Sonic X Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monster GX Fan Fiction ❯ Sonic Duels: The Shadow Clan Saga! ❯ The Gladiator Fights Thunder again! ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter 10: The Gladiator Fights Thunder again!

 

The gang had formed together and gathered as many allies as possible. Soon after, Hitomi and Shadow led them to the lair of the Shadow Clan, along the way, the party made small chat. Zewl however, despite his earlier joviality, seemed a little withdrawn. Kiros also seemed distracted, which in itself was unusual as well. Sonic looked over his shoulder and sensed this.

"S'up, guys?" He asked.

Kiros just shrugged. Zewl just looked at Sonic. "Just wondering how many of us are going to return m'boy."

"Well, all of us, of course." Sonic said with his usual hero grin and V sign.

"Hey, don't be so glum. So long as we play our best, that Shadow Clan...thing...doesn't stand a chance." Sonic continued his overly cheeriness.

Zewl gave Sonic a withering stare. "Your confidence not-with-standing, you honestly have no idea what these people are capable of. I would seriously suggest you stop thinking of this as a simple game!" he barked.

"Whoa! Easy old man, you'll pop a blood vessel if you get angry like that, sheesh." Sonic replied, a little taken back.

"He's right, Sonic." Hitomi said suddenly. "Keep in mind one of their weakest took out one of our best extremely easily." She said, eyeing Kiros a bit.

Kiros just glared at Hitomi. "A mistake that will be dealt with."

Zewl held a hand up, asking Kiros to calm himself.

"Tell me Sonic. How many of your friends have already fallen to the Shadow Clan? Can you honestly tell me that you think that no-one here will lose?"

"I can't say no one will lose, but I can say that the outcome will involve our victory! No one's stopped me and my pals yet, and we don't intend to fall here." Sonic replied.

"Why do I feel we are hopelessly going to fail?" Shadow asked himself.

Zewl started to chuckle. "Answer me something Sonic, in your honest opinion. In a situation like this, who's the bigger idiot? The one who rushes into almost certain doom or the one who follows him?"

Sonic thinks a little, his face showing his brain ticking away.

"Don't strain your little brain, Sonic." Tails said, coldly.

"It depends old man. What about if neither of them know they are running into certain doom?" Sonic asked. "I don't consider this certain doom, and even if it was, I'd still try to save my friends." Sonic put a serious face on, looking in the direction he's walking. "Call me an idiot if you must, but I won't ever give up on my friends."

Zewl clapped Sonic on the back. "Well...fool or not, I guess I can't let you young'uns take all the glory" he grinned as he walked past Sonic, his cane in hand.

'This is nuts...I'm walking slower than an old man...must...walk...faster...' Sonic thought, with that he walked ahead of Zewl, next to Hitomi. "How far, Hit?" Hitomi glared at him.

"If you like your nose, you'll not call me that again." she snapped.

"Sorry, so how far?" Sonic asked, in a defensive stance.

"Just a little longer." Hitomi replied.

 

Shortly after, the team had made it through what seemed like a giant canyon. In the distance was a large black temple like building, seemingly surrounded by dark clouds and thunder.

"There." Shadow said. "That's where war begins."

Kiros took a stand next to Sonic and readied his duel disk. "We best be ready for this. They won't just lie down."

"This is true." Sonic said. "Let's go."

 

As the team arrived, the stumbled across a few cloaked members all lying on the floor unconscious. The group all fell over.

"Okay, scratch my theory." Kiros said. The team recovered and stood up, then looked around.

"Shinato was here..." Hitomi said, more to herself than anyone else.

"You mean THE Shinato?" asked Zewl, who despite his age obviously still had his hearing.

"HEY!! This one's still conscious!!" yelled Kiros as he knelt over one of the bodies.

"Look at these marks on the floor. Almost like they had light burned into it, I heard legends that one of few existing monsters of light could do this, only Shinato fits the bill." Hitomi replied. Everyone looked over to the barely conscious shadow member. "Ignore him; he won't say shit about anything."

"Ty...Tyrone...help me..." The shadow member said, sounded female.

Kiros held her up gently. "Hey, what happened here...who did this?"

"Some...guy in a black robe. His deck consisted of light monsters... He duelled us one at a time and we all failed. He was like a man possessed, and that...that light monster...so powerful...I wasn't meant to fall here..." The girl replied.

"Hm, well, if it isn't the little wench, weakest of the elite shadow members." Shadow said, coldly, looking at her.

Kiros stood and faced Shadow. "There's no need for that man, let's just get in there already!"

Hitomi looked to the left of the girl and her eyes widened.

"Everyone move away from her!" With that, she scatted off somewhat, everyone else quickly following, seconds later a vortex opened around the girl and she was sucked into it, all that was left was a coin.

"Hmmm....so, this stranger in the black robe defeated these members at their own Shadow Games....." Zewl pondered. "I think it's safe to say he isn't one of them."

"If he was, why would he leave them in this state, open your eyes, old man." Shadow said coldly, before entering the front door.

"Hey! You watch who you're talking to like that!!" Kiros yelled after him.

"Be still Kiros." the mole laughed as Kiros clenched his fists. "Why should I worry what an arrogant, over-confident fool like that says. My, I'm not even sure if he could duel his way out of a paper bag..." he continued, just loud enough so Shadow could hear him.

"He's clearly no weakling either; she was Selphie, lowest of the elite Shadow Members." Hitomi said, walking in.

 

"Come out, you coward! I know you're in this room, I saw you!" Shadow barked around the room. "Damn it."

"What's up, Shad?" Sonic asked.

"I saw someone move in her, seemed to blend into the shadow." Shadow replied.

The rest of the group followed closely behind. "Maybe you're seeing things. Perhaps you finally lost the plot?" Kiros taunted him.

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?!" Shadow replied, angrily.

"Chill Shad, maybe those shadow people are trying to screw with our heads." Sonic told him.

"Like before?" Tails asked.

"This place freaks me out." Charmy said from the back.

"Now that you mention it, it's weird, all I see are stairs going up, but outside, it was much bigger than this." Vector blurted aloud.

"That's because when this place has intruders, it moves around, making a sort of defence path." Hitomi replied. "Basically, one way, up. And as we go up, there are rooms, in those rooms is an elite."

"Blaze is mine." Kiros declared coldly, looking at the group, almost daring them to tell him otherwise.

"Well, you're in luck, Kiros." Hitomi said. "If I know this place, other than Selphie, he's the lowest ranking member, so his room should be first." Without a word Kiros ran off, straight towards the stairs, slotting his deck into his duel disk. All of a sudden, he was grabbed by the collar and held in place. Zewl was stood behind him, holding him still.

"He's fast...for an old guy." Tails said, surprised.

"ACK! What'ya doin' old man!!" Kiros yelped in surprise.

"Are you so blind with vengeance that you would run into an obvious trap?! Foolish boy! Have you learned nothing from your past mistakes?! Rushing in like a mad bull will result in a repeat of history!" Zewl barked at him.

Kiros blinked. "I guess you're right...well, let's go then!"

Zewl carefully let Kiros go. "Run off like that again and I'll put you on a leech." Zewl walked in front of him. "You must stay behind me, understood?"

Kiros sighed. "Yeah, sure."

Zewl nodded and turned to the others. "Shall we?" he asked.

"He's a strict guy, isn't he?" Tails asked.

"He speaks the truth, Kiros talks a tough game, but when it comes to it, he's just a fool who doesn't think ahead." Shadow replied to Tails.

Zewl turned to Shadow and stared him down. "Actually young man, Kiros is probably one of the most talented duellists I know. You on the other hand, I believe are just an arrogant stuck-up grouch, who thinks he's better than everyone else, when in actual fact he's just a coward."

“You want some old man!” Shadow barked at him.

Suddenly, Hiei appeared at the top of the stairs, laughing hard. "You morons expect to defeat us? You're doing our dirty work by fighting each other. Allow me to welcome you to my humble abode." He then bows slightly. His bow giving off a cocky attitude.

Zewl glared at Hiei. "Do you mind? I was in the middle of a speech!" he turned back to Shadow. "Now....what was I saying?" he continued, scratching his head.

Hiei stood upright. "This is it? This is what you bring to defeat us?" Hiei asked. "You have 3 worthless kids, a mutated fox, a cocky stuck up hedgehog, a hedgehog who thinks everything will turn out okay when he's sorely mistaken, a cowardly chameleon, a crocodile skin suitcase and a withered up old man? This will be easier than I expected." Hiei grinned.

Zewl turned and grinned a little at Sonic. "Is it just me.....or was I wrong in expecting the 'great leader' of the Shadow Clan to be just a tiny bit taller?"

Hiei chucked a little. "Well, you know the term looks can be deceiving, and from observation, the only people I need worry about in this room are the fox, the disgruntled hare and you, old man. The rest of you are fodder for my Shadow Clan. Enjoy your stay in my castle; you won't be around to see anywhere else." With that Hiei exploded into darkness and vanished.

Kiros laughed cockily. "At least the jerk can tell who are the decent duellists....oh, wait, didn't he mention you Shadow?" he spoke as if he were addressing a child. "I'm really shocked to hear that."

"Shut up, you fool." With that, and a blood vessel on his head, Shadow walked up the stairs.

"Well well, looks like someone's ego just took a beating...." muttered Kiros and he ran after Shadow, Zewl, Marine, Espio, Charmy and Vector tagging along closely.

 

The group walked up 3 flights of stairs before coming to a door.

Kiros knocked. "Anyone in?" he asked innocently.

Shadow took Kiros be the head and banged it on the door three times. "If you want to get a reply, bang harder." He grinned. Zewl frowned. The door opened, the room filled with dark clouds which were very real and they even struck thunder and lightning.

Kiros rubbed his head. "Stuck up jerk...when this is over I'll kick your ass Shadow, so badly you won't even think of duelling again."

"I doubt it." Shadow said, walking into the room. Inside the room was cloaked up thunder, who looked the same as he did at the tournament.

"YOU!!!" Yelled Kiros, barging roughly past Shadow and activating his duel disk. "I got a score to settle with you!"

Zewl whispered to Shadow. "Maybe you should take his challenge....if you're not too scared that is. I know he's a good duellist, but I'm sure you could last at least a couple of turns...."

"Shut up, old man or I'll rip out your spine and shove it up your ass." Shadow threatened.

"Hmmm..." Zewl pondered. "I knew you were a coward, but to threaten an old man...that's got to be a new low, even for you. Perhaps Kiros shouldn't have challenged you...you're far too scared to prove anything but a meal for him. And you think you stand a chance with the lovely fox over there....." Zewl wandered off, leaving this with Shadow to ponder.

 

Thunder removes his hood, revealing his face as the yellow cat with a thunderbolt hairdo. "I take it that you're going to hold a grudge for a long while, huh?" he asked.

"Not as long as you think.." replied Kiros. "Only until I beat you, which in case you didn't know, is now!"

"This is why you're not a good duellist." Blaze said, rubbing and shaking his head gently.

"Why? Because after a loss I improve and want to go after the one who beat me? Unlike that arsewipe over there." he said pointing at Shadow. "But enough, are you gonna duel or what?!"

"What do you mean?" Blaze asked. "About Shadow, I mean."

"You beat me. Badly, yeah I'll admit that...but it helped me discover my own weaknesses. So, I guess I should be thanking ya." Kiros said. "But Shadow, HA he got completely wiped by Cream, who from what I can gather he pretty much beat down on all the time, and he just went off and cried. Far as I know, he hasn't duelled since. He's a chicken-shit." Shadow narrowed his brow angrily. Blaze shrugged.

"Actually, you'd be wrong." He said. "He's duelled since; he took on our illustrious master and lord. Hiei." Blaze grinned.

"Oh I see. One duel. And let me guess, he got his ass handed to him?" Kiros turned to Shadow. "Have you actually won any duels lately?" An aura began to illuminate Shadow. Clearly his anger is near enough about to explode into chaos energy.

"I'd stop making him mad if I were you, Kiros. Sorry, but if you push him to far, even Zewl won't be able to save your life." Tails warned, but not in a mocking way, more like concern.

Kiros shrugged. "Yeah, right. I've taken scarier shits after eating Zewl's cooking." he turned back to Blaze. "We doin' this or not?"

"As you wish, by the way, when you win, the door behind me will open. I'll assume you know what happens if you don't, right?" Blaze asked.

 

Kiros nodded. No bravado, no cockiness. Just acceptance. "Just duel your best, I'll do the same. Win or lose, at I'll have that."

"How nice, that's the least cocky thing you've said since walking in." Blaze said, though his tone showing he was serious, rather than mocking.

"Well...someone once said to me 'we can't be a badass all the time'..." Kiros said. "Besides, whatever happens, it's just a duel. Nothing to be cocky about."

Blaze shuffled his deck, slotted it and drew six cards. "Since we're in my world, I'll go first. And yes, whoever told you that is right, I'm tired of pretending I'm something I'm not, I'm tired of this dull place. So if you can beat me, then do so. At least then I know it's over." he said.

Kiros drew his five. "Not that I'm backing out or anything, but if you aren't happy with it, why be here?"

"I got nowhere else." Blaze replied. "Okay, I'll start with your favourite spell of mine, Kaiser Colosseum." the room then transformed into a large red colloseum. "Then I'll activate Wave-Motion Cannon and set one monster and end my turn." a cannon appears on Blaze's side of the field with one set card. "Your move. Show me that you're not as big a loser as last time...please?"

 

Kiros drew his sixth. "Whatever you say. I activate the spell card Heavy Storm." Blaze shrugged. His cannon exploded and the field returned to the thunder storm. "Then, I'll set 2 face-downs and summon Gladiator Beast Bestiari" (1500/800) The bird warrior appeared on the field. "Bestiari, attack!!"

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you." Blaze advised.

"Too late." Kiros replied as his Bestiari charged in. He was shocked by lightning and flung back to Kiros side.

"Told ya. This here is Batterman D, and he has enough defence to knock you away." (0/1900) Kiros grunted as his monster caught him <7600>

"Maybe so, but Bestiari's effect let's me replace him with another Gladiator Beast..." bestiari vanished. "So welcome Gladiator Beast Secutor!!" (400/300) Kiros' lizardman appeared in a defensive stance. "I guess that's it for now."

 

Blaze drew. "This is going to be a repeat, isn't it? Well, I guess not, with my colloseum gone, that is." Blaze said, more to himself than anyone else. "I summon Electric Lizard to the field." The electric lizard appeared and sparked a little.(850/800) "Now I'll activate mountain." The field changed to represent the flat top of a large mountain. "This increases my thunder monsters attack and defence by 200.” Electic Lizard: (1050/1000) Batteryman D: (200/2100) “With that I end my turn.”

 

"Why didn't he attack?" Charmy asked loudly.

 

Kiros drew. "Maybe because I have traps down?" he sighed. "I'll play my field card, Colloseum - Cage of the Gladiator Beasts!" The mountains were replaced with an arena. EL: (850/800) Batteryman: (0/1900)

"By the way, thanks for telling me what's on the field." Blaze said.

Kiros shrugged. "Maybe I was bluffing. Guess you'll have to find out. Now, I'll set one monster and attack your lizard with my Secutor!!" the lizardman charged in for the attack, but went and attacked Batteryman D instead. "What the hell.......?" muttered Kiros as he was struck by the recoil <6100>

"Oops, did I forget to mention?" Blaze asked. "When Batteryman D is face up on the field, you can't select another thunder type monster on my side of the field as an attack target."

 

"So that's why he summoned that weak monster." Vector said loudly.

"Nice. Guess I'll have to come up with something a little better than that." Kiros said as 2 monsters appeared on his side of the field <FcT x2> "Well, say hello to my Gladiator Beast Dimacari (1600/1200) and my Gladiator Beast Murmillo (800/400), and because of Murmillo's effect, say goodbye to your Batteryman!!" Blaze was unphased at his monsters demise. Kiros scratched the back of his head as his monsters increased in points. (1800/1400) (1000/600) (600/500) "I guess there's not a lot else I can do...your move."

 

Blaze drew his card. "I'll send my Thunder Dragon to the graveyard to bring the other two into my hand." He said, discarding his dragon. and searching his deck for his other cards. "Now, I'll use Polymerization to fuse the two Dragons together." Blaze continued.

 

“This....ain't gonna be pretty...." mused Kiros.

'Come on m'boy...' thought Zewl. 'We both know you can do this. You just have to believe in yourself and your deck..'

 

"Say hello to my Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!" The Dragon appeared on the field and roared viciously at Kiros. (2800/2100)

"Eep...." was all the reply it got from Kiros. "At least I get another token...." Kiros said as his monsters grew again, ever so slightly <FcT x3>

"However, you won't need to worry about it, since I tribute him and my Electric Lizard to summon The Big Saturn!" The monsters were replaced with the almighty creature that Kiros knew all too well. (2800/2200) "And I'll end my turn with a face down." Blaze finished.

Kiros drew. "All right, say goodbye to your monster pal. 'Cos it's goin' bye bye!"

"Uh huh." Blaze replied. "Well, before you do, I trigger my trap."

"Buuu...buh...what?!" Kiros stuttered

"It's called Rivalry of Warlords, basically, we send monsters to the graveyard until we each have one type of monster on the field, and with that done, we can each only have one type of monster on the field so long as this card remains." Blaze said. "Since I only have one monster, I'm safe."

"Oh....well I guess seeing as it is that bad, I'll pay 1000 lifepoints to activate my Seven Tools of the Bandit and negate it." <5100>

"No worries." Blaze said.

"You got anything else before I continue?" asked Kiros, yet without a trace of sarcasm in his voice.

"Nah, that's it."

"Okay. Well then, I'll start by special summoning my Test Tiger (600/300) <FcT x4> and I'll sacrifice him to return my Secutor to my deck in order to special summon my Gladiator Beast Darius." (1700/300) The armed horse appeared on the field with a loud snort. <FcT x5> "And, with his effect, I can special summon another Gladiator Beast from my deck. So, I'll choose my Gladiator Beast Octavius!" (2500/1200) <FcT x6> Kiros' army of beasts lined up, ready for battle. Blaze keeps his game face on, though a small grin can be seen on occasion. "Well now, that's a nice collection of critters ya got there K!!" cheered Marine. Kiros just turned and grinned. "You ain't seen nothing yet. I flip summon my Morphing Jar #2, and it gets interesting from here." The strange jar appeared, and sent every monster on the field back to the owner's decks.

Blaze lifted a brow. "Interesting..." He mused.

"Don't worry, ya Saturn is still in there. But because of my jars effect, you have to draw until you find monsters level 4 or below and special summon them in defence. But..... If you get any spells, traps, or high level monsters, they go to the graveyard. Lucky for you, it's the number of monsters that returned to your deck. So you only have to get 1. I have to get 5."

Blaze shuffled up and drew his first card, then set it. "Lucky me." He said.

"I guess so." Kiros replied <FcT x7> "My turn." He drew his five monsters, having to discard 3 cards. <FcT x12>

"Now, I'll flip my monsters face-up. First, we have....."

 

Kiros began to laugh uncontrollably. "Oh dear....what do you know?" he asked as his Morphing Jar reappeared with a sinister cackle and sent all the monsters on the field back to their decks once again. Blaze narrowed his eyes in annoyance and reshuffled. Kiros summoned his monsters, after discarding 6 cards. <FcT x17> Blaze drew, looked and set again. <FcT x18>

"Okay....let me try that again." Kiros said as he began to flip his monsters. "Ok, Dimacari (3400/3000), Bestiari (3300/2600), Hoplomus (2500/3900), another Bestiari (3300/2600) and finally....."

 

"Gladiator Beast Andal. Not seen him before, he has an attack of 1900 and a defence of 1500....with the field in play...." Kiros began counting on his fingers as his monsters appeared with a deafening roar.

".......3700 attack and 3300 defence....." Kiros counted. "Well Blaze, I think you're a little screwed...."

"Now, if you'd been able to do that last duel, it wouldn't have been a bit more interesting. Well, it's about time you did something decent." Blaze said, again without the mockery.

"True, but after the last duel you made me rethink my deck, so really, this is thanks to you." Kiros smiled. "But, I'm sure you're not really that thrilled...."

"Actually..." Blaze replied. "You're wrong." With that Blaze stood spread, his head high with a smile, wanting the blows to be dealt.

 

Zewl chuckled and nudged Sonic. "What d'ya think of that eh?!"

"Not bad, serious potential." Sonic said. "Hey, Shad. You're screwed." And that was what made him click as Shadow dived to maim Sonic.

The two continued in a scuffle for a while, though everyone sighed and ignored it.

 

Kiros nodded. "Hoplomus, attack his face-down." The face down was Batteryman C. (0/0) Kiros grinned at Blaze. "Good duel man....I guess I was a little harsh on ya..Just wanna apologise for my behaviour last time, before..well, you know..."

"Just one thing, kid." Blaze said. "You just remember these things and you'll never lose a duel. First, Don't let your opponent get under your skin, like you did when we first met, and second...No matter what happens, don't make my mistake."

 

"Don't give up on everything." Blaze said. Kiros nodded at Blaze as he signalled the attack to Dimacari, Bestiari and Andal. They flew in, showing no mercy as they clawed and swiped and swung at Blaze. After Kiros' monsters finished the onslaught, Blaze fell to his knees, his body limb and damage, his coin fell from the ceiling and bounced off the ground, with that it hovered in the air and bolted Blaze with lightning, seemingly painful and with one bright flash, Blaze was gone, his room bare and empty like it was abandoned years ago and his coin spinning to a stop on the floor. Kiros sighed while Zewl and some of the others clapped him on the back, congratulating him, commenting on his awesome comeback and the like.

 

Suddenly they heard a familiar explosion of darkness. Hiei appeared, clapping unenthusiastically.

"Well done, well done. Your potential is so wasted." He said, bluntly. Hiei walked to the centre of the room and picked up the coin.

Kiros turned his back on Hiei. "Who do ya reckon we'll fight next Hitomi?"

Hiei narrowed his eyes slightly. "Hitomi is untrusting you know. She brought you here because I told her to, not because she wanted to." Hiei looked over to Shadow, who stopped scuffing with Sonic. "Him too." Zewl looked at Kiros, who nodded and turned to face Hiei defiantly.

"And if they try and stop us, we'll take them down. Just like we'll take down the rest of your cronies."

"I see." Hiei closed his eyes. "Shamefully, I don't see that happening." He said, opening his eyes. "Hitomi, your precious Hermana is in your room, you know what you need to do to get her back." Hiei turned to leave. "Also, Blaze was an easy win for you, mainly because of his guilt over your sorry ass kicking last duel." He said, looking over his shoulder to Kiros.

Kiros spat on the floor and turned his back again, walking towards Zewl, who had moved to check on the 2 squabbling hedgehogs. "Maybe you'll be a decent challenge then Hiei. That is, if you aren't too much of a coward to face me yourself."

Hiei grinned. "I'll be your opponent in due time, in the meantime, let's hope you survive that long. They say work your way up to the best, and trust me kid, you don't get much better than me. And I'll prove it 3 duels from now." Hiei looked away from them, directly in front of him. Hiei vanished again. Hitomi sighed.

"Unless ranks have changed, the next duellist should b Max. Spellcaster." She said.

Zewl stood forward. "Mind if I take this one?" he asked as his cane turned into his duel disk.

"Sure, don't see why not. but he should be easy picking for you." Hitomi replied. "Even Silver beat him." Several spirit auras appeared in the room.

"Yo, what's that?" Charmy asked. The auras took the physical appearance of the traps freedom fighters.

"Oh yeah, Kiros, you won, so you can free someone of your choice." Hitomi said.

"I can't quite make 'em out, who are they?" asked the hare as he squinted to try and make out the figures.

Tails looked at them and instantly spoke. "From left to right it's Knucklehead, Rouge, Cream, Silver, Blaze and Amy."

"Why isn't Tikal with them?" Hitomi asked.

Creams spirit then turned into an orb and shot out of the room, the others faded back into darkness.

"I guess that's you free now, huh?" murmured Kiros as he followed the orbs path.

 

"The spirit will return to the body." said Petal from the other door. Hitomi looked over to her and froze again. Kiros also froze, but for a different reason than Hitomi.

"Petal....." he managed to whisper.

Petal gave Kiros a stern look. "You shouldn't have returned...I saved you at my own risk and you repay me by coming back into danger." She wasn't happy.

"But....my friends...." Kiros said quietly.... "And....you...."

"What about me?" Petal asked, somewhat harshly.

"Never mind...." Kiros said as he looked at the floor.

"If you've come to 'save' me, don't waste your time, or mine. There's nothing to save. As for your friends, you'll join them before saving them all, just leave. This is the only time I'll say it. Also, Hitomi, close your fucking mouth already...gross." Petal turned and walked up the stairs passed the now open door.

Hitomi clenched her teeth. "I'll show her some discipline!" She gritted them, tears in her eyes.

"What now, m'boy? You gonna call it quits, since it looks to me like you just got dumped." Zewl asked.

"There was nothing there anyway...." Kiros lied as he took a deep breath. "I did what I came to do, but I suppose I'll stick around. I got nothing better to do...." 'Not anymore anyway....' he thought to himself.

"Onto the next floor!" Sonic said, as he matched on.

 

Meanwhile, up about 7 more floors, Petal stood in the hall shaking a little. She then punched the wall as hard as she could, blood spilling in all directions. She then pulled it away and gripped it with her other hand, curling over into a ball. "Damn it..." She uttered.

As Petal lay curled up on the floor, a figure clad in a black robe hid in the shadows, watching her.

'Bah, she's no use to me. Too concerned with that Hare.....itsJin I'm after. I wonder where he's hiding... Once that bastards out the way, then, then Petal will be the one to get me close to Hiei.....enough to.....' his hands closed around a blade, gleaming dully in the darkness.

 

Petal shot her head around.

“Who's there?!” Nothing. `Someone is actually able to navigate this place on their first visit? Not bad...' She thought. “Ow, my hand...”

 

The gang had made it to the second door; this door looked like one that led into a world of magic...oddly enough. It soon opened and the gang entered...a library?

 

This library was weird, however, books and other things floated around slowly.

“Nice pad.” Sonic whistled. Zewl looked around.

“Either this guy likes to study, or this place has a ghost.” He added.

“Not ghost's old man, magic.” Said a voice as a brown mouse came out from behind a bookshelf. “And you're about to find out.”

“Well, looks like this is me.” Zewl said, walking over slowly.

“An old geezer? You have to be joking.” The mouse mocked.

“Not really, m'boy. All you young kids these days don't believe your elders are good at duelling, that's a shame.” Zewl replied. “I am Zewl.”

“Elders maybe, but not ancients.” The mouse mocked. “I am High Max! Get ready to lose!” The two activated their duel disks, shuffled and slotted their decks, drawing 5 cards each. Zewl drew his 6th card.

"Just out of curiosity, what type of deck do you use?" he asked.

Max was a little taken aback. "I'm not going to tell you that." he replied.

"I'll find out soon enough, I was just wondering." Zewl replied as he studied his hand. "If it makes you feel any better, I myself use an earth deck."

"An Earth Deck?!" Max exclaimed. "You think an Earth Deck has any chance against the power of my magicians?!"

 

"Guess we know what deck he uses." laughed Kiros.

"What an idiot, that was like blatant trap." mused Tails.

 

"Grrr........Fine, you know what deck I use. But that won't help you!!" Shouted Max, his face turning a dark shade of red.

"We'll see, won't we?" said Zewl calmly. "I set one monster and end my turn."

 

"Is that it?!" commented Max as he drew his 6th. "Pathetic. I'll set 2 face-downs and summon Neo the Magic Swordsman (1700/1000) and I'll attack your face-down!!"

Zewl's Giant Rat (1400/1000) appeared as Neo charged, and although it valiantly tried to fend off the attack, it was easily overwhelmed and destroyed.

"Oh I see. You think that by being able to summon another monster through your rodent's effect you hope to get a leg-up on me." Max scoffed.

"Well, that was the general idea...." admitted Zewl.

"Go ahead. Do your worst."

Zewl searched through his deck. "Alright, I summon my Ultimate Insect LV1 (0/0)."

 

"Yeah!! Nice play pal, this won't last very long!!" cheered Kiros.

"Er, his monster has no attack and no defence." Charmy pointed out.

"So, you care to let us in on the secret?" added Sonic.

Kiros just laughed darkly.

 

"Your friend has lost his mind. That puny bug is no match for anything in my deck, so I think I'll squash it right now. I play the spell card Magical Dimension, to sacrifice my swordsman to summon the all powerful Dark Magician!! (2500/2100) And unfortunately for you, Magical Dimension destroys one of your monster on the field when it's used. So say goodbye to your bug!!" Max shouted triumphantly.

"Would now be a bad time to mention that my insect is immune to spell cards?" Zewl asked politely as his insect resisted the effect of Max's spell.

"Damn you!!" Max cursed. "Fine, I end my turn. Stop going senile old man."

 

Zewl drew, and as he did, the rather disgusting looking bug on his field disappeared, and was replaced by something that looked like a cross between a lady-bird and a spider. The girls in the room echoed each other with an almost planned call of "EEEWW, GROSS!!"
"So that's how your monster levels up then. On your standby phases....." mused Max.

"Yup, that's right." said Zewl. "So, say hello to Ultimate Insect LV3 (1400/900). And his effect is that he reduces all your monster's attack points by 300 while he's on the field."

Max growled as his Dark Magician was infected by the insects poison (2200/2100)

"Oh, it gets worse. Because I play my spell card Level Up, which lets me send my wonderful insect to the graveyard in order to summon it's next level."

"Oh no you don't!!" countered Max. "I activate Spell Shield type 8, and discard my second Magical Dimension in order to prevent you from using your spell."

"Well that just isn't cool..." Zewl sighed. "I guess we'll have to do this another way. I play the spell card Smashing Ground to destroy your magician."

Max cursed as his creature was wiped out. "Crap, now I'm wide open.."

"More than you think. Now, I'll play Monster Reborn to bring back your magician, but he's working for me now." Zewl grinned as the Dark Magician reappeared on his side of the field.

"Okay boys....playtime!" he said as both his Ultimate Insect and the Dark Magician charged towards Max <4100>

"Your move!" Zewl called to the currently flattened Max.

 

'I must pull this back...I must win!!' Max cursed himself furiously. 'First I lose to that idiot Silver, now this pompous arsehole has me on the ropes!'

"Come on Zewl!! Kick his Shadow Clan BEEHIND!!!" cheered Kiros.

 

Max stood and drew his card. "I'll set one card and end."

 

Zewl drew, and once again his Insect levelled up, from level 3 to level 5 (2300/900)

"I must say old boy, I'm a little disappointed." Zewl said. "I expected more from one of the Shadow Clan, but never mind. I'll attack you again." The 2 monsters charged towards Max, who did not look worried at all.
"Not this time. I activate No Entry, to turn your monsters into defence."

"Now there's no need for that kind of attitude Max!" said Zewl as his monsters shifted to defend him.

"STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!! THIS IS A DUEL!!!" Max yelled at Zewl, who just stood there, smiling.
"Your move, chap."

 

Max drew. "YOU INFURIATING LITTLE BASTARD!!!" he yelled as he tried to sneakily place a trap card.

"There's no need for that now, is there?" asked Zewl, not noticing the ploy. Neither did anyone else.

Max growled. "I set one monster and end."

 

"COME ON ZEWL!!" yelled Sonic.

"You got it in the bag!!" cheered Kiros.

 

'Hehe, that's what you think you little shits. The trap I just placed will sort him out nicely.' Max chuckled to himself.

 

Zewl drew, and his insect disappeared once again. But this time.....

"I got you now!!" yelled Max as the new insect appeared. "Torrential Tribute!!!"

Zewl cursed as the field was wiped clean. "Nicely played." he admitted.

 

"He's just left himself open to attack!!" said Kiros in confusion.

"Yeah, but he got rid of the Dark Magician and whatever new insect that was." replied Sonic.

'That as it may be....but when did he play that trap?' Tails pondered.

 

"Well, you've left me in a bit of a pickle. I guess I'm out of options. I summon my Petit Moth (300/200) and set 2 facedown's. Your move." said Zewl dejectedly.

 

Max drew. "If you think I'm going to fall for such an obvious trap as that, you're sorely mistaken. I summon Magician's Valkyria and end my turn."

 

Zewl sighed. "As you wish..." he drew.

"I switch my Petit Moth into defence mode and equip it with the Cocoon of Evolution, giving it new stats of 0 attack and 2000 defence points. I'll end there."

Zewls small creature began to change from a tiny little caterpillar into a giant cocoon that pulsed and moved just like a living creature.

 

'So... He used a pathetically weak monster to distract me from attacking, then used it to create a decent defence monster. Interesting, this guy might be better than I thought....' Max thought to himself as he drew. Looking at his hand, he noticed that Zewls giant cocoon shifted about more than he had noticed. "That is disgusting..." he commented.

"You think so?" asked Zewl in reply. "Doesn't bother me..."

"Freak..." Max checked his hand. "I tribute my Valkyrie for Chaos Command Magician!! (2400/1900). Time to burst that oversized pimple!!" the magician charged in for the attack.

"Whoa, now just wait a second. You aren't the only one who has trap cards. Check this one out, Ordeal of a Traveller." Zewl activated his trap card, and 3 cards appeared on the field in front of Max's monster.

"Care to explain?" said Max irritably.

"It's simple. I have 3 cards in my hand, and 3 have just appeared in front of your monster. Now you have to choose one and say whether it's a magic, trap, or monster card. If you guess correctly, the attack goes through. If not, the monster is sent back to your hand." Zewl said.

"The middle one is a trap." said Max confidently.

The middle card shone green. "Bad call, it's a spell..." Zewl commented happily as Chaos Command Magician was sent flying back into Max's hand.

"Crap....Your move."

 

Zewl drew. <CoE x1>

"I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600) and end my turn."

The strange magnetic warrior hovered in front of the cocoon.

 

"Such strange creatures you have Zewl. I must say I'm impressed. Not often do you see a deck like yours." Max complimented as he drew.

"While I appreciated the compliment, I'm not incompetent. I know you are stalling for time, and it won't work. Please, hurry your move so I can beat you." Zewl said coldly.

"Hmmph!" Max snorted. "One monster face down and end."

 

Zewl drew and waved a pass. <CoE x2>

 

Max drew his card, and without saying a word tributed his monster to bring out Chaos Command Magician (2400/1900).

'There's no way I'll risk attacking with that trap of his. So far, he's only got weak monsters out, so as long as I pile on the power, I'll still have the advantage when I get rid of that trap of his. Then it's lights-out for him'

"Your move."

 

"It's funny, I almost thought you'd forgotten how to talk for a minute..." said Zewl as he drew his card. <CoE x3> "I'll set one monster and end my turn."

 

Max drew, growled, and waved a pass.

 

"This is getting ridiculous!!" moaned Sonic, who obviously wanted a bit of action. "QUIT DANCING AROUND EACH OTHER!!!" he yelled.

"Chill dude. Pretty soon you're gonna get all the action you want." Kiros said.

"You sure?"

"I promise."

 

Zewl drew, and smiled happily. "I set another monster and end!" <CoE x4>

 

"Why the hell did you smile when setting a monster? It can't have been that good..." muttered Max as he drew. "I'll set one monster and end."

 

'Just 2 more turns. Just 2 more and I'll have this. I could have won it by now, but I've never been able to bring it out, and I figure now is as good a time as any....' Zewl thought to himself as he drew. <CoE x5> "Your move."

 

"You're beginning to piss me off!!" Max yelled. "Stop hiding behind that fucking trap and do something!!!"

"All in good time, all in good time.." said Zewl.

Max growled and drew. "I sacrifice my face-down to summon Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700), and she gets a 300 point boost because of the Dark Magician in my graveyard (2300 atk)." Max chuckled. "Once I get rid of that trap of yours, you're screwed."

 

Zewl drew and grinned. <CoE x6> "Is that a fact? I guess I'd best win before you get that chance then..."

"Yeah, sure, you have no monsters on the field that can come anywhere close to mine. Face it, you've lost it!!" taunted Max.

"I don't think so. See, 6 turns have passed since I played my Cocoon of Evolution. This means I can tribute it in order to summon this. My Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth!!"

 

The giant cocoon began to split, an ear-splitting screech filling the room as the huge insect took to the sky (3500/3000). Max looked up at it in fear. "That's...not possible...."

"It gets worse. I flip summon my 2 face-downs, Alpha and Gamma the Magnet Warriors, and tribute them along with Beta to summon Valkyrion, the Magna Warrior!!" (3500/3850)

 

Zewl stood proud as his 2 most powerful monsters stood at his side. Sonic and Co had their jaws on the floor. And Max....was cowering in terror.

"Moth, take out his Dark Magician Girl. Valkyrion, take out the other one."

Max screamed in pain as his monsters were vanquished one after the other <1800>

 

"Your move Max."

 

Max drew, went completely white, and passed his turn without saying a word. Zewl grinned. "Moth, do your thing..."

 

And Max was finished. <0>

 

“You bitches haven't seen the last of m...” And before he could finished, a large blast of magic energy struck him as a coin fell from the ceiling and drained his body inside of it. It landed and rolled around on the floor a little.

 

Again, Hiei appeared in a somewhat over dramatic way.

 

“Well, well, guess I was right in judging you as a powerful adversary, old man.” Hiei said, walking to Max's coin and picking it up.

“Well, you know what they say `Can't teach an old dog new tricks...but the old tricks can be just as impressive as new ones.'” Zewl replied.

“Who told you that lie? Whatever, anyway, another of your pathetic friends may return to their bodies.” Hiei said, as the spirits of the Freedom Fighters appeared. “However, unlike Cream, the others will still be trapped here in the compound.”

“That's not fare!” Kiros roared.

“All's fare in love and war. And you're going to pay for what you've done to young Petal...” With that Hiei vanished again.

“What...?” Kiros questioned.

“I'll release...Uhhh....” Zewl looked carefully at the spirits. “That one.” He pointed to the fire-like spirit, which then flew toward a basement door and vanished, the door vanishing like it was never there. The others faded again.

“Damn! I hate seeing our friends like that!” Sonic boomed, gritting his teeth. “The next one is mine!” So the team walked on.

 

From the other door, another person walked in. `It's about time I located this place, thanks for bringing me here guys.' Kyma walked through the room also.