Chapter 2: The Sun-Bearer Takes Center Stage
"Take this!" yelled Reyes, as his Twin Demon-Axe wielding Demon Summon went toe to toe with the Super Mage Knight: Black Paladin. It had been a heated battle, one of far greater magnitude than even Yugi's duel with Malik Ishtahl. Both duelists were tied at 1500 LP, and 50% of the cards in their respective decks were either part of their hand, on the field, or in the graveyard.
"I haven't seen someone this good at all," the fern-haired duelist thought to himself. "He's way too darn good. But if that's so, how come I never heard of Reyes Sonata before in my entire life? Is it because he plays for the sake of it, not in tournaments and such, therefore making himself less known?"
Yugi just shook his head, as he activated Mirror Force to try and destroy the attacking Demon Summon.
Reyes didn't let that happen though. "I activate the Thief's Swiss Army Knife, and use up 500 LP to negate the activation of your Mirror Force. Hehehehe, a Kamehameha-style wave, stopped in its tracks by a bandit's blade. How very ironic."
The power of the Mirror Force dissipated into thin air, as Yugi witnessed his uber-powerful Black Paladin, the fusion of Buster Blader and Black Magician, hacked into stardust by the overpowered Summoned Skull. Yugi suffered considerable damage, as his LP was reduced to 400.
"Then I set a card in the Magic and Trap zone and set a facedown monster. Now it's your turn Yugi…"
Yugi was now despairing. This duel should have been over a while ago, if it hadn't been for the fact that his opponent was THIS GOOD. This was the hardest duel he had to fight ever in his life. And Reyes was the best duelist he had ever witnessed in battle.
Just then, Yugi drew his next card, knowing this would decide his fate. His hand had been completely wiped out except for one card because he had been constantly trying to stop the activation of the Magic Cards that Reyes had been playing, by using Black Paladin's effect. Every time he stopped the activation of a Magic Card, he had to discard a card from his hand. And now, he had nothing but the card in his hand, and what he had just drawn.
Which would get him the win…
"I use Fissure on your Demon Summon to destroy him. Then, I use Monster Reborn to get back my Black Paladin! And I attack your facedown monster."
The facedown monster was Black Forest Witch. The Filipino Teenager used her to fetch for whatever useful monsters were left in his deck, but seemingly none could withstand the onslaught of power that Black Paladin could deliver.
"I concede, Yugi. This match goes to you. There's just nothing I can use right now to withstand an assault from your Super Mage Knight."
Both duelists stepped down from their respective pedestals, the duel over and Yugi as the victor once again.
"Now I'll tell you what you want to know." Reyes said.
The defeated Reyes and Yugi, now back to his normal form, sat on a nearby park bench, speaking about Cypher.
"Cypher Zaeran's a close friend of mine. The entire thing started back in New York City, where we live. About a couple of days ago, he came home unusually late and looking pretty roughed up, as if he were in a fight. He said something about how one of our other close friends, Adaliah, was kidnapped and taken away by some weird guy with white, bushy hair about as long as mine and how that sonuvabitch threw his lackeys at him. Yeah, and he happened to have some kind of a weird ring-like amulet with him."
Yugi was shocked. "That's Ryou Bakura! I know him. He's a student here! But why would he--- unless--"
Reyes cut Yugi off. "Then I might as well be on my way. I'll stop him and rescue 'Liah before Cypher does. Where does he live?"
Yugi assured him. "Wait, hold on a second. Are you sure you can take him down? That Millennium Ring of his has dark powers... you're not going to be handle him alone. And besides, it's not Ryou himself who… "
"It's not that Yugi! You of all people should understand WHY I want to stop Cypher from getting all those Millennium Items and giving it to this Bakura guy! Think about it!"
Yugi understood now exactly why Reyes wanted to stop Cypher. "No wonder!" He thought to himself. "Okay, let's go!" he shouted…
Only to notice a tall, red haired young man already in front of them. Out of nowhere, he appeared before them, like a streak of light, as the wind blew in his wake. It was Cypher.
"Cypher… damn it, too late…"
"I told you to stay out of this Rey, 'Liah is going to be harmed because of you, maybe killed!" Cypher exclaimed in frustration. He then turned to Yugi. "Give me what Millennium Items you have RIGHT NOW! I know you have them, as well as the 3 God Cards. Give them to me!"
Yugi suddenly became his Yami form. "No." He answered Cypher firmly. "The Millenium Items, when all 7 of them, plus the God Cards are combined in tandem with each other, can grant one godlike powers, and threaten the very existence of the world! We can't risk that."
"Oh, but you can risk 'Liah's life?! And I could care less about if Bakura became a god. Because no matter what powers he may be gifted with after the Millennium Items are in his possession, I can still slay him with ease!"
Yugi was puzzled by how Cypher knew who Bakura was, but that was at the back of his mind at the moment. He was more or less focusing on and disgusted by his seemingly arrogant demeanor. But trying to feel Cypher's soul, there was a dark force inside him, a very intimidating presence full of energy: Cypher definitely wasn't any average human… but then, it hit him quickly how to discern whether his hunch about Cypher was right or not.
"Tell me, Cypher. How did you know his name was Bakura?"
At this time, Reyes slowly paced to get behind the red-haired man, using the conversation as a distraction.
"Because I'm psychic, 'Pharoah'… " Cypher smirked. He then turned around, trying to attack the sneaking Reyes with full force. "AND I TOLD YOU TO STAY OUT OF THIS!!!"
Reyes quickly dodged the attack, much to Yami Yugi's amazement. Reyes as well didn't seem to be normal, not even Jounouchi or Honda could have avoided a punch of that speed… and Cypher had psychic powers, able to read minds? Just like Pegasus J. Crawford?
"Call off the fight! Cypher, if you know who Bakura is, and that the spirit of the evil thief within his Millennium Ring is truly the one who kidnapped your friend Liah, then you should know that Bakura should be expecting you to try and betray him the minute you gave him those Millennium Items! Twice, he should have been dead twice, yet he's still alive!"
Cypher didn't listen, as he ran off into nothingness, with the winds left in his wake yet again playing messenger. "I will destroy him, and I will save Liah ON MY OWN. You've seen a taste of my power there, against Reyes, and in the fact I can arrive in the presence of someone or leave them in the dust with the blink of an eye."
Then, a freakish laugh echoed as well. "And thank you for revealing where the remaining Millennium Items are with only your mere thoughts! Grandpa Sugoroku is going to enjoy having a guest such as myself over! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!... "
Reyes quickly ran to Yugi, looking towards the direction where the voice came from. "He's gone insane… he never acts like that… what's gotten into him?!"
Yugi ran towards his Grandfather's shop. "Don't worry, I had a suspicion that whatever was going on, Cypher would plan to steal the Millenium Items. Three of my friends, including one of the two that you saw, are waiting to rendezvous with me there later. I made sure that he didn't read that part of my mind. "
Reyes, speeding towards the hobby shop with Yugi, asked a really stupid question on the way there, however.
"Hey Yugi, could you hook me up with that girl who you were with? She IS just a female friend of yours, not a sister or a girlfriend, right?"
Sugoroku Mutou was kindly saying goodbye to a few customers that had walked into his hobby shop. They were attractive female teenagers that were into Duel Monsters as well, and Jounouchi was busy checking the phone numbers that he got from them.
"Man, those two girls were pretty damn cute, aye Honda?" the dirty-blonde asked his friend. Honda laughed.
"Hah! Watch, Jou, I bet that they gave you fake phone numbers!."
Jounouchi took the comment a little hard. "What? What the hell do you mean by that?! How could those chicks NOT find someone like me to be attractive?"
The taller of the two teenagers looked away, trying to gesture that he was thinking, and then looked back at Jou, smiling, as if he were ready to tease him with another insult. "Yeah, actually, I think they did. You know how the girls like girly bishounen nowadays… Hahahahahaha…"
Now Jou was especially agitated. "Yo, that's it, I'm gonna beat the sh-t out of you, no one calls me a faggot!"
"Oh shut up, the both of you!" Anzu told them. "We're supposed to be watching out in case that Cypher guy shows up here, and be ready to call the cops and Kaiba for help, so save your energy just in case this person wants a confrontation."
In a twist of irony, as soon as Anzu mentioned Cypher, he came walking through the door. But, his calm and unshaken demeanor was a far cry from the furious and brash attitude that he had displayed in front of Yugi and Reyes.
"Hello… " he quietly said, in his strong voice "I'm looking for a Sugoroku Mutou… is he here?"
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Note: The title name comes from the fact that Cypher means "Sun-Bearer" in another language.
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Fighting for Peace is like Fucking for Virginity- Anonymous
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