Dark Maltos

• Pojo Home Page
  
• Message Board
  
• Contact Staff
  

Dark Maltos's Dueling Dome of Horrors

The Fallen
October 30, 2006

Well guys, Hallows Eve is upon us, and as a special treat I’ve decided to do you all a decent horror story revolving around a terrifying shadow duel. This could get pretty dark guys, just thought I’d let you in on that, but I hope you enjoy it anyway, have fun.
 

The Fallen

The streets were deserted. Not a sound could be heard over the lashing of the rain as it thrashed like a whip onto the whole neighbourhood. Hammering and smashing into the homes, blasting away torrentially ,washing and wearing at the gardens and paths , the remains of which now floated down the roads into the grids and eventually down into the sewer, carried in solution by the sheer force that this monumental storm had raised in its wake. There was a distinct chill in the air, a foreboding, sinister one. One that would quickly be dismissed as superstitious fancy brought on in the spirit of the occasion. Usually the streets would be full right now, more so than any other night, full of children and parents alike up to mischief , causing mayhem, their greed and manic tendency all released and purified on this one fateful evening. But alas, the storm had came and seen to it that none should escape to riot, the trickery tonight would be contained, even on the night it was at its greatest , the pinnacle of darkness. - Halloween.

No parent had dared send their child out on this night, the downpour was just to mighty, too extreme. It would be suicide, or even murder. But one in the town didn’t just want to go out, they needed to, it was a matter of dire necessity, with increasingly dire consequences. They had to be let out, otherwise there was going to be one hell of a mess.

Tyson the dog was scratching and the door and making whimpering noises. He needed to go BAD. Jake looked at him. ‘You must be joking buddy, not in this weather.’

Jake had never been that much into Halloween for the last couple of years. It had previously been his favourite time of year , but eventually he’d matured enough not to be that interested. He had other hobbies now, particularly Yu-gi-oh. Jake realised the irony of him thinking of himself as too mature for Halloween , but fine to play a trading card game designated at little kids, but he didn’t care. Sure the TV series was a fairly corny , over acted childish nightmare, with GX only fuelling that further, but the game itself was beyond mesmerising. For all the cliché and generic motives each character had, the cards they used expressed their motives and social status more so than any writer could ever literally represent. The cards oozed charisma, and the game mechanics kept the game fairly fresh and dynamic. Factors that could hold Jake’s interest for hours on end. When his mother had offered to make him a Yugi-mon costume for Halloween he’d declined with humiliation. It wasn’t the Yugi he was interested in , it was the cards. She wouldn’t understand.

Tyson continued to whimper, a sound that eventually became increasingly heart wrenching until eventually it was nearly a tear. Jake gave him a stare as if to say ’ I hate you for this, you know that don’t you?’ whilst Tyson gave him one back that said

‘I don’t care, I need to crap, open the freaking door and take me to the field !!!’.

It was a standstill, but eventually Jake relented and resentfully got his coat. Tyson barked fairly smugly for a dog about to explode on the carpet. Jake grabbed his coat, forced his deck into his pocket and locked the door behind him as the two set off for the storm that awaited them. Jake couldn’t afford to leave his deck lying around, his mother had told him that if he did so ever again, the cards would all go in the shredder. He found her lack of understanding slightly worrying, but he’d invested too much time and money into making his deck , and he wasn’t about to lose it all just so Tyson could relieve himself whilst dragging him through a monsoon. Jake had been in the process of checking over his deck when Tyson had began whimpering. Reluctantly he continued on with his dog, heading towards the field.

Meanwhile, in the distance something in the darkness stirred. The atmosphere changed abruptly , without warning . A flash of bright light struck the scene and let out an echo of light with blistering intensity, illuminating the entire town as if it had been day for the flash of an instant , then it became dark once more, in fact somewhat darker than it had been previously. The storm increased in intensity dramatically and each home was met with an uproar of hurricane wind as things began to spiral out of control. The clouds intertwined together into a spiral , whilst lightning and thunder crashed about above the anomaly until the full force of the storm focused it’s eye on the graveyard at the top of the mounting overlooking the rest of the town. Lightning struck once more, this time exploding within the eye, around the graves of the departed. It struck once more, the ground beginning to shake all around. Again. The tombs themselves shaking violently, again the earth above beginning to crumble. Again. Again. AGAIN! Until finally, silence. Something had awoken.

The rain itself was like falling stones on Jake’s face. It stung like a knife penetrating his flesh, and he was surprised that Tyson seemed to remain un-phased. The rain was so extreme that the drains were filled up to capacity now and an ongoing stream of the water was now a good foot deep on the concrete paving. Jake was knee deep in water as he trudged through the solute filth.

Noticing the commotion around the cemetery , Jake was intrigued. His clothes were already ruined, his whole body drenched already, so what harm could staying out a bit longer in all this really do? Dragging the whimpering Tyson again up the hill leading to the graveyard .

When he arrived what he saw took his breathe away . Around the tombstones surrounding the grave was a flux of lightning and green electrical energy. Tyson suddenly began to act very strangely, yelling and barking through the bar of the cemetery gate, struggling to be free of his collar and chain. ‘Come away from there Tyson, come on boy’ Jake said desperately trying to drag the canine away from this dangerous area. What had gotten into him? Tyson pulled forward and Luke pulled back. The chain became tense in the confrontation , and the steel joints began to buckle in the strain. More and more until eventually one weak link gave way sending Jake flying back into the now leg high water, and Tyson forward between the bars of the gate. Jake jumped up and gasped for air, spluttering out the part-sewage water in his mouth , and wiping his face clean. ‘TYSON !!!’ he yelled as he looked desperately for his beloved dog. Suddenly a flash of lightning illuminated the area once more and a terrified yell could be heard above the resultant thunder. ‘NO !!’ Jake yelled as he desperately forced his way through the razor studded gate, tearing into his arm as he did so. The pain didn’t register with Jake though, and nor did the swirl of electric statically building above his head that could strike at any minute. He had one priority and that was Tyson.

Through all the rain on the outside of the cemetery, a good 2 feet in depth by now, inside the cemetery was as dry as a bone, despite the monumental downpour thrashing out above his head. The water never collected, as if it were absorbed straight through the ground itself and out into the rest of the town. This curious phenomenon was greatly received by Jake, as it only helped him to find the stunned body of his dog with greater ease. He grabbed Tyson’s body. He was unharmed, alive and well. No signs of injury, just a little bit shaken up by his near miss. Jake picked up Tyson and made his way to the gateway, the sound of lightning crashing and rain pouring around him. Clutching Tyson in one arm , Jake put his hand out to open the gate when suddenly all went quiet, and all went black. An eerie chill ran down the back of Jakes spine. His body became rigid and poised. His breathing became harder, but the lack of air in this dome of darkness made this even more difficult to do. A cold sweat ran across his forehead, and his mouth became dry. His ears became alert to the silence around him, and his heart hammered away like a bass drum inside his chess. He felt a twinge in his legs as the shivered in fear and cold and his face felt like ice, hard and frozen. From under his arm Tyson faded away inexplicably. He was alone. His eyes bulged as if about to force their way out of his head. He was alone. His knuckles clenched, and his teeth grinded and his stomach became knotted. He was ALL alone. Then suddenly, a voice. A shrill, taunting, dark voice. A voice so sickly and vile it could turn milk stale, a voice so foreign and yet familiar that it made Jake feel unbelievably uneasy and absolutely uncomfortable.

‘Who…who are you….?’ Jake murmured out of fear, his eye welling up with repressed tears. He was replied with the eerie silence. ‘What are you doing to me, to this town?’ Again silence became his recipient. ‘WHERE’S TYSON !?’ he bellowed in fear, tears flowing from his eyes over his ice cold skin.

The atmosphere had shifted inside this seemingly dark bubble. No longer was Jake soaked through , he was now bone dry but still cold, and faint. As he spoke his breathe condensed, signalling that it was below freezing, and yet Jake felt relatively warm , although cold when he tried to move.

The silence Jake was met with infuriated him further. ‘Answer me or ELSE !’ his breathing becoming increasingly weighted.

Without warning, from that darkness a cackle filled the air . It was blood curdling and horrific on a scale unknown to Jake, it made him cower in it’s presence.

‘What could YOU DO !!’ the voice screeched. From out of nowhere something claw-like struck out at Jake, hurling him to the ground, his deck splattering across the ground. ‘Hmm,’ the voice continued, apparently looking at the fallen cards. ‘It looks like you’ve chosen your form of defense.’

Within an instant Jake was back in the stormy cemetery , but this time in the presence of a dark, cloaked figure entirely shrouded in darkness. He was speaking in the same raspy voice as he had done previously , but Jake took no notice of the words that came out. He was too preoccupied with the strange and somewhat horrific creature beneath the cloak. With every word what seemed like a flurry of hideous insects made their way around the face of his apparent opponent. And with every movement of said insects oozed a collaboration of blood and puss as if seeping from a wound. The majority of the face was obscured, but the slightest glimpses of what could be seen terrified Jake to the depths of his soul. Noticing the stationary and uniform position of Jake’s body , the creature before him began smugly and loudly so that Jake took notice

‘To gaze upon me without concealment is to go mad young one. I’d advert your gaze if I were you…’

‘ If you’re out to kill us all then why warn me?’ snapped Jake .

‘Who says I want to kill anyone?’ replied the voice in an un-easing manner.

‘It’s a bit cliché don’t you think? A bit of a weak plotline.’ Jake began. Then taking on the voice of the typical commentator ‘On a stormy Halloween night, only one boy can stop the forces of generic evil. It’s time to duel ! Who’s writing this anyway, it sounds like a GX Halloween special for crying out loud.’

Jake’s comments had appeared to struck a nerve with the shadow, or at least for a second. Regaining it’s composure, the beast replied casually

‘You cynical nature amuses me young one. You think you know it all, know how typical everything is , how ‘cliché’. You have no idea my young friend one whom you’re dealing with here. I am the spirits of the un-dead, the wrath of the un-holy, IAM AM THE DESTROYER OF …’

‘Oh give it a rest, jeeze. I’ve heard it all before, big bad, blah blah, wants to kill , blah blah. Why, just why does a card game have to decide everything?’

The trifled monster snarled

‘For millennia people have found ways to decide their differences without finding ways to talk, ways to communicate and work as a team. People must find a way to do things on their own, it’s the way it’s always been. We are born into this world alone, and we die in this world alone. We walk through this world by ourselves , following our own selfish desires and ultimately finding ways to simply improve ourselves specifically. The ultimate truth is that life forms of all kinds are selfish and will ultimately only look out for number 1. Now we must duel.’

‘But why, WHY !’

‘As that is the way of the world, we fight, we win or we lose. Since you are unarmed I’m hardly going to throw a spear or a sword at you. Your deck is your chosen and only weapon. In order to achieve balance in this conflict we must meet on equal terms. ‘

‘You’re completely insane, do you know that?’ snapped Jake, shaking partly in fear and partly because the pain in his arm from where he’d caught it on the gate had finally presented itself. ‘What conflict?’

‘I am the product of all the pent up rage in this town , all the confined terror. The storm has seen to it that none shall leave their homes. Their trickery and dormant mischief has been locked away , and it called to me. It awoke me. Had it continued I wouldn’t have stirred until the morn, by which time my power would have be extravagant, all would have been in turmoil. But you changed all that.’

‘What do you mean?’ pondered Jake.

‘Had it not been for you’re defiance from keeping inside I would have awoken fully charged, but your presence changed everything. I had to awake earlier than expected, and now I’m going to finish you off for this betrayal.’

The voice had changed drastically, it was now less interested in toying with Jake, and was now far more serious, and determined to win. ‘There is only one way you’ll learn’ belted the beast. ‘By beating you at your favourite thing , the thing that means so much to you, only then will you understand the true necessity of your upcoming death.’

In an instant, what appeared to be a duel disk found itself to both the cloaked figure, and Jake’s arms, within which placed the respective decks. Before Jake could realise what was happening the voice had drew and ordered Jake to do the same. Jake did as he was instructed, feeling somewhat compelled by the fact that if he was to go, at least he’d go in the way he’d most liked to have gone, in some sort of shadow duel.

Jake looked at his hand. A shinning angel could search out a Silent swordsman lv 3 from his deck when attacked, then on his turn he could get out lv 5. Combined with the Jinzo in his hand and his Graceful Charity, this thing was in for a tough ride. The creature began.

‘Card destruction’. Jake went to reluctantly discard his hand when he fell to his knees and began clutching at his waste. As the cards began to leave his hand, it felt as though he was having the breathe sucked out of him. When he picked up for the cards he lost he returned to normal.

‘Oh dear’ began the shroud. ‘How will one fair against and actual attack if he buckles under the pressure of a quick discard?’ . Jake regained his composure and rose to his feet. Suddenly before him stood and unfortunately recognisable fiend. Dark World Sillva . ‘Might as well start as we mean to go on eh young one?’ said the shadow. ‘I also draw an additional card thanks to my Broww. I think I’ll set these two first , and then end my turn.’ said the voice placing a face down monster and spell or trap.

Jake was frustrated. His brilliant opening hand had been replaced by a slightly less effective one. He set a face down monster and a card behind it and ended.

The voice drew and revealed a Dark world lightning, opting for the monster which turned out to be a Sangan. With which, Jake searched out his second Shinning angel. Via his Dark World lightning the creature produced a Goldd Wu- lord and then flipped his face down Morphing Jar . Jake, distraught at the loss of his other Shinning angel reluctantly picked up his new 5 cards, the monster picking up an additional 2 thanks to his second and third Broww’s. It then motioned to attack at which Jake revealed his face down card, Waboku.

‘Thanks to that , I take no damage.’ he said triumphantly.

‘No literal damage,’ replied the beast. ‘but emotional damage, that’s something else entirely.’ He motioned to Goldd who swung at Jake with the back end of his axe, sending him to the ground, shaken and bruised. This then followed by a punch from Silva and a bite from Morphing Jar. The voice then ended his turn after setting two face downs.

His head still spinning from his aggressive assault , Jake drew and then revealed his lightning Vortex card, sending his Treeborn Frog to the grave. Jake was angry at the humiliation he’d just suffered, and he also realise that he was quickly going to be coming into a rough patch if he didn’t do something soon.

The voice’s monsters all disappeared in a flash of light induced by the spell . Then Jake began his roll. First he played reinforcements of the army, retrieving his Marauding Captain from his deck, of which he then proceeded to summon. Through Marauding Captain’s special ability he then special summoned a Hand of Nephthys from his hand. After this he then used Hand of Nephthys as a tribute as well as Marauding Captain to bring out his most powerful creature he could, -The Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys.

The golden bird squawked and shone in the bitter darkness like a beacon of hope for Jake. She looked majestic as she posed there and inspiring to behold. Jake couldn’t help but smile as he looked up at her transfixed. She was just so beautiful which made it all the more painful when she exploded in his face.

Jake felt a mad rush of pain as he was scorched by the rush that struck him, nearly incinerating him in the process. He fell to his knees as his Life point metre fell to 5600. When the dust cleared he looked up and saw to his horror the face down card revealed by the creature, - Ring of Destruction. Jake had never felt pain like that before, it was excruciating, relentless agony. Unbridled aching. Wounded and somewhat exhausted he lay there, his clothes and even flesh scorched by the resultant aftermath of that simple card. So that’s what it feels like…he thought to himself. Staggering to his feet he set one face down and ended. Now only having one card in his hand.

The creature drew, seemingly unaffected by the explosion he’d caused with his equal 5600lp and went on to summon a Shadowknight Archfiend, a hideous abomination made of skulls and flame, it’s razor sharp sword edge glowing a fiery red. Jake definitely didn’t want to be on the end of that .

The creature ordered his attack to which Jake responded with his Scapegoat card. Four fluffy sheep appeared in front of his exposed field. Jake cried out with pain as the red -hot talon of the archfiend struck the literally defense-less sheep. The voice ended.

Jake drew, followed by a ribbit as his frog returned to the field, and a squawk as his beautiful phoenix did the same. With the coming of the phoenix came a blaze of fury directed at the opponents spell and trap zones, where each were about to be forcefully exterminated. The shadow revealed a face down Deck Devastation Virus, followed by the revival of a Goldd Wu-lord in attack mode via Gateway to Dark world. Jake was forced to watch in horror as his nearly entire field was wiped out by the virus, and nearly vomited when he had to show his hand to the shadow. His hand was safe, 2 spells, but now he was even more worried, thanks to the virus, whenever he picked up for the following 3 turns if it were a monster with under 1500 attack points it would be immediately discarded. The effect of the virus took its toll on Jake who felt as though he were suffering from severe Pneumonia . It was all getting too much, he was on the verge of passing out. He ordered his phoenix to attack the revived Goldd and then ended.

The voice then drew and activated his Brain control spell card. His lp dropping to 4800. Jake watched in horror as his beloved Phoenix turned over to the voice’s side of the field. The voice ordered the fire bird to attack, to which it obeyed and struck Jake with the full force of it’s inferno -like breathe. Jake reeled back, his lp dropping to 3200. His already scorched skin now barbequed by the inferno. He was black as coal and on the limits of death. The voice then sacrificed the Phoenix and brought out his second Goldd. Now Jake wasn’t getting her back.

Jake drew, revived his frog , and barely able to stand thanks to his injuries revealed his Silent Swordsman lv 5, immune to the effects of the virus. He tributed his Treeborn frog and summoned his magnificent light warrior. Then he activated his one card in his hand, Last will. Searching through his deck, he brought out his Exiled Force monster, and using its effect sacrificed it to destroy the Goldd. His defences now gone, Jake ordered his monster to strike, before falling back through exhaustion. Silent Swordsman LV 5 hit the shadow directly, his impressive 2300 attack points being enough to knock the beast back as it’s life points dropped to 2500, a feat previously unseen. The shadow’s energy reserve was failing, that was the only explanation. He wasn’t fully charged, he’s losing energy fairly quickly because of his premature awakening. But who would fall first, it or Jake? Jake felt he knew the answer. He was in a very sorry state right now, he could barely move let alone strategise. He’d have to take things as they came.

The creature drew and revealed his second Brain Control, his lp then dropped to 1700. Jake smiled weakly. ‘My Silent Swordsman’s immune to your spell cards moron.’ he said smugly in a dry, pathetic whisper. . Unnerved the voice set a monster face down, followed by 2 other face down’s behind it, then ended. Jake drew into his Silent Swordsman lv 3, and discarded it through the effect of the virus. The feeling of Pneumonia riddled his weak body once more, making him writhe in pain and discomfort. The creature seemed delighted. Jake caught a glimpse of his hideous face from beneath his hood, the fear enough to revitalise himself a little bit more. A familiar ribbit reassured him as his Treeborn frog resurfaced once more, and then he smiled broadly as his Silent Swordsman disappeared, in it’s place was a far stronger, more defined version, - Silent Swordsman Lv 7. With his spirit and reserve fading fast, Jake ordered the assault on the creature’s face down monster, which revealed itself to be a Spirit Reaper. Disheartened, but not surrendering, Jake ended his turn.

The shadow drew and then attempted to activate it’s Swords of Revealing Light, to which Silent Swordsman reacted with a glowing white light. ‘No spells work while this guy’s on period.’ whimpered Jake. Snarling the voice ended.

Jake drew into a trap card, call of the haunted. Immune to the effect of the virus Jake found himself feeling slightly less uncomfortable as he set it face down. The pneumonia was wearing off. Unable to remove the pestering Reaper, Jake had no choice but to end his turn. The creature drew, and then set himself a face down card and summoned a Newdoria. With 1200 attack points, it suicided into the Silent Swordsman, bringing the creature down to only 100. Jake though this as a very peculiar move, but then looked aghast as the spores released from the deceased creature took their effect on his Swordsman, forcing him to explode in his face as Nephthys had done previously. Jake felt drained. His two best monsters had met with their demise so early in the game, with such ease.

Then the creature looked somewhat smugly at Jake from beneath it’s eyes. Revealing on of it’s face down, a Call of the Haunted the deranged beast revived it’s fallen Brron the mad king. Jake wasn’t too worried, he had his frog to protect him. With an attack from the Brron he felt pretty reassured until the creature revealed his next face down - Enemy Controller. Jake watched in horror as the hideously deranged fiend relentlessly attacked his helpless attack mode frog and dealt him 1700 damage, reducing him to a low 1500lp. But then Jake’s worst fears were realised as via the insane Brron’s antics the voice managed to special summon via discarding a Beiige Vanguard, with just enough attack points to wipe him out at 1600. The hideous beast attacked , unaware of Jake’s face down, and stopped in it’s wake as he revealed it. Via Call of the Haunted Jake had managed to revive his discarded Jinzo, and with 2400 attack points, essentially negate the attack of the Beiige. The voice set his remaining hand, gesturing as though his traps were already set , but Jake wasn’t worried. Jinzo never feared traps. Jinzo was immune. Jake drew into his Heavy storm, revealed it, and managed an exhausted laugh as the voice revealed his face down Book of Moon flipping Jinzo face down to defense. Jake simply flip summoned his monster back and obliterated the attack mode Brron in one fell swoop ,eliminating the shadow forever.

With the beasts downfall, the lightning scorching over head ceased, but the rain continued on. Tyson reappeared and began licking away at his fallen master’s face, but he received no reaction. The sheer strain of the duel had exhausted Jake to a degree where he just couldn’t remain conscious any longer. The rain continued to fall on the two of them long into the night, and it was morning before they found his near -lifeless body in the end, half drowned, irreparably exhausted. Scorched and bleeding, thought to be as a result of the lightning from the storm. It was a long time before Jake really recovered, and when he did it wasn’t to the life he’d once led. Before Jinzo’s final assault the true face of his opponents had been revealed with the destruction of his cloak. What Jake saw did as the creature had declared, drove him insane. The brief periods of which Jake was taken out of his madness only further confirmed his mental instability. Fanciful tales of Shadow duels and Jinzo and the Phoenix and Silent Swordsman only worsened his state of mind, and only inspired his shattered mother to do as she’d promised, feed the deck to the shredder, blaming it for the result of Jake’s delusion with the real world when in fact, it had been what saved him , and everyone else from death .
 

Well that was a bit long huh? It’s hard fitting a whole story into about six pages, but I think I managed. Tell me what you think of it at DarkMaltos@msn.com

Have a good Halloween guys.

Dark Maltos