Battle of Spirits: SC vs. DS

"I'm afraid you're opponent has taken a back seat" the voice that left his mouth was not his own. His eyes opened in a flash of burning blue, a wicked smile cracking his face. "And I'm afraid I've let this go on long enough. Activate the effect of Steelswarm Cell. When I control no monsters, I can special summon it from my hand!" A small beetle-like creature appeared (0 ATK). "Next, I activate the speed spell - Dawn of Infestation!" 'Shane's' Speed counters dropped down to zero, his speed decreasing tremendously. "For the cost of 5 counters, I am allowed to Special Summon a Steelswarm monster in my graveyard, though it cannot declare an attack and it's attack points are reduced to zero! Rise Steelswarm Caucastag!" once again the massive insectoid rose, only much weaker than before. "And now we settle this! I tribute both my creatures!" The sky deepened as the symbol of the Spider appeared again. "Feast upon the light, come Earthbound Immortal Uru!" The flames raged as a giant heart appeared overhead, beating as a pillar of light connected with it. From it rose a spider of tremendous size, red lines coursing through it's body (3000 atk). "It's time I end this where the other could not. Uru, direct attack!" an expulsion of spider thread launched over Shuho's monsters, opting to attack their source instead.

Shuho closed his eyes lightly as he noticed Shane outside of his own body. He had a feeling of what was about to happen, and he knew he had to do something to stop it. Light and Darkness Dragon could have stopped his card effect, leaving him with a zero attack point monster which he could attack and maybe even win the duel, but he had a feeling that whatever was doing this was connected to the upcoming card. His eyes opened as his graveyard started to glow. When Light and Darkness Envoy was used to summon Light and Darkness Dragon, it could be used to negate Light and Darkness Dragon's effects and in return, it couldn't be destroyed by battle. He had a feeling he needed Light and Darkness Dragon to lose its effect for now in order to win, and when the Earthbound Immortal appeared, his fears were all but realized. He was hit, taking 3000 points of damage and his Speed Counters were reduced to 1. He held onto the bike as it started to swerve and he said, "Looks like this is the big gun... too bad it looks like you're not Shane anymore. I'll set him free by finishing you off..." Even though he said that, his life points were reduced to 800.

"LIAR!" Zeiya shouted, shaking her head vigorously as tears fell down her face. She didn't want to believe him. She absolutely did NOT want to believe him. "Seiki would NEVER let this happen!!!" Soon, she let go of his clothes and drooped to her knees, holding her head as she cried. "Seiki...."

"You're in no position to make that claim." 'Shane' spoke as he placed his final card face-down. "After your next turn, this is all but over. Turn end." A maniacal laugh escaped the man as he continued onward.

Takuro grinned as he looked down to her. "You don't wanna believe me? Why don't you get it right outta the horses mouth?" He moved his mouth close to his watch and called out, "Hey Seiki, ya done yet? Things are just about set here."

Shuho's arm started to glow brightly drew his card, looking at it as his Speed Counters rose again. He grinned as he already had an idea of what to do at this point. "There won't be a next turn! Light and Darkness Dragon, attack!" The creature prepared another blast of power, this time aiming for Shane directly. "Activate Face down, Raising Energy! By discarding a card, Light and Darkness Dragon gains 1500 attack points this turn! And since I negated its ability with my Envoy, it won't be negated!"

"You're slow. I've been done for a while now." Seiki's voice lingered out. Zeiya looked at Takuro with a shocked face as the conversation went on. "Was it really that hard to take care of some kid? Weak ass snake bastard."

On the other line, Seiki was sitting on a chair: one hand on the speaker and the other twirling a strange weapon. "Do I really have to stay here, though? It's getting a little boring."

Zeiya managed to stand up, shaking her head slowly as she backed up. She knew for sure that wasn't a lie. Taking a last, terrifying look at Takuro, she turned on her heel and sprited away from the area into a random direction, not stopping for anything or anyone.

"Well, putting on a show isn't that easy, you know," Takuro said as he saw Zeiya starting to leave. "You can come on down whenever ya like! The final act's just about to start. Kehehehehe!" He moved his head up and loudly said, "Go ahead and run! You're just gonna miss the best part! DOn't worry, though... I'll be sure to send you a copy of the DVD! Geheheheheheheh!"

Seiki let out a sigh, scratching her head. "Oi...you're THAT happy beating some kid? Then again, I shoulidn't be surprised, seeing as how I'm just the same." She got up from the chair. "All right, just give me a sec. Didn't get to finish messing with this stupid armor so I'm bringing it with me." She cut off the speaker and gathered up the bloody armor as well as the one she was workiing on into a bag. She throws the bag over her shoulder and uses her other hand to pull out a blank card, flicking it in front of her to open up a simple rift in front of her.

The rift appeared behind Takuro as Seiki stepped out of it. It disappeared as she drops the bag and sits down cross legged. "So? When's it gonna start?" She asked, pulling out a piece of the armor and her screwdriver.

"Wait!" 'Shane' processed the move. Not being negated leads to a future chance.....no! "You can't defeat me! I am immortal!" The man before Shuho struggled with himself, trying to fight off reality.

Shuho's body started to glow lightly as his graveyard began to shine. "I won't let you stop me this time Shane! For this city, for my friends, and for everyone you want to hurt! From my grave... I active Limit Break - Flash Wing!" His monster's two wings rose up and started to shine brightly with power. "A Limit Break can only activate when I have less than 1000 life points, and only one can activate per duel. However, I can activate them from the graveyard by selecting a monster I control! This card's effect, it raises my monster's attack power to equal that of a monster you control, and it also negates effects on the field. My monster gains your Uru's 3000 attack points and negates its effect, so I'll attack it and destroy its hold on you!"

The spider screamed out, being crushed under the force of it's strength plus the power of the Light and Darkness Dragon, and with that pain rocketed through the entire body of Shane. With the crumbling of his Immortal came the crumbling of his Life Points. His runner went out of control, sliding down, the fires around them disappearing. Shane sat motionless for a few minutes, only before slowly standing up, out of energy, but enduring.

Shuho turned the Runner immediately and rushed to Shane. He saw the man stand, which gave him a relief as he stopped in front of his former foe. "Shane, you're you again right?" he said, not sure if the attack worked. He looked at his graveyard and deck for a moment, not remembering even hearing of a Limit Break card, let alone adding one to his deck. Also, the words he spoke about it were so automatic, as if they weren't even his words. It was strange, but he was able to defeat the Immortal and hopefully save Shane's soul at the same time. That was a victory for him.

Shane turned to the duelists, a raised eyebrow to him. "Yeah...." he spoke, disappointment laced in his words. This wasn't how it was supposed to end. the damn Immortal took over and ruined his plan. "Not bad kid, really." he looked out to the horizon "Though that fuckin' spider saved your ass, just tellin' ya." He smirked to Shuho. "Oh, don't worry about the city. I stopped them when the duel began. Wanted to make sure you brought it all." he placed his hands thumbs deep into his pockets, turning and walking away from Shuho, not saying another word.

"Uh,uh,uh" Harley had not left, and neither had Seth. Perhaps it was for the better that they were not spotted, Harley had no clue if he could handle them, and deep inside, so did Seth.

Shuho raised an eyebrow with his eyes slightly widened as he looked onward at Shane. He couldn't believe he was on the same level as the girl from before. He was more like a true duelist.... Shuho shook his head as he realized that he still had something to do. He jumped onto his Duel Runner and started to ride off back towards the amusement park. As he did, he waved back to Shane and silently said, "Thanks... you stupid jerk."

Takuro turned to Seiki with a grin and lightly said, "You're right on time... and there's just one more guest of honor to welcome to the party!" A man in a black business suit walked up to them. He grinned lightly and said, "The name's Durbin... Some of you should already know that, but it looks like they're not here yet." His tone was as smooth talking as ever as he stood with Seiki and Takuro. "See, the three of us made one hell of a business partnership. This venture takes us all the way to the top. New Domino City just got a new Director of Sector Security, and her name's Seiki,"

Shane placed two fingers on his forehead, giving a quick salute to Shuho, his body beginning to lose all color and break apart, flowing away with the wind as he continued until nothing was left.

"No!" Seth's attempt to calm his protege could not be successful. Silence fell after the expulsion, Harley with a death glare upon the three. He didn't know who this new guy was, but this take over wasn't going to happen. "I'm not letting you do this......I can't.....", "Harley, bite your tongue" Seth looked to him, shaking his head. "I won't. I just got these friends, just found people who need me. I'm not going to let them down now!"

"I don't know who in hell's name you are, but I can be sure of one thing: You're a creeper." Seiki said as she tried modifying the armor into something smaller. She let out a string of curses as it broke apart on her. "Fucking cheap piece of metal..." she hissed, glaring at the now useless part of armor. "And? What's gonna happen next?"

"Well, Here's how it's going down," Takuro said as he looked down at them. "That Shane idiot was the only one that COULD have mucked up or plans, but it looks like that kid Shuho handled that pretty nicely. UNfortunately he sorta purified the Dark Signers he took down so there's a chance we might see em again. That's where the Sanikshin Armor comes into play. Make it right, and that shit'll be unstoppable!"

"As for me," Durbin said with a small grin. "My and my crew have been underground in the Duel Monsters world for a long time, selling cards and gear under the table. Kai Blackdragoon happens to be a good customer of mine and he just so happened to use the card I left him. His Duel Spirit should be turning wicked thanks to that and we'll be able to better control who gets their hands on those Spirit Cards."

"Looks like the data from the Acadia Movement worked out like a charm," Takuro said with a grin. "I mean, come on. Who the HELL rigs a building to blow like that accidentally?! You idiots were so brain dead that you bought the whole thing! News flash, it was all planned out the whole time! Now, we get to run this city and the Duel Monster's market OUR way, and if you're not 'down' with that, I've got two words for ya......" Without even finishing his sentence he went into another maniacal laugh as a green portal of darkness started to form behind them.

Shuho was riding as fast as he could to the scene. He stopped as he saw someone running away from where he was going. It was Zeiya. He rushed over to her and stopped in front of her, looking at he with concerned eyes. "Looks like you won," Shuho said, completely unaware of what was happening. "What's wrong? You look like you're in the worst shape ever."

"SEiki.....Seiki is....!" Zeiya couldn't contain her frustration and sadness. She ended up breaking down crying in front of Shuho as she slumped back onto her knees. "It's all my fault! Kariya's dead because the duel ended in a draw, Seiki's working with Takuro....I can't do anything right! I couldn't break from Divine's brainwash, I almost lost the duel with tha twhite armored guy, I got Kariya dead because I wasn't paying attention...I'm just useless and weak!"

"And just WHO are you calling an idiot?" Seiki hissed, stabbing Takuro's leg with her screwdriver as she messed with the armor a bit. She picked up a gauntlet and observed it as if she wasn't paying attention to them...which she wasn't. "I thought you yourself was bad, but this guy plus you is gonna drive me insane."

"This is....this is just wrong." Harley fell into hiding, seth holding him down. No matter how bad Harley wanted to go out there and fight, it wasn't going to happen. Seth cupped his hand over his mouth as he went to yell again, masking their energies with whatever force his ring had left. He took a deep breath, not knowing what was to come. These plans were not good.

Shuho closed his eyes lightly, walking over to Zeiya and wrapping his arms around her in a comforting hug. "You're not the only one..." Shuho said lightly. "If I were stronger, I would have been by your side to help you. You're a strong duelist, better than me, but I think we're gonna need more than good dueling skills to save Seiki now. I know you're not the type to give up. I've seen how strong you are, so... if I promise to be with you the whole time, will you be willing to go back? Our friends still need us."

Takuro turned to the portal behind him as he was rubbing his own leg and said, "Time to go, sweetie. Its your first day on the job and you've got some changes to make. With the Durbins working on ADDS, the Artificial Dark Duel Spirits, we'll be able to take full control of this shit hole and bring this world that much closer to what it really deserves!"

"...." Zeiya tried to cease her crying, if only for a little. She reduced her sobbing into small sniffles and hiccups, shaking her head as she tried to wipe the endless amounts of tears from her face. "S-Seiki...That man said Seiki joined of her own free will....I....I heard her, too. She didn't...She didn't sound like she was pretending, either." she managed to say, on the verge on crying her eyes out even more. "W...What are we going to do...?"

"Ehhhhh? Then what the hell was the point of me coming out here?!" Seiki spat, glaring at Takuro before putting the armor back in the bag. "Fucking....waste of my time. You're really good at pissing me off, damn snake." she swung the bag over her shoulder and stood up, ready to go into the portal.

"We're gonna have to figure that out as we go," Shuho said as he moved only far enough away so he could see her face. "I don't know what to do just yet, but I do know crying about it won't change a thing. If that Kariya guy really did what you said he did, it had to be because he believed in something you have. That means its up to you to find it and use it to save Seiki."

"Aww, come on. Don't be like that," Takuro said as he started to walk to the portal. "We all need a 'Meet and Greet' to see all the new faces. But the fun's over for now. Time to head off." He all but jumped into the portal, letting Durbin follow behind.

Zeiya lift her head, biting her lip to keep her from crying anymore than the ammount she has done, and nodded. "Even if....Even if we can't save Seiki, we ha-have to do something to stop them." She sniffled and hugged Shuho.

"Hmph. Asshole." Seiki hissed as she was the last to go into the portal.