Gusto Gulldo turned into two orbs of wind while the Gusto Thunbolt turned into four. The four orbs of Thunbolt began to circle around the two orbs of Gulldo, and then a tornado engulfed them all. The tornado blew away, and a giant green-feathered bird was revealed, flying beside the Daigusto Phoenix. It looked like the Gusto Egul from earlier, only it was fully-grown, and then as it took a spin around itself, it turned out that there was a man with green hair wearing armor and a cape riding it (ATK 2600).

“I activate the effect of Daigusto Phoenix. By removing an overlaid card from it, I can select a WIND monster on the field, and that monster can attack twice. I select my Daigusto Sphreeze. So, Daigusto Phoenix, [I]Extended Gust[/I], now.”

One of the orbs circling around the Daigusto Phoenix approached its mouth, and then the Phoenix engulfed it with its mouth before it could escape. Then the Phoenix charged up an orb of wind in its mouth and fired it at Sphreeze. It hit it, and Sphreeze was sent flying for a moment, but it quickly regained its state.

“Now, Daigusto Sphreeze, double-attack Blizzard Princess. [I]Spear Rush.[/I]”

The Daigusto Sphreeze rushed towards the Blizzard Princess as if on roller-skates, and the Blizzard Princess retaliated by throwing its glacier at the Daigusto Sphreeze, but this time, it bounced off like a volleyball and was thrown into the air (Ruo LP: 1500). Sphreeze skated back, before rushing back for a second round. The Blizzard Princess hurled its glacier at Sphreeze again from the air, but once again it only bounced off its head, and the glacier landed nearby the Blizzard Princess (Ruo LP: 700).

“Now, Daigusto Eguls, attack Blizzard Princess. [I]Hurricane Tornado.[/I]”

The Egul part of the Daigusto Eguls flapped its wings and heavy wind came from them, which began to push Ruo back, but he resisted. The Blizzard Princess struggled to throw its glacier, and then it overcome the winds and managed to hurl it at the Daigusto Eguls, which violently ripped it apart, before it disappeared (Ruo LP: 500).

“Finally, Daigusto Phoenix, attack. [I]Fiery Wind.[/I]”

Then the Phoenix shot itself at the Blizzard Princess. The Blizzard Princess hurled its glacier at the Phoenix, and it was hit, but it resisted and kept its shape, still charging. At that last hurl the chain connecting the Blizzard Princess’s staff to the glacier broke from the strain, and the Phoenix overcame the force of the glacier and kept on charging, to Ruo. The Phoenix was at last overcome and disappeared, but the glacier was still heading forward to Ruo. He took a step back and his eyes widened, and he closed his eyes, but nothing happened, even when he heard the crash (Ruo LP: 0).

He opened his eyes and saw as the cards on the field disappeared. He was OK. But he didn’t get it.

“How. .?” Ruo began.

“You have been dueling in dangerous games for so long,” Caam started. “That you did not consider that the duel you had with me was one. This duel was holographic, nothing more.”

“But I felt the pain! The pain you threw at me, and the pain I felt from the Volcanic Queen, was real!”

“You [I]imagined[/I] it!” Caam replied angrily, but then quickly realized what she had said and took a deep breath to regain her calmness. “Yes. Try not to imagine the pain when there is no cause for it, otherwise you can never enjoy a duel.”

Ruo looked down at himself, and wondered whether it was true. He thought about the duel they just had, and then realized it was. He expected there to be pain, and he acted as if there was pain, but in truth he had created the pain he had felt. He felt so stupid.

“If you cannot defeat me, then how can anyone expect you to defeat the other four Elemental Seekers?” Caam continued. “You defeated Hotaru, but I’m sure that was only due to luck. Luck helped you in this duel as well, but I overcame that with skill. You cannot draw a card every single second.”

“I- I guess that’s true.” Ruo replied, unsure.

Caam just shook her head and sighed, before taking out a card from her pocket.

“The Dark Elemental Seeker hates special monsters.” She then said. “Rituals, Fusions, Synchros, Exceeds. He hates them, he thinks that they ruin the game, so the blank Exceed card he was given by our man he later gave to me. Here, you take it.”

She threw the card to Ruo, and he caught it. He looked at it. Its frame was black with stars and light, like space, but overall it was blank, with nothing that identified a Duel Monsters card.

“How’s this going to help me?” He asked.

“When a person holds it for a while, it will turn into a card that fit’s the holder’s deck. But if the person is to relinquish it, it will turn blank again, so if they were to take it back, they would have to wait another while for it to turn back into the same card. Don‘t bother me when we next meet.”

She then turned, and walked away, before Ruo could stop her. His attention was on the blank Exceed card given to by her. He put it in his Extra Deck, though still unsure of it.

He decided that, despite the fact that she was an enemy, to take her words into account. It was time to move on.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 7: Resparked Passion]
Even so, still nothing had happened. Ruo still hadn’t changed. He was in his room again, and looked through his deck again. He had added the blank Exceed card to his Extra deck, although he wouldn’t be able to use it before it showed its adapted form. It was meant to be in the hands of the Dark Elemental Seeker, but he didn’t want it so Ruo ended up with it instead. He stared at it for a moment, as if he could will it to transform, but it wouldn’t. A week had already passed, and nothing had happened to it.

Now all the others were nervous to speak to him, including the teachers. He only reluctantly joined the classes, after all, and on any day off, he would be in his room the whole day, with his food brought to him. He didn’t care much about that, though once he wondered what Chancellor Sheppard would think of his new hostile behavior, but tossed it aside.

Which card was his second Duel Spirit? Which one? He looked through the cards in his deck at his desk, but he simply could not tell. He looked at Ebon Magician Curran, but it didn’t appear in its true form. He only occasionally saw real Duel Monsters, and only on the journey back and forth to Duel Academy. He earlier noticed that Jaden, the kid who beat ‘the Chazz’ a long time ago now, had a Duel Spirit as well, but that was none of his business. Stranger himself implied that.

Stranger.

His real name was Minerva, but Ruo never felt like calling him that. Minerva was powerful, and Ruo had only succeeded in escaping when he grew reckless and used Last Turn, a card he gave to Ruo in order to prevent himself from making the same mistake again. Ruo had a feeling that the power he witnessed was only a thirteenth of his true power, whatever it was.

It was Sunday today, meaning there were no classes. He looked at the clock above his desk. It was five o’clock PM. Then he heard a knock on the door.

“Can I come in?” A voice asked from behind it.

“Fine.” He replied, and the door opened.

In came a guy around the same age as himself, and wearing the same Obelisk Blue uniform. He had purplish hair and eyes, and on his right arm was a Duel Disk. For a moment, Ruo wondered who he was, before remembering that he was Maho, a friend of his.

“Why are you wearing that?” Ruo asked, referring to the Duel Disk.

“How long has it been since we last dueled?” Maho himself asked. “Care for a duel?”

A faint smile appeared on Ruo’s face. It had been months since he last dueled normally, Caam being an exception. This time, he knew there was no danger at all whatsoever. A duel would be fun.

“Sure.” Ruo replied.

- - - -

They were both standing on a Duel Field, a normal one. They stood in the middle of a painted wide rectangle in the middle of gym-sized room. There were other Duel Fields occupied with other Duelists, but the fact that Ruo himself was dueling had attracted attention. A group of Obelisk Blues from both the first year and beyond stood outside the field, along with a few Slifer Reds and Ra Yellows.

Ruo and Maho activated their Duel Disks, and each drew five cards from their deck. For a moment, the field around them was silent, but the silence was broken quickly by the two.

“Duel!” They declared simultaneously.

Ruo LP: 4000
Maho LP: 4000

“I’ll go first!” Maho said, before Ruo himself could say it, and drew a card from his deck. “I summon Skilled Dark Magician in attack mode!”

Then, on the field, appeared a man cloaked in brown robes and wearing large blue chest and shoulder plates over it, while also wielding a long staff (ATK 1900).

“I equip Mage Power to it, which increases its ATK by 500 for every Spell and Trap card I control! Then I set a card and end my turn!”

The armored and cloaked man spun its staff as its ATK began increasing, and then it stopped, and its staff appeared to have grown in length (ATK 2900).

Ruo LP: 4000
Maho LP: 4000

“My turn, draw!” Ruo declared, and drew his card. “I tribute your Skilled Dark Magician to summon my trump card, Volcanic Queen to your side right now!”

“Huh?!”

The Skilled Dark Magician was then engulfed in a blaze which then turned into Volcanic Queen, who gave out a cry (ATK 2500). Maho took a step back, looking surprised.

“Now, I activate the equip spell Snatch Steal!” Ruo continued. “It allows me to take control of one of your monsters, only you gain 1000 life points during each of your Standby Phases! Now, come back, Volcanic Queen!”

Then the serpent spiraled to Ruo’s side, circling him once before finally stopping in front of him.

“Now I activate the spell card ‘Flame Spirit!’ It allows me to summon two Flame Spirit Tokens on the field, and when one is removed from the field you take 300 damage!” Then in front of Ruo appeared two small flames with white holes in them for eyes (DEF 0). “I activate the effect of Volcanic Queen now! By sending a card to the graveyard, you take 1000 damage, meaning you take 1300 damage total! Volcanic Queen, go, [I]Burning Flame![/I]”

The Volcanic Queen engulfed one of the two flames, before opening its mouth at Maho. There came a pillar of blazing fire which engulfed him, but it was only a hologram so he wasn’t actually harmed (Maho LP: 2700). Maho opened his mouth as if to say something when it disappeared, but he decided against it and continued watching what Ruo would try and do.

“Now, Volcanic Queen, attack directly! [I]Blazing Stream![/I]”

The queen shot at Maho, leaving a trail of fire, but at that moment Maho activated his trap card.

“I activate my trap card, Negate Attack!” Maho commanded. “As its title says, it negates an attack, before immediately ending the Battle Phase!”

A red swirling thing then appeared in front of Maho, which shielded him from the Volcanic Queen’s direct attack, and then the fiery serpent retreated back to Ruo’s side of the field.

“Then I’ll just set two cards and end my turn.” Ruo concluded, and two face-down cards appeared in front of him, but he wasn’t done yet. “Volcanic Queen needs something to consume in order to keep it satisfied, so I’ll select my other Flame Spirit Token for that.”

The Volcanic Queen then ate the other Flame Spirit Token in its mouth, and then a small flame came from it as it was engulfed, which hit Maho (Maho LP: 2400).

Ruo LP: 4000
Maho LP: 2400

“That’s your Volcanic Combo, I guess.” Maho said. “If I hadn’t activated my trap card, then I would have lost in a first-turn kill. Now, my turn again, draw!”

He drew a card from his deck and added it to his hand. For a moment, he was covered in a greenish aura due to the effect of Snatch Steal, which increased his life points (Maho LP: 3400). He didn’t pause for a second, however.

“I activate the spell card Dark Magic Curtain!” He declared. “By paying half my life points, I can Special Summon my favorite card from my deck, only I cannot summon any other monsters this turn if I do! Come forth, the one, and only, [b][I]Dark Magician[/I][/b]!”

Then, in front of Maho appeared a dark purplish curtain which covered an area in front of him (Maho LP: 1700). The curtain rolled up, before rising into the air, spinning. Then a hand grabbed the rolled-up curtain from the inside, and pulled it off. The curtain fell to the ground, before disappearing, and then in its place was a one-of-a-kind black variant of the famous monster used by the king of games, [b]Dark Magician[/b]. (ATK 2500). The crowd around them, which had grown and had been quiet, cheered to the appearance of the famous monster

“Still using that?” Ruo asked, unimpressed. “You halved the fortune of your parents to create that deck, meaning it was born only out of money.”

Maho, however, didn’t waver in Ruo’s words.

“True, but this deck has become my soul!” He replied. “This deck is who I am, and I am no longer trying to copy the king of games, because this is [I]my[/I] deck! I have changed, Ruo, since you changed as well!”

His words stabbed at Ruo for a moment. Maho had changed. He looked around him, at the audience, and wondered how many of them changed due to his own change as well. It was all Stranger’s fault. Stranger should have no business in this duel. Maho continued.

“This duel. . . This duel is to spark the burning soul within you!”

Ruo stood where he was, and didn’t say a word. He was still trying to understand what Maho was saying. But he couldn’t. He was at a loss of words.

“I activate the equip spell card Magic Formula!” Maho commanded. “I can equip it to either a Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl I control, and that monster gains 700 ATK, so I equip it to my Dark Magician!”

A spell book appeared in the Dark Magician’s other hand, and then it opened automatically, flipping through the pages by itself. Then it began to glow, and the Dark Magician grew more focused (ATK 3200).

“Now, go, Dark Magician, attack his Volcanic Queen! [I]Dark Magic Attack![/I]!”

The magician pointed its staff at the Volcanic Queen, and then a dark ray came from it. The Volcanic Queen retaliated with a pillar of blazing fire, and the two connected. A powerful wave came from them, but the magician’s blast was winning, slowly overcoming the blazing pillar.

“I activate the quick-play spell card, Mystical Space Typhoon!” Ruo retaliated. “It allows me to destroy a spell or trap card on the field, so I’ll destroy that Magic Formula of yours!”

Ruo’s first face-down opened, and then from it came a small typhoon which shot at the Dark Magician’s spell book, and destroyed it (ATK 2500).

“But now the effect of my Magic Formula activates, which increases my life points by a 1000 if it’s destroyed!”

Then from the Dark Magician’s hand where the spell book once was came a ray of green energy which hit Maho, and increased his life points (Maho LP: 2700). Then the pillar of blazing flames coming from the Volcanic Queen’s mouth began to resist the dark ray of the magician, but then an explosion came from the center of their connected attacks, which engulfed both monsters, destroying them.

For a moment, the duelists and their audience were quiet. But then Maho broke the silence when he said, “Turn End.”

Ruo LP: 4000
Maho LP: 2700

“My turn, draw!” Ruo said. “I summon Ebon Magician Curran in attack mode, before equipping it with Trial of the Princesses, which increases its ATK by 800!”

Then, on the field in front of him, where his queen once was, appeared a focused Curran (ATK 2000).

“Attack directly!” He commanded, and Curran thrust its hands forward, before a small wave of darkness came from them which hit Maho (Maho LP: 700). “I set a card and end my turn.”

Ruo LP: 4000
Maho LP: 700

Maho was still determined, however. “My turn, draw!” He declared, and drew his card. “I activate the card Monster Reborn, which can revive my Dark Magician from the graveyard!”

Then the Dark Magician appeared on the field again in glimmering light, before breaking it as the magician put its staff beside itself (ATK 2500).

“Now, I activate the spell card Dedication through Light and Darkness!” He continued. “It allows me, by tributing a Dark Magician I control. . . .

[I][center]Dedicate yourself through Light and Darkness and evolve! Eradicate all who oppose you! [b]Advent! Appear now, Dark Magician of Chaos!”[/b][/I][/center]

As Maho chanted, waves of light and darkness engulfed the Dark Magician completely, showering it. For a moment, it seemed as if the Dark Magician had failed and was destroyed, but then when its new name was called, the waves disappeared, and there stood a more powerful Dark Magician, with its equipment transformed to be much lighter and onyx with red trims, and the crowd once again became excited (ATK 2800).

“When Dark Magician of Chaos is summoned, I can add a Spell Card from my graveyard to my hand, so I’ll add my Monster Reborn back.” The newly-transformed magician pointed its new staff at the ground, and then a ray of light shot out from the ground which headed for Maho, who then retrieved his spell card from the ray. “But I won’t activate it. Now, Dark Magician of Chaos, attack his Ebon Magician Curran! [I]Scepter Strike![/I]”

The magician spun its staff around before pointing it at Curran, and then a powerful dark ray came from it, which headed for the weak little monster.

“I activate my trap card, Mirror Force!” Ruo retaliated. “It allows me to negate your attack, and then destroy all attack mode monsters you control!”

A force-field surrounded Curran, and the ray reflected off of it, and hit the Dark Magician of Chaos, who then faded away instead of getting destroyed.

“When Dark Magician of Chaos is destroyed, it’s removed from play.” Maho said, quiet once more, before smiling. “Good thing I didn’t use my Monster Reborn. I’ll use it now to revive Dark Magician in attack mode, and then I’ll set a card and end my turn.”

Once again, the persisting Dark Magician reappeared in glimmering light (ATK 2500). Then, behind it appeared a face-down card.

Ruo LP: 4000
Maho LP: 700

“My turn, draw!” Ruo said, and drew his card. “I activate the effect of Ebon Magician Curran, which allows me to inflict 300 points of damage for every monster you control, so that means only that much!”

Curran thrust its hands forward, and another small wave of darkness came from them which hit Maho (Maho LP: 400).

“Now I activate the spell card Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards from my deck!” He then drew two more cards from his deck, before continuing with his turn. “I special summon Grinder Golem to your side of the field, allowing me to special summon two Grinder Tokens to my own side of the field in attack mode!”

From the ground next to Maho’s Dark Magician emerged a big robotic golem, with a big spiked disk through its chest (ATK 3000). Then two smaller versions of it emerged from the ground next to Curran (ATK 0).

“Then I activate the continuous trap card, Remove Brainwashing, which returns all monsters on the field back to their owners, meaning I get my Grinder Golem back!”

The Grinder Golem made its way to Ruo’s side, before turning back to Maho, and snapping its metal claws.

“You sure aren’t holding back, are you?” Maho asked, sighing. Ruo paused for a moment, but again decided to just continue.

“Grinder Golem, destroy Dark Magician now!” He commanded, and then the Golem with its massive size, launched its two arms at the magician.

“I activate another Negate Attack!” Maho said, and the same red swirling vortex appeared, which shielded the magician from the Grinder Golem’s attack.

“I set a card and end my turn.” Ruo said, and another face-down card appeared in front of him.

Ruo LP: 4000
Maho LP: 400

Maho closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them once more with determination.

“My turn!” He declared. “DRAW!”

He looked at the card he drew, but showed no signs of being impressed or disappointed.

“I activate the spell card, Sorcerer’s Declaration! It allows me to declare a card name, and then draw a card from my deck! If it’s correct, I can keep it and declare another card name, but if not, it’s sent to the graveyard!”

“Your luck won’t run that far!” Ruo said, but Maho ignored him.

“I declare [b]Dark Magician Girl!”[/b] He drew a card from his deck and grinned. He got it correct. “Now I declare [b]Different Dimension Reincarnation![/b]” He drew another card from his deck, and once more, he was correct. “I then declare [b]Sorcerer of Dark Magic!”[/b] He drew yet another card from his deck, and his luck was getting ridiculous. “Now I declare [b]Dark Magic Attack!”[/b]

He drew another card from his deck, but his grin began to disappear. “Guess my luck cannot last that long.” He said, and sent the card he got wrong to the graveyard. “But now I have enough cards! I activate Different Dimension Reincarnation, which allows me to return a monster that was removed from play by discarding a card from my hand, so I discard my Dark Magician Girl to return Dark Magician of Chaos back to the field!”

A purplish portal appeared on the field, and then the Dark Magician of Chaos emerged from it besides the Dark Magician (ATK 2800).

“And now I activate its effect again, adding Monster Reborn back to my hand again!” Once more, the chaos magician pointed its staff at the ground, and a ray of light came from it which became Monster Reborn and went into Maho’s hand. “I activate it to revive my Dark Magician Girl from the graveyard!”

Then, in glimmering light appeared a cute teenage girl with blondish hair wearing revealing blue armor along with a short pink skirt and cape, while also wearing blue boots, a metallic wizard’s hat, and a short staff (ATK 2000). The appearance of this monster caused the crowd to cheer louder than when its male counterpart appeared.

“So you’ve assembled the king of game’s magician trio.” Ruo said. “I suppose you’re thinking of destroying my two Grinder Tokens for win, but that won’t work!”

“Why do you always have to be so obvious and dull?” Maho asked, before grinning again. “I tribute my Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl!

[I][center]From the shadows of darkness the most powerful Spellcaster shall arise! Come forth from the depths! Let all who see witness the meaning of power! [b]Advent! The most powerful magician, Sorcerer of Dark Magic!”[/b][/center][/I]

As Maho chanted, the crowd became quiet again, but this time in awe. The Dark Magician Girl turned into large waves of darkness which then enveloped the Dark Magician, covering it. Sheer power erupted from whatever was inside, and then a silhouette of the Dark Magician could be seen within the large waves which were becoming transparent. The silhouette pointed its staff into the air, and the waves of darkness was drawn into it, absorbed into it, and then the magician could be seen fully.

Its armor was like its previous self, only it was more darker and stylized. Its shoulder plates were longer, and it also wore a large dark cape which reached down to the floor. It wielded a long black staff which ended in four grayish divided claw-like points which then pointed downward, touching a clear blue orb in the middle. Directly below it was a rune circle on the ground, covered with runes. The sorcerer emitted sheer power that was not to be messed with, and lightning bolts appeared around it (ATK 3200).

“What. . .?” Ruo began. “What is that monster?”

“This monster is pretty much the strongest spellcaster ever created.” Maho explained. “It needs two Level 6 or higher magicians to summon it, which is a kind of hard summon condition to meet. But enough of that, Sorcerer of Dark Magic, destroy Grinder Golem! [I]Celestial Black Burning!”[/I]

The magician pointed its staff at the machine golem, and multiple rays of darkness came from it, which then combined into one very powerful ray which shot at the golem.

“This game is over!” Ruo then declared. “I activate the trap card Magic Cylinder, which directs the entire attack at yourself directly!”

Two purplish cylindrical objects with question marks on them then appeared in front of the golem. One was meant to take the attack, while the other was meant to launch it back at Maho. The powerful ray of darkness entered the cylinder on the left, but it simply broke through and both cylinders were destroyed. The ray continued until it reached the golem, and pierced through it before disappearing. The golem then exploded (Ruo LP: 3800).

“How. . .?” Ruo began, but Maho once again grinned.

“Sorcerer of Dark Magic can negate the effect of any trap card and destroy them!” He said. “And with that, I’ll destroy that Ebon Magician Curran of yours, because otherwise its effect would kill me! Go, Dark Magician of Chaos, [I]Scepter Strike![/I]”

The other less powerful magician spun its staff around before pointing it at the weak little monster once more. A powerful dark ray came from it, and this time, it succeeded in defeating it (Ruo LP: 3000).

“Then I end my turn!” Maho concluded.

Maho LP: 400
Ruo LP: 1000

“My turn, draw!” Ruo declared, and drew his card. Despite the loss of two powerful monsters, he was grinning himself. “I activate the spell card Star Gazer, allowing me to draw a card for every card I special summoned in my last turn! Since I had special summoned my Grinder Golem and two Grinder Tokens, that means I can draw three!”

He drew three cards from his hand, before resuming his turn.

“Now I tribute both of my Grinder Tokens to normally tribute summon Blizzard Princess!”

Both mini-Grinder Golems were then engulfed in a tornado of snow which had appeared out of nowhere, which then disappeared, and where the two mini golems once were, was now the Blizzard Princess (ATK 2800).


“Volcanic [b]Queen[/b]. Blizzard [b]Princess[/b]. And since you activated Trial of the Princesses earlier, you probably have [b]Princess[/b] Curran in there too.” Maho pointed out. “Are royal girlies your theme or something?”

“When Blizzard Princess is summoned, it freezes all card effects on the field for one turn, but since there’s nothing to actually freeze, I won’t activate its effect, because I have a card to activate.” Ruo said. “I activate the equip spell card, Berserk Rush! I can equip it to a monster, in this case Blizzard Princess, and it gains 200 ATK. Not only that, but if it successfully attacks, then its ATK increases by another 200!”

“I guess you’re ignoring me now.”

The Blizzard Princess gripped firmer onto its icy staff and its happy face began to warp into something a bit sadistic (ATK 3000).

“Now, Blizzard Princess, attack his Dark Magician of Chaos! [I]Glacial Destroyer![/I]” Ruo continued, and the icy girl threw its glacier at the magician, which crushed it (Maho LP: 200). Then the sadistic look on the Blizzard Princess’s face grew deeper (ATK 3200). “Now the ATK of both monsters are the same! I end my turn!”

Ruo LP: 3000
Maho LP: 200

“Don’t suppose you could give me a break?” Maho asked sarcastically, before drawing his card. “I activate the card Pot of Greed allowing me to draw two cards from my deck!”

He drew two cards from his deck, but a small frown appeared on his face, before it turned into a grin again.

“It seems I didn’t draw cards that could allow me to destroy your princess. I set two cards and end my turn!”

Ruo LP: 3000
Maho LP: 200

“My turn again, draw!” Ruo declared, and drew his card. He was starting to enjoy the duel. “I activate the spell card Monster Reincarnation, allowing me by discarding a card from my hand to add a card from my graveyard [I]to[/I] my hand! So I discard my Burning Dragon to add Volcanic Queen back to my hand!”

A flame came from his hand and it entered the ground, before a bigger flame emerged from the ground and entered his hand.

“Remove Brainwashing is still in play, so your Sorcerer can probably only negate the activation of a trap card!” Ruo said. “So that means, if I tribute your Sorcerer for my Volcanic Queen, I’d get it back and then attack you directly for win! So I’ll tribute your Sorcerer to summon my queen, Volcanic Queen!”

Flames began to appear all around the sorcerer, which began to spread across its body, and threatened to engulf it and turn into the fiery serpent.

“Not so fast! Trap card activate, Solemn Judgement!” Maho declared. “By paying half my life points, I can negate the summon or activation of a card, and destroy it!”

Maho’s trap card flipped open, and then an old man wearing a white robe appeared in front of it (Maho LP: 100). It thrust its hands forward, and heavy wind came from them which then blew out the fires on the Sorcerer, stopping the threat of the Volcanic Queen.

“Alright. . . Then I’ll activate the spell card, Powerful Will!” Ruo said. “When a monster I control is destroyed, I can increase the ATK of another monster I control by the ATK of the destroyed monster! So, Blizzard Princess, avenge my queen!”

Flames then engulfed the icy girl’s glacier, but did not consume it, or even threaten to consume. Instead, the two somehow coexisted. The flames blazed on until it had engulfed the entirety of the glacier, and it emitted high and low temperatures which did [b]not[/b] neutralize each other, which did [b]not[/b] form close to average temperatures (ATK 5700). However, despite the massive ATK, Maho was still very confident.

“Going to attack?” He asked.

“Of course!” Ruo replied. “Blizzard Princess, attack his Sorcerer of Dark Magic! [I]Blazing Glacial Crusher![/I]”

The Blizzard Princess ran at the Sorcerer of Dark Magic and threw its flaming glacier forward with its staff and chain which threatened to crush the sorcerer.

“I activate my trap card, Bye Bye Damage!” Maho then declared. “It allows me to negate the destruction of my monster by monster, and then you take double the damage I would take, ending this duel in a draw!”

The blazing glacier hit the sorcerer, but it retaliated by hitting it with its own staff with amazing strength, which broke the glacier into pieces, and sent the largest piece towards Ruo. The sorcerer’s staff then shattered (Maho LP: 0), but the glacier piece managed to hit Ruo with double the damage it dealt to the sorcerer, and he was sent back a bit (Ruo LP: 0).

For a moment, Ruo blinked, as if he couldn’t understand what just happened. But then a wide grin appeared on his face and then he broke into laughter, with Maho following only a second later. The crowd around them wouldn’t have gotten what was so funny about, but some of them began joining in anyhow for some reason, while others left.

“Duel again sometime?” Maho asked when he finally managed to take a hold on his own laughter.

“Yeah.” Ruo replied, trying not to break down into giggles. “Next time, the winner will be decided!”

And they broke down into another fit of laughter.

[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 8: Cards used to Harm]
Ruo looked around, but there were still no signs. He was walking through a forest. Now, every day after school, he would patrol the island at night. He heard the whispers of Duel Monsters about, but he didn’t see them. The sky was dark, but the moon was light. It was a full moon today, he noticed. Why? He thought. Why haven’t I found them yet? Where on earth could they be? It’s almost been a month. . .

He had looked all around the island many times over, but still he found nothing. If he had that device Caam, and presumably the rest of the Elemental Seekers used, then that would have made everything easier, but then again, why would it take the Elemental Seekers so long if they had devices like the one Caam used? It made no sense, absolutely no sense. They should have found the god of Yin already, even though he didn’t like that thought. There must be some kind of limitation to the devices, but then how would they have known that there were six possible locations? It made no sense.

He was now at the lake. He looked around the lake, although he knew there was no possible way that a-

What was that?!

He noticed a figure moving underneath the lake, but it swam further in. He didn’t know there were fish in the lake. He ran closer to the lake and tried to spot the figure again. There it was again, and it had a humanoid shape, but then it swam below, and he could no longer see it. Forgetting all about his clothes, he jumped in and swam the figure he saw. The water was cold, but that didn’t hinder him. What did hinder him was air, and he had to swim back up for it.

When he did reach the place he could have sworn he saw the figure, he saw that there was what looked like an underwater cave. The figure must have swam into that. He swam up to the surface, took a deep breathe, swam all the way back down, and into the underwater cave. He focused on swimming through the cave, and wondered if it was an Elemental Seeker he saw. If it was, it would make sense that it would take him so long, because there might have been many underwater caves here. Hotaru and Caam had the easiest locations. He swam, but he still didn’t reach the end.

It was dark in the cave, so he couldn’t see a thing. It was pitch black, and the water was getting colder the closer he got to the end, whatever it was. For a moment, he thought he hit the end, but no, he had just accidentally hit a wall. He continued on through the underwater cave, and then he suddenly became aware of a pain in his throat. The pain was increasing, and it stabbed at his throat and chest. For a second, he wondered what it was, and then he knew. Air.

His lungs began to scream and he swam as fast as he could, but there seemed to be no end to the underwater cave, and he couldn’t go back since he was already deep in. He swam for his life, and he opened his mouth to attempt to breathe, but instead water entered his mouth, and he accidentally swallowed it. It tasted salty. He continued on swimming, and then he hit the end. A dead end. He was trapped.

He stopped swimming, and closed his eyes. Odd how his life would end here. He used the last of his energy to swim upward, as if he could faze through the ground separating him from air, and then suddenly he exited the water.

He opened his eyes in surprise and saw that there was a cave leading further in, and it was filled with air. He spat out the water in his mouth and took in the air, which felt sweet. He looked at the watch on his wrist, and saw that it was nearly ten o’clock PM. Then he suddenly became aware that it wasn’t dark in the cave, and noticed that there were candles which led the way further into the cave above the underwater cavern. They looked recently lit, no doubt due to the figure he had earlier seen.

He then remembered that he had been chasing the figure, climbed up onto the cave, and began running, though for a few seconds he was wobbly as he had been in the water for a while. He ran further into the cave, and his footsteps echoed throughout it. No doubt the one he was chasing would have already noticed him, but he had no way to escape, not with him in front of it. He continued running until he entered a room in the shape of a dome, and then he saw a blue orb on a pedestal, along with his man standing behind it.

“I was hoping you would drown.” He said. “Instead, you manage to get here, and you’re blocking my way out.”

His eyes were red, which was understandable as he had probably been swimming underwater for over an hour. He looked around the same age as Ruo, and wore a greenish robe, which was wet as he had earlier swam the same way Ruo did, was barefoot, and had messy brown hair. He also had pale skin, very pale skin, as if he hadn’t been in the sun for a long time.

Then Ruo noticed the dome room they were in, which wasn’t made of stone. Instead, it was made of blue marble which seemed to reflect the patterns on the orb, which had a kind of wavy pattern on it like a river. He also noticed that there were no candles in the room. Instead, the light came from the orb itself, which had an ominous feeling.

“I became aware of your presence when I heard your ridiculously loud footsteps echoing throughout the cave.” He said. “But enough of that, my name is Vane.”

He pronounced his name like Vaa-Nay, not that that was what was important.

“Are you one of the Elemental Seekers?” Ruo asked.

Vane crossed his arms for a moment, and looked as if he was in deep thought, before letting them hang by his sides. “So what if I am?” He asked.

“Then I would have to put a stop to your search.” Ruo replied.

Ruo prepared his Duel Disk for a duel, but Vane didn’t seem to reply. Instead, he leaned against the wall, and sighed, before he began to say a poem.

[center][I]“Ye son of Mars, come list to me,
And I will relate to ye
A great and heroic naval fight,
Which will fill your heart with delight.

The fight was between the French Frigate "Pique" and the British Frigate "Blanche,"
But the British crew were bold and staunch;
And the battle was fought in West Indian waters in the year of 1795,
And for to gain the victory the French did nobly strive.

And on the morning of the 4th of January while cruising off Gadulope,
The look-out man from the foretop loudly spoke,
And cried, "Sail ahoy!" "Where away ?"
"On the lee bow, close in shore, sir," was answered without delay.

Then Captain Faulkner cried, "Clear the decks!"
And the French vessel with his eyeglass he inspects;
And he told his men to hoist the British flag,
And "prepare my heroes to pull down that French rag."

Then the "Blanche" made sail and bore away
In the direction of the "Pique" without delay;
And Captain Faulkner cried, "Now, my lads, bear down on him,
And make ready quickly and begin."

It was about midnight when the Frenchman hove in sight,
And could be seen distinctly in the starlight;
And for an hour and a half they fired away
Broadsides into each other without dismay.

And with tne rapid flashes the Heavens were aflame,
As each volley from the roaring cannons came;
And the incessant roll of musketry was awful to hear,
As it broke over the silent sea and smote upon the ear.

The French vessel had nearly 400 men,
Her decks were literally crowded from stem to stern;
And the musketeers kept up a fierce fire on the " Blanche,"
But still the "Blanche" on them did advance.

And the "Blanche's" crew without dismay
Fired a broadside into the "Pique" without delay,
Which raked her fore and aft, and knocked her to smash,
And the mizzen mast fell overboard with a terrible crash.

Then the Frenchmen rushed forward to board the "Blanche,"
But in doing so they had a very poor chance,
For the British Tars in courage didn't lack,
Because thrice in succession on their own deck they were driven back.

Then "Brave, my lads!" Captain Faulkner loudly cries,
"Lash her bowsprit to our capstan, she's our prize";
And he seized some ropes to lash round his foe,
But a musket ball pierced his heart and laid him low.

Then a yell of rage burst from the noble crew,
And near to his fallen body they drew;
And tears for his loss fell fast on the deck,
Their grief was so great their tears they conldn 't check.

The crew was very sorry for their captain's downfall,
But the sight didn't their brave hearts appall;
Because they fastened the ropes to the "Pique" at the capstan,
And the "Pique" was dragged after the "Blanche," the sight was grand.

Yet the crew of the "Pique" maintained the fight,
Oh! most courageously they fought in the dead of night;
And for two hours they kept up firing without dismay,
But it was a sacrifice of human life, they had to give way.

And about five o'clock in the morning the French cried for quarter,
Because on board there had been a great slaughter;
Their Captain Consail was mortally wounded in the fight
Along with many officers and men; oh! it was a heartrending sight
To see the wounded and dead weltering in their gore
After the cannonading had ceased and the fighting was o'er.”[/I][/center]
.”

When Vane was done, he sighed again, and looked at Ruo.

“Such is the way of humans.” He said.

He took the orb sitting on the pedestal with his two hands and held it. The light followed it, and it glowed brighter, lighting Vane’s face, which seemed sad, before it was replaced with an insane look. A wide grin appeared on his face and he dropped the orb. It hit the ground, and a couple of cracks appeared on it, but it still managed to stay in one peace, although the light allowing Ruo to see distorted strangely. The orb began to roll towards Ruo, but before it roll past him he stopped it with his foot like a football. This time, the light, which was distorted due to the couple of cracks on it, shined on him.

“That may be,” Ruo said. He didn’t know what to make of Vane’s story, but that wasn’t going to stop him. “But not the entire world is like that!”

“Perhaps there are some who do care here and there,” Vane replied, shrugging, but still with his insane look, which reminded Ruo of the dark Kisho. “But they are few and in-between. You, as an Obelisk Blue, should [I]know[/I] that you yourself looked down on those inferior to yourself, the weak and the poor!”

“[b]I have [I]changed[/I] since then![/b]” Ruo retorted, his hands curling up into fists. [b]”Whatever person I was back then, I am not that person now! My eyes are [I]opened[/I], Vane, and the result of what you’re doing is going to create something far worse than that event in that story of yours!”

Vane’s grin faded, and he jumped over the pedestal and shot at Ruo, grabbing his neck with his left hand before pinning him to the wall. He had a look of anger, and his free hand curled up into a fist as well.

“That was no story!” Vane declared. “That was [I]reality[/I], and that was where [I]I[/I] came from!”

His hand tightened, but then at that moment Ruo kicked him away. He was furious, and so he drew a card from his Duel Disk, though why that would help he didn’t know, he just felt angry. He had drawn Meteor of Destruction, and all of a sudden a giant rock covered with flames appeared in front of him, which launched itself at Vane, and hit him, sending him flying to the other side of the dome room, while also knocking the pedestal, which was made of stone, to ground, and it broke apart. The flaming rock disappeared, and Vane seemed angrier than ever.

He launched himself at Ruo again, but once again Ruo drew a card from his deck. He felt angry, and didn’t think much about why his Meteor of Destruction became real. This time he drew Dimension Wall, and when Vane attempted to punch him, a vortex appeared between him and Ruo’s face, while another vortex appeared behind Vane, which his arm exited, and he ended up punching himself. He punched himself with such force that he sent himself spinning back, and he fell to the ground. Finally, Ruo was satisfied, and all of a sudden he felt light, as if something very heavy was taken off of him. He then put the two cards he had drawn back into his Duel Disk.

“So you’re a Psychic duelist.” Vane said, rubbing his face.

But he then got up again, and once more began to run at Ruo. Ruo drew the Meteor of Destruction from his deck again, but nothing materialized. It seemed as if it had been his anger that materialized it. So instead, he threw it at Vane, but he didn’t mean to have thrown it so hard that it cut through Vane’s cheek. It did, slicing through into his cheek. Vane stopped and kneeled on the ground, feeling his cheek. He didn’t know how deep the card had cut through his cheek yet, but Ruo did.

And then Ruo suddenly became aware of what he had done. Vane felt his cheek, and felt blood. A lot of it. His eyes widened for a moment, but Ruo only turned and ran. He wondered if Vane would be able to escape the cave himself with a cut that deep into his cheek. He had abandoned his Meteor of Destruction card, but it wasn’t that good a card anyway. Besides, it would allow him to draw the cards he needed easier. He tried not to think of Vane, and as he did, he didn’t think about air at all the journey back into the underwater hole and out.

He was horrified, to sum it all up, and he should have talked to Vane. Maybe he should have dueled him. But not actually inflicting real pain. Well, it was just a cut in the cheek, right? It was deep, but it didn’t cut through anything vital, right? That would mean he would survive, right?

But if it cut through his skull, or even through his mouth. . . .

No. He did not think of that. It was Vane who started it, after all. . . . Right? He didn’t know whose fault it was.

He then knew that he shouldn’t have abandoned Vane. He should have supported him, and maybe he would have even gained an ally. Instead, he ran like a coward.

He surfaced, but was quiet. It was still nighttime, and he made his way back to the Obelisk Blue dorm, where no one should be awake. He crept in and tried not to make a noise, and for a moment, he thought he had succeeded in not awakening anyone. He was correct, but there was someone who hadn’t slept at all, and was sitting in his room, sitting on the chair next to his desk. Maho.

“Alright, where have you been?” He asked. “I’ve been waiting for a while now.”

[/spoiler]

[Envoy of Twilight]

Holy. Crap. Epic man! Keep makin em! You've made a fan outta me. 10/10, 5 stars, bravo!
PS: Love the KH cards

[//Zeromaru//]

Nice one Merciful. Me likey.
That Last Turn card though, giving it away like that... If that was the show it would come back to bite him in the backside. Will it?

[Merci]

I dunno. Minerva threw it away because if he didn't use it, he would have won. So he gave it away to avoid making the same mistake twice, even though the original reason he put the card in the deck was so that not even people as powerful as Yugi can defeat him. So yeah, it probably would bite back at him later on.

Oh and I [i]just[/i] got my own laptop back which means I can finally work on Chapter 2.

[Merci]

After an entire year, I announce that I have done Chapter 2. . . .

. . . . And it's a near-absolute departure from Chapter 1's comedy.

[CNo.101 S.H. Death Knight]

holy a year?! well it's very good and i notice some lines where missing a ward to complete the sentence formally but even so it was fun to read. from the look of the card Ruo was using, i'll assume that deck is gorz's deck or "meteoric burn" deck lol

[Merci]

Thanks

And I'm sorry for the missing words and such. My Microsoft Office needs a product key so I have to find a crack, but until then I'm stuck with only Notepad, which doesn't correct anything.

[Merci]

Hurray, Chapter 3 is out!

Coming up next. . . . [i]Lavalval Dragon, Spirit from the Future![/i]

Will I finish this fanfic?! Stay tuned!

[CNo.101 S.H. Death Knight]

[quote name='Merciful Iliaster' timestamp='1301805559' post='5110040']
Thanks ^_^And I'm sorry for the missing words and such. My Microsoft Office needs a product key so I have to find a crack, but until then I'm stuck with only Notepad, which doesn't correct anything.
[/quote]

ah that really sux man, i would lend you mine computer for microsoft since i own 2 computers lol.

[quote name='Merciful Iliaster' timestamp='1301913603' post='5113544']
Hurray, Chapter 3 is out!Coming up next. . . . [i]Lavalval Dragon, Spirit from the Future![/i]Will I finish this fanfic?! Stay tuned!
[/quote]

you better finish those fanfics otherwise I will come to haunt you for the rest of your life!! +_+ mahahahahah!

EDIT: it actually good on the 3rd chapter, thigh there isn't really much errors in this one just a tab, like "eying" when it's "eyeing" and there was probably a little mistake in the duel that, wasn't there 2 shadow delvers that he normal summon and normal summon again with ultimate offering?

i guess Ruo's ace monster may be lavalval Dragon in next chapters i guess?

[Merci]

Um, Shadow Delver is a Gemini monster. Meaning you have to Normal Summon it again while it is on the field to activate its effect.

[Dr. Cakey]

You apparently have no idea to the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game works.

1. Minerva apparently activated Trap Jammer from his hand.
2. Minerva did not cancel his attack when Metal Reflect Slime was summoned.
3. There's already a card called Dimension Distortion.
4. The turn player chains first. So Destructive Life (that's what he was going to use, right?) would resolve first, followed by Remove Brainwashing. Unless the destruction effect of Destructive Life is a cost, in which case it wouldn't matter who chained first, anyway.
5. Instead of playing Temple of the Kings, he could just have used Dimension Fusion, since you don't mind using banned cards.
6. Kisho activates Destructive Life once, then Ruo chains Bad Reaction. That's 500 damage. He doesn't activate Destructive Life four times, and then Ruo chains Bad Reaction. Yes, I know villains get caught up with their epicz combo bcas it r funy, but it r no funy.
7. You write like Pichu if he had a high school education.
8. Yes, why not have a costless draw 3. It's a fanfic, so that means it doesn't matter, rite?
9. In the pre-prologue, your fanfic seems to be trying to prove its penis is larger than the anime's penis. no but u c my gods r more pro den yours deyre even beter den space n time k
10. The anime writing staff decided they didn't want Z-one to be a god.
11. Oh yeah, this is a Duel Academy fic, so automatic -10% off your score (if I were rating this).
12. The most pro gods in existence are going to be dealt with in some generic evil fashion by [i]this[/i] guy? roflmao j00 minor caracter lololololol

So...yeah. And you like Twilight.

[Merci]

[spoiler=My replies and justifications.]
I'm sorry, Cakey, but you appear to underestimate me. I am not writing under the official game standards, but under [i]my[/i] standards. Meaning I can warp the game into my own liking.

You truly underestimate my abilities, and I know that you do not know what I have written in the past. That insult, [b]comparing me to Pichu,[/b] I will [b]never[/b] forgive that. Don't turn a blind eye to me. But as for Dimension Distortion already existing, I suppose I have to thank you for that.

And just so you know, I'm not even serious with this fanfic. I'm just playing around with it. Just because a guy decides to write his own stuff bad doesn't mean he himself is that bad.

Oh, and I started this fanfic [b]a year ago. Do you read this? A year ago. I'm going to repeat it one more time so you can understand. [i]A year ago[/i][/b]. I was extremely bad, then. Now I'm extremely good and already working on a novel I fully intend on publishing.

And it's [b]not a Duel Academy fanfic. Or at least, it will cease to be after the next chapter.[/b]

And as for Z-one. . . I made this [b]a year ago. Do you read this? A year ago. I'm going to repeat it one more time so you can understand. [i]A year ago[/i][/b].

But I will say this to you, Dr. Cakey, do not judge a person on what you see. You did not consider the possibilities, though you may be a good reviewer, and pointed out things I didn't know, such as the existence of Dimension Distortion and Dimension Fusion.

Oh, and don't judge the Tao King (Minerva) on what you see. He's going to kill Ruo, destroy that entire universe, and win, and obtain the god of Yin. I've already established it in the Oblivion Saga (In the Roleplay Section).

And to tell the truth, I never thought of Kisho not noticing Bad Reaction to Simochi funny. I did it as a way to represent how deep he was into darkness and insanity.
[/spoiler]

I admit I'm angry with you, but I'll accept your critism. You've given me a lot to think about.

[Dr. Cakey]

[quote name='Merciful Iliaster' timestamp='1302093313' post='5118113']
I'm sorry, Cakey, but you appear to underestimate me.
[b]
"It's over, Merciful I[s]diot[/s]liaster. I have the high ground."

"You underestimate my power!"[/b]

I am not writing under the official game standards, but under [i]my[/i] standards. Meaning I can warp the game into my own liking.
[b]Which would be a tenuous but somewhat reasonable defense, except in Chapter 3 someone cancels an attack.

And does that mean Minerva really did activate Trap Jammer from his hand?[/b]

You truly underestimate my abilities, and I know that you do not know what I have written in the past.
[b]I feel like I've read something of yours before, but I'm not sure what...[/b]

That insult, [b]comparing me to Pichu,[/b] I will [b]never[/b] forgive that.
[b]"Unforgivable, unforgivable, unforgivable, unforgivable, unforgivable..."[/b]

Don't turn a blind eye to me. But as for Dimension Distortion already existing, I suppose I have to thank you for that.

And just so you know, I'm not even serious with this fanfic.
[b]You're not serious about it...and its McGuffins are the gods of Yin, Yang, Balance, and Void?[/b]

I'm just playing around with it. Just because a guy decides to write his own stuff bad doesn't mean he himself is that bad.
[b]Sure, I guess.[/b]

Oh, and I started this fanfic [b]a year ago. Do you read this? A year ago. I'm going to repeat it one more time so you can understand. [i]A year ago[/i][/b].
[b]Wait...when?[/b]

I was extremely bad, then. Now I'm extremely good and already working on a novel I fully intend on publishing.
[b]Wouldn't that mean Chapter 3 would show noticeable improvement over the other chapters?[/b]

And it's [b]not a Duel Academy fanfic. Or at least, it will cease to be after the next chapter.[/b]
[b]kkkkkkkkk[/b]

And as for Z-one. . . I made this [b]a year ago. Do you read this? A year ago. I'm going to repeat it one more time so you can understand. [i]A year ago[/i][/b].
[b]Genuinely fair point. Sorry.[/b]

But I will say this to you, Dr. Cakey, do not judge a person on what you see.
[b]Not to get into philosophical stuff, but if I can't judge someone based on what I see, what am I supposed to judge them on? How they've decided they want everyone to think of them?[/b]

You did not consider the possibilities, though you may be a good reviewer, and pointed out things I didn't know, such as the existence of Dimension Distortion and Dimension Fusion.

Oh, and don't judge the Tao King (Minerva) on what you see. He's going to kill Ruo, destroy that entire universe, and win, and obtain the god of Yin. I've already established it in the Oblivion Saga (In the Roleplay Section).
[b]Right. I'm not sure he could beat Zigried von Schroeder.[/b]

And to tell the truth, I never thought of Kisho not noticing Bad Reaction to Simochi funny. I did it as a way to represent how deep he was into darkness and insanity.
[b]My point was that if he was actually playing the YGmonz card game, he would not have killed himself, he would have had 950 Life Points left.[/b]

I admit I'm angry with you, but I'll accept your critism. You've given me a lot to think about.
[b]And thinking is half the battle. Or something.[/b]
[/quote]

[CNo.101 S.H. Death Knight]

is this going to turn into a heated battle here? O.o and i'm still locking forward for more chapters so i don't want anything happen here to cause this thread to lock T_T where is the joy of open minded reading?!

[Twig]

[spoiler=My Two Cents]
[i]I'm sorry, Cakey, but you appear to underestimate me. I am not writing under the official game standards, but under my standards. Meaning I can warp the game into my own liking.
[/i]
Well of course Cakey is going to underestimate you. All your readers are going to underestimate you since you never said you're changing the rules until Cakey brought up your mistakes. Also, you have to have a good reason to change the rules of the game. I can't just make my Squirtle learn Fire Blast just because I'm "under my standards."

[i]You truly underestimate my abilities, and I know that you do not know what I have written in the past. [/i]

You know what's funny about this sentence? Later on your little rant, you state that, quote, "I was extremely bad, then." Meaning whatever you wrote in the past, is extremely bad and we are still allowed to assume that we're not underestimating you.

[i]That insult, comparing me to Pichu, I will never forgive that. Don't turn a blind eye to me. But as for Dimension Distortion already existing, I suppose I have to thank you for that.[/i]

To be fair, Dr. Cakey compared you to a Pichu with a high school education, assuming he's still in [s]elementary[/s] middle school right now.

[i]And just so you know, I'm not even serious with this fanfic. I'm just playing around with it. [/i]

See, this is something you would put as an author's note(as well as the rule changing thing). We're taking you seriously because you never said you weren't taking this seriously until you replied to Cakey's post.

[i]Just because a guy decides to write his own stuff bad doesn't mean he himself is that bad.[/i]

And this is relevant because...? Cakey never called you yourself bad.

[i]Oh, and I started this fanfic a year ago. Do you read this? A year ago. I'm going to repeat it one more time so you can understand. A year ago. [/i]

OBJECTION! I looked at the post at the time you left and the post at the time you came back. Judge Judy, please compare these dates.
Posted 09 October 2010 - 04:11 AM
Posted 02 April 2011 - 08:41 AM
That approximately adds up to only HALF a year. Do you read this? A half a year ago. I'm going to repeat it one more time so you can understand. A half a year ago.

[i]I was extremely bad, then. Now I'm extremely good and already working on a novel I fully intend on publishing.[/i]

EXTREMELY!!!!111ONE!111!ONE!
If you're so EXTREMELY!! good at writing, not taking this seriously will still make it look better than YCM standards, but it's still meh. Also, ever heard of rewriting?

[i]And it's not a Duel Academy fanfic. Or at least, it will cease to be after the next chapter.[/i]

Again, author's notes.

[i]And as for Z-one. . . I made this a year ago. Do you read this? A year ago. I'm going to repeat it one more time so you can understand. A year ago.[/i]

Again, rewriting. Again, half a year ago.

[i]But I will say this to you, Dr. Cakey, do not judge a person on what you see. You did not consider the possibilities, though you may be a good reviewer, and pointed out things I didn't know, such as the existence of Dimension Distortion and Dimension Fusion.[/i]

Stop acting like Cakey should have treated you with more respect. He couldn't see the possibilities because you never showed him any possibilities!

[i]Oh, and don't judge the Tao King (Minerva) on what you see. He's going to kill Ruo, destroy that entire universe, and win, and obtain the god of Yin. I've already established it in the Oblivion Saga (In the Roleplay Section).[/i]

Yes, let your character turn into a Gary Stu.

[i]And to tell the truth, I never thought of Kisho not noticing Bad Reaction to Simochi funny. I did it as a way to represent how deep he was into darkness and insanity.[/i]

There are many ways to show a character's darkness and insanity. Card games is not one of them. [/spoiler]

[Merci]

I considered rewriting Chapter 1, and the legacy text thing, but I'm too lazy to. There's a plausible reason for Trap Jammer being activated, but I'll probably never get around that. But anyway, you two have a point.

[Merci]

Chapter 4 and 5 in one day?. . . Impossible!

. . . .

POSSIBLE!

Season 1 is now established. Srsly.

[Merci]

Chapter 6 is added. . .

. . . But it seems as though I lost my only reader. *Starts crying*

[color=white]Chapter 7: Re-spark the Passion!
A fellow student at Obelisk Blue, Maho, is worried about Ruo and decides to duel him, in order to cheer up his moody state, and is shocked when Ruo mercilessly retaliates, but he doesn't give up, and ends up summoning Sorcerer of Dark Magic. Ruo starts to enjoy the duel. . .

Chapter 8: Firefly
A week later, Ruo, after patrolling around the island once again, discovers an underwater hidden cave which leads into an empty space with air inside the volcano. There, he finds a stressed and starved Hotaru, who then tells Ruo about her. . .

Chapter 9: Damp Flames
Ruo and Maho duel against the two Elemental Seekers, Caam and Zai, in order to protect one of the last two locations of where the god of Yin could be. When Maho is defeated, Ruo becomes absolutely determined to beat his opponents at all costs, and then his blank Exceed card transforms. . .[/color]

[Merci]

I'll just bump this once. . . .

[Dr. Cakey]

Honestly, it's not that bad.

[Crimson Blaze]

This is a pretty good story. However, when Ruo activated Metal Reflect Slime in Chapter 1, did you know that the opponent didn't "have" to attack it?
[quote]“My turn, draw!” Ruo declared, and drew his card. “Now the effect of Princess Curran activates, which allows it to 600 damage to you for every monster you control! Since you only control Sphreeze, you’ll only suffer that many points of damage!”[/quote]
This was from Chapter 6. There was a grammatical error there.

[Merci]

I needed those. Alright, time to work on the next chapter.

[Merci]

Chapter 7: Resparked Passion added! Yay!

[Merci]

. . . Ouch. Bump.

[Merci]

Another bump. Chapter 8 almost finished.