Chapter 18: God of Fear
In the small forest near the Spica stables, Jaden’s duel against the corrupted Amane continued. Jaden still had a full amount of 4000 life points along with a strong monster 2100 ATK point monster, Elemental Hero Captain Gold. Meanwhile Amane, though she had only 2900 life points, had summoned her God card, The Wicked Dreadroot, which had 4000 ATK. The advantage was clearly Amane’s. Chikaru, Kizuna, Remon, Tsubomi, and Hikari, who all watching the duel, while Yaya, Kaname, and Momomi were lying unconscious on the ground. It was still Amane’s turn.
“Dreadroot, destroy that pathetic hero!” Amane commanded. “Fear’s Knockdown!”
The giant green demon god raised his fist and delivered a punch so devastating that the force not only obliterated Captain Gold, but also knocked Jaden himself to the ground. Jaden looked at his duel disk as he got back up and was shocked to see that the attack had reduced his life points to 1050.
“How the heck did I lose so many life points?” Jaden asked in confusion.
“Not only does Dreadroot have 4000 ATK, but it also generates an aura of fear that cuts the ATK and DEF of all other monsters on the field in half.” Amane explained.
Jaden took another look at Dreadroot and realized that the sensation of fear that he felt when the Wicked God first appeared was more than just natural fear that he was feeling. The demon seemed to generate some kind of dark power that made all other creatures afraid of it. Fear was the weapon that Dreadroot used. Jaden quickly glanced around to everyone who was watching the duel. It seemed that they too were being affected by Dreadroot’s power. They were all trembling and paralyzed with fear. Though Jaden noticed that Chikaru seemed to be resisting the effects of Dreadroot’s power a little. Jaden theorized that it was because of her experience with using The Wicked Eraser.
“I’ll end my turn and let you squirm in terror!” Amane announced with insane glee. As Jaden drew his next card, he decided to try to appeal to Amane’s sanity one more time.
“Amane, no good can come from using the power of The Wicked Dreadroot!” Jaden told the corrupt woman prince. “You’ll only end up hurting Hikari and everyone else!”
“Shut up! What do you know of the power that I wield?” Amane shot back.
“Believe me, I know a little something about using dark power.” Jaden answered as he remembered the acts he committed as the Supreme King. “I ended up hurting a lot of people, all in the name of obtaining more power. I didn’t care about anything else but that.”
“Jaden is right!” Chikaru added. “I too know something about using a Wicked God. All I wanted to use its power to get others to treat the students of Lilum seriously as duelists, but all I ended up doing was causing chaos between the three schools and making the very students that I cared about duel till they dropped. I may have even destroyed a friendship that I treasure. You may think that the God card you wield will give you what you desire, but I the end you’ll only end up destroying everything you care about!”
“Hmph, you two obviously couldn’t handle the powers that you were given.” Amane retorted. “I on the other hand am in complete control of the powers that I have. Now get on with the duel!”
Jaden could see that there was no use trying to get through to Amane. The only way to end things was to win the duel. Jaden looked at his hand, there was nothing in it that he could use to take down The Wicked Dreadroot, but at the very least he could put up some sort of defense.
“First I summon Dandylion in Defense Mode!” Jaden announced. The cat faced flower appeared on the field and trembled as soon as it saw Dreadroot. “Next I’ll lay down a facedown and end my turn!”
“THAT’S your defense?” Amane laughed as she drew her next card. “A little flower in the shape of a kitty cat? Well, I guess there isn’t really much else that you could use as a shield.”
“Just make your move!” Jaden shot back. He never liked it when anyone insulted his monsters.
“Fine by me. Dreadroot, crush that little flower!” Amane commanded. “Fear’s Knockdown!”
The demon god delivered another devastating punch with his giant fist that shattered Dandylion and knocked Jaden back to the ground.
“When Dandylion is destroyed, it summons two Fluff Tokens in its place!” Jaden announced as two dandelion seeds with faces appeared. Both of them trembled in the presence of Dreadroot. “Because a monster was also destroyed, I activate my Trap, Hero Signal! This lets me summon Elemental Hero Wildheart from my deck!”
Jaden’s tna skinned wilderness hero appeared next to the Fluff Tokens. Like them, Wildheart began to tremble with fear in Dreadroot’s presence.
“A jungle man and a couple of puffballs. Well, I guess that’s a little better than what you had before.” Amane said sarcastically. “I end my turn!”
“Jaden, let me help!” Yubel’s voice said as Jaden drew his next card. Jaden looked and saw that he had indeed drawn Yubel’s card. He knew what his next move had to be, for it was his only way to win.
“First I sacrifice my two Fluff Tokens to summon Yubel in Attack Mode!” Jaden announced.
The two dandelion seed monsters shattered and Jaden’s eyes flashed to orange and teal. A long shadow stretched out from Jaden’s feet onto the battlefield where the two token monsters once were. From the end of the shadow rose a humanoid demon with eyes glowing in the same colors as Jaden’s. A third more demonic looking red eye was on the creature’s forehead. The skin on its face, parts of its torso, and the bicep of its right upper arm were bright purple, and its lips were light blue. The rest of its torso, waist, and legs were black, along with most of the skin on its upper arms. The bicep of the creature’s left arm, along with its lower arms and legs were brown and scaly. On the back of the creature was a pair of large demonic wings, and it had a head of long shaggy hair. The hair on the right side was grey, while the hair on the left side was dark blue.
“So this is this is the powerful Wicked Dreadroot.” Yubel said with a confident smile and arms crossed over her chest. “I guess he looks pretty tough.”
Amane was quite surprised to hear Yubel speak, as were Tsubomi and Hikari. Chikaru, Kizuna, Remon, and Kagome on the other hand were not surprised at all. After all, they knew about the relationship between Jaden and Yubel.
“Next I activate O-Oversoul and Special Summon Clayman back from the Graveyard in Defense Mode!” Jaden announced. The stone armored hero reappeared on the field. Like all of Jaden’s other monsters, except for Yubel, Clayman trembled at the sight of Dreadroot. “I’ll lay down a facedown and end my turn, and due to Yubel’s effect I have to sacrifice a monster to keep her on the field! So I choose to sacrifice Wildheart!”
Wildheart shattered and vanished from the field. After a moment of looking shocked, Amane suddenly burst into a fit of maniacal laughter.
“How stupid do you think I am?” Amane asked. “I have no clue how you got that monster to talk, but I do know the card itself. Your precious Yubel may have zero ATK, but if I attack it with Dreadroot, not only will it not be destroyed; I’d take the damage instead of you! You’re a fool to think that such an obvious trick!”
Jaden didn’t react to what Amane had just said. He just waited for her next move. Amane looked at the card she had drawn and her insane grin grew wider.
“This duel ends now!” Amane proclaimed. “I equip Dreadroot with Fairy Meteor Crush! Now when Dreadroot attack a monster in Defense Mode, my opponent takes battle damage equal the difference between Dreadroot’s ATK and the destroyed monsters DEF!”
“It’s all over!” Kizuna exclaimed. Hikari, Tsubomi, and Remon all turned their heads away from the duel. They couldn’t bear to watch Jaden lose and end up like Yaya and the other two. Jaden remained calm, however.
“Dreadroot, crush Clayman into dust!” Amane commanded. “Fear’s Knockdown!”
Dreadroot raised his fist to destroy Clayman. At that point Jaden reacted.
“I activate my Trap, Staunch Defender!” Jaden announced. “When my opponent declares an attack, I can change the attack target to another monster, and the attack target I’m selecting is Yubel!”
Yubel chuckled as she began to glow with an aura of dark energy. Dreadroot’s fist suddenly changed course and impacted Yubel. The Duel Monster screamed in pain, yet there was an expression of ecstasy on her face. The demon god pulled back his fist and Yubel was still standing. An expression of utter shock appeared on Amane’s face. She could not believe what had just happened.
“Thanks, that felt great!” Yubel said to Amane as she straightened up, popping a few of her bones back into place in the process. Yubel looked at Amane with a deranged expression. “Let me return the favor.”
A vine with thorns suddenly shot up from the ground and stabbed Amane through the chest. Her life points dropped to zero in an instant. Dreadroot, Yubel, and all the other monsters on the field vanished, and the area around the two duelists and their audience turned back into the small forest that they had originally entered. Amane fell to the ground unconscious. Just as Jaden was about to go over and check on Amane, a smoke bomb went of, startling everyone. As the smoke started to clear a little, Jaden saw the same masked woman in black that had stolen The Wicked Eraser. He could also make out that she was holding The Wicked Dreadroot in her hand.
“Who are you, and why are you taking the Wicked Gods?” Jaden demanded.
“That is still none of your concern!” the woman in black answered. “I will tell you however that you may end up thanking me later.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jaden asked.
The masked woman merely responded by throwing another smoke bomb, thickening the cloud of smoke that was already present. By the time smoke finally cleared, the masked woman in black was gone, and so was the second Wicked God card.
* * *
Back at the Spica infirmary, Yaya, Kaname, and Momomi had regained consciousness, though Yaya had complained that she felt like a truck had hit her. Amane on the other hand still remained in a coma, although the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with her physically. Jaden theorized that the shock from Yubel’s effect, combined with the rather toxic influence of The Wicked Dreadroot, was too much for Amane’s mind to handle. A worried Hikari stayed by Amane’s bedside. A bit later, Shion had showed up to see what had happened to her best hope of Spica winning the Etoile Tournament. It was at that point that Jaden decided that his friends from Spica had a right to know about the Wicked Gods. Shion was also there when he told the tale.
“So, one of these cards is the reason why Amane is now in a coma?” Shion asked Jaden with a tone of skepticism. Jaden nodded to her question. “And you’re saying that Chikaru also had one of these cards, and that was why she had been acting so strange a few months ago.”
“Yeah, but she’s fine now.” Jaden answered. “She also regrets a lot of the stuff that she did during that time.”
Shion, who seemed to believe Jaden’s story, walked over to Chikaru. The raven-haired president of Lilum’s student council had a sad look on her face.
“I guess this explains why you weren’t acting like the Chikaru I remember all those months ago.” Shion said to Chikaru with a gentle smile. “What I want know now though is why you’ve been avoiding me. We don’t see each other much outside of the student council meeting these days.”
“I was afraid that I had destroyed our friendship.” Chikaru answered still looking down in shame. “After all, I had given you every reason for you to hate me with some of the things I did.”
“I could never hate my oldest friend.” Shion said as she put her hand on Chikaru’s shoulder. “Besides, from the story that Mr. Yuki just told us, it sounds like you weren’t really responsible for your actions. So cheer up already.”
Chikaru looked back up at Shion with a warm smile. Jaden, meanwhile, looked back at Amane, who was lying unconscious in the infirmary bed hocked up to an IV. He decided that he needed to leave the room for a moment. Once out in the hallway, Jaden hit the wall with his fist in frustration. Not only had he let another one of the Wicked Gods fall into the hands of the enemy, but Amane had also been hurt.
“I’m sorry about what happened.” Yubel said as she appeared next to Jaden. “It’s my fault I guess. I got a little carried away in that duel.”
“It wasn’t your fault.” Jaden said to his Duel Monster partner. “It was mine. I should’ve been looking harder for the Wicked Gods. If I did than maybe Amane wouldn’t lying in that bed in a coma, and Hikari wouldn’t be so sad.”
“…Well, there’s no point in beating ourselves up for what happened or wondering what would’ve happened if we did things differently.” Yubel sighed. “What we have to focus on now is finding that last Wicked God card before anyone else does.”
“…You’re right.” Jaden said to Yubel with newfound determination in his voice. “We have to get that card, or else one of our other friends might get hurt!”
* * *
Meanwhile in the secluded mansion on the outskirts of Miator ground, the man known as Tenma was reading a book about South America. His concentration was broken when his female servant entered the room.
“What have you to report?” Tenma asked as he put down his book.
“I have the second card.” The henchwoman reported as she presented Tenma with The Wicked Dreadroot. A sinister grin appeared on Tenma’s face when he saw the card.
“At last I am one step closer!” Tenma exclaimed as he walked over and took the card from the girl in black. “Wherever did you find it?”
“It was in the possession of Amane Ohtori.” The henchwoman replied. “Jaden Yuki defeated her in a duel however, and I took the opportunity to take the card after it was over.”
“I see.” Tenma replied as he put Dreadroot in his pocket with The Wicked Eraser and one other card. “How is Spica’s favorite prince?”
“The duel seems to have left her in a coma.” The henchwoman replied.
“Well, you must be happy about that.” Tenma said with a wry expression. “With Ms. Ohtori in a coma, Spica has no chance of winning the Etoile Tournament.”
“There is a chance that she might recover.” The henchwoman replied.
“That’s an odd statement coming from you.” Tenma commented. “I’ve worked with you long enough to know that you’re a pessimist. Than again if Ms. Ohtori were to recover, that would mean that Spica would once again have a strong chance of winning the tournament. You always seem to expect the worst.”
The henchwoman didn’t react to Tenma’s statement.
“In any case, we still have one more card to find.” Tenma continued. “And it is the key card we will need if you are to obtain what you desire.”
“Are you certain that this procedure of yours will work?” the henchwoman asked.
“All I’ll need aside from The Wicked Gods are the girl’s deck, a suitable host body, and a sophisticated computer.” Tenma replied.
“I can get the deck, but how will we get the other items you need?” the henchwoman asked.
“You just leave all of that to me.” Tenma replied with a sinister grin.
