Hey, guys! I told you it wouldn't be long before I updated again; I know all of you are pretty anxious to read the next chapter, so I'll skip my usual babble and move on to the disclaimer: I don't own anything from Yu-Gi-Oh!, though I'd love to. Now, on to the story!
Chapter 6: The Ultimate Great Moth
"Nice play, Yuge!" Joey called.
"He wiped out Weevil's insect army in one shot," Tristan agreed.
"All right," Tea cheered.
"You've got him on the ropes!" Cali added.
A laugh caught their attention, making them turn away from the arena; Mai was standing a foot or two away from the group.
Why is she here? Cali thought, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"Yeah, right," she sneered. Joey and Tristan's eyes lit up.
"Mai," they murmured together, their eyes locked on her.
"You losers don't seem to realize who your little pal's up against," Mai said. "Weevil's the Regional Champion, he's got moves your little shrimp and his sister couldn't even dream of."
Tea's fists clenched angrily. Ooh, that Mai; she's always butting in with her big mouth. Well, I'm not gonna let her trash my friends!
"Well, nobody asked you. So why don't you take a hike?" she snapped.
"Preferably off a cliff," Cali added, scowling at the blonde.
"And miss a chance to watch a champion like Weevil as he turns this around?" Mai retorted. "No way, not a chance."
Joey and Tristan nodded their agreement. "Yeah; I mean, Weevil really came from behind to win the Regionals," Joey said.
"He's tough and sneaky," Tristan added.
"Whose side are you two goofballs on, anyway?!" Tea yelled.
"Traitors," Cali growled in agreement, angrily crossing her arms over her chest.
"All I'm saying is that for Yugi, this is his first official duel," Joey protested.
"And he's fighting a champ," Tristan said, nodding. Mai smirked and turned back to the duel.
Mai, you troublemaker; you think you know so much? Tea thought, glaring at the woman angrily. Yugi'll show you.
"You may have flattened my army of bugs, Yugi, but you haven't won," Weevil growled. "I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve."
Yugi smirked. "You've done an awful lot of buzzing throughout this whole duel, Weevil," he said. "But I'm still here waiting for the sting."
"Since you're new to this whole Dueling tournament thing, I'll try to make it simple for you; I'm gonna wipe that goofy grin off your face-and your sister's, too. Now, let's see which lucky bug gets to take the first bite." Weevil looked at his hand with a snicker. "But this little bug won't stand a chance against all your ferocious monsters; oh well," he sighed, picking a card and playing in on the field. "I'll play him in Defense Mode."
"That would've been a nice bluff," Yugi said. "But I still haven't forgotten about the Trap card you played." He nodded to the other card on Weevil's side of the field.
He didn't trap me then, and he's not gonna trap me now. Yugi thought determinedly. His card will activate the second I attack, and it'll destroy all the cards I have on the field. Wait! What if I got all my monsters off the field first, and then destroy Weevil's trap? That's it!
"I'll spring your trap, Weevil-but first," Yugi placed a card on the field. "The Monster Recovery card! It allows me to call back all the monsters I have on the field. Monsters, return to your cards!" he commanded. Dark Magician and the other facedown monster disappeared from the field.
"Now your trap has nothing to snare; and now that my monsters are all safely back in my deck, the Monster Recovery card also lets me draw a new hand." Yugi shuffled the cards in his hand back into his deck, then drew five new cards.
"Now all I have to do is sacrifice one of my weaker monsters and your trap is sprung. Kuriboh(300/200), attack," Yugi put a card on the field and a little brown hairball with big purple eyes and small, clawed hands appeared on the field with a chirp. The little guy flew towards Weevil. The facedown card glowed; a skinny leech-like monster with a round mouth and small, sharp teeth charged at the hairball, swallowing it whole before disappearing.
"Trap cards only work when they catch you by surprise," Tori said. "Next time, don't give your plan away."
Yugi: 1050
Weevil: 555
Weevil started laughing. "I didn't," he said. "I don't give a bee's behind about that trap!"
Yugi and Tori exchanged shocked looks. "What?"
"I tricked you into recalling your monsters so you couldn't attack this," he flipped over the monster card, revealing a little green worm with purple markings. (Larvae Moth 500/400 500+350=950)
It's just a little Larvae Moth; that tiny creature can't be much of a threat, Tori frowned slightly. What's Weevil up to now?
"Sure, he's just a little slug now," Weevil said, slapping a card down. "But the Cocoon of Evolution(0/2000) will change all that."
"What?" Yugi's eyes widened.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Weevil cackled as threads of some kind began to surround the little thing.
Uugh, Yugi winced.
Tori shuddered, furiously shaking her head. I hate bugs, I hate bugs, I hate bugs, she chanted.
"Eww. That's just gross," Tea made a face.
"Weevil's bug is sealing itself into a cocoon," Cali said, frowning.
Mai smirked. I told those chumps that Weevil would turn this duel around, she thought smugly.
"Behold! My Cocoon of Evolution," Weevil said. "Within that Cocoon sits my tiny little Larvae Moth. And over the next five turns, he will undergo a startling transformation-from harmless little caterpillar to unstoppable Great Moth!"
"Then I'll crack your cocoon before that happens," Yugi retorted.
"Easier said than done, Yugi. My Cocoon also gets a Power Bonus from the wilderness around us, increasing its defense points-it's so strong, you won't even be able to scratch its surface!" (Cocoon of Evolution 2000+600=2600)
"Just five more turns, Yugi," Weevil held up his hand. "In five more turns, my Great Moth will fully evolve and finish you off!"
If what Weevil says is true, I better act fast, Yugi thought. That thing's getting bigger-and stronger-with each passing second.
We have to find a way to break open that Cocoon, Tori agreed. We can't get that Moth get to its fifth stage of evolution. Do we have a card that's powerful enough to stop it?
Yugi drew a card from his deck and looked over his hand. "Gaia, the Fierce Knight(2300/2100)," he played a card; a purple horse and rider wearing blue armor and carrying a pair of spears appeared on the field. "Shatter that cocoon," Yugi ordered. The horse took off towards the cocoon; the knight's spears bounced right off the thing when they reached it.
"The Field Power Bonus makes it too strong," Joey cried.
"That's one turn down; care to try again?" Weevil grinned.
Weevil's cocoon is going to be tough to crack, Yugi thought. And for each attack that fails, my Life Points go down.
Yugi: 750
Weevil: 555
"Oh no," Tea gulped.
"Hang tough, Yugi," Joey called. "You'll pop that pus-bag!"
Mai turned the other's attention away from the duel with another amused laugh.
"Just what do you think you're laughing at?" Cali hissed at Mai.
"All that stupid cheerleading you're doing," Mai retorted. "You make it sound like your Yugi still has a chance."
"Of course he does," Tea snapped at the blonde.
"Don't listen to her, girls," Joey said, holding her and Cali back from punching the blonde woman.
"Every Duelist that's ever gone up against Weevil's Cocoon of Evolution has been totally trashed." Mai stated calmly. The girls were so shocked, they quit fighting against Joey's grip on their wrists.
"All of them?!" Joey and Tristan asked together in astonishment.
"But my big brother has my sis and the rest of us to help him beat it," Cali protested.
He'll need a lot more help than you losers, Mai snorted, turning back to the duel.
"Hear it growing?" Weevil asked, nodding to his Cocoon. "The more time you waste, the more powerful it becomes."
If we don't come up with something fast, I won't only lose this duel-we'll lose our only chance to save Grandpa, Yugi thought worriedly. There's no way I can let that happen.
"Tick-tock, tick-tock," Weevil snickered as he drew a card from his deck. "Just four more turns until my Great Moth emerges. Then you can stop worrying how you're going to destroy it, and start worrying about how it's going to destroy you!"
Maybe you should prepare a defense, just in case you really can't stop that thing, Tori suggested. Yugi nodded, picking a card from his hand and laying it on the field in defense mode.
"You're wasting your turn," Weevil scoffed. "No defense will save you once my Moth is out!"
I have to figure out a way to turn this duel around, Yugi frowned.
Weevil seems pretty confident that whatever's growing in that cocoon is unbeatable, but there's gotta be a way to pop that thing open, and wipe that smirk off his face. But how? Tori thought.
"Hang in there, Yugi," Tea called.
"You gotta win this for your Grandpa-he's counting on you and Tori," Joey added.
"We know he is," Yugi sighed.
"Then you can't keep letting this little creep push you around," Joey retorted. "You gotta get fired up!"
Yugi and Tori's eyes lit up. Wait, they thought together, that's it! Get fired up!
"So, do you guys sit around and write these lame cheers, or do they just come to you?" Mai asked, yawning. "I mean, don't you realize all your pep talk nonsense only distracts Yugi from the game?"
"How would you know? I bet no one's ever wanted to be your friend, let alone care enough to cheer you on," Tea spat bitingly.
"Trust me, friends haven't helped Yugi any," Mai answered. "He's losing." She blinked in surprise as Yugi and Tori smiled and each gave Joey a thumbs-up.
"Yeah!"
"Yes!"
"Alright!" The boys grinned together, pumping their fists in the air. Tea and Cali smirked at Mai.
"Well, Mai, from the look on my sibs' faces, I'd say having friends helped him out after all." Cali said.
Brats, Mai thought as they began making faces at her. What idea could Yugi have possibly gotten from these mental morons?
"Go, Curse of Dragon(2000/1500)! Take flight!" Yugi called, playing a card. A yellow and red dragon appeared with a roar.
"And I'll combine it with this Magic card," Yugi added, putting a second card on the field. "Attack with Dragon Flame!" The dragon fired a ball of fire at the Cocoon, hitting it and the ground around it, surrounding it with fire.
"What are you doing?" Weevil demanded. "You know your little firefly can't hurt my Cocoon."
"What's so funny?" he growled as Yugi and Tori chuckled together.
"Who said anything about aiming at your cocoon?" Tori asked as her brother held up the Magic card.
"I combined by Burning Land Magic card with my Curse of Dragon to destroy the forest all around your Cocoon."
"No forest?! That means I lose my Field Power Bonus!" Weevil cried.
"Exactly," Yugi nodded. "Your Cocoon was too tough to attack directly, but without its Field Power Bonus it's just a big target."
Weevil turned pale and emitted a gasp. (Cocoon of Evolution 2600-600=2000)
"Now, let's try this again. Gaia the Fierce Knight, attack!" Yugi ordered. The knight and his horse charged the thing again, this time piercing the walls of the cocoon.
"He did it!" Cali whooped.
"Popped it open like a zit!" Joey agreed with a grin.
Weevil chuckled to himself as the knight retreated from the now broken cocoon. A hole the size of a human head had been put in the thing, but nothing inside it moved. Yugi and the others waited for a moment, silent and still as they waited for something to jump from it.
"Is it still alive?" Tea asked after another minute.
"I have a bed feeling we're about to find out," Joey replied grimly.
The cocoon squirmed violently.
"It's still moving," Cali gulped, taking cover behind Joey and Tristan.
"You're surprised?" Mai asked, raising an eyebrow as the cocoon imploded, releasing the insect it sheltered before.
"It must've evolved enough to survive," Joey said with surprise.
"I told you Weevil was good," Mai sighed.
"I'm impressed you pierced my cocoon, Yugi," Weevil said. "But you still couldn't stop the evolution of my ultimate insect, the Great Moth(2600/2500)!" A giant moth with multicolored wings appeared, buzzing loudly and somewhat angrily.
"But I thought it took five turns," Yugi protested.
"So you stopped him one turn early," Weevil said dismissively. "He's still strong enough to beat you!"
"Oh no," Tea gasped.
Ha! I notice the little dweebs aren't cheering now, Mai smirked. The Great Moth is an unbeatable creature. They can chatter from the sidelines all they want, but it won't help Yugi one bit!
Weevil turned this match around once more, Yugi thought. But I'm not giving up.
"So, Yugi, feeling outclassed yet? Or maybe you're enjoying your first major-league dueling loss," Weevil cackled.
"You may have gotten your prized monster on the field Weevil, but I'll still find a way to squash that oversized bug," Yugi stated calmly.
"Hmph! You'll pay for that stinging jab with your Life Points," Weevil retorted. "Great Moth, take flight!" The insect rose into the air with a single beat of its wings.
"So be it. We'll settle this in the skies!" Yugi said.
"I think it's high time I pay your knight back for demolishing my Cocoon," Weevil grinned evilly.
My knight! He's the height of my attack force; there's no way I can afford to lose him! Yugi thought worriedly.
"This is it, Yugi!" Weevil called. "My moth will crush your defenses, slay your knight, and blast your dragon from the sky!"
"Not if I can help it, Weevil," Yugi said, placing a card on the field.
"But that's just it, you can't help it; Moth, Hurricane Attack!" Weevil ordered the bug. It flapped its wings, generating a giant pillar of wind directed at Yugi's monsters.
"No, my Beaver Warrior," Yugi said as the monster was blown into pixels. "My defense,"
"It's hopeless," Weevil laughed. "Nothing can stand against the gale force winds of my Moth's Hurricane. Your knight will be totally blown away! That'll teach him to mess with my cocoon,"
"Don't count on it," Yugi retorted, making Weevil stop laughing almost immediately.
"You were so busy fawning over your monster that you didn't notice that I played a Polymerization card," he smirked.
"But, I thought," Weevil gulped hesitantly.
"As long as I have two compatible monsters on the field, I can use my Polymerization card to fuse them into one ultimate creature."
"I'm not some beginner," Weevil snapped. "I know what fusion does."
"Then you must know it increases my attack points," Yugi said. "My fused dragon-knight combo is now powerful enough to go head to head with your Great Moth." (Gaia the Dragon Champion 2600/2100)
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Weevil warned, motioning to the field. "Look again,"
"No," Yugi murmured as the dragon rider's attack points began dropping. (Gaia the Dragon Champion 2600-300+2300) "My knight-he's losing points. . .and fast."
"But how? And why?" Tori frowned.
"It's poison, Yugi," Weevil replied. "Poison particles from my Great Moth. Every time it uses its Hurricane attack, it releases tons of these tiny toxic particles-and your precious dragon-knight combo is being poisoned by their deadly touch!" He laughed as the monster lost another few hundred points.(Gaia the Dragon Champion 2300-400=1900)
My knight is losing more points each passing second, Yugi thought. But how do I protect him from the very air itself? There's nothing here in my hand that can help me, but I know my Grandpa's deck won't let me down.
Yugi drew a card from his deck. Yes! He grinned to himself. "Ready to be rained out, Weevil?" he called, playing a card on the field. "Makiyu the Magical Mist!"
Rain began to fall, cleaning the poison pollen from the knight and completely soaking the moth through.
"No, my poison!" Weevil cried angrily. "You're washing it all away!"
"That's right; Magical Mist washes the field clean," Tori nodded with a smile.
"That's not fair! I was about to win, and you save yourself with a little drizzle?!" Weevil howled.
It's true that you saved your knight, brother, Tori thought. But that's not all you did.
"All right, you might have stopped my poison attack, but you've only bought yourself a brief reprieve; my next move will be one you won't be able to think your way out of; brace yourself for my ultimate insect's ultimate attack: Great Moth, Tornado of Doom!" The moth's wings beat much faster than before, whipping up a supersized column of wind and taking out Yugi's monster in a single blow.
"A direct hit!" Weevil cheered. "Your little rainstorm didn't save you from that one, now, did it? Your knight is toast, and you're almost out of Life Points,"
Yugi: 50
Weevil: 555
"Yugi, keep fighting! You can come back from this," Joey urged.
"You're all delusional," Mai scoffed.
"No, Joey's right," Tea said. "Yugi and Tori never give up. And we never give up on either of them."
"You're nuts," Mai countered. "Weevil's totally annihilated Yugi's strongest monster combo; he's down to fifty measly Life Points; he can't win, so do me a favor and quit yapping."
"I won't stop yapping, you selfish, pompous, know-it-all bleach-blonde windbag!" Tea yelled angrily. "Do us a favor and get lost, right Cali, Joey?"
"Amen to that, Tea!" Cali cheered.
"You said it, Tea," Joey agreed. "Just ignore her, Yugi's in trouble,"
"I know," Tea answered. "But what can we do?"
"I dunno," Joey shrugged. "But it would be great if we could trade Mai in for Life Points."
"I so wish!" Cali hooted, falling to the ground in a fit of laughter. Tea helped her back up when she stopped.
"I told you all along that Yugi didn't have a chance at winning this thing," Mai said. "He wastes too much time listening to you losers. Weevil keeps his mind on the game."
"Then why didn't he see this coming?" Tristan asked. The others gaped at him.
"See what coming?" they asked together.
"Whatever it is that Yugi and Tori are grinning about," he replied. The others looked at the siblings.
"You're right," Joey said in surprise. "They've got big smiles on their faces."
"No, wait; I don't think they're smiling-" Tea started.
"I think they're laughing," Cali finished wide-eyed. What the hell's going on here? She wondered.
"No. Way," Mai murmured under her breath.
"Hey! What are you so happy about? Stop that snickering!" Weevil howled angrily.
"Weevil, I know it will be very difficult for you to accept losing a duel," Yugi said calmly. "Especially after spending so much time finding inventive ways to cheat. But if you thought bending the rules would help you win this match, you're wrong."
"No! This is a trick!" Weevil cried in protest.
"You play dishonestly, expecting the same of your opponents," Tori said. "But my brother and I duel with honor, Weevil, and that makes all the difference."
"You got nothing," Weevil snapped.
"Here's what I've got," Yugi played a card. "The mighty Summoned Skull(2500/1200)!" A bony demon with big bat-like wings and long claws and horns appeared on the field.
"Oh; what's that?" Mai asked herself as she stared at the monster.
"This is it, Weevil; your ultimate insect won't survive my next attack," Yugi predicted.
"There's something you've overlooked, Weevil," Tori said. "The Magical Mist Spell card is still dampening this entire field."
"She's right," Weevil said to himself in shock, watching a small portion of mist churn around the demon's feet.
"Everything's wet," he looked up at his monster in horror. "My Great Moth is totally soaked." The moth was barely able to stay airborne, water dripping off the edges of its wings every time it flapped.
"And my Summoned Skull attacks with electricity, making your waterlogged bug a giant-sized lightning rod," Yugi added. "I hope you're in the mood for some fireworks, Weevil, because all this water boosts my monster's electrical attack by one thousand points!" (Summoned Skull 2500+1000=3500)
"Summoned Skull! Lightning Strike," Yugi called. The demon raised its arms up, electricity gathering around them, then pointed them towards the moth, sending the electricity out as a lethal pair of lightning bolts. The lightning crackled as it reached the moth, frying it to a crisp before it disappeared.
"It's over. I won," Yugi stated quietly.
"No; impossible. My moth's unbeatable," Weevil groaned as he sank to his knees.
Weevil: 0
Yugi: 50
"All right, Yugi!" Joey cheered.
"Way to go!" Tristan called.
"I knew you could do it!" Cali jumped up and down, waving her fists in the air.
"You won! I knew you would!" Tea added with a wide smile.
"Impressive; I didn't think Yugi could ever beat Weevil," Mai murmured thoughtfully before turning and leaving the forest.
Five minutes later, and Weevil was off the dueling arena platform and whining up a storm.
"But I'm the Regional Champion. The Regional Champion!" he protested as Yugi took Weevil's Star Chips from his glove.
"You call yourself a champion, Weevil, but you only won your duels through lying and cheating," Tori said.
"Real champions," Yugi said, holding the Star chips in his hand, "They play with honor; they play fair."
"Don't waste your breath on this sneaky slug," Joey growled, glaring at Weevil barely five inches from his nose. "He's a dueling disgrace. And I hereby relieve him of his Dueling Gauntlet." Joey plucked the glove off of Weevil's hand before the creep fainted, slipping it onto his own hand.
"Joe, I wouldn't have done that," Cali warned. "Who knows where that thing has been?"
"There," Yugi sighed as he fit the Star Chips into their holes. "Three Star Chips so far."
"But we still need to win seven more," Tori reminded her brother. "Ten Star Chips will get us into that castle, where they're keeping our Grandfather prisoner-and where we'll battle Pegasus once and for all!"
And the duel with Weevil is over; good riddance, hope you all enjoyed it. Next up: Joey's first duel-against Mai, of all people. Tune in next time to see Joey duel it out! In the mean time, please R+R; and no flames, please!