Sonic X Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monster GX Fan Fiction ❯ Sonic Duels: The Shadow Clan Saga! ❯ Rise Again! Lord of Darkness! ( Chapter 29 )

Chapter 29: Rise Again! Lord of Darkness!

 

Mitsuko, Kiama, Sonic, and the rest of the Freedom Fighters stood in the abandoned warehouse where Kiros had asked them to be. Mitsuko was pacing back and forth impatiently. "He's an hour late...."

"Kiros will be here Mitsuko; we just have to be patient." Sonic replied.

Hiei, in his usual shroud, with what appeared to be the entire team of Shadow Clan, or newly formed Necrophade Black walked over, Aqua looked over at Hiei and smiled happily.

"Hiei!" She called, waving to him. Hiei looked at Aqua, and then looked away.

"Hiei?" Mitsuko stood. "What's goin' on?"

"Go home, Aqua..." This took Aqua aback.

"But..."

"I said go home."

Mitsuko whispered something to Kiama, who bounced next to Aqua and took her hand. "Aqua, Mitsuko wants you to look after me as well." she said sweetly.

"But I...." Aqua was upset.

"Aqua...you're bigger than a watermelon....you're hardly going to be of use to us here." Tyrone said, his hands behind his head.

"Fine!" Aqua then took Kiama and they walked off, Aqua obviously hurt.

 

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow and grinned at Hiei. "You realise of course that you'll pay for that later?"

"......" Hiei didn't reply.

"So, long time no see." Tyrone laughed.

"I'm glad to say it's under better circumstances this time." Sonic replied grinning. "So, why are we here? I'm guessing it's not for a friendly reunion?"

"It would appear that Hiei's daughter has been brought here." Rufus said. Hiei wondered off over to a space on his own, as they waited for the rest of White Team.

Tokimi corrected Rufus. "We don't even know if it is her, there's just a young fox we saw. Kerin is our best bet."

"So, uh, you guys don't still have grudges over us, do you?" Tyrone questioned.

“I can't speak for the others, but I buried the hatchet a while back." Mitsuko said.

"Glad to hear." said a voice from the doorway. Kazuhiko stood there with Kiros. "Because this will be difficult enough without squabbling between us."

"When following, how many generals entered this building?" Hiei asked.

"Just the 1, the rest looked like grunt members. No real significant units." Tokimi replied.

"What do you remember of the 1 who stood out?" Hiei asked.

"He was a reptile, um..He..."

"That's Locke then. Seems he's here on his own."

 

Mitsuko shook his head. "If this place is as important as you're making out, then there's no way Nazaruda would have only 1 of his top guns here. He's a bastard but he isn't stupid."

"Who knows, maybe some more of his flunkies are on their way or were already here." Hiei replied to Mitsuko. "You have plans of this place, I assume?" Hiei asked.

"I made an error, where I thought the vents spread through over half the building, they barely cover 10%...Seems the rest of it is oxygen supplied. The front is some form of distraction to what is actually in here."

 

Kazuhiko spoke into his headpiece quietly, then extended his mechanical arm. A display screen emerged, and the plans of the warehouse appeared. "These are the structural blueprints of the building. No doubt Nazaruda has made some modifications, but these should still be accurate enough to plan an attack."

Kiros looked at Kazuhiko in awe. "Dude, is there anything you can't do?" he asked.

"Make breakfast." Kazuhiko replied emotionlessly.

"Hm, I want that surveillance office here taken." Hiei said, pointing out a room. "Tyrone, Rei and Selphie should be more than sufficient with a little muscle to take it."

Kazuhiko nodded. "My team will take out the generator here..." he pointed to the display. "...as you make your move. Hopefully, they will be distracted long enough for the rest to get through to the elevator here." He pointed out a narrow corridor at the end. "This leads to the basement, but there were never any plans documented, so we'll be going in blind."

 

"I'll be heading down there with Kai and Rufus. I want Jin to remain out here with Max and keep an eye out for any intruders, along with Silver, if you don't mind." Hiei added his plan. "Also, Shadow and Sonic, as well as Mitsuko, Kiros and you, Kazuhiko, I want to come with my group. The rest should take over the upper layer of the base and once secured, follow."

"Explain." Rei replied. "Experiments?"

"It's not new of Rexchus to play sick games experimenting with things best left alone...." Hiei gritted his teeth.

Kazuhiko sighed. "A few years ago there was a group of renegade Scientists working on genetically engineering a duel monster army for a rogue terrorist group. I led a team to eliminate this threat, but they'd already created more than 2 dozen monsters. We managed to clear the place, but one of the scientists escaped, and he set the building to self-destruct. My team didn't make it out, and I....." He looked at the mechanical parts of his body. "Well, I'm sure you can guess the rest."

"Sounds like Nazaruda's work...." Hiei dragged.

"We do have one advantage..." Kazuhiko said, looking at Sonic. "And it's thanks to your friend Tails."

 

Sonic looked at Kazuhiko. "Oh? I haven't heard from her in a while...according to Shad, she's gone renegade."

"Unfortunately we lost track of her airship. But when she created the new line of duel disks, she set the settings too high, making it possible for the holographic projections to interact with our world. Our cards will be strong enough to face these monsters."

"Is there anything else we should know?" Sonic asked. Kazuhiko shook his head.

"No doubt there will be more surprises for us, but I'm not aware of any."

"Nazaruda is a nut, if he really has so little generals in a place this important, clearly the base wound in a way defend itself..." Hiei said. "Either by machines or monsters, whatever best satisfies his sick tastes." He walked passed toward the door, stopping a few steps away. "Let's get this show on the road, who knows how safe my daughter is, if she's in there."

The group split into the teams, and silently headed off to their objectives.

 

The first group to secure their target were Tyrone's group, as they quickly and quietly handled the camera room. This would not only allow them to advise the other groups, but also stop any camera alerts.

The next group were Mariko's group, as they shut off the generator, and killed most of security. Meanwhile, most of the mixed group of Freedom fighters and Necrophade Black had cleared a path to the elevator and proceeded to take control of the base's upper floors, as the last group, being Hiei, Sonic and Kazuhiko worked their way to the elevator, securing it and taking it to bottom floor. The floor being the blind one.

 

"Do you guys read me?" Rei asked, through intercom.

"Loud and clear." Kazuhiko replied. "How are things looking up there?"

"Well, we have cameras locked all around the floor you're headed too, security is tight, there's like 3 guards on each camera. Something big is down.....huh...That's odd..."

"What is it?" Hiei asked.

"There was a shadow on one of the cameras, and then they all went dead at once...Nothing by fuzz..."

Kiros fired up his deck, as did Mitsuko and Kazuhiko. "Looks like we're in for some fun." Kiros said.

"We got them working aga-......Oh my god...did you take them out? Nice work." Rei said.

"What are you talking about? We haven't even reached the bottom yet." Mitsuko replied.

"What? You are joking right?" Rei asked.

"What's going on Rei?" Hiei asked.

"They're dead, all of the guards who were just there are dead, slaughtered."

 

An alarm from Kazuhiko's arm rang suddenly, emitting a high pitched scream that had everyone in the lift covering their ears before he could switch it off. "Not good......."

"What was that?" Hiei asked. As the doors opened to the floor, the lights were partially busted and there was a long blood trail leading into the halls.

"Remember that lab I told you about, where they were breeding those monsters?" Kazuhiko said as he cautiously left the elevator.

"What about it?" Hiei questioned.

"The readings are nearly 400% stronger down here......" Kazuhiko turned around. "Meaning that we are looking at a whole army of duel-monsters to deal with."

Shadow walked into the halls. "Hm, they were pathetic creatures if it only took a few moments to kill every single one of them." He said, folding his arms. As the team walked, they saw the guards weren't killed as they expected, being monster claws, bites or blasts, but all were sliced with a single blade with a clean slash.

"This doesn't make sense." Sonic said. "The monsters are carrying swords?"

"I doubt it....humanoid monsters would be too independent to control..." Kazuhiko replied. "We're looking at something else down here."

 

"I see something..." Rei said. "It's faint, but you're not alone down there, I see a dark figure, coming down the hall in your direction. Move!"

 

Moments later, nothing came.

 

"It vanished..." Rei said. "I don't like this..."

"It went off of one camera, but didn't go back or enter the next or anything.”

A low growl came from a nearby corridor, followed by another, and another. "Here comes the warm welcome...." Kiros muttered.

 

"I see them, mutated creatures, on your left and right, the corridor ahead of you is clear, can you make it?" Rei asked, trying to help them get away. "I wouldn't risk fighting them unless you have to."

"Only if we move now!" Kazuhiko said as he ran ahead, the rest behind him.

"Activating a shutter door, it should keep them out." Rei said. As the group entered another blood splattered room with sliced corpses, the doors behind them slammed shut. Machine guns could be heard from the other side of the door. "I activated some sentry guns to take the monsters out." Rei continued. "There is a door to the top right of your location; I remember seeing the figure come from there. It's also your only way out of that room now. The other side you'll see open cages, this must be where the monsters were."

 

All of a sudden, the door was smashed down, and a monster emerged with a roar. "Looks like we can't escape this one...." Kazuhiko said as he activated his arm mounted duel-disk. "Try these ones." Kiros corrected as three more came after the first."

"This is Tokimi, the area is secured, the first floor is ours." Tokimi rang in. Hiei activated his disk and began his play.

 

"Since this doesn't count as a real duel, I'll split my deck in half, and throw half of it into the graveyard." He said, as he did so. "The disks I doubt will respond to just summoning big guns unless done properly, so we better get it right."

 

"Ahh, it appears we have some guinea pigs for our experiments." Said Locke over the loudspeakers. "Hope you don't mind, but we plan to have some fun with you, so destroy them if you can." He then laughed manically.

 

"Godlike my ass, let's see them beat this!" Hiei said. "I'll use my Monster reborn and bring back my Buster Blader who I sat in my graveyard." Hiei's clothes changed and he momentarily became the Buster Blader, or at least looked like him, sword and all. "My duel disk might work differently to yours, since I do love a little up close and personal." He grinned.

"Very nice." Kazuhiko said, admiring Hiei's get-up. "Amazing technology."

"This is Rei's genius. After all, this is war!" With that, he leaped forward for an attack. "Take this!" And Hiei sliced through the monster, leaping back from the attack of another.

More monsters's emerged from the doorway. Mitsuko stepped forward. "Mind if I join on the fun Hiei?" he said as he drew from his deck.

"Hiei, you could allow their disks the same trick as yours if you execute the CCB Program from your disk." Rei said. With that, Hiei fiddled with his disk. The other disks connected to it and beeped.

"What a ridiculous idea..." Locke laughed.

 

"Go ahead, Mitsuko." Hiei said.

"I'm curious to try this new trick..." the lion said. "So I'll summon the Six Samurai Zanji!!" his coat disappeared as it was replaced with shining armor, a huge sword, almost as big as Hiei's, appeared in his hand. "Not too shabby...." he said looking down at himself. "And I think it's time an old friend said hello. I summon the Grandmaster of the Six Samurai!!!" And suddenly, Zewl appeared.

"It's the geezer..." Hiei said, looking at Zewl.

"Good to see you too Hiei." Zewl winked. "Shall we?" With that, Mitsuko and Zewl leapt into battle, slicing through monster after monster.

"I don't have time for this..." Hiei gritted his teeth.

"Perhaps I can help...." Kazuhiko stepped forward. "I summon Red Eyes B Chick, and tribute him to summon Red Eye's Black Dragon!!!!" as the powerful dragon appeared, the monsters backed off a little bit, fearful of Kazuhiko's creature.

 

"Nice work Kazuhiko!!" Mitsuko called as the monsters began to retreat back through the doorway. "Now's our chance Hiei, we have to get into that room!!"

The group then made their way to the next room, and when they all got through, Rei sealed it shut.

 

"That door is built differently from the previous, designed to keep the monsters inside, so it's likely to keep them out." Rei told them through intercom. "I'm hacking into the next door, which seems to have survivors behind, it's a long hallway but there are signs of normal life." After a few moments. "Done." The door lifted open, and the group ran through. "Now, through there are....Kasshhhhhhhhh........." The intercom went dead.

"Rei? Rei!" Hiei tried to gain communication. No response.

"Guess we're alone." Kiros said as he walked ahead, Kazuhiko and Mitsuko returning their monsters to their decks.

"There must be something in these walls that black radio communications." Kazuhiko said. "It's not a jamming signal; I could detect the interference if it was." Hiei returned to the way he was dressed previously, after shuffling his deck together again.

"There's no interference..." He said. "Something went wrong..." He walked on. "Let's continue..."

 

As they entered the next room, it was a large circular room and clearly a trap. Grunts of Rexchus with guns all pointed their way and the door behind them slammed shut. Through the door on the other side, the other group was led inside and the door slammed shut. There was a large hole in the floor; the edges were surrounded by spikes to stop something from coming out, inside were two grunts, fully armoured and were loaded with heavy weaponry. In front of those two grunts was a hole in the wall, the place was like a sacrificial chamber, as if a beast lurked inside there and people were fed to it.

"Guess we didn't do too well after all." Kiros grinned, looking at the other group.

"Indeed..." Hiei gritted his teeth. "The whole thing was a set up."

"I applaud you for killing all those guards and those monsters, but you die here, you're going to be used for one final experiment." Locke hissed. The group then heard chains rattling. "This is our most deadly project, I'm sure you'll enjoy it...till your last breath." As the chains rattled, the other group were let to Hiei's side, where they all watched down the chamber curiously.

Kiros yawned. "Yeah yeah Locke, heard it all before mate. Unless of course you plan to bore us to death with your melodramatic bullshit, in which case you're doing a bang-up job so far."

 

As Locke laughed at Kiros like a madman, the chains got louder and slowly a small fox that resembled a much younger Kirika walked out, her neck, arms and legs all chained, much like Muri was. She walked to the guards and stopped just before them.

"Oh fuck....." Kazuhiko hissed. "Irum...."

"That isn't Kerin..." Hiei barked. "Locke! Where are you and your fucked up friends keeping my daughter!!"

"HAH! Like you'll be alive long enough to find her anyway! Release the restraints!" Locke order, there was a clunk noise, but nothing happened. "What do you mean that the left ankle's chain is jammed?!" Locke roared. "You two, release the chain on Irum's left ankle." Locke ordered.

"Yes sir." The one of the guards then walked over to Irum and knelt down and fiddled with the cuff of the chain.

As the guard release the buckle, the leg lifted up and kicked him in the forehead, though nothing happened. Shortly after, his head exploded and blood sprayed all over the other guard and Irum. The other cuffs, in response to the left ankle unclipped and Irum looked up at the other guard.

 

"What the fu..." Before he could finish, Irum zoomed over and jumped on his chest, wrapped around him and sunk her teeth into his neck, where she pulled his head clean off, back flipping onto her hand and feet.

"What the fuck....." Kiros whispered.

"The other guards went to the door, to find it sealed shut for them as well.

"What the! Open the door!!!" A guard cried out.

"You're ALL going to die!" And Locke continued to laugh like a maniac.

 

Irum leaped out from the hole in one fell jump and landed on another guard, where she ploughed her right hand into his back and ripped out his insides, then split him in half, and swing kicked another guards leg's clean off, leaped up and landed on his head, upon which it exploded. Irum then leaped for another guard and swing kicked his head clean off, in such a clean cut, where it exploded on the wall. She landed and lifted her hand into another soldiers groin, upon then lifting him up, jumping and smashing him into the roof, where he exploded all over the ceiling. She fell and harshly kicked the final guard, who then flew toward the group and was impaled on the spikes surrounding the arena. She landed gracefully and lifted her head in the air as the blood rained on her.

 

"Now do you see? Do you see why you're doomed?! Even you, Hiei, are outmatched by this girl's power, speed and brutality!" Locke laughed.

Kiros walked towards Irum slowly, hands out, showing her that he was no threat. "We won't hurt you...." he said softly, smiling. "We're not your enemies.."

"What the hell are you doing Kiros?!" Mitsuko hissed.

Irum leaped onto the wall, burying her fingers into it as she clung to it like a spider, she grinned murderously at Kiros. Kiros just stood there and kept smiling, his hands still outstretched.

"You fool! She has no emotional instincts! Only the urge to kill and kill some more!" Locke laughed.

"I wish he would find this boring now and stop laughing." Shadow said, annoyed.

 

Irum leaped off of the wall onto all fours on the floor, still looking at Kiros like predator looking at prey. She leaped forth and dashed toward Kiros, going in for the kill. Just as she was about to use her hand to scratch his neck clean off, she stopped. She lowered her arm and sniffed him, then continued to smell Kiros over.

"What the...?" Sonic questioned.

"You think she digs him?" Tyrone questioned.

"Everyone else seems too..." Mitsuko said quietly. Irum pulled Kiros to the floor, where she proceeded to examine...or smell...him over, then without warning pulled him into lip lock, lifted up and sat on him, licking her lips. This caused everyone to fall over comically; even Locke could be heard hitting the floor from the observatory room. Kiros tilted his head backwards towards the group, grinning like a child in a sweetshop, and winked.

Irum angrily moved her face next to Kiros. "Why you smell like Muri?!" She demanded, being the first thing she said.

"She's my...friend..." Kiros said cautiously, not wanting to send Irum into another killing spree.

 

"This is impossible! She's supposed to kill yo...hey, who are you...what are you doing...arrrrhhh!!!!" Smash, Locke burst through the window of the observatory room, where he fell into the pit. A person in a black cloak fell down, though they had no hood and when they stood, everyone noticed a familiar pair of twin tails.

"Great.....just when things couldn't get ANY worse..." Mitsuko muttered.

"Tails!" Sonic called out. Tails turned around, wielding a large Katana.

"She must have been the one who took out the guards..." Hiei said. Irum got off of Kiros and leaped viciously into the hole, but Locke was gone.

Kiros stood up and walked back to the group. "Don't ask what just happened....but boy am I fucking glad it did...."

 

"She might yet still decide to kill you...but it doesn't matter if she doesn't. The mother of darkness shall come forth and kill you anyway!" Tails said, lifting her arms. She swung the katana around skilfully for a few moments before getting into a fighting stance. "All shall falter at the hands of Darkness!!"

The group sweat dropped. 'Mitsuko....she's been possessed by a remnant...just like Kiros...' Zewl said in Mitsuko's ear.

"Err, Tails, have you completely lost it, or do you just have WAY too much sugar in your diet at the moment?" Kiros asked. Tails spun her tails around and took to the air, where she zoomed toward Amy, sword in the air, preparing to kill her. In one deft movement, Kazuhiko pushed Amy out of the way and blocked Tails' strike with his own electrical blade. "I don't think so." he said coldly as he pushed Tails backwards.

Tails landed on the other end of the pit. "You dare interfere with the sacrifice?!"

"You're just a puppet." Kazuhiko replied. "You have no real power, and when whatever is controlling you is done, you'll just be discarded like yesterdays trash."

"Fine, then you shall become the sacrifice." Tails sheathed the sword and activated her pitch-black duel-disk, which was shaped like a claw around her wrist.

"Bring it on." Kazuhiko activated his duel disk and drew 5 cards. "Ladies first."

 

"You want to die faster, so be it!" Tails said. "The mother of darkness shall be happy to consume your soul!"

"Yeah...whatever.....just get on with it."

 

Tails drew 6 cards. "First, I activate Future Fusion!! This allows me to send three cards to the grave from my deck and select a Fusion monster which shall rise in 2 turns!"

"I'm quaking with fear. Anything else?" Kazuhiko said emotionlessly.

"I'll set a monster and 2 more cards, this should do." Tails grinned.

 

Kazuhiko drew. "I set 4 cards and I'll play a monster in defence. You're move."

"I'll activate Tower of Babel." Tails quickly said. She then drew.

"I'll summon Hunter Dragon and attack your face down." Tails said, as her dragon appeared. (1700/100)

"Too bad." Kazuhiko said as his Island Turtle easily repelled the attack. (1100/2000)

"No matter." Tails said. <7700> "That's all."

 

Kazuhiko drew. "I play Remove Trap on your Tower of Babel." Tails shrugged.

"Then I'll summon Gearfriend, The Iron Knight!!" (1800/1000) The iron warrior appeared on the field.

 

"Do you reckon he stands a chance?" Kiros whispered to Sonic.

The hedgehog shook his head. "Not in hell....."

"Is she that good?" Selphie asked.

"Her strategy is different; she never used a dragon on me." Rei said.

"One of the best." Sonic replied. "And that was before she went psycho....now, who knows...."

"Gearfried!! Attack her dragon!!!" Kazuhiko commanded.

 

Tails laughed as her dragon was stuck down. <7600>

"Glad you find it funny. Now I'll end."

"Thanks." Tails grinned, as she drew. <FF=1> "I'll summon Cyberdark Horn to the field." The Large black dragon like machine appeared on Tails field. (800/800) It flew into the air and dived into Tails graveyard. CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! It then rose holding the dead Hunter Dragon, where two wires connected to his head. (2500/800)

 

"That can't be good....." Kiros muttered.

"A monster that takes the attack of another in the graveyard? I need that card..." Mitsuko admitted.

 

"Wrong, it only takes the energy of Dragon Monsters level 3 or lower. Since Hunter Dragon was a level 3, his attack is added. Also note my Future Fusion has only 1 more standby phase to be completed." Tails grinned. "Now, attack his Gearfried, Cyberdark Horn!"

Kazuhiko grunted as his monster was wiped out. <7300> "Not bad. But I hope you don't plan on celebrating just yet."

"Certainly not, though I might as well, there's no way you'll beat me." Tails smiled cunningly. "I end my turn."

 

Kazuhiko drew. "Such arrogance. I promise I will prove more than a match for a mere puppet." he looked at his hand. "I summon Maha Vailo (1550/1400) and equip her with the spell card Malevolent Nuzzler, giving her an extra 700 points of damage!!" (2250/1400)

"It pails to my Cyberdark Horn!" Tails shrugged.

 

"Guess again. For every equip card attached to her, Maha Vailo gains an extra 500 points, meaning she's more than a match for your monster." (2750/1400)

"Bah, what a waist." Tails narrow her eyes.

 

"Oh nice play!!!!" Kiros cheered.

"A nice strategy." Hiei said.

 

"We'll see. Maha Vailo, attack her Cyberdark Horn!!!" Kazuhiko commanded.

Tails didn't budge as the Cyberdark Horn exploded. However, when the dust cleared, it remained. (800/800) Irum leaped up from the hole to the side.

"Interesting. Never mind. Your move." Kazuhiko watched Irum with curiosity. Tails drew. Suddenly, from the city created by Future Fusion, a giant three headed machine appeared.

 

"No! Cyber End Dragon!" Sonic uttered. It was true; Tails monster was Cyber End Dragon. (4000/2800) <FF=2>

"Oops....." Kazuhiko said as Tail's monster was dragged into a dark hole that had appeared beneath it. "I guess my Bottomless Trap Hole takes care of your little pet."

"You just delayed the inevitable, fool." Tails said. "Monster Reborn fixes your hole."

"Resorting to insults already?" Kazuhiko shook his head. "And here I was thinking you were a top rate duellist, not some cheap amateur who tries to goad her opponents into making mistakes."

"What do I care for your opinion?" Tails said as a normal Cyber Dragon appeared on her field. (2100/1600)

"Just making an observation. Nothing more." Kazuhiko replied.

"Now, I'll flip my Exploder Dragon and use him to attack your monster." Tails said as her Dragon appeared, holding a bomb. (1000/0)

 

"Damn, this guy's cool. He just took out one of the most powerful creatures in duel monsters, and he didn't even blink!!" Sonic said.

"Bottomless Trap Hole is hardly impressive." Hiei said. "Though, it was predictable and Tails didn't see it, then again, she couldn't avoid it."

 

Kazuhiko watched as both Tail's dragon and his Maha Vailo were destroyed. "Carry on then." he said calmly.

"Attack, Cyber Dragon!" Tails ordered.

Kazuhiko sighed as his turtle was vanquished. "Shame...oh well, never mind."

"Cyberdark Horn, you're weak but damage is damage. Attack!" Tails ordered. Kazuhiko took the strike without blinking. <6500> "That's all."

 

Kazuhiko drew. "Finally. Time for the big guns. I summon my second Gearfried, the Iron Knight." (1800/1000) "Then, I play the spell card Release Restraint, which allows me to tribute my Gearfried the Iron Knight from my field to summon this from my deck.....Gearfried the Swordmaster!!!!!!" (2600/2200) "Then, I play the spell card Release Restraint, which allows me to tribute my Gearfried the Iron Knight from my field to summon this from my deck.....Gearfried, the Swordmaster!!!!!!" (2600/2200)

 

"I had no idea that he even existed..." Kiros said as he watched the powerful warrior appear.

"Tell me about it...." Mitsuko replied.

"Shows what you know." Hiei said. "I faced one once, it's not a nice card when used correctly."

 

"Now, I'll activate my trap card Reinforcements and equip it to my swordmaster, which not only gives him an extra 500 points extra damage this turn, (3100/2200) but due to his effect, I can destroy a monster on your side of the field. And I'll pick your Cyber Dragon!!!" Kazuhiko watched as Tail's Cyber Dragon was wiped out. Tails didn't budge. "Now Gearfried, attack her Cyberdark Horn!!"

"I think my Sakuretsu Armour Comes in handy here." Tails said, as a body of armour lifted up from her trap and flew toward him.

 

Kazuhiko's monster was wiped out, leaving him defenceless. "No matter, there's still a long way to go yet." he said calmly. "Your move."

 

Tails drew. "I'll switch Cyberdark Horn to defence mode and set a monster. That's all."

Kazuhiko drew. 'Hmmm....' he thought to himself. 'Nothing I can use quite yet..No matter' "I pass."

 

"Fare enough." Tails said, drawing "I'll set this card down and flip my Morphing Jar." (700/600)

Kazuhiko discarded his hand and drew a new one. 'Ahh, much better!' he thought to himself. Tails had a smile of her own.

"Glad to see you're happy about something." Kazuhiko said. "Now, care to make your move any time soon?"

"Don't mind me." Tails replied. "I'll set 2 more cards and attack with Morphing Jar, since I can." Kazuhiko took the blow again without moving. <5800>

"I'll now summon Cyberdark Keel." The metallic snake like machine appeared. (800/800) It, like it's brother before it, dived into Tails grave, bringing back Hunter Dragon once more. (2500/800) "And end my turn."

Kazuhiko drew. "I activate the spell card Polymerization, and fuse Masaki the Legendary Swordsman and Flame Manipulator from my hand to summon Flame Swordsman!!" (1800/1600) Tails narrowed her eyes.

"Something wrong Tails?" Kazuhiko asked as his warrior appeared on the field.

"Actually...I'm bored." She said.

"Really? Then maybe this will start to entertain you. I'll use my second Polymerization to fuse my Flame Swordsman and the Dark Magician in my hand to create Dark Flare Knight!!" (2200/800)

"Let me guess? Another equip card too?" Tails questioned.

"No, just a straight forward attack this time. Dark Flare Knight, attack her Morphing Jar!!!"

"Mirror Force!" Tails activated a trap.

"I thought you might have that down somewhere. I counter with Seven Tools of the Bandit!!!!" <4800>

"Shame for you, I activate my Trap Jammer." Tails activated a second trap.

For the first time, Kazuhiko smiled. "This has been quite an interesting duel. I counter your Trap Jammer with Malfunction!!" <4300>

Tails smiled, and then burst out laughing. However, it wasn't an evil laugh; it was her usual everyday cute laugh everyone loved.

 

"That was quite the chain." Amy said.

"What do you think Hiei?" Kiros asked. "This guy ain't bad is he?"

"I don't know....something tells me this is far from over, but he's holding his own." Hiei said. Kazuhiko's monster struck Morphing Jar down easily, and returned to his side. The morphing Jar inevitably met its end. <6100>

"I haven't had that much fun since the tournament." Tails said.

"Well, at least you're not bored anymore." Kazuhiko replied. "I set one face-down and end my turn." Kazuhiko shrugged as his card was annihilated. "And now your fate is sealed!" Tails said. "First, I'll use Premature Burial to bring back anything, I don't care what." She said. So Cyber Dragon returned to the field. (2100/1600)

 

"These monsters haven't been seen since the tournament, I believe it is time for them to rise again." Tails said darkly. Hiei's eyes widened.

'She's not.....' He thought.

"I'll activate my trap card DNA Surgery! All monsters on the field from here on are Fiend type monsters!" Tails said, as her monsters mutated from their metal selves to mutated demonic versions of themselves. "With that, everything is in place. My 3 fiends and the card in my hand! Come forth! Raviel! Lord of Phantasms!!!" The room began to shake violently, as a portal opened from within the hole in the centre of the room, giant wings flapped from the hole, and soon rose the great god. (4000/4000)

 

Kazuhiko looked up at the Emperor God calmly. "I was wondering when you would have to bring him out. I must admit, I wasn't expecting him to be so impressive, but then again, you can never really appreciate a god until you stand before one."

 

Kiros sweat dropped. "Okay.... before I thought he was cool....but he's staring down an emperor god with nothing on his field but a monster it'll breeze through, and he's not even phased....he's mental...."

"Tails! You have to stop this!" Sonic yelled over.

 

"Now! Master of Darkness! Lord of Phantasms! Unleash your rage onto that puny mortal!" Tails roared.

 

"She's gone insane!" Amy screamed.

"You only realised that just now?" Tyrone asked.

 

Dark Flare Knight vanished in a small explosion, which sent Kazuhiko flying backwards into the wall. <2500> But as the smoke cleared, a monster emerged from where Dark Flare Knight had been just moments before. A large dark aura surrounded Tails, and what appeared to be tentacles wagged around. "Say hello to Mirage Knight." Kazuhiko said as he stood. (2800/2000)

 

"Does anyone else see what I see...." Mitsuko asked, looking at the tentacles around Tails. 'It is the remnant....Kiros had one, which I destroyed, but this one is far more powerful....it must be defeated in a duel.....' Zewl said in his ear.

"Now..." Tails said in a mixed voice of her own and a demonic voice. "...face your fate and feed your soul to the mother of darkness...become one with mother and you too shall be freed from the wrath of darkness soon to unless onto the world..." Tails seemed in a trance and most certainly was not herself. "...Your fate is inevitable...you will submit and surrender your soul..."

"Are you done?" Kazuhiko replied. "Because I'm far from done."

 

"Oh Sonic..." Amy said with tears welling in her eyes. "We just have to save her...I'm sorry I attacked her, I'm sorry, but please bring her back." She cried.

"You're facing a god!" Tails roared, the mixed voice continued. "You stand no chance!"

"Now are you done?" Kazuhiko replied, still as calm as ever.

"Whatever possesses her, it's talking now." Hiei said.

"Take your last turn! Submit and Falter like those before you!" The demonic voiced Tails spoke.

 

Kazuhiko drew. "As impressive as Raviel is...he's still vulnerable."

"He's the god of Darkness! None can defeat his wrath!" The demon spoke.

"I see...." Kazuhiko pondered. "Then I suppose you know about Mirage Knight's special ability?"

 

"She seems to forget she beat him once before..." Hilde said.

Kazuhiko sighed. "When Mirage Knight attacks a monster, he gains a power boost equal to that monster's attack points. This gives him a grand total of 6800. Now Mirage Knight, bring that god to his knees!!!"

With that and one fell swoop, the god roared out and light emitted from his body, causing a giant wave of energy as he exploded into nothing, blowing both Kazuhiko and Tails into the walls. Tails fell limb to the ground, a crater of her body now carved into the rock. <2500> Mirage Knight, too, vanished, leaving Kazuhiko's field empty. "I....set one monster....and end....." he gasped, struggling to stand after the powerful blast.

 

Tails struggled to push herself up. The aura dying away from Tails head as she looked around. "Where...am I..." she asked, the tentacles rose from her back and wagged violently. Tails screamed out as she gripped her head.

"Tails!" Sonic yelled over. Tails looked up at Sonic.

"Sonic?! Sonic! Help me...I'm scared..." Tails cried out, tears falling down her cheeks.

"No! He betrayed you! They all did!" Came the Demon voice as Tails screamed gripping her head again. "They hurt you, they attacked you...why should you want them?"

"FIGHT IT TAILS!!!!" Kiros yelled. "IT'S MESSING WITH YOUR HEAD!!!!"

"Taaaaaiiilllss!!!" Sonic called out. But Tails stood, her head low, the aura returning, and the tentacles wrapping around her.

"Heh...who needs you, Sonic...You're all scum...the way you treated me...Time for some back pay!" Tails drew her card and looked at it. "I summon my Cyberdark Edge." The black phoenix looking machine appeared and dived into the grave, collecting Hunter Dragon. (2500/800) "Attack his monster." She said. Kazuhiko's Spirit of the Harp cried out in pain as she was destroyed, and once again, Kazuhiko was defenceless. "I end..."

 

Kazuhiko drew with a struggle. 'My mechanics....they must have fused in that blast.....' he thought. "I....have to win now....." he said as he felt he body seizing up on him.

"You won't win..." Tails said darkly.

 

"I...beg...to...differ...." Kazuhiko replied as he stood, swaying slightly. He took a deep breath, and for a moment, seemed as strong as before. "This ends here. I summon Red Eyes B Chick." (800/500)

"Then I tribute him to special summon my Red Eyes Black Dragon to the field." (2400/2000) The dark dragon took flight with an ear-piercing screech. "And then....I activate....Inferno Fire Blast....to take 2400 points of damage from your life....." Tails was blasted and took to a knee. <100> Kazuhiko stood there, the mechanical parts of his body short circuiting, sending blue bolts of electricity across his chest, crackling unpleasantly. "I activate.....the spell card....Sparks....to take 200 points...and win....." He said. Just as he activated his card, and the balls of fire hit Tails, he fell forwards with a clunk, and the power lights on his arm and legs died. Tails was blasted and the effects of the duel died out as she fell limb to the floor. <0> The darkness around her faded. Every one of Freedom Fighters hastily ran over to check on Tails. Tokimi walked up to Kazuhiko.

"Looks like you need fixing." She said. Rei walked over.

"Hey, you remind me of me." She said.

 

Kazuhiko didn't reply, instead, there was just the low, steady his from his destroyed mechanics. His eyes lay open, yet sightless. "Hmm, he really needs fixing..." Tokimi said, getting a little more concerned.

Rei began to analyse him. "Okay, here's what I do." She then took off the black glove on her right hand, which turned out to be robotic. It span and became some sort of took. Rei then 'plugged' this tool into Kazuhiko's arm and began to drain the overflowing electricity in his body.

 

Hiei sighed. "I wonder if anyone else remembers we're in the same room as a psycho killer." He muttered. Irum was curled up where she'd previously jumped.

"She seems harmless for the moment." Kiros said, looking at the now almost cute Irum.

"Voices..." Irum said. "The voices in my head..."

Kiros' eyes widened suddenly as he realised something. "Hiei....do you think that Muri and Irum could be sisters or something? I mean....reverse each of their names.....and she wondered why I smelled like Muri....."

"Are you an idiot?" Hiei questioned.

Kiros sweat dropped. "Ehm....."

"Muri's a rabbit unless you forgotten."

"But.....Nazaruda could have cloned one of them....I mean, we've seen him do some pretty messed up things...." Kiros replied, a little wounded.

"Now, let's add something else to the concept and maybe it'll come together for you. Akirik and Kirika, notice them too?" Hiei said.

Kiros' ears drooped. "He does make one valid point...." Mitsuko said as he walked over. "There does seem to be a link between Irum and Muri...perhaps one we could use to get to Nazaruda?"

"Do you really want to know?" Hiei asked.

"Any edge against that psycho is a bonus." Mitsuko replied.

 

"Listen closely, I will only say this once." Hiei said.

"Kirika is Akirik, but the fox version of her. In other words, she was the genetic representation of Akirik but her cells were replaced by the cells of a fox, when she was born, she was called Kirika as opposed to Akirik. It was called Project Kirika.

 

Later, the girls were impregnated, and while Akirik gave birth to Muri, Kirika gave birth to Irum. Muri was born from the original, but gathered a strange ability, as she was born with a jewel carved into her skull which cannot be removed. No one knows how this happened. Irum was also bone like this, but she was born from an unstable DNA, hence the overactive power and urge to murder."

 

"So Muri and Irum kinda are sisters?" Kiros said.

"Interesting...." Mitsuko mused. "So, Irum recognised Muri's scent on Kiros, and it stopped her from killing us....perhaps now Irum's scent is on Kiros, we can use it to break, or at least weaken, Nazaruda's hold on Muri?"

"My urge to murder is not from heritage..." Irum walked over, still covered in dried blood. She walked over to Kiros. "It's the voices in my mind telling me to..." She then licked him on the left of his next. "Go for the sweet spot on the left of the neck."

 

There was a sudden explosion and the freedom fighters were all flung backwards. Tails was stood, surrounded by Black mist and the tentacles had hold of Amy. Amy was unconscious.

"What the hell now?!?!" Mitsuko exclaimed, running over to help the fallen up.

"This one will make a lovely feast." The demonic Tails spoke. She then fell unconscious and the tentacles lifted her and burrowed out the roof and vanished with Amy.

Sonic tried to stand. "Amy! Nooo!" He cried out.

"I don't get it....the remnant should have been destroyed when Kazuhiko defeated Tails..." Mitsuko muttered.

'This means only one thing....' Zewl's voice echoed in his ear. 'Tails is not being controlled by a remnant....she has now become one.'

 

The building began to shake violently. "This place is falling apart!" Mikuru called.

"Damn! We're trapped in here!" Rufus gritted his teeth.

Irum smiled. "No worries." She said. She walked over to the sealed door and flicked it. The door came off and flew down the hall, splattering the monsters who had come inside this far.

"Everyone, move!!!" Mitsuko yelled as he hefted the still comatose Kazuhiko onto his shoulder. Irum took front line as she singlehandedly and easily slaughtered the mutants on the way to the elevator. Pieces of the building, metal and rock all fell from the ceiling, nearly hitting some people. The elevator was reached. Hiei however, had no intention of pushing the buttons and waiting, he burst through the door at the top of it and went through.

"Come on!" He called to them. "Chances are more likely this thing will fall than take us up." The gang followed, Mitsuko struggling a little with the deadweight of Kazuhiko's mechanical body. Irum took Kazuhiko and lifted him up onto the elevator roof. Hiei took the bars and Petal got on his back, he began to climb up.

"Thanks...." Mitsuko said, rubbing his shoulder. "That guy weighs a tonne."

"He's metal what do you expect?" Tokimi asked. Irum stood and waited for the others to get on the bars.

"I do realise this Tokimi." Mitsuko replied as they began to climb. "I couldn't just leave him behind."

"I know." Tokimi said. They began to climb, and Kiros was the last person to get onto the bars, he got a good footing and reached his hand out for Irum.

"Come on." He said. Irum looked at him and gripped onto the thick wire holding the lift. With a tearful smile she uttered.

"Goodbye..." She then snapped the wire, which made the elevator instantly drop. The elevator fell into darkness and all was heard was the large bang of it hitting the bottom.

"Irum!!!" Kiros called down. "Damn.....why....." he said sadly, before he clambered up as the shaft collapsed around him.

The group barely made it out of the building before it collapsed completely. As they busied themselves making sure everyone was uninjured, Kiros looked up at the news building, and the colour drained from his face as he watched the news broadcast.

"Guys....." he called, getting everyone's attention. He pointed at the big screen. Nazaruda was on the screen.

 

"Duellists and Collectors everywhere, I am afraid to bring you sad news." He started. "A group of terrorists came just yesterday into Illustrial Illusions and killed everyone, including Mr Pegasus J. Crawford..." He said. "The terrorists are known as Necrophade Black, once known as the Shadow Clan, whom Mr Pegasus had previously trusted as his own personal guard! These terrorists will be brought to their knees and justice will be served. I have taken control of Illustrial Illusions, so please don't worry about the game no longer continuing, I would like to announce that on top of a new set of cards, the legendary God Cards, Slifer, Ra and Obelisk are now open for duelling, thanks to altering the coding to allow duel disks to use them. As well as the Envoy of the Beginning and End being made limited to 1."

"Nazaruda! You son of a bitch!" Hiei barked. "How dare you make us out as terrorists!!"

"Well to be fair, you did used to be." Mitsuko said. "Just pointing that out." Hiei looked at Mitsuko with an evil that made even Mitsuko gringe.

"That changed when my daughter got involved!" Hiei regained his composure. "So, this was the meaning to the distractions, whilst I was away from Pegasus...Nazaruda went and killed him... Now he's taken control...this is not good..."