Era of Spirits and Shadows Chapter 20

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter for Era of Spirits and Shadows! The first break of the school year is upon Duel Academy. While many students go home for the winter break, several stay behind to continue working on their dueling, their decks, or just because they don’t want to go back home. But among these remaining students, three of them have messed with things they don’t truly understand. What they bring forth is a dark force that seeks their very souls.

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 20 – Monster Spirit: Jinzo

The weather on Duel Academy island had become rather chilly now that they were into the period between late fall and early winter. A light flurry of snow was even falling this evening as Jaden and Drake made use of the Ra Yellow dorm’s kitchen and cafeteria to make a warm snack.

“Smells great!” Jaden said as he sniffed the air.

“It’s almost ready, be patient.” Drake waved his best friend off jokingly.

The air in the open cafeteria area was filled with the smell of soy sauce as Drake grilled up some Isobeyaki Mochi (Grilled Mochi Cakes) lightly flavored with soy sauce and sugar. Drake had gone simple with them, wrapping them in seaweed as he finished up the cooking with a nod of satisfaction. He put them on two plates and carried them over to the table that Jaden was sitting at, placing one in front of his buddy and then setting the other down as he took a seat.

“Careful, they’re still a bit hot.” Drake cautioned Jaden.

Jaden picked up one of the grilled mochi and lightly tossed it back and forth between his hands. “Hot… Hot…” He kept the snack moving to avoid getting a burn until it cooled a bit. “And down the hatch!” Jaden declared as he ate the entire mochi cake in one bite.

“Good?” Drake asked as he went the more sensible route of actually using chopsticks to handle the hot food.

“Great!” Jaden said with a thumbs up.

Drake snorted out a laugh at that. “Glad to hear it.” He finished off his first mochi cake and hummed thoughtfully to himself. “Not too bad, if I do say so myself.”

The two best friends chatted as they finished off their snack, waiting for the hour to get late enough to justify going to bed.

“It’s cool that there’s no classes and all…” Drake mentioned as he looked around the empty cafeteria. “But almost everyone went home, so there’s not many people left to Duel.”

“Yeah, but we can Duel each other.” Jaden said with a cheesy grin.

The two had done that a lot since the break started, winning DP off of each Duel and slowly, but steadily building up their funds for more cards.

“You said that your parents are on a trip?” Jaden asked, recalling that Drake had only stayed on the island because of that.

“Mom and Dad are taking a trip abroad.” Drake said with a shrug. “I think it’s supposed to be like a ‘second honeymoon’ thing for them.”

Jaden laughed a bit. “Definitely don’t want to be the third wheel on that trip!”

Drake gave Jaden a flat, unamused look. “I was trying not to think about that.” Logically, he knew exactly what his parents would be getting up to on their trip…but that didn’t mean he wanted to think about it! “Hah… Too bad the girls couldn’t stay.”

“That would’ve been nice.” Jaden agreed as he rested his chin in his palm, propped up by his elbow on the table. “Alexis told me she’s not allowed to stay for breaks by her parents…because it was over a break that her brother disappeared.”

“I’m not sure I’d have even let my second child come to Duel Academy if my eldest child had disappeared like that.” Drake said with a shake of his head. “I’d constantly be worried that something was going to happen.”

Jaden could agree with his best friend on that, but decided to change the subject. “Why were Jasmine and Mindy not able to stay?”

Drake finished off his last mochi cake and swallowed before responding. “Family stuff. Mindy’s family has a get together near the end of the break this year. Jasmine’s family are going on a trip to visit her maternal grandparents during the break.” He missed his girlfriends, but they’d kept in regular contact via phone and video messages.

“Shhhrrraaahhh…” The wary, hissing growl that resounded throughout his Ba from his Ka made Drake perk up from his relaxed slump against the table.

“Hm? Something wrong?” Jaden asked, noticing Drake’s sudden alertness.

“Kuri! Kuri!” Winged Kuriboh’s cries came as Jaden’s own alert that something was up.

Both Jaden and Drake shot each other a look before they stood up from the table and turned towards the doors of the cafeteria. They moved cautiously, feeling their Ka within ready to defend as they got closer to the doors. Jaden put his hand on the right door while Drake took the left, with a quick nod to each other, they shoved the doors wide open to reveal…

Nothing.

There was nothing in the large entryway of the Ra Yellow dorms. It was quiet, as it had been since the majority of the students had left the island for break. There was nothing moving either.

“There’s nothing here?” Jaden looked around and even looked up the stairs to see if he could spot anyone.

Drake narrowed his eyes, trusting his Ka that there had to be something going on. “Something’s not right.”

There was a light thump against the large wooden double doors that were the main entrance into the dorms. A second later, and with a much louder thud, the door on the left was shoved open and someone crashed to the floor.

“H-Help…” The student, judging by his Obelisk Blue blazer, cried out hoarsely, clearly lacking breath from an intense run.

Jaden and Drake were at the other student’s side in only a second.

“Whoa, dude, are you alright?” Jaden asked as he tried to help the other guy sit up.

“What’s going on?” Drake asked as he looked outside the opened front door, but saw only the outdoor lights of the entryway and the darkness of the night beyond.

The student, a guy with semi-long dark brown hair and glasses, struggled into a sitting position before managing to speak. “Jin… Jinzo…”

Jaen cocked an eyebrow. “The card? What about it?”

“Jinzo is chasing me!” The student said as he managed to catch his breath.

“What?” Drake’s eyes snapped over to the other student. “Wait… Aren’t you Takadera from our year?”

Takadera looked at Jaden and Drake. “Y-Yes… That’s me, Torrey Takadera.”

“What do you mean when you say that Jinzo is chasing you?” Jaden asked the Obelisk Blue.

Torrey looked shakily behind him, out into the dark beyond the lights of Ra dorm. “We… My friends, Mukouda and Isaka, we’re part of the Para-Dueling Club… We look into the rumors and urban legends of Duel Monsters. We heard…we heard that under certain conditions… Monster Spirits can appear…” His eyes were wide as he started to curl in on himself, wrapping his arms around his knees which he pulled up to his chest as he sat on the floor. “Our club is small and we look into the occult side of Dueling… The three of us decided to stay over of the break together. We were going to put our research to the test, we decided to try contacting a spirit…”

“You didn’t…” Drake breathed out, already getting an idea of what might’ve happened and why both Red-Eyes and Winged Kuriboh were reacting defensively.

“It…Jinzo… It spoke to us through the destiny board…” Torrey hid his face behind his knees, his entire body visibly trembling. “O-Offer me three tributes… Do so, and I shall be reborn…”

Drake took Torrey by the shoulders, forcing the other young man to reveal his face and look him in the eye. “What did you say back?!”

Torrey, his eyes starting to well with tears of fright, stumbled over his words. “That we understood…”

“Eh?!” Jaden gaped at Torrey in shock. “You agreed?!”

“We thought it meant tributing cards!” Torrey shouted back, eyes wide and tears escaping to run down his cheeks.

“Where are your friends?” Drake asked immediately, with a cold and stern tone that practically forced Torrey to answer him.

Torrey shook his head once. “Th-The day after…Mukouda was nowhere to be found… Isaka and I looked all over for him…” He trembled even more now. “The very next day, after we searched the places we hadn’t before, still looking for Mukouda… Isaka vanished.” Torrey tried to curl in on himself again, but Drake’s hands on his shoulders forced him upright. “I was so scared that I tried to leave the island on the second ferry for the students leaving late, but…” He shook his head, rapidly as if to dispel a horrible image from his mind. “I saw it… On the ferry! It was Jinzo! It was waiting for me!”

The lights flickered for an instance before everything went pitch black.

Drake focused his Ba to his eyes, making them glow slightly, and allowing him to see through the darkness. “Shit!” He saw a humanoid form made up of flickering, static-like darkness grab Torrey from behind.

“RAAAWWWHHH!!!” The roar of Red-Eyes Black Dragon became audible to those with enough Ba to hear it. The lashing tail of Drake’s Ka whipped out to strike at the humanoid darkness.

“KURI KURI!!!” Winged Kuriboh had appeared between Jaden and the darkness, puffing itself up noticeably and spreading its white-feathered wings wide while emitting a slightly glowing white light from its body.

The static-like darkness floated backwards through the open door, narrowly avoiding the lashing tail swipe from Red-Eyes before it vanished into the night.

“Come on!” Drake called out, already rushing after the Monster Spirit that had taken Torrey.

He needn’t have said anything as Jaden was running beside him before Drake had finished speaking.

“Focus your Ba to your body and your eyes to see through the dark.” Drake instructed, though it was more of a reminder for Jaden as Drake had taught all four of his students how to strengthen themselves with their Ba already.

The two ran down the path leading from Ra dorm and then followed after the barely visible figure carrying Torrey into the woods. It would be a sight to see, if anyone could, as Jaden and Drake dashed through the forest easily at incredible speed, dodging every branch, bush, and root in their path to try and catch up with the Monster Spirit.

“What’s this place?” Jaden asked as they came to a stop at a large fenced off area with warning signs all over it.

“The power transmission complex, according to the sign on the gate.” Drake pointed at the only white sign among the bright yellow signs warning of the danger of electrocution.

The large machines that hummed with energy and the four large metal towers at each corner of the facility certainly gave off the impression of a power supply facility operating normally. But there was a heaviness in the air, along with what felt like a static charge, all wrapped up in encroaching darkness that had nothing to do with the time of night.

“Torrey!” Jaden pointed at the Obelisk Blue student laid on the ground near the far fence. He made to rush over to the unconscious guy, but with a crackling of bright electricity suddenly arcing through the air from the four metal towers, he was forced to stop.

The electricity arcing around was all drawn into a single spot before it coalesced around the crackling static-like form of Jinzo. The Monster Spirit looked identical to the card, tight pink skin, red goggle-like lenses were eyes should be, a respirator-looking device over the mouth, with both item connected to the monster’s head with thick, black leather straps. The green, black, and yellow outfit it wore was a mix of cloth and metal armor over it, multitudes of short metallic spikes jutted out of the outfit around the neck, waist, and forearms as well.

“Hey! Jinzo! Give Torrey and the others back!” Jaden demanded of the Monster Spirit.

Jinzo remained quiet, clearly not going to do as Jaden demanded.

“Jaden,” Drake put his hand on his best friend’s shoulder as he stepped forward. “You can’t make demands of a Monster Spirit that’s in the middle of a deal it made with others. No matter how foolish they were, Torrey, Isaka, and Mukouda all agreed to be sacrifices to Jinzo’s resurrection.”

“But…!” Jaden tried to argue, only to be cut off.

Drake flared his Ba, the aura visible around his body in the darkness. “However, you can make a new deal with the Spirit in question.” Jinzo had noticeably shifted its stance upon the reveal of Drake’s powerful Ba. “How about it, Jinzo? You want to be reborn into the material world, right? Wouldn’t you prefer a sacrifice with much more power to bolster your revival?”

“I see…” Jinzo spoke, even its voice sounding like it was coming through static. Purple electricity arced around its flickering form as it focused slowly on Drake. “The waves of power emanating from you are exceptionally high… You may just be worthy of being my tribute…”

“That’s not how a deal works.” Drake cut the Spirit off. “My Ba is vastly greater than all three of the ones you’ve entered into a deal with. If you want to switch, then you have to Duel me for it. If you win, you get me as the sacrifice for your summoning. But if I win, you break off your deal with Torrey, Mukouda, and Isaka.”

Jinzo’s entire form crackled powerfully, briefly looking much more solid and real, before returning to flickering static. “Interesting… Very well… I will make you the sacrifice for my revival!” Electricity arced all around the power transmission area, sparking off the chain link fence with loud cracking and hissing. “My tribute, you can no longer escape!”

“Jaden, pay close attention, this is the responsibility of a one who uses Shadow Magic.” Drake said as his Ba flared again and the encroaching darkness in the area swirled about under his command. “Invocation…” He said clearly as the darkness subsumed the entire area, displacing and merging the physical and spiritual to a degree. “I declare a Shadow Game!”

The darkness pulsed and writhed, seemingly in accord as Drake activated his Duel Disk and Jinzo held out its left arm and machine parts rapidly built up from its armor to form a green and black Duel Disk of its own.

“Duel!” Jinzo and Drake said at the same time.

Drake – 4,000

Jinzo – 4,000

Both drew their first five cards.

‘Hey, partner.’ Drake greeted his Ka as one of the five cards was Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

“Ssshhrraa…” Red-Eyes rumbled out in response.

“I’ll go first.” Jinzo said, drawing a card for turn without waiting for Drake’s response. “I’ll activate Pot of Greed.” He placed the card onto his Duel Disk and on the field appeared the blue and green pot with the red eyes and wicked smile. It faded away in a green glow as Jinzo drew two more cards. “I’ll set one card facedown.” The card was placed in the Disk and the hologram of a facedown card appeared on the field. “Next, I’ll summon Psycho Bounder in attack position.”

From the swirling darkness rose up an odd machine, it had a humanoid torso, head, and arms, but below the waist was a large metal ball with a blue light on the front and multiple antenna sticking out at odd angles. On the palms of its hand, its shoulders, its forehead, and its chest were mirrors, each integrated with the machinery of the body and over all of that was a red cape.

Psycho Bounder – Level 4 – LIGHT – Machine/Effect – 1700 ATK/1000 DEF

“Psycho Bounder’s effect activates upon its summon.” Jinzo said factually, almost like a machine reading off a prompt. “I can now add one ‘Jinzo’ or one Spell/Trap card that specifically mentions ‘Jinzo’ from my Deck to my hand.” The Spirit held its hand over the Deck and a single card came out from near the center, flying straight into Jinzo’s hand. The Deck auto-shuffled itself, but Jinzo was already showing his chosen card to Drake. “I add the Spell card ‘Psychic Wave’ to my hand.” Without hesitation, Jinzo played the very Spell card he’d searched. “I activate Psychic Wave.”

“What’s that do, exactly?” Drake asked, not all that familiar with the Jinzo Archetype.

“As long as I control a Machine Monster, I discard one ‘Jinzo’ from my hand or Deck to the graveyard and then inflict 600 Life Points of damage to you.” Jinzo answered, holding its hand over the Deck again and showing the card that had come straight into its hand to Drake before putting it in the graveyard.

The purple electricity crackling in the air zapped Drake, making him wince at the pain as the Shadow Game made the damage real.

Drake – 3,400

Jinzo – 4,000

“Ow…” Drake brushed off the damage easily enough, for now.

Jinzo continued its turn without acknowledging Drake. “I activate the Spell card ‘Law of the Cosmos’. With it you are allowed to set one Trap card directly from your hand or Deck.”

Drake narrowed his eyes at the card. “And what’s the downside if I do?”

“If you set a Trap card, then I’m allowed to special summon one ‘Jinzo’ from my Deck.” Jinzo answered.

“Then I’m not going to set a Trap card.” Drake denied the effect. ‘Setting a Trap Card and allowing him to special summon Jinzo to the field instantly invalidates the Trap card that I’d set. There’s got to be more to that Spell card.’

Jinzo move its hand over its Deck again. “Very well. In that case, I’m allowed to add one ‘Jinzo’ or one card that specifically mentions its name from my Deck to my hand.” Another card practically ejected from the Deck and into the Spirit’s hand before it was shown to Drake. “I choose ‘Jinzo – Lord’.” He added the more powerful version of the classic Jinzo card to his hand.

Drake tsked. “That figures. It was obvious that the card would have a downside for the opponent regardless if they chose to set a Trap or not.”

“I end my turn.” Jinzo said, allowing Drake to have his first turn.

“Draw!” Drake drew his first card and added it to his hand. “Not bad…” He grinned at the card he’d drawn. “But first, I’ll activate ‘Cards of the Red Stone’!” He placed the Spell card into his Duel Disk. The hologram that appeared on the field showed a black egg shattering from within as a golden light poured from it and a singular glowing red eye stared out at the viewer. “I discard one Level 7 “Red-Eyes’ monster from my hand to the graveyard,” He moved his Ka’s card into the grave. “And then I draw two cards!” He drew two more times from his Deck. “Then I can send one Level 7 ‘Red-Eyes’ monster from my Deck to the graveyard!” He quickly searched his Deck for the card he wanted and then showed it to Jinzo. “I’ll send my Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon to the grave!”

Jaden watched the Duel with rapt attention, barely blinking as he saw Drake not only invoke a Shadow Game, but play against a dangerous Monster Spirit. “Come on, Drake, you’ve got this.”

Drake placed another Spell card onto the field. “But I’d like to draw a few more cards, so I activate Graceful Charity!” The hologram of the green card depicted an angel holding a glowing white card before it faded away. “I draw three…” Drake drew three more cards from his Deck and looked them over. “Then discard two!” He placed his Meteor Dragon Red-Eyes Impact into the grave, followed by one of his Red-Eyes Wyverns. “Now…let’s play a game, Jinzo!” He placed his third spell onto the field. “I activate Reasoning!” The Spell card appeared in front of Drake as he smirked at the Spirit. “It’s a simple game, you declare a Monster Level between one and twelve, then I excavate cards from the top of my Deck until I find a Monster that can be normal summoned/set. If that Monster matches the Level you declared, all of the cards go to the graveyard. But if not…then I special summon the Monster and send the rest to the grave!”

Jinzo didn’t visibly react and simply made its choice. “Seven.” It was machine calculated based solely on the fact that Drake played a Red-Eyes Deck.

“Excavate!” Drake drew the first card from his Deck, revealing the Spell card ‘Return of the Dragon Lords’. His second pull was a Monster, but one that made the Red-Eyes Duelist grin wildly. “So sorry, you lose!” He showed Jinzo that the Monster was ‘The Black Stone of Legend’. “I’ll special summon The Black Stone of Legend in defense mode!” A burst of flames scattered some of the swirling darkness, leaving behind a black and red egg that glowed with ruby light as it cracked open slightly. The Return of the Dragon Lords card was placed into the graveyard as Drake continued his turn. “I activate the effect of the Black Stone of Legend! I tribute it to special summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon from my Deck!” He quickly placed down a Spell card onto his Duel Disk. “I chain the Quick-Play Spell card Super Rejuvenation!” The green card appeared on the field showing the monster known as Cave Dragon with a horrible injury on its front leg that was glowing as it rapidly healed. “As my Super Rejuvenation was activated second, it resolves first! But its effect won’t be seen until my End Phase!” He moved the Black Stone of Legend to the graveyard and searched his Deck for another copy of his Ka’s card, finding it quickly he placed it on the field.

A blast of flames erupted from the darkness.

“SSSHHHRRRAAAHHH!!!” Red-Eyes Black Dragon roared as it spread its wings, scattering the flames into the darkness.

Red-Eyes Black Dragon – Level 7 – DARK – Dragon – 2400 ATK/2000 DEF

Drake moved Super Rejuvenation into the graveyard and quickly continued his turn. “Battle Phase! Red-Eyes, attack Psycho Bounder!” he pointed at Jinzo’s only Monster.

The sphere of intense red and black flames formed in Red-Eyes’ jaws before being launched at the machine and blowing it to pieces. Flaming metal rained down into the darkness and vanished from sight, the smell of burning wiring briefly filling the air.

Jinzo’s static-like form wavered as it lost Life Points.

Drake – 3,400

Jinzo – 3,300

“My turn isn’t done just yet!” Drake said as he moved onto his Main Phase 2. “I activate Red-Eyes Insight!” He placed the Spell card onto the field and the hologram appeared showing Red-Eyes Black Dragon looking at the viewer with its claws raised. “All I have to do is send one ‘Red-Eyes’ monster from my hand or Deck to the graveyard and then I can add one ‘Red-Eyes’ Spell or Trap to my hand!” he searched his Deck briefly before putting Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning into the grave. “I choose my ‘Red-Eyes Spirit’ Trap card!” He added the card to his hand after showing it to Jinzo. Drake shuffled his hand swiftly. “I set three cards facedown!” Three holograms appeared on the field behind Red-Eyes Black Dragon. “With that, I think I’ll enter my End Phase.” With a smirk Drake’s graveyard began to glow. “I activate my Red-Eyes Wyvern’s effect! During my End Phase I banish Wyvern from my graveyard,” He moved the monster into the banishment slot on his Duel Disk. “And then I can special summon one Red-Eyes Monster from my graveyard! Say hello to my Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning!” He placed the Gemini Monster onto the field.

Lightning sparked and crackled before crashing through the darkness. From the thunderous crash a demon covered in bones with demonic wings and blazing red eyes appeared with a growl.

“RAAAHHH!!!”

Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning – Level 6 – DARK – Fiend/Gemini/Effect – 2500 ATK/1200 DEF

“You didn’t forget about my Super Rejuvenation card from earlier, did you?” Drake questioned as his graveyard glowed followed by his Deck. “Super Rejuvenation’s effect is that for every Dragon monster that I tributed from my hand or field this turn, I draw a card! I count three!” He drew three more cards, bringing his hand up to four. “That’s all from me, for now!”

“Draw.” Jinzo drew for its turn, seemingly unfazed by the two powerful Monsters staring it down. The instant the card was added to Jinzo’s hand and the Standby Phase began, Drake acted.

“I activate my Trap card!” Drake declared as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk that flipped up the leftmost card on his field. “Return of the Red-Eyes!” The purple card depicted Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon emerging from swirling darkness and fire.

“I chain my own Trap card.” Jinzo countered as the lone facedown on his field flipped up to reveal a Trap that depicted Jinzo with both hands raised upwards unleashing a large dome of force from its body. “Psychic Shockwave.”

Drake blinked as he looked at the card. “Not familiar with that one.”

Jinzo explained at the clear prompting. “When my opponent activates a Trap card, I discard one Spell/Trap from my hand and special summon a Level 6 DARK Machine monster from my Deck.”

“Oh…shit.” Drake knew exactly what was coming.

“I discard Call of the Haunted and special summon…” Jinzo began.

“I chain my Trap card: Red-Eyes Spirit!” Drake needed to use this card now before it was rendered unusable by Jinzo being summoned to the field. “I target one Re-Eyes Monster in my graveyard and special summon it! Come on back, Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon!”

The darkness was briefly blasted away as a storm of flames emerged from the shadows. The Red-Eyes Flare Dragon was nearly identical to Red-Eyes Black Dragon, except for the fact that’s it wings were ablaze with intense fire, it had a secondary set of smaller wings coming from its arms, and its taloned feet were blazing like wildfire as they scorched the ground they tread upon.

Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon – Level 7 – DARK – Dragon/Gemini/Effect – 2400 ATK/2000 DEF

“…Jinzo to the field.” Jinzo finished as the card shot from the Deck into the Spirit’s hand and was then placed on the field. The hologram of the card appeared and the electricity all around the area went wild, crackling across the ground and arcing off the metal fences and towers before it all struck the hologram. Jinzo faded away from his position and appeared on the field directly, fully materialized. “Not fully restored… I require my tribute.” The Monster Spirit let out a wicked chuckle, its voice no longer sounding like it static.

Jinzo – Level 6 – DARK – Machine/Effect – 2400 ATK/1500 DEF

“My effect negates your active Trap cards.” Jinzo said as Return of the Red-Eyes turned grey before the Continuous Trap could resolve its effect. “As there is a Trap face up on the field, I can special summon ‘Jinzo the Machine Menace’ from my hand.” He place the card onto his Duel Disk and in another crack of arcing electricity a second Jinzo appeared from the swirling darkness around the area to stand next to the original Jinzo.

Jinzo the Machine Menace – Level 7 – DARK – Machine/Effect – 2400 ATK/1500 DEF

“As Jinzo the Machine Menace was special summoned by its effect, it becomes Level 6 until the End Phase.” Jinzo informed Drake as the new Jinzo sparked with electricity.

Jinzo the Machine Menace – Level 6 – DARK – Machine/Effect – 2400 ATK/1500 DEF

“I tribute Jinzo from my field…” Jinzo glowed before vanishing from the field and reappearing in its original location, once more static-like. “…to special summon Jinzo – Lord.”

The darkness was illuminated by crackling lightning as the darkness swirled together and from it emerged a larger Jinzo than the original. The formerly green, yellow, and black outfit had become entirely blue and yellow now with larger blue armor and multiple lashing cables emerging from Jinzo – Lord’s back.

Jinzo – Lord – Level 8 – DARK – Machine/Effect – 2600 ATK/1600 DEF

“And I’ll just bet that it has a more powerful effect than you do, right?” Drake snarked a bit at Jinzo, not knowing for sure what Jinzo – Lord’s effect was.

“Correct.” Jinzo answered as he pointed at Jinzo – Lord. “Once per turn: Jinzo – Lord can destroy all face-up Trap cards on the field and inflict 300 Life Points of damage to you for each card destroyed.”

The blue goggles covering Jinzo – Lord’s eyes glowed before twin beams streaked across the field and destroyed the greyed out ‘Return of the Red-Eyes’.

“Nnn…” Drake grimaced as purple electricity shocked him again.

Drake – 3,100

Jinzo – 3,300

“That’s not great.” Drake saw that parts of his body were starting to become static-like, just like Jinzo’s, as the Shadow Game took its effect upon the players the more their Life Points dwindled.

“Drake! Are you okay?!” Jaden called out to his friend in concern.

Drake waved off his fading body. “I’m fine, Jaden. I haven’t even lost a quarter of my Life Points yet.” He looked straight at Jinzo with a grin. “I should thank you for that, a mere 300 Life Points is cheap to get Return of the Red-Eyes off the field and free of your Jinzo’s effect!” His graveyard glowed as he used the Trap card’s graveyard effect. “I activate Return of the Red-Eyes from the graveyard! It’s effect lets me special summon a ‘Red-Eyes’ monster from the graveyard!” he pulled out his first Red-Eyes Black Dragon card from the grave and placed it onto the field. “Let’s double the original, shall we!”

A burst of red and black flames covered part of the field before a second Red-Eyes Black Dragon emerged from the shadows and roared.

“RAAAAHHHH!!!” Drake’s Ka shrieked at Jinzo – Lord and Jinzo the Machine Menace.

Jinzo wasn’t concerned in the slightest at having another Red-Eyes Black Dragon staring him down. “I activate Monster Reborn.” The Spell card appeared, revealing he glowing green ankh, before it shone brightly, making it hard to look at in the darkness. “I revive Psycho Bounder from the graveyard.”

From the brightly glowing card, the odd, mirror-covered machine emerged again. The light of the Spell card vanished the instant that Psycho Bounder touched down on the swirling darkness of the field.

Psycho Bounder – Level 4 – LIGHT – Machine/Effect – 1700 ATK/1000 DEF

“Upon its summon, Psycho Bounder’s effect activates, allowing me to add one ‘Jinzo’ or one Spell/Trap that specifically mentions it to my hand.” The card that the Spirit wanted shot from the Deck and into its hand. “I choose ‘Cosmos Channeling’.” Jinzo showed Drake the card before adding it to his hand. “I activate Brain Control.” The spell card was placed onto the field and the hologram appeared, showing a pair of green hands with claws hovering over a brain. “I pay 800 Life points…”

Drake – 3,100

Jinzo – 2,500

“…and take control of your Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning.” Jinzo said, ignoring how more of its body became completely scrambled static and intangible.

Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning glowed before it flapped its large wings once and flew over to Jinzo’s side of the field. “RRRAAAHHH!!!” The fiend growled at the Red-Eyes dragons it now faced.

“You tricky son of a…” Drake realized what Jinzo was up to before the Monster Spirit made its move.

“I use my normal summon on Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning to activate its Gemini effect.” Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning sparked with electricity before its entire body was engulfed in lightning. “Once per turn, it can destroy all monsters on my opponent’s side of the field that have less DEF than its ATK.”

“I’m aware.” Drake glared at Jinzo as his own Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning blasted all three of his dragons with powerful lightning, making them fall into the swirling abyss with black smoke rising from their charred bodies, the reality of the Shadow Game making the smell of scorched flesh all too real.

Jinzo didn’t have an expression on its warped and modified face, but it chuckled darkly, sounding like it was coming through a bad radio signal. “Now I’ve finally secured my tribute, my sacrifice to be revived!”

“Drake!” Jaden was extremely concerned now, seeing that Drake’s facedown was probably a trap that he couldn’t activate with Jinzo – Lord on the field and now his friend had no monsters to protect his Life Points.

Drake didn’t look very concerned though. “You’re tricky, but I have a trick of my own!” He held up a card from his hand. “I activate the effect of Red-Eyes Retro Dragon from my hand!”

“What?!” Jinzo finally expressed shock verbally.

“Since you destroyed a Level 7 Red-Eyes monster and sent it to the graveyard while I had Red-Eyes Retro Dragon in my hand, I can special summon it to the field in defense mode!” He placed the old form of his Ka onto the field.

The darkness swirled in reverse as the Shadow Game was effected by the time manipulating abilities of this version of Red-Eyes. The dragon was smaller than the original Red-Eyes, its scales were a lighter black (almost grey) color and lined with dark red along the sharp contours of its body. On each leg was a somewhat large brass gear that spun slowly.

“RAAAHHH!!!” Red-Eyes Retro Dragon roared as it landed on the field and wrapped its wings around itself defensively.

Red-Eyes Retro Dragon – Level 4 – DARK – Dragon/Effect – 1700 ATK/1600 DEF

“Did you not know that Red-Eyes have experience with time travel?” Drake grinned at Jinzo as the reversed swirling darkness of the field began to rise upwards. “When Red-Eyes Retro Dragon’s effect from the hand is activated, I can return as many of the destroyed Red-Eyes monsters back to their original positions from before they were destroyed.”

From the darkness that was flowing backward, two Red-Eyes Black Dragons along with a Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon appeared, their fatal injuries gone…because they’d never happened now.

“RAAAWWWRRR!!!” The three dragons roared at Jinzo as they spread their wings wide, flames billowing from Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon.

“Pointless.” Jinzo had an angry buzz in its static-like voice. “I enter Battle Phase and attack your Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon with Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning!”

“RRRAAAHHH!!!” Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lighting growled and unleashed a thunderous blast straight at the dragon.

Drake acted quickly to the attack. “I activate the graveyard effect of Return of the Dragon Lords!” He pulled the Spell card from his graveyard as it glowed brightly. “By banishing it, if my monster would be destroyed by battle or card effect, it is not destroyed.”

Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon was surrounded in a light blue aura and the lightning glanced off its body and disappeared into the swirling darkness.

Drake – 3,000

Jinzo – 2,500

“Still take the damage though…” Drake said, ignoring the twinge of pain as best he could.

Jinzo’s angry static crackling continued. “Jinzo – Lord attacks Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon!”

Jinzo – Lord held its hands in front of it and a sphere of energy formed before it was launched straight at Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon and exploded on contact in a blast that nearly swept both Jaden and Drake off their feet.

Drake – 2,800

Jinzo – 2,500

“Jinzo the Machine Menace attacks your Red-Eyes Black Dragon on the left!” Jinzo pointed out his target.

Jinzo the Machine Menace launched a similar sphere of energy at Red-Eyes Black Dragon as Jinzo – Lord had done before it. At the same moment, Red-Eyes Black Dragon unleashed the intense black and red fireball at the machine and both monsters exploded in a gory mess of flesh, blood, metal parts, and bone before disappearing beneath the swirling fog-like shadows.

Jinzo pointed to its next target. “Psycho Bounder attacks Red-Eyes Retro Dragon!”

The odd, mirror-covered machine wearing a red cape faced the defensive dragon and all of its mirrors glowed before unleashing beams of light that pierced straight through the Red-Eyes Retro Dragon. The slain dragon let out a dying shriek before it fell beneath the swirling masses of darkness.

“I activate Cosmos Channeling.” Jinzo played the Continuous Spell card that it had previously searched from its Deck. “I send one monster that I control, that is owned by my opponent, to the graveyard to special summon one Machine monster from my hand or graveyard.”

Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning glowed before vanishing instantly.

“I special summon myself!” Jinzo declared as it pulled its own card from the graveyard and put it onto the field.

The electricity around the facility went wild again and it struck everywhere, nearly hitting both Jaden and Drake, before it hit the swirling darkness and Jinzo appeared on the field, disappearing from his previous position.

Jinzo – Level 6 – DARK – Machine/Effect – 2400 ATK/1500 DEF

The once more materialized Jinzo’s eyes glowed red behind the goggles crafted over its eyes. “Yes… This will be more appropriate… I will take my sacrifice with my own hands!” With his threat made, Jinzo placed the final card in his hand into his Duel Disk. “I set one card facedown and end my turn.”

“Then I’ll draw!” Drake drew his next card, only to see ‘Cosmos Channeling’ begin to glow. “What now?!”

Jinzo cackled, its machine programming slowly losing control over the modified being’s cruel and dark nature. “While I control both Cosmos Channeling and Jinzo, every time you draw for your turn, I declare a card type: Magic, Trap, or Monster, and you reveal the card you drew. If the card your drew is of the declared type, then I send Cosmos Channeling to the graveyard and draw one card.”

Drake glared at the Continuous Spell card. “Well, it can make itself useful even after you get rid of the monster you took from me, huh.” He held up the card he drew. “So, go ahead and declare a type.”

“Monster.” Jinzo said after only a second to compute.

“Good guess.” Drake revealed his Red-Eyes Baby Dragon.

Cosmos Channeling shattered into wisps of darkness and Jinzo drew one card.

“I think I’ve been holding onto this card long enough.” Drake said as he placed a Spell card onto the field. “Let’s end this! I activate Raigeki!” The green card appeared on the field and glowed before it turned into lightning and shot into the swirling blackness above. There was a flash within the darkness and then a bolt dropped straight towards the three Monsters on Jinzo’s field.

“Activate Quick-Play spell: Everlasting Alloy!” Jinzo’s facedown card flipped upwards, depicting Jinzo with its arms crossed and its body glowing with a golden aura, a smaller picture near the bottom of the main one showed Jinzo deploying a barrier in front of itself to block an attack. The Raigeki slammed into the three machines with a crash of thunder that shook the air and briefly blasted the darkness back to the edges of the abyss. When the darkness settled a moment later, it revealed all three monsters to be perfectly fine.

“The fuck…?” Drake was honestly perplexed at his Raigeki failing.

Jinzo cackled, the glow of its red eyes intensifying. “My Spell card: Everlasting Alloy, makes all of my Machine monsters unable to be destroyed by card effects until the end of the turn.”

Jaden’s eyes widened at seeing Drake’s Raigeki fail. “Oh shit…” He still believed in his best friend, but he was starting to wonder how Drake could turn this Duel back into his favor.

“I admit… Not what I was expecting.” Drake said as he glanced at his hand. “But I haven’t lost yet! I summon Red-Eyes Baby Dragon!” he placed the monster onto the field.

In a burst of flames and swirling fog-like shadows, the small Red-Eyes dragon emerged from the darkness. “Raaahhh!”

Red-Eyes Baby Dragon – Level 3 – DARK – Dragon/Effect – 1200 ATK/700 DEF

“Now, I activate Black Metal Dragon’s effect from my hand!” Drake showed Jinzo the card and set it in his Spell/Trap Zone directly behind Red-Eyes Baby Dragon.

The black metallic dragon appeared on the field with a brief roar before wrapping around Red-Eyes Baby Dragon, becoming armor for the smaller dragon and boosting its ATK.

Red-Eyes Baby Dragon – Level 3 – DARK – Dragon/Effect – 1800 ATK/700 DEF

“And since my little dragon got a new accessory, it’s only fair to give my partner something nice too!” Drake smirked as he placed the newest addition to his Deck onto the field. “I activate the Equip Spell: Dragon Nails!” The green card appeared behind Red-Eyes before it turned into light and hit the dragon’s claws. In an instant, the already vicious claws of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon became that much worse as they were covered in powerful metal gauntlets with razor-sharp blades covering the natural claws of the dragon.

Red-Eyes Black Dragon – Level 7 – DARK – Dragon – 3000 ATK/2000 DEF

“It will not be enough!” Jinzo stated, half raging and half cold machine speaking. It was a horrid combination and only proved how twisted the Monster Spirit truly was.

“Wanna bet?!” Drake challenged the twisted Spirit. “Red-Eyes Black Dragon tear Jinzo – Lord apart!”

Jinzo cackled loudly, the static buzz increasing to the point of being almost deafening. “Psycho Bounder’s effect activates! When another monster of mine is attacked, I can destroy both Psycho Bounder and the attacking card before damage calculation!”

Psycho Bounder leapt at Red-Eyes Black Dragon as its entire body glowed before exploding in a large blast that filled the darkness with light for an instant before the swirling fog obscured everything.

“You didn’t ask, so I thought you knew…” Drake had a wild grin on his face and his Duelist Spirit was blazing in his eyes. “But Dragon Nails prevents the monster it’s equipped to from being destroyed by my opponent’s card effects!”

Red-Eyes Black Dragon tore through the obscuring darkness and the Dragon Nails slashed through Jinzo – Lord like paper, shredding the metal of the machine monster’s body to pieces that mixed with the biological matter the machine parts covered in a horrific mess of gore. The eviscerated monster’s pieces fell into the abyss and vanished.

“WHAT?!” Jinzo roared out, its voice cracking and buzzing in and out.

Drake – 2,800

Jinzo – 2,100

“Now, Red-Eyes Baby Dragon, attack Jinzo!” Drake pointed at the confused and enraged Spirit that had summoned itself to the field.

“Raaahhh!” Red-Eyes Baby Dragon roared and flew straight at Jinzo.

“Enough!” Jinzo crackled out and blasted Red-Eyes Baby Dragon into nothing with the strange energy it possessed.

Drake – 2,200

Jinzo – 2,100

“Life Points are a resource…” Drake grunted out as almost half his body was now static-like. There was both a feeling of loss for the parts that were currently static, as well as an uncomfortable pain that was slowly filling the rest of his body that was still normal. ‘I need to wrap this up…’ Drake thought to himself as he did his best to settle his mind and focus on finishing this Shadow Game. “Red-Eyes Baby Dragon’s effect activates! Since it was destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon a Level 7 or lower ‘Red-Eyes’ monster from my Deck!” He quickly searched his much thinner Deck and found exactly what he needed. “I special summon Red-Eyes Soul in defense mode!” He placed the monster onto the field.

The swirling darkness parted to reveal a Red-Eyes Black Dragon that looked almost normal, but the depth of black to its scales had vanished, leaving them an almost shiny grey.  The dragon crouched down and wrapped its wings around itself in a defensive stance a second later.

Red-Eyes Soul – Level 7 – DARK – Dragon/Effect – 900 ATK/2000 DEF

Drake pulled Red-Eyes Baby Dragon from the graveyard. “And since Red-Eyes Soul was special summoned by Red-Eyes Baby Dragon’s effect, the little one equips to Red-Eyes Soul and gives it a boost of 300 ATK!”

Red-Eyes Baby Dragon materialized from the darkness and landed on the crouched Red-Eyes Soul. It looked almost adorable, really.

Red-Eyes Soul – Level 7 – DARK – Dragon/Effect – 1200 ATK/2000 DEF

“And to continue the train of graveyard effects, Black Metal Dragon has one too!” Drake smirked as he searched his Deck. “I can search for one ‘Red-Eyes’ card from my Deck and add it to my hand.” He showed the card to Jinzo once he found it. “I’m picking my Red-Eyes Alternative Dragon!”

Jinzo examined the state of the field and let out a dark chuckle. “I still stand… I will end this Duel next turn and claim my sacrifice!”

Drake shook his head, his eyes sharpening into a fierce look as his Ba formed an aura around him. “There is no next turn. I chose Red-Eyes Soul for a reason!” He pointed at the defense position Monster with the Red-Eyes Baby Dragon atop it. “Red-Eyes Soul has a Quick Effect! Once per Duel, I can target one Red-Eyes Black Dragon that I control and Red-Eyes Soul inflicts damage equal to that monster’s original ATK!” He pointed at his Ka. “I choose my partner.”

Red-Eyes Soul unfurled it wings and spread them wide, a large red and black fireball forming in its jaws.

“No! NO! NO!!!” Jinzo roared out, the crackling of static eventually drowning out its words.

The fireball was launched by Red-Eyes Soul and slammed directly into Jinzo in a fiery blast that shook the area.

Drake – 2,200

Jinzo – 0

The Duel was over and Jinzo had lost.

“I… refuse…” Jinzo’s garbled voice was barely understandable as the darkness closed in on the still burning Spirit. It reached out towards Drake, managing to stagger a step forward. “I’ll return…”

Drake’s cold eyes actually stopped Jinzo in its tracks.

“That won’t be possible.” Drake said with finality.

“What…?” Jinzo’s voice went fully static and it barely had time to look upwards before Red-Eyes Black Dragon’s jaws had snatched the brunt and weakened Spirt up. The rending and tearing of the dragons’ fangs was grisly as it devoured Jinzo entirely, consuming the defeated Monster Spirit as the shadows and darkness receded, leaving the power transmission station completely back to normal.

Jaden slowly walked up to Drake and put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Drake… Are you alright?”

Drake turned to look at Jaden with a small smile. “Yeah, I’m good. This is the first time Red-Eyes has ever eaten another Monster Spirit… He says it’ll protect me and help him get stronger.” Given that Jinzo had threatened to return, it wasn’t a stretch that Drake’s Ka would permanently end the threat to protect his partner.

“Are you gonna do that if we Duel an evil Monster Spirit, buddy?” Jaden asked his Ka who had been bolstering Jaden’s Ba to protect him from the negative influence of the Shadow Realm while Drake had been Dueling Jinzo.

“Kuri? Kuri!” Winged Kuriboh chirped as it floated around Jaden.

Jaden took that as a ‘maybe’ from the much older Spirit.

Drake stretched his arms above his head before going through the full range of motion with them. “Well, we need to get these three back to their dorm, I think.” He pointed at where Torrey was still laying in the direct, unconscious. Only now tow other Obelisk Blue students were lying next to him.

“They’re back!” Jaden smiled at the fact that Mukouda and Isaka had been returned.

“Jinzo didn’t have a choice. The wager of a Shadow Game is absolute. Even if he didn’t want to release them, once he lost the Duel, his deal with them was broken.” Drake said as Red-Eyes turned into a ball of black and red light that zipped into his Deck Box. “You carry Torrey, I’ll drag the other two along.”

Jaden chuckled as he and Drake moved over to the three unconscious Obelisk Blue students. “Sure thing.”

As they hefted Torrey and his two friends, Drake looked at Jaden seriously. “While we need to tell our girlfriends about this incident…let’s make sure to tell them as gently as possible. I don’t want them to worry about something that’s already done, you know?”

“Yeah, I get it.” Jaden nodded as they began walking towards the Obelisk Blue boys’ dorm. “You don’t think something like this will happen again, do you?”

“I don’t know.” Drake admitted as they walked. “I’ll keep helping you four practice just in case though.”

Jaden hefted Torrey into a better hold as they kept walking. “Thanks, Drake.”

Drake chuckled slightly. “No worries, Jaden.” He grunted slightly as he stepped over an uneven part in the path. “I’m glad the Ra Dorms are closer to Obelisk than the Slifer Dorms were or else we’d have to walk almost all the way across the island to get back once we’re done dropping these three off.”

“Yeah…” Jaden yawned once. “I’d like to get to bed soon.”

“We do have a long day of doing nothing ahead of us tomorrow.” Drake joked as they continued towards the Obelisk Dorms.

-End Chapter-

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Well damn… Those three fools nearly got sacrificed because they messed with things they shouldn’t have.

Luckily, Drake and Jaden were still staying at the Ra Dorms over break, or Torrey would’ve been sacrificed and Jinzo would’ve revived into the material world!

Drake shows Jaden a responsibility for those that use Shadow Magic: dealing with evil Monster Spirits.

Red-Eyes devouring Jinzo ends the evil Spirit’s further attempts to harm others. It also gives Red-Eyes a slight power boost! There’s still levels above Red-Eyes Black Dragon in the Archetype…but how much stronger will Drake need to be to get his Ka there? Or will it require an even heartier meal for the dragon?

How will Alexis, Mindy, and Jasmine react once they learn what their boyfriends did over the break?

Will spring at Duel Academy and the beginning of the second half of the year bring a time of normalcy or more danger?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!