//------------------------------// // Turn 35, Thorax's Choice // Story: Yugioh EQG: Shadow Gates // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Thorax was running as fast as he could through the darkness. Behind him was a swarm of insect monsters that his mother had used in their Duel, which was chasing him and quickly catching up. Eventually the teen tripped and fell to the ground, allowing the bugs to gather around him. "Please no," he asked as he sat up, "someone help me." Suddenly the insect began to fly away, as someone walked towards him. Thorax stood up and when he saw who it was, he smiled. "Mother!" He rushed towards Chrysalis and hugged her, she putting her own arms around her son in response. "Thank you for saving me." "Don't worry," Chrysalis said, "I won't let this happen again." Suddenly her body began change as she hugged him, "because I will make you strong." Thorax pulled his head away and looked up to see her transform into Changeling Queen. He screamed as he pushed himself away and tried to run, but the creature what was once his mother spat a green slime out at him. It struck his legs and caused him to fall to the ground, allowing the monster the slowly step towards him. One she was above Thorax, Changeling Queen spat out more slime that began to cover the teens whole body. "No, please!" He called out as everything went dark. The next thing Thorax knew, his eyes were opening and he found himself standing up, but something didn't feel right. He noticed a nearby reflective surface, which he moved over to and what he saw horrified him. He was no long human, now he had been transformed into Changeling Drone. "No," he whispered as he saw his new form, "NOOOOO!" Thorax screamed as he sat up, now wide awake. Looking around her realised he was in his room at the penthouse apartment of Freeze Industries, where he'd been staying ever since he'd awoken from his coma several days ago. His heart was racing a mile a minute, before he finally managed to calm himself enough that it wasn't beating against the inside of his chest. Suddenly there was a knock at his door and Sunset's voice came from the other side. "Thorax?" She asked, "you alright in there?" "Yeah," Thorax lied, "just a bad dream." "Well alright," Sunset replied, "I need to head out, you can call the maid if you need anything." "Okay," Thorax replied, "don't worry about me." As he heard Sunset's footsteps getting further away, Thorax slowly got up and looked around the room. There was much in it, just a bed, a TV, wardrobe, a simple looking computer and a desk. His desk should have had his Duel Disk on it, but Cold had taken it to study the data it'd recorded about what he'd seen. Thorax walked over the the wardrobe and changed into his usual black hoodie and jeans, before exiting the room and walking into the living area. He saw the large flat screen on the wall, so chose to sit on the lush couch and switched it on. The second he did he regretted it, as the channel showed the news and had an image of Thorax's mother on it. "And in over news, still no word on the whereabouts Queen Chrysalis. In an on the phones interview, she expressed how she will be staying in the country to oversee an important project but the specifics of said project is still unknown." Thorax sighed at this, before switching of the TV and sitting back. His mother was still missing, no doubt doing something horrible in the name of her 'king'. Meanwhile, down in the lab we find Cold and Grand going over everything they'd gotten off Thorax's Duel Disk. Sadly not much on there was of any use. "It seems they did upload several databases of information into the Duel Disk," Cold explained, "but they had a self delete procedure that was triggered when Thorax lost to Spike." "Were you able to save anything?" Grand asked. "Several corrupted files," Cold said, "we're trying to rebuild them to see what we can find. We managed to get one file, which indicates several possible locations where they might have been working out of. I've sent Sunset to investigate them, but I doubt they're still using them after our infiltration attempt." "Is there anything else we can use?" "Duel info from when he faced Chrysalis," Cold said, "should help us formulate a stratagy to use against her." "That's good," Grand said. "There's something else to," Cold said as he clicked away at the computer. Suddenly an image of Chrysalis, Thorax and their Changling cards appeared. "We scanned Thorax's monster and discovered something interesting," the image of a helix that anyone with a basic science education would recognise. "Is that...DNA?" "Yes," Cold replied, "Chrysalis's. It's encoded onto the card itself, creating a link between her and the monster. My theory is that they used this DNA template to create the Duel Spirit, which they then imprinted onto the card. In other words, that card is Chrysalis in Duel Monster form." "Incredible," Grand said. "There's more," Cold said as another DNA strand appeared. "This is from Thorax's card, it has a mixture of his DNA along with the DNA of Changeling Queen. I'm guessing that they took the DNA template of Changeling Queen and then merged it with Thorax's to create this card." "So what your saying is, Changeling Drone was spawned from Changeling Queen." "The same way Thorax is Chrysalis's child, their monsters share the same relation," Cold finished. "What kind of side effects might this kind of thing have on Thorax?" Grand said, "that card is something Sombra created. Who knows what it could do to the boy." "When we scanned him," Cold explained, "we couldn't find anything out of the ordinary about him." "Maybe we should check him again," Grand said, "and have him psychologically checked. He might not have been under their control for very long, but they could have implanted all kinds of subliminal messages into him." "You think he could be acting as some kind of sleeper agent?" Cold asked. "Only one way to find out," Grand said. Cold agreed and turned to one of his assistants. "Go collect Thorax and bring him down to my private car park." The assistant nodded and turned to leave, while Cold and Grand headed out of the room. Later that day, Spike was at Freeze Stadium. Twilight was training with the rest of their friends, so he'd offered to check up on Flash. So here he was in the teens room, checking to see if there was any change. Flash was still out of it. He didn't even appear to have moved in his sleep, which worried Spike. "Hope you wake up soon man," Spike said, "we need our fearless leader to help us against whatever Sombra's planning." Flash didn't respond, causing Spike to sigh as he turned to look out the window. There he saw a limo turning into the parking lot, before coming to a stop outside the main doors. The limo opened and Cold stepped out, followed by Grand and then- "Thorax," Spike said. He hadn't seen his friend since he'd woke up several days ago, and now he was here. Spike quickly rushed towards the door and out of the room, before rushing down to the lobby. His speed made it so he'd arrived just when they were about to head down a hallway. "Wait up," he called out, catching their attention and letting them stop so he could catch up. "Thorax, how you been?" "I'm okay," Thorax replied, "at least I think I am." "That's what we're here to find out," Grand said. "Come on," Cold said, "we're wasting time." The four headed down the hall, then down several more hallways until they arrived at the corridor where the underground Duel arenas were. Cold directed them towards the elevator at the end of the hall and opened it up, ushering them inside before getting in. They rode the lift all the way down to the bottom, before it opened up and allowed them inside. Grand, Spike and Thorax looked around and realised what it was. "I didn't know there was a ARC field down here," Spike said. "Why would you," Cold said, "it's not meant to be public knowledge." "So why are we here?" Thorax asked. "We're here to see whether or not we can trust you should the situation call for it," Cold said as he looked up. "Computer!" He called out, before the robotic voice replied. "ONLINE!" "Activate ARC System file one, nine, eight, zero," he said. Suddenly the floor beneath them began to glow, as it generated the Action Field. "AUGMENTED REALITY COMBAT SYSTEM ENERGISED." In the blink of an eye the four of them found themselves in the same Action Field Chrysalis and Shining had Duelled on. "What do you mean whether we can trust Thorax?" Spike asked, "of course we can trust him." "We need to be sure," Grand told him, "we don't know what they did to him. There may be hypnotic suggestions which are laying dormant in his subconscious. If one of them is triggered when he Duels, better to find out now then in an actual situation." "That's right," Cold said as he threw Thorax's Duel Disk at the boy, "so will you Duel me?" Thorax looked down at the Duel Disk and through about what they'd just said. If there were mental traps in his mind, he needed to know so they could get rid of them. "Let's do this," he said as he placed the device on his arm and activated it. "Well then," Cold said as he did the same with his Duel Disk. "DUEL!" Cold: 4000 Thorax: 4000 "ACTION CARD DISPERSED!" "I'll take the first move," Cold said as he reached for his deck, "I draw and I'll start by summoning Frozen Heart Lancer to the field." The ice armoured knight appeared on the field, holding up its spear like weapon. (A1800/D1300/L4) "I'll place two cards face down and end my turn." "Then I'll go," Thorax said as he reached for his deck, "I draw and I'll summon Obnoxious Celtic Guardian in ATK mode." The effect version of Thorax's monster appeared. (A1400/D1200/L4) "Next I'll equip him with the Celtic Longsword, which while raise is ATK points by five hundred." His sword was replaced by an even larger sword, which caused the monster to glow. (A1900/D1200/L4) "Alright," Spike said, "with those two cards Thorax's monster is almost indestructible." "But don't forget who he's facing," Grand said, "Cold will have a plan." "Now attack," Thorax ordered, his monster charging forward and using his sword to slash at Frozen Heart Lancer." Cold: 3900 Thorax: 4000 "I activate my face down," Cold said as one of his cards flipped up to reveal a Trap, "Ice Shard Summon!" Since you destroyed a Frozen Heart Monster, I can search my deck for a Level four Frozen Heart with less ATK and then summon it to the field." His deck shuffled before slotting out a card, which Cold took and placed on the Duel Disk. "I summon Frozen Heart Enchantress." (A800/D1600/L4) "And when she's Special Summoned, I can take a Frozen Heart Monster in my graveyard and add it to my hand." He removed Frozen Heart Lancer. "I end my turn," Thorax said. "It's my turn," Cold said, "I draw and summon Frozen Heart Lancer to the field once again." The knight once again appeared, standing next to Enchantress. "Two Level fours," Thorax said in concern. "And now," Cold said as his monsters glowed, "I'll use these two monsters to build the Overlay Network." Lancer and Enchantress changed into a pair of lights, which flew into the air and then into a black hole as it formed. "Unite my frozen hearted monsters and form a greater force of power!" The black hole exploded in a burst of light, revealing Cold's monster. "I XYZ SUMMON." The light faded and Cold's monster appeared. "Frozen Heart Lord of the Hook!" (A2400/D1200/R4) "Oh boy," Thorax said. "Lord of the Hook," Cold ordered, "attack Obnoxious Celtic Guardian!" The ice monster swung its hook ended chain around, before throwing it at Thorax's monster and slamming it with it. Cold: 3900 Thorax: 3500 "Obnoxious Celtic Guardian can't be destroyed by a monster with nineteen hundred or more ATK," Thorax explained. "Maybe," Cold said, "but let's see what happens after I activate my Trap." His card flipped up, "Freezer Burn. Since a Frozen Heart monster failed to destroy another monster, this card reduces both monsters ATK points by a thousand and lets Lord of the Hook attack again." Both monster found themselves covered in ice, which caused their ATK points to drop. (A900/D1200/L4), (A1400/D1200/R4) Lord of the Hook once again swung its hook chain, slamming it into Thorax's monster and this time actually destroying it. Cold: 3900 Thorax: 3000 "Since a monster holding the Celtic Longsword was destroyed," Thorax explained, "I get to add a Level four or lower Celtic Monster from my deck to my hand." His deck shuffled and then slotted out a card, which he took and added to his hand. "I end my turn," Cold said. "Then it's my turn," Thorax said as he drew his card. He looked at this and then at the rest of his hand, as a plan slowly formed in his mind. "Alright," he said, "I'll start by playing the Spell Monster Beacon. Now we declare a Monster Type and draw until we get a monster and if it's the same type as the one we declared, we can add then to the hand. If not, then we send them to the graveyard." "Very well," Cold said, "I pick Rock." "And I select Dinosaur," Thorax replied. "Dinosaur?" Grand asked in confusion. "He did that to me," Spike said, "I think I know his plan." The two drew until they found a monster, the rest of the cards going to the graveyard, and both nodded when they did. "Mine's a Rock Type," Cold said as he added it to his hand. "Well mine's not a Dinosaur," Thorax said as he discarded his. "Next I'll set one monster face down in DEF Mode and end my turn." "Then it's my turn," Cold said as he drew his card and a microscopic smirk appeared on his lips, "I'm setting the Pendulum Scale, with scale three Frozen Heart Magician and scale nine Frozen Heart Angel." The pillar of appeared as the two monsters flew up into them, before they started forming the portal above his head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and a single light shot out and struck the ground, taking the form of a large ice giant. "Frozen Heart Golem!" (A2800/D1800/L7) "Now Golem attack Thorax's face down monster!" The ice monster ran forward and punched the face down monster with its colossal fist, causing the face down card to flip up and reveal an elderly elf with a white beard. He was then destroyed. "You activated my Celtic Bodach's Flip Effect," Thorax said, "which lets me add a Celtic Monster from my deck to my hand." His deck slotted out a card for him to take. "Well let's see how that card helps against my Lord of the Hook's attack," Cold said as his monster threw its hook at Thorax. The teen dodged the hook, which barely missed him. As the Xyz Monster pulled it back to try again, Thorax leapt off the bridge and landed on a low bridge. There, he grabbed an Action Card and then slotted it into his Duel Disk. "I activate the Action Spell Cocoon Shield, which will negate your attack." The Xyz Monster threw its hook at the teen, but a load of string appeared around him and formed a protective shell which the hook bounced of. The cocoon smashed, but Thorax remained unharmed. "I end my turn," Cold said as he leapt down onto the lower bridge. "Then I'll go," Thorax said as he drew his card, before taking the one Bodach had gotten him. "Now I'll banish Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, Celtic Knight And Celtic Bodach to summon my ultimate monster." The spiritual forms of the three monsters appeared, before being sucked into Thorax's card which he slapped on the Duel Disk. "I summon Celtic Warlord!" The giant elf warrior appeared on the field, ready to do battle against it opponent. "Attack, Lord of the Hook!" Warlord swung its blade and struck the Xyz Monster, destroying it and pushing Cold back. Cold: 3300 Thorax: 3000 "Next his ability activates and deals you damage equal to your monsters Level, times two hundred." The giant swung his sword and created a powerful gust of wind, but when it struck Cold his life points remained unchanged. "What give?" "Xyz Monsters don't have a Level," Grand told him from the sidelines. "Oh," Thorax said before face palming, "stupid." "It's an easy mistake to make," Spike assured him. "But one that may cost him," Cold said, "are you done." Thorax sighed, before placing a card face down and ending his turn. "It's my turn," Cold said as he placed his hand on his deck, "I draw and play the Spell Icicle Crash!" A burst of cold wind blew, causing the area around them to freeze over. Thorax shielded his face from the frost and when he finally looked back at Cold, he saw three giant icicles. Frozen Heart Lancer, Enchantress and Lord of the Hook were each frozen within. The icicles then shattered as Cold took three cards from his deck and added them to his hand. "And now I'll once again carve the arc of victory," Cold said as the portal formed above him, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and three lights shot out, striking the ground and taking form. "Frozen Heart Gardna!" (A800/D2000/L4) "Frozen Heart Demon!" (A1900/D2100/L5/P2) "Frozen Heart Dragon!" (A3000/D2500/L8/P5) Thorax didn't like the look of this. "I activate Frozen Heart Dragon's ability," Cold said, "to tribute Demon and Gardna in order to double his ATK points." The dragon grabbed the two monster and froze them solid, before crushing them into dust. (A6000/D2500/L8/P5) "ATTACK!" The dragon unleashed a powerful burst of cold air, which flew at Thorax's monster. Thorax looked around for a card that could save him and saw one, at the end of the bridge. Running as fast as he could, he reached out for the card and grabbed it just as Frozen Heart Dragon's attack struck. An explosion occurred, engulfing Thorax and his monster. "THORAX!" Spike yelled as he and Grand watched from the higher bridge. The smoke began to clear and as it did, Thorax and Celtic Warlord were seen standing tall. Cold: 3300 Thorax: 1500 Cold didn't seem surprised by this. "Let me guess," he said, "Miracle?" Thorax just nodded. "Very well," Cold said, "I end my turn. Frozen Heart Dragon's ATK points return to normal." (A3000/D2500/L8/P5) Thorax looked over his situation. He needed a card that could hold its own against Frozen Heart Dragon. Something that was stronger then it or Frozen Heart Golem. He went to his deck and drew his card, but when he saw what it was his heart stopped. "No," he said seeing Changeling Drone, "why is this in my deck?" "Thorax?" Cold asked. "Why did you put this in my deck!?" Thorax almost yelled as he showed him the card, "I don't want to be anywhere near this evil card!" "Thorax," Cold said, "this is why we're here. We need to know as much about this card as we can." "What's there to know," Thorax replied, "it's evil and I don't want to be anywhere near it." He tried to throw the card away, but no matter what he did his fingers wouldn't release it. "What's going on." "You can't get rid of the card Thorax," Cold said, "it's a part of you." "No it isn't!" Thorax almost yelled as he tried to get rid of it. "Yes it is," Cold replied, "you and that card share a link. It has your DNA imprinted in it, creating a connection between the two of you. You can't get rid of it, because it is you." Thorax stopped trying to release the card and instead looked at it, realising what this meant. "But I don't want it to be me," he said, "it was made by evil people. I don't want to be evil...like my mother" "Then don't be." Thorax looked up and saw Grand speaking out to him. "You don't have to be evil if you don't want to be," Grand said, "that card is part of you. It may have been made by evil people, but your the one who decides its fate." "He's right," Spike said, "you're not your mother, you don't have to be like her if you don't want to." "Your mother chose her path," Cold said, "now you're free to chose yours." Thorax thought about what they said as he looked down at the card. Suddenly the card began to glow, whether it was the light refraction or something else he didn't know, but seeing it made him feel like he could believe in this card. "Okay," Thorax said, "let's try it." He looked up at Celtic Warlord, who seemed to node in understanding. "Alright," he said, "I'm tributing Celtic Warlord to summon Changeling Drone in ATK mode!" The giant elf disappeared in a flash of light, replaced by the black insect. (A1000/D1000/L6/P3) As Spike saw the Pendulum Monster, he noticed it was slightly different from the last time he'd seen it. The creatures wings were no a sparkly blue, like someone had stuck glitter to them. Was he imagining it, or had the change really happened. "I activate Changeling Drone's ability," Thorax said, "to transform him into a monster on the field or in the graveyard. This'll increase his ATK and DEF points while also giving him access to that monsters ability." The monster was engulfed in a flaming cocoon and when it disappeared, its new form was that of Celtic Warlord though its skin and hair were now black. (A4000/D4000/L6/P3) "Now Changeling Drone, attack Frozen Heart Golem!" The fake Celtic Warlord swung its sword and struck Cold's Ice giant, shattering it and sending the pieces flying at Cold. Cold: 2100 Thorax: 1500 "And now Celtic Warlord's effect activates, dealing damage equal to your monsters Level times two hundred." The giant elf swung its sword, creating a gust of wind which knocked Cold of his feet. Cold: 700 Thorax: 1500 "I end my turn," Thorax said as the fake Celtic Warlord stood tall. As Cold picked himself up, he looked over at Thorax and smiled. "It seems there are no side effects to using that card," he explained, "so I guess we can trust you when the time comes." Thorax smiled at this. "But you still have a long way to go before you're ready to face your mother," Cold continued as he placed his hand on his deck and drew his card. "As long as he doesn't get a monster," Thorax said, "I'm safe." They all watched as the portal formed above them. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" A single light shot out and struck the ground, taking the form a familiar monster. "Frozen Heart Demon." (A1900/D2100/L5/P2) "Next I'll activate the Eternal Ice Ritual Spell," Cold explained as Frozen Heart Demon suddenly turned into snow, which spiralled around Frozen Heart Dragon and encasing him in an icy cocoon. "By tributing Frozen Heart Dragon and a level two or higher Frozen Heart monster, I can unleash my dragons ultimate form! Now watch as the ultimate icy monster appears," Cold said as the cocoon shattered and released his monster. "I RITUAL SUMMON!" Everyone watched as Cold's monster appeared. "Eternal Ice Dragon!" (A3500/D3000/L10) "Awesome," Thorax said, "but it's not enough to beat my Changeling Drone." "We'll see," Cold said, "because I activate my Dragon's special ability. By paying half my life points, I can negate your monsters ability and reduce its ATK points to zero." Cold: 350 Thorax: 1500 Thorax's eyes went wide as he looked up and saw Eternal Ice Dragon flap its wings, unleashed a powerful blizzard. It caused the fake Celtic Warlord to be frozen, before the ice shattered and Changeling Drone fell out, now back to its true form. (A0/D1000/L6/P3) "No way," he said seeing this. "Eternal Ice Dragon," Cold ordered, "finish this!" His monster flapped its wings and took off, before it brought its clawed hands together and formed a giant icicle which it threw at Changeling Drone. Thorax looked around but couldn't find an Action Card. The icicle struck Thorax's monster and destroyed it, sending the teenager flying backwards Cold: 350 (Winner) Thorax: 0 As the Duel Field deteriorated, Spike and Grand rushed over to where Thorax had fallen. "You okay?" Spike asked as he helped him up. "Yeah," Thorax said, "I think so." "Quite the skill set you got there," Grand said, "you're a fine Duellist." "But it's like I said," Cold said as he walked over to him, "you have a ways to go before you're ready." He bent down and picked up the Changeling Drone card, which had fallen off his Duel Disk during the last attack, and handing it to the boy. Thorax took the card and looked it over. After a few moment's thought, he nodded and placed the card in his Duel Disk before turning to Cold. "Thank you," Thorax said, "and I have a request." "Go on." "If I train hard and grow my skills," Thorax said, "will you allow me to face my mother when we find her." Cold thought for a moment, before nodding. "Impress me enough and I'll consider it." Thorax nodded and turned to Spike. "Come on," he said, "Duel me. We've got a lot of practising to do." Spike nodded and pulled out his own Duel Disk. Meanwhile Cold and Grand watched. "What are you thinking?" Grand asked when he saw the face Cold made when he was in deep thought. "That Thorax meeting and becoming friends with Flash and the others wasn't an accident," Cold replied. "I think Thorax will have a part to play in the final battle, but what part that is I don't know." "Well whatever it is," Grand said, "I think we can trust that that boy will be willing to do anything to help us." Cold just nodded in agreement. Chrysalis may be against them, but Thorax had chosen his own path and now was working on helping them defeat the great threat that faced them. The question was however, what was that threat? And could they defeat it?