Reaper of Despair
11-30-2004, 06:18 PM
Well, as promised, here is episode twelve. And of course, again as promised, there will be some dueling action in this one. So sit back and enjoy!
Episode 12: Seti Strikes Back! Brother Against Brother
Yugi tried to run, but his legs wouldn’t even move an inch. The man moved closer, then, raised the blade. His face twisted into a horrible smile.
“Good bye Pharaoh.”
Yugi closed his eyes and waited for the worst, but it did not come. There was a sound like a dull thud as a body hit the ground. Yugi opened his eyes and saw the man lying lifeless on the ground. He looked over and saw Jason, holding his hand up. The Eye of Horus flashed briefly on his forehead, then, vanished.
“Yugi, you need to realize that not everyone in the world plays this game. And a lot of these spirits are out for your life, not your cards.”
Yugi stood up on somewhat wobbly legs and looked at the man on the ground.
“Didn’t you say that there was a chance he could escape if sent the normal way?” he asked.
“It was either that, or you could’ve been turned into a pin cushion,” Jason replied somewhat sharply.
Yugi shuddered when he thought of what could’ve happened to him, but he quickly got over the feeling.
“So did you get what you needed?” he asked.
“No. I had to come back because I sensed the presence of strong magic and wanted to make sure you were all right, which you obviously were not. Come on, Yugi. You’ll have to come with me.”
The two began walking away from the alley.
-------------------------------------------------
The pointers on the Ring moved slightly to the left, and Joey followed them. He had been following them for the past five minutes, but still couldn’t find his sister. He looked over and spotted Mokuba on the other side of the street.
“Hey, Mokuba!” Joey called out, in the distant hope that maybe the boy knew something about his sister’s whereabouts.
But the boy didn’t answer. He just kept walking down the street. Joey looked at Mokuba and saw the Duel Disk on his arm.
‘Why would he be walking down the street with a Duel Disk on at this time in the morning? I’d better investigate this one.’
Joey crossed the street and began following Mokuba. He led Joey to an abandoned warehouse in the middle of town and walked in. Joey crept up to a window and looked in. He spotted Mokuba speaking to someone, but Joey couldn’t make out who it was in the dark room.
‘What’s going on here? Why is Mokuba talking to some stranger in a warehouse?’
Joey, being the adventurer that he was, decided to get a closer look. He snuck in through a broken window and tiptoed behind a stack of crates. He still couldn’t hear the conversation, so he stood up and made himself known.
“Hey, Mokuba! What are you doing in here, man?” he called out.
Suddenly, all the lights in the factory came on, and only Mokuba stood in the center of the floor. Joey walked out from behind the crates and got closer to the boy, who turned around. Joey jumped back when he saw Mokuba’s face.
“Hey, you’re not Mokuba!”
The boy had the same long black hair as Mokuba, but his face was twisted into a dark scowl, with narrow black eyes.
“How perceptive of you, Wheeler. I’m not Mokuba, but I’m in his body,” the boy said in a voice that was a hybrid of a grown man and Mokuba’s.
“You’re a resurrected spirit, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am, you fool. And now that you’re here, I have the bait for my trap to destroy the pharaoh.”
The boy opened his Duel Disk and prepared to transport them to the Shadow Realm, but a loud buzzing noise came from outside. The buzzing became louder and louder until the large front window over the cargo doors exploded in a shower of glass. A large motorcycle burst through the glass.
“Who is that?!” Joey shouted as the motorcycle began to land.
The chopper hit the floor, then, skidded to a stop. Kaiba sat atop the bike with a sneer on his face.
“Kaiba?! What are you doing here at a time like this?!” Joey explained.
“I don’t have to answer to you, bonkotsu,” Kaiba replied harshly.
“That’s it! I’m sick of you calling me that! Let’s go right now!”
Kaiba simply looked past Joey and straight at the spirit inhabiting Mokuba’s body. His face twisted into its usual derisive grimace.
“I know that you’re not my brother because I’ve been following you since you left the Kaiba Corp. building. So who are you and what have you done with my brother?!”
The spirit chuckled softly, then, spoke in a regal tone.
“I am Aknon Sithlar, and I am here to claim my vengeance on the pharaoh.”
“Save the pharaoh nonsense. I’ve heard enough of it in Battle City,” Kaiba said as he got off the bike and slipped a Duel Disk on his arm. “All I know is that you took my brother from me, and you’re going to pay for it.”
He walked past Joey and laughed quietly.
“Watch how a true duelist operates, zakou.”
Joey’s anger boiled, but he refrained from jumping on Kaiba. He simply walked over toward a crate and sat on it. Kaiba faced Aknon.
“Forget about that amateur. Your duel is with me.”
“A soul is a soul,” Aknon replied as the shadows poured over the two duelists. “So, who starts?”
“I’ll do the honors,” Kaiba said as he drew six cards.
(Kaiba: 8000) (Aknon: 8000)
Kaiba looked over his opening hand and realized that this duel would be easier than he thought. He already had a good defense and a nice attack monster.
“I’ll place two cards face down and summon Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200) in defense mode.”
A short jester appeared with a playful dance, then, folded its legs underneath itself Indian style as it sat on the large hologram of its own card.
“I’ll end my turn.”
“An interesting opening move. Here is mine. I’ll set a card face down and summon Pyramid Turtle (1200/1400) in attack mode!”
A large pale turtle wearing an ancient headdress and a large gold pyramid on its back appeared in a flash of sparks.
“Now, turtle, attack Peten!”
The monster charged forward and slammed into the clown with sheer force, causing it to shatter. Kaiba simply smirked at his monster’s destruction.
“Now you’ve activated my clown’s special effect, which allows me to bring another one from my deck by removing the one you destroyed from play,” Kaiba declared triumphantly.
The young CEO placed a card on his Duel Disk and another Dark Clown appeared in defense mode with the same taunting dance.
“No matter. Your defense can’t last forever. I’ll end my turn.”
“Good. Now that I’ve humored you long enough, it’s time to get serious. So I’ll throw down Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in attack mode!” A large horned beast with razor sharp fangs appeared on the field clutching a sharp axe in its claws. “Go, my Vorse Raider, destroy Pyramid Turtle!”
The monster charged forward, raised its axe, and slashed through the turtle with ease.
(Kaiba: 8000) (Aknon: 7300)
Aknon smiled with an evil grin and pulled his deck out of its slot.
“With that, you’ve activated my monster’s special ability, which allows me to automatically summon a Zombie with a defense of 2000 or less from my deck. So now I’ll summon Ryu Kokki (2400/2000) in attack mode!”
A huge tower of skulls burst out of the ground, then, took the shape of a great, snake-like beast with glowing red eyes.
“Hmm. Your new monster is more impressive than your last one, but I’ll shatter it just as easily. I’ll place a card face down and end my turn,” Kaiba announced.
Aknon drew and added the card to his hand, saving it for a later use in the duel.
“Then I guess it’s my turn to go on the offensive. Ryu Kokki, attack the Vorse Raider with Breath of Despair!”
The zombie monster opened its mouth and prepared to destroy Kaiba’s monster. Kaiba chuckled and calmly pressed an activation button on his duel disk.
“Activate spell card: Shrink. This card will cut your monster’s attack points in half, making it too weak to destroy mine.”
The Ryu Kokki’s (1200/2000) size reduced, but its attack still came. Vorse Raiser easily sidestepped the assault and slashed through Ryu Kokki with its axe.
(Kaiba: 8000) (Aknon: 6600)
“So Aknon, where’s your monster? He was here a minute ago. Oh wait, I know. My superior dueling destroyed it!” Kaiba taunted, trying to throw the spirit off his game.
‘That’s it fool. Kept following the path to your demise, thinking that victory is yours,’ Aknon thought as he set a card face down and ended his turn.
Kaiba drew with satisfaction in his eyes and a smile on his lips. One of his strongest monsters lay in his hand now, and he intended to summon it.
“I’ll place a card face down and sacrifice my Peten the Dark Clown to summon Kaiser Glider (2400/2200) in attack mode!”
The clown was incinerated in a blazing flame. From the ashes of Peten rose a golden dragon, glowing with a shining aura.
“I don’t think so. You’ve activated my trap card: Strings of the Dark Puppeteer! This card allows me to take permanent control of your monster by discarding a monster from my hand whose attack is higher than the one of the monster I’m controlling. So goodbye Fushioh Richie (2600/2900) and hello Kaiser Glider!”
A marionette appeared in the air above the duel. Strings shot out of it and dragged Kaiser Glider over to Aknon’s side of the field. Kaiba growled.
“Fine, but I still activate Peten’s effect to summon another Dark Clown from my deck in defense mode.”
A third Peten appeared with its usual jester-like dance before settling down into defense mode.
“Next, I’ll switch Vorse Raiser to defense mode. That ends my turn.”
“Your defenses are pathetic,” Aknon hissed after drawing. “I summon The Gatekeeper (0/1200) in attack mode.”
A tall man dressed in a long white robe and wielding a large staff that resembled a key to a door appeared in a flash.
“When he is summoned, I can special summon any monster from my hand, so I’ll sacrifice both The Gatekeeper and your Kaiser Glider to summon Despair from the Dark (2800/2300)!”
The two monsters disappeared into a large crack that split the ground in half. Out of this rift rose a huge shadow demon, whose power and countenance matched the Shadow Realm itself. Kaiba remained unimpressed, despite Aknon’s new monster
“Fortunately for you, The Gatekeeper’s effect prevents me from attacking, so I’ll end my turn,” Aknon said with a smirk.
“Your monster is nothing to me. I’ll set a card face down and a monster in defense mode and end my turn,” Kaiba said with his usual haughty tone.
“We’ll see about that. Despair from the Dark, attack the Vorse Raider!”
The monster charged forward and raised one of its claws. Again, Kaiba was prepared for the attack.
“Activate trap crap: Ring of Destruction!” Kaiba declared.
A large ring of grenades appeared around Despair from the Dark’s throat.
“This card will destroy your monster and do damage to both our life points equal to its attack power. Well, you’ll take damage. I won’t thanks to my next trap card: Stone of Purification. This card will take the damage that I would normally take from this effect and turn it into life points.”
The Ring of Destruction went off, destroying Despair from the Dark and knocking Aknon down with great force.
(Kaiba: 10800) (Aknon: 3800)
“Don’t you see it yet? You’ve been deluding yourself in thinking that you can win against me. You might as well quit and give me my brother back.”
Aknon laughed out loud and glared at Kaiba.
“You fool. Your trap card allowed me to activate a spell card of my own. So here’s A Deal with Dark Ruler! This card activates when a monster with eight or more level stars goes to the graveyard from my side of the field. I can summon a powerful monster from my hand or deck. Kaiba, I’ll win this duel and when I do, your soul will be trapped in the shadows forever!”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aknon is in a tight spot, but what devilish secret does his deck hide? Find out on the next episode.
Bonkotsu: Japanese for 'mediocre' or 'ordinary'. It can be taken as an insult depending on how you use it. It's also Kaiba's pet name for Joey in the uncut versions of the show. Obviously, he uses it as an insult.
Zakou: Another one of Kaiba's names for Joey. It means 'weakling', but loosely translated, it means 'small fish' or 'small fry'.
Episode 12: Seti Strikes Back! Brother Against Brother
Yugi tried to run, but his legs wouldn’t even move an inch. The man moved closer, then, raised the blade. His face twisted into a horrible smile.
“Good bye Pharaoh.”
Yugi closed his eyes and waited for the worst, but it did not come. There was a sound like a dull thud as a body hit the ground. Yugi opened his eyes and saw the man lying lifeless on the ground. He looked over and saw Jason, holding his hand up. The Eye of Horus flashed briefly on his forehead, then, vanished.
“Yugi, you need to realize that not everyone in the world plays this game. And a lot of these spirits are out for your life, not your cards.”
Yugi stood up on somewhat wobbly legs and looked at the man on the ground.
“Didn’t you say that there was a chance he could escape if sent the normal way?” he asked.
“It was either that, or you could’ve been turned into a pin cushion,” Jason replied somewhat sharply.
Yugi shuddered when he thought of what could’ve happened to him, but he quickly got over the feeling.
“So did you get what you needed?” he asked.
“No. I had to come back because I sensed the presence of strong magic and wanted to make sure you were all right, which you obviously were not. Come on, Yugi. You’ll have to come with me.”
The two began walking away from the alley.
-------------------------------------------------
The pointers on the Ring moved slightly to the left, and Joey followed them. He had been following them for the past five minutes, but still couldn’t find his sister. He looked over and spotted Mokuba on the other side of the street.
“Hey, Mokuba!” Joey called out, in the distant hope that maybe the boy knew something about his sister’s whereabouts.
But the boy didn’t answer. He just kept walking down the street. Joey looked at Mokuba and saw the Duel Disk on his arm.
‘Why would he be walking down the street with a Duel Disk on at this time in the morning? I’d better investigate this one.’
Joey crossed the street and began following Mokuba. He led Joey to an abandoned warehouse in the middle of town and walked in. Joey crept up to a window and looked in. He spotted Mokuba speaking to someone, but Joey couldn’t make out who it was in the dark room.
‘What’s going on here? Why is Mokuba talking to some stranger in a warehouse?’
Joey, being the adventurer that he was, decided to get a closer look. He snuck in through a broken window and tiptoed behind a stack of crates. He still couldn’t hear the conversation, so he stood up and made himself known.
“Hey, Mokuba! What are you doing in here, man?” he called out.
Suddenly, all the lights in the factory came on, and only Mokuba stood in the center of the floor. Joey walked out from behind the crates and got closer to the boy, who turned around. Joey jumped back when he saw Mokuba’s face.
“Hey, you’re not Mokuba!”
The boy had the same long black hair as Mokuba, but his face was twisted into a dark scowl, with narrow black eyes.
“How perceptive of you, Wheeler. I’m not Mokuba, but I’m in his body,” the boy said in a voice that was a hybrid of a grown man and Mokuba’s.
“You’re a resurrected spirit, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am, you fool. And now that you’re here, I have the bait for my trap to destroy the pharaoh.”
The boy opened his Duel Disk and prepared to transport them to the Shadow Realm, but a loud buzzing noise came from outside. The buzzing became louder and louder until the large front window over the cargo doors exploded in a shower of glass. A large motorcycle burst through the glass.
“Who is that?!” Joey shouted as the motorcycle began to land.
The chopper hit the floor, then, skidded to a stop. Kaiba sat atop the bike with a sneer on his face.
“Kaiba?! What are you doing here at a time like this?!” Joey explained.
“I don’t have to answer to you, bonkotsu,” Kaiba replied harshly.
“That’s it! I’m sick of you calling me that! Let’s go right now!”
Kaiba simply looked past Joey and straight at the spirit inhabiting Mokuba’s body. His face twisted into its usual derisive grimace.
“I know that you’re not my brother because I’ve been following you since you left the Kaiba Corp. building. So who are you and what have you done with my brother?!”
The spirit chuckled softly, then, spoke in a regal tone.
“I am Aknon Sithlar, and I am here to claim my vengeance on the pharaoh.”
“Save the pharaoh nonsense. I’ve heard enough of it in Battle City,” Kaiba said as he got off the bike and slipped a Duel Disk on his arm. “All I know is that you took my brother from me, and you’re going to pay for it.”
He walked past Joey and laughed quietly.
“Watch how a true duelist operates, zakou.”
Joey’s anger boiled, but he refrained from jumping on Kaiba. He simply walked over toward a crate and sat on it. Kaiba faced Aknon.
“Forget about that amateur. Your duel is with me.”
“A soul is a soul,” Aknon replied as the shadows poured over the two duelists. “So, who starts?”
“I’ll do the honors,” Kaiba said as he drew six cards.
(Kaiba: 8000) (Aknon: 8000)
Kaiba looked over his opening hand and realized that this duel would be easier than he thought. He already had a good defense and a nice attack monster.
“I’ll place two cards face down and summon Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200) in defense mode.”
A short jester appeared with a playful dance, then, folded its legs underneath itself Indian style as it sat on the large hologram of its own card.
“I’ll end my turn.”
“An interesting opening move. Here is mine. I’ll set a card face down and summon Pyramid Turtle (1200/1400) in attack mode!”
A large pale turtle wearing an ancient headdress and a large gold pyramid on its back appeared in a flash of sparks.
“Now, turtle, attack Peten!”
The monster charged forward and slammed into the clown with sheer force, causing it to shatter. Kaiba simply smirked at his monster’s destruction.
“Now you’ve activated my clown’s special effect, which allows me to bring another one from my deck by removing the one you destroyed from play,” Kaiba declared triumphantly.
The young CEO placed a card on his Duel Disk and another Dark Clown appeared in defense mode with the same taunting dance.
“No matter. Your defense can’t last forever. I’ll end my turn.”
“Good. Now that I’ve humored you long enough, it’s time to get serious. So I’ll throw down Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in attack mode!” A large horned beast with razor sharp fangs appeared on the field clutching a sharp axe in its claws. “Go, my Vorse Raider, destroy Pyramid Turtle!”
The monster charged forward, raised its axe, and slashed through the turtle with ease.
(Kaiba: 8000) (Aknon: 7300)
Aknon smiled with an evil grin and pulled his deck out of its slot.
“With that, you’ve activated my monster’s special ability, which allows me to automatically summon a Zombie with a defense of 2000 or less from my deck. So now I’ll summon Ryu Kokki (2400/2000) in attack mode!”
A huge tower of skulls burst out of the ground, then, took the shape of a great, snake-like beast with glowing red eyes.
“Hmm. Your new monster is more impressive than your last one, but I’ll shatter it just as easily. I’ll place a card face down and end my turn,” Kaiba announced.
Aknon drew and added the card to his hand, saving it for a later use in the duel.
“Then I guess it’s my turn to go on the offensive. Ryu Kokki, attack the Vorse Raider with Breath of Despair!”
The zombie monster opened its mouth and prepared to destroy Kaiba’s monster. Kaiba chuckled and calmly pressed an activation button on his duel disk.
“Activate spell card: Shrink. This card will cut your monster’s attack points in half, making it too weak to destroy mine.”
The Ryu Kokki’s (1200/2000) size reduced, but its attack still came. Vorse Raiser easily sidestepped the assault and slashed through Ryu Kokki with its axe.
(Kaiba: 8000) (Aknon: 6600)
“So Aknon, where’s your monster? He was here a minute ago. Oh wait, I know. My superior dueling destroyed it!” Kaiba taunted, trying to throw the spirit off his game.
‘That’s it fool. Kept following the path to your demise, thinking that victory is yours,’ Aknon thought as he set a card face down and ended his turn.
Kaiba drew with satisfaction in his eyes and a smile on his lips. One of his strongest monsters lay in his hand now, and he intended to summon it.
“I’ll place a card face down and sacrifice my Peten the Dark Clown to summon Kaiser Glider (2400/2200) in attack mode!”
The clown was incinerated in a blazing flame. From the ashes of Peten rose a golden dragon, glowing with a shining aura.
“I don’t think so. You’ve activated my trap card: Strings of the Dark Puppeteer! This card allows me to take permanent control of your monster by discarding a monster from my hand whose attack is higher than the one of the monster I’m controlling. So goodbye Fushioh Richie (2600/2900) and hello Kaiser Glider!”
A marionette appeared in the air above the duel. Strings shot out of it and dragged Kaiser Glider over to Aknon’s side of the field. Kaiba growled.
“Fine, but I still activate Peten’s effect to summon another Dark Clown from my deck in defense mode.”
A third Peten appeared with its usual jester-like dance before settling down into defense mode.
“Next, I’ll switch Vorse Raiser to defense mode. That ends my turn.”
“Your defenses are pathetic,” Aknon hissed after drawing. “I summon The Gatekeeper (0/1200) in attack mode.”
A tall man dressed in a long white robe and wielding a large staff that resembled a key to a door appeared in a flash.
“When he is summoned, I can special summon any monster from my hand, so I’ll sacrifice both The Gatekeeper and your Kaiser Glider to summon Despair from the Dark (2800/2300)!”
The two monsters disappeared into a large crack that split the ground in half. Out of this rift rose a huge shadow demon, whose power and countenance matched the Shadow Realm itself. Kaiba remained unimpressed, despite Aknon’s new monster
“Fortunately for you, The Gatekeeper’s effect prevents me from attacking, so I’ll end my turn,” Aknon said with a smirk.
“Your monster is nothing to me. I’ll set a card face down and a monster in defense mode and end my turn,” Kaiba said with his usual haughty tone.
“We’ll see about that. Despair from the Dark, attack the Vorse Raider!”
The monster charged forward and raised one of its claws. Again, Kaiba was prepared for the attack.
“Activate trap crap: Ring of Destruction!” Kaiba declared.
A large ring of grenades appeared around Despair from the Dark’s throat.
“This card will destroy your monster and do damage to both our life points equal to its attack power. Well, you’ll take damage. I won’t thanks to my next trap card: Stone of Purification. This card will take the damage that I would normally take from this effect and turn it into life points.”
The Ring of Destruction went off, destroying Despair from the Dark and knocking Aknon down with great force.
(Kaiba: 10800) (Aknon: 3800)
“Don’t you see it yet? You’ve been deluding yourself in thinking that you can win against me. You might as well quit and give me my brother back.”
Aknon laughed out loud and glared at Kaiba.
“You fool. Your trap card allowed me to activate a spell card of my own. So here’s A Deal with Dark Ruler! This card activates when a monster with eight or more level stars goes to the graveyard from my side of the field. I can summon a powerful monster from my hand or deck. Kaiba, I’ll win this duel and when I do, your soul will be trapped in the shadows forever!”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aknon is in a tight spot, but what devilish secret does his deck hide? Find out on the next episode.
Bonkotsu: Japanese for 'mediocre' or 'ordinary'. It can be taken as an insult depending on how you use it. It's also Kaiba's pet name for Joey in the uncut versions of the show. Obviously, he uses it as an insult.
Zakou: Another one of Kaiba's names for Joey. It means 'weakling', but loosely translated, it means 'small fish' or 'small fry'.