The non-original characters in this fanfiction are copyrighted to Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallup and Toei where applicable. All other characters are considered public domain by the author and may be used freely, but he does request that you ask permission as a courtesy.
The card names used are translations of the Official Card Game (OCG) names. For the TCG names, see the "Cards used" at the end of the story. And don't forget to e-mail me your thoughts (vm_postitnotes@yahoo.com). Thank you very much for reading.
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YU-GI-OH! -0
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Turn 14: "Shougo's Shadow Game"
"Damn him," Isabel muttered to no one in particular.
"Are you so sure you want to say that?" a voice in the distance said.
Isabel narrowed her eyes. "Shougo... is that you?" she asked.
Suddenly another figure in the distance pushed Shougo to the ground.
"I'm sorry, Isabel-san, but I followed you," Shougo said. "This Shougo is an impostor! He's the one who dueled Watanabe and Horiuchi and made them leave the Academia!"
The other Shougo chuckled and turned towards Isabel.. "He's right," he said, and suddenly his eyes turned black.
Isabel stammered for a bit, then her eyes rolled back and she fell to the floor, unconscious.
"What did you do to her?" Shougo shouted. "And who are you?"
"I just put her to sleep for a bit," the doppelganger replied. "I don't want her to interfere with our battle. As for your second question..."
Black energy whipped around his body, and threw Shougo off of him. He looked up at his clone as he got to his feet. His form turned pitch black and enveloped itself in winds. Shougo thought he could make out the image of Duel Monsters cards making up his body.
The figure them reformed itself - it now looked like a middle-aged man in a form fitting suit wearing sunglasses. His arm looked like it was a duel disk. He gave a menacing grin as he took another step towards Shougo.
"Since I only speak the truth... you may call me Trueman."
"Trueman...?" Shougo mumbled, and backed up another step.
"Now, now, where do you think you're going?" Trueman said. "There is no place to run to." He then snapped his fingers, and the Ra dorm, and everything around them, disappeared.
"What's happening?!" Shougo shouted.
"We're going to duel is what's happening," Trueman replied, and raised his arm. Something resembling a duel disk appeared on it.
"A... a duel?"
"Yes. This is what is called a Dark Duel," Trueman explained. "It is like a regular duel, but the consequences of your mistakes are more severe. You shall see what I speak of."
Shougo looked around at his new surroundings, which were - non-existant. He was standing on something - he could feel a floor under his feet - but the world seemed to be made of shifting lights. The atmosphere was oppressive, and Shougo had to struggle to breathe.
"Don't panic," Trueman chuckled. "You're at home here. This is where you belong - in the shadows. After all, you--"
"Shut up!" Shougo shouted reflexively, not wanting to hear what this strange man had to say.
Trueman chuckled. "Very well," he said. "We suspected you would not yet be ready to hear this. When you lose, you will comprehend all, but in the meantime..."
His form became darkness again, the form of cards shuffling around his body. When the cards stopped moving and the dark energy faded, he had once again taken the form of Shougo.
"To destroy your destitute illusions with this form... would serve my purposes best," he said, and then sneered a bit. "Now... raise your weapon and duel me!"
Shougo's mind was racing, but his body was already moving itself, getting ready for a duel. "I..." he muttered. "I am definitely not going to lose. Not here."
Their disks activated.
"Duel!" they both shouted.
"You can have the first move," the doppelganger said.
"Okay," Shougo said. "Then I'll draw." For the first time he could remember, though, he was unsure of himself while dueling. He was in a bad situation. He was not in control. And worst of all, Shougo was afraid.
He glanced at his hand. 'Fortunately,' he thought to himself. 'I'm at least having okay luck.'
"I set one monster card, and two more cards. Turn end."
Trueman gave a malicious grin. "Very good, as expected of you. But, you are not near your potential. My turn. Draw, and at this moment I activate the effect of Dark Grepher."
"Dark Grepher?" Shougo repeated. This is a card he'd never heard of.
"By discarding a high level Dark monster from my hand," Trueman explained. "I will special summon this card from my hand. So I send Dark Angel Zerato to the cemetery. Come out, Dark Grepher!"
A warrior monster came out of the ground. It looked similar to a card Shougo knew of, "Warrior Dai Grepher". But its colors were totally dark and it bore an evil smile on its face as it wielded its sword.
"Now, Dark Grepher's other ability activates," Trueman said. "From my hand I'll also discard Wicked Emperor Gaius to search my deck for a dark monster to send to the cemetery as well."
He fanned his deck out, and selected the card "Dark Magician of Chaos".
Shougo briefly puzzled over this before he realized what his lookalike's intent was. "Could it be...?" he murmured.
"You figured it out," Trueman said. "With three Dark monsters in my cemetery, I can special summon your ultimate dragon... show yourself! Dark Armed Dragon!"
Shougo had never been in the situation of having to confront that monster himself. When it appeared on Trueman's field to oppose him, a sharp twinge of fright went through him.
"Now you see the terrible situation you're in," Trueman said, taking another card from his hand. "But, the worst is yet to come. I use my regular summon this turn on Knight of the End in attack mode."
The shadowy armored soldier appeared on the field, and Shougo bit his lip. That card gave his opponent yet another chance to discard.
"I place D.HERO Diabolicguy from my deck to the grave," the false Shougo said, his face bearing an even larger sneer.
"D... Destiny Heroes?" Shougo said in disbelief.
"And next, I activate the magic card... 'Soul Absorption'. Now, pay attention... here is where it gets fun." With mirth that the apparition had not shown so far, the Shougo lookalike chuckled madly as he made his next play. "I remove 'D.HERO Diabolicguy' from my grave, to summon another one from my deck in attack mode!"
The devil-like figure appeared on the field, roaring. And as it did, energy seemed to radiate from the deck and enter Trueman's body, raising his life points up to 4500.
Shougo bit his lip. 'Soul Absorption lets the player gain 500 life points every time a card is removed from play,' he thought. 'And with his Dark Armed Dragon on the field...'
Trueman completed his thought. "I'll now destroy your cards and gain lifepoints for myself. Isn't this a terrific plan? But you know that better than I do, Shougo Aoyama. You've thought of this yourself, haven't you?"
Shougo's eyes widened.
"But...?" the doppelganger went on. "You are too kind to use it? It's unfair? These are nonsensical thoughts created by that false image of yourself that you have. You're kind? You aren't cruel? Dispose of these unnecessary things."
He then ordered the Dark Armed Dragon. "Destroy all of his cards with Dark Genocide!" The images of the Wicked Emperor Gaius, Dark Magician of Chaos and Dark Angel Zerato briefly shimmered onto the field before evaporating into dark energy that channeled into the dragon's arms. It then hurled that energy against Shougo's field.
His facedown cards, Drain Shield, Phantom of Darkness and Killer Tomato were destroyed in one fell swoop. At the same time, Trueman's life points rose by 1500 because of the 'Soul Absorption' card. His lifepoints were now at 5500.
"And now, Aoyama Shougo... you will feel the true horror of a Dark Game. D.HERO Diabloicguy - attack his lifepoints directly."
Diabolicguy hopped forward and then launched a head dive attack against Shougo. An audible crunching sound could be heard as Shougo fell onto his back, barely holding onto his cards as his life dropped to 3200.
He staggered onto his feet, coughing. "I... I felt that!" he muttered.
"That's right," his opposite said. "All the pain inflicted to you during this game... it is not just a powerful illusion. It is real! A fact which my Knight of the End is all to eager to demonstrate!"
"Wait!" Shougo shouted, but it was too late. The knight had already approached him and executed a fierce slash against his chest. While Shougo's body was not damaged, he mentally felt every aspect of the attack and shouted in pain, clutching his staggering heart. His life points were at 1800 now.
His opponent was pitiless. "Dark Grepher!"
The towering warrior had his turn against Shougo, striking him with an air-directed slash that sent him to the ground. He could barely think; the pain had overwhelmed his body. But in the back of his head, he knew the finishing blow was coming.
And Trueman did not hesitate at all to deliver it. "Dark Armed Dragon... end the match."
The Dark Armed Dragon roared and wound up for its signature punch attack. But when it was about to strike, dozens of small furry creatures launched themselves out of Shougo's duel disk and took the blow for him.
"I... discard Kuriboh... from my hand," Shougo said as he got to his feet.
Trueman chuckled. "I see. Even in your weakened state, you could still think about saving yourself," he observed. "You're good at surviving, which is why you were such an appropriate choice for him."
"'Him'? W... who?"
"Never mind that now," he replied. "My turn's over."
Shougo faltered in his steps as he continued to struggle to stand up straight. He clutched his chest and coughed again. The attacks against him... he still felt the pain. It wasn't like a regular duel. But his opponent had told him that from the start.
"Draw," Shougo muttered. "I play Pot of Greed, and draw two cards." He winced and did so. He then looked at his hand. 'I can't win with this,' he thought to himself. 'But I can do some damage. It's risky... but I have to take the chance.'
"I activate the magic card Polymerization," Shougo announced. "I send Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Meteor Dragon from my hand to the cemetery to summon my most powerful monster, Meteor Black Dragon!"
Shougo bit his lip as the familiar molten monster that had helped him through many other pinches appeared on the field and roared.
"Meteor Black Dragon..." Shougo pooled all his strength together and clenched his fist, then pointed at his opponent's field. "Destroy his Dark Armed Dragon!"
The lava dragon roared and prepared to spit out a fireball.
"Dark Burning Meteor!"
A blast of blazing fire caused Dark Armed Dragon to be destroyed. Shougo's doppelganger winced a bit as his life points dropped to 5300.
"That useless old dragon," he muttered. "For you to damage me with it..."
"That's not all!" Shougo said. "I play Fusion Cancel from my hand, splitting my Meteor Black Dragon into its two parts... Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Meteor Dragon!"
The two dragons appeared on the field, and Shougo felt his strength coming back. His body was still in pain, but he felt more confident. Whoever this Trueman was, he wouldn't shake his faith that easily.
"Meteor Dragon! Destroy Dark Grepher!" Shougo ordered. "Burning Meteor!"
The space dragon shot another smoking fireball at the evil warrior, destroying it and dropping Trueman's life points.
"Finally, Red-Eyes Black Dragon will take out your Destiny Hero. Dark Mega Flare!" The legendary dragon destroyed D.HERO Diabolic with a blazing flash of power, and Trueman's points dropped below the 4000 mark again, ending at 3600.
"Turn end," Shougo said. 'There. Let's see you come back from that. Nothing in your hand... and you can't use Monster Reincarnation to bring back Dark Armed Dragon.'
His alter ego just chuckled. "That's the spirit, Aoyama Shougo," he said. "Feel your frustration at the pain I've inflicted to you and hurt me back! My turn... draw!"
Trueman glanced at his one card. "I activate Bitter Choice," he said. "I pick five cards in my deck and show them to you. You pick one to go in my hand, and the rest go to my cemetery. Go!"
The images of five cards appeared - Android Psycho Shocker, the spell cards Earth Crush and Raise Dead.. and two Dark Armed Dragons!
"Wh... what?" Shougo shouted. "You have *three* Dark Armed Dragons?"
"Of course," Trueman replied. "I am standing here representing the you that you want to be. Now... hurry and pick a card. Any card." He sneered again.
'If he had those in his deck... why do this? If I picked Dark Armed Dragon, he wouldn't be able to summon it because his grave would have more than three dark monsters. What... are you up to?'
"I'm going to pick Dark Armed Dragon," Shougo said.
"Very well," the other Shougo said. "Dark Armed goes to my hand, the other cards go to my grave. I will switch Knight of the End to defense mode and end my turn."
'So... he really does have nothing,' Shougo thought, still uncertain of himself as he reached for his deck.
"Meteor Dragon... destroy his Knight of the End. Red-Eyes, direct attack!"
Trueman shielded himself as the Knight was shattered by Meteor Dragon's attack, and then audibly yelled at the impact of Red-Eyes' Dark Mega Flare. His lifepoints were down to 1200.
"My turn's over," Shougo said. "If I win, what will happen? Will I leave this place?"
"That's up to you, of course," Trueman replied, drawing a card. "But don't get ahead of yourself. First I have to rid you of that cherished phantom image you have of yourself."
"You keep saying that! I know who I am!"
Trueman laughed out loud. "That," he said. "Is the biggest lie any human has ever said. I set one monster card facedown. Turn end."
"Whatever," Shougo grumbled. "Just get me out of here after I win this. My turn... draw! Red-Eyes... attack his facedown monster!"
Red-Eyes' fireball attack revealed a black clothed ghoul with a jagged swort - a Night Assassin.
"So sorry, Aoyama Shougo," Trueman said. "Night Assassin's flip effect activates. I can destroy one monster on the field, so I will destroy your Meteor Dragon!"
The figure shimmered away and then re-appeared behind Meteor Dragon, slicing its hologram into pieces.
Shougo muttered to himself. "I set one card. Turn end."
"My turn," his double said. "Draw! Magic card, 'Allure of Darkness', activate. You know how this works, don't you? I draw two cards, then I remove one Dark monster in my hand from play. And I'll remove... the Dark Armed Dragon you gave me!"
The card disappeared from his hand as Trueman gained 500 life points due to the effect of Soul Absorption.
"What? But... why?"
"You've been so afraid of your own ace monster you failed to realize my true plan," Trueman replied. "I summon Dark King Prometheus to the field."
An orange-hooded demon with a body that looked to be made of shadows and electricity materialized on the field. His face carefully hidden by the darkness created by the cloak, Shougo nevertheless seemed to recognize him...
"You know who that is, don't you?" the other Shougo smirked. "You can't put your finger on it though... not yet, of course. For now, I activate Prometheus' special ability. I'll remove all the Dark-attribute monsters in my graveyard from play, powering him up by 400 points each."
Card images appeared behind Prometheus - two Dark Armed Dragons, Android Psycho Shocker, Dark Grepher, Night Assassin, Knight of the End and D.Hero Diabolicguy - before they shimmered into dark energy which hit his chest. His attack power rose to...
"4000?!" Shougo choked.
"That's not all," Trueman said. "Because of Soul Absorption, I'll regain life by 500 for each card removed. So as you see, you never had a chance to begin with." He chuckled morbidly as his life rose to 5200.
Shougo backed up a step, but in his mind, he wasn't really afraid. 'He can attack if he wants,' he thought to himself. 'My facedown card is Holy Barrier - Mirror Force. Next turn, I'll use my Red-Eyes to defeat him. I refuse to lose here.'
"And now I play the magic card, 'Dimension Fusion'. Pay attention, Shougo Aoyama, because you will remember this in the next world! By paying 2000 of my life points, we both can summon cards that were removed from play. However, if my recollection is correct... you haven't removed anything!"
Now Shougo was genuinely afraid.
Trueman winced as his life dropped. "I have four free slots," he said. "I will summon... Dark Angel Zerato, Gaius the Wicked Emperor and Dark Magician of Chaos."
All three creatures rose on the field as he announced their names. Zerato and Dark Magician all had 2800 life points while Gaius was slightly weaker at 2400.
Trueman gave his most evil sneer of all. "And the last monster I'll summon... Android Psycho Shocker!"
'Oh no!' Shougo thought. 'With him on the field... I can't use my trap!'
"That's not all! Dark Magician of Chaos lets me gather a magic card from my cemetery and put it in my hand. I choose Earth Crush, and use it to destroy Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
The clone slapped the card on his duel disk and narrowed his eyes.
"Disappear, you weak image," he muttered.
The ground rippled underneath Shougo's dragon, causing its hologram to shatter.
"My Red-Eyes..." Shougo whimpered helplessly.
"You have no time to mourn for that weak beast," Trueman reminded him. "All of my monsters will now attack you directly! And now is a good time to tell you the cost of defeat in this place!"
All five monsters readied their magical attacks.
"The price of weakness... is death."
And then all their attacks struck Shougo at once.
He cried like a wounded beast as his life points vanished, and he dropped to the floor, body smoking.
"Be stronger in your next life," Trueman said as the form he had taken once again faded to black. "Your future demands it!"
And the rest was silence...
--
Isabel stirred slowly, getting up off the ground in front of the Ra Yellow dorms. "Who dropped the house on me?" she mumbled as she rubbed her head.
She then saw Shougo on the ground, looking much worse off than she. His cards were spilled across the ground.
"Shougo?" Isabel shouted, but Shougo didn't answer. She ran to him, and saw that his body appeared to be smoking. "Shougo! Hang in there!"
Shougo opened his eyes briefly and glanced at Isabel, then his eyes rolled back and he fell unconscious again.
"Shougo! Someone help him... Shougo!"
--
TODAY'S FEATURED CARD: The Effect Monster, "Dark King Prometheus"
When this monster is normal summoned, you can remove any number of Dark-attribute monsters in your cemetery from play. For each monster removed, it will gain 400 attack points until the end of your turn.
NEXT TIME: "The Never-Ending Battle! The Will to Fight."
==
SUPPLEMENTAL SECTION
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CARDS USED BY SHOUGO AOYAMA:
* DRAIN SHIELD (Draining Shield)
Normal Trap
Negate the attack of 1 of your opponent's monsters and gain Life Points equal to its ATK.
* PHANTOM OF DARKNESS (Dark Illusion)
Counter Trap
Negate the activation of a Magic Card, Trap Card or Effect Monster that targets a face-up Dark-attribute Monster, and destroy that card.
* KILLER TOMATO (Mystic Tomato)
Effect Monster (L4 Dark Plant, 1400/1100)
When this card is destroyed and sent to the cemetery as a result of battle, you may Special Summon 1 Dark-attribute monster with 1500 ATK or less from your Deck in Attack Position.
* KURIBOH
Effect Monster (L1 Dark Demon, 300/200)
When your opponent attacks you during their Battle Phase, you may discard this card from your hand to make the Battle Damage from that attack 0.
* POT OF GREED
Normal Magic
Draw 2 cards from your deck.
* FUSION (Polymerization)
Send Fusion-Material Monsters listed on a Fusion Monster card from your hand or side of the field to the cemetery to Fusion Summon that Monster from your Fusion Deck.
* METEOR DRAGON
Normal Monster (L5 Fire Dragon, 1800/2000)
This dragon appeared from the sky and crashed to the earth.
* RED-EYES BLACK DRAGON (Red-Eyes B. Dragon)
Normal Monster (L7 Dark Dragon, 2400/2000)
A ferocious dragon with a deadly attack.
* METEOR BLACK DRAGON (Meteor B. Dragon)
Fusion Monster (L8 Fire Dragon, 3500/2000)
"Red-Eyes Black Dragon" + "Meteor Dragon"
* FUSION CANCEL (De-Fusion)
Instant Magic
Return 1 Fusion Monster on the field to its owner's Fusion deck. In addition, if the Fusion-Material Monsters exist in your cemetery, you may Special Summon those monsters to the field.
* HOLY BARRIER - MIRROR FORCE
Normal Trap
Activate only when your opponent declares an attack. Destroy all Attack Position monsters on your opponent's side of the field.
--
CARDS USED BY SHOUGO AOYAMA DOPPELGANGER (TRUEMAN):
* DARK ANGEL ZERATO (Darklord Zerato)
Effect Monster (L8 Dark Angel, 2800/2300)
If there are 4 or more Dark-attribute monsters with different names in your Graveyard, you can Normal Summon this monster by sacrificing 1 Dark-attribute monster. You can send 1 Dark-attribute monster from your hand to the cemetery to destroy all monsters your opponent controls. If you activate this effect, destroy this card during the End Phase of this turn.
* DARK GREPHER
Effect Monster (L4 Dark Warrior, 1700/1600)
You can discard 1 Level 5 or higher Dark-attribute monster to Special Summon this card from your hand. Once per turn, you can discard 1 Dark-attribute monster to send 1 Dark-attribute monster from your Deck to the cemetery.
* WICKED EMPEROR GAIUS (Caius the Shadow Monarch)
Effect Monster (L6 Dark Demon, 2400/1000)
When this card is summoned with a sacrifice, remove from play 1 card on the field. If the card is a Dark-attribute Monster, inflict 1000 points of damage to your opponent.
* DARK MAGICIAN OF CHAOS
Effect Monster (L8 Dark Spellcaster, 2800/2600)
When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, you can select 1 Magic card in your cemetery and add it to your hand. Monsters this card destroys in battle are removed from play instead of being sent to the cemetery. If this face-up card is removed from the field, it is removed from play.
* DARK ARMED DRAGON
Effect Monster (LV7 Dark Dragon, 2800/1000)
This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summoned when you have exactly 3 Dark-attribute Monsters in your cemetery. By removing 1 Dark-attribute Monster in your cemetery from play, destroy 1 card on the field.
* KNIGHT OF THE END (Armageddon Knight)
Effect Monster (L4 Dark Warrior, 1400/1200)
When this card is Summoned, you can send 1 Dark-attribute Monster from your Deck to the cemetery.
* D.HERO DIABOLICGUY (Destiny Hero - Malicious)
Effect Monster (L6 Dark Warrior, 800/800)
By removing this card in your cemetery from play, select 1 "D.HERO Diabolicguy" from your Deck and Special Summon it.
* SOUL ABSORPTION
Continuous Magic
Each time a card is removed from play, raise your Life Points by 500 for each card removed from play.
* BITTER CHOICE (Painful Choice)
Normal Magic
Select 5 cards from your Deck and reveal them to your opponent. Your opponent chooses 1 card among them. Add that card to your hand, and discard the remaining cards to your cemetery.
* ANDROID PSYCHO SHOCKER (Jinzo)
Effect Monster (L6 Dark Machine, 2400/1500)
Trap Cards cannot be activated and the effects of all face-up Trap Cards are negated.
* EARTH CRUSH (Smashing Ground)
Normal Magic
Destroy 1 monster on your opponent's side of the field with the highest Defense points. (If it's a tie, you get to choose.)
* RAISE DEAD (Monster Reborn)
Normal Magic
Select 1 monster from either player's cemetery and Special Summon it to your side of the field.
* NIGHT ASSASSIN (Night Assailant)
Effect Monster (L3 Dark Demon, 200/500)
FLIP: Select 1 monster on your opponent's side of the field and destroy it. When this monster is sent from your hand to the cemetery, return 1 Flip Effect monster from the cemetery to your hand.
* ALLURE OF DARKNESS
Normal Magic
Draw 2 cards from your deck. Remove 1 Dark-attribute monster in your hand from play. If you cannot do this, discard your entire hand.
* DARK KING PROMETHEUS (Prometheus, King of the Shadows)
Effect Monster (L4 Dark Demon, 1200/800)
When this card is Normal Summoned, you can remove from play any number of Dark-attribute monsters in your cemetery. For each card removed by this effect, this card gains 400 Attack points until the end of the turn
* DIMENSION FUSION
Normal Magic
Pay 2000 Life Points. Both players Special Summon as many of their removed from play monsters as possible.
