WRGP First Round! Duel of Spirits?

Harley could only grit his teeth as his Renge, Gatekeeper of Dark World was destroyed. He grunted, looking eyes onto the mimic duelist and awaiting further action from him.

"That's true" Shane leaned in "But that guy doesn't seem too happy about it. If he has more planned, it's going to be a drastic move."

"Two cards face down," the man said as his grin returned. "You're not bad kid, but I think its high time you were brought back to your level."

Shuho was sitting down, watching the duel but also looking over his own deck. "Its not a problem," Shuho said simply. Whatever happens, we will win this duel."

Harley couldn't stand being looked down upon, and this man just wouldn't stop. "You copy my moves, and then tell me I'm on a lower level....." With a tightened grip, he pulled an additional card to his hand. "My move!" He looked to his new card, quickly selecting it.

"I summon Trance Archfiend!" Harley's field came to life again, from it emerging a Purple imp-like creature, a large grin crossing it's face as it looked on to the masked enemy (1500 atk).

"I activate Trance Archfiend's effect! I discard one card in my hand to increase it's attack power by 500!" Harley selected a card in his hand, slamming it into the grave as energy began to surge around the imp (2000 ATK). The same energy flared up around the other man's Sillva, slowly corroding it. "I discarded Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World. When discarded by a card effect, Grapah can destroy one card on the field, namely your last monster!"

As soon as his field opened up, Harley took aim. "Trance Archfiend, direct attack!"

"I activate, Mirror to the Truth!" the man said as his monster was destroyed. "When a monster effect activates, I can activate this card to summon a Token copy of that monster. I could take your Archfiend, but instead, I'll copy the dragon!" From the mirror, a reflection of his Dark World dragon appeared. It moved out slowly, looking down at Harley with a glare. (Atk:2700)

Harley cringed. This was exactly what he had feared. Once again he had come face to face with his partner yet again. It was eating away at him as shown by the look of disbelief on his face.......but it wasn't him. The small flare of shadow from his graveyard comforted him, his monster reaching out. This was just a token, a copy. Harley nodded, but he knew this wouldn't be easy.

"Another face-down, turn end."

"Guy hit him right in the chest." shane sighed, knowing how close Harley was to his newly found friends and allies. "Even if it's fake, seeing your friend against you will kill you on the inside."

"I'm surprised you didn't send your dragon after me," the man said as he knew that Harley could have summoned Grepha that turn if he had really wanted to. "This has gone long enough without damage, though. I draw..." He looked at his hand with a grin. "I think I'll play a face down card and attack your Archfiend with MY dragon!" He seemed to emphasize that it was his as he knew it hurt Harley.

"He's been defensive all this time, and now he goes for the attack?" Darren said as he turned to Shane and Seth. "You two said it'd come down to defense, but what happens now that he beat Harley to his ace monster?"

"Go, Depth Amulet!" One of Harley's face-downs came to life in a flash, Harley discarding the last card in his hand to do so. "By discarding a card, I can negate your attack!" Though it wasn't a monster, the amulet activated, sending out a wave to reflect the faux Dragon's attack.

"That's the thing, he didn't beat him to his monster" Shane said, smirking. Seth, who had been quite for most of the duel, finally spoke. "It did come down to defense. Watch."

The man glared at the trap card and set another card in his hand face down on the field to match the one he had set before, making 3. "I'll end my turn then."

Harley's speed increased even further as he drew his next card.

Seth eyed him as he did so, eyes narrowing in his thoughts. "Shane.....has he played a single Speed Spell?" Shane scratched his chin, leaning back. "Ya know, now that I think of it, no. I don't think he even has one in his deck." Seth shook his head, just as Harley looked out into the crowd.

"He's been saving."

"I activate Speed Spell - Heavy Storm!" Harley's card slapped onto the field as his speed counters decreased by a whomping six, sending him back at a quick deceleration. "Now for the cost of six Speed Counters, I destroy all spell and trap cards on the field!"

"Crap..." the man said as his cards all flipped, one by one. "I activate my three trap cards! First is Persona Prison! With this card, I can summon a monster from my opponent's graveyard to my field as long as I control a monster of the same name!" A second Grapha, Harley's Grapha appeared on the the field in a large cage next to the first. "I activate my second card, Persona Armor! If I control two monsters of the same name, one gains the power of the other. And now for my third, Persona Defense! I can negate the destruction of cards with Persona in the name, but at the end of this turn, I take damage equal to the attack of all monsters I control."

His dragon roared out as its power grew, raising to 5400. It glared down at its own master as his body started to glow with a dark aura. "Now you see the Shadow... the True Self... Harley King... can you really defeat your own spirit?"

"I......I...." Harley had nothing to say, nor anything to do. His Heavy Storm had destroyed his own face-downs, but not his opponents. What was worse was that he controlled not one, but two copies of Harley's spirit partner, Grapha, one being the original. It pained him to see it. He silently placed the last card in his hand face-down, ending his turn with a slow blink, he was defeated.

"Wait" Seth looked to his hand, a pulsation of energy reacting to something in the arena as his ring flashed a light blue. He eyed it, looking back to the duel, to Harley. While Harley's head was bowed, there was one detail Seth couldn't ignore. His eyes had gone white.

His vision had emerged.

The Grapha roared out as it let out a dark power that hit the man, causing his life points to fall to 0. His Duel Runner started to smoke as he had to move to the pit. "They lost a duelist, but gained all the advantage..." Darren said as he hadn't noticed the power coming from the ring or from Harley.

The next duelist came quickly, holding both the Dragons, one still caged, and the two face up trap card. He rushed up behind Harley with a grin as the man called out, "Call me Shade! I'll be the one ending this duel, all thanks to your best card!" he drew as his cards started to glow. "Now kid, its time you faced your true self! Grapha, attack his Archfiend once and for all!" The beast roared as its still 5400 points of power moved to attack his Archfiend.

"Go Mirror Force." Harley's voice was less-than-enthusiastic. He was in a different state of being. Every word the others spoke slowed, dragging on in a deep tone. The runners, though speeding at great velocity, seemed to just push along. Harley's trap revealed itself, an invisible shield smashing into Grapha's attack, looking to project it back to Shade's monsters.

"Brilliant." Seth smirked, Shane raising a fist into the air. "That's how you do it!"

The armored Grapha roared out as it was destroyed, leaving only the caged Grapha on his side of the field. "Lucky for me your version is in defense mode, so its not affected. I'll set a card and leave the rest to you." He placed a card face down in the spell/trap zone, awaiting his foe to continue with his move.

Half of the problem had been solved. Harley drew his next card, looking to the field. He had a hard choice at hand, the card his opponent had played didn't make things easier. Harley finally looked up, his blank eyes revealed under the visor of his helmet, only allowing his opponent to catch an actual glance.

He made eye contact with Grapha, a single second passing in fractions as the two spoke with each other without using words. He had to act.

"I activate Trance Archfiend, sending the card in my hand to the graveyard." Harley's melancholic voice called out to his monster. The sickening aura englufed the cackling fiend again (2000 ATK). "Now I activate the card I discarded, Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World." A vortex opened in the very fabric of time and space, from it emerging the shimmering darkness that was his new monster (2300 ATK). "Let's end this. Trance Archfiend, destroy Grapha."

The grinning demon shot at the caged dragon, a sharpened claw aimed to the heart in order to set his partner free.

The man, Shade, snapped his fingers and called out, "I activate my trap, Shade Fury! It switched a Dark Type monster I control from defense to attack position and raises its attack by 500 for the turn, but after the attack, it moves back to defense. Let's see how you like a hit from your own spirit!"

"He knows about spirits?!" Darren called out. "Does that means they're Spirit Duelists too?" Shuho walked forward, shaking his head lightly. "No... not true Spirit Duelists, at least. Those spirits are man made but the Durbins. I can tell just from the feel of them."

Harley seemed all but emotionless as his monster was destroyed by his own partner spirit, his state of being above that of anxiety, heartbreak, or regret. He only looked on as his life points lowered by 1200. That was not the case when his vision had ceased. Reality hit him as hard as the change in processing time did. He had been attacked by his friend. His teeth chattered, nerves firing. "I......I end my turn."

Shade grinned as he drew his card. He realized that caging Grapha beyond this point wouldn't help him, but he didn't have much way to do anything about it. He looked at his Speed Counters. He'd already reached 9. This meant he could use almost any Speed Spell he wished. He moved his hands to two of his cards, placing them onto the field as he said, "I'll set these and end my turn. Just so you know, your friend here will be hitting ya hard next turn."

Harley's heart sunk as he drew his next card. He looked upon what he had and knew he was done.....or was he? Numbers flashed in his head, scenarios played out over and over again. Two face-downs? Traps? More than likely, but traps were the least threatening aspect of the field. He didn't have much seperate, but together, it gave him a chance.

"I activate Speed Spell - Faustian Bargain! When I have two or more speed counters, I can send one special summoned monster on either field to the Graveyard, then Special Summon a level four of lower normal monters from my hand. I choose Grapha!"

"Damnit! No!" the man yelled as the monster was destroyed. It seemed as though he didn't have anything for such a thing. His look of frustration turned into a grin as he said, "Too bad I have a trap card, Servant's Revenge!" When a monster I control is destroyed, that card's owner takes damage equal to its attack. That was your Grapha, so that means you take the damage!"

"What......do I do?" the answer was nothing. He had no other form of defense, the damage would be dealt no matter what. Harley took a deep breath, waiting for the pain of the strike to hit him. There was no other way.

A bolt of lightning came out of his graveyard, striking at Harley with thunderous force and reducing his life points by 2700. As this was the second bit of damage he had taken, his Life points were reduced to a mere 100 points. It was still his turn, and his opponent seemed to have nothing to defend himself, but if he let the turn pass, a single Speed Spell could mean his doom.

Harley cringed, but his time had come. "Now the second part of my spell, go Zure, Knight of Dark World!" his knight rose next to his Lords, but his time on the field would be short lived. "I activate the effect of a card in my graveyard! I return Zure to my hand......." As the knight disappeared, shadows cloaked the arena. Colors began to darken, then grow dull, the sky growing weary in the might of the netherworld. The shadows built up around Harley's runner, two golden eyes burning out from them before exploded into a massive figure, revealing Harley's spirit partner. "No matter how many times we get knocked down, we always get back up! I Special Summon Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World!" The crowd erupted into a frenzy as Harley's dragon roared, both of his lords simply eyeing down Shade (2700 atk).

"YES!" Shane jumped out of his seat, fist raised up. Seth simply nodded.

"Goldd, atttack Shade directly!" The Wu-Lord of dark world took up it's mighty axe, launching at the masked duelist and bringing it down with great force.

Shade was hit, his life points reduced down to 1700. He cringed as he looked at the last face down card he had. "Fine... you got me kid... But let's see how long you last!"

It was time to go big or go home. He had no other option but to push forward Harley looked at the face-down, but the numbers ran rapid in his skull again. the odds that he was saving a trap were veyr high, as he seemed to have a deck based entirely on counter-acting Harley's own moves, and had successfully done so. The outcome of the next attack would determine the outcome of the duel. It was like the first time he had leaped between cliff ledges on his time in the wilderness. there was no other way but forward, letting fate decide if he was worthy or not.

Then he saw the cringe. The look of desperation that even the greatest actor couldn't hide. Shade was against the wall.

Time to jump.

"All or nothing! Grapha!" Harley's dragon took heed to his call, rising up into the air. "Finish this!" Dark flame erupted form it's maw, forming into an orb in the Dragon's claws. The energy pulsed and raged as the dragon thrusted it forward, the blast expanding and going berserk with purple and black force, thirsting for the end of the duel.

Shane gripped the armrests to his chair, leaning forward in anticipation. Seth unfolded his arms, sitting up straight.