Disclaimer: I don't own
Also lol, I have two Maxwells, just realized
~xXx~
"So Skeith is free. Why hasn't he made his move and brought despair upon the island?" Fray complained.
"Relax," Ender told her. "He's just been freed and needs time to recover his powers." The duo sat on the top of a large clock tower that overlooked a beautiful, bustling city.
"Then what is Cthulhu's excuse," Fray demanded.
Ienzo supplied the answer. "Our dear Lovecraftian master is very patient. He doesn't care how long everything takes, he just wants to let everyone else do all the work."
"Those bastards don't care what we have to go through." Ender stated bitterly. 'I swear to God we'll destroy them all some day.'
~xXx~
Takuya smiled as he bit into his apple. It crunched in his teeth and juice ran down his throat. 'Skeith is free, the Organization will be moving forward now. I bet the servants are all getting upset about this. They probably want this all over with. And if my dear Shadow-chan is messing around as well, then she probably has some big plans as well.'
He put on his best smile as he walked toward the infirmary. It had been a day since the play. Ryou still hadn't woken up from his coma. 'At least the poor guy is free from Skeith's control. I do however, fear that he'll be overwhelmed with guilt when he does awaken.'
Emi sat in a chair, watching over her sleeping friend. "Dammit, first Subaru, now you," she whispered. She didn't notice Takuya watching her.
"Don't worry about him too much. I've spoken to Cthulhu. He says this is normal and Ryou should recover soon."
Emi's tone immediately changed. "Don't think I shall let my guard down around someone such as yourself. Whatever plan you are scheming, you are foolish to think it would work."
"Calm down, Emi" Takuya waved his hands defensively, I only came to, well yeah I'm here to further my goals. But it's something we both want. We have mutual interests this time."
"What reason would I have for trusting you when you are clearly a villain?"
"Clearly a, hey, I haven't even done anything that bad yet have I? I mean, besides kicking your girlfriend's ass in a duel."
"This isn't about what you have or haven't done, Takuya, this is about what you plan to do," Emi tapped her foot, "you're manipulating everyone to further your goals. I will not allow a manipulative person such as yourself to puppeteer me."
"Speak like a normal person. God, you're even worse than Nayuta when she tries to overload her sentences with assonance." Takuya grinned as he scolded the girl.
"You should refrain from assuming I give a fuck what you think."
~xXx~
Everyone went about their days normally. Sure, Naota and his friends were worried about Ryou, but there was nothing they could do at the moment. Ross was busy at the batting cages, perfecting his own swing, wishing he had a chance to play football as well. He might not have been as good a football player as a baseball player, but he missed the thrilling exhilaration of the contact sport. It contained a certain level of testosterone not found in baseball.
Nayuta was busy working on her homework for tactics class. She studied the question carefuly.
Your opponent has summoned an Aggiba, the Malevolent Sh'nn S'yo, Belial Marquis of Darkness, and a Summoned Skull. He has 4500 Life Points. You have a Red Eyes Black Dragon on the field, and in your hand you have a Lightning Vortex and a Mirror Force. You have 1900 Life Points. What do you do?
She came up with several arguments in her head, but couldn't settle on one for an answer.
Naota and Hikaru were busy playing the Game of Life in Hikaru's bed room. The board rested comfortably on the carpeted floor. Hikaru laid on her side while Naota sat in the lotus position. He spun the wheel, it clicked away until it landed on a 9. He moved forward six spaces, stopping at the marriage sign as per the game's rules.
"Remember when we were little, and we used to play this with Yuu all the time?" He asked.
Hikaru nodded. "You used to argue that marriage shouldn't be a mandatory part of life and that people should be able to play the game without getting hitched."
"And Yuu would always make me laugh by putting another blue piece on his car instead of a pink one," Naota remembered.
"Naota," Hikaru began, "I know you miss him, I do to, but you seriously need to get a girlfriend. or a boyfriend. Whichever." Naota responded with an angry look.
Someone knocked at the door suddenly, catching both their attentions. "Hey Hikaru," said a voice. A short Obelisk blue girl with black hair stuck her face in through the door. "Did you get the memo. There's an announcement in the Duel Dome!"
"Huh," Naota was puzzled. "I didn't know about that."
"Let's go," Hikaru said, leaving the game as it was.
"Seriously, when was the announcement? And why announce an announcement when you can simply tell everyone when announcing the"
"Just hurry up, Ta-kun."
~xXx~
Hazel felt empty inside. Things had not proceeded according to calculation and now her friend was dead. Sure, Skeith was free and the Organization was that much closer to their goal, but she didn't want to lose someone so close to her. 'I wonder, can Skeith raise the dead?'
She was standing in the Obelisk Blue duel dome, where a crowd had gathered for an announcement. Morganna smirked as she strolled up to the girl. "There have been a lot of deaths recently, haven't there? Too bad they're all getting covered up. I hear Chancellor Tenjoin tried his best to get school canceled for our safety, but Kaiba wouldn't let him."
"Hello Morganna," Hazel faked a cheery smile. She didn't trust the girl, and didn't want to show any signs of depression. She wouldn't let Morganna take advantage of her emotions.
"I heard about your boyfriend, looks like you guys screwed up big time."
"Shut up," Hazel growled.
"You guys messed up and now one of your friends is dead," Morganna smirked. "Oh well, who cares, I just hope this announcement is worth my getting out of bed." She tapped her foot in defiance.
Students flooded through the doorway, crowding the dome. They'd reach maximum capacity soon, and students were starting to feel uncomfortable. 'We should talk to Kaiba about building bigger domes,' thought Chancellor Tenjoin as he watched. "Well, looks like everyone's here." He stepped up to the microphone and grabbed it.
"Welcome students," he said over the speakers. Conversations died as attention turned to Fubuki Tenjoin. "I would like to thank you all for gathering here on such short notice. Truth be told, we've been so busy with some problems lately that I completely forgot we had guests coming." He stood to the side, revealing a sight that elicited a chorus of gasps from the students. Several famous duelists had gathered there, and were facing the audience with smiles on their faces.
Seto Kaiba.
Yugi Muto.
Katsuya Jonouchi.
Ryou Bakura.
Mai Kujaku.
Seto Kaiba stepped forward and took the mike. "Hello students. I'm glad to see you're all working hard. I've seen the duel records and I'm quite impressed by everyone's talent. That is why in two days I am holding the Twilight Festival. It will be a chance for you students to test your skills against the biggest Pros around! Who knows, you may even get a chance to duel me!"
The students erupted into cheers of approval. If this was happening that meant classes would probably be canceled.
"To kick off the festivities, Yugi and I will be having a special duel!" Kaiba announced. This created further cheer.
Ryou Bakura listened to his other self speaking in his head. 'This could be quite fun. We should use this opportunity to get our hands on Yugi's God Cards.'
'Listen up, bub, there's no way I'm letting you steal from a friend.'
'Did you just call me Bub? I miss the days when you respected me.'
'I didn't respect you, I feared you.'
Sora ignored the Pros onstage, instead scanning the area for signs of Ross. 'I wonder how he's doing? I haven't spoken to him lately.' It wasn't hard to find the boy. Ross was wearing a white T-shirt and gym shorts, work out clothes. His gaze focused directly on Mai's chest, much to Sora's amusement. 'I shouldn't have expected anything else from you.' He tried walking to the boy, but Fumiko grabbed his hand.
"Let's find Hazel. She should be around here somewhere. We should find out what the Organization is planning." She seemed upset that she and Sora hadn't received any orders recently.
"Oh, sure." He agreed.
While this was going on, Naota turned to Hikaru. "Hey, do you think Judai is going to be there?" He asked excitedly. "I hope so! I'd love the chance to duel him." The teenager sounded like a lovestruck child as he spoke of his idol.
"Maybe. I hear he's in France somewhere with his boyfriend, though."
"JUDAI AND JOHAN ARE JUST FRIENDS!" Naota protested. "I don't know who started those stupid rumors about them." The young boy grumbled under his breath.
"Okay. Sure, whatever you say, Ta-kun."
Fubuki grabbed the microphone once more. "Now, for a special treat, we will have a special duel between the Kaiser and two other students at this academy!" He gestured to kaiser Young, the boy at his side. The Obelisk Blue duelist bowed respectfully. "Who will they be? That's up for fate to decide." He pointed to a giant screen on the wall, normally used for displaying Life Points in a duel. It beeped to life and began flashing duelist profiles. "And the winners are...Nayuta Amachi and Kai Florence!"
"M..me?" Nayuta looked around in astonishment. "Hell yeah!" She eagerly charged onto the stage as fast as a Sonic Duck. Her partner, Kai, strolled onto the stage casually, and offered her a frown.
"The Kaiser's really strong, don't do anything to hold us back."
Maxwell smiled at his two opponent's. "Kai, you should be nice to your partner. The key to victory in a triangle duel is to work together and use the power of team work to win." Three Duel Disks hummed to life.
Nayuta 4000
Kai 4000
Maxwell 4000
"Wait, why does he only have 4000 Life Points?" Nayuta asked.
Maxwell smiled. "Not to sound arrogant, but I am the Kaiser. I figured this would be a decent handicap to make the duel seem more interesting."
"Hmph, I could beat you without a partner," Kai grumbled. "This will be easy." He drew five cards and waited for the Kaiser to make the first move.
"I end my turn." the Kaiser stated after drawing a sixth.
"Wh-what?" Nayuta gulped as she watched Kai draw.
"I set three cards face down," he announced as his holograms appeared. "And I summon Killer Koi in attack mode!" (2000/100) The audience gasped as the mponster appeared. So the rumors were true, there was a new normal monster with stats to rival Gene Warped War Wolf!
"Attack him," Nayuta told her partner
"What? Are you crazy! He probably has Gorz in his hand. He'll summon it and beat us to death next turn."
"You can cut his Life Points in half with this one attack. It will be wort it. Besides, even if he summons Gorz, I can take it." Nayuta stated. "And besides, I think he has something else planned."
Kai swallowed an insult as he pointed forward. "Killer Koi, attack directly!" the fish swam through the air and tackled the Kaiser in the stomach, draining his Life Points significantly.
Maxwell: 2000
"Wow, I was actually hoping that you'd hold back in fear of a Gorz retaliation, nice call, Nayuta." Maxwell smiled as the girl drew. "This could end up being a total humiliation for me."
"I set two cards and summon Velonica Gunner! (1900/1200) Time to show him what we've got." Velonica Gunner nodded, showing understanding. She fired her guns at Maxwell, dropping his Life Points."
Maxwell 100
"Wow, looks like he's in trouble," said an audience member.
"His dad does stuff like this all the time in the Pro Leagues. He's probably going to use that card."
"What card? And who is his dad?"
"Maxwell Andreadis. He uses Warrior Type monsters to swarm the field while constantly destroying his opponent's defenses with his Silence Combos. It's hard to pull off because you need to keep your graveyard empty, but he manages."
Maxwell drew a card and smiled. "I end my turn and discard Silent Pain from my hand due to size limitations."
Kia began his turn by drawing, and watched as a Malice Doll of demise appeared behind his Killer Koi slitting the monster's belly.
Kai 3000
"During your standby phase, if Silent Pain is the only card in my graveyard, it destroys all your monsters and inflicts damage to you at the same time." Kai frowned at Maxwell's smile. "Of course, if you manage to attack me now, then it will all end before it even matters."
Kai looked at his hand. "I summon Dream Koi in attack mode." A shining rainbow fish swam onstage, but Maxwell held out his hand in objection.
"I am able to activate Silent Space from my hand, even during your turn. It destroys your monster and removes itself from play." Maxwell watched his opponent's monster vanish into another realm of existence.
"I set one card and end my turn." Kai stated, causing Nayuta to draw. Velonica Gunner began melting into a puddle of water.
Nayuta 3000
"I'll just end my turn now."
"You idiot. Summon a monster and attack. He probably doesn't have another Silent Space. And if he does, then we definitely want to force him to use it."
"I'm listening to my instincts."
Maxwell drew. 'Too bad she didn't attack. I would have loved to use my Kurinin to stop her. And I'd have tribute fodder as well. But, it doesn't matter.' He threw a card down. "I activate Soul Absorption, menaing I gain 500 Life Poinst for every removed from play card. Then I use Polymerization, fusing the Tragoedia and Zorc Necrophades in my hand!"
A fienidish black and blue creature with spiked armor and a red cape materialized on the field. It had seven heads that snapped and snarled and long wings that stretched out far beyond the battlefield. "Welcome my Tragoedia Necrophades!" (3200/0) "I'll use his effect. I can remove any number of cards from my graveyard to select any number of cards on the field/ Then, those cards will have any effects of theirs negated for the turn, wether they are face up or not. So, I get rid of his components and Polymerization to negate those three face downs," he pointed at three of Kai's cards. "And attack you directly."
Kai 0
Maxwell 1600
Seven heads snapped at Kai, their teeth all finding good chunks of meat to bite. One got his arm, two got his left leg, one settled for his neck, and two more attacked his sides while the last went for his chest.
Kai fell down, defeated. "Next, I release my fusion monster for Dark Hierophant." (1700/100) "His attack may not seem like much, but I'll put his effect to good use. Once per turn, I can remove from play a Dark Monster in my graveyard to steal 700 Life Points from you. So I remove from play my Tragoedia Necrophades!"
A man in black robes held his hands together in prayer as wind blew through his white hair. His wrinkled skin was pale, and his smile was wicked. His aura was nearly dark enough to make Nayuta sick.
Maxwell 2800
Nayuta 2300
"I end my turn."
"Why'd he do that?"
"His monster was so powerful?"
"Is he planning something?"
Nayuta drew, and her Life Points went down further.
Nayuta 1300
'I don't want to lose. Then don't lose. I can't win. Then give up. I don't want to give up. Then prove yourself wrong and win!' Her internal argument with herself gave her renewed strength. "I summon Velonica Magician (1600/1400) And I use her effect to revive Velonica Gunner!" (1900/1200)
"Free revival huh? And you can do it once per turn. Sounds pretty powerful."
"Now I use Velonica Gunner's effect to destroy your Hierophant!" Nayuta's monster jumped on its friend's shoulders and bounded into the sky, raining bullets from above. The Dark Hierophant merely smiled as it was destroyed. "Now direct attack, both of you."
"And they're both allowed to continue their attacks? Tch, this is bad for me. I block Gunner by summoning Kurinin!" (300/200) The small ninja Kuriboh materialized on Gunner's back, plunging the dagger in before she could respond. Horrified at her friend's death, Velonica Magician immediately sent a cascading waterfall to drown the ninja.
Water gurgled as it fell from above, capturing the ninja in an inescapable aquatic prison.
Maxwell 1500
"So, unless I destroy that monster next turn, you'll revive your Gunner, or whatever fodder you used for its effect. Sounds problematic." Maxwell drew a card. Luckily for me, I can end this duel on this turn. I'll begin with Card of Sanctity, allowing us both to draw until we have six cards in our hand." His Duel Disk supplied the cards, and he returned the favor by feeding one of them directly into his Duel Disk. "I activate the Spell Card Future Fusion! I remove from my deck Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, and Belial-The Marquis of Darkness, to prepare the road for a new fusion. Then I activate the Spell Card, Dark Prophecy. I remove from play a Level 5 or Higher Dark Monster to speed the game forward three turns. So by removing Hierophant, I usher in the darkness that is known simply as- The Banished!" (2800/2000)
A dark haired angel with blood red wings and dark purple robes appeared before Maxwell. "My monster is a tad unusual. He can be Fusion Summoned through a few combinations, and his effect is determined based on the particular combination. Right now, he can remove from play a spell in my graveyard to gain an 800 point boost until the end of the turn. So I'll remove from play my Dark Prophecy to activate his effect!" (3600/2000)
Maxwell 2500.
Nayuta trembled, knowing the end was near. "Next, I use Dimension Fusion paying 2000 Life Points to bring back my removed from play Dark Hierophant, Tragoedia, Tragoedia Necrophades, and I'll have them attack!" Nayuta watched the dimensions distort as the army of monsters emerged from the portal. They towered over her menacingly.
Maxwell 500
"I activate the Trap Card Melody of the Wild Dance. When a Level 7 or higher monster attacks a Level 4 or lower Velonica Monster I control, that monster gains 500 attack points for each monster you control, meaning our monsters are now tied at 3600 attack points!"
Velonica Magician and The Banished sliced through each other, The Banished used a sword made of dark energy while the Magician created hers out of water. Both monsters fell in battle.
"Next, I activate the Trap Card, Reckless Fire. When two monsters of equal strength are destroyed in battle, we both take damage equal to half their attack." A fire erupted and rushed toward both players, threatening to engulf everything and reduce it to ash.
"I'll use the Quick-Play Spell Ring of Defense!" Two green rings with attachments like flower petals appeared and blocked the fire from reaching either player. "Damage from a trap is negated. Now my other monsters continue their attacks!"
Nayuta cringed as Tragoedia Necrophades' heads tore into her.
Nayuta 0
She fell to her knees.
"Damn, that was pretty scary," Maxwell admitted. "You've got some pretty good instincts. I bet you have the potential to become Kaiseress when you're a third year."
Nayuta smiled at the statement.
"And the winner is Kaiser Maxwell," Fubuki stated as he took the microphone once more. "Everyone give a round of applause for all three of our duelists."
The crowd obeyed, clapping a loudly as they could.
'Enough of this,' Kai scoffed mentally. 'I can't believe I allowed him to make such a fool out of me.'
Maxwell merely smiled. 'This Nayuta girl is rather interesting. I think it might be beneficial to get to know her better.'