Here's chapter twenty one of my Yu-Gi-Oh GX fanfic. As you all remember last time after Lance fell to Crypt Jason, Mori, and Trish all took it upon themselves to find the culprit and make him answer for his crimes only to be defeated by Crypt himself. Then after being isolated by Crypt on the academy island Destiny, Amun, Locket, Gaia, Kazuya, Rose, Fate, Yukie, and Ninomiya began to form a resistance against him until Gaia finds Ninomiya in a similar state as the others and begins a duel with Crypt but seems to have more knowledge of his deck than the others, but will it help him now.
Crypt is left with 2600 life points, three card in hand, one card face-down, a face-up trap card Bermuda Triangle, and one monster, Cryptid-Species Niseag (currently 2000/2000), on the field about to take a bite out of Gaia.
Gaia is left with 3500 life points, three card in hand, no monsters on the field, and two cards face-down.
DISCLAIMER: ALL THE CREDIT FOR YU-GI-OH GOES TO KAZUKI TAKAHASHI AND SHONEN JUMP. I OWN ONLY SOME OF THE OCs AND THE DECKS USED BY THEM.
Duel XXI: Crusade of the Academy; Cosmos v. Cryptid-Species, Part 2
"Ancient Fury!" Crypt shouted out as the monster reared its head back and thrust it forward releasing a large burst of water that traveled towards Gaia at break-neck speed.
"This better work…for all our sakes," Gaia thought while closing his eyes bracing himself for impact and then opening them only a second later. "I play Mirror Force!" he declared as a large mirrored barrier surrounded. "With this all your monsters in attack mode are destroyed no questions asked."
Snickering Crypt simply looked at his monster as it continued releasing the water which hit the shield and began to lose power. Gaia sighed with relief but then heard a small cracking sound. Looking up at the spot where the barrier was being attacked Gaia found a small cracks massing where the water was battering the shield eventually destroying it and then blasting Gaia with the tons of water being poured out against him reducing his life points from 3500-1500.
"Niseag is too elegant to be stopped by your meaningless defense," Crypt explained. "It cannot be destroyed or affected by spell or trap cards in any way, shape or form. Guess you better start thinking of something else."
"Shut-up," Gaia said drawing his card. "I summon DFF-VII Cloud (1900/1200) in attack mode!" he declared summoning a young warrior with blond hair, an indigo outfit, a metal shoulder brace, a brown belt with a large symbol on it, brown boots, and a large broadsword he held behind his back. "And once per turn, I get to destroy one of your spell or trap cards, do your stuff."
Running past the monster the warrior brought his sword in front of him and slashed the card manifestation of the Bermuda Triangle dispelling the field below the two of them. Gaia sighed with relief and placed another face-down card ending his turn.
"My move," Crypt said chuckling dangling the card in between his index and middle finger. "I summon the Cryptid-Species Bayer Road Beast (?/?) in attack mode!" he declared summoning a large bipedal wolf with its fangs dripping with drool, scratches in multiple parts of its body and the same claw charm around its neck. "My ever-faithful doggy has a growth of 1500 every end phase at the cost of one of my monsters from my hand during the end phase or else he gets nothing. With that I'll end my turn giving my Niseag no gain and now the cost must be paid for Bayer Road Beast," Crypt reminded dropping the Mongolian Death Worm into the graveyard. "And with that, next turn my Niseag will gain an extra 2700 next time I attack, putting you closer to your headstone."
"Why?" Gaia asked. "Why are you back? Why do you have to cause me grief? It's been ten years since I've seen you and here you are trying to kill of an entire academy just for some stupid magic power."
"Exactly," Crypt said. "There's a reason I've isolated all of you here; each of you has your own magic, some more prominent than others. In order for me to complete my ambition I must have all of your magic."
Gaia stood still and looked back up at Crypt with the most enraged look he had ever had, "People aren't mere pawns!" he shouted. "And you're trying to kill us for something that won't work!"
"How naïve," Crypt said. "Destiny is the final key; she is descended from a woman whose predictions were 99% correct until she was murdered for her power. Destiny may not know this yet, but in order for anyone to be healed of this poison they have to use the power of the Celestial Queen whose spirit inhabits Destiny."
"Exactly," Crypt said in agreement. "A figure that is said to be able to amplify any power that a person holds. How is it that Destiny is able to figure out complex maneuvers that her opponents use sometimes before they even use them allowing her to prepare a defense for said tactic. This queen, however, comes with a price, you must make a necessary sacrifice. She can only enter the lives of people who have experienced the ultimate loss."
"Loss of loved ones," Gaia remarked with Crypt chuckling.
"Precisely," Crypt said. "Destiny is the last person alive in her entire extended family; mother, father, uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents, in-laws, any kind of family you can think of she's lost. This makes her power all the more potent, and obvious. She can only lose by her own choice."
"That's where you're wrong, I've defeated Destiny and she went into shock afterwards," Gaia said defensively.
"Oh if only that were true," Crypt said. "At first it only seems as though a larger spirit is required for her power to manifest, but upon closer examination of the facts she could've won all those duels, but chose not to."
"E-even if that were true how would you beat her?" Gaia asked.
"Simple," Crypt started chuckling. "I give her the choice between her or her friends. The queen is nothing, if not gracious, and selfless. She'll gladly give her life many times over to save her friends even if that means letting me live, and giving up her power."
"Not as long as there are people willing to protect her," Gaia said. "Like me! Draw!" he declared. "I activate EX-Mode Activate! This grants my monster an extra 1000 attack points and the piercing effect," he explained as the warrior's sword began to change into a more stream-lined sword with a large blue stripe running down its body increasing its attack from 1900-2900. "Now attack his wolf friend with Omnislash!"
The swordsman jumped into the air slashing away at the werewolf creature about thirteen times before bringing the sword above his head and slashing downwards destroying the creature and reducing Crypt's life points from 2600-1200. Gaia looked at Crypt as after the attack finished Crypt was in a state of near hysteria and held onto his arm as his back began to tense.
"What is your problem?" Gaia asked.
"Nothing," Crypt started. "Just giving into another monstrous feature I have," he finished removing his coat revealing a bulge inside a black buttoned shirt. Taking the glove off his hand and revealing his claws from the Death Raptor Crypt scratched a large tear in to his shirt from which a large wing shot out of made of a leather material and scattered feathers.
"What in the world?" Gaia exclaimed looking at the wing which stretched to about six feet long into the air.
"Seeing as how it's my turn I draw!" Crypt declared as his wing fluttered in the wind. "This wing is from a creature found in both legends of Native Americans and seen as a ferocious beast that will attack should anything get too close, and I summon it now; Cryptid-Species Thunderbird (?/?) in attack mode!" he declared summoning a large avian figure with the same leathery wings and scattered feathers wings and the head of regular an eagle that screeched in the face of the warrior controlled by Gaia. "This monster has a 1400 growth, but can be the only monster I attack with during my turn."
"Why?" Gaia asked.
"Isn't it obvious," he said. "Because it can attack you directly; this monster also gains its attack during the battle phase like Niseag, so attack Thunder Rage!" he commanded as the bird flew into the air and became engulfed in lightning and then charged through the air straight to Gaia.
"I play Cosmos Call!" Gaia declared. "With this trap card I can negate your attack, destroy your monster, and then after all that summon a monster from my deck or graveyard with DFF in its name."
The large bird began to screech in pain as its matter began to shift and was then destroyed when Gaia's deck began to shine.
"And by the final effect of Cosmos Call I can summon DFF-X Tidus (1000/2000) in attack mode!" Gaia declared summoning a warrior approximately the same age as the one before wearing a torn pair of black overalls with a yellow hooded shirt with the left sleeve torn off, and a shoulder brace and a gauntlet on the left arm.
"I end my turn," Crypt said chuckling again with his wing still fluttering in the wind.
"Why Tao?" Gaia asked after a long silence. "Why did you have to kill Tao? He had lived through so much, he had been the person who can say that he was almost killed, but more importantly he was the person who could say he would never give up, even after death."
"That's why he was the first to go," Crypt said with a hint of insanity. "He was the one who would continue to fight me."
"Why? Who are you to Tao?" Gaia asked.
"The example of someone who can survive the poison," Crypt said showing off his monstrous features. "He knew that so long as there was there even a trace of that poison that people like me and him would come after the Celestial Queen; hence our obsession with finding the power to enhance our power."
"What do you mean?"
"It's simply this," Crypt said. "The poison coursing through our vein can twist us, it makes us act like people we aren't. People like Tao aren't able to fathom the full extent of their power and hence become afraid of it and try to destroy it. But people like me appreciate this power and gladly would become monsters for the sake of our own gain no matter who we have to step on or destroy along the way. Duels like this are simply a formality."
"Formality?" Gaia asked with contempt. "You've ended Tao's, Lance's, Jason's, Trish's, Mori's, and now Ninomiya's life. That's not formalities; that's evidence of a mass murderer."
"Your point?" Crypt asked. "This poison's done wonders for me and I'll show the world what I can do with it and finally get the respect people with our condition deserve. Tao was one of them, a man who believed that this was a disease and that people like this shouldn't be around people again. He was a necessary death for my plan."
"Shut your mouth!" Gaia shouted. "I'm proud to say that Tao was probably the best friend I could've ever had; it's one of the few things that me and Aigis have in common. The other is that you deserve to be in the very thing you are named after. Draw!" he declared looking at the card in his hand. "I choose to pass my turn and allow you to make your final move."
"Final move?" Crypt asked mockingly. "You think that you can beat me on my own turn?"
"I don't think, I know!" Gaia declared confidently.
"Fine! Show me what you've got!" Crypt shouted challengingly as he drew his card and never even looked at it but cringed as he drew it. "I attack with Niseag boosting his attack to 4700, Ancient Fury!" he declared as the giant reptilian creature's attack increased from 2000-4700. "Destroy Tidus!"
The creature shot the blast of water towards the warrior just summoned by Gaia's trap who held out his arms confidently as the blast continued to come towards him.
"Now!" Gaia yelled as the warrior unsheathed a sword and looked as though he were about to slice through the blast. "Whenever Tidus battles against an enemy monster it switches its attack with the monster it battles."
"So you allowed me the chance to attack which would increase my attack to a level in which that you could switch the attacks and defeat me indefinitely?" Crypt asked.
"That's the basic idea," Gaia said. "Now, it's time to put you into the ground where you belong. Tidus, Sonic Buster!"
The young warrior smiled as he sliced right through the blast of water and reached the monster and sliced through its figure as it was surrounded by fog. The fog lifted shortly after that and revealed that the blade had sliced through Gaia who was left stunned as the large creature controlled by Crypt was left standing.
"It's strange," Crypt said. "Sometimes your eyes can play tricks on you. Just like the trap card Dense Fog. In Loch Ness, the fog can become so thick that you become unaware of what you really see. In many cases the Loch Ness Monster is mistaken for logs, otters, but in the case of this card one of the two players by the choice of the next card I draw. Should it be a monster your attack goes through and if my monster is destroyed I take damage equal to its current growth rate. But if it's a spell or trap card like the Cryptic Shield the attack id redirected towards you. So, you lose."
The young warrior remained in shock at its actions as Gaia fell to his knees with his life points dropping from 1500-0. Crypt walked up to him and grinned evilly.
"Even if I should fall the others will beat you," Gaia declared as Crypt began chanting words in an ancient language that made Gaia fall to the ground unconscious.
"One less fly to worry about," Crypt said clapping his hands together as though clapping away dust from his hand. "Who will be my next victim?" he asked himself walking back into the forest still laughing to himself.
On the forest ground Gaia's motionless body began to cringe as it suddenly stood up with no emotion in its eyes. It sat itself up against a tree and drifted back into unconsciousness.
Inside Gaia's mind he stood there without any emotion as he remained a transparent blue color. As he turned his head a large flash of red appeared in his mind and the two colors separated the two halves of his mind. From within the image of the red Gaia saw Aigis looking at him disapprovingly.
"I knew I should've dueled him again," Aigis said. "I would've been able to beat him had you not let your emotions get the better of you."
"At least I have emotions," Gaia said. "And what do you have?"
"Nothing," Aigis answered. "That's why I always win. You allowed your anger to get the better of you so you were blind to his hulking twenty foot sea monster and hidden face down card. You lost because of your emotions. This is why I don't bother with the stuff."
"Do you even care if he gets to Destiny?" Gaia asked beginning to anger.
"In a way, no," Aigis said plainly. "What I do care about is Crypt getting away with cheating death so many times in his life that he should at least taste its cold bitter taste. But with the body we share as it is now, we can't do anything."
"Remind me why we have it in for Crypt again," Gaia said wracking his brain.
"Because of what he did to me, not you," Aigis explained.
"But what does Tao have to do with it?" Gaia asked. "His reason was way too shallow to be plausible. I have to know."
"I know," Aigis said surprising Gaia. "And I'll tell you…if you can beat me in a duel," he said activating a duel disk.
"What?" Gaia said as he found a duel disk attached to his arm as well.
"If you want the information that can possibly save Destiny and all of your little friends, why not wager it more sportingly. Since we're still on academy grounds the only way to do that is to duel," Aigis explained.
"Fine, but make sure to keep up on your end of the bargain," Gaia said activating his duel disk and then pondered what Aigis said. "Wait, this won't work. How can I warn the others if I'm stuck inside a literally dead body? Aigis obviously has something up his sleeve, but I need to know what Tao and Crypt's connection is. No one can kill somebody for being sympathetic against his kind. I will win this duel, and I will find the truth."
"DUEL!" the two declared in unison.
Chapter twenty one complete. Another cliffhanger, aren't I the best. Well anyway, I know that the creator of Gaia has been wanting a duel between the split personality duo for a while and I found it appropriate to put it here. With the end of the arc coming be prepared to see the best and the worst of some of our characters.
Next time: Gaia and Aigis duel to discover the secret connection between Tao and Crypt. Meanwhile Crypt begins his final offensive against the resistance members remaining to get to the ultimate prize, The Celestial Queen. Next time: Crusade of the Academy; Cosmos v. Chaos.