Chapter 3: Descent of the Beast.

[Turn 3 - Drake LP:2100 Hand:4, Yuma LP:4000 Hand:2]

Two monsters stood facing each other on the field, one a black clothed samurai, the other a great white dragon. Drake has one card set in his magic/trap zone, while Yuma has two. It was Drakes turn.

"I Draw. I summon <Spear Dragon> in attack mode."

[Spear Dragon – Lv4 ATK:1900/DEF:0]

"Here I come Yuma, I attack Gagaga Samurai with Blue-Eyes White Dragon! White Lightning attack!"

A white beam blasted out from Drakes dragon towards Yuma's monster.

"Not so fast Drake! I activate the effect of my Gagaga Samurai, and change it to defence mode. Now my life points are safe."

"Watch out Yuma!" warned Astral.

"I activate my face down card, the continuous trap <Dragons Rage>. So long as this trap card is on the field my dragons can inflict piercing damage. So say farewell to your samurai and 1400 of your life points."

"Urgh.. not yet! I activate my face down <Half Unbreak>. This trap prevents one of my monsters from being destroyed by battle this turn and halves all damage I take from battles involving that monster."

"But you will still take damage."

[BEWD ATK:3000 > GS DEF:1600 – Yuma LP > 3300 (1400/2=700)]

"Then I attack with Spear Dragon."

A hurricane of wind blasted from the Spear Dragons pointed beak.

[SP ATK:1900 > GS DEF:1600 – Yuma LP > 3150 (300/2=150)]

"After attacking my Spear Dragon switches to defence mode. I then set a card face down and my turns over."

Yuma was confused. Why attack with the Spear Dragon? It couldn't destroy his monster and it hardly did any damage. It was now a sitting duck with 0 DEF. Was it a trap? A bluff?

[Turn 4 - Yuma LP:3150 Hand:2, Drake LP:2100 Hand:3]

"My move! I draw."

"Alright Drake, he comes one of my favourite monsters, I summon <Gagaga Magician> in attack mode."

[Gagaga Magician – Lv4 ATK:1500/DEF:1000]

The Magician was as Drake remembered it, masked with black robes emblazoned with a flame pattern along the bottom, and a shoulder piece reminiscent of the famous Dark Magician.

"And when I summon a level 4 monster, I can special summon <Kagetokage> from my hand."

[Kagetokage – Lv4 ATK:1100/DEF:1500]

A shadowy lizard like creature scuttled onto the field from Gagaga Magicians shadow.

"With my level 4 Gagaga Magician and Kagetokage I build the overlay network. I XYZ summon, rank 4 <Gagaga Cowboy>."

[Gagaga Cowboy – Rank 4 ATK:1500/DEF:2400 OU:2]

Drake was amused. Yuma had summoned his monster in attack position, was his plan…

"I switch Gagaga Samurai back to attack mode and activate its ability, sending on overlay unit to the graveyard so that my samurai can attack twice this turn."

[Gagaga Samurai - OU:1 > 0]

*Slash* Its final overlay unit disappeared.

"Now I'm gonna Jet! I attack Blue-Eyes White Dragon with Gagaga Cowboy!"

So Drake was right. Not a particularly good move in his eyes, but not bad either...

"I activate Gagaga Cowboys special effect. By sending one Overlay unit to the Graveyard, when Gagaga Cowboy attacks a monster it gains 1000 ATK and my opponents monster loses 500 ATK.

[Gagaga Cowboy - OU:2 > 1]

An overlay unit flew into Gagaga Cowboys pistol before being fire out towards the Blue-Eyes dragon.

"That means your Blue-Eyes and my Cowboy both now have 2500 ATK. Since both our monsters attack points are equal then they are both destroyed."

[BEWD ATK: 3000 > 2500 = GC ATK: 1500 > 2500]

Drakes Blue-Eyes was pierced by cowboys bullets at the same time its white lightning obliterated the western hero. Mutual destruction. Just as Drake expected.

"Now I attack Spear Dragon with Gagaga Samurai."

The samurai charged in for the kill, but the defending dragon was suddenly engulfed in a pillar of flames.

"I activate my trap card <Dragon's Rebirth> by banishing one dragon I control from the field I can special summon a Dragon type card from my Hand or Graveyard. So I banish my Spear Dragon to Special summon from the grave my Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Return my mighty monster."

*Roar!*

Once more the white dragon took to the field in attack mode, bursting from the pillar of flames.

Yuma grimaced, he had no choice but to cancel his attack, so this why Drake attacked with the Spear Dragon last turn, he never meant to keep it. Things were looking bad but he still had moves to play.

"I activate my face down Quick play spell card <Gagagaback> which allows me to special summon any number of monsters destroyed in battle this turn in defence mode so long as a Gagaga monster was destroyed in battle this turn. For each monster I summon I take 600 damage. So I special summon my Gagaga Cowboy."

[Yuma LP: 3150 > 2550]

The gunslinger returned to the field wrapped in his cape. Perhaps Drake had underestimated Yuma, just a little.

"I set one card face down, your move!"

[Turn 5 - Drake LP:2100 Hand:3, Yuma LP:2550 Hand:0]

"Not too bad Yuma, but you still have a way to go."

"I draw, then I activate the Spell <Bingo Machine Go!> I reveal 3 Blue-Eyes Monsters or spell/trap cards that list 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' on them. You then chose one of them at random and that card is added to my hand."

Pulling out his deck Drake quickly selected his three cards; it was time to end this duel.

"Choose your poison Yuma, I reveal <Chaos Form>, <Burst Stream of Destruction> and <Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon>."

Setting the three cards into his duel disk the backs of three cards were projected in front of Yuma. Waiting for his choice. Not that it mattered much.

"I chose the left hand card"

Drake added the chosen card to his hand and returned the other two to his deck.

"From my Graveyard I activate the effect of my <White Stone of Ancients> by banishing it I return a Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my graveyard to my hand."

"Another Blue-Eyes! But where did it come from?"

"There was only one chance, Drake sent it there on the first turn when he active his 'Trade-in' spell card."

"Correct Astral, top marks. Of course I had original intended to summon my second Blue-Eyes with Dragons rebirth, but you taking down my first dragon changed my plans."

"Now I activate the ritual spell <Chaos Form>, let the powers of light and darkness intertwine and open the gates of chaos! I offer the level 8 Blue-Eyes from my hand and I ritual summon the <Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon>!"

[Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon – Lv8 ATK:3000/DEF:0]

A new beast rose from the swirling vortex of the ritual circle, a great dragon with feathered wings of energy, gleaming blue diamond jewels that glowed with an inner light shone all over its body. Its eyes glow a brilliant neon blue.

"This duel is over! Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon, attack Gagaga Samurai!"

Not yet! Yuma wasn't giving up, he still had his face down!

"I activate my trap <Gagagaguard> I can activate this so long as I control two or more Gagaga monster. Gagaga monster I control cannot be destroyed by battle this turn."

"That will not work Yuma, Drake has won."

"Huh?" Yuma was confused at Astral's solemn statement.

"I active the special ability of my Chaos dragon, because I ritual summoned it using a 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' as a tribute, when I attack I can switch the battle position of any and all monsters on my opponents field, their ATK and DEF also become 0 until end of turn."

"But they still can't be destroyed in battle and Gagaga Samurai's effect switches it back into defence mode."

"Doesn't matter, you forgot about the effect of my 'Dragons Rage' all my dragons deal piercing damage, and your monsters now have 0 DEF. Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon, attack with Chaos Stream of Destruction!"

The blue white lightning blasted through the samurai and into Yuma, knocking him flying.

"Aaahhhh!"

[BECD ATK:3000 > GS DEF:0 – Yuma LP: 2550 > 0]

<<Drake WINS>>

"Aw man…"

"Come on, pick yourself up Yuma and I will explain just who my enemies are."

"If only my pick was luckier…"

"It wouldn't have made a difference, no matter what card you chose I would have won this turn."

"What a downer…"

---

So Drake explained, about the Great Leviathan, Dartz, the Seal of Orichalcos, and the second battle of Atlantis.

"And so the Pharaoh with the aid of the Egyptian Gods defeated this great evil. And for a short time they thought it was over. However the story turned out to be far from over. The legendary Dragons, the lost knights of Atlantis, Timaeus, Hermos and Critias sought to erase any remaining traces of the Orichalcos from their world and discovered something very disturbing.

Dartz and the Great Leviathan were only the vanguard of a far more powerful force. We don't know a lot, just that the Orichalcos originally came from another dimension and have worked to conquer many different worlds. And their methods are always the same.

They start by sending a powerful 'God Beast' to their targeted world, however the transfer of a living being across the worlds is not without cost. And this leaves the beast in a weakened state until it can gather the souls and spirit energy it needs to restore itself. During this period under the guidance of an overseer they secretly recruit local talent, like Dartz, to act as shock troops, servants, soldiers and generals using the power of the Seal.

Once they are ready and the Great beast revives through the sacrifices they gather, they lead their armies in a lightning strike and conquer the world. And now they have come to this world."

Yuma was in a daze, his mind had been blown, while Astral had a thoughtful look on his face.

"You have told us of your enemy, but where do you come into this?"

"The Legendary Dragons. They had vowed to wipe out all trace of the evil that destroyed their home and even after having found out how powerful a foe they truly faced, they hold fast to their oath. But they need duellists of their own to wield their power."

"As I said before, moving a living being between dimension has a price, it is however far easier for a spirit to move between worlds. With their limited resources the three dragons had no choice but to seek out the souls of duellist that had passed on to select their champions. I was chosen. And having detected the Orichalcos recent entry into your world I followed them."

"Then you are dead?"

"What!! Does that mean Drakes a zombie or a ghost?!"

Drake gave a finger flick to Yuma's head. Idiot.

"I was dead, technically my body now is more like yours Astral, an energy construct created by the power of the Dragons. Its just a bit more grounded to operate within this material plane with a couple of special abilities."

"Huh?"

Drake and Astral ignored the clueless Yuma. Astral could properly bring him up to speed later.

"And you have the three Legendary Dragons?"

"Just one, I don't know if the others have chosen their champions or not, and if they have then I don't know if they are in this world as well. The Orichalcos has spread their claws to many worlds which need help."

"But why did you need to test Yuma's duel skills?"

"The Seal of Orichalcos is a cursed magic that steal souls, when activated everyone close by but the duellists are ejected from the area by the power of the seal. I fear if you two face a user of the seal then it may separate you, prevent you from aiding Yuma. But it is just guess work at this point."

"How powerful is the Seal?"

"On a similar level to your Number Cards."

"You know about the Numbers?"

"Yes, a little. The Seal of Orichalcos cannot be destroyed by card effects and gives a number of advantages to its controller. Its biggest danger is that it will steal the soul of the whoever loses the duel, trapping them to eventually become food for the recovering God Beast. And that's just the ordinary first level."

"First level?"

"Higher ups might wield the second and third level of the Seal, but it should be rare."

"And your plans now?"

"No idea. I have no idea where the beast is, where its servants are or even how many there could be at this moment. And I have no way of finding them. I should probably just start to collect some Numbers myself; I am sure their powerful energy would be a tempting target."

Astral gave him a look.

"Naturally I have no intention of keeping them, I know how important the Numbers are to you. I just want to make myself a target. They don't know about me, or that I know about them. So if I make myself as bait I might get lucky and draw them out. But this also means you two and anyone you know with Numbers are also potential targets and will have to be careful."

"…."

"So how are you doing with your Number hunting anyway?"

---

"Great Beast who devours the sun and the stars, please hear our prayers."

A chorus of voices were chanting in a hidden ritual chamber deep underground. A group of hooded robed acolytes ringed a stone altar. On the ground around them was carve the unicursal hexagram inscribed in a circle, the Seal of Orichalcos.

"We offer you sacrifice for your power. May you bless us with your strength."

At one end of the chamber stood a gilded throne. Its masked occupant looked on at the ongoing ritual in distain.

Standing behind this throne to the left a shadowy figure waited, the two of them conversed under the noise of the chanting.

"Look at them, fools the lot of them."

"They are your faithful followers Highness. They dance before your throne for your amusement."

"They are craven and greedy, fit only to feed the Fenris."

"Hehe true, but even ants can have a purpose."

"How goes the Numbers Hunt."

"Slowly I fear. Even with the power of the great seal most of your current subject are unlikely to win against a duellist empowered by a Numbers Card. We have obtained but a handful at present."

Dipping his hand into the shadows of his cloak the mysterious figure pulled out and passed to the Masked King several cards. He took them without looking.

"We need to recruit better duellists."

"Agreed Lord, fortunately the World Duel Carnival is about to start. Not only will it gather the strongest duellists from which we can find new recruits, but it will surely also gather many Numbers for us to hunt."

"Any duellists of interest so far?"

"A few, for example I have my eye on someone you know, Reginald Kastle…."