Everyone stared at me, wondering if I would back out of taking a key, and by extension, a target on my back. I was always going to take one, especially after I heard Zorc’s small leak of their past. My curiosity was almost pushing me towards the final key at this point. I eventually shrugged before taking the last key. “What the hell? Nobody lives forever." Jayden scoffed at me, while patting my back a little too hard. “Pfft! C’mon man! You gotta have more faith in yourself!” “Yea well I’m not jinxing it by saying I’m going to easily wipe the floor with the first guy.” Jayden tilted his head at me. “But you just did… Now you gotta win!” Being done with his stupidity, I pushed his face away from me as everyone left the office.
The moment I was back inside my room, Blair tackled herself into my chest. Even when knowing it was coming, this girl still packed quite the punch. The rest of the girl spirits surrounded us as Blair asked a million questions a minute. They were all clearly enjoying the scene for some reason, so I just ignored their smirking gazes while calming Blair down. “It’s fine… Just let me explain.” I said while putting pressure on Blair’s shoulders to grab her attention.
She finally stopped asking questions, and silently looked up at me with her big innocent eyes. I evaded her direct gaze while taking a seat on the lower bunk. She took the seat next to me, and beside her was Dark Magician Girl, eyeing my new necklace with a frown. “Alright, don’t freak out, but…” I calmly explained the situation, and while Blair was processing it, Dark Magician Girl interrogated me. “You’re not thinking about using those Sacred Beasts are you?”
Blair, hearing that, jumped a bit and looked at me with interest. I scratched the back of my neck while thinking out loud. “Maybe a little…” “Absolutely not! Those Beasts are not sacred in the least!” Dark Magician Girl yelled while floating around Blair. “They are sacred, just not to your God.” Zorc’s head slowly appeared from behind me, his green burning eyes alighting the room in his glow. “I should have known! You’re trying to gain them yourself!” Zorc scoffed at her accusation, and slowly disappeared with some parting words. “They were always mine to begin with.”
Dark Magician Girl shook her head at Zorc fading, then scowled at me. “Give Blair that key. You’re not in the right mind to defend those beasts.” I rubbed Blair's shoulder to help ease her scared expression. Just as I was about to say something, a bright light that reminded me of our excursion to the ancient ruins blinded my vision. “What the hell!?” I yelled while grabbing onto Blair tightly, so we wouldn’t be separated.
The next moment I opened my eyes, I checked to see Blair was still with me, and sighed with relief to see her large eyes staring at me in confusion. “Where are we?” I then snapped my head at Alexis, asking the question on Blair, and I’s mind too. “More like, how are you here?” I asked while standing up, Blair tightly hugging me just in case. Alexis averted her gaze to the ground, but screamed and grabbed my arm in fear. Confused, I looked down to see we were standing on a glass floor, with an active volcano underneath us.
“I’ll be taking that Key now!” A voice then drew all of our attention across the way to the other side of this glass floor, and the man standing with his arms folded. He had dark brown hair, a tall build that reminded me of Zane, and a black mask covering the top half of his face. He continued on while we were all still in shock of this situation. “Rakki, right?” He asked while pointing at me. “I’m taking that key! So either you accept my Duel, or I drop one of your girlfriends down first to test if I’m serious!”
Alexis groaned while trying to let my arm go, but a quick glance down below kept her firmly attached to me. “I’m not his girlfriend!” She yelled at the man, but the way she was holding me told a different story. Meanwhile Blair started giggling while nuzzling her head in my side. “I look like his girlfriend… Well, I guess I am~!” I sighed from their priorities. “You both know he just threatened your- Oh fuck it, I’m getting a migraine.” I said while pinching the bridge of my nose.
Alexis blushed silently, not wanting to embarrass herself anymore than she already had. Blair didn’t even notice my bickering, and was in her world discussing ‘theme colors’, whatever that meant. I just ignored them both, and tightened my Duel Disk down on my arm. Moving Alexis’ grip from my arm to my back so I could play. “Fine! I’ll play!” I yelled at him, causing him to grin. “Good! And after I take your key, I’ll seal your soul in this card too. Just to make sure you don’t come back!”
I nodded with a grin. “Sure! I’ll have something for myself when I win too.” I muttered the last part so he wouldn’t hear me. Zorc and I both chuckled at the torment we can cause this controlling mask. “Duel!” “Duel!”
4,000 Rakki ---- 4,000 Nightshroud
I looked at the cards in my hand, and sighed from having only traps and spells. “Of course…” I coughed and shook my head at what I could do with all these traps. I finally sighed with an idea that I prayed might work. “Let’s go all in from the start.” I then focused back on the field. “First! I play the spell card, Foolish Burial! Sending one monster from my deck straight to my graveyard!”
Nightshroud chuckled at me. “Your very first move is to kill off one of your own cards? No wonder your friend is the one holding the other part of this necklace.” He dangled the other half of the strange medallion, but I didn’t really care. I didn’t need protection from the shadow dimension, I was part of it now. “Next I’ll place 5 cards face down, and end my turn!” With that, I no longer had any cards in my hand, and placed my empty hands in my pockets. Nightshroud watched with his mouth hanging open, but soon burst into laughter. “Hahaha!! Oh this’ll be easy! I Draw!!”
“I’ll summon Mirage Dragon!!” Just as he did, a bright light emanated from a piece of the strange barrier we were standing on. It then began to ungulate, before bursting upwards, and showcasing itself to be a large dragon in disguise.
Mirage Dragon/Dragon/Effect/Level 4/ Atk:1600 Def:600 Mirage Dragon
“And because of his special ability, you can’t activate any of your trap cards during the Battle Phase! Now Mirage Dragon! Attack him directly!!” The dragon shimmered and uncoiled itself, it’s shining blue eyes targeted me while it opened its mouth. “Get back!” Dark Magician Girl yelled while I felt the pull on my jacket lessen from Blair and Alexis being ripped away. “Wait!!” Blair yelled, but the dragon had already fired its multi-colored beam, sending me skidding backwards from the blast. I groaned in pain, but looked back to see Blair and Alexis both safe from Dark Magician Girl and part of the medallion, shining brightly on Blair’s chest.
2,400 Rakki ---- 4,000 Nightshroud
“Now that your battle phase is over, and I have no cards in my hand, I’ll activate my trap now. Fire Darts!!” My trap card flipped open, revealing three burning arrows. “I get to roll three dice, and for each number I roll, you take damage multiplied by 100 for each roll!” Nightshroud scoffed at me. “This is why you were the first mark kid! Luck? Really?” He shook his head in disappointment, but I kept my cool. All the dice rolled, and each one landed perfectly on 6, causing Nightshroud to stumble in shock. “Y’know why these card effects are locked behind luck?” I asked, just as the arrows soared through the air, embedding themselves into his arms.
2,400 Rakki ---- 2,200 Nightshroud
I smirked seeing his life points below mine. “Because it was the only way to make their effects fair.”
Everyone stared at me, wondering if I would back out of taking a key, and by extension, a target on my back. I was always going to take one, especially after I heard Zorc’s small leak of their past. My curiosity was almost pushing me towards the final key at this point. I eventually shrugged before taking the last key. “What the hell? Nobody lives forever." Jayden scoffed at me, while patting my back a little too hard. “Pfft! C’mon man! You gotta have more faith in yourself!” “Yea well I’m not jinxing it by saying I’m going to easily wipe the floor with the first guy.” Jayden tilted his head at me. “But you just did… Now you gotta win!” Being done with his stupidity, I pushed his face away from me as everyone left the office.
The moment I was back inside my room, Blair tackled herself into my chest. Even when knowing it was coming, this girl still packed quite the punch. The rest of the girl spirits surrounded us as Blair asked a million questions a minute. They were all clearly enjoying the scene for some reason, so I just ignored their smirking gazes while calming Blair down. “It’s fine… Just let me explain.” I said while putting pressure on Blair’s shoulders to grab her attention.
She finally stopped asking questions, and silently looked up at me with her big innocent eyes. I evaded her direct gaze while taking a seat on the lower bunk. She took the seat next to me, and beside her was Dark Magician Girl, eyeing my new necklace with a frown. “Alright, don’t freak out, but…” I calmly explained the situation, and while Blair was processing it, Dark Magician Girl interrogated me. “You’re not thinking about using those Sacred Beasts are you?”
Blair, hearing that, jumped a bit and looked at me with interest. I scratched the back of my neck while thinking out loud. “Maybe a little…” “Absolutely not! Those Beasts are not sacred in the least!” Dark Magician Girl yelled while floating around Blair. “They are sacred, just not to your God.” Zorc’s head slowly appeared from behind me, his green burning eyes alighting the room in his glow. “I should have known! You’re trying to gain them yourself!” Zorc scoffed at her accusation, and slowly disappeared with some parting words. “They were always mine to begin with.”
Dark Magician Girl shook her head at Zorc fading, then scowled at me. “Give Blair that key. You’re not in the right mind to defend those beasts.” I rubbed Blair's shoulder to help ease her scared expression. Just as I was about to say something, a bright light that reminded me of our excursion to the ancient ruins blinded my vision. “What the hell!?” I yelled while grabbing onto Blair tightly, so we wouldn’t be separated.
The next moment I opened my eyes, I checked to see Blair was still with me, and sighed with relief to see her large eyes staring at me in confusion. “Where are we?” I then snapped my head at Alexis, asking the question on Blair, and I’s mind too. “More like, how are you here?” I asked while standing up, Blair tightly hugging me just in case. Alexis averted her gaze to the ground, but screamed and grabbed my arm in fear. Confused, I looked down to see we were standing on a glass floor, with an active volcano underneath us.
“I’ll be taking that Key now!” A voice then drew all of our attention across the way to the other side of this glass floor, and the man standing with his arms folded. He had dark brown hair, a tall build that reminded me of Zane, and a black mask covering the top half of his face. He continued on while we were all still in shock of this situation. “Rakki, right?” He asked while pointing at me. “I’m taking that key! So either you accept my Duel, or I drop one of your girlfriends down first to test if I’m serious!”
Alexis groaned while trying to let my arm go, but a quick glance down below kept her firmly attached to me. “I’m not his girlfriend!” She yelled at the man, but the way she was holding me told a different story. Meanwhile Blair started giggling while nuzzling her head in my side. “I look like his girlfriend… Well, I guess I am~!” I sighed from their priorities. “You both know he just threatened your- Oh fuck it, I’m getting a migraine.” I said while pinching the bridge of my nose.
Alexis blushed silently, not wanting to embarrass herself anymore than she already had. Blair didn’t even notice my bickering, and was in her world discussing ‘theme colors’, whatever that meant. I just ignored them both, and tightened my Duel Disk down on my arm. Moving Alexis’ grip from my arm to my back so I could play. “Fine! I’ll play!” I yelled at him, causing him to grin. “Good! And after I take your key, I’ll seal your soul in this card too. Just to make sure you don’t come back!”
I nodded with a grin. “Sure! I’ll have something for myself when I win too.” I muttered the last part so he wouldn’t hear me. Zorc and I both chuckled at the torment we can cause this controlling mask. “Duel!” “Duel!”
4,000 Rakki ---- 4,000 Nightshroud
I looked at the cards in my hand, and sighed from having only traps and spells. “Of course…” I coughed and shook my head at what I could do with all these traps. I finally sighed with an idea that I prayed might work. “Let’s go all in from the start.” I then focused back on the field. “First! I play the spell card, Foolish Burial! Sending one monster from my deck straight to my graveyard!”
Nightshroud chuckled at me. “Your very first move is to kill off one of your own cards? No wonder your friend is the one holding the other part of this necklace.” He dangled the other half of the strange medallion, but I didn’t really care. I didn’t need protection from the shadow dimension, I was part of it now. “Next I’ll place 5 cards face down, and end my turn!” With that, I no longer had any cards in my hand, and placed my empty hands in my pockets. Nightshroud watched with his mouth hanging open, but soon burst into laughter. “Hahaha!! Oh this’ll be easy! I Draw!!”
“I’ll summon Mirage Dragon!!” Just as he did, a bright light emanated from a piece of the strange barrier we were standing on. It then began to ungulate, before bursting upwards, and showcasing itself to be a large dragon in disguise.
Mirage Dragon/Dragon/Effect/Level 4/ Atk:1600 Def:600 Mirage Dragon
“And because of his special ability, you can’t activate any of your trap cards during the Battle Phase! Now Mirage Dragon! Attack him directly!!” The dragon shimmered and uncoiled itself, it’s shining blue eyes targeted me while it opened its mouth. “Get back!” Dark Magician Girl yelled while I felt the pull on my jacket lessen from Blair and Alexis being ripped away. “Wait!!” Blair yelled, but the dragon had already fired its multi-colored beam, sending me skidding backwards from the blast. I groaned in pain, but looked back to see Blair and Alexis both safe from Dark Magician Girl and part of the medallion, shining brightly on Blair’s chest.
2,400 Rakki ---- 4,000 Nightshroud
“Now that your battle phase is over, and I have no cards in my hand, I’ll activate my trap now. Fire Darts!!” My trap card flipped open, revealing three burning arrows. “I get to roll three dice, and for each number I roll, you take damage multiplied by 100 for each roll!” Nightshroud scoffed at me. “This is why you were the first mark kid! Luck? Really?” He shook his head in disappointment, but I kept my cool. All the dice rolled, and each one landed perfectly on 6, causing Nightshroud to stumble in shock. “Y’know why these card effects are locked behind luck?” I asked, just as the arrows soared through the air, embedding themselves into his arms.
2,400 Rakki ---- 2,200 Nightshroud
I smirked seeing his life points below mine. “Because it was the only way to make their effects fair.”
