Yu-Gi-Oh!: Return of the Shadows (IC)

[cvvc]

Nastna Yokostou looked through his deck, making sure everything was in order. Yup, everything was there. Good, he needed his deck and duel-disk on him at all times, just in case someone actually wanted to play. He had carried his deck and duel-disk around with him for the past three months, but no one wanted to challenge him. It really didn't bother him though.
Nastna Yokostou walked out of the card shop. He kind of wanted some ice cream; he pulled out his iphone. "Hey Siri, where's the nearest ice cream place?" There was only one near by, Duelin' Dave's Ice Cream, only .3 miles away.
After a short walk Nastna Yokostou arrived at Duelin' Dave's Ice Cream, an ice cream shop/card store. At the counter was a young man, barely older than 17.
"Hey can I get a scoop of pistachio please?" Nastna Yokostou asked causally. "And a pack of duel monsters."
"Sure thing" the man replied, scooping out the ice cream into a cone. He handed it to Nastna and pulled a pack off of the shelf. "That will be $7.49"
Nastna Yokostou pulled out his wallet and fished out a $10 bill. After receving his change, he sat down and pulled open his booster, garbage, figures. He threw away the packs wrapper, and began eating his ice cream.

 

[Dinorocket]

((And so, Apostolos and Pat engage in a duel. Who will win? Who will lose, find out on YU-GI-OH!))

Turn 1:

Apostolos drew his first five cards, as he smiled at his opponent. "I shall take the first turn, now then." He drew his next card as he looked up at the skies, only to realize that they were still in the building, and it was not as philosophical as it could have been. Apostolos stared at his opening hand for awhile.

"I summon Breaker Knight in attack mode!" Breaker Knight manifested onto the field, as he twirled his blades around for a brief moment. Apostolos looked at his Breaker Knight as he declared, "You my loyal friend, you have been summoned for a purpose! You know what to do!"

"With that I end my turn, let us see what your soul is like?" Apostolos offered a smile to Pat.

Turn 2:

"Whatever" Pat sighed, as he let Apostolos take the first turn. He walked over to a far enough distance, calibrating Chris's Duel Disk for his arm, then drew five cards. Pat looked at his cards and sighed, seeing he didn't have his beloved Jam Breeding Factory.

"I don't know much about souls, but I think you're going to need summon to fic yours once I'm done with you." Pat retorted. "Draw!" he plucked a card from the deck slot and scanned it over. Pat sighed again, then set two cards face down: one monster and one trap.

"Two cards face down. I end my turn."

Turn 3:

Apostolos eyed Pat, "I see, you are playing cautiously at this point, an interesting choice!" Apostolos dramatically threw his hand in the air, as he chuckled a bit, as he drew his next card.

Apostolos smiled, "Now, this shall be an interesting quandary..."

"I summon Breaker Knight!" Another Breaker Knight manifested against the other already there. They looked at each other incredulously, Apostolos smirked, "Now the question is which one is the real Breaker Knight? Can two of the same piece exist at the same time? It is this philosophical question I must answer, no I can't answer it alone! You shall help me determine it, as we watch our own souls!"

Apostolos pointed towards the face down monster, "Breaker Knight! The Center one, go and attack the face down monster!" Breaker Knight nodded, as he twirled his blades as he jumped up into the sky, and came crashing down with his sword as he descended upon the monster...

The face down card was revealed to be Testudo Erat Numen, the turtle peaking out of the card only to be struck down by Apostolos' mighty Breaker. The particals of the card being destroyed scattered through the area and dissipated.

Apostolos stared at Pat as he shook his head, "I am sorry for the loss of that creature. I wonder what part of your soul it could have represent?" Apostolos smirked as he glanced at his other Breaker Knight and nodded, "You know what to do." The Breaker Knight nodded, as he charged at Pat and swung his sword at him with a vertical slash dealing 1600 life point damage.

"Aggh!" Pat cried as he took the damage.

Turn 4:

Yet another sigh escaped from Pat as he 'mourned' the death of his monster. "Shut up" Pat groaned, drawing a card. "I set one monster face down, and another trap. Your move."

Turn 5:

Apostolos shook his head as he extended both of his hands outwards, "Relax, this is only a friendly competition and an introspective look into your own mind, and you are helping me see the contents of my own soul. For that I thank you, now then." Apostolos drew his next card as he glanced at his hand.

"I summon Justice of Prophecy!" The Justice of Prophecy materialized onto the field and the Breaker Knights stared at her, nodding, as they knew what they had to do.

Apostolos pointed at Pat, "Now then, you have seen what the Breaker Knights have done, and you know what part of my soul they represent. So, Justice of Prophecy, go and attack his face down!" The Justice of Prophecy held out her hand as she slammed her ornate mace on it, as she charged at the monster, preparing to swing at the face down card and...

"I said shut up!" Pat retorted as he flipped over his facedown. "Mirror Force!"

The Justice of Prophecy's eyes widened as she was consumed in a blinding light of destruction, the explosion caught the Breaker Knight's who in their last moments tried shielding themselves with their own arms, but then again, Mirror Force was ready to slay them.

Apostolos looked at his monsters, as he shed a tear, "Those parts of my soul, have been defeated." Apostolos wiped the tears from his face as he chuckled heartily, "NOW I shall show you how I react in the face of adversity! I end my turn, let us see what your soul can really do!"

Turn 6:

A card popped out of Pat, or rather Chris's, duel disk. "I flip summon Testudo Erat Numen!" Pat flipped over his facedown monster, revealing a large turtle, which scanned around the battlefield obliviously. "Next, I'll normal summon another Testudo Erat Numen!" Pat put down another turtle.

The two turtles slowly turned to each other, then towards Apostolos. "Next I play... WETLANDS!" A slot opened up at the side of Pat's duel disk. He pulled from his hand another card, raising it up in the air then slamming it over the slot. The slot featured a near naked picture of the blue haired girl. Pat could only react with a blush before covering it with his field spell card.

Around the two duelists, the area changed from normal cardshop environment to swampy marshland environment. Tall, wet grass sprouted up and mud covered the feet of the duelists. The two turtle monster cards, once clearly seen, could then only be made out by their heads slightly poking out of the grass. "ATK 1200" appeared next to each of them.

"Now!" Pat commanded "Attack my turtles! Attack!" The two heads snuck under the grass, and with unbelievable speed, the turtles made their way toward Apostolos, appearing right at his feet. The two monsters bit at his ankle, causing him to lose a total of 2400 lifepoints.

"Your move" Pat spat.

Turn 7:

Apostolos stared at the new enviroment with a great appreciation, "Ah these swampy fields remind me of the caverns of the Oracle! I thank you for allowing me to see such a sight, and for allowing me a glimpse at the enviroment where your soul resides... I hope you are deriving as much of an internal glimpse into the soul as I am." Apostolos smiled at Pat, as he drew his next card.

Apostolos stared at his hand as he smiled, "With such an enviroment, it is only fitting that I show a part of my soul that meshes with the theme!"

"I summon, Red Archery Girl!" As from the marsh a giant clam popped open, as the Red Archery Girl offered a friendly wave and a wink. "My fair maiden, those turtles, while a part of his soul did attack me earlier... We must test his soul don't you think!?" The Red Archery Girl pulled out her bow and aimed at one of the Testudo Erat Numens.

Apostolos pointed, "Fire upon the Numen, and may your arrow be true, and strike the Testudo Achilles!" The Red Archery Girl fired right between the eyes of the Testudo to destroy it.

Pat put his arms in front of him to shield himself from the resulting blast of his monster being destroyed. He was at 6200 life points, his opponent at 5600. "Ha! Think a little move like that is gonna matter to me? You still got the other one to take out!" Pat hissed.

Apostolos stared at Pat incredulously, "You do not CARE that part of your soul was destroyed? That is... quite odd. But no matter, this is a friendly learning expedition into your soul, as it is into mine, and I continue to thank you for allowing such a glimpse into it."

Turn 8:

"Well your soul sucks" Pat scoffed. He turned his Testudo Erat Numens to defense mode, the turtle visibly hiding in its shell seen through the virtual grass before being hidden completely.

Pat then set two cards face down. "This sucks..." Pat mumbled, looking at his hand. He peaked underneath his cards to reaffirm to himself what they were then looked at Aposolos. "Hmm... as long as my turtle is in defense mode, his mermaid, with less attack, cannot destroy it." Pat grumbled to himself.

"You're a genius" Pat patted himself in the back, then glared back at Apostolos. "ALRIGHT! IT'S YOUR TURN!"

Turn 9:

Apostolos offered a warm smile to Pat, as he drew his next card. "Let us see... How can I help you uncover the mysteries of your own soul? You have helped me explore my own soul, so I have to repay you the favor."

Apostolos glanced at his Red Archery Girl, "My fair lady, I am afraid I will need you to meet your fallen friends... For I have to summon something that can help this man see his own soul! You can forgive me right!?" The Red Archery girl just offered a small smile at Apostolos, who shed a single tear. "Thank you..."

"I summon, Dark Magician Girl!" The Red Archery Girl faded into a shower of black magic, as she went to the graveyard, and Dark Magician Girl appeared on the field, twirling her staff.

Apostolos glanced at Pat, as he nodded, "Now I shall help you see beyond what you can see!"

"Attack his Testudo, Dark Magician Girl!" Dark Magician Girl flew upwards into the air as she charged her staff up with a dark purple aura, as she aimed and fired the ball of magic at Testudo...

Pat looked at Apostolos' new monster as his jaw slightly dropped. A blush came to his face as he stared directly at it. "No! Get a hold of yourself!" Pat proceeded to shake his face off, regaining his composure.

"Oh no you don't! Dimensional Prison!" Pat's trap card activated, a large wormhole forming over Pat's person. The grass seemed to blow in its direction as Dark Magician Girl's attack was quickly sucked up. Soon enough, the Magician Girl herself was trapped in the vortex. She screamed, then dissipated into data.

A slow tear ran down Pat's cheek.

Apostolos shook his head as he shedded a few tears, "May you rest in peace Dark Magician Girl... I will not forget you." Apostolos extended his hands outwards, "While my field is bare of monsters, I shall stand in the face of this danger! These are the time which tests a man's soul... What will you do? Truly this will tell you more about your own soul."

Turn 10:

Pat vigorously drew his next card. "This is for you Dark Magician Girl..." he whispered to himself. "One card face down! Next, I'll put Testudo Erat Numens in attack mode!" A card appeared on the field. Then, the once hiden turtle peered out from its shell then its head poked completely out. The turtle crouched as a bit of energy seemed to flow from it. The grass parted around Testudo Erat Numens.

"Attack!" Pat commanded as his monster leaped from the grass and charged at Apostolos. Apostolos' lifepoints were reduced to 4400. The turtle returned to its post before squawking at Apostolos menacingly.

"I end my turn." Pat said, crossing his arms.

Turn 11:

Apostolos dramatically extended his arms out as he smiled from ear to ear, "Now then, let us see what glimmer I can gleam from this introspection!" Apostolos dramatically drew his next card.

Apostolos stared at his hand, "Now then, how I can best learn about myself? NO, how can I best allow this man to see his own soul? I must help him have an introspective look into his own psyche! This is what a duel is for, to learn about yourself and about others, your own desires, faults, flaws and every human emotion that we are able to comprehend!"

"I place one monster face down and end my turn. What shall you do, there is darkness, but what can you do? I can't wait to see." Apostolos smiled at Pat.

Turn 12:

Pat let out a small chuckle. "Huh... Is that all?" Pat smirked then wiped his mouth of said smirk. "HEART OF THE CARDS!" he cried. He placed his hand on his deck as a card popped out, then as dramatically as possible, swung his arm out to full extension. Pat's card was held out in between his index and middle fingers.

With great force, Pat pulled his arm back to his body, smiling as he saw what card he got. His smile became a giggle, the giggle became a laugh. Then he burst out into manical laughter. "You're mine now!" Pat declared.

"Testudo Erat Numen, attack his face down!" Pat pointed at the card. The turtle let out another burst of energy, the grass cutting itself over the turtle's strange force. It bit the face down card, shattering into pieces.

"Next, I play Jam Breeding Machine!" Pat put down his spell card. A large metal cylinder was erected over the grass. The entire thing seemed mechanical in nature, with tubes sticking out of it and into the ground. More piping appeared all over the exterior leading up to an open top.

"I end my turn." Pat nodded.

Turn 13:

Apostolos stared at the large machine as he tilted his head, "Ah, now that must be an important part of your identity. As you were incredibly glad over it's emergence..." Apostolos smiled as he offered a friendly golf-clap, "I am happy you managed to show me the part of the soul you most desired!"

Apostolos drew his next card, as he stared at his hand. "In these times, we can test the mettle of ourselves, when the chips are down, you believe, in a force that is connected to the fabric of reality. The Heart of the Cards, let us see if you are willing to bestow upon me a bit of your blessing, whether you do or do not, we both are able to see inside our psyches in this friendly game!"

"I play two face downs!" Apostolos shook his head as he extended his hands outwards, "Now then, let me experience the metal cylinder of your soul! Show me what you can truly do!"

Turn 14:

"MY ROD CANNOT BE DEFEATED!" Pat declared, pointing his free hand toward the cieling. He used the same hand to draw his next card, putting into his hand. Afterwards, Pat reached up to his hat, only to see that the hologram had already put a slime token on the field.

A blue liquid foam emerged from the top of the machine. The liquid then dripped down onto the wetlands, forming into an amorphous blob with a somewhat menacing face on it. "Behold! My slime token!" Pat proclaimed.

"Next, I activate Token Stampede!" Pat turned over his trap card. The slime token's attack went from 1700 to 2700. "And also pot of duality!" A large pot appeared at the center of the field, showing two faces. Three cards popped from Pat's deck.

The cards were: Dimensional Prison, Bottomless Trap Hole, and Blizzed defender of the Ice Barrier. From among them, Pat picked out Dimensional Prison. The entire time, he remained unusually silent. Putting the new card in his hand, Pat rearranged his hand to accomodate seeming to take special care in getting the right order of cards.

"Now! Attack! Slime Token!" Pat pointed outwards. The slime rolled through the grass, headbutting Apostolos.

Apostolos raised his hands towards the sky, "NOT SO FAST!" he declared, "FROM DARKNESS, I REVEAL LIGHT! MIRROR FORCE!" Apostolos laughed, "We must see your soul and how it reacts to this moment!"

"Nooooo!" Pat screeched as he saw his slime token destroyed. "I set one card face down and end my turn!" Pat said "go."

Turn 15:

Apostolos drew his next card as he stared at Pat, "Now then, we can learn from the past. And in that regard..."

"I activate Monster Reborn! Breaker Knight, cherished knight of my soul, return to me!" From the marshy ground emitted a bright, and overbearing light, as Breaker Knight pointed his sword towards Pat. Apostolos stared at his Breaker Knight, "Now then, you know what to do. Help allow this man to see his own soul, attack his face down!"

Breaker Knight rushed through the swamp as he swung his sword down at the face down monster, which happened to be another Testudo Erat Numen.

The turtle emerged from the card and clasped Breaker Knight's sword in its jaws. "Idiot" Pat mocked as Breaker's sword was snapped in half by the turtle's powerful jaws.

The Breaker Knight made a tactical retreat back to Apostolos, as he looked down in compete shame, as half of his sword swung and struck Apostolos, who braced for impact.

Apostolos looked at Breaker Knight, "It wasn't your fault Breaker Knight, do not mope! A true man stands on his two feet, even when the world is against him! It is you and me, showing the tenacity of our souls to this challenger! We will show him!" The Breaker Knight smirked, with a renewed vigor.

"I end my turn" Apostolos stated.

Turn 16:

"Look at you. Talking to your monsters." Pat poked fun of Aposolos. Another slime token popped from the machine. Pat flipped down his face down card from last turn, revealing it to be yet another Token Stampede.

The virtual slime seemed to grow larger, the number next to it proclaiming it to have a whopping 3700 attack points. "Sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime!" Pat cried out. "Break his Breaker!" The token bounced up and down, happily making its way toward Apostolos. It bloated up, then swung itself against the knight, stabbing through its armor.

"Now" Pat started "draw your last pathetic card!"

Turn 17:

Apostolos was flung back from the damage, as he braced his arm against the wall, he pulled himself back up as he smirked at Pat. "There are no pathetic cards in this deck! Now, Heart of the Cards, allow me to show this man the true nature of his soul!!" Apostolos dramatically drew his card, as he stared at it for quite some-time.

Apostolos offered an affable smile, as he extended his arms outwards, "I will end this turn, but I will not back down! I shall show you the true meaning of your soul, as you helped let me perform an inspection of my own soul! Those monster cards, those trap and spell cards, they are a part of you, they are connected to you, as my cards were connected to me. That is what this game is about, not winning or losing, but allowing you to see who you truly are, and to help others see who they truly are." Apostolos kept his arms outwards, as he kept smiling at Pat, "What will you do now?"

Turn 18:

Pat sighed as another slime token appeared on his side of the field. "You weren't even worth dueling" he took off his hat, revealing a pile of slime token slips. "Hat's off in respect of this 'soul' you have." Pat said.

"ATTACK! SLIME TOKENS!" the two monsters appraoched Apostolos and tackled him, a virtual explosion appearing from them reducing Apostolos' life points to 0.

Pat put his hat back on. "What a pain" he complained as he shuffled his cards back into his deck.

 

[Dinorocket]

The force of the Slime Token's dangerous attacks knocked Apostolos flat onto the ground. Apostolos picked up the cards that were in his hand, as he placed them back into his deck. He got into a sitting position, as he returned his deck and his dual desk back into his satchel. Apostolos got up and rolled his neck around as he stared at Pat, "I hope you were able to gain insight into your soul." and gave him a small smile.

Apostolos got up, as he began brushing himself off. He rolled his head around for a few seconds, before glancing around. "Alright, so who wants a drink?"

 

[Krein]

Truth be told, Cain wasn't quite sure what the inscription was describing. The writings didn't seem coherent, just a jumble of key phrases, but above all, they did seem to give off an air of darkness. Desperately trying to find some means of connections in the hieroglyphs, Cain realized that some of the symbols were depicting beasts, probably of the kind used in the Shadow Games and even the more recent Duel Monsters.

T͞he͜ d͏arknes̷s...̢

"Well, it's certainly not fluent Egyptian. It probably is something more like a specific element of the Cult," Cain rambled a bit, inadvertently splicing his words after Benjamin trailed off. "But I can see some symbols which could definitely be Monsters; probably ones that exist in both the Shadow Games and Duel Monsters, otherwise the Cult might not be able to make a proper connection."

Cain pointed Ben's sight towards one symbol, resembling a meaty, horned skeleton. "That could be a Summoned Skull. It's a very infamous dark creature, something easily associated with the shadows." The next image Cain highlighted looked to be an ornate sorcerer holding a twisted staff. "Probably a Dark Magician. Not inherently evil, but certainly versed in the kind of sorcery the Cult might be after." On the topside of the glyph arrangement flew a dragon whose armored hide and wings seemed to layer upon itself. "And that is-"

I͝... D͜ra̵g͘o̴n̕ o̸f ̧Da̸rk҉ne͜ss̕.͢..͠

Cain froze, his emotions immediately twisting into one of terror. A black wind seemed to blow though his body as Cain ever so slightly shivered in cold. He quickly swallowed, snapping the fingers on his outstretched hands to feign confusion and redirect attention. "Ahem, that's a- Red-Eyes, Darkness Dragon," Cain finished carefully. This monument was not sitting well for Cain's psyche, as long as he still held this deck.

Cain shook his head a little, realigning himself, and passively murmured, "Must've been a draft..." Nobody had to know about Cain new, dark secret.

"So basically, most if not all of the monsters and cards we have in Duel Monsters today are apparently creatures that originate from this Shadow Realm?"

Benjamin nodded a bit as he looked at the carvings on the Prime Pillar. Cain was only repeating information he already knew from before, but it was still good to just have a memory jogger before delving deeper into anything new. Something interesting that the guy mentioned was the Cult having inscriptions specific to itself, and not necessarily those directly related to other Egyptian things. It would explain why some of the symbols they had carved were different, and why no archaeologist or historian had been able to make use of them when called to the scene. However, that raised the question... who was this guy exactly?

The duelist looked at Cain to ask him for a name, only to find him cowering from seemingly nothing. "Nothing" though, was quickly wiped from his mind when he felt the mysterious power surge from the pillar as well, and began hearing voices of his own.

Battle! We must destroy. We must conquer.

Everything, Everyone. None must be left... spoil the world...

Benjamin shook his head and covered his ears slightly until the various voices subsided, and then heard Cain mention a simple "draft". Yes. A draft. A scary draft. A talking draft? Sure, it was just a draft.... he shook his head. Before Ben could speak though, two robed individuals approached them suddenly. Uh oh, Benjamin knew these cloaks...

"Ah, at last we found him," spoke one of the robed people. "Cain Alabast, our master doesn't want for you to stick around any longer. And you," she spoke as she pointed at Benjamin. "You aren't getting off easy either. A lot of our brothers and sisters have been afflicted by your presence, and so we shall eliminate both of you."

Benjamin glanced at Cain in question. Welp, the cultists had certainly let him know that the guy wasn't just your typical college historian at least! The robed cultists equipped their arms with duel disks, but before doing anything, they pointed at the Prime Pillar behind Benjamin and Cain.

"Calling upon the new power we have planted within this obelisk," they spoke, "We challenge you to a Shadow Game!"

At the end of their words, the temperature seemed to drop low enough to make your teeth chatter. A dark mist began curling from the Pillar, forming a dome overhead that thickened as if to form a barrier preventing anyone who was inside or entering from getting back out.

Finally. Crush them.

Benjamin instinctively activated his duel disk and placed his deck within the deck slot. Looks like there really was no way out of this, and the more he delayed, the more the voices seemed to grow....

 

[Penultimate Pi]

"Oh. Oh no..." Cain breathed out, trying hard to balance himself in all aspects. He had only slightly feared having to dual with the Cult of Shadows, but this was no duel; it was a Shadow Game. A fight for your life.

A͢ c̶hallenge͘.͝ ̧Ąc̕cep̧t͟ ͢i͘t͜.

That was not the Shadow Monolith talking. He had barely even noted the strained, violent voices emerging from the pillar. This came from within Cain's own power, a being that thrived on shadows. The Red-Eyes dragons within Cain's possession seemed to echo alongside its core being: The Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon.

Cain's very presence here had, albeit unintentionally, sparked the Shadow Monolith's power... And as such, called these cultists here.

Y҉o̕u͞ w͜ill̴ ͟f̸ight.̶ Y̵ou wi͝lļ ̡win̸.̧ ̛Fo̸r͠ n̨o̶ ̸s̶ha̵do̧w sţa̕n͝d҉s̵ a̴s tal͘l̡ ̸as̡ I̷.

An otherworldly presence seemed to envelop Cain from within, hints of the Shadow Realm's potential seeping into his spirit. As the dome of dark power enclosed into the cultist's arena, Cain's vision swirled into black. And not moments after he seemed to fade, Cain lifted his head one more, seeming to stand yet higher than before, firm with some new conscious power.

A bat of the eyes glinted the new crimson shade to his stare, never diverting as his body swiftly and certainly retrieved his Duel Disk upon his arm. Cain's form remained unblinking even as he inserted his deck into the proper slot and activated the Disk. As the machine snapped into place, its last readying light pulse flared an extra pulse of red in time with Cain's own eyes.

"It's time to duel."

 

[CrystalScorpion96]

The duel ended, not very surprisingly, as one of the duelists seemed crazy. He once again warned his sister, "Careful of the blue haired guy, he's probably a pedophile, his card sleeves show that." Cole wasn't very good at hiding his voice, and instead of a light whisper, it was more like a passing remark. Mary's eyes widened, and she stamped her brother's foot. "OW! WHAT THE HECK!?" Nursing his foot and jumping up and down, he gave a wounded look to his sister. If he wasn't so dense, he would have caught her annoyance at him having no tact, at all. Even back at home, when he tried to keep a secret, his big mouth always got the better of him. Being a gambler did have it's merits, however, and he noticed one very painful thing about the Slime duelists tokens. "They're made out of paper...." He muttered to himself. His sister looked at him, "All of the cards are paper." Frowning, Cole ignored her, then walked up to the losing duelist, do you mean an actual drink, or an alcoholic beverage? 'Fraid me and my sister can't drink alcohol." He wouldn't drink alcohol, though he WAS tempted before, but it would probably just impair his dueling abilities, which would make him lose more often, which meant good bye apartment.



He slowly traced his fingers over the stack of paper, his hands finding a strong attraction to two pieces. He drew them out, then laid them out onto the table. After a brief glance, he took a walk outside. Behind him, illuminated by a dusty lamp, were two pieces of paper, side by side, DANGER and SHADOWS.
He walked the streets at a tense pace, keeping his duel disk ready at all times. While it was silly to believe such a thing would protect from real weapons, it was more of a placebo for security. He walked toward the Prime Pillar. Located in one of the poorer districts, it was easily accessible to Placido and other residents of the area. There, he would most likely be able to find at least a hint of the goings on of the city, and perhaps try to decipher the ancient writing. It would be an interesting endeavor, no doubt. His white robe was the opposite of stealthy on the streets, being so unnaturally clean, but he wouldn't be able to walk around without it. The robe was a gift from Two, and it never dirtied, stank, or needed cleaning. As far as he was concerned, it was the third present the stranger had given him, along with his deck and new eye. Unfortunately, the further he walked, he colder the air became. Slowing his pace, he kept near the moonlight. Here, he chanced upon the spectacle of two duelists challenging another. Unfortunately, the pillar emitted a dark mist, making it difficult to see. Standing in the moonlight, he would be camouflaged, the only part that would stick out would be his eyes. He took up a small, rolled up mat he always brought with him, made of straw. He laid the mat down on the ground, and sat down, watching the dark mist, waiting for it to dissipate.

 

[Cassette]

After a little indecision, Terrel had decided to secretly follow Benjamin and Cain. It didn't matter that Terrel was a little behind them- he had worked out where they were going, and Terrel remembered the route from earlier. Knowing all the short cuts, Terrel quickly caught up with the duo, stalking them silently. Terrel may not be the best with words, but he was skilled in the art of sneaking about (if you can call that an art...).

When they'd arrived, Terrel had concealed himself in darkness a small distance away, but close enough to hear the pair talking. He wrote notes on his phone about their conversation, deciding he'd do a little spying for the Cult of Shadows. It wasn't an official mission, but he wasn't exactly going to get told off for finding out how much these two knew. Plus, seeing the roles reversed entertained Terrel: now it was Terrel who knew what was happening, and those two who were left guessing about what was going on. Or at least Terrel knew more about the symbols' purpose than them- like I've previously mentioned, Terrel wasn't really into the historical side of it.

Suddenly two Cult of Shadows members popped up out of nowhere, challenging Benjamin and Cain to a duel. Terrel recognized one of them- his name was Lars ((^.-)), and he was a decent duelist. But was he up to Benjamin's standard? If Benjamin always played like he had done earlier, then probably not. As for the other two, Terrel had no idea what their dueling skills were like. "This should be interesting," Terrel thought, eager to watch the match.

When they transported to the shadow realm, Terrel swore under his breath. He was sure he'd been told how to get to the shadow relam, and how to do it to just spectate. But for the life of him, he couldn't remember how to do it. Hurriedly, Terrel searched his phone for notes he'd made on the procedure- he put notes on his phone about everything, so they must be there. "Damn it!" Terrel thought, "Somebody seriously needs to make a Cult of Shadows app or something!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Madora beamed up at Caleb. He was pleased! The mission would not have been a proper success in Madora's mind if Caleb hadn't approved of it. Sure, he was a bit upset about Terrel's mistakes, but that was just Terrel. Her group had completed the task, inscribing the millennium symbol into the city's third pillar, aiding the Cult of Shadows progress. But deep down, Madora knew there was still much work to be done, and she could see Caleb knew it too.

"It is time I rest before returning to my lousy job in the city," Caleb said. Lousy. Madora wished that Caleb enjoyed his job more. It bugged her that he didn't like the job she knew he had to do. Madora considered getting him a present to leave at his office to cheer him up, but she couldn't think of what he'd want. And then it hit her.

"Madora, feel free to do as you please now. Dismissed." Madora nodded to Caleb, and thanked him. Then she turned and skipped out of the room. "Don't worry pa, I'm free to please you now more now," Madora murmured. If there was one thing Madora knew Caleb had a passion for- as she did herself- it was the Cult of Shadows. So if she could inscribe symbols by herself onto some more pillars, surely she could make him smile even more! Never mind that it was extremely hard to do- Madora was sure if she put enough vehement into it then she could do it for sure. Although she might need somebody to help her with the symbols- the shapes were rather confusing.

Madora entered a Cult of Shadows underground communal room, which was alive with chatter. Various scents and colours clashed against each other in this hubbub of activity, with various duels going on everywhere. Among the chaos, Madora desperately searched for one of the Cult's hieroglyph experts. As she danced through the crowd, several people greeted Madora, and she got distracted a couple of times. But her determination to satisfy Caleb drove her on.

 

[Parser]

"That was quite fancy. Lenny? One-", he turned to face Pat, "Do you drink? Make that two, Lenny."
"On yah tab, as usual?" Lenny slurred
"If at all possible, yes."
"All right, Mechazawa, but only 'cause I knows ya good for it. Anything in specific?"
"Let me check-", Mechazawa turned to once again face Pat and Apostolos, "Well, you heard the man. Anything specific?"

 

[Dinorocket]

Apostolos turned to Lenny, "A honey mead would be nice. Oh, but if you don't have that in, I would like a Long Island Ice Tea." Apostolos smiled at Mechazawa, "I thank you for your kindness for allowing my drink to be on your tab, how can I repay you for this?"

 

[DaCageFighter]

Pat crossed his arms and sighed. "Sure" he told Mechazawa.

Pat took the time to examine his new duel disk, looking at all its intricacies in its design as well as the moe design of the character drawn onto the duel disk. It fit a little too tightly on his arm, but nothing a little time wouldn't fix. Though it did cut off most of the circulation going into Pat's hand causing it to cool a bit compared to the other hand. Pat, nonetheless, shrugged off the pain.

"Beer."

 

[Parser]

"No need to repay me, Apostolos, your company is more than enough." he turned back to Lenny, "Did you get that?"
"I heard ya. Long Island and a Budweiser. I'll be over once I finish with these guys."
"Much appreciated, Lenny.", he turned to face Pat, holding out a claw in greeting, "Nice to meet you. I'm Mechazawa, and you are..?"

 

[Krein]

Benjamin glanced over at Cain as the power of the shadows seemed to flow into his body, awakening some sort of hidden reserve of potential that only the Shadows invoked by these two cultists could have revealed. His eyes even started to glow a shade of red, much to Benjamin's surprise. He himself didn't feel all that much different, simply cold due to the drop of temperature. The male Cultist laughed at him as if noticing his own acknowledgement that he had produced no new characteristics within himself like Cain had.

"Poor boy, it seems the Shadows do not acknowledge you as one worthy of holding their power!"

Wrong. You wield the Infection. The Swarm.

The young officer laughed mockingly at the cultist's words, daring them to say more as he began drawing his opening hand of five cards while his opponent did the same.

"Bah, don't make me laugh you crazy Halloween costume! I've already beaten like five of your friends this week, and it isn't even Wednesday!"

"Mere initiates seeking to make a name for themselves," Lars responded as he drew a sixth card, signalling he would be going first. "But I am one of the few whom Master Marrus selects to dispose of meddlesome people like you and that other bastard, Cain! Allow me to show you the true terror of the Shadows!"

"DUEL!" Both of them shouted simultaneously as the shadows around them thickened and began to glow with a purply kind of power. A lifepoint counter appeared over their heads reading "8000". Lars prepared to make his plays, eyes glowing a deep shade of purple while he began calling out his actions.

"You will learn to fear the Legion! I start this duel by playing Foolish Burial, allowing me to send one monster to the graveyard directly from my deck!"

Lars' deck began shuffling cards until the card that he had mentally selected appeared on top, face up. The card was a rather powerful monster, making Benjamin wonder why he would discard such a card on the first turn when he could have easily saved it in his deck for a beatstick later on. As the card was sent to the grave, an oppressive aura began emanating from the shadows as they condensed behind Lars, revealing a large and terrifying monster. Its red eyes glowered at Benjamin directly as if trying to burn through his soul and angry that it was unable to reach him. Creepy.

"Archfiend Emperor, the First Lord of Terror. He will serve me later. Now, I play my second spell card, Solidarity!" Lars shouted.

Great, Benjamin knew what was happening. Lars had sent a fiend type monster to the grave to provide an extra 800 attack to all monsters of the same type, and he had sent Archfiend Emperor to the grave to try and special summon him later. Hopefully, that wouldn't happen, because Benjamin seriously did not want to deal with a 3800 attack monster...

"I set two cards face down on the field, and finally I'll summon my first soldier, Archfiend Cavalry!"

The shadows behind Lars shifted and dispersed only slightly as faint hoofbeats began drawing closer to the field. With a distorted whinnying, an armored horse with glowing blue eyes and a medieval looking demon rider jumped over Lars, landing on the field before Benjamin. Cavalry pointed its lance in the air as the shadow of Archfiend Emperor stretched out a hand, delivering unknown power to raise the monster's attack to 2700. Benjamin groaned under his breath, but the cultist caught this nonetheless.

"You are right in being worried of its attack power. Soon, his other allies will arrive, and with the power of the Shadows we will send your-"

"Ah shut the hell up and keep going," Benjamin spat. "Your 2700 attack monster is nothing compared to what I have in store, and soon it and that big ass shadow behind you will be begging for mercy!"

The cultist sneered as he ended his turn, allowing Benjamin to finally draw his sixth card. He rejoiced a bit internally; this card would definitely assist him in getting in some damage on this weirdo even if he had some beefed up monsters on his side of the field. Now it was time to set things up... with just one card. Without a word, Benjamin placed a monster face down on the field and signaled for Lars to proceed with his next turn. The cultists scoffed.

"Truly?! Is that all you had to do in response to me? Pity, I though you were going to be more of a challenge here too! Draw."

As soon as he drew and looked at his card, Lars began to laugh evilly... and rather comically too in Benjamin's opinion. Still, if this guy was that happy about his draw.... then he must have drawn exactly the card he needed to complete the play Ben assumed he was planning to carry out with Archfiend Emperor. The big demon in the back seemed to acknowledge this in a way, because now Emperor had pulled out a very large sword and was sharpening it with what appeared to be the large bones of some creature. Lars began speaking again after his laughter died down.

"You have no idea how screwed you truly are. I place-"

"Oh hey, you spoke in a colloquial dialect!" Benjamin interrupted with a grin. Lars stared at him with a scowl before continuing.

"I place one card face down on the field, and then I'll summon Mist Archfiend, in attack mode!"

After the cultist set his card on his duel disk, the shadows next to Archfiend Cavalry began to twist and shift, spiraling together until a red and orange demon was fully formed on the field. It too was empowered by the evil energy being given off by the shadow of Archfiend Emperor, raising its attack to an astounding 3200. Uh-oh...

"Now Cavalry, attack his undoubtedly weak face down monster!"

The spectral horse whinnied once more as it reared up on its hind legs, then charged towards the face down monster as the demon rider thrust its lance outwards. The face down flipped up, revealing Steelswarm Scout who was quickly skewered by the lance.

"Called it!" Shouted the cultist victoriously. Now, Mist Archfiend, attack the weakling directly!"

The misty demon roared as its legs disappeared from under it, allowing it to fly swiftly towards Benjamin. The officer braced himself for the attack, and when the demon swung... he knew pain he never knew he could have felt in a game of duel monsters. Benjamin felt the powerful claws slice through his skin, and then he felt what was probably a literal part of his soul begin to burn away.

"AHH!!!"

Benjamin dropped to one knee as his lifepoints dropped down to 4800. Strange energy seemed to emanate away from his body, much to the sadistic glee of Lars and his monsters.

"Do you see how weak you are against the Shadows? Do you see now how capable I truly am?" Lars spat. "You should have done what every cowardly cop would have done. Run away, stick to just hounding on poor, innocent civilians..."

Benjamin seethed as he struggled to get up, body slightly shaking. He wiped off his torso, feeling warm, red liquid.

Blood has been drawn. The infestation will begin..."

"N-nice move," Benjamin said as he began to accomodate himself to the pain. Adrenaline began coursing through his system, making the pain he felt actually begin to feel.... good in away. The duelist laughed.

"Real nice. YOU may actually leave a better impression of your Cult than the other idiots!"

"Like I said, mere initiates! I en-!"

Before Lars could even finish his sentence, Mist Archfiend began to roar in what seemed to be pain. Its body began to burn until it exploded, pieces of its misty body landing on Lars' to burn him. Lars himself screamed slightly as his lifepoints dropped to 7000, and his body too released a strange, ethereal energy to the Shadows.

"End... ugh... unfortunately, Mist Archfiend destroys itself when it is summoned without a tribute. *Huff*.... no matter.... your soul will burn away soon, just like it did!"

 

[Cassette]

At last Terrel worked out how to warp to the shadow realm. It was actually fairly simple- although Terrel didn't agree, mainly because it had taken him so long to work out how to get there that he'd missed the start of duel. Nonetheless, Terrel was soon enveloped by purple smoke and shadows, and he felt the air's temperature drop a few degrees. From the malicious atmosphere Terrel knew he was in the shadow realm.

"Called it! Lars shouted. Terrel had came just in time to watch Benjamin get a beating. Terrel felt a little disappointed- he was expecting a more balanced duel than this. Just before Benjamin could start his turn, Terrel called out, "Oi, Benjie! You better raise your game, bro. I didn't come here to watch ya get whipped!" No, he'd came here to watch a proper duel, with twists and excitement. Sure, Terrel wanted Benjamin to lose in the end, but he didn't need to know that.

 

[Penultimate Pi]

"So the darkness engulfs you..." Nisa, the female cultist, spoke almost alluringly, arming her Duel Disk and drawing her cards. "You might've been a valuable ally, had the Master not wanted you erased. Such is the dealings of the Shadow Realm."

"I will take initiative," Cain spoke, methodically taking five cards, plus one more, from the top of his deck.

Any changes of expression were vague at best, from this possessed duelist. "I play a Red-Eyes Black Chick, and equip it with the spell Dragon Shield." From a pool of irradiate darkness sprouted a large, scarlet egg, from which the aforementioned creature promptly pecked out. The shell's shards transformed and re-purposed themselves into the Dragon Shield, which loomed closely over the infant dragon.

"I end my turn."

"Ah, the Red-Eyes. I see it now- why you must be defeated," The cultist smirked wickedly, drawing her own sixth card.

She scanned her hand in an almost dismissal tone. "I set a creature face down in Defense Position," the keystone art of the cards' backside appeared flat on the field, "and activate One for One!" Nisa removed a card from her hand, setting it in the Graveyard and exchanging it for another card shuffled specifically from her Deck.

"With that spell, I can Special Summon a Wightmare directly from my deck." The black mist swirled about, revealing a tea party manned by a single skeleton. [300 ATK] "And to undo the sacrifice," Nisa set forth another spell card, "I use Monster Reborn! Come forth, Destiny Hero Dasher!" The mist gathered once more, and an instant later a sharpened, black humanoid figure punched through the shadows, drifting into the fray with vulcanized wheels. [2100 ATK]

"I end my turn. Do your worst, if you can."

"Hmph," Cain rebounded wordlessly. The next card he drew garnered a more stern look.

"I set two cards face down, and Tribute the Red-Eyes Black Chick..." Cain swept out with his free hand as the baby Red-Eyes and the Dragon Shield melted into an airborne shadow, "...To summon a Red-Eyes Black Dragon."

The shadows immediately expanded and sharpened, and with a burst of red magic the Red-Eyes dragon burst forth in full form. "Go, attack the Destiny Hero!" Cain lashed out, and the Red-Eyes obeyed, releasing a charged pulse of crimson energy from its jaws.

Dasher cried out as it was disintegrated in moments, the destructive fallout searing the cultist's being. [7700 LP] The Wightmare silently helped itself to a sip of cold tea.

"End turn."

The dark-robed female shook herself to shrug off the pain. "Mere scratches..." She pulled another card from the top of her deck, and promptly regained her evil composure.

"I activate Card Destruction, discarding both of our hands in exchange for the same new number of cards!" Nisa sneered with satisfaction at having elicited a slightly darker glare from Cain. Nevertheless, both duelists sent their hands to the Graveyard, and drew their new hands.

"Now then..." Nisa considered her options, and after a few moments of pondering set down another card. "I Set another monster in face-down position."

"And I end my turn. You whelp."

 

[Krein]

Benjamin shook his body a bit as he drew his next card, making himself relax so that the pain burning through his body would go away. Looking at the card he just drew, he glanced at the cultist before him and grinned. Things might not go as planned for the early Halloween celebrator, especially for what he was about to summon to the field.

"Why so serious, man?" Benjamin asked jokingly as he placed the card face up on his duel disk. A kind of metallic roar was heard from above as the shadows swirled above to form a rift, allowing the monster known as Evilswarm Castor to come crashing down on the field. The Iswarm Crest on its leg glowed slightly as it extended a large blade from one of its bulky arms, brandishing it towards Cavalry (who responded by simply raising up its horse on its hind legs).

"Serious?" Lars asked. "That's a joke right there, 1750 is way below the attack of Archfiend Cavalry, what do you expect to do with that anyway?"

"I wasn't done yet you nimwit. Did Mist Archfiend burn away part of your brain cells? See, when Castor is summoned to the field," Benjamin began explaining as the bulky monster raised its arm to the rift beginning to close. It released a beam from its blade, allowing the portal to remain open.

"I can normal summon one more Iswarm monster to the field! The monster I choose is Evilswarm Kerykeion!"

An excellent choice! The spellcaster will aid Castor in summoning forth another, more powerful beast of the Swarm!

From the rift of shadows, Evilswarm Kerykeion dove through and landed on the field. It clanged weapons with its Evilswarm ally in greeting before turning to intimidate Lars.

"And before you open your mouth," Benjamin said quickly with a smirk, "Let me introduce you to one more member of the Evilswarm! Both of my monsters are level four, so..."

Benjamin pointed towards Castor and Kerykeion, prompting Castor to stab its blade into the ground and open up a thin, deep crevice in the earth. Kerykeion pointed its staff at the fracture and began to cast magic.

"Castor and Kerykeion will form the Overlay network to summon forth..."

Kerykeion quickly redirected the magic energy towards itself and Evilswarm Castor. The magic pulled the two together and dragged them down into the widening crevice. Snarls and roars were heard as the shadows strengthened over the wound in the earth. A draconian monster emerged from the shadows, having a black, blue, and red body that was seemingly composed of solid ice. An infected Gugnir...

"Evilswarm Ophion!"

Ophion roared loudly as it smashed its tail on the field, causing black and red ice to spread across the field in a circular manner. The chill raced behind both duelists, and once behind them, began to grow into tall jagged pillars of ice. The cultist shivered due to the cold, but tried to taunt Benjamin nonetheless.

"One of the Dragons of the Ice Barrier that fell prey to the Iswarm virus... Evilswarms... and Steelswarms... you are the wielder of the destructive swarm..."

Lars glanced to the duel going on between Nisa and Cain. The latter now had the mighty Red Eyes Black Dragon on the field, and it had already decimated one of Nisa's more powerful monsters.

"You both are wielders of destructive power! And you especially, with a swarm of monsters that destroys indiscriminately and reshapes as it pleases... I see now why our master desires you eliminated... both of you have the potential to utterly destroy his dream... and the worst part is that there are more like you two..."

Benjamin cocked his head as Lars gave his short monologue. He was a wielder of destruction? Sure the Iswarms were destructive monsters, but he never thought of them as creatures capable of destroying in actuality. Then again, things were different now, weren't they? If magic and Ancient Shadow Games were true, what else could follow?

"The swarm is going to destroy you first before anything else. I detatch one XYZ material from Ophion to retrieve one 'Infestation' card from my hand. The card I choose..."

Benjamin's deck began to shuffle rapidly until the card he wanted was on top. He drew it and showed it to his opponent, revealing the Infestation Pandemic spell card.

"Now I'll set one card face down and end my turn."

Lars smiled cruelly as he drew his next card. It wasn't exactly the card he needed, but it would have its use once another certain monster came along.

"You kight as well start preparing Ophion's last rites there! I'll reveal my facedown!"

The cultist waved his hand over the face down card on the field, only to find it didn't flip face up and activate. He scowled at this.

"Reveal facedown!" He shouted more loudly. Benjamin called out to him, a smirk on his face.

"I'm guessing that's the card you planned to use to bring out your Archfiend Emperor."

Archfiend Emperor was currently banging on the icy structures that had grown in front of it, but with every crack that formed, the ice healed itself and even bolstered itself. The monster roared in anger, and Lars looked back and forth between Benjamin and his hindered shadow monster with an angry gaze.

"As long as Ophion is on the field with XYZ material, no monster level 6 and above can be special summoned. Good luck with that monster now. HAHAHAHA!"

Ophion hissed as Benjamin laughed, which prompted Lars to stomp his foot and order Archfiend Cavalry to attack Ophion. The horse rushed towards Ophion, but Benjamin shot his hand out to activate the card he had set.

"I activate Compulsory Evacuation Device!"

The Evilswarm stomped one of its clawed forelegs into the ground, producing a spiraling tunnel of ice that Cavalry rushed straight into. Seconds later, the monster was shot out towards Lars, where its card was returned to his hand.

"Ugh! You've only delayed your-"

"Yeah yeah, imminent defeat, doom, et cetera et cetera. Get on with it!"

Lars spat angrily and resummoned Archfiend Cavalry. He played the card he had drawn this turn, Pandemonium. The ground began to rumble as otherworldly structures began to emerge from the ground, arcing over the duelists and duel field to form what was something sort of demonized citadel, complete with a demonic altar in the middle. The atmospheric turned hot and heavy, and the shadows now glowed an orange color to illuminate the field.

"I end my turn!"

 

[Cassette]

Terrel watched both duels with exhilaration. Neither Lars or the female cultist were weak duelists, yet they both seemed to be losing. Cain had already managed to summon a Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and Terrel could tell from Benjamin's attitude that things were going well for him. There was masses of energy inside the two of them- Lars was right when he'd said these Benjamin and Cain had large destructive capabilities. Terrel yearned to see what such devastating power could do when fully unleashed- and he'd probably get the chance at some point. There was no way the the Cult of Shadows was going to stop trying eradicate these two until they were actually dead. If Terrel could keep tabs on these two then he'd not only be serving this own pleasure, but also the cult of shadows- it was a win-win situation in his opinion.

Terrel pulled out his phone, hoping to add to his numerous notes, only to find out that it wouldn't work. At all. "This was on full charge a few a few minutes ago...hell, this has gotta be the Shadow Realm! I'll have to add the notes later," Terrel contemplated, while cursing under his breath. Hopefully he'd be able to remember everything.. although it wouldn't matter if Terrel befriended Benjamin and Cain. Then he'd be able to relay plenty of information back to the Cult of Shadows, so they could eventually take them out (Terrel had very little hope for the Lars and the female duelist winning the duel at this point). Terrel tried to think up a basic plan of what he wanted to do, but it was all just random ideas floating around in his head right now. He resolved to focusing on the matches for now, hoping he might have come up with something by the end of the dueling. Or at very least he wanted to have consolidated his aims, despite it being so hard for him to focus on one thought for very long.

 

[Penultimate Pi]

Whelp, is it? Unlikely.

The possessed Cain plucked a card from his deck to begin his turn. "I summon an Armed Dragon, Level 3." Cain placed the card, and the ebony winds swirled into a vortex that exploded into the small, orange-grey Dragon. [ATK 1200]

"Red Eyes, attack the first facedown," Cain commanded, and the Black Dragon emitted a guttural roar in the ensuing blast it used. The image of the card exploded, revealing a skeletal Lady in Wight who wailed in agony as she was obliterated. The Wightmare snapped to attention, very noticeably shocked, as all airs of confidence and formality disappeared.

"Armed Dragon, destroy the Wightmare." The dragon did so, lunging forward with energy-charged jaws and snapping the panicked skeleton into pieces. The force of the crushing attack followed through to Nisa, shaving 900 Life Points away. [6800 LP]

"I end my turn."

Nisa cursed internally, recovering from the shock. Damn, he read that one like a book. Oh well... it's all part of the big picture!

The cultist drew another card, and promptly burst out, "I play Hand Destruction! We discard two cards, and draw two more from your deck!" After both duelists did so, she continued, "Now, I will reveal my remaining face-down card: King of the Skull Servants!"

From the dark vortex on the card, a hill of human corpses erupted, atop it standing a full skeleton cloaked in indigo robes. "For every creature known as 'Skull Servant' in my graveyard, the King obtains 1000 attack points!" A trio of ghastly souls sprouted from the pile of the dead, and the lordly skeleton above absorbed them, an aura of dark power outlining its figure. [3000 ATK]

"Now, King of Skull Servants, annihilate the Red-Eyes Dragon! Show this fool what true power is!"

The King cackled deeply, rearing back and pitching the trio of spirits at the Red-Eyes in a maelstrom of chaos. Unable to divert the attack, the Black Dragon howled in pain as its body shattered, the pieces pelting roughly against Cain despite his attempts to shield himself. [7400 LP]

From beneath her dark robes, the female cultist laughed with malice. "Is this your best? You know NOTHING of strength!" Cain gritted his teeth, his narrowed crimson eyes glowing with frustration.

 

[Krein]

Benjamin realized he had felt a change in the atmosphere of the Shadows, and it wasn't because Pandemonium had been played. No, the duelist thought he felt something enter the realm somehow, and now this thing was lurking around somewhere, spying on his and Cain's duels. He looked around to see if he could spot who or what it was, but could see nothing. As soon as Lars ended, Benjamin drew his next card. Ah... now this here was a good card, but he'd have to play it later to avoid interrupting what he was about to do. With Scout currently in the grave and no spell or traps under his control, Benjamin activated the fiend's effect, special summoning him from the graveyard.

Ah yessss, my time has finally come! Spoke a voice in Benjamin's head.

"Now that Scout is back on the field, let me introduce you to one of my personal favorites. Scout!"

The small Steelswarm monster nodded as it began to rise into the air as it always did when it was being tributed. The shadows above it began condensing, swirling to form a rift. As Scout neared this ripple in the shadows, it beat on its Steelswarm Crest, disappearing in a flash to leave the burning mark of the Steelswarm right under the opening of the portal.

"Come, Steelswarm Girastag!" Benjamin shouted. Right after he said this, the giant demon beetle came falling through the rift, landing in one epic pose on one knee. Girastag rose up on both feet and pointed its weaponized arm at Archfiend Cavalry and Lars.

"Ha! That monster is still below the power of Cavalry!" Lars taunted, though his voice wasn't so confident anymore. He seemed to sense the oppressive and even mocking air Girastag was projecting towards him and his monsters, and the giant beetle only seemed to notice this as it grinned wider and pointed its long tail at him.

The fool is scared. I will crush his pitiful pride out of his bones!

"Is that so?" Benjamin asked in response to Lars' taunt. "Guess it's time to bring the black knight down to size then! Girastag, send Solidarity to the graveyard!"

The monster's tail glowed as it whipped it out towards the continuous spell card, latching onto it before tossing it towards the graveyard of Benjamin's opponent. Benjamin's lifepoints then increased to 5800 thanks to the boon granted by sending one card to the grave. Lars did NOT seem happy about this at all, as he now knew he was going to get a real BAD beating. He was especially frustrated when Benjamin revealed the next card he was about to play.

"Let's make things a little more like home for my monsters! I play Abyss of Infestation!"

Fissures began to form along the ground of the demonic field, destroying some of the altars and structures that had come just a turn before this one. The cracks joined together to form the mark of the Iswarm, and in a flash of dark orange, Pandemonium was entirely wiped away, replaced with stalagmites and cavernous walls marked with images of battle and victory of the Iswarms. Ophion and Girastag both roared as they were empowered by the field, Ophion's attack rising to 3150 and Girastag's to 3200.

"Nngh..." Lars uttered as he saw the power of Benjamin's monsters.

"Iswarms! Let's see how well his pride and talk hold up when they are faced with your power! Ophion, attack Archfiend Cavalry!"

On Benjamin's command, Ophion snarled fiercely as it lunged towards the medieval demon, knocking its poor steed to the ground before tearing into it and the demon rider. Both of them let out shouts and noises of pain as Ophion slaughtered them, inflicitng a total of 1250 damage to Lars. As his lifepoints dropped, the cultist yelled in pain as the Shadow's burned more of his being. He couldn't help but accidentally back into one of the icy walls behind him as Girastag began charging up its weapon.

"Blast him!" Benjamin commanded.

The Steelswarm fired a charged blast of red, rust colored energy that headed quickly towards the cultist. Shielding himself, the blast connected with Lars' body, causing him to really cry out in pain before dropping to the floor. Now his lifepoints were at 2550.

"AHHH!!!!"

Benjamin began to laugh. Is this really what someone sent by the Cult's master was like? Someone easily reduced to a sniveling and shivering mess?! Lars began to weakly get up as Benjamin set two cards onto the field after playing Infestation Revival. The cultist spoke.

"Y-you won't beat us... not the Cult... Marrus... he envisions a new world that the shadows will bring.. a better one... why will you and Alabast, along with the others who might join you... seek to destroy it?"

The young officer smirked as Girastag laughed both on the field and inside his head. Pathetic. Sniveling. Weakling.

"Hmph, I end, but first..."

Two cards flew from the top of Lars' deck to the grave.

"One card has been sent from the top of your deck to the grave for each of my Iswarms attack."

Another Call of the Haunted, and an Archfiend Empress. Lars winced and seethed before drawing his next card... and actually smiled. Now he could at least begin to fight back.

"I activate my face down card, Dark Hole!"

A black hole appeared suddenly on the field and threatened to pull in all of Benjamin's monsters, but the duelist reacted quickly.

"No you don't, I activate the set down quick play, Infestation Pandemic! Now none of my face up Iswarms can be affected by any spells or traps this turn."

Lars clenched his fists in deep anger. No! This couldn't be happening, he couldn't actually be on the verge of losing! This wasn't the way it was supposed to go, he was supposed to return to his master with news of his success! Shouting in anger, he activated Call of the Haunted and brought back Cavalry, who returned to field in attack mode.

"I tribute it! Caius the Shadow Monarch, come to the field!"

Caius emerged from the shadows and began producing a ball of dark energy between its hands and then sent it off towards Girastag. The beetle was enveloped in the darkness, and promptly disappeared from the field as it was banished. Benjamin's lifepoints dropped to 4800 once more, since Girastag was a dark monster.

"I end," Lars said scornfully.

 

[Penultimate Pi]

I will not fail. I refuse!

"I activate Dark Hole," Cain said, having drawn a card only to immediately place it. A vortex of darkness tore itself open in the center of the field. Nisa, powerless to silence the spell, could only witness the Armed Dragon and King of the Skull Servants both disappear into the gravity well.

"Next, I activate Silver's Cry," Cain said, taking one of he remaining cards and playing it. "And with it, I summon Darkblaze Dragon from the Graveyard."

A wicked, red-and-black dragon emerged from a void behind Cain, roaring with unspent vigor. "For being summoned from the Graveyard, his original power doubles." The event horizon of the portal twisted into a veil that enveloped the dragon until it burst out anew, blazing with scarlet energies. [2400 ATK]

The cultist sneered in mocking as an attempt to maintain confidence. "Hoping to relive your lost Red-Eyes? Well, you did it; you made your new dragon exactly as weak as it was! All I need is-"

"Next, I reveal Monster Reincarnation, and return a monster from the Graveyard to my hand." Cain explained, swiping a card from his Graveyard. Cain slipped the card into his hand, and just as soon removed the other one.

"And now, I summon a Totem Dragon," Cain called, placing the monster face-up on the field; a winged stone sculpture released itself, crying out with a faceless mouth on a lengthy neck. [400 ATK]

Cain freely gestured with his arms, vehemently pointing at his opponent. "Darkblaze, Totem, attack!"

The pair of dragons charged and released their attack in tandem, creating a combined blaze of energy that flashed toward Nisa violently. She barely had time to shield her eyes from the dual attacks before it hit her, the cultist's shadowed form swallowed by the surge of power. She cried out in agony, her life force being torn in waves from her body. [4000 LP]

When the light faded with the attack's end, Nisa was in the process of collapsing. Fallen on her knees, shuddering and heaving breaths in pain, the cultist had never quite before felt this sort of torture. These two dragons had done some serious damage, and it poised to get worse if she didn't act.

Nisa's body ached in protest as she stood up, with both her and the battlefield around her scorched about. She seemed to falter once, but managed to gain enough of a stance to stay righted. Fragments of her face were visible now, but paled with scars of the soul, and decorated with a wrathful guise. "You will pay for that... with your life!"

The female cultist weakly drew another card, glanced at it, and snarled in frustration. "Here... with no monsters on the field, I can summon the Dark Creator, in Defense Position!" Five dark wisps thrust out from Nisa's Graveyard, and merged into an air of blackness that brought forth a demonic construct. Immediately, it adopted a wide, guarding stance, shadow energies gathering to reinforce against the next blow. [3000 DEF]

"I'll use its effect to banish one monster from my Graveyard, in order to special summon another!" The cultist yelled out, her voice rasping yet escalating. "And guess what... it's the King of the Skull Servants!"

In direct mimicry of the last time, the King arose from the ground standing on his pile of corpses, and the three spirits arose again to coat the skeletal lord with power. [3000 ATK]

"Attack, King of the Skull Servants, and SEND THAT DARKBLAZE BACK WHERE IT CAME FROM!"

Once again, the King cackled and brought the spirits to bear, throwing the cacophony of undeath at the Darkblaze Dragon. The dragon reared back from the attack in instinct, but could not avoid being torn to pieces which again spattered painfully onto Cain. [6800 LP]

Above his shielding arm, Cain's own red eyes flickered with hints of intent.

 

[Krein]

Once more, Benjamin drew what could possibly be the nail in the coffin for this duel. As he revealed the card to himself... sure enough, it was just the card he needed to end this duel and crush Lars into oblivion. And the best part about it? It would be in such an ironic way that the news would definitely make its way all the way back to whoever was behind the Cult. Oh... this was going to be hilarious! Benjamin signaled to Ophion and ordered him to detatch one more XYZ material from itself. The jagged, icy wall that Ophion had created on the turn he was summoned began to crack, until it eventually shattered into pieces as Benjamin retrieved another Infestation Pandemic.

"Now that that's out of the way," the duelist said with a cruel smirk, "Let's end this! I play Monster Reborn from my hand and target the very monster you wanted to destroy me with. Archfiend Emperor, First Lord of Terror, rise on my side of the field in attack position!"

The earth beneath both duelists rumbled as part of the earth next to Ophion crumbled into nothingness, revealing a portion of the Dark World from which Archfiend Emperor truly originated from. The shadows shot downwards into the hole, pulling up the First Lord of Terror into the dueling field. With a mighty roar, the demon spawned its blade and stabbed it into the ground as it checked its surroundings. It seemed confused for a moment... the one who had summoned him wasn't Lars, but it soon realized that Benjamin had held out and played better than him, eventually getting to this point where he summoned him from the depths of Dark World. It seemed to mock Lars' weakness, as if to say, "How could I have been commanded by a weakling like you?!"

Now Lars was truly afraid, knowing full well what was coming. Literally shaking, he began to try and bargain with Benjamin.

"No... please... there's another way to end this! I'll surrender! Yes! I'll surrender...."

Emperor laughed even louder at this before waving its hand in the air to produce a mirage of darkness showing the atrocities Lars had committed both inside and outside duels.

"That... that's just terrible," Benjamin said. "Ophion, destroy Caius."

The Evilswarm ran towards the Shadow Monarch, though instead of mauling him like he did Archfiend Cavalry, it simply spun to slice it in half with its powerful tail. Lars groaned as his lifepoints dropped to 1800, after which he fell to both of his knees and looked up weakly at Benjamin.

"I... will not... be the last I assure you. Damn you, damn Alabast, damn the Swarm and that dark Dragon!"

With that, Archfiend Emperor wielded its crimson sword once more before approaching Lars slowly.

"Emperor. Finish him." Benjamin commanded. The shadows darkened at this command, accumulating over Lars body as the Emperor struck him with its great weapon. Lars' lifepoints reached zero, and the last of his life force was taken away by the shadows...

Well done... This is but the first step in your path of destruction... now... claim your prize...

Archfiend Emperor picked up Lars' unmoving body with one massive fist and held him out before Benjamin, who now was walking towards the demon with the Iswarm mark burning brightly on his chest. Whatever damage he had suffered physically and spiritually had begun to be restored after his victory, meaning there was no need for medical attention as he thought there would be. Benjamin pulled up Lars' duel disk arm and removed the deck from it, claiming it as his own. Emperor tossed Lars aside and faded shortly after that...

"Now... how is Cain doing?"