Sacred Beasts Unleashed

The group followed the helicopter to a strange location. They found themselves facing a large circular plate made of stone and and placed around this plate are seven large pillars.

"What is this place?" Jaden asked the others.

"This is where the Sacred Beasts were sealed away." Sheppard explained. He seemed very worried.

"Look, the spirit keys." Syrus said. Everyone looked up and saw the seven spirit keys floated just above the stone plate, then each key flew away and embedded itself into one of the pillars.

Suddenly there was an intense rumbling that caused some members of the group to fall over. Then a stone pedestal rose up from the center of the plate and on this pedestal sat three duel monster cards.

"The three Sacred Beasts. They've been freed." Sheppard said. He was on the verge of having a heart attack.

"Not if I can help it." Ryan was about to run up and grab the cards.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice said from the helicopter. The helicopter descended until it landed just outside of the plate, then an extremely old man in a wheelchair got out and made his way towards the Sacred Beasts.

The old man looked extremely frail and perhaps also sick. He looked like he would break his own legs if he so much as attempted to stand. He was very thin and had a long white beard that was rather unkempt and he was wearing a breathing mask on his face that was connected to a tank of oxygen.

"Kagemaru what are you doing here?" Sheppard asked.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm here to collect the Sacred Beasts." The old man said as he reached the pedestal.

"Stay away from the Sacred Beasts. I don't want to hurt you, but I will." Ryan warned Kagemaru.

"I don't think that you will be able to do that." Kagemaru said as he raised his right hand which had a golden ring with a eye symbol on it sitting on his index finger.

Suddenly everyone felt a powerful force push them back. It was as if there was a barrier between them and the stone plate. Clearly that ring on Kagemaru's finger was a shadow charm.

"Kagemaru please don't do this." Sheppard pleaded. However this did little good as Kagemaru ignored him and picked up the three Sacred Beast cards from the pedestal.

"I would like to thank whoever it was that activated all of the keys for me. You saved me a lot of trouble." Kagemaru said as he held the cards in his hands.

"Chazz, you're gonna pay for this!" Ryan shouted.

"Me, but it was Alexis who defeated me and activated the keys. If anything it's her fault." Chazz said. Suddenly Alexis slapped him across the face.

"None of this would be happening if you hadn't stolen the keys in the first place." She shouted.

"This is no time to be fighting among ourselves. We have to stop Kagemaru now." Zane said.

"Right, we'll make Chazz pay later." Ryan replied.

Kagemaru was looking at the Sacred Beasts hopefully. It was as if he expected them to do something.

"Why isn't it working? Why aren't you rejuvenating me?" He asked the cards.

"Hey guys, it looks like the Sacred Beasts aren't working." Jaden said.

Suddenly Kagemaru heard a voice in his head. It took a few seconds to realize that it was the voice of the Sacred Beasts.

"Yes, yes I understand." Kagemaru said.

"It seems that the Sacred Beasts require a sacrifice to fully regain their powers. Luckily any of you will do." Kagemaru said.

"What? This guy is going to sacrifice one of us." A panicking Syrus said.

"Don't worry, he'd have to defeat you in a duel first." Sheppard said.

"So can't we just run now?" Chumley asked.

"Run if you like, but even without the Sacred Beasts at full strength I can still cause untold destruction to this island." Kagemaru explained.

"So the only way to stop the Sacred Beasts is if one of us defeats him in a duel." Bastion said.

"That is correct, and I think that I'll duel the short one." Kagemaru said, pointing to Syrus.

"What? Why would he choose Syrus? He's probably the weakest duelist here." Chazz said.

"That's exactly why he wants Syrus. He's looking for an easy opponent." Zane said.

"There's no way I'm letting you duel Sy. If anyone's going to duel, it's going to be me." Jaden said.

"I disagree, I'll only let the short one pass through the barrier. It's not like you can do anything about it." Kagemaru said.

"Wrong." Ryan then held the emerald tablet up.

"That barrier is about to no longer be an issue." He said.

"Wait, that's Banner's shadow charm. Why do you have it?" Jaden asked the blue student.

"Took it from Banner after defeating him. It's a fail safe in the event this conflict wasn't over." Ryan explained.

He placed the emerald tablet against the barrier. Soon the emerald tablet and Kagemaru's ring began to glow brightly. Then in a burst of light both shadow charms exploded and the barrier disappeared.

"Great, now we have to decide who will duel this guy." Jaden said.

"Isn't it obvious. Zane should duel him. He is our best duelist." Crowler said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, there's only one duelist here who could defeat the Sacred Beasts and that's Jaden." Sheppard said. About half of the group looked at Sheppard as if he was insane, although Jaden seemed to like this idea.

Jaden smiled as he stepped forward.

"Alright old dude, it's time to get your game-" However Jaden was stopped when Ryan struck him in the stomach with his staff.

"I'll handle this." He declared.

Ryan stepped forward and activated his duel disk.

"Ryan Walker, what do you think you're doing?" A furious Sheppard demanded.

"Real simple. This is not my first shadow game. If anyone is capable of surviving this, it's me." He answered Sheppard.

"That little twerp, I should expel him for this." Sheppard said.

"Considering the fact he defeated the last Shadow Rider when Jaden couldn't, let Ryan take him on." Alexis said.

'Jaden has a lot more skill than this boy will ever have.' Sheppard thought.

"I suppose it really doesn't matter who I duel. You won't survive the Sacred Beasts." Kagemaru stated as a duel disk extended from his wheelchair.

"What do you know about the Sacred Beasts?" Ryan asked Sheppard.

"Nothing." Sheppard answered, still annoyed with his actions.

"Oh well, I'll figure out for myself." He sighed.

The duel started.

'Since I have no idea how powerful the Sacred Beasts are, I'll play it safe.' He thought.

"I set a monster face down and a card face down. That will end my turn." Ryan said.

Kagemaru started his turn.

"I summon Chaos Summoning Beast in attack mode. Now I use my monster's effect. By tributing this card, I can special summon one of the Sacred Beasts from my hand. Now I'd like you meet Raviel, Lord of Phantasms." Kagemaru said as Raviel appeared on the field and the pure blue sky turned dark and stormy.

Chaos Summoning Beast ATK 0 DEF 0 LV1 DARK Fiend.

Raviel, Lord of Phantasms ATK 4000 DEF 4000 LV10 DARK Fiend.

When Raviel appeared on the field, Ryan's birthmark began to glow.

Suddenly something began to happen to Kagemaru. He started to breath much easier and his body became less frail. Kagemaru reached up to his face and pulled off his breathing mask.

At the same time Jaden noticed that there was something wrong with Winged Kuriboh.

"Hey little guy are you okay?" Jaden asked. Winged Kuriboh looked very tired, it was as if he was sick.

Ojama Yellow was also showing sings that there was something wrong.

"Boss, I don't feel so good." Ojama Yellow said weakly. Chazz looked at the duel monster spirit with concern in his eyes.

"Now Raviel attack his monster." Kagemaru said. Raviel attacked and destroyed his monster which turned out to be Skilled White Magician.

"Next I'll place a card face down and end my turn." Kagemaru added as a card appeared in his spell and trap zone.

Skilled White Magician ATK 1700 DEF 1900 LV4 LIGHT Spellcaster.

Ryan drew for his turn and was satisfied with what the card was.

"I play a monster in defense mode and end my turn." He said.

Kagemaru started his turn.

"I'll attack your monster with Raviel." He said confidently. Raviel attacked and destroyed Ryan's monster which was revealed to be Shaddoll Dragon.

Shaddoll Dragon ATK 1900 DEF 0 LV4 DARK Spellcaster.

"Now Shaddoll Dragon's effect activates. When it's flipped face up, a card you control is returned to your hand." Ryan said as Raviel was returned to Kagemaru's hand.

"It seems the Sacred Beasts aren't that tough." He said.

"I'll end my turn with two face down cards." Kagemaru said.

Ryan's turn started.

"I summon Keeper of Dragon Magic and when this card is summoned I can discard a card to add Polymerization to my hand." He explained, discarding Buster Blader to add Polymerization to his hand.

Keeper of Dragon Magic ATK 1800 DEF 1300 LV4 DARK Dragon.

"I'm well aware of your monster's second effect. However, you won't get the chance to activate it. I activate Fiendish Chain. This trap card negates your monster's effects and prevents it from attacking." Kagemaru said.

"Very well. I end with a face down card." Ryan said.

Kagemaru drew his card and smiled.

"I activate the continuous spell Opening of the Spirit Gates. When this card is activated I can add one of the Sacred Beasts from my deck to my hand, and I'll choose Uria." Kagemaru said.

"Now I'll activate my two face down cards. One of them is Awakening of the Sacred Beasts and the other is Imperial Custom." He continued.

"Now I send all three continuous trap cards to the graveyard in order to summon Uria, Lord of Searing Flames. And Uria gains 1000 attack points for every continuous trap card in my graveyard." Kagemaru said.

Uria, Lord of Searing Flames ATK 0 DEF 0 LV10 FIRE Pyro.

Uria, Lord of Searing Flames ATK 0 + 3000 = 3000

Kagemaru's body began to change. His beard shortened and changed from white to black. He became more muscular and his wrinkles disappeared. Kagemaru now resembled a man in his mid to late forties.

"It looks like he gets younger every time he summons one of those Sacred Beasts." Bastion said. Winged Kuriboh and Ojama Yellow seemed to be weaker than before. They were now both resting on their owner's shoulders.

"Hey are you okay little guy?" Jaden asked.

"No he's not. The Sacred Beasts are sucking the life out of all the duel monster spirits. If Ryan loses this duel, then they all die." Sheppard said.

Kagemaru stood up and strapped his duel disk onto his arm. Then he picked his wheelchair up and threw it away.

"It's so good to be young again." He said triumphantly.

"So that's the reason you were after the Sacred Beasts. To become younger again." Ryan guessed.

"Yes, without the Sacred Beasts I wouldn't have lived to see another year. But enough of my story, on with the duel." Kagemaru said.

"Now I activate Uria's effect. Once per turn he can destroy one of your set spell or trap cards." Kagemaru said as Uria destroyed Dimensional Prison.

"Now Uria, attack his monster." Kagemaru ordered. Uria destroyed Keeper of Dragon Magic.

Ryan LP 4000 - 1200 = 2800

He felt a sharp pain run through his body as his life points decreased.

"It seems the Sacred Beasts are stronger than you thought." Kagemaru laughed.

"What, do you seriously expect me to be afraid of some Egyptian God rip-offs." Ryan told Kagemaru as he got to his feet.

"Then let us continue. I activate another one of Opening of the Spirit Gates effects. Since I control a level 10 monster I can add a continuous spell card from my deck to my hand." Kagemaru said as he added Cerulean Skyfire to his hand. Then he ended his turn.

Ryan drew his next card.

'Perfect.' He thought.

"I'll place Black Fang Magician in the Pendulum Zone. And now I activate it's special ability. This halves Uria's attack for the turn, but Black Fang Magician is destroyed." He explained.

Black Fang Magician ATK 1700 DEF 800 LV4 DARK Spellcaster.

Uria, Lord of Searing Flames ATK 3000 - 1500 = 1500

"Black Fang Magician has another effect. When it's destroyed I special summon a DARK Spellcaster from the graveyard." Ryan explained as Shaddoll Dragon returned to the field.

Shaddoll Dragon ATK 1900 DEF 0 LV4 DARK Spellcaster.

"Now Shaddoll Dragon take Uria out." Ryan ordered. Shaddoll Dragon attacked and destroyed Uria.

Kagemaru LP 4000 - 400 = 3600

Ryan placed a card face down and end my turn.

Kagemaru's turn started.

"First I'll use the effect of Opening of the Spirit Gates. By discarding one card I can special summon a fiend monster with 0 attack and defense from my graveyard and I choose Chaos Summoning Beast." Kagemaru said as he discarded Dark Summoning Beast to use this effect.

Chaos Summoning Beast ATK 0 DEF 0 LV1 DARK Fiend.

"Now I'll tribute my Chaos Summoning Beast in order to summon Raviel once again." Kagemaru said as Raviel was summoned to the field again.

Raviel, Lord of Phantasms ATK 4000 DEF 4000 LV10 DARK Fiend.

"Now that I have a level 10 monster on the field I can use the additional effect of Opening of the Spirit Gates and add a continuous spell to my hand. But that's not all, I'll also banish Dark Summoning Beast from my graveyard in order to add Hamon to my hand." Kagemaru said as he added Hamon and Shard of Greed to his hand.

"Now I activate Shard of Greed and Cerulean Skyfire. But they won't be staying long because I'm sending them both to the graveyard along with Opening of the Spirit Gates to summon Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder to the field." Kagemaru said as Hamon appeared on the field.

Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder ATK 4000 DEF 4000 LV10 LIGHT Thunder.

Once again Kagemaru became younger. He became even more muscular and he grew long black hair. He now looked like a man in his early twenties.

Winged Kuriboh and Ojama Yellow became even weaker. They now both looked as if they were dead. All over the world everyone else who could see duel monster spirits were also noticing that their spirits were becoming increasingly weak and closer to death.

"Hamon attack Shaddoll Dragon and end this duel." Kagemaru ordered. Hamon attacked.

"Hold it right there. I activate the quick play spell Shrink. This halves Hamon's attack until the end of the turn." Ryan said. Shaddoll Dragon was destroyed.

Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder ATK 4000 - 2000 = 2000

Ryan LP 2800 - 100 = 2700

"That hardly matters. Hamon's effect now activates. Every time he destroys a monster and sends it to the graveyard you take 1000 points of damage." Kagemaru said. A large bolt of lightning was fired from Hamon and struck Ryan.

Ryan LP 2700 - 1000 = 1700

He then dropped to his knees for a moment, spitting up blood. He stood up, removed a glove and wiped the blood on the ground before slipping the glove back on. The others were concerned about his well being.

"He can't continue this duel. Those Sacred Beasts will kill him." Crowler said.

"I know, but there's nothing that we can do but hope he wins." Zane stated.

"Now Raviel attack him directly." Kagemaru ordered.

"I activate my final face down, Scapegoat." He coughed. Raviel destroyed one of the four sheep tokens.

4x Sheep Token ATK 0 DEF 0 LV1 EARTH Beast.

"I place a card face down." Kagemaru said annoyed that the duel hadn't ended on this turn. Since this turn was over Hamon's attack returned to normal.

Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder ATK 2000 + 2000 = 4000

Ryan drew his card.

"I place a card face down and end my turn." He said.

Kagemaru's turn started.

"First I'm going to reveal my final face down card Hyper Blaze. This card allows me to discard one card in order to special summon one of the Sacred Beasts from the graveyard." Kagemaru said as he discarded Mystical Space Typhoon to summon Uria once again.

Uria, Lord of Searing Flames ATK 0 DEF 0 LV10 FIRE Pyro

Uria, Lord of Searing Flames ATK 0 + 3000 = 3000

"Now Uria, use your effect and destroy his face down card." Kagemaru said. Uria destroyed Ryan's face down card which was Mirror Force.

"Now all three of my Sacred Beasts destroy his tokens and his last line of defense." Kagemaru ordered. Raviel, Uria and Hamon all attacked and destroyed Ryan's three remaining Sheep Tokens.

"And with that I end my turn." Kagemaru said.

Ryan drew his card and started laughing.

"What? Why are you laughing? Have you gone insane?" Kagemaru asked.

"I'm laughing because this duel's almost over." He answered.

"I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior." Ryan said as his monster appeared on the field and gained a spell counter.

"Since you just normal summoned a monster Raviel's effect activates. This allows me to summon a Phantasm token to the field in defense mode." Kagemaru interrupted.

Breaker the Magical Warrior ATK 1600 DEF 1000 LV4 DARK Spellcaster.

Breaker ATK 1600 + 300 = 1900

Phantasm Toke ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LV4 DARK Fiend.

"Now I remove Breaker's spell counter to destroy Hyper Blaze." Ryan said. Breaker removed his spell counter and Hyper Blaze was destroyed. This gave Uria 1000 additional attack points.

Breaker the Magical Warrior ATK 1900 - 300 = 1600

Uria, Lord of Searing Flames ATK 3000 + 1000 = 4000

"Now I use Monster Reborn to revive Keeper of Dragon Magic. Then I'll use his effect. By revealing my Dark Paladin to you I can special summon Buster Blader back to the field in face down defense position." Ryan said.

Keeper of Dragon Magic ATK 1800 DEF 1300 LV4 DARK Dragon.

Buster Blader ATK 2600 DEF 2300 LV7 EARTH Warrior.

"Finally I'll activate Polymerization." Ryan said. Everyone was confused.

"Why is he doing that? Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman won't win him this duel." Bastion said.

"Unless he's summoning something else." Alexis pointed out.

"I fuse Breaker the Magical Warrior and Keeper of Dragon Magic to summon Starving Venom Fusion Dragon." Ryan said.

"A what dragon?" Jaden asked. He had never heard of this card.

Starving Venom Fusion Dragon ATK 2800 DEF 2000 LV8 DARK Dragon.

"You fool, that monster isn't strong enough to defeat any of the Sacred Beasts." Kagemaru said.

"It's special abilities prove otherwise. When this is special summoned it gains the attack of one of your special summoned monsters for the turn and I select Raviel." Ryan explained.

Starving Venom Fusion Dragon ATK 2800 + 4000 = 6800

"That's not all though. Now I activate another of my dragon's effects. I can target a level 5 or higher monster you control and it becomes that monster's original name and it's effect was replaced with Hamon's effect." Ryan explained.

"Starving Venom Fusion Dragon attack Hamon and end this duel." Ryan ordered. Hamon was destroyed.

Kagemaru LP 3600 - 2800 = 800

"And now Hamon's effect goes off. You take 1000 points of damage since a monster was destroyed." Starving Venom Fusion Dragon fired a lightning bolt that struck Kagemaru.

Kagemaru LP 800 - 1000 = 0

The lightning strike sent Kagemaru flying backwards screaming in pain. As he lay on the ground his body slowly reverted to that of an old man.

"Alright, he did it." Jaden said as he watched Winged Kuriboh fly around his head happily now that his strength had returned.

"Wow, I thought that I was a goner for a second there." Ojama Yellow said. He was also back to full strength.

'I don't believe it. How could that boy defeat the Sacred Beasts. He can't even see duel monster spirits.' Sheppard thought, completely bewildered by what he had seen.

Alexis smiled as she looked at Ryan, who was staring at Kagemaru.

He then walked forward and retrieved the Sacred Beasts. It was then Ryan discovered something troubling after inspecting his opponent.

"Damn." He muttered.

The others heard this and came over to him.

"What's wrong?" Alexis asked.

"He's dead." Ryan answered without bothering to face them. "It would seem that last attack was too much for Kagemaru to handle."

Suddenly Jaden turned to him.

"You killed him. You just straight murdered him." Jaden accused.

"Jaden that's enough. You need to calm down." Crowler ordered.

"But he killed that guy." Jaden repeated.

"And what choice did he have? Kagemaru was going to kill all of us and put the whole world at risk. He did what was necessary." Alexis argued.

"She's right Jaden, there was no other way." Bastion added.

Ryan shook his head. This wasn't how he wanted it to end.

"Jaden's right." He admitted out loud. Alexis and Bastion were surprised he felt guilty over what just transpired.

"But-" Alexis said, before being interrupted.

"Regardless of what Kagemaru was going to do, I didn't want to kill him during this duel." He told the others before placing Kagemaru's arms across his chest.

"Hey Jaden, can you put the Sacred Beasts back in their hiding place?" He asked.

Jaden agreed with the request.