Okay, I've put this off long enough. I promised everyone I'd do this, but a year has passed since the last chapter of my forsaken Yu-Gi-Oh fanfic, Sister of Anansi, was posted, and I forgot. Things like school screwed me up, and to be honest, I detested the thought of doing this.
But you want it, I know. So here it is. I decided to make a mini-fic instead of adding to the already big Sister of Anansi fic. In the first forum it was posted in, it was the epilogue, but ran for several chapters. Anyways, here we go.
The final dance.
EDIT: I decided to drop the card name titles and rewrite them to be more accurate, because if I ever do another Yu-Gi-Oh fanfic in my fudgey LIFE, I'm going to never use the lame card titles ever again. That was probably my first big mistake, it was a fun gimmick, but nothing more.
Of course, the titles here aren't much thought-out, but I don't care. I hate writing this, I just want to get this over with.
Sister of Anansi: Finality
Part 1: Weaklings vs. Demons
Despite the events of the past week or so, Duelatopia had recovered nicely and was entering a state of hibernation.
The place was bereft of tourists. The contestants of the grand opening tournament were long gone, having returned to their homes and their lives. The only visible people on the island were staff and construction builders, working to clean up the trash and repair all the damage done by the forces of Saurius. They had their work cut out for them before the snows of winter fell on the northern regions and the tourists returned to enjoy fun balmy dueling for the winter holidays.
It was obvious that Winter Break would become a duelist's favorite Christmas vacation, due to the popularity of the tournament. When Sheena was given the deed to Duelatopia and became the new head of KaibaCorp, the first thing she did was misinform everyone who didn't attend the resort that the crisis that Saurius and his minions had invoked was a big publicity stunt, and Siegfried's death was a fatal accident that would "prevent the stunt from being repeated in the future." Nobody save the people who had been on that island personally during that time knew the real truth behind it all.
Siegfried's lover had done what she could to silence those who had been witnesses during the incident, because... at least for now... she didn't want anyone on the outside to know the truth. Mass hysteria would have erupted in Catholic Churchs all over the world about the "Second Coming" and the world would have never been the same, and as Diane recalled Siegfried saying in their brief encounter, the thought of the world going up in arms was too great to allow such a dark secret to come out. Siegfried had done his best to silence anyone who had asked him about what happened in New York during Remi's madness.
A few armored guards supervised the clean-up work. They were the Centurions, a proud group of security which made even the Men in Black who protected the President of the United States look like slackers. However, the security was lax for this period; the Centurions had earned their pay.
Two seperate forces of evil had met on the shores of this tropical resort and joined forces to make the lives of the people miserable or threaten them. But as with all tales of horror, when evil rears its ugly head, heroes arise to vanquish them, and this time, two groups of heroes met briefly and then went their seperate ways, sabotaging the evil ones and destroying them completely.
The evil was totally eradicated. The fallen angel, Saurius, had lost to the seven Millennium Items and now was nothing more than a bad memory. The dark warlock Pisaro was also gone, his soul trapped in the Shadow Realm by a Shadow Game of fearful proportions. Whether he would escape was a matter dealt with by beings of the world he had come from. Hopefully, he would never return to Earth.
However, his use of the infamous Seal of Orichalcos was the most terrifying thing. Timaeus, Critias, and Hermos had given their powers to these girls and now that the Seal of Orichalcos was no more, they returned to the Spirit World to protect the monsters there as their guardians, never to return.
The threat of total demonic invasion was gone forever thanks to the recovery of the Mandate of Heaven. The Seal of Orichalcos, used first by Dartz the mad king and then by the mad warlock Pisaro, was totally erased from existence, never to terrorize Earth again.
But, during the brief pause in the conflict, the heroic groups had met and one had made a friendly offer. That offer still stood.
0 0 0
Lina adjusted her duel disk and inhaled deeply, then released her breath. "Phew, glad that's all over," she whispered to herself. She saw the others behind her. "Now, behave for our guests."
"Yes, Lina," said the girls and boys who stood behind her.
"Are you sure you want to go through this?" asked Arnold. "I mean, sure it's not life-or-death wagers, but you are still a bit woozy from that big freaking shadow game thing last week."
"I'll... be fine," said Lina, taking a deep breath. "You should worry about Twi, she did most of the work. Twi, you should really get some rest."
"I have my reasons for joining your regiment," the Egyptian-Japanese woman said with a sly grin. "Reasons which will come to light as soon as we meet the others."
"Fine," said Lina, swearing she saw a twinkle behind those shades Twilight wore. "Let's go."
The group walked to the lobby of the Cosmo Queen hotel and waited for a bit, then Lina's eye caught sight of some people approaching in the lobby and she smiled, leading the way. The two groups met in the center.
"Nice to see you again, Yugi," said Lina.
"The same to you, Lina," said Yugi Junior, brushing the blonde hair from his eyes. "I had a feeling you would be coming here this morning."
"Yep, and you know why," said Lina with a smirk, tapping her duel disk. Diane and Giselle giggled.
"I really don't think this is a good idea," said Brigit softly. "I mean, it's only been a day after the memorial service for Siegfried. Don't you think..."
Yugi held up his hand to silence her. "I am sure Siegfried's spirit is watching us now and I'm sure he approves of this." He lowered his hand and smiled gently. "Lina suggested a nice little face-off after the nightmare ended, and I feel that after all we've been through, it wouldn't hurt to test our dueling skills one final time in friendly competition."
"Yeah," said Mary, her pigtails bobbing as she nodded. "I mean, we've been literally through Hell and back and we hardly had a chance to enjoy the Duelatopia tournament after those jerks started attacking us! Once we leave this island, we'll probably have little time to duel with college and such, and a nice friendly competition is just what the doctor ordered!"
"Right," said Clive with a nod. "Once we go home, we'll probably pack up our decks up while we study for our future careers. Of course, we might bring out the decks once in a while to answer a challenge, but not often, so this will be our last hurrah, so to speak."
The group fell into silence for a long moment.
"So," said Lina. "How do you want to do this?"
"Me and the others did a little discussion last night," Yugi Jr. said with a grin. "We had a feeling you would come for this, so we planned out the whole thing. Peter will duel first, then Clive, then my girlfriend..." Mary blushed a bit. "...then Jade, and I'll be last."
"Last?" asked Giselle. "What's up with that?"
"Yugi has had a hard duel with Saurius and is still recovering from the effects of the Shadow Game," said Jade softly. "He needs time to prepare his mind and body for this."
"Hey, fine with me," said Lina with a sly smile. "Actually, I'm glad we're going last. I have my own reasons for holding that duel off until the end too." She winked. "After all, I did had a hard time with that Millennium Eye!" Twilight nodded and gripped the golden orb in her back pocket.
Everyone laughed a bit and Diane remembered Lina helping Twilight in the Shadow Game against Despisaro. She recalled her future. Me and Sheena are now heirs to KaibaCorp, so we probably won't get time to enjoy dueling much after this. We'll be busy, and Sheena will need someone to care for her while she has her baby... She noticed Lina frowning softly. Why is she sad? Is something wrong? She should be happy! The evil is gone, she's going to duel the King of Games, and I'll become an Eliminator in the future, thanks to me winning the Monster Valley tournament and Lillith agreeing to help me train, that was my wish after all.
She smiled broadly. "Let's do this."
Yugi Jr. slid on his duel disk and smiled. "You're on, Lina. After our friends have finished, it's you and me, the grand finale of this battle of the masters."
Lina nodded. In more ways than one. "And I've found the perfect place to have our little tournament! Follow me!"
0 0 0 0
The winds picked up some trash, but only a Centurion and a few janitors were the witnesses to the two groups who stood in the area where Clive and Orin Tsunami faced off earlier. Still, those workers were the luckiest workers alive; the janitors had almost never seen a duel between great duelists like the ones before them. "So, who wants to duel me?" said Peter, stepping forward and facing the group of teens and adults. He donned his disk and shuffled his Archfiend deck.
Nobody noticed Brigit doing the same.
"I'm not getting involved in this," mumbled Arnold, crossing his arms.
Mary came up and patted her shoulder. "It's okay, Arnold. I was there at Tristan's funeral with my dad. I was pretty young at the time, but I remember it."
"Huh?" asked Arnold, looking at her. He softened considerably. "Yeah, I did see you in the front."
"Your uncle and dad were not really the most... friendly of best friends," said Mary with a grin as she wiped a tear away. "But they were like bosom buddies, even before they met Yugi's dad."
Arnold hung his head and smiled. "Thanks, Mary. You made me feel better. I'm sure uncle Tristan is watching and smiling at me and everyone else."
"I'm sure he forgave you for being such a jerkwad," said Mary with a grin. Arnold chuckled softly.
"Well?" asked Peter, getting a little impatient. "Who wants to duel me?"
Brigit pushed her way to the front with a Chesire grin on her face and wiped her glasses clean with a tissue before re-donning them. They glimmered in the slightly overcast sky. "Peter Ramset, it'd be my pleasure to be your opponent."
Peter smiled wickedly. "Any particular reason?"
"Well," whispered Brigit. "I hate to brag, but during the finals of our camp's little tournament, I dueled someone who used your set of monsters..."
"You think I'm going to just as easy to beat, don't you?" said Peter with a grin. "I heard about your little duel with that guy, Norus, from your counselor." He activated his duel disk. "Okay, Brigit, you've got yourself a duel!"
Brigit nodded and took her place across Peter, activating her duel disk. Brigit did the same.
"Do you think Brig's chances are good, Di?" asked Giselle.
Diane shrugged. "Well, she may have beaten Norus, but I don't think that Peter is gonna go down quite the same way."
"Ready, Brigit?" asked Peter.
"You betcha," said Brigit.
The two slid in their decks and the life meters rose to 8000 life points.
"Let's duel!" The two duelists drew their opening hands.
"Once again the duels begin, for the final time," said Peter. "Brigit, I will allow you the first turn."
"Thank you," said Brigit as she drew her first card. She smirked. "To start, I activate this magic card, Heart of the Underdog!"
The card appeared before her with a flash of light.
Yugi Jr. rubbed his chin. My father told me a story about that card and how he used it to defeat a duel computer right before the KaibaCorp Grand Championship.
"Then, I'll summon Queen's Double, in defense mode," said Brigit, placing a card. The beautiful brunette appeared and crouched, crossing her arms before her. (350/300) "My turn ends."
"Interesting start," said Peter, drawing a card. "Well, since you've dueled Archfiends before, you should know what this card does!" He showed it.
"Oh crud," said Dione, who had joined the group suddenly.
"Nice to see you join us in watching, Dione," said Diane to her old rival.
"Well, I saw you guys from my cousin's window and I had to watch this close-up!" She shook the small video camera she had been holding since the duel began. "I'm recording this for Terone's sake, and I'll give you all copies as a souvenir as compensation for missing the finals."
"Nice," said Lina with a smile. I'd never want to forget these duels, especially my upcoming one.
"I activate Pandemonium!" said Peter, flipping open his field slot and sliding the card inside before closing it. The card appeared and flashed, and then a circle of flames surrounded them and everyone watching! Demonic gargoyles rose up, the street became paved with a ribbed pattern, and a pool of lava formed between them.
"I hate this place…" muttered Mary.
"Now then," continued Peter. "I'll summon Infernalqueen Archfiend in Attack Mode!"
He placed a card on his Disk, and a bonfire erupted in front of him! The Queen of the Archfiends arose! (900/1500)
"Attack Queen's Double!" shouted Peter. "Cross-the-board capture attack!"
Fire erupted around Infernalqueen, and she shot forward. Queen's Double screamed and was burned up.
"That's my turn, Brig," chuckled Peter, "and there's more where that came from…"
"Uh, yeah," said Brigit, nervously. I just remembered, that duel I had with Norus wasn't very pleasant! She drew a card and the Heart of the Underdog card glowed. "Well, since I have Heart of the Underdog in play, its special effect activates. If I draw a Normal monster on my draw phase, I can show it to you and draw another card!" She showed the card. "And look what I drew!"
The card was Goblin Calligrapher. She drew again and showed off the card.
"Another normal monster," she announced as she revealed Gigobyte, then drew again, showing off Kozaky and drawing a third time. "Well, since this card isn't a normal monster, the draw phase ends, but since Heart of the Underdog is a continous spell, I can use its effect every turn if I draw the right card."
"Looks like her luck is with her again, just like the last time she played that card," said Diane, recalling the last time Brigit used the card.
Brigit put the drawn cards in her hand, which was now pretty big, and took a card from it. "And now to summon one of my favorite monsters...Mokey Mokey in attack mode!"
The marshallow-shaped fairy appeared with a flash. "Mokey mokey!" it cried. (300/100)
Uh oh, thought Yugi Jr., recalling Persephone's use of that monster.
"To end, I must discard a card, so I'll toss this and end my turn," said Brigit, placing a card in the discard slot.
"What the heck?" asked Clive in shock. "How can she win with so many weak monsters?"
Jade smiled. "You should never underestimate the power of the weak, Clive. There are many legends about the small defeating the great. Take Odysseus, for example. He was able to wound the great Cyclops, even though in size he was like a gnat to the creature."
"Yes," said Yugi Jr., "and one famous Biblical legend tells of David and Goliath. My father said that every monster has a hidden power, and if Brigit uses Mokey Mokey, I have a feeling that she's got Mokey Mokey Smackdown too, which could be trouble if she is able to use it."
"Very odd," said Clive.
"My turn!" said Peter, drawing a card. "First, I'll use the special ability of Infernalqueen Archfiend, raising her attack by a thousand!" Infernalqueen screamed as she rose to 1900 attack. "Next, since you've seen the Queen, prepare to meet the King! I summon Terrorking Archfiend!"
A hulking form burst out of the floor of Pandemonium. The King of the Archfiends arose! (2000/1500) The two Archfiends eyed the little Fairy, who bravely stared back at them.
"Terrorking Archfiend," ordered Peter, "attack Mokey Mokey with locust storm barrage!"
Terrorking roared, and a swarm of locusts burst from his chest! Mokey Mokey braced himself, and was blasted into pixels.
Brig's Life Points fell all the way to 6300.
"Oh no, she's defenseless!" cried Jake.
"Why did she do that?" asked Donald in shock. "Putting her monster in attack without a trap?"
Brigit smirked and quickly slapped a card on her disk. "I hate to break it to you, but that's the only attack you are getting on me, Peter! Arise Spirit King Ruklamba, in defense mode!"
A giant lizard-man with a plumed head appeared with a hiss and crouched. (1000/2000)
"Hey, you just made an illegal play!" cried Peter in protest.
Jade gasped. "No, she did not. I recognize that monster, Naga used it against my sister when he dueled her."
"Huh?" everyone asked.
"Who's Naga?" asked Giselle.
Jade sighed. "A fellow samurai who sold his soul to the darkness and paid for it with his life. He's suffering eternal damnation now."
"Bad guy, figured," said Brandon, smirking.
"Peter, Brigit did not make an illegal play," said Jade. "Spirit King Ruklamba's special ability allows it to be summoned if the holder takes a thousand points of damage or more in battle damage. She led you into doing damage so she could summon that creature."
"Oh, I see," said Peter with a sharp breath. "Well, since my Terrorking's attack matches its defense, I can't do squat, so I'll end my turn."
Infernalqueen Archfiend dropped back to 900 attack.
Brigit drew. "Let's see..." She grinned and showed her card. "I just drew Swordsman of Landstar, which means I can draw again!" She did so. "Perfect. I end my draw phase and now use the other special effect of Spirit King Ruklamba!"
Jade gasped. "Naga did not mention that Ruklamba had another ability!"
"Oh yes, it does," said Brigit. "By sacrificing it..." The reptilian creature melted into light. "I can summon as many monsters in my hand as I want, as long as their total attack points don't exceed two thousand, and thanks to Heart of the Underdog...I have five which fit that requirement!"
Goblin Calligrapher(400/400), Kozaky(400/400), Key Mace(400/300), Dancing Elf(300/200), and Gigobyte(350/300) appeared on the field.
"Goodness, she's filled the whole field!" cried Mary.
"Swell," said Peter, rubbing the back of his neck. "Just how is that army of midgets going to take down my two fiends?"
"With this!" said Brigit, showing off a magic card. "The Law of the Normal!"
Diane grinned wickedly. "Oh, Peter's in for it now!"
"Why?" asked Clive.
"Trust us, we've seen this card at work," said Giselle with a chuckle.
Brigit played the card. "This card can only be activated when my field is filled with non-effect monsters with one or two stars in level, but it allows me to destroy every monster on the field with any level higher than two stars, which includes both of your Archfiends!"
A symbol formed under the five monsters and they fired blasts of energy which vaporized the two Archfiends! Lina's gang cheered as Peter and his pals gasped in shock. Peter's life meter dropped to 7175.
"And now that you're defenseless…" chuckled Brigit, raising her hand.
"Am I?" asked Peter with a grin.
He discarded one of his cards and suddenly Terrorking reappeared with a roar!
"What?" gasped Brigit.
"I just discarded a monster called Desrook Archfiend," said Peter. "And since you've dealt with Archfiends, then you don't need to know that when I discard it from my hand on the turn Terrorking is destroyed, I can special summon it from the graveyard."
"Oh great," mumbled Diane, holding her forehead. "So much for Brigit's cunning plan."
"Also," said Peter. "Pandemonium has an effect besides just protecting me from paying life points while my Archfiends are in play..."
"I know, I know," said Brigit. "When one of your Archfiends is destroyed outside of battle, you get another Archfiend from your deck."
Peter took his deck, removed two cards, and shuffled it before reinserting it. "Well, looks like somebody has done her homework, and since you destroyed two Archfiends, I get two. Of course, they can't be as powerful as the Archfiends which were destroyed, but my deck is full of surprises."
"Fine, I end my turn," said Brigit in disgust.
"Then watch out!" said Peter, drawing a card. "Yes! I got Pot of Greed!" He played it and drew two cards. "Next, I'll use one of the cards I drew, Mystical Space Typhoon, to wipe out your Heart of the Underdog!" A whirlwind came from the card shattered Brigit's magic card.
"Well, so much for that," muttered Diane.
"Then I'll summon Shadowknight Archfiend in attack mode," said Peter, playing a card. A black wind passed through the area and the armored fiend appeared. (2000/1400) "Next, I'll play Premature Burial to summon Desrook to the field."
He played the card. His Life Points fell to 6375, and the fiendish chess rook appeared. (1100/1800)
"We'll get to why I summoned that in a minute," added Peter. "In the meantime, I'll play this Magic Card…Archfiend's Favor!"
He played the card.
"So long as Pandemonium is active, this grants me 500 Life Points for every Fiend on the field…and by the way, that includes YOUR monsters, and Kozaky and Goblin Calligrapher are fiends, so thanks a lot!" Brigit grimaced as Peter's life points rose to 8875.
"No!" cried Jake. "Now he's got more life points than before!"
"Now to play a second magic card, Checkmate!" said Peter.
"Checkmate?" gasped Brigit.
"Norus didn't use that," said Diane in worry.
"Let me educate you," said Peter. "By sacrificing an Archfiend, Terrorking can bypass your monsters and attack directly!"
"Oh no..." said Brigit in horror.
"So goodbye, Desrook," said Peter as the creepy tentacled fiend melted into light, "and say hello to my Terrorking!"
The creature roared and turned into a black shadowy flame which tore through the field and slammed into Brigit. She howled in pain and toppled over as her life meter dropped to 4300.
"Shadowknight, attack the Dancing Elf!" shouted Peter. "Four-square fury attack!"
Shadowknight Archfiend flew forward, and smote the Fairy with his wicked blade. Brigit's Life Points fell to 2450.
"Be grateful he only does half the damage he should," added Peter. "I'll end my turn there."
Lina shuddered as she recalled her duel with the mad Balzack. "Poor Brigit..."
"She didn't have this much trouble with Norus the No-Good!" said Diane in anger.
Twilight put a hand on her shoulder. "Brigit hasn't changed," she responded, "Her opponent has. Norus stole those Archfiend cards and had very little time to figure out how they worked. An Archfiend deck is one of the most difficult types of decks to master. Norus was foolish to think he'd be successful with such little planning and experience, just because they were Fiends.
"But Ramset is a different story. He started using those cards two years ago and he had spent weeks building his deck. Unlike Norus, he knows how the Archfiends work and how to use them to achieve maximum success. Having cards is one thing. Knowing how to use them is quite another. That is the difference here. Peter is a much deadlier opponent because, unlike Norus, he knows what he's doing…"
Brigit drew a card shakily and looked at it. "I'll... switch my monsters to defense mode and end my turn." Gigobyte, Key Mace, and her fiends crouched.
"All right," said Peter, drawing. "I'm going to help us both by playing Card of Sanctity!"
He played the card, and a bright flash lit up Pandemonium.
They both drew three cards and Brigit got shocked, then smiled wickedly.
"Terrorking," ordered Peter, "attack her Gigobyte!"
Terrorking shot forward his swarm of locusts, and Gigobyte was blown away.
"Shadowknight, you take out the Key Mace!"
Shadowknight shot forward and beheaded the fairy. His key flew into the air and embedded itself in the ground before shattering as well.
"Well, Brigit, you're in a dilemma," said Peter with a grin. "Next turn, I'll summon another Archfiend and take out both of your fiends, then hit you with a direct attack unless you come up with something, so your next draw had better be good."
"Oh, I have something more than good!" said Brigit, drawing a card. "I play Monster Reborn to bring back Key Mace!" The key-holding fairy returned with a flash. "Then I'll shift all my monsters back into attack mode..." Goblin Calligrapher and Kozaky rose up. "And play this magic card, Triangle Power!"
"Yes, she's got her second wind!" said Giselle gleefully.
"This magic card can only be used on monsters of the weakest level," said Brigit. "But it grants them a boost of two thousand attack!" The other gang gasped as all three of Brigit's monsters shot up to 2400 attack. "Making my monsters strong enough to take down your fiends!"
"Kozaky, blow away that Shadowknight!" ordered Brigit.
The mad scientist cackled, and hurled a ball of crackling black energy at Shadowknight! The Archfiend shattered into pixels.
"Goblin Calligrapher, destroy Terrorking!" commanded Brigit.
The fiendish scribe chuckled. He took the pen from behind his ear, and it grew to twice the size as him! He threw it and it pierced the king of the Archfiends, making him bellow as he exploded.
"Key Mace, attack Peter's life points directly!" said Brigit.
The fairy giggled and leapt up, spinning his key before bringing it down hard on Peter's noggin. He rubbed his head in pain as he saw his life points plummet to 5675.
"Wow, that was amazing," said Clive.
"David and Goliath," muttered Yugi Jr.
"Don't celebrate yet, Brigit," said Peter. "I know how Triangle Power works. When you end your turn, those three Monsters go to the Graveyard, so you'll be defenseless!"
"Oh?" asked Brigit.
She played a card.
"Not with Level Limit Area B!" she exclaimed, as the card appeared. "Now every Monster you summon with four stars or more will be shifted into Defense Mode and kept there! I end my turn." Her three Monsters burst into pixels.
Twilight shook her head.
"What?" asked Diane.
"Brigit just made a mistake…" she replied.
Peter drew.
Then he took another card from his hand.
"Heh heh," said Peter. "You said only monsters with three stars in level or lower can attack? Well, I happen to have one right here, the weakest of my Archfiends! Vilepawn in attack mode!" The grotesque soldier rose up. (1200/200)
"Oh no, I forgot about Vilepawn!" said Brigit in horror.
"Vilepawn, attack Brigit directly with en passant strike attack!" ordered Peter. Vilepawn leapt forward and struck Brigit with his blade! She shrieked and fell backwards. Her Life Points tumbled to an abyssmal 450.
"She's done for," said Giselle sadly.
"I place a card face-down and end my turn," said Peter, playing his card.
Brigit sighed. I guess this was a bad idea... She drew.
"I activate my trap card, Dust Tornado!" said Peter, flipping up his card. A whirlwind shattered Level Limit Area B."
"Oh no, now she's done for!" said Dione.
"I play Graceful Charity," whispered Brigit, activating the card. The angel appeared and showered gold on Brigit's deck. She drew three cards, then discarded two. "Then I'll play White Magician Pikeru in attack mode."
A young pink-haired girl in a bonnet and white dress, holding a rod, appeared. (1200/0)
"Why did she summon that?" asked Jake. "It's clearly a standoff."
"I think she has a plan," said Lina.
Peter drew a card. "I'll pass this turn."
"Okay, your loss," said Brigit, drawing. "White Magician Pikeru has a special ability. For every monster on my side of the field, including herself, I gain 400 life points!" White Magician Pikeru raised her wand and her life meter rose to 850. "But she's not staying, for I sacrifice her..."
The little spellcaster shattered.
"To summon one of my higher-level monsters, Thunder Monarch Zaborg!"
Lightning struck, and the powerful thunder giant appeared! (2400/1000)
"And that means your Vilepawn is history," said Brigit with a laugh. "Because when Zaborg is summoned normally, he automatically destroys one of your monsters!"
"Not so fast, Brig!" shouted Peter.
Six flaming balls rose out of the lava pool, and arranged themselves in a circle…
"Maybe you're forgetting about what happens whenever an Archfiend is targeted by a card effect," he said with a smirk. "If this spin lands on a three, it will be your Monarch who's history!"
"You only have a one-in-six chance!" exclaimed Brigit.
"Well," said Peter, "that's better than a none-in-six chance, isn't it? Archfiend roulette, go!"
The flames jumped from one number to the next…
"Ooh…" groaned Diane. "If that lands on a three, Brig will lose!"
Then flame moved from the one, to the two, to the three…
Everyone gulped…
And then it moved to the four, and stopped.
"Nuts…" muttered Peter.
Zaborg pointed, and lightning struck, vaporizing Vilepawn! Peter's life meter fell to 5375.
"And that's not all, I can use his attack too!" said Brigit. "Zaborg, attack directly!"
The giant's fist charged with electricity and he slugged Peter in the stomach! His life meter plummeted to 2975.
"And I'm not done!" laughed Brigit. "I play this… Sebek's Blessing!"
She played the card, and the huge image of a crocodile god appeared behind her. He waved a staff, and she glowed.
"When one of my Monsters attacks directly," she explained, "I can play this card, and I gain as many Life Points as you lose!"
The deity vanished, and her Life Points went up to 3250.
"Your move…" she said.
"I'll admit, you are good…" said Peter, drawing a card. "I play a card face-down and summon Archfiend Darkbishop in defense."
A facedown card appeared. Then a column of dark water shot up, and a demonic bishop in a dark robe appeared. (300/1400)
"Fine," said Brigit. "Sonic Duck in attack mode!" She played a card, and her large Winged Beast with a scarf around its neck appeared. (1700/700) "He may look strange, but this guy is one of the strongest three-star monsters in all of Duel Monsters! Zaborg, attack the Darkbishop!"
The giant reared back and swung!
"Activate Waboku!" cried Peter. The three blue priests appeared and absorbed the hit.
"I'll get you next turn," said Brigit.
"We'll soon see…" said Peter, drawing.
He looked at the card.
"Oh..." he said.
"What?" asked Brigit.
Peter fit the card into a slot.
"I play the Magic Card…Falling Down!"
"Falling Down?" said Brigit, getting scared. "Norus didn't use that either…"
Darkbishop raised his staff and it glowed…
Zaborg's eyes glazed over, and he was dragged over to Peter's side!
"MY MONARCH!" shouted Brigit.
"Mine now," said Peter. "Falling Down is the Archfiend's version of Brain Control. I can only play it so long as I have an Archfiend on the field, and I can now brainwash one of your Monsters for as long as I'm willing to pay 800 Life Points for each of your turns. But since I'm NOT willing…"
He placed a card on his Disk.
"I'll sacrifice Zaborg to summon a real Thunder Monarch… Skull Archfiend of Lightning!"
Zaborg shattered, and the huge, darker version of Summoned Skull appeared, lightning coursing over its bony hide! (2500/1200)
"Skull Archfiend of Lightning," yelled Peter. "Wipe out Sonic Duck with Archfiend Lightning!"
The creature roared and flung lightning at the fowl, who squeaked as it hit and exploded into a pile of feathers. Brigit's life meter dropped to 2450.
"Oh great, how could this get any worse?" moaned Giselle.
"Now I'll pad my points myself," continued Peter. "I'll play Mystik Wok, sacrificing my Darkbishop and adding his Defense Points to my Life Points."
The card appeared, and Darkbishop vanished. Peter's Life Points rose to 4375.
"Me and my big mouth," sighed Giselle.
"Your move," said Peter with a grin.
Brigit drew, hoping for something good. She saw the card she drew and smiled. "I play Swordsman of Landstar in defense." The big-headed warrior appeared, kneeling behind his shield. (500/1200)
Mary gasped as she recognized that monster.
"And then, since it worked for you, I'll play my own Mystical Space Typhoon... on Pandemonium!" announced Brigit. A whirlwind erupted over the whole arena, and the walls of Pandemonium started to crumble! The gargoyles and the fiendish structures shattered into pixels!
"All right!" shouted Diane. "That place was creeping me out…"
"That will be my turn…" said Brigit with a grin, "and now that your field card is gone, you'll lose five hundred life points each turn as long as your Archfiend is in play."
"Hmph," said Peter, drawing. He winced as his life meter dropped to 3875.
"He seems pretty confident," said Donald.
"I don't like that look," said Dione with a tone of worry.
Arnold nodded. "He's probably got another one of those Pandemoniums, and since his life points are high, he can withstand a few hits to them."
"I play a card face-down," said Peter, sliding the card into his disk. The card appeared behind his Archfiend. "Now Skull Archfiend, vaporize that Swordsman!"
The fiend roared and blasted Swordsman of Landstar to bits!
"Move," said Peter.
Brigit drew.
"I'm activating my Trap!" exclaimed Peter. "Reveal… Battle-Scarred!" The card flipped up.
"Oh great, not another card we don't know about," said Giselle. "Why didn't Norus play those dumb cards?"
Lina gulped. "I think Brigit's in trouble."
"Huh?" asked Diane.
"Remember those cards Norus stole from me?" asked Lina. "They came from Pisaro's flunky, the one who attacked me in my station."
"Really?" asked Donald.
"Yep, and I was hit with that trap!" said Lina. "It's a nasty trap. You see, every time Peter loses life points due to his fiend, Brigit loses them too!"
"No!" said Jake in horror. "Brigit has only half of the life points Brigit has! She's toast!"
Brigit heard this and began to sweat.
"Hear that?" said Peter with a sly smile. "You should just forfeit. There is no way you'll survive more than five rounds."
Brigit looked at her hand. "Sorry, but I'm not giving up. Me and my friends defeated Pisaro and you just hid in a bunker while your friend Yugi defeated Saurius, so I think I'll play a card face-down and set Haniwa in defense mode."
A small creature shaped like a dome, made of clay appeared. (500/500)
Peter flinched a bit at that remark. "We didn't hide because we wanted to, but because we had to! Who was going to keep the barrier that held Saurius at bay up if we had joined Yugi, huh? I would have gone and faced Saurius myself if Yugi had been defeated!"
Yugi Jr. gaped in shock.
Peter wasn't done ranting. "You don't know how it feels to be brainwashed and used as a tool by the bad guys! I hated Saurius too, but I wasn't an idiot as to abandon my duty!" He growled softly.
Brigit stopped. "Peter, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."
Peter took a deep breath. "That's okay, Brigit. I shouldn't have snapped at you."
"No, I didn't know you had been brainwashed by the forces of evil," whispered Brigit, hanging her head. "I'm so sorry for saying that."
"It's okay, Brigit," said Peter. "Let's just finish this duel and not trash-talk anymore, okay?"
Brigit nodded. "My turn is over."
"Then I'll draw…" said Peter.
"I activate my own trap," said Brigit, flipping up a card showing tons of Mokey Mokey. "Human-Wave Tactics! I'll let you figure it out."
The Archfiend's eyes glowed, and this time the pain struck both of them. Peter's Life Points fell to 3325, and Brigit's fell to 1950.
"Attack!" shouted Peter.
The Skull destroyed the Haniwa with bolts of lightning.
"That ends my turn."
"And now to show you my trap's effect," said Brigit as another Dancing Elf returned in defense mode. "Every time you destroy my monsters, I get to summon any two-star or weaker monsters equal to the number of monsters destroyed this turn from my deck."
"Great, she's got an invincible wall," said Clive.
"But that won't help her," said Jade. "Peter could draw a monster, summon it, and do enough damage for Battle-Scarred to wipe her out."
"Yeah," said Mary. "It looks like Peter's got this duel in the bag."
"I wouldn't say that, Brigit's faith in her deck is strong," said Yugi. "I have a feeling that she will show us the true heart of her deck."
Brigit slowly drew. Come on, deck! If I don't get something now, Peter will probably slap down another monster and wipe me out! She looked at the card and grinned. "I activate my magic card, Legacy of the Duelist!" The card appeared, showing a duelist who had a couple of monsters looking over his shoulder.
"What the heck is that?" asked Clive. "I've never seen that before!"
"Me neither," muttered Yugi.
"This is a powerful magic card, but it comes with a price," said Brigit. "I have to pay half of my life points and discard my entire hand." Her life meter dropped to 975 as she tossed her cards. "But in exchange, I get to choose any five cards from my deck!" She took her deck out and removed five cards, then shuffled her deck and put it back in. "Next, I'll play Pot of Greed to get two more cards!" She drew two cards.
"So, did you find what you wanted?" asked Peter, a bit worried.
"See for yourself!" grinned Brigit. "I play Dark Factory of Mass Production, which allows me to get two normal monsters from my graveyard." She removed two cards from her graveyard. "I'll even show you what they are." She revealed them as Mokey Mokey and Key Mace.
"What the...?" asked Peter.
"Next, I'll summon Key Mace in attack mode and shift my Dancing Elf into attack," said Brigit. The two monsters rose to attack.
"Oh no, your girlfriend's cracked!" said Dione to Jake. "One blast from that Archfiend and she loses!"
"I don't think so," grinned Jake. "I can see what's she's planning."
"But I'm not done yet," said Brigit. "I play Polymerization to fuse the three Mokey Mokey in my hand! Say hello to the great Mokey Mokey King!"
Suddenly, a HUGE form rose up behind Brigit! It was nearly the size of the buildings to each side of them! (300/100)
"MOKEY MOKEY!" it bellowed.
"WHA?" gasped Mary, looking at her own Disk. "Just how powerful ARE these things?"
"Even with a big monster like that," said Yugi. "There is no way that it can stand a chance because it's only as powerful as a regular Mokey Mokey."
"Okay…" said Peter. "This rates about a ten on the weirdometer. But even so, there's no way you can win with that?"
"Oh really?" asked Brigit. "I play two cards face-down and end my turn." The cards appeared before her.
Peter sighed and drew, wincing as his life meter dropped to 2825 and Brigit's dropped to 275. "All right, Archfiend Soldier in attack mode!" The wicked horned fiend appeared. (1900/1500) "Once I destroy your two weak fairies with my monsters, you're finished! Skull..."
"I activate my trap card," said Brigit, flipping up a card. "Threatening Roar!" The card roared and the two fiends backed off. "Can't declare an attack this turn."
"Very well," said Peter. "I end my turn, but next turn, you'll lose the rest of your life points because of my trap."
"I won't need another turn," said Brigit, drawing. "I activate my trap card, Spirit Barrier! This prevents me from taking battle damage as long as I have at least one Monster on the field." A white dome of energy surrounded Brigit. "Next I play Mokey Mokey Smackdown."
The card appeared. Yugi paled. I knew it, she has that card!
"Big deal, you don't have a Mokey Mokey on your field because you sent them all to the grave!" said Peter. "Don't you know how fusions work?"
"Of course I do," said Brigit with a sly smile. "Mokey Mokey King, attack Archfiend Soldier!"
"MOKEY!" cried the giant creature, sending a shockwave through the streets.
"Counter it, Archfiend Soldier!" screamed Peter as everyone covered their ears in pain.
The fiend leapt and slashed a hole in the creature's chest. It got wide-eyed before exploding...
...and the three Mokey Mokeys landed! "Mokey!" they chorused.
"Well, this is a new development," said Yugi.
"Mokey Mokey King's special effect allows me to summon all the Mokey Mokeys who were sent to the graveyard to summon it," said Brigit with a sly grin.
"Oh no," said Peter, sweating. He knew what was going to happen next.
"By the way," said Brigit with a chuckle. "All the monsters I have on the field are fairies, which means I don't need to sacrifice a Mokey Mokey to activate my Smackdown's effect!"
"Oh crud," said Peter. "You're going to smack me with all three of them, aren't you?
"You got it!" laughed Brigit. "Dancing Elf, attack the Skull!" The elf maiden sprinkled sparkling dust at the Skull Archfiend, who blew it away and blasted the woman to ashes.
"MOKEY?" cried the Mokeys in wide-eyed shock. They started screaming and grew red and furious like their counterpart on the card, shooting up to 3000 attack!
"This is bad," said Mary, putting her knuckles in her mouth.
"Mokey Mokey one, avenge Dancing Elf's death!" said Brigit. "Infinite Anger Burst!"
"Mokey!" howled the creature, sending a wave of energy through Skull Archfiend of Lightning, who covered his ears before exploding.
"Mokey Mokey two, take out that Archfiend Soldier!" commanded Brigit. Another blast of sonic waves from the Mokey Mokey blew apart the horned fiend. "Mokey Mokey three, attack Peter directly and finish this!"
Peter shrieked as he was flung back ten feet by the sonic boom emitted by the third fairy. His life meter plunged to zero.
"PETER!" cried Mary.
Key Mace squeaked in rage at Brigit, shaking his mace.
"Sorry about that, maybe next time you can attack," said Brigit. Key Mace snapped his fingers and vanished. Brigit went up to Peter and picked him up. "Are you all right?"
"It's okay, I've been through worse," said Peter with a chuckle. "You're one heck of a duelist, Brigit. I think we might have a contender for next year's tournament."
Brigit blushed.
"Well, Lina," said Yugi with a smile. "I see you've trained your campers well. But don't think for a moment the rest of us are easy."
"On the contrary, I love a challenge," said Lina with a gleam in her eye. Call me obsessive, call me plain crazy, but I'm going to enjoy our little duel, Yugi-boy.
To be continued...