Yu-Gi-Oh! ZD: Rise Of The Dragons (A Yu-Gi-Oh! Fanfiction) - Chapter 48

“I activate the Skill: Power Infusion! Targeting my <Berserk Gorilla>.” Declared Adam Clomp, Safari guide, adventurer and profession Duel Hunter. He wore clothes made of animal hide and fur, or at the very least a good imitation, in a lion motif.

<<Duel skill activated: Adam – Power Infusion>>

[Power infusion – (Consumable) activate on your turn before your battle phase. Target monster gains the attack of all other monsters you control, only the target monster may attack this turn. At the end of turn destroy the target monster.]

“With this my Berserk Gorilla gains the attack of my <Egotistical Ape> and my <Monoceros> for a total of 4200!”

<Egotistical Ape – Lv5 > 4 ATK:1200/DEF:1200, Monoceros – Lv3 ATK:1000/DEF:1000, Berserk Gorilla – Lv4 ATK:2000 > 4200/DEF:1000>

Under the power of Adams skill the all the power of Adam beast monsters was transferred to a large furious orange ape that stood there beating its ċhėst, howling and snarling in its eagerness to attack its enemy.

And its enemy was Drake and his ace Xyz monster, the celestial dragon unlike anything this world had previously seen, the Blue-Eyes Starlight Dragon.

“Now my Berserk Gorilla attacks your Blue-Eyes Starlight Dragon!”

[BG ATK:4200 > BESD ATK:3000 – Drake LP > 900]

Under the savage power of the pumped up Berserk Gorilla even Drakes Blue-Eyes was no match and was unwillingly pounded into pieces. The shockwaves blasting back into Drake himself. This professional Duel Hunter was one of those elites hired to rove Heartland Island and eliminate competitors in exchange for money.

And in Drake opinion this hunter was worth every credit Heartland was paying him. Even though Drake a decimated his field the last turn this hunter was still able to pull off this sudden reversal and take down one of Drakes best monsters.

“Now I Overlay my Level 4 Egotistical Ape and my level 4 Berserk Gorilla. Appear beast of dire fury and rend my enemy to shreds, I Xyz summon <Diamond Dire Wolf>”

<Diamond Dire Wolf – Rank 4 ATK:2000/DEF:1200 OU:2>

The gorilla and its lesser ape cousin were suċkėd into the black spiral of the overlay Network in order to give birth to a blue diamond coated lupin beast with crystalline spikes, a good play considering that the Power Infusion skill Adam had used would have destroyed the Berserk Gorilla at the end of the turn otherwise. But honesty Drake had been expecting a synchro summoning instead.

“I activate Dire Wolf’s effect, to destroy your facedown at the cost of destroying my own Monoceros!”

<Diamond Dire Wolf – OU:2 > 1>

Activating his new beast special ability, one of the orbiting Overlay Units plunged into his Monoceros transforming it into a figure of sapphire light which charged towards Drakes sole remaining card on his field.

“Not if I activate it first! Go <Xyz Reborn> and revive my <Blue-Eyes Starlight Dragon>.” Said Drake as he activated his trap.

Returning his previously destroyed Xyz monster to the field and attaching the trap card to it as an Overlay Unit meant that Adam had missed his target and wasted not only his overlay Unit but a monster as well.

“In that case I activate <Overlay Capture> this spell removes all Overlay units attached to your dragon before it attaches itself to my Dire Wolf, then I set a face down and end my turn.” Adam said.

After suffering under Starlight Dragon’s – Star Fall ability last turn he had no wish to repeat the process again as he emptied his hand of the last of his cards.

[Blue-Eyes Starlight Dragon – Rank 8 ATK:3000/DEF:2500 OU:1 > 0]

[Diamond Dire Wolf – OU:1 > 2]

[Turn ??? Drake LP:900 Hand:0 / Adam LP:1500 Hand:0]

“I draw-”

“I activate <Hippo Carnival> with this quick spell I can summon three hippo tokens to my side of the field, and for this turn your monsters can only attack Hippo Tokens.> Adam interrupted as three brightly coloured hippo dancers materialised on the field in defence mode.

[x3 Hippo Token – Level 1 ATK:0/DEF:0]

With this he was confident that his Dire wolf could survive the turn, allowing it to destroy Drakes monster on his next turn. But Drake wasn’t going to give him a next turn thanks to the card he drew.

Ever since he had fought against Kite and his new Cipher Deck and then acquired the powers of Chaos and the Shining energy from the Nexus, he had a number of idea of what new ace cards he could create, like this one.

“I activate the spell <Rank-up-Magic Nexus Twilight>, with this card I can target a Xyz monster I control and use it to summon a Chaos Xyz monster from my extra deck that is one rank higher. Go Chaos Xyz Evolution! Chaotic power once sealed from a distant world, deliver your judgement upon my foes, come forth Chaos Xyz Blue Asura Dragon!”

A large black door appeared on the field, a replica of the very door in the Nexus that held the powers of Chaos, opening wide to reveal black and purple maelstrom of energy Drakes Blue-Eyes Starlight Dragon was suċkėd inside. Then from out of the energy storm a great claw appeared to grasp the edge of the door and Drakes new Chaos monster pull its titanic scaled body out and on to the field, ducking its horned head to pass through the great doorway.

[CXyz Blue Asura Dragon – Rank 9 ATK:4000/DEF:1000 OU:1]

Born of the Chaos powers Drake had collected from the Nexus, Drakes new dragon had a more humanoid form than his Blue-Eyes, but like the mighty war like Asura spirits of Hindu mythology this dragon had six arms, each wielding a blade of white flame that shone brightly on the dragons sapphire blue scales.

Large fangs dominated its mouth and two pairs of thick curved black horns jutted out of its head, one pair curving upwards like a crown and the other curving forward either side of its maw. Around its body hung a few black chains and its yellow eyes had the distinctive sign of polycoria, a double pupil.

“Thanks to Nexus Twilight, since my life point are less than 1000, its second effect now activates. Targeting your Diamond Dire Wolf my new monster now steals all of its Overlay Units, giving it a total of 3.” Drake explained as the two Overlay Units that orbited Adam’s wolf were pulled over to the Blue Asura Dragon and transformed into red crystal orbs that joined a third already circling the mighty dragon, forming a kind of spinning halo at its back.

[Diamond Dire Wolf – OU:2 > 0, CXyz Blue Asura Dragon – OU:1 > 3]

Adam was beginning to sweat bullets, after all this was Drake Atlas, one of the top ten rankers with a bounty of over 100,000 credits. As a hunter he had seen the boy a walking pay cheque and had been confident in his ability to handle the dragon user after reviewing the data his employer had provided. But this new dragon was something unexpected.

He wondered just what abilities it had.

“CXyz Blue Asura Dragon! Attack his Hippo Token with War Sword Flame!”

[CBAD ATK:4000 > HT DEF:0]

With a mighty slash Drakes monster cleaved an orange Hippo into two.

“Good thing my monster was in defence.” Mumbled Adam.

“Not quite so lucky.” Drake disagreed as the two halves of Adams token burst into white flames that blasted out to attack him.

*Boom!*

[Adam LP > 1000]

“What?!”

“This is Asura Dragons special ability – The Fires of Destruction, so long as it has a ‘Blue-Eyes’ attached to it as an Overlay Unit, whenever my monster destroys one of your monsters, you take 500 damage.” Drake explained.

Meaning that so long as his new dragon had Blue-Eyes Starlight Dragon attached to it Drake could continue to deal damage to Adam every time he destroyed a monster.

“And there is more to come. After my monster battles I can then detach an Overlay unit from it, this allows my dragon to attack each monster you control this turn. Go Chaos Rampage!”

[CXyz Blue Asura Dragon – OU:3 > 2]

This effect did have a side effect that Drake didn’t see the need to mention to Adam. After using this effect his Blue Asura Dragon could no longer deal battle damage this turn, but by using either of the other Overlay units that Drake had stolen rather than his Starlight Dragon it didn’t matter because he would still deal 500 damage with each monster Asura destroyed.

And with only 1000 life points remaining and two hippo tokens that Drake was still free to attack the duel was as good as done.

“Attack the second Hippo Token! War Sword Flame!”

*Boom!*

[CBAD ATK:4000 > HT DEF:0]

With a mighty slash Drakes monster cleaved a blue Hippo into two this time before the token burst into white flames that blasted Adam again.

[Adam LP > 500]

“Argh!” cried Adam.

“The final strike! Go CXyz Blue Asura Dragon and attack the last Hippo Token!”

[CBAD ATK:4000 > HT DEF:0]

*BOOM!*

[Adam LP > 0]

<<DRAKE WINS – 2000 Duel Points, 1x Secret information, 1x Duel Skill: Skill Sever, claimed. For defeating a Hunter +5 reputation, as first duellist to defeat a Hunter in Toon Kingdom +5 Reputation points and x1 Limited Zone pass>>

“Ah Shoot.” Adam complained as his duel disk locked up. Even they the Duel Hunters had to pay a price for losing a duel. Their duel disks would be locked for two hours, which meant two hours less hunting time and all the duel hunters were paid on commission based on how many duellists they eliminated regardless of any bounties they might also pick up.

But Drake wasn’t bothered about this. He was just glad to have found someone to duel him, apart from the glory seeking Charles who he had first duelled against no one else was interest in challenging Drake.

Which could be understood, the WDC Second round was still in its early stages and duellist were more concerned with tracking down Code fragments and zone access keys, it simply wasn’t worth duelling other competitors until they had some good stuff to steal. Drake had different priorities though as he still need to collect duel energy.

Unfortunately Drake had discovered that when duelling Duel Bots and virtual challenges he received no Duel Energy for his victories, he had to be facing a real person. Which was hard to do when most of the competition was avoiding him. Looking at the prizes he had just received it seemed the Limited Zone pass would allow a one time access to any Zone, but Drake was more interested in this ‘Secret Information’ data he had received.

Opening the data on his duel disk it was information detailing the location and method to access a Duel Vendor which sold the extremely rare and valuable ‘Extra Life’, the consumable item which would prevent a duellist from being knocked out of the competition when they lost a duel, as well as a Toon Code fragment location.

They could be found in the Maze of the Minotaur.

—

Wyvern looked across the Toon Kingdom Zone, behind her stood a great wooden arch she had just passed through which even know was blocked off by an energy barrier. Having purchased a pass from the Ancient Forest she started in she made her way here as fast as possible, because this was the Zone that Drake Atlas was reported to be in.

Waiting for her was a small squad of a dozen New Order members. A mixture of several of Umbral’s intelligence operators, her own combat operatives and even a couple from Tempests alchemy department. New Order had mobalised practically everyone it could for this WDC, for the Numbers.

“Report.” She commanded

“The target began by clearing the Trial of the Six, before then moving on to the Challenge of the Toon Dragons. We have reports that he cleared it and has just defeated a Duel Hunter and is heading East, we believe that his next target is the Maze of the Minotaur.” One of her men answered.

“What is there?” She asked. With New Orders connections and hidden agents in Heartlands and Fakers Organisation they almost had as much information regarding the various challenges and secrets here as Kite did. But due to the time she had taken creating Shadow Charms, Wyvern had not had a chance to personally memorise the large amounts of data available, but she had plenty of minions to do that for her.

“The Maze is a giant puzzle based labyrinth, the goal of which is to reach the centre of the maze and defeat the guardian. The first duellist to do so will receive a Toon Code Fragment. The Maze is also home to a couple of hidden vendors, that between them offer a limited number of Extra Life items and several special skills. Not only must one navigate the maze itself but at various points the paths will be block by Duel Puzzles, Duel Monster Quizzes and Duel bots.” One of New Orders intelligence members answered.

“Do we have a map of the maze?” Wyvern wanted to know.

“No ma’am, the design of the maze shifts with the progress of the entrants, with each challenge cleared parts of the maze will open up while other parts will close up. But there is a fixed route that doesn’t change, its longer but guarantied to get one to the centre.” Another member replied.

“And are any of the other Generals nearby?”

“The Lord Silver General is on his way from Ritual Sanctuary at the moment but has yet to arrive in the Zone, however the Maze is located nearer to his Duel Zone Boarder than we are.” One General Whites people said.

“Blast! Lets go!” Wyvern cursed.

She had no dėsɨrė to share her prey with that insufferable man. The Orichalcos King had promised to a great reward to whoever could get rid of Atlas and she refused to let this opportunity slip away. At least none of Hals people was here with her, otherwise she was sure that her every move would be reported to the Silver General directly. With this situation she at least had a chance of taking the lead.

—

Back in Heartland City, in Dr Fakers secret laboratory the good doctor was hard at work perfecting the modifications to his Chaos Cannon when Mayor Heartland entered.

“What is it Heartland?” Faker demanded.

He was in the middle of an important adjustment when the official had entered.

“Sir, the reports so far from the WDC-”

“Is there a problem?” Faker irritable interrupted as he searched for the right kind of sonic screwdriver.

“No, all is-”

“Then why are you interrupting me?” the doctor demanded.

“Your job is simple Heartland, follow your instructions and make sure everything is running smoothly so I can get on with my important work in peace. If there isn’t a problem or some earth shattering new development then it can wait until I have time to be bothered about it, because it is not important Heartland, just like you are not important. I gave you everything you wanted, the power, the authority and the fame, but if you can’t perform the task I made you for, then I can just as easily make someone who can.” Faker continued to berate his public figure head.

“Of course Doctor Faker, I understand…” Heartland replied with a grimace.

He was here because the doctor had ordered for regular reports just yesterday, as though he felt he had to handle every detail of the final stages of the plan personally and monitor the situation because no one else was competent enough to do it. But now Faker had apparently completely changed his tune and only had eyes for his machines today.

This was not Heartlands first time catching the doctor in such an unstable mood swing, but these swings were becoming more and more frequent these past few months. At first it had been the occasional emotional outburst or a temporary bout of paranoia that quickly passed now and again every few months. But now it seemed like every other day was some new drama.

Heartland suspected the good doctor was finally going mad.

A sudden irritability and manic focus on his work to the oblivion of all else. One moment handing a project to Heartland before the next day snatching control away again, before apathetically dumping the work half-finished back on the Mayors shoulder soon after like it was nothing.

Most of the time it was alright and Faker was still the genius that he had always been and after they were over these outbursts were carefully concealed by Heartland, a secret only the two of them were aware of. But things were becoming worse, even Kite who rarely saw his father seemed to be getting suspicious.

Heartland had hoped that with the near completion of the plan the doctor would have become more stable, but the reverse seemed to be happening. Not that it actually bothered Heartland half as much as what he let Faker believe. In fact previously this instability played perfectly into Heartlands hands as Faker continued to further isolate himself to prevent others discovering this, allowing Heartland to quietly manipulate events as one of the few people to allowed to meet with Faker, thereby allowing him have greater control over the city.

But now Faker seemed to be becoming more unstable each day and Heartland would have trouble keeping it from Kite and others for much longer. This would jeopardise his position and power if the doctor completely lost it now.

As he left the doctor to his work Heartland had a sinister glint in his eye.

Perhaps it was time to explore other possibilities he thought.