Yu-Gi-Oh! DF, Special #3 Begins!!! Second Chapter is Up!!!!!

[Stigma_Horrizone]

Can't wait to see Karen's new deck, it would be awesome, i guess

---

Karen is For the win now!!!

[legendhiro]

chapter eleven. the climax of this book is fast approaching...

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Eleven]

 

Hiro vs. Blackheart

 

 

Hiro

 

 

I felt myself pushed from John’s mind, from my home in the Soul of Darkness. I tried with everything I had to hold on and a portion of the Soul’s power remained with me. I held onto it, knowing that without it I would die.

 

For a period of time, I’m not sure how long, I floated in what seemed like nothingness. Then I saw a light. I poured my entire being into reaching that light, and slowly but surely I was able to make my way to it. I touched the light and I suddenly found myself in the back portion of the Old Park, just a short distance from John’s house. I looked down at my hands and was astonished, mostly because I had hands. I felt my arms and my chest and finally my face. I was a physical being for the first time in 3000 years. I was wearing a black t-shirt and a black sweat jacket with a hood and a white pattern on the left half of the chest and jeans. I looked down and saw a Soul hanging around my neck. It was the Soul of Darkness. That portion of the Soul that I retained had become infused with the light, which I realized now was what remained of my own magical power, and it blossomed out into a second Soul of Darkness! Unfortunately I could tell that my duplicate Soul was not as powerful as the original.

 

The thing that forced me from my place in the Soul of Darkness. I know it. I didn’t expect Blackheart so soon. If I’m right and he’s possessed John’s body then the Duel Force will have no way to defeat him. I have to find him and defeat him before he achieves his full power and gains domination over this realm as well as the Realm of Shadows!

 

I started running, reaching out with my Soul to locate my old enemy. It was hard, but I managed to find him. I stepped into the Shadows and disappeared.

 

 

I reached through the Shadows and found my way to Blackheart. It was hard too. Harder than it should have been. There was less power in my fake Soul than I thought. I have all of the Soul’s powers through this Pseudo Soul, I realized, but it takes way more effort to access them. It’s way more draining.

 

I brushed my golden blond bangs from my brown eyes and I stepped from the shadows, finding myself in an old warehouse. It was empty except for the figure that faced me. Blackheart was sitting on a large wooden crate. His hair was jet black and his skin was pale with a dark circle under each eye. He had seen me coming and was waiting.

 

“Welcome, Remnant of the Duelist’s Spirit. I was wondering when you would make an appearance.”

 

“Go back to the darkness Blackheart,” I said. I held my left arm behind my back and strained to summon the Shadows to me, forming a Dark Disk.

 

“I can’t do that Remnant,” said Blackheart. “I have great plans for this world.”

 

“I know all about your plans,” I spat, “and I won’t let you carry them out!”

 

I swung the Dark Disk around in front of me and separated the sword from the shield, running full out at Blackheart. I would use the Dark Disk to cut Blackheart’s spirit without cutting his host. Hopefully. I swung my sword. Blackheart raised his right hand, and in it appeared the blade of the Dark Disk, summoned effortlessly and instantaneously. He parried my blow.

 

I jumped back and held my sword in front of me with both hands. Blackheart rose slowly and casually to his feet. He laughed under his breath. “I’m glad you’re here,” He said. “I’ve waited for awhile for an opponent that came close to my abilities. This should be fun.”

 

I charged at him and stabbed. Blackheart used his shield to deflect my blow and slashed at my chest with his own blade. I jumped back out of his reach, ducked to the side, spun, and slashed. Blackheart leaned back out of my reach, smiling ear to ear.

 

“Huh,” I said, circling my opponent slowly, “you’re just as crazy as you were 3000 years ago.”

 

“I’m surprised that you can still remember what happened the first time around. Is there really enough of you left in there for you to have any real memories of your past?”

 

“You’d be surprised.”

 

I ran at him again. He jumped back, twenty feet through the air, brandishing his blade. Shadows lashed up at me like tentacles. I managed to repel them with my sword and shield and what Shadows I could summon up myself while managing to retain focus. I pushed through and struck again, but Blackheart avoided my attack with minimal effort. He countered. I jumped back just as he sliced through the place where I’d just been.

 

I only have to cut a millimeter into him to disrupt his spirit, but at the same time if he so much as touches me, I’ll die. I was losing focus. Even as I parried another of my foe’s attacks I noticed that my sword and shield were dissolving into the Shadows that had created them. Looks like I’m out of power. I have to regroup and find some help. I have to get to the Duel Force.

 

I ran from Blackheart, letting my sword dissolve completely, and melted into the Shadows.

 

 

I reemerged from the Shadows just outside of the mall. I could sense the Duel Force inside, sitting at two of the round tables in the mall’s Game Center.

 

I sense all eleven members, I thought, but only seven Souls. That means that Blackheart has a massive amount of power already. Less than the power of two more Souls and he should be strong enough to force all three Gods under his control. I have to act fast.

 

I walked quickly toward the game center’s outer entrance. Out of all of the Duel Force members that remained only one of them had ever seen me before. The others would have no idea who I was. I would have to count on the one who would to help me handle my introduction to the others.

 

 

Karen

 

 

“So what your saying,” I said, “is that you faced Blackheart, but he let you keep your Soul?”

 

“Yeah,” said Lawrence. “I guess I’m just so great that Blackheart knew he’d never get away with it if he took my power.”

 

“Maybe, except that you lost.”

 

“And your point is?”

 

“Why would Blackheart let you go of all people?” Monty asked. “I’m your only friend and even I’ve though of at least seriously wounding you more than once.”

 

“Who cares why,” Lawrence replied, leaning back in his seat and putting his arms behind his head.

 

“I do!” Monty said. “What did you do, Lawrence?”

 

“What do you mean?” Sarah asked.

 

“I get what he means. You think I made some kind of deal with Blackheart to save my Soul, right?”

 

“Did you?” Monty demanded.

 

“Enough!” I said. “We don’t have time for you guys and your crap!”

 

My outburst had drawn the attention of several of the Duelists sitting at nearby tables. I took a deep breath and looked down at my hands until they went back to what they’d been doing. “Okay, let’s settle this. There’s no way that Lawrence would sell us out, and Monty, I’m surprised at you for even thinking so. You know better than I do that he’s a lot nicer than he lets on.”

 

“Am not,” said Lawrence prideful.

 

“I don’t know if I can trust that Karen,” said Sarah, ignoring Lawrence. “You two were really different when you were under Marik’s control, but Jerk here is still pretty much the same. Who knows what he’d do.”

 

“Hey,” said Lawrence, “I may be a jerk, and I may not be good at showing it, but I’m a good person, and I’m loyal.”

 

Monty laughed.

 

“You wanna go?” Lawrence yelled, rising quickly to his feet.

 

Monty stood up as well, “Any time!”

 

I clenched my fists, shaking angrily, “Quiet down and sit down.”

They sat down and ever member of the team looked to me, waiting to hear what else I had to say. But before I could speak someone behind me did.

 

“Sorry I’m a little late.”

 

I stood up and spun around, finding myself face to face with someone who was very familiar.

 

John?

 

Then I realized who it was and my excitement died down slightly.

 

I sighed, “I was wondering what happened to you, Hiro.”

 

“Who is this,” Sarah demanded, moving to stand by my side, staring up into Hiro’s eyes.

 

“He calls himself Hiro. He’s a spirit, the last remnant of the Forgotten Duelist. He’s been living in the Soul of Darkness, helping John out in tough Duels.”

 

“When Blackheart possessed John’s body,” Hiro said, “I was forced out. I was just recently able to attain a physical form.”

 

“Why wouldn’t John tell us about you?” Tucker asked.

 

“Because none of you could see him,” I said. “John didn’t want to make your lives more complicated unless he had to.”

 

“Why do you look like my brother?” Sarah demanded. She was crying but trying very hard not to show it.

 

“To be honest,” said Hiro, “I don’t know.

 

“I’m not the Duelist anymore,” Hiro said, “and I’ve already tried to defeat Blackheart on my own and failed. He’s powerful. Nearly as powerful as the Legendary Duelist himself. But I think I can beat him, but only with your help. Will you help me?”

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter Hiro's Purpose

[legendhiro]

chapter twelve is here! for those of you who have been wondering what purpose the spirit Hiro would serve in this book, this chapter should answer a lot of your questions...

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Twelve]

 

Hiro’s Purpose

 

 

Hiro

 

 

“I trust you,” said Karen. “I’ll help.”

 

“So will I,” said Tucker.

 

“That’s good enough for me,” said Monty.

 

“Me too,” said Rocky. Sarah nodded, and so did the others, except for Lawrence.

 

“Alright then,” I said. I sat down and leaned in, talking loud enough for everyone at the two tables to hear me. “I have a pretty good idea where Blackheart is going. I need all of you who still have Souls to come with me, except maybe for one of you who will stay behind to back us up if need be. That is if anyone wants to stay.”

 

“I do,” said Lawrence. “You people bore me.”

 

He glared at Monty, and Monty glared back. I ignored them. There just wasn’t time for their problems right now.

 

“Blackheart’s goal is still the same as it was 3000 years ago; to gain power over the Earth and the Shadows by accessing the immense combined power of the three Egyptian God Monsters. Between fighting you guys and waiting to establish how great I threat I would be if I ever appeared I don’t believe that Blackheart had time to secure the remaining Gods yet. Even though he most likely cannot control all three at a time as of yet, it is likely that his next move will be to gain possession of the cards, making sure that he will be ready to use them at the first opportunity. Even if he can’t use all of the Gods yet, gaining possession of the other two will make Blackheart stronger than he is now. We can’t afford for that to happen. We have to try and beat him to the cards. I think I know where they are, but so does John. That means that Blackheart knows too.”

 

“When do we leave?” Karen asked.

 

“Now.”

 

“Alright,” said Karen, rising to her feet, followed by Tucker and then the others.

 

“Get ready,” I said, summoning the Shadows, “because here we go.”

 

My Pseudo Soul flashed, and we were gone.

 

 

Monty

 

 

“Finally,” said Lawrence, “we can settle this.”

 

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” I replied.

 

“Oh no, please don’t fight,” said Max with absolutely no enthusiasm. He stood up and said, “You guys kill each other if you want, I don’t care. I’m leaving.”

 

 

Lawrence and I waited until the others had all left to go about there business. They could feel the tension building and didn’t want to stick around, so they left pretty quickly. They had no idea just how serious things between Lawrence and I were this time. I was sure that Lawrence had turned on use, and I didn’t plan on letting him live to regret his decision.

 

He and I walked out behind the mall and faced each other.

 

“I didn’t sell out to Blackheart,” said Lawrence.

 

“I don’t believe you,” I said.

 

“You’re sounding crazy!” Lawrence exclaimed.

 

“Shut up,” I said, “and duel.”

 

I drew six cards as the shadows rose up around us, boxing us in. “Blackheart missed some of my Soul’s energy. I’m going to use it to banish you to the Shadows.”

 

“You won’t,” said Lawrence. “I won’t let you.”

 

He drew his cards, and the worst duel of my life began.

 

 

Hiro

 

 

We emerged from the Shadows outside of a half-ruined temple in the middle of the desert.

 

“What happened here?” Jen asked.

 

“’Great Maju Garzett’ battled ‘Osiris’,” I answered.

 

“Ah,” said Jen, “I see.”

 

“So this is where the other Gods are?” Amanda asked.

 

“Yeah,” said Karen before I could answer. “I can sense their power.”

 

I smiled. She’s grown much more powerful, I thought. I can’t even sense their presence here and I’m more closely tied to the Gods than she is. Amazing.

 

“Now,” said Karen, looking right at me, “before we hear the next part of your plan, tell us who you really are.”

 

 

Monty

 

 

“We both know the stakes of this game?” I asked.

 

“Yeah,” said Lawrence, “and the fact that you would impose those stakes is really scaring me.”

 

“So I scare you?”

 

“No,” he answered, “I’m scared for you. You aren’t acting like yourself.”

 

I ignored him. “Just to be sure,” I said, “I’ll go over the terms with you now before we start. The loser will lose him body and spirit forever to the Shadows, and if either Duelist tries to alter the outcome of the Shadow Game they forfeit their body and spirit to the Shadows. Pretty simple. Just remember, whoever loses will never be able to return.”

 

 

Hiro

 

 

“Who he really is?” Tucker asked. “I thought you trusted this guy.”

 

“I do,” said Karen. “I just don’t trust his story. Not completely. If you were just some remnant or shadow or echo of the Duelist,” she said, addressing me,” then your lack of knowledge would be consistent. You would know about Blackheart as he is today, but not as he was thousands of years ago, right?”

 

I smiled again. John, I thought, I think I’m starting to get what it is that you see in her.

 

“You’re right,” I said. “I would have told you all about this when I first met John, but I was worried that what I’m about to do would become standard practice. I’m no shadow.”

 

I looked up at the starry Egyptian night sky and quoted from the Tablet of the Forgotten Duelist. “‘And so it became that this Forgotten Duelist was cursed by magic and by fate to walk the earth in the form of the Soul until the day that his power was renewed to destroy his Dark Side upon its revival,’“

 

I looked back at the members of the Duel Force who stood before me and said, “I’m not the shadow of the Duelist. I am the Duelist.”

 

 

Blackheart

 

 

I sensed the Duel Force as well as that pathetic Remnant. They were very near. All of the pieces were finally in place for my little endgame. I reached into the rubble all around me with my Shadow Magic, summoning to me two Duel Monsters cards. I smiled and shuffled them into my deck.

 

This should be fun.

 

 

Monty

 

 

“I’ll move first,” said Lawrence. “Prepare to be crushed by my sheer power. I summon ‘Cave Dragon’ in attack mode, and I lay two cards face-down.”

 

Cave dragon, a large four legged wingless green dragon appeared, gnashing its teeth and swinging its thick tail (ATK: 2000).

 

This is it, I thought. It’s me or Lawrence. I will make him pay!

 

 

Hiro

 

 

“What!?” said Tucker.

 

Karen looked me in the eyes, intensity in her gaze.

 

“It makes sense,” she said. “He wanted to help us and stay close to us, which he did through John, but he didn’t want us to know who he was so that we would have to rely on our own power and our power would grow. Plus, the millennia have weakened him, and there are gaps in his memory. Stop me if I say something wrong.”

 

“No,” I said, “you’re dead on. Everything you said was right. But I’m afraid that this time your power won’t be enough. The only power that can stand up to Blackheart as he is now is the power of the Duelist’s Soul. Normally I would have to merge the power of all twelve Souls to revive my Soul, but thanks to John I have a new ability. One that he and I share.”

 

“The Soul of Chaos,” Karen said.

 

I nodded and continued, “With the Soul of Chaos I hope to amplify the power of your Souls and merge them with mine to recreate the Duelist’s Soul. Once I beat Blackheart, if I beat Blackheart, I’ll return your power to you. What do you say?”

 

“We’re in,” said Karen. The others nodded.

 

“Then here we go. If this doesn’t work, we’ll probably die.”

 

I heard Amanda whimper at that as I closed my eyes, focusing all of my will into the Pseudo Soul hanging around my neck. It became the Soul of Chaos just long enough to draw the power of the others’ Souls into it. Into me. I felt the power, and I felt myself begin to change.

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter The Legendary Duelist Reborn! Lawrence vs. Monty, and Blackheart vs. The Forgotten Duelist!

---

okay, just so you all know, some of the last few chapters were really short. i mean REALLY short. so i combined some of them. there are now only three chapters remaining in Terror of Blackheart.

[legendhiro]

chapter thirteen is finished. we get our first look at the Forgotten Duelist's deck, and we get to see just how serious Monty and Lawrence are about their duel...

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Thirteen]

 

The Legendary Duelist Reborn!

Lawrence vs. Monty, and Blackheart vs. The Forgotten Duelist!

 

 

Monty

 

 

“Your move was pretty impressive,” I said, “but mine will be even more impressive. I start out with the ‘Skilled Dark Magician’ in attack mode.”

 

A sorcerer in dark robes appeared, holding a jewel-tipped staff (ATK: 1900).

 

“Next I play ‘Quick Summon’ to summon a second monster, my ‘Skilled White Magician’.”

 

A second staff-wielding sorcerer appeared, this time in white (ATK: 1700).

 

“Next,” I explained, “because my Spell card resolves after ‘Skilled White Magician’ enters play, both of my monsters gain a Spell Counter from its residual energy.”

 

A crystal on each of the sorcerers’ garbs lit up.

 

“Finally I activate ‘Pot of Greed’ in combination with ‘Serial Spell’, letting me toss out my hand and draw four cards. This also adds two more Spell Counters to each of my monsters.” Two more crystals lit up. The six crystals flashed brightly. “I sacrifice my ‘Skilled Dark Magician’ and my ‘Skilled White Magician’,” I declared, “to summon ‘Dark Magician’ and ‘Buster Blader’.”

 

The purple-clad, green-staff-wielding sorcerer (ATK: 2500) and the armored warrior with the massive sword (ATK: 2600+500=3100) appeared to either side of me.

 

“You may have great power Lawrence,” I said, “but power cannot overcome intelligence.”

 

 

Hiro, the Forgotten Duelist

 

 

I opened my eyes. My mind was clear. Clearer than I could remember. I looked down at myself through white bangs. I was wearing a brown t-shirt under a long white jacket and khaki pants. Around my neck hung a sparkling clear crystal sphere with a golden streak in it, like a shooting star. The Duelist’s Soul.

 

I looked around me. The others were pale and out of breath, but they were otherwise okay.

 

“It worked,” I said, “I’m ready.”

 

“But you don’t have any cards or a Duel Disk,” said Karen. “What do you plan to do?”

 

I raised my left arm and in a swirl of light a white and tan disk appeared , similar to the Dark Disk. In the deck loader was a deck of Duel Monsters cards.

 

“Don’t worry” I said, “leave everything to me.”

 

I turned and I began walking toward the half-ruined temple. As I walked I called back to the others, “This place is unstable. Wait here for me to come back.”

 

I looked back over my shoulder. Karen nodded, “We’ll be here.”

 

I looked back at the temple and smiled, “Blackheart, here I come!” I walked slowly around the temple until I came to a nearby entrance and made my way inside. Once I was in the main hall I found myself facing the left side of Marik’s throne. To my left was the rubble created when John and Hiro, or I should say John and I summoned ‘Great Maju Garzett’ to face the God ‘Osiris’. Sitting on the arm of the throne, facing me, was my Dark Side, the evil spirit Blackheart. His head was down and his eyes were closed.

 

“I’ve been waiting for you Remnant,” he said. Then he looked up, smiling. But when he saw me his smile disappeared.

 

“You!”

 

“Yes,” I said. “Just as you managed to restore your full strength by stealing a body that could command a Duelist’s Soul, I was able to restore my power by mixing Soul Energy with the Soul of Chaos.”

 

Blackheart smiled and chuckled, “I underestimated you. But it doesn’t matter. Weather I underestimated you or not, the game that I have set in motion is one that I cannot lose. I can already control any one God, and soon I will have the power to control all three.”

 

“Then I’d better kill you fast,” I said, “because only the power of the three Gods is enough to destroy my spirit.”

 

Blackheart jumped down from his seat and stood to face me. “You’re cocky as ever,” he said. “Let’s prove once and for all which of us is stronger.” The Shadows around us deepened. “The loser,” he said, “will have their spirit claimed by the Shadows. I’d bet this body too, but you don’t have a body of your own to bet against it.”

 

I raised my Duel Disk. Blackheart summoned the Dark Disk, took a deck from his belt, and placed it in the deck loader.

 

“I start,” said Blackheart, “with the Spell card ‘Pot of Greed’ to draw two cards, and follow up with ‘Graceful Charity’ to draw three more.” He drew two cards, then drew three more, discarding two cards afterward.

 

“Finally,” he continued, “I summon ‘Bowganian’ and place two cards face-down.” The spherical machine with the massive eye appeared, crossbow in hand (ATK: 1300).

 

“I see that you’ve change John’s deck to suit your love of torture. John would never use a card as sneaky and underhanded as ‘Bowganian’.”

 

“I’m not John,” said Blackheart. “My strategy is one you've never seen before.”

 

 

Monty

 

 

“’Dark Magician’ kills the ‘Cave Dragon’ with Dark Magic, and then my warrior attacks directly.”

 

‘Dark Magician’ fired a ball of dark energy at the flightless dragon, incinerating it, and ‘Buster Blader’ swung his sword, releasing an energy pulse that hit Lawrence in the gut. He was pushed back, sliding several feet while managing to remain standing (8000+2000-2500-3100=4400).

 

“I place a card face-down,” I said, “and end my turn.”

 

Lawrence shot me a fierce look and said, “I don’t know what your problem is, but I won’t let my Power Deck fall! I summon the ‘Red-Eyes Black Chick’!”

 

A small dragon with piercing red eyes appeared at Lawrence’s side, letting out a squawking roar (ATK: 800).

 

“Time to grow up little chick,” said Lawrence with a confident smile. “Become the black dragon of legend,” the small dragon grew until it was nearly thirty feet tall, “the ‘Red-Eyes Black Dragon (ATK: 2400)!”

 

The mighty black dragon roared.

 

“Now,” said Lawrence, “I bathe my dragon in darkness.” The black dragon summoned darkness to his body. When the darkness dispersed it revealed a similar but vastly different dragon with glowing red markings spanning his body. “My ‘Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon’ gains 300 Attack for every Dragon in my Graveyard (ATK: 2400+(300x3)=3300).”

 

“And ‘Buster Blader’,” I countered, “gains 500 Attack for every Dragon on your field and in your Graveyard (3100+(500x3)=4600).”

 

“That’s why,” said Lawrence, “I’m combining my ‘Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon’ with the Force card, ‘Riryoku’, cutting the Attack of ‘Buster Blader’ in half and increasing the Attack of my ‘Red-Eyes’ by the amount of Attack that your ‘Blader’ lost.” Power transferred from my monster to his, and his monster’s power grew (‘Blader’: 2300/’Red-Eyes’:5600).

 

“’Red-Eyes’,” Lawrence commanded, “Attack with Darkness Black Fire Bullet!”

 

Black fire built in the dragon’s mouth.

 

“Reveal ‘Spellbinding Circle’,” I said, “ensnaring your monster.”

 

“Chain,” said Lawrence, “the Trap card ‘Dragon’s Bead’, discarding a card from my hand to negate your Trap and destroy it.”

 

The magic circle appeared and shattered, and my warrior was incinerated by the Dragon’s attack (8000+2300-5600=4700).

 

“Now,” said Lawrence, “I reveal my second face-down card ‘Call of the Haunted’, summoning the monster that I discarded for ‘Dragon’s Bead’. You should remember it. I’ve used it before.”

 

There was a flash of light and a white dragon with brilliant blue eyes appeared at the ‘Darkness Dragon’’s side.

 

Lawrence’s smiled wide. “’Blue-Eyes White Dragon’, Burst Stream of Destruction!”

 

The white dragon fired his mighty beam attack, vaporizing the ‘Dark Magician’ (4700+2500-3000=4200).

 

I have to use my Ace Card, I thought, or I’m going to die!

 

 

Hiro

 

 

“For my move,” I said, “I’ll summon my ‘Pharaonic Protector’.” A mummy appeared wearing new looking ancient Egyptian royal garbs, a tall head dress, and a white mask. He had two long red ribbons hanging down his back from his neck (ATK: 900).

 

“Next,” I said, “I activate ‘Thousand Energy’, raising the Attack of my monster by 1000 just long enough for him the launch a suicide attack (900+1000=1900).” The ‘Protector’ rushed ‘Bowganian’, jumped, and thrust his palms toward the machine. The ribbons on his back came alive, glowing with a faint red light, and stretched out, crushing the machine the pieces. Then the mummy became wisps of smoke and disappeared.

 

“Now,” I said, “I play ‘Book of Life’, reviving my ‘Protector’ and removing your ‘Bowganian’ from the game.” A book appeared, glowing with a golden light, and ‘Protector’ reappeared, crouched down, his arms crowed over his body (DEF: 0). Blackheart scowled as he took the ‘Bowganian’ card from his Graveyard and placed it in the deck box at his waste.

 

“That,” I concluded, “ends my turn.”

 

[spoiler=Card of the Day]

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter The Duelist's Mistake

[legendhiro]

yo all. because Terror of Blackheart will be over in a matter of days I thought I'd give out a few of the details of book five, Kaiba Corp. Invitational Tournament. members of the Duel Force who have managed to catch the eye of Seto Kaiba are invited to participate in his most recent Grand Championship. with the original mission of the Duel Force complete it is uncertain what is left for them to do. they don't know yet, but an evil force is lurking within their leader and will soon make an appearance, letting loose a creature imprisoned by the Duelist's Soul for 3000 years; the Dark Divine Dragon! to imprison this Dark God took nearly all of the Duelist's power, and this time imprisoning it will not be enough. but it has grown in strength and not even the combined force of the three Gods would be enough to kill it. the Duel Force will need to borrow three special cards from the King of Games himself. too bad that John has no idea that he needs the cards, and bad luck for him; the cards can only change hands in a duel!

 

but this duel has a certain bit of destiny behind it making its outcome questionable at best. the real highlight duel could easily be the long awaited rematch between John and his rival Christopher Johnson, if they can make it long enough in the tournament to face each other that is, and if John can survive his encounter with the deadly Duelists of the Order rogue called Exodus, a skilled Duelist who wields a God card of his own!

 

more excitement and mystery than ever before can be expected in this, the first Duel Force story to follow a tournament throughout the entire arch. and be sure not to miss the companion story, special #2, The Darkness Within, the first special to impact the main storyline, and the only place to find the resolution to the events in book five!

 

i hope you all enjoy it. this will be the climax of the entire series (so far).

 

-thanks for reading

 

--Legendhiro

[Sleepy]

yeah, now that you mension it.. I completely forgot about christopher during this book ^-^"

it seems that to finish blackhearth was hiro's mission and john is... I don't know what to guess about john's whereabouts :)

can't wait for next book...

[legendhiro]

here is chapter fourteen. the legendary Duelist seems to be losing! is it possible that he will lose to Blackheart? and if he does, will there be anyone left to oppose Blackheart's evil plan?

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Fourteen]

 

The Duelist’s Mistake

 

 

“You might think you got rid of my ‘Bowganian’ by removing it from play,” said Blackheart, “but you’re wrong.” He took the ‘Bowganian’ card back out of his deck box.

 

“I reveal my ‘Return from the Dark Dimension’ Trap card to Special Summon a Dark monster removed from play. And I chain ‘Inferno Reckless Summon’, letting me summon all remaining copies of ‘Bowganian’ in my deck, and letting you summon all remaining copies of ‘Pharaonic Protector’ from your deck.”

 

We fanned through our decks. Blackheart took two copies of ‘Bowganian’ from his deck and summoned them in attack mode (ATK: 1300 (each)). I chose another copy of ‘Protector’ from my deck and summoned him in defense mode (DEF: 0).

 

Blackheart and I shuffled our decks and replaced them.

 

“My three ‘Bowganians’ attack,” Blackheart said. “Triple Optiblast!” The three machines fired beans from their eyes. Two of the beams were absorbed by my ‘Protectors’, but the third hit me dead on (8000-1300=6700). I grabbed the spot where the attack hit and clenched my teeth against the pain. I choked out a laugh that sounded more like a cough and said, “Your attacks are as painful as ever.”

 

Blackheart smiled, full of pride. “I end my turn,” he said, “with a face-down card.”

 

“At the end of your turn,” I said, dismissing the pain, “I reveal a Trap card, ‘The First Sarcophagus’.” From the ground behind me rose a rectangular stone coffin. The lid slid away and a golden sarcophagus twelve feet tall and fit for a pharaoh. The stone coffin crumbled.

 

“During your end phase I can bring a new ‘Sarcophagus’ card to the field, like this, ‘The Second Sarcophagus’.

 

“And now, because it’s my turn, I begin my counterattack with the Spell card ‘Tribute to the Doomed’, discarding one card to destroy one of you ‘Bowganians’.” Bandages burst from the ground, wrapping one of the three machines. Then a mummified hand reached out of the ground and grabbed the machine and pulled it under ground. The ground closed afterward.

 

“Next,” I said, a confident smile spreading across my face, “I play the Spell card ‘Card of Sanctity’, replenishing our hands.” Both Blackheart and I drew from our decks. My smile widened.

 

“I place two cards face-down,” I concluded, “and I summon the ‘Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower’ in attack mode, ending my turn.”

 

A tower of bones appeared, reaching up to the temple’s high ceiling. A fog of wandering souls surrounded it (ATK: 400).

 

“Bad choice,” said Blackheart. “It looks like the millennia have been hard on you. You aren’t thinking strait. I draw, and the effects of my ‘Bowganians’ activate.” The two remaining machines aimed their bows at me and fired at my chest. I twisted my body in an attempt to dodge the two potentially lethal crossbow bolts. One of the bolts sliced through my left shoulder, and the other slashed across my chest, cutting my shirt. Blood trickled from my wounds (6700-1200=5500).

 

“Now I attack ‘Bone Tower’ with Optiblast.”

 

The first ‘Bowganian’ rose up and fired his beam at the base of the tower, aiming to level it from the foundation up, but the beam was blocked by a barrier.

 

“Reveal, the Trap card ‘Waboku’,” I declared, “protecting my monster from your attacks this turn.” I smiled despite the pain, “Do you still think that I don’t know what I’m doing?”

 

“Guess not,” said Blackheart with a wicked chuckle. “This should be fun! Three face-down cards. Turn end.”

 

“Then its time for me to open the second coffin and reveal the third and final one.” The gold sarcophagus opened, revealing a slightly smaller one, this time painted with blue designs. “Next, during my turn, I open ‘The Third Sarcophagus’ to summon my ultimate card, my Soul, the ‘Spirit of the Pharaoh!”

 

A light shone from within the final coffin as the lid fell away. A backlit figure emerged. The light faded and my monster stepped forward. He was wearing gold armor forearm protectors and a gold and blue striped headdress. On his right shoulder was the head of an eagle, and on his left shoulder was the head of a jackal. Over his face he wore a golden jackal-face mask, and on his chest he wore the millennium eye symbol. He carried a golden staff in his right hand and a gold-hilted sword in his left. His skin was stark black (ATK: 2500).

 

“When ‘Spirit of the Pharaoh’ rises from his slumber he leads his soldiers back with him from the Land of the Dead. Rise my two ‘Pharaonic Protectors’, and the monster sent to the Graveyard for the effect of ‘Tribute to the Doomed’, the ‘Pharaoh’s Servant’!”

 

The two ‘Protectors’ appeared alongside another monster that was virtually identical except that he wore a wider headdress, one white ribbon instead of two red ones, and he carried a spear in his right hand (ATK: 900).

 

“Also,” I said, “My ‘Bone Tower’ forces you to discard two cards from the top of your deck for every Zombie that I Special Summon. I Special Summoned four monsters, so you discard eight cards.” Blackheart smiled with confidence as he threw away the top eight card of his deck.

 

“Finally,” I said, “to complete this combo I reveal the Continuous Trap card ‘Coffin Seller’. Now for every monster that goes to the Graveyard you take 300 damage.” Five of Blackheart’s discarded cards were monsters. A wicked aura appeared around him and he took a hit (7400-1500=5900).

 

Blackheart’s wicked smile widened. “To hurt me so much during my own turn. Truly brilliant work. But you made a mistake. My face-down card is ‘Skull Lair’. I remove six monsters from play to destroy the army that you just summoned!”

 

Blackheart placed six cards from his Grave into the deck box at his waste, and three energy bolts shot his Trap, and my three soldiers were destroyed as quickly as they came.

 

“As long as that ‘Bone Tower’ remains out,” said Blackheart, “its effect will continue to activate and my monsters will keep going to my Graveyard. I will be invincible.”

 

I smiled.

 

“Activate,” I declared, “’Monster Reborn’, reviving ‘Pharaoh’s Servant’ and destroying more of your deck.” Blackheart tossed two more cards. “Next I sacrifice ‘Servant’ to summon the ‘Great Dezard’ in attack mode.” A sage in white robes appeared. He wore armored shoulders decorated with gold (ATK: 1900).

 

“I combine ‘Dezard’ with the magic of ‘Double Attack’. I discard ‘Despair from the Dark’ to allow ‘Dezard’ to attack twice this turn.

 

“’Great Dezard’, attack the two ‘Bowganians’ with Necromantic Magic!”

 

‘Dezard’ raised his hands and the two ‘Bowganians’ were suddenly surrounded by orange energy. They were lifted into the air and crushed (5900+(1300x3)-(1900x2)=4700). The ‘Coffin Seller’ kicked in and the damage increased (4700-600=4100).

 

“Next I activate the effect of ‘Dezard’,” I commanded. “Because he’s destroyed two monsters I can sacrifice him to summon the King of the Walking Dead, ‘Fushio Richie’.”

 

The ‘Great Dezard’ glowed golden orange and disappeared. In his place appeared a bone thin being with gray skin and horns. He wore a red cloak and carried a hook-ended staff (ATK: 2600). Blackheart lost two more cards.

 

“I attack with ‘Richie’,” I declared. ‘Richie’ raised his staff and fired a beam of pink/purple light.

 

“My turn to Trap you,” said Blackheart. “Reveal ‘Magic Cylinder’, reversing your monster’s attack back at you!”

 

A cylinder appeared, catching ‘Richie’’s attack and then firing it back at me. I jumped back, allowing me to avoid the brunt of the blast (6700-2600=4100).

 

I scowled, “Then I attack with my ‘Spirit of the Pharaoh’.” The ‘Spirit’ raised his sword, pointing it forward, and charged, only to be deflected by glowing green barrier,

 

“This time,” said Blackheart, “I used my ‘Draining Shield’, blocking an attack and transforming potential damage into Life Points (4100+2500=6600). You don’t have a chance!”

 

“I flip my ‘Fushio Richie’ face-down by his own effect,” I said, and my monster disappeared into the darkness around us.”

 

“As your turn ends,” said Blackheart, “I reveal ‘Scapegoat’ to summon four ‘Sheep Tokens’ to the field.” Four fur balls with goat horns appeared (DEF: 0 (each)).

 

“Now, in my turn,” said Blackheart, “I summon ‘Cannon Soldier’ in attack mode.” A boxy cannon-barrel-headed robot appeared standing eight feet tall (ATK: 1400). “I sacrifice all four ‘Sheep Tokens’ to deal you 500 damage each.” The four fur balls disappeared, and the robot fired four shots, all of which hit (4100-(500x4)=2100).

 

“Activate ‘Limiter Removal’,” Blackheart declared. The Attack of his ‘Cannon Soldier’ doubled (1400x2=2800). “Attack the ‘Spirit’,” said Blackheart. The robot fired another blast, piercing my monster through the chest. He vaporized (2100+2500-2800=1800).

 

No!

 

“Now I activate my ‘Soldier’’s final effect,” Blackheart said, “Self Destruct Mode!” The ‘Cannon Soldier’ ran up to me and exploded. I covered my face with my arms, but the blast still threw me onto my back, burning the sleeves of my jacket in the process (1800-500=1300/Blackheart: 6600-300=6300).

 

“Face-down card,” said Blackheart. “End.”

 

“My turn,” Things aren’t looking good for me right now. “I summon a second ‘Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower’. Next I Flip Summon ‘Richie’, activating his effect to call a Zombie back from the Graveyard.”

 

A second tower appeared alongside the first (ATK: 400), and ‘Richie’ returned in a flash. He held his staff up, summoning the same pink/purple light as before.

 

“Summon,” I said, “’Despair from the Dark’.”

 

A massive shadow torso rose up behind me flexing its claws (ATK: 2800).

 

“Now you have to discard four cards from the top of your deck,” I said. Blackheart did as he was told (6300-900=5400). “Now I attack with both of my monsters, starting with ‘Despair’.”

 

The shadow reached toward Blackheart, but his claws were repelled by an invisible wall.

 

“Reveal,” said Blackheart, “my Trap, ‘Negate Attack’.

 

“Now I draw,” said Blackheart, “and I place two more cards face-down. Then I activate ‘Card of Demise’ to draw until I hold five cards.” He drew, and he smiled when he saw his cards. “I activate ‘Painful Choice’.” He flipped through his deck and picked five cards, showing them to me; ‘Sangan’, ‘Dark Priestess Ohm’, ‘Armageddon Knight’, ‘Dark Grepher’, and ‘Dark Creator’. All of the cards were dangerous, but the least dangerous of them by far was the first.

 

“Add ‘Sangan’ to your hand.”

 

Again Blackheart did as he was told, discarding the cards that remained (5400-1200=4200).

 

“I activate ‘Soul Absorption’,” said Blackheart, “and then I remove eight monsters in my Graveyard from play to destroy ‘Despair from the Dark’ with my ‘Skull Lair’’s effect.”

 

An energy ball hit the massive shadow, dispersing it. Blackheart gained Life Points from the effect ‘Soul Absorption’ (4200+4000=8200).

 

“Finally,” said Blackheart, “I summon ‘Sangan’ in defense mode.” A three-eyed fur ball appeared (DEF: 600). Blackheart couldn’t stop laughing.

 

This is it, I thought. This duel has reached an impasse. Every move is critical.

 

Blackheart laughed maliciously. “It’s no use,” he said. “By discarding so many of my monsters you have delivered me the ultimate weapon in the form of ‘Skull Lair’. Watch as I use it to destroy you, and bring darkness to this world forever!”

 

[spoiler=Card of the Day]

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter Surprise Outcomes

[legendhiro]

chapter fifteen. the final chapter in book four, Terror of Blackheart. the Forgotten Duelist's true strategy is revealed, but is it enough to keep Blackheart from summoning the three Egyptian Gods and gaining supremacy over both realms?

 

and what ever came of Monty and Lawrence?

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Fifteen]

 

Surprise Outcomes

 

 

Monty

 

 

“This is it,” I said. “Your time’s up.”

 

 

Hiro

 

 

“Your time’s up, Blackheart,” I said. “I Flip-Summon ‘Fushio Richie’, reviving my ‘Pharaoh’s Servant’.” The spear-wielding mummy appeared, twirling his weapon (ATK: 900). “Next I summon ‘Avatar of the Spirit’.

I tribute my ‘Avatar of the Spirit’ to call my Spirit Monster back to the field. Rise again, ‘Spirit of the Pharaoh’! That means that you discard eight more cards from your deck.”

 

A mummy wreathed in an electric yellow light appeared. The light flashed brighter and the mummy disappeared, making way for my ‘Spirit of the Pharaoh’ to return.

 

Blackheart threw out his cards, three of them being monsters. He took more damage from the effect of my ‘Coffin Seller’. “Its no use,” said Blackheart, “you’ll never deal enough damage with ‘Coffin Seller’ to beat me, especially while I control the combo of ‘Skull Lair’ and ‘Soul Absorption’ increasing my Life Points with every passing turn.” He broke out into a fit of maniacal laughter.

 

I smiled weakly and commanded my monster, “’Spirit’, attack his ‘Sangan’!”

 

‘Spirit of the Pharaoh’ sliced the much smaller monster in half. ‘Sangan’ went to the Graveyard and Blackheart was dealt more damage by my Trap card’s effect (7300-300=7000).

 

“I’d search my deck for a monster with ‘Sangan’’s effect,” said Blackheart, “but I don’t need to. I know exactly how I’m going to kill you. My plan is already in place!” Blackheart laughed, cocky as ever. “I reveal,” Blackheart said, “my Trap card ‘Michizure’. This card activates when my monster is destroyed and destroys one of my opponent’s monsters with Death Grip!”

 

A transparent hand reached up out of the ground beneath my ‘Spirit of the Pharaoh’ and pulled him back to his grave.

 

“Next,” said Blackheart, “I activate ‘Burial from the Different Dimension’, returning three of the monsters in my removed from play pile to my Graveyard. Now I can remove them from play again along with four other monsters to destroy your ‘Fushio Richie’ (7000+3500=10,500). Now you’re defenseless!”

 

I smirked confidently, “Not yet. I play ‘Silent Doom’ to revive ‘Pharaonic Protector’ in defense mode, and I change ‘Pharaoh's Servant’ to defense mode”

 

The red ribbon wearing mummy appeared, crouched down beside his spear-wielding counterpart, ready to defend me with his life (DEF: 0 (each)). Blackheart tossed more cards (10,500-300=10,200).

 

“It’s my turn next,” said Blackheart, and I get the feeling that this will be the turn that my plan comes together.”

 

 

Monty

 

 

“Don’t get so hasty,” said Lawrence. “I place one card face-down, though at this point I doubt I’ll need it.”

 

“Then its time,” I said. “I summon my Soul,” I said, “the ‘Silent Magician’!” A girl in white with white hair appeared wearing a wide hat and carrying a jewel-tipped wand (ATK: 1000).

 

“Now I’ll use a move that a friend taught me. I play ‘Card of Sanctity’, forcing us both to draw until we hold six cards.”

 

“That’s your big move?” Lawrence asked, clearly not impressed. “So what, are you trying to make me draw myself to death?”

 

“Something like that,” I said with a smile. I gestured to my new magician. When Lawrence saw her he gasped. She had grown. She was now a beautiful young woman with a powerful aura.

 

“What happened?” Lawrence asked.

 

I stood with my arms crossed and explained, “My monster grows older and stronger with each card that you draw until you’ve drawn five cards, at which point she becomes the unbeatable ‘Silent Magician LV 8’, the very face of my Soul!”

 

The magician brandished her staff-length wand (ATK: 3500).

 

“Now, out of the cards that I drew, I activate ‘Premature Burial’ (4200-800=3400) to revive ‘Buster Blader’, and ‘Monster Reborn’ to revive my ‘Dark Magician’.” My warrior appeared resting his sword on his shoulder, and my magician appeared at his side in a swirl of light, twirling his staff. He stopped and pointed his staff at Lawrence.

 

“Next,” I said, “I play ‘Polymerization’, combining ‘Dark Magician’ with ‘Buster Blader’, forming the ultimate Magical Swordsman.”

 

The two monsters merged, forming an armored sorcerer, his leather armor turned metallic. He carried a bladed staff (ATK: 2900).

 

“Lawrence,” I said, “meet ‘Dark Paladin’, the Ultimate Magical Swordsman! My ‘Paladin’ keeps ‘Buster Blader’’s ability, giving him more power for every dragon on your field or in your Graveyard (2900+2500=5400).

 

“No way,” said Lawrence, “not him! He’s known by every Dragon Duelist as the one monster to always avoid!” It was the first time that I’d seen him truly afraid. At the time I enjoyed seeing him that way.

 

Good, I thought, it’s about time I you realized how serious this duel really is!

 

“I pay 1000 Life Points (3400-1000=2400) to activate ‘Diffusion Wave Motion’. Now my ‘Paladin can attack both of your Dragons this turn,”

 

‘Paladin’ raised his staff and waves of energy poured from it, slicing his dragons to pieces, starting with the ‘Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon’. “When your ‘Paladin’ destroys my ‘Red-Eyes’,” Lawrence said, sounding desperate, “I reveal ‘Option Hunter’, increasing my Life Points by the dragon’s original Attack!” My attack carried through and hit him, nearly knocking him over (4400+3000+3300+2400-5400-5400=2300).

 

“I survived,” said Lawrence. “Your other monsters can’t attack in a turn in which ‘Dimension Fusion’ was played. With the cards in my hand, I can destroy you next turn.”

 

I smiled confidently, “Wrong. I have one more card in my hand. Activate the Spell card ‘Rainbow Aura’

which lets me select one Spellcaster and make it so card effects can’t prevent it from attacking this turn.”

 

The white aura around my ‘Silent Magician’ changed, becoming rainbow colored. She rose into the air. She aimed her staff and fired a bolt of magical energy at Lawrence. He was carried into the air and fell onto his back (2300-3500=0).

 

Lawrence struggled to his feet, facing me, his legs shaking. “I don’t know why you’re so angry with me Monty,” he said, “but it looks like it’s over either way. You won and now you’ll never have to deal with me again.

 

A billow of smoke poured from a crack that formed down Lawrence’s Soul. His body began to melt away, becoming part of the Shadows. When his Soul cracked I suddenly felt like a different person. I realized for the first time what Blackheart had done. In my Soul’s memory I saw Blackheart standing over me, planting something evil in my mind. It made me suspicious and paranoid, and when Lawrence lost to Blackheart and Blackheart didn’t take his Soul my paranoia made me think that Lawrence had betrayed us.

 

This was all some kind of game to Blackheart. This was all his doing!

 

“Lawrence!” I cried. I reached out with my Soul, trying to pull him back. Suddenly I was unable to move.

 

I looked down. My Soul wad cracked and was spewing smoke as well. I was melting into the Shadow’s just like Lawrence.

 

That’s when I remembered:

 

“Just to be sure,” I said, “I’ll go over the terms with you now before we start. The loser will lose his body and spirit forever to the Shadows, and if either Duelist tries to alter the outcome of the Shadow Game they forfeit their body and spirit to the Shadows. Pretty simple. Just remember, whoever loses will never be able to return.”

 

I used my Soul to try and change the outcome of the Game, I thought. Now I’m going to the Shadows too. And because Blackheart caused this whole thing, he might as well have beaten us himself. Our Souls belong to him now. I killed my best friend and Blackheart gets to sit there and laugh! And its all my fault!

 

Then I was gone.

 

 

Blackheart

 

 

I could finally feel it. Finally those two have destroyed each other. Maybe it would have been easier to beat them myself, but making those two kill each other instead was way more fun. Now their power is mine!

 

My Soul of Darkness flashed and became the Soul of Chaos.

 

“Finally!” I cried, laughing out loud. “Those pitiful Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba wannabes have just finished each other off, and the power that they possessed is mine!”

 

I saw my foe’s eyes widen with surprise, and I laughed again.

 

“That’s right. I reshaped the mind of that magic user and he forced the other one into a Shadow Games with both of their bodies and minds on the line, causing their mutual destruction!

 

“You said that the only thing that could kill you was the three Gods? You said show me the Gods? Well its time I did what you asked!” The Duelist scowled. “In my hand I hold the only Spell card in the Game that can summon all three of my Gods at one time; ‘Dimension Fusion’! Even if they do only remain in play for a turn, that will be plenty of time for me to destroy you with the infinite wrath of the Titan Firestorm!”

 

I laughed softly as the image of my only real opponent finally being destroyed flashed in my mind. I looked The Duelist in the eyes and said, “Now prepare to die!”

 

I reached down, ready to draw my card to begin my turn, but I found that there were no cards left in my deck. I gasped. My deck was gone!

 

And that’s when it hit me. My opponent’s strategy. It hadn’t been to kill me with the effect of ‘Coffin Seller’. It had been to disassemble my deck, using the combo with ‘Coffin Seller’ to distract from his real goal. And because I had been so sure of myself I hadn’t even seen it, thinking that The Duelist had simply made a mistake! Now it was over.

 

“N-no! This can’t be! I had you. I had you!!”

 

“No Blackheart,” The Duelist said, “I had you. I knew the exactly how this duel was going to end from the start. I just had to play like I was worried or scared at just the right times so that you wouldn’t catch on. You never stood a chance in this duel.”

 

“But it’s my destiny to rule this world for eternity.”

 

“Your only destiny was to live long enough so that I could destroy you and my destiny could be fulfilled. You endangered the lives of so many people just because you wanted to increase your own power! That is inexcusable! With this I destroy you once and for all. Penalty, Soul Shock!”

 

He held out his palm and fired a bolt of bright energy. It overtook me, and everything went black.

 

 

Hiro

 

 

My Soul Shock hit Blackheart, and I watched him fall out of John’s body melt into the Shadows, screaming the entire time.

 

Finally, I thought, it’s over. I shed my borrowed power and I became my original self again. I felt my temporary body begin to fade. My Pseudo Soul flashed. Time to go back. My Soul shed several colored lights, as did John’s, and the lights flew out of the temple. They were the energies of the other Souls, returning home. I faded away as I returned home as well.

 

 

John

 

 

I was finally free. I opened my eyes and looked around. I already knew where I was of course. While Blackheart was controlling me I could see everything he saw and hear everything that he thought. I knew everything that he’d done. But now he was gone.

 

But at what cost? What he did to Monty and Lawrence, just because they were friends. And putting my entire team through everything that he did. I did everything I could to fight him, but all I could do in the end was scream in the back of his mind trying to break his focus. I'll never even know if I was any help at all.

 

I took a deep breath and walked out of the temple, back to my friends who were waiting outside. Hiro? I asked, but he didn’t answer. He was here, but he was too weak to appear. I would have to wait to get any answers.

 

That’s when my friends saw me. “John!” Karen cried. She ran over and threw her arms around me. I slid out of her embrace.

 

“What is it?” She asked.

 

“It’s Monty and Lawrence,” I said. “Blackheart tricked them into fighting each other in a Shadow Game. They both lost. They’re gone.”

 

Her eyes widened, “No, they can’t be!”

 

I stood there and waited while the information sunk in. Everyone was silent. Karen seemed to be in shock. That’s when someone spoke.

 

“Did you guys miss us?”

 

We turned. And there they were. Monty was walking toward us supporting an injured but still smiling Lawrence.

 

“But Blackheart killed you,” I said. “I saw it in his mind when he did.”

 

“Nah,” said Monty. “I squeezed the last bits of power from my Soul at the last second, breaking the Shadow Game. But my Soul lost its power and it still cracked, so Blackheart still got its power and he wasn’t any the wiser.”

 

“When our power returned to our Souls,” said Lawrence, “we pooled our powers to bring us here.” His expression darkened, “I wanted to see if anyone was grieving for us yet.”

 

Karen walked over and punched him in the face.

 

“What was that for!?”

 

“Being a jerk!”

 

Despite everything, I couldn’t help but laugh. I looked up into the star-filled night sky.

 

“Oh,” said Karen, walking over to me again. “John, this is yours. I’ve been holding onto it for you.” She handed me my ‘Fiend Megacyber’.

 

“Thanks,” I said. “Thanks for protecting everyone. Thanks for everything.”

 

She smiled, “Don’t mention it.

 

I turned to me team and sized them up. They were tired and shaken, but they were alright. So was everyone who had been left back home. Everyone would be alright.

 

“Come on guys,” I said, “it’s finally over. Let’s go home.”

 

[spoiler=Card of the Day]

 

 

 

 

 

The next book will begin as soon as I have time! ^__^

[legendhiro]

bump. anyone have anything to say about the end of book four?

---

to all of you who have been reading this fanfic faithfully for awhile now, i have a bit of good news and bad news. first of all, i have a second fic that i have severely neglected recently. a digimon fic (anyone who doesn't like digimon i ask you not to judge. or laugh. i have low self esteem). i have decided to put duel force on hold until i have finished book one in my digimon fic. i will still update this fic, just not quite as often. at least for a little while (i don't expect it to be more than a few weeks at most). that's the bad news. the good news is, as some of you know, various circumstances have been keeping me away from the sight more than i want to be. i want to let you know that i will soon have more free time, meaning more updates on both fics more often.

 

thank you all for reading. if you feel like it and you don't mind digimon, check out my other fic, digimon nd.

 

-xD

 

--Legendhiro

[Sleepy]

I wonder what will book 5 look like :), it seems like they just defeated the enemy of the prophesy...now there will probably an enemy that comes from the very present and will be worse than the shadows from the past....:D(sort of speak)... I have so far enjoyed this fan-fic.. as the first fan fic I've ever seen in this site (second is Fuzzie's and those are the only ones I've seen so far ^-^ )

and there has to be some important event for christopher and john... and also.. If I remember right... the dark duel force's roll in the story can't be over sinse raphael & and his friend weren't bad guys..there maybe something ... :)

 

I have noticed how in the last updates, frequent followers of the fan-fic haven't commented... that's odd......well.... I'll be patient while you catch up with the digimon fan-fic ^-^... I stopped watching the show during the fourth generation, and didn't get to see the 5th....first & second generations of digimon are my favorites (but I think the final enemy of the 2nd was defeated in a lame way )...still I like the show ;) ....its not commercially overused like pockemon :D

[Sleepy]

I fixed a little grammar error in my last comment (bold). thanks legendhiro :) now I want to see digimon again :D ahh good old times of my childhood ^-^ I can just remember the animes I carelessly watched on TV during elementary/middle/ and part of high school and makes me want to go back

[legendhiro]

i had a feeling that's what you'd meant to say.

 

and here:

http://www.animecrazy.net/category/completed-anime-shows/digimon-season-1/

 

http://www.animecrazy.net/category/completed-anime-shows/digimon-season-2/

[fortycal86]

Well I read up to chapter 5 so far. I'm not one for fan fics but, yours is very well written. Great job!

[legendhiro]

thanks

[legendhiro]

bump

[Mayko]

I love your fanfic

[legendhiro]

thanks mayko. after i'm moved into my new place and get back to work on my digimon fic i'll only have a few days to go before i'm ready to pick up where i left off on this one. so look forward to a new update by the 27th at the VERY latest.

[fortycal86]

I read book #1 and so far, I must say I'm very impressed. This is a great Fanfic, keep it up.

[legendhiro]

thanks

[legendhiro]

hurray! the hiatus ends! this will be the last chapter for about a week though, as i have already committed something in my digimon fic. but then the hiatus will officially end until the end of book five at least!

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter One]

 

Invitation from Kaiba Corporation

 

 

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

 

I woke up out of a sound sleep to the sound of my alarm. It was what I thought was a normal Friday morning. I should have known that nothing in my life was normal. I sat up, hanging my feet over the side of the bed, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I looked groggily out over my messy room, and looked over at the still-beeping alarm. I slapped the off button, and the beeping stopped.

 

It was mid summer, and I was currently between employers, so I had nothing to do. I was only awake because I like waking up early enough to have plenty of time with my friends, who also have no lives. Our secret lives were to blame. When you spend your time fighting dark magic, everything else becomes less than exciting. My mom was at work, and my sister was out, so I had some time to myself to get showered and dressed.

 

So I showered, and I dressed, putting on an old t-shirt. It didn’t fit. I kept forgetting about the growth spurt that I’d recently gone through. So I tossed the old t-shirt back onto the floor where I’d found it and grabbed a newer black one. It fit like a glove. Then I pulled on a not-to-dirty pair of jeans, grabbed my deck box, and clipped it to one of my belt buckles. I pulled the Soul of Darkness out from under my shirt and walked down the stairs.

 

I swung open the front door, ready to step outside, and I found a letter waiting for me on the welcome mat. It bore a stamp depicting the insignia of the legendary Kaiba Corporation, the company that created the holographic technology that made modern dueling possible. Kaiba Corp. is headed by the former Duel Monsters champion Seto Kaiba, the Number Two Duelist in the world.

 

I bent down and picked up the letter. It was addressed to me. I wondered what it could be. Naturally I walked back inside and sat down on the couch. I tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter. It was typed out. The text read:

 

 

Dear Duelist,

 

You are invited to participate in the second Kaiba Corporation Invitational Grand Championship. The tournament will take place in one week, and the tournament rules will not be revealed until the tournament begins.

 

In this envelope you will find a flash drive containing instructions on how to get to the tournament site.

 

The Duel Force has caught the eye of the Kaiba Corporation. You as their leader have caught the Corporation’s eye most of all. We at Kaiba Corp. look forward to seeing you there.

 

-Seto Kaiba, President and C.E.O.

 

 

“Well I’ll be damned.”

 

 

I stuffed the letter into my pocket and pulled the tiny flash drive from the envelope. I ran to the computer and plugged the drive into the computer, opening the file stored within. It described how I was to make my way next Friday to the airport to catch a Kaiba Corp. jet to New York. The tournament would be held at the soon to be opened Kaibaland New York. It was complete with maps and everything.

 

“Huh, only a week’s notice?” I said, thinking out loud. “Hope that’s enough. Hope Mom doesn’t mind.”

 

I read over the instructions again and then left. I walked to my car, a white convertible something or other. I have no idea what it was now. I don’t have it anymore. After stopping for some gas I drove to the mall. There in the mall’s game center I found all of the members of my team, the Duel Force, along with my young apprentice Jenna.

 

“Well,” I said, pulling up a seat next to the slim and beautiful dark haired Karen. She was wearing a button up denim skirt and white knee-high socks, and a white long sleeve t under a denim vest. “You guys will never guess what I got.”

 

“An invitation to the next Kaiba Corp. sponsored tournament?” Max asked mockingly. He pulled a letter of his own out of the pocket of his gray hooded jacket and held it up over his head, adjusting his ball cap so that it held his blond hair out of his blue eyes.

 

“See,” he said, “I got one too.”

 

“Yeah,” said me best friend Tucker, “So did I.” He held up his own letter. Sarah and Jen held up letters as well. So did Karen, waving it around in my face, smiling.

 

Tucker has spiky red hair and was wearing a black t-shirt with a flame pattern on the right sleeve and dark wash blue jeans with a fire pattern up the left leg. Sarah had her frizzy blond hair tied back in a make shift ponytail. She was wearing a gray and black basketball jersey with a number 9 on it and jean shorts. Her outfit clashed horribly.

 

I looked from one letter to the next and then leaned back in my seat. “Well, I felt special for about five seconds.”

 

Karen elbowed me, “Don’t sulk.”

 

“Isn’t this great bro?” Sarah asked excitedly. “I’m gonna compete in a big tournament.”

 

“Yeah, it is pretty cool,” I said. “Guess its true what the letter said; the Duel Force has caught Kaiba’s eye.”

 

“But why only some of us?” Monty asked curiously. He was wearing an open flannel jacket, a red t-shirt, and black jeans. His spiky hair stuck out in all directions.

 

“Easy,” said Rocky, straitening his survival vest over his blue tank top, “There must have only been a limited number of slots, so Kaiba only invited Duelists from the team that he wanted to see duel the most. Either that or he only picked the ones that he considered the greatest threat.”

 

“That would be cool,” I said, “if Kaiba considers me a threat.”

 

“Considers us a threat,” said Karen, elbowing me again, more playfully this time.

 

“Can everyone go?” I asked.

 

“Yeah,” said Max. “We already talked it over, and we can all go.”

 

“Good,” I said. “I could use some practice. Anyone want to take me on?”

 

“I’ll face you,” said Rocky.

 

“Really?” I replied. “You never want to duel.”

 

“I want to duel you,” said Rocky. “You’re strong, and I have to fight strong opponents to become stronger.”

 

I stood up and summoned the blade-like Dark Disk, “In that case, you’re on.”

 

Rocky stood up and activated his Duel Disk, taking his deck from his vest pocket and inserting it. We made our way up to the Game Center’s central arena. We passed by a table where some kids were sitting. I heard one of them say to the other, “Hey, aren’t they from the Duel Force?”

 

“I’ll move first,” said Rocky. “I set one monster face-down and set three cards.”

 

“I’ve seen this move,” I said, “remember? I can easily counter it. I summon my ‘Strike Ninja’ in attack mode and then play ‘Painful Choice’, choosing five cards from my deck. You choose one of those cards to add to my hand, and then I discard the rest.”

 

The black-clad kunai-wielding ‘Strike Ninja’ appeared (ATK: 1700). Then I fanned out my deck and chose five cards. I opened the Field Card port of my Duel Disk, placing four of the cards in the empty Monster Zones and one in the Field Zone. Holograms of the five cards appeared above my head. They were ‘D.D. Scout Plane’, ‘Sangan’, ‘Giant Orc’, ‘The Fiend Megacyber’, and ‘Great Maju Garzett’.

 

“Add ‘D.D. Scout Plane’ to your hand,” said Rocky, pointing at the card hologram.

 

I placed the ‘D.D. Scout Plane’ card in my hand and placed the other cards in my Graveyard.

 

“’Strike Ninja’ attacks,” I commanded. ‘Strike Ninja’ charged forward and slashed with his kunai knife. The target was revealed. It was a pink round-bodied monster with wings and an “S” on its chest. ‘Gamma the Magnet Warrior’ (DEF: 1800).

 

“Reveal ‘Cross Counter’,” Rocky declared, “giving my monster the chance to counterattack and destroy yours.”

 

‘Gamma’ struck, but I was ready. “I remove two Dark monsters from play,” I said, “to remove my ‘Ninja’ from play until the End Phase.”

 

“No way,” said Rocky. “I discard ‘Destroyer Golem’ to activate ‘Divine Wrath’.” A bolt of lightning struck my ‘Ninja’, and he was destroyed.

 

So it’s not the same combo after all, I thought. I shouldn’t have underestimated him, especially since I haven’t seen him duel enough to know his deck yet.

 

“One face-down card,” I said, “and I end my turn.”

 

“I draw,” said Rocky, “and I summon my ‘Alpha the Magnet Warrior’.” Another stone-bodied warrior appeared, green in color, carrying a shield and sword (ATK: 1400).

 

“Now I activate ‘Ultimate Offering’,” Rocky declared, “paying 500 Life Points (8000-500=7500) to summon ‘Beta the Magnet Warrior’.” A third monster appeared, colored yellow with horseshoe-shaped magnets for hands (ATK: 1700).

 

“I change ‘Gamma’ to attack mode (ATK: 1500) and attack with all three monsters.” The three magnets attacked, and my Life Points dropped considerably (8000-1400-1500-1700=3400).

 

“Now,” Rocky declared, “I activate the special ability of my monsters. When the three Magnet Warriors are together on the field they can combine into a supreme monster.” The three monsters broke down into composite parts which combined into a tall winged, horned, sword and shield wielding warrior. “These monsters become ‘Valkyrion the Magna Warrior’ (ATK: 3500)!”

 

“Too bad for you it’s my turn,” I said. “I discard ‘D.D. Scout Plane’ to activate ‘Monster Reincarnation’, returning ‘Great Maju Garzett’ to my hand. Next I summon ‘Magician of Faith’,” a young woman in a gown and carrying a staff appeared, “using her as a sacrifice to activate ‘Enemy Controller’.” The woman disappeared in a swirl of light and a giant game controller appeared. I pressed the controls in sequence and a cord shot from the controller to the ‘Magna Warrior. The warrior’s eyes glowed and it moved over to my side of the field.

 

“Now I play ‘Double Summon’,” I said, “letting me sacrifice ‘Valkyrion the Magna Warrior’ for the ‘Great Maju Garzett’.” ‘Valkyrion’ became smoke and reformed into a massive brown skeletal demon with a red sphere in its forehead and in each shoulder. The spheres flashed (ATK: 7000).

 

“’Great Maju Garzett’, attack with Vile Energy!”

 

‘Great Maju Garzett’ fired a massive blast from his palm. The beam hit Rocky, and smoke and fire poured over him, obscuring his view (7500-7000=500).

 

“I’m not out of this yet,” Rocky said, just before a figure in yellow armor burst through the smoke and punched him in the gut (500-2200=0).

 

“How?” Rocky asked.

 

“I used my face-down ‘Call of the Haunted’ to revive ‘The Field Megacyber’ and attack,” I explained. My monster disappeared as the duel came to an end.

 

[spoiler=Card of the Day]

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter Scoping Out the Competition

[Kenny Bohner]

Not bad, except for a few grammatical errors. Very good idea, though. But, I do have one question: why are there so many blondes? There's no problem, but, well, you know.

[legendhiro]

i just didn't want everyone to be dark haired, that's all. plus when i visualize a character hair is one of the first things i decide on. it usually has something to do with how i want people to see them.

---

thanks, i'm glad you like it.

[legendhiro]

most of the competitors make themselves known, including a man who seems to know all about the competition, and a member of the dark duel force. but most surprising of all is the one who arrives last...

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Two]

 

Scoping Out the Competition

 

 

“This is it,” I said, smiling, looking up at the number above the gate. This is where the Kaiba Corp. jet is waiting for us.”

 

“Good,” said Max. “After an hour and a half getting through customs, I could really use some time not getting through customs.”

 

Karen punched him in the arm and gave him a stern look. He produced a sound that can only be described as a growl.

 

I smiled. Max might seem like a jerk, but I knew that deep down, really deep down, he was a good guy, and a friend.

 

“I just hope that I get to fight smoky the hothead over here,” said Sarah, looking up at Tucker, who had recently grown seven inches and towered over all of us.

 

“I’d burn you up,” said Tucker.

 

“No way!”

 

We handed our tickets (which had been waiting for us at the airport when we arrived) to the attendant at the gate and stepped through onto the airfield outside. We carried our small bags onto the plane and found our seats. We were the only ones on board. It was pretty cool.

 

The captain came over the intercom and gave his well rehearsed speech about our flight plan and the safety crap. I didn’t really pay attention. I was busy thinking about the tournament. Who would be there? How strong would they be?

 

And I couldn’t help but think about how cool it would be if I actually won!

 

But most of all I was hoping to meet my hero; the original King of Games, Yugi Moto. He hadn’t been seen at a major tournament since the last Grand Championship, so I didn’t expect to see him at this tournament either, but I could hope.

 

“I hope I get to face you in the tournament,” said Karen, laying her head on my shoulder.

 

“Yeah,” I said, “me too.”

 

“You’re thinking hard about something,” she said. It wasn’t a question.

 

“Yeah,” I said absentmindedly.

 

“What?” Karen asked.

 

“What, what?”

 

“What are you thinking about?”

 

“Oh, well I was just thinking that I’d like to duel Yugi.”

 

Karen sat up and looked over at me, “You mean the Yugi? The King of Games Yugi? Trust me, you’d be lucky if Yugi wasn’t even competing. If Yugi competes you’ll never be able to win, and from what I can tell you’ve got a better chance than anyone of winning this thing.”

 

“Still, even if it means I’ll lose, I still want to fight Yugi. I mean, who can say they’ve fought Yugi?”

 

“I don’t expect to get far,” she said, laying her head on my shoulder again.

 

“Even if you don’t, I’m sure you’ll do great.” She and I sat together for the rest of the flight in silence.

 

 

Tucker

 

 

I spent most of the flight goofing around and bragging about how strong I am. That’s what I do. But the entire time I was worried that I’d cave under the pressure and let John down. He’d done so much for me in the past.

 

Alright John, I decided, I promise that either I’ll fight you, or I’ll make it to the final round, no matter who I have to get through.

 

 

Max

 

 

I’ve never been the kind of person to open up to people, especially since my first real friend Randy was killed my Yami, or I guess Marik. I’d made some pretty good friends recently, but none of them compared to him. He had been like a brother. As hard as it was living without him around, I’d managed to come to terms with it. But the entire length of the fight, for some reason, I felt like Randy was waiting for me at the end.

 

 

John

 

 

The plane landed at about six-o-clock. There were KC cars waiting to pick us up and drive us to the Kaibaland Resort. We arrived and I looked around in awe. The resort was awesome, with twenty-four semi-circular stories wrapped around a courtyard with a huge stone fountain, topped with a statue of a ‘Blue-Eyes White Dragon’. Inside, on the lobby floor, was a huge pool, a smoothie bar, an open bar, artificial waterfalls, and diving boards. The building was beautiful and spectacular, both inside and out.

 

We were directed to our rooms, one for each of us. We were on the top floor, for special guests. The rooms were placed in the ends of the half circle structure. There were twenty or so rooms total, with a lounge in the middle. We left our bags in our rooms, which were huge and amazing, and then headed back out to the lounge and waited for more competitors to arrive.

 

“This is boring,” said Tucker.

 

“For once I agree with you Hothead,” said Sarah.

 

“Oh, come on!” I said. “This is great! Waiting to meet the ultra strong Duelists that we’ll be fighting. The suspension is great!”

 

Tucker, who was sitting right next to me, punched me hard in the arm and shot me a dirty look.

 

“It would be nice if some of the other competitors would actually show up,” said Karen, putting her feet up on the table in the center of the room.

 

“Did someone say something about meeting the other competitors?” Asked a strange voice from behind me. We all looked and saw that someone had just stepped off of the elevator. He was wearing a gray suite with brown slacks, and highly reflective round-lens glasses.

 

“You must be the competitors who have already arrived,” said the man. He walked over to each of us in turn and offered a hand to shake, and we each stood in turn and took it, except for Max and Lawrence.

 

“I am Doctor William Crabtree,” he said smiling. Judging by the wrinkles on his face he was in his mid forties. His eyes were too hidden to tell for sure, but his smile seemed very false. Not evil, but sinister. I didn’t trust him for a second.

 

“I’m a surgeon,” said Crabtree, “and a Gold Ranked Duelist.”

 

“I’m John,” I told him, “and these are Karen, Sarah, Jenifer, Lawrence, Max and Tucker. We’re the Duel Force.”

 

You obviously have something up your sleeve, Doc, I thought, so how will you react to that?

 

“Ah, yes,” said Crabtree thoughtfully, sitting down in an armchair across from me. “I’ve heard of you of course!” He leaned forward and folded his hands, still wearing that awful smile.

 

“You, John, are Gold Rank. Your signature cards include ‘The Fiend Megacyber’, ‘Great Maju Garzett’, and ‘Dimension Fusion’. You, Lawrence, were once a student of Seto Kaiba, and you are only one of two Duelists known at this time who possess three copies of the ‘Blue-Eyes White Dragon’. You, Karen, were once a student of Maxamillion Pegasus and hold a set of Toon monsters. And Max, you used to be a very well known Duelist in this region, but fell off the radar until you recently re-emerged displaying the mantle of the Duel Force.”

 

“What about me?” asked Tucker.

 

“You,” said Crabtree, “are not even worth mentioning.

 

“Now,” said Crabtree, “if you don’t mind, I’m going to turn in.”

 

With that, he stood up and strolled briskly to his room.

 

“I don’t know if you guys noticed,” said Tucker, “but that guy’s up to something.”

 

“Yeah,” said Lawrence sarcastically, “we all got it.”

 

 

It was another twenty minutes before anyone else arrived. This time we already knew him. The elevator door opened and in stepped War Ruler, one of the members of the Dark Duel Force. I jumped up, along with Tucker, Karen, Lawrence, and Max. The others rose moments later, as Hiro appeared at my side.

 

“Why are you here,” I demanded.

 

“I’d guess for the same reason as you,” he replied.

 

“You can’t expect us to believe that you’re only here to compete,” said Tucker.

 

“No,” he answered, “but I’m also not looking to convince you. If you see anything suspicious from me, respond in what ever way you see fit. I’ll see you tomorrow at the tournament.”

 

And he too walked away.

 

 

It was dark by the time the next competitor arrived. We knew him too, though the others were paying too much attention to the TV mounted on the wall overhead to really notice him. He was the master of one turn kill tactics, “King of O.T.K.” as he was often called. He and I smiled at each other as he walked past me and toward his room.

 

Looks like it’s finally time for us to settle things, Christopher Johnson.

 

 

The next competitor to arrive was a kid about my age with dark hair, darker than mine, spiked pretty much strait up. He wore a dark red vest, the collar turned up, over a navy blue long sleeve t. I stood up and extended my hand, “I’m John, nice to meet you.”

 

The kid walked past me, stopped, and looked back over his shoulder.

 

“I’m called Evo,” he said. “You don’t interest me.”

 

 

“Well I’m gonna turn in,” said Jen, standing up and stretching. “Obviously the other Duelists don’t plan to show up until tomorrow.”

 

“Yeah,” said Tuck, “me too,”

 

Just then the elevator door opened and two familiar figures stepped into the lounge.

 

“Hey,” said the shorter of the two figures, “you must be the other competitors in this thing.” He shot us a friendly smile and I rose to my feet in shock. “Nice to meet you all,” he went on. “I’m Yugi Moto.”

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter The New Rules

[legendhiro]

and the next one already! the final competitors are revealed. what sinister plans could they be cooking up?

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Three]

 

The New Rules

 

 

I was both ecstatic and speechless, as were my friends. None of us said a word for several seconds, until I blurted, “You’re Yugi! And you,” I said, pointing at the taller one, “are Katsuya Jounichi!”

 

“How’s it going,” said Jounichi, not really meaning it to be a question.

 

Then to Yugi he said, “I’m outta here. I need my beauty sleep ya know.”

 

“Yeah,” said Yugi, “I could use some sleep too.” He waved at my friends and I and said, “See you at the tournament.”

 

The two famous Duelists walked to their respective rooms and stepped inside. I turned to my friends and said, “Oh yeah! Yugi’s here! And I might get to fight him!”

 

“I might get to fight him too,” said Tucker, staring blankly ahead, his mouth hanging open slightly.

 

“I’ve gotta get some rest,” I said. “I might get paired against Yugi tomorrow.” I stood up and walked to my room.

 

I stepped inside and took off my jeans and jacket, leaving only my t-shirt and boxers. I pulled down the sheets, climbed in, and fell asleep.

 

I suddenly found myself back in my jeans and jacket, standing with Hiro within my own mind. Tomorrow is going to be big, I said. The instructions said that there would be a monetary prize to be announced. It could be just what I need to get my career started.

 

You’ve never mentioned what you plan to do as a career, said Hiro.

 

Well, I said smirking, since I obviously won’t be able to coast through life on my good looks, I was thinking that I’d try for the Pro Dueling Circuit.

 

Yeah, said Hiro, You could definitely do that.

 

I know, I said, but I figure that I’ll need money to live on until my career as a pro takes off, you know.

 

Yeah.

 

Do you think we could beat him?

 

Beat who? Hiro asked.

 

Yugi, I answered.

 

We won’t know until we try.

 

 

I slept soundly through the night and was awoken the next morning at six-thirty by my room phone. I picked up the receiver and said hello. A woman answered that this was the standard wake-up call for all participants in the tournament, and that all participants were to be in the lounge by seven-o-clock sharp. Grudgingly I got up and showered and dressed, grabbed my deck box, clipped it to my belt, and headed out.

 

Max, Karen, and Lawrence were already there, along with Christopher, Evo, Yugi, and Jounichi. As I stepped into the lounge, so did War Ruler. I shot him a look, which he ignored, as he looked up at the TV, which had just switched on. Sarah and Jen stepped into the lounge about then, with Tucker arriving a moment later.

 

The screen flickered and the face of Kaiba Corp. President Seto Kaiba appeared. “Greetings Duelists,” he said, his arrogance permeating his voice and expression, “and welcome to Kaibaland New York and the second Kaiba Corporation Grand Championship. You have all been chosen because you show great potential. The world deserves to see that potential first hand.”

 

“When he says ‘the world’,” I said, “he’s talking about himself.”

 

“Until now the final rules of this tournament have yet to be divulged,” Kaiba continued. “The rules will be standard single elimination, except for two exceptions. As of right now I am implementing both an escalating ante, where the rarest one card in each player’s deck will be bet in the first round, the rarest two in the second round, and the rarest three in the semifinal and final rounds, and a rarest card must play rule. Thanks to this requirement, every duelist in this tournament who is caught without their rarest three cards in their deck will be disqualified.”

 

I was instantly suspicious of these new rules. Could Kaiba know that I had the God cards? If so, he would obviously want them for himself. But there was always the chance that he was after something else instead. And of course Kaiba wasn’t even going to be in this tournament, was he? If these new rules were supposed to be a way for Kaiba to get his hands on a certain card, that meant that either he was in the tournament, or someone else was representing him. But that wasn’t at all like the Kaiba that I’d heard about. He was proud, and he fought his own battles.

 

Either way, I have no choice, I thought. If Kaiba does know about the Gods, I can’t risk not running them in my deck. I’ll run them, but just not use them.

 

I reached into my shirt pocket and removed the three cards, slipping them into the deck at my waist. No one saw me.

 

“The pairings for the first round will take place at eight sharp at the Kaibaland Arena. There will be cars waiting outside the resort at seven-fifty-five to take the Duelists there to the arena, but any Duelist may employ any means of arrival, as long as they are present at eight-o-clock. Any Duelist not present at that time will be immediately disqualified.”

 

And the screen went blank.

 

“Well,” said Tucker, stepping up to my side, “he sure knows how to get right to the point, doesn’t he.”

 

“Yeah,” I said, “he does.”

 

 

At seven-fifty-five my team and I along with the other competitors headed downstairs to the cars. Kaiba had arranged for an entire lane to be blocked off from traffic. It must be great to be rich. We were at the arena, which was just down the street, in under two minutes. We stepped out of the cars in the shadow of the world famous Kaibaland Tower. Every serious Duelist knew it by sight. We walked between two large ‘Blue-Eyes’ statues and through the front doors. There were people everywhere, every one of them talking about the tournament. Almost immediately a man in a black suite approached us.

 

“If you’ll follow me I’ll take you to the room where the pairings will take place. The pairing process is set to take place at any moment.” The man turned and started walking. We followed. The man led us to a room in the far back of the lobby marked “Authorized Personnel Only”. He unlocked the door, opened it, and motioned us inside.

 

We stepped into the room. Inside there were already two figures waiting for us. One was a large man in a trench coat and shades. The other was a kid about my age with red hair wearing a brown mask that covered his eyes. He had his arms crossed.

 

“You must be the other competitors,” I said. I stepped forward and offered my hand. They glared at me over their shoulders. “Okay,” I said and stepped back a bit. Christopher stepped up and stood by my side. Tucker stepped up to my other side and shot me a look that said, I don’t trust these people. This tournament could be more than it seems.

 

I nodded.

 

I looked forward and noticed for the first time a large machine designed to look like a ‘Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon’. At its “feet” was a glass dome. In it sat sixteen numbered lottery balls. Beside the machine was a ticket dispenser. Behind the two machines was a large window showing a massive outdoor stadium, packed to the brim with people. High overhead was a huge LCD screen.

 

The man who led us to the room stepped up beside the ‘Blue-Eyes’ machine and raised a mic to his mouth, and the screen outside came to life, showing an image of the man.

 

Being the cautious and slightly paranoid guy that I am I looked around. I noticed a door to our left, other than the one that we had entered through. I also noticed several automated cameras located all around the room, as well as atop the ticket dispenser.

 

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen,” said the man with the mic, “to the second Kaiba Corp. Grand Championship!” He paused, giving the crowd a chance to cheer. “The competitors will now step forward in turn,” said the announcer, “and draw numbered tickets to begin the pairing process.” Then to us he said, “If you would, please line up single file.”

 

We got in line, and the image switched to the one recorded by the camera atop the ticket dispenser. The first to step forward was the kid in the mask. He pulled out the number one ticket.

 

“And Duelist number one is the mysterious Masked Duelist!”

 

The crowd clapped excitedly.

 

The large man stepped forward next and drew the number two ticket, “And Duelist number two is Exodus!”

 

The crowd was obviously as freaked out by this guy as I was, because he got far less clapping.

 

The next Duelist to step up was Evo, “Evo will be Duelist number three!”

 

This one got a lot more clapping than the other two. Apparently this Evo guy was pretty famous.

 

Next was Sarah, and then Crabtree, who got decent recognition, and he loved every minuscule moment of it. Then it was Jen, and then Tucker, Max, and Lawrence. Then was Christopher, who got a ton of applause. Then me.

 

“Number eleven is John, leader of the up and coming Team Duel Force!”

 

I stood there holding my ticket as the stadium exploded with applause. It wasn’t as big as Christopher’s, but it was pretty great. People actually knew who I was! I stepped to the side, and Yugi stepped up and drew his ticket. The announcer said his name and his face appeared on the screen, and the stadium roared. My enthusiasm dropped. I knew I’d never be as big a name as he was.

 

Katsuya Jounichi was next, then Karen, and finally War Ruler, who was introduced as Marcus. Fifteen Duelists.

 

Wait, I thought, looking around, if this is single elimination then we need at least sixteen. Who’s the last guy?

 

“And finally,” said the announcer, gesturing toward the side door, “the final Duelist in this tournament, Kaiba Corporation CEO and the host for this event, Seto Kaiba!”

 

As Kaiba stepped through the door, wearing the same white jacket as the one he wore during the Battle City Tournament, I couldn’t help but smile. I knew it. This is going to be a hell of a tournament!

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter Round One; Max vs. Karen and Sarah vs. Christopher Johnson

[legendhiro]

the tournament begins. Max is even more brutal than ever, and against his own team mate too! plus, we finally get to see Christopher Johnson's full power for the first time!

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Four]

 

Round One; Max vs. Karen and Sarah vs. Christopher Johnson

 

 

After we received our numbers, the lottery machine kicked on, randomly expelling two numbers at a time until everyone was paired off. The pairings were: Max and Karen, Sarah and Christopher, Yugi and Jounichi, Lawrence and the guy in the mask, Tucker and Doc. Crabtree, War Ruler, or Marcus, and Exodus, me against Evo (what kind of name is that anyway?), and Jen and Kaiba, in that order. There were three stages out on the arena floor, so the first six duels would take place three at a time, and then the last two duels, mine and Jen’s duels, would take place last, again at the same time.

 

We were led out into a shaded box along the side of the stadium floor where we could sit in comfort and watch the other duels. I had almost put my paranoia out of mind when I overhead Yugi and Jounichi, who were sitting in the seats nearest to the door.

 

Jounichi was showing Yugi a card, “What do you think it means?”

 

“I don’t know, but if ours are back, that means Kaiba’s is probably back too.”

 

I would have loved to listen to what they were saying, but I didn’t want to be caught eavesdropping. So I kept walking, finding a seat next to Karen. I sat down, pondering what I’d just heard.

 

 

Karen

 

 

My duel was first, against Max of all people. I can usually read people easily, but Max was a different story all together. Not only had I only seen him duel a few times, he had also recently upgraded his deck with several rare cards. I hadn’t seen him duel even once since then. I didn’t know what to expect.

 

He and I walked to Duel Stage #1, the crowd clapping and cheering from the stands. We stepped up, and we began our match immediately.

 

“You may be a member of the same team as me,” said Max, “but today you’re my enemy, and I plan to treat you as such.”

 

I smirked, “Don’t worry, I won’t go easy either.”

 

“I’ll go first,” said Max. “I set one monster and activate ‘Card of Safe Return’, a Permanent Spell card. Then I end my turn with three face-down cards.”

 

 

Sarah

 

 

My opponent was Christopher Johnson, my brother’s first real rival. I’d lost to him once, and I wasn’t about to do that again.

 

I have to get up a combo that will leave me in the lead even this early in the game, because if I give Christopher an inch, he’ll take a mile.

 

“I’ll start things off,” I said. “Go, ‘Pot of Greed’!”

 

I drew two cards from my deck and then checked my hand.

 

Oh yeah, that’ll work!

 

“I summon the ‘Soldier of Atlantis’,” I declared, and a blue-skinned fish man appeared, carrying a harpoon gun (ATK: 1900).

 

“Next I play ‘Big Wave Small Wave’,” I said, “sacrificing my ‘Soldier’ to summon another water monster, my ‘Revival Jam’.”

 

Water rose up around ‘Soldier of Atlantis’, and he melted away, becoming the plasma monster ‘Revival Jam’ (ATK: 1500).

 

“But I’m not done yet,” I said, “because I drew the ultimate hand! I remove ‘Soldier’ in my Graveyard from play to summon my favorite monster, ‘Aqua Spirit’!” A pillar of bubbles rose up. The bubbles popped, and the blue-skinned water fairy ‘Aqua Spirit’ emerged (ATK: 1600).

 

“Next I end with ‘Card of Safe Return’ and two face-down cards. Gimme your best shot!”

 

“Oh,” said Christopher, drawing to begin his first turn, “I will.”

 

He looked over his hand and smiled a devious smile. “Do you know why I’m King of OTK?” he asked. When I didn’t answer he said, “I’ll tell you anyway. I have studied this game extensively. I’ve always had a talent for seeing connections, and because I know every card in the game I only have to see a few cards in any given duelist’s deck, along with a little of their personality, to see through every one of their combinations.

 

“For example,” he said, smugness in his voice, “your face-down cards are ‘Jam Defender’ and ‘Solemn Wishes’.”

 

What? I thought, glancing down at my cards. How’d he know?

 

“You’re planning on blocking whatever monster I summon using a combination of ‘Revival Jam’ and ‘Jam Defender’,” he said, “and then use a combination of ‘Solemn Wishes’ and ‘Card of Safe Return’ to cancel out ‘Revival Jam’’s Life Point cost and rebuilding your hand all at once. Then you’ll use ‘Aqua Spirit’’s effect in combination with cards such as ‘Gravity Bind’ and ‘Level Limit – Area B’ to limit how many attacks I can make until you can draw into ‘Daedalus’ and ‘A Legendary Ocean’.”

 

“Y-you figured out my entire deck!” I was so shocked that I was actually shaking.

 

“Yeah,” he said, “and now I’m gonna defeat your deck. I begin with my own ‘Pot of Greed’ to draw two cards. Any number of the cards in my deck will work for what I need them to do, so it doesn’t really matter what I draw.”

 

He drew his cards and looked them over intently. Maybe he didn’t draw what he needed, I thought, my resolve returning. It didn’t remain for long.

 

“Sorry,” Christopher said, “but I have to end this. And I’ll do so starting with ‘Dark Hole’, destroying every monster on the field.”

 

My monsters were sucked into a black hole, which closed seconds later. Christopher selected a second card from his hand, “Next I activate ‘Polymerization’, fusing the Gemini Monsters ‘King Pyron’ and ‘Aquarian Allessa’ into ‘Metal-Armored Beast Raptinus’!”

 

‘King Pyron, a humanoid figure made of fire, and ‘Aquarian Allessa’, a young girl in a blue kimono, appeared in the air and merged into a huge dragon with multicolor skin patches and broad tan wings (ATK: 2200).

 

“Now I play ‘Graceful Charity’, drawing three cards and then discarding ‘Blazing Warrior Lady’ and ‘Frozen Sorceress’ from my hand. I remove ‘Allessa’, ‘Frozen Sorceress’, and ‘Blazing Warrior Lady’ from play, fusing ice with fire to form my ultimate card, ‘Frost and Flame Dragon’!”

 

A pillar of fire rose up alongside a pillar of water. The water began to freeze as the two pillars twisted together, forming a huge two-headed dragon, one head an icy blue, and the other a fiery red (ATK: 2300).

 

“Next up,” said Christopher, “I activate ‘Dimension Explosion’, returning ‘Raptinus’ to my Fusion Deck to allow us both to Special Summon up to two monsters that we have removed from play.” ‘Raptinus’ disappeared in a flash of light. A ripple appeared in the air beside me, and ‘Soldier of Atlantis’ emerged (ATK: 1900). A ripple appeared beside the ‘Frost and Flame Dragon’, and ‘Blazing Warrior Lady’ and ‘Frozen Sorceress’ emerged (ATK: 2200 each).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Finally,” said Christopher, “I play ‘Premature Burial’, paying eight hundred Life Points (8000-800=7200) to summon ‘King Pyron’ from my Graveyard!”

 

The humanoid flame ‘King Pyron’ appeared with a burst of heat and fire (ATK: 1500).

 

“Now,” said Christopher, playing his final card, “I double the size and strength of my ‘Dragon’ with the Spell card ‘Megamorph’.” A glowing magic ring appeared below the two-headed dragon, and he grew to twice his size (ATK: 4600), “and I activate his special attack ability, Burning Ice Breath!”

 

‘Frost and Flame Dragon’ breathed ice from his frozen mouth, freezing my monster, and then breathed fire from his fiery mouth, melting my monster away in a torrent of flames.

 

“Now my four monsters attack, finishing you off.” ‘Frost and Flame Dragon’ breathed fire and ice from his two mouths, ‘Pyron’ launched a burst of fire from his palms, ‘Blazing Warrior Lady’ swung her sword, releasing a swirling of heat and fire, and ‘Frozen Sorceress’ spread her arms, releasing an icy breeze. The attacks hit, dealing me over ten thousand damage.

 

Christopher’s monsters faded away, and he stepped forward and shook my hand. “Despite the outcome here I think you’ve got more power than that. I’d like to duel you again some day. And don’t worry about that ante thing. I don’t need any of your cards.”

 

 

Karen

 

 

“For my move,” I said, “I start out with ‘Toon Alligator’.” An axe-wielding lizard appeared (ATK: 800). “Next I play ‘Double Summon’, tributing ‘Alligator’ for the ‘Dark Magician Girl’.” A young woman appeared wearing a blue dress and a witch’s hat over long blond hair. She carried a staff as a wand, which she aimed at Max, winking (ATK: 2000).

 

“’Dark Magician Girl’,” I commanded, “attack with Dark Burning!” ‘Dark Magician Girl’ fired waves of energy from the tip of her staff, hitting the face-down monster, which was revealed as a wooden man carrying a scythe.

 

“You attacked my ‘Regulus Reever’,” said Max, “which means we each discard a card from our own hand, and then your monster loses five hundred Attack (2000-500=1500).”

 

“I play ‘Card of Sanctity’,” I said. “We each draw until we hold six cards.”

 

I looked over my hand. It’s not much, but it’ll have to do.

 

“I place two cards face-down and end my turn.”

 

“Reveal,” said Max, “my ‘Call of the Haunted’ card. With this I revive my ‘Reever’ (ATK: 1600) and draw one card with the effect of ‘Card of Safe Return’. Now I draw, and I summon ‘Emissary of the Afterlife’.”

 

Another reaper monster appeared, ghostlike, with a decorated scythe (ATK: 1600).

 

“I attack with ‘Regulus Reever’,” Max declared, “revealing ‘Robbin’ Goblin’.”

 

“Too bad you can’t hurt me and trigger its effect to force me to discard a random card,” I said as the wooden reaper lunged at my weakened sorceress. I smiled, as did she, and she raised her staff. “Reveal ‘Rush Recklessly’,” I declared, “raising the Attack power of my ‘Dark Magician Girl’ by seven hundred (1500+700=2200).”

 

“I don’t think so,” said Max. “Reveal ‘Attack Reaping’,

cutting the attack of your monster by half at the cost of 500 Life Points (8000-500=7500).” A reaper burst from Max’s Trap, slashing my monster (2200/2=1100) and disappearing. Moments later ‘Regulus Reever’ swung his scythe, cutting my sorceress down to size (8000+1100-1600=7500). Also, because of the effect of ‘Robbin’ Goblin’, I was forced to discard a card, leaving me with three cards.

 

“I also attack with ‘Emissary of the Afterlife’,” said Max. His second monster slashed with its scythe as well, my Life Points fell (7500-1600=5900), and I lost another card, leaving me with two.

 

“Finally,” said Max, “just to be safe, I activate ‘Delinquent Duo’, paying 1000 Life Points (7500-1000=6500) to discard the last two cards from your hand.” Twin demons appeared, flying over to me and snatching my last two cards, ‘Monster Reborn’ and ‘Toon Cannon Soldier’, and placing them in my Graveyard.

 

Max smiled an evil smile, “I end my turn.”

 

I drew my card. ‘Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon’. “I reveal ‘Jar of Greed’ to draw another card.” I drew again and got ‘Toon World’.

 

There was nothing left that I could do.

 

“I end my turn,” I said. Max’s smile widened even further.

 

“If that’s the case,” he said, “then this duel ends now.

 

“I sacrifice both of my monsters,” he declared, “for the Bringer of Fear, ‘Despair from the Dark’!”

 

The two reapers merged, forming a massive shadowy torso with mighty and powerful claws, towering over us from behind Max (ATK: 2800).

 

“’Despair’ attacks,” said Max, “with Fear Claw!” His monster reached toward me, reaching over Max’s head, and slashed me across my chest (5900-2800=3100).

 

“Now I activate ‘Offerings to the Doomed’,” Max declared, “destroying my own monster.” ‘Despair’ melted away, becoming smoke. “This lets me activate ‘A Deal with Dark Ruler’, summoning my strongest card.”

 

The smoke reformed into a large brown skeletal dragon, “Meet the Bringer of Death, ‘Berserk Dragon’ (ATK: 3500)! Attack. Berserk Flame!”

 

Max laughed madly as the dragon inhaled and then exhaled, releasing a barrage of fireballs. They hit me and my Life Points fell (3100-3500=0). I fell to my knees, defeated.

 

[spoiler=Card of the Day]

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter Round One; Tucker vs. Crabtree and Lawrence vs. The Masked Duelist