Dream Duel
By Metal Overlord 2.0
Before I start my newest chapter I have some very exciting news, the other day I passed my driver's permit exam starting the long road to getting a car and driver's license of my very own. I'm glad everyone has been enjoying all my original card designs so far in this story I assure you I have some even more insanely powerful and tricky cards on the way. By the way I'd like to thank my anonymous but very much appreciated fan Nathan for pointing out a bit of a goof-up I did last chapter with Giant Kozaky's attack score after Kozaky's Sexy Kitty boosted it. As he said it might make the difference between victory and defeat later on so until I revise that part of the chapter we'll treat things as the way it should have been. Thanks again for the help and the praise guys, enjoy!
Yami Marik stared me down his field bare and his life points at a mere 1700. I on the other hand had most of mine intact with 5000 life points and my four monsters Kozaky, Kozaky's Sexy Kitty, Giant Kozaky and lastly Big Tusked Mammoth. All in all I was feeling pretty confident but after I had blown away Marik's Doomsday Horror all the cards he had been removing from play for the last few rounds were back in his graveyard, and so far that had NEVER lead to anything good. "So, are you actually going to finish your move or can I take a quick break and use the men's room?" I said folding my arms and tapping my foot.
My opponent just gave me a lopsided little grin clucking his tongue. "Such impatience, I knew you had a death wish the moment you accepted my challenge but I had no idea you were so eager to be cast down into hell. Alas I'm afraid you'll have to wait like a good little boy for me to kill you, but just to keep you from getting any ideas about actually WINNING this duel I'll play Nightmare Steel Cage, barring either of us from attacking for two turns!" He played a card and a large spiked metal cage burst out of the ground and surrounded us from all sides. Big Tusked Mammoth didn't seem too bothered by this but since KSK and Kozaky were on top of Giant Kozaky they had to keep their heads down to avoid the sharp spikes. "Hmm, you know I rather like this look for you, caged like lambs ready for the slaughter. Oh I'm sorry am I distracting you? My apologies in that case I'll end my turn with three face downs, go right ahead and make your move." Yami Marik taunted.
"Great, just when I can stop worrying about keeping track of Card of Demise I have another time-based spell to worry about sigh I hate multitasking." I grumbled as I drew. Suddenly there was a flash of light and my Previous Life equip card shattered into a burst of pixels KSK giving a startled yowl as the blue aura around her vanished. "What the-?!" I started before I heard Yami Marik cackling.
"Oh I'm sorry it seems your precious equip spell has suddenly left the field, I wonder if it had something to do with my facedown card? It's called Disarmament and when its set off all equip cards on the field are destroyed. But just to show there's no hard feelings how about I give you a little….peace offering? I activate the trap card Gift which increases your life points by three thousand. Consider it a buffering for the torment to come, believe me, you won't be enjoying the extra points for long." He said with a sneer as my life points skyrocketed up to my starting score of 8000.
I didn't believe for a second that there wasn't some ulterior motive to Yami Marik's odd move aside from displaying an exercise in extreme arrogance. However that didn't mean I couldn't make use of some of the unexpected help he had given me. "Well far be it from me to turn down such a generous donation. Not that it changes my intentions of wiping what's left of you out of existence but thanks, and not just for the life point boost. Now I have more room on my field to use to rebuild my lock a bit. I'll start with one of your old favorites, Excavation of Magic Stone. I simply toss two cards and I get any spell card I want from my graveyard." I discarded two cards, one being Woodborg Inpachi and another monster that I took care not to let Yami Marik see before I put it into my graveyard, at least not until I was ready to use it on him. "And since I chose my Rare Gold Armor, why wait when I can equip Kozaky with it?"
I played the spell card and as I did Kozaky's coat and tie changed in color gaining a dazzling golden hue. KSK's eyes grew large and shiny as she padded over on all fours admiring her reflection in the surface of Kozaky's coat and nuzzling him with her cheek clearly liking his new threads. "Since I used this equip earlier I'm hoping you remember its ability to make the equipped monster the only target your monsters can attack, and as always thanks to Kozaky's Sexy Kitty's ability to protect any monster with the word 'Kozaky' in its name it seems that once again I've found a way to keep your forces at bay. Next up I'll play Mystic Wok, in exchange for sending one monster on my side of the field to the graveyard I get to boost my life points by either its attack or defense score. So rather then continue to leave Big Tusked Mammoth vulnerable to an attack I'll let him retire from the battlefield with a little dignity." I explained playing the spell card. The mighty beast turned to look at me and nodded its shaggy head giving one last trumpet before turning into a shower of gold motes that bathed me in their glow my life points climbing to an unbelievable 10,000.
"FOOL! You did exactly what I was hoping you would. By boosting your life points you've fulfilled the conditions of one of my deadliest trap cards, go Life Equalizer!" He roared his facedown lifting up. Suddenly the energy around me changed from a soft golden hue to a sickening green energy. I cried out and felt my knees give out as it felt like the energy that had been flowing into me was suddenly being extracted from my very being. Through the one eye I managed to keep open I saw the same stream of energy squirm through the air like a blind snake and connect to Yami Marik. However it seemed to have a positive affect on him his arms held out to seemingly embrace the strange aura.
"Even the most seemingly useless card can be devastating if one is willing to work to unleash its potential. Life Equalizer is just such a card and can only be activated if the difference between our life points is over eight thousand. Then both our scores are adjusted until we both have a total score of three thousand, of course unlike you this effect is actually a boon for me as now I'm stronger then before." He explained both of us now only having 3000 life points each. "Did you really think you had a chance against me just because my life points were lower then yours? Only a fool would avoid having more then one way to replenish their life points, though with this combo I've taken it a step further and dealt you a crippling blow in one fell swoop. THIS is the kind of power you were stupid enough to oppose boy, I don't need the Winged Dragon of Ra or even my Millennium Rod to crush you beneath my heel!" He cackled with sick glee.
"One flaw in that assumption Marik," I growled as I shook off the effect of his trap card. Unlike when I was struck with Meteor of Destruction the sudden reversal of energy hadn't left any physical wounds so I was able to recover more quickly. "Without both those symbols of your power you're just another garden variety whack job who happens to go to the same hair stylist as the Pharaoh. You've always used someone else's power as a crutch for yourself while you acted like you were at the top of the infernal food chain. When you were done hiding behind Odion you showed off your God Card left and right even when you could have won without them using your Burn deck. As soon as Ra bit the dust in your final duel you were left with nothing but an eyeball and a life point, and mark my words when I'm done with you there won't even be THAT much left of you!" I said determined to make him pay for turning Big Tusked Mammoth's final act of loyalty into a cheap shot at me.
Yami Marik stared at me his face seemingly gone blank. Then he suddenly smiled calmly. "Interesting theory, and not without its points I'll admit, perhaps I was a bit too dependent on Ra, but at the time it was a potent weapon and the greatest in my arsenal at the time. But on the other hand," His smile suddenly turned almost demonic. "If I have to begin my reign of terror anew in your world without seeking the aid of the gods first, then there's no reason for me to not to kill every living thing within my reach now is there? What fun it will be to spill blood without restraint or discretion, I simply can't wait." He whispered his voice laced with bloodlust.
I couldn't help but break out into a shiver at this. How quickly I was forgetting that Yami Marik was a creature born not merely of darkness but of its purest incarnation devoid of light to give it balance. "I'll, I'll set my last card facedown and end my turn." I said watching as the cage around us started to rust and give a squeal of straining metal indicating it was started to weaken. A minute ago I had been viewing the spell as little more then an annoyance, yet now I was secretly grateful for the fading protection it offered me, on some level I imagine Yami must have felt the same primal desire to flee when he had been trapped under this same spell when he was faced with the fury of Slifer.
As Yami Marik drew there was a strange ripple in the air a flurry of multi-colored pieces of matter popped out of thin air. They started to latch together a familiar horned visage appearing first the mouth twisted in a smirk as the rest of Janemba rebuilt itself still wielding the Warp Blade that he had taken with him courtesy of Yami Marik's spell card Luggage from a Different Dimension. The demon cricked his neck first to the left then the right working the kinks out of his joints after being reassembled before giving a satisfied sneer. That sneer suddenly faltered replaced by a look of surprise as a large crack suddenly appeared in his sword. As I watched the blade seemed to shatter like brittle glass the handle rusting away in his hand his attack score returning to its base 2800. "That would be the side effect of Warp Blade, in return for being so powerful on the third standby phase that it's been equipped to Janemba it's destroyed. But before you get too excited let me remind you that all I need to do is remove one of the MANY monsters in my graveyard and I can retrieve the Warp Blade as quickly as it was lost." He took an Armored Zombie out of his graveyard and pocketed it before reaching for his graveyard again.
"Sorry, but I'm going to have to nip your plan in the ass by playing Disappear. Compared to a lot of the traps you've been using so far this one is very simple. I take one card in your graveyard and remove it from play, so now Warp Blade is gone and with it the edge Janemba has over Giant Kozaky." I said as the spell card vanished from his discard pile like it was little more then a mirage. While Yami Marik swore in Egyptian under his breath Janemba merely stood there holding the crumbled remains of his weapon before he started to chuckle. As he gripped what was left of his weapon and hurled it to the side the chuckle grew in pitch until it became a wild cackle that made me even more uneasy then before. Just how much control did my opponent have over the beasts in his deck anyway?
"Fine, you've bought yourself a little time but don't think you're safe. As a matter of fact it didn't even matter if Janemba still had the Warp Blade equipped or not because my plans this turn didn't involve attacking at all! This next card I'm about to summon is the spiritual successor of another deadly beast I used in Battle City, the terrifying Lava Golem that was instrumental in Wheeler's defeat. Behold the Grinder Golem! (3000,300)" There was a rumbling sound beneath my feet as suddenly an enormous three pronged iron claw punched its way out of the ground followed by an enormous buzz-saw that gave a shrill screech as it chewed through the skulls around us. The entire monstrosity finally unearthed itself and lumbered its way to my side of the field the buzz saw that was in place of its head sending a constant shower of scalding sparks as it scraped against the top of the cage.
"By special summoning Grinder Golem on your side of the field I forfeit my ability to summon a monster this turn, however I do get two Grinder Tokens (0,0) in attack mode," He explained. There was another shrill whine as two machines that vaguely resembled the original golem but far more spindly appeared their saw heads more of an annoying whine then the deafening screech of the original. "Before you suggest otherwise I'm well aware that, unlike little Wheeler you're likely not willing to attack with Grinder Golem, but that doesn't stop me from taking your life points down a notch with the spell card Misfortune, taking away half of the golem's attack score from your life points." He said watching as the Golem suddenly turned around and slugged me with its claw knocking me down to 1500. Kozaky and Kozaky's Sexy Kitty were immediately at my side helping me up as I rubbed my jaw where I had been hit. "Finally since I seem to have used up most of my hand I'll remedy that by playing the spell card known as Spoils of the Grave!" He said playing the last card in his hand.
The artwork on the spell was rather unsettling to say the least. It had an image of a thief reaching into a pried open coffin filled with gold only to scream as the skeleton buried with it grabs his wrist reddish light glowing in its empty sockets. "Now by selecting a monster in my graveyard I can draw a card for every two levels the monster had. I choose Janempa the Chaos Child who was a level eight thus I draw four cards," He explained as he quickly drew bringing his hand from zero to four cards. "However, as the artwork on the card implies the price for defiling the sanctity of the grave is great, in this case the attack score of the monster I selected is taken from my life points. Fortunately Janempa only had a thousand attack points despite being a level eight so I get the maximum benefit for the minimum cost." He gloated as he glowed with a reddish energy his life points lowering to 2000. "I'll end my turn on that note. But now what? Think about it, next turn whatever card you draw will be sent to the graveyard and then my Nightmare Steel Cage will crumble, leaving my monsters free to attack. What will you do then?" He asked.
I was silent as I drew only to discard what I had drawn just as quickly leaving my hand empty once more. I looked at what I had on my field, at Kozaky, Kozaky's Sexy Kitty, Giant Kozaky and now Grinder Golem my only other support being the Rare Gold Armor equipped to Kozaky. All Yami Marik needed was one good destruction spell to bring my entire lock crashing down, and with it the last of my life points. Yami Marik in contrast had five cards in his hand, a powerful monster and who knew what else his only sign of weakness in having slightly less life points then me. "What will I do?" I echoed his question my hair covering my eyes. Then to Yami Marik's astonishment I looked up and gave him a smirk. "Why, I'll keep going until the duel is over of course. Until then I'll make sure to put up as ugly a fight as I can." I said as my graveyard started to glow.
"Oh, and by the way? You're not the only one with a multiple ways to replenish your hand, see the card I just discarded was an interesting spell card called by the name of Kozaky's Backup Plan. When it's the only card in my hand and its sent to the graveyard I'm allowed to draw one card for every face up monster with the word 'Kozaky' in its name. However in return I have to skip a number of my battle phases equal to the number of cards I drew so I get three cards and skip my next three battle phases starting with this one." I said not needing to point out how since Nightmare Steel Cage was still in play I couldn't have attacked even if I hadn't played that card. "Now then, while your Grinder Golem is powerful I have a much better monster I can use, so I'll sacrifice your golem to summon THIS!" The enormous machine's buzz saw screeched to a halt the entire thing toppling over with a crash and falling apart at the seams.
What took its place was what had to have been one of the strangest creatures ever made. It looked like a six foot long human tongue the tip of which ended in a fanged upper jaw while the back of it narrowed into a spindly arm that coiled around itself and ended in a three pronged claw. A huge eyeball cracked open in the middle of the creature and it used its coiled arm like a spring hopping its way over to where the Grinder Golem used to be making a wet hissing noise sending sweat and slobber flying everywhere.
"What the hell is THAT?!" Yami Marik squawked in disbelief, not only over how I had used one of his own strategies against him, but also that I done so in order to summon such a bizarre monster.
"The hell it is Tongue Twister (400,300), a level 6 fiend that proves that the good people at Wizards of the Coast, that's my world's version of Industrial Illusions by the way, haven't run out of ways to freak people out just yet. It has a powerful effect too, but you won't find out about that until later, I'll set a card face down and call it a turn which means you're Nightmare Steel Cage has finally expired." I said. Sure enough as I watched the cage gave a squeal of tortured metal before the entire structure suddenly collapsed around us. Aside from Kozaky's Backup Plan I only had one more drawing tool, if whether or not I could use it depended on whether Yami Marik took the bait.
The expression on Yami Marik's face as he snatched the top card off his deck told me everything I needed to know about his next move. "I'm afraid your final gambit has failed boy! I happen to have noticed that the word 'Kozaky' is clearly not in the name of your little freak show meaning this duel is OVER! Janemba destroy Tongue Twister and with it the last of that worm's life points!!" He roared. Janemba snarled before his entire jaw seemed to unhinge like a snake a huge green energy blast launching from his gullet and aiming at my Twister, whose eye was now three times its regular size hopping up and down and slobbering in a panic.
"Oh dear, I'm about to lose all my life points and my physical form? Whatever shall I do?" I said holding my hands together and feigning distress before blinking dramatically. "Oh wait, how about I activate Chaos Burst, this powerful trap first requires that I sacrifice one of my monsters, sorry Tongue Twister but I'm going to have to choose you to make this combo work," I said as a fissure opened beneath Tongue Twister. As the pink fleshy fiend peered down into the darkness a huge claw rose up and grabbed it in a vice like grip dragging it back down below with a squeal just in time to avoid Janemba's energy blast.
"By the way when Tongue Twister is sacrificed for a card effect I can remove him from play and draw two new cards," The unseen inhabitant of the chasm gave a monstrous belch the foul gas wafting out of the fissure making the top two cards on my deck flutter free, luckily I was able to grab them before they joined Tongue Twister in falling down the chasm giving me three cards in my hand again. "And now we get to the best part of the trap," I said with a grin. Janemba looked around nervously as the ground beneath us started to shake far more violently then before a gargantuan demon burst from the ground flames billowing around its wings as it roared. "Usually Kozaky doesn't need help from demons like this one to keep his research moving forward, but sometimes it never hurts to have an ace or two in the hole. Now that the demon I've summoned using Chaos Burst has been appeased it will fulfill its part of the agreement and destroy Janemba and with him one thousand of your life points!" I said as Kozaky and KSK took cover behind Giant Kozaky. The Chaos Burst Demon held out its hands an enormous fireball building up in each hand as it prepared to reduce Janemba to ashes. The crimson demon however snarled in defiance giving a roar as he powered up as well.
"Is that so? Hmm, not a bad strategy, I should have realized that ridiculous mutant of yours was useful somehow, of course you do realize I can simply remove Janemba from play to negate the damage your trap would cause…" He started to say making Janemba give a triumphant sneer as he prepared to meet the demon's attack confident that he wouldn't be harmed. "…However I must confess that I'm starting to get bored of waiting for him to return to my field only to be kept constantly at bay by your little lockdown, so I think I'll choose NOT to remove Janemba from play and enjoy the show." Yami Marik said a merciless smile on his face. For the first time since he had been summoned a look of fear appeared in Janemba's eyes. He looked back in horror at his master in a silent plea to change his mind but Yami Marik merely smirked holding up a hand and jerking his thumb down. Janemba gave a scream of desperation and charged the Chaos Burst demon a fist raised to attack. Unfortunately it was too little too late as the demon slammed its palms together and unleashed a deluge of flames that ate away at the D.D Devil's body until there was nothing left. Its work complete the hulking demon folded its arms and wings around itself and sank back into the barren ground beneath us Yami Marik's life points dipping down to 1000.
I stared in shock at what had just happened. In all honestly I had only played Chaos Burst to activate Tongue Twister's effect and keep Janemba out of play for a few more turns, I hadn't expected Yami Marik to LET his monster be destroyed. "You know I probably already know the answer to this but HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?! You just lost your best monster and half your remaining life points, and for what? Your pride?" I demanded.
Yami Marik shook his head. "You poor stupid child, I won't deny that Janemba was powerful, not to mention useful, but he had served his purpose and now that he has been destroyed I can pull us even deeper into the darkness, I chain Janemba's destruction with the four quick play spells in my hand, starting with Token Thanksgiving, which destroys every token monster on the field and replenishes my life points by 800 for each one," He said his Grinder Tokens fading into a dark-cerulean mist that enveloped the madman like a shroud. He leaned back his head and inhaled deeply, and as he breathed in the fumes his eyes bugged open shrieking in wild laughter as his life points jumped to 2600. "And now, NOW I will show you just how vast the gap between our skills truly are, I activate from my hand three copies of one of the most infamous spells in the game: A DEAL WITH DARK RULER!!" An inferno of black fire burst forth and covered the field the fires from the enormous spires around us blending together making the entire sky seem to be on fire. As Kozaky hugged KSK close he hit a button on his belt and Giant Kozaky's eye lit up a force field powering up just in time to keep the inferno at bay.
And in the center of it all was Yami Marik, his arms a blur as he moved his spindly hands like a maestro orchestrating the hellish fury around us into a symphony worthy of hell itself his eyes burning with a fire as terrible as the inferno he had brought forth. "Come forth my three glorious engines of destruction, come forth and herald the new age of darkness, arise Berserk Dragons!!" He shrieked at the top of his lungs. The fiendish blaze seemed to move with a will of its own now, gathering together into three towering pillars of fire that stretched to the heavens. One after another the pillars were suddenly parted by a pair of huge tattered wings kicking up scalding embers and revealing a trio of enormous black dragons each one little more then bone and hide a mane of bone white hair trailing down each spindly neck their empty sockets burning with a lust for carnage that had lasted beyond the grave. The three Berserk Dragons (3500,0) towered over Yami Marik's side of the field raising their heads as one and bursting into a chorus of unearthly shrieks so intense that to my shock and fear the entire dimension seemed to be coming apart at the seams. The sky overhead cracked and shattered like glass and the ground beneath us started to break apart. "Come little duelist," Yami Marik whispered as all of reality seemed to start to collapse. "Follow me into the heart of darkness; there our battle will begin in earnest."
I certainly hope my latest cliffhanger was dramatic enough to make up for what's had to have been another long wait for all my loyal readers. As Nathan was so kind to do if I made any technical goofs this chapter, like for instance having a certain psychotic blond duelist play more then one copy of A Deal with Dark Ruler at the same time, or even HAVING more then one copy in his deck. (I don't think its limited but I'm a little out of the loop when it comes to what's forbidden, what's limited and what's not so bear with me) please feel free to point them out. This is my first ever bit of Yu-Gi-Oh fan fiction, heck, its my second story writing fan fiction for that matter so I am well aware I might have a few rough spots to polish here and there. If you guys think things can't get any more intense now I assure you the next few chapters will be the culmination of all my hard work in this story so lets see some feedback because I'm as eager to write more as you are to read more, later guys!
Original Cards
Spoils of the Grave
Spell Card
Type: Normal
Image: A thief prying open a coffin stuffed with gold on a moonlit night. He's screaming in fear as a skeleton buried with the gold grabs his hand red light streaming from its sockets.
Effect: Select one monster in your graveyard. For every two stars that monster's level has you are allowed to draw one card from your deck. If this effect is used subtract from your life points equal to the selected monsters original attack score.
Kozaky's Backup Plan
Spell Card
Type: Normal
Image: Kozaky hastily rifling through some files in the bottom drawer of a file cabinet while Kozaky's Sexy Kitty tries to keep a large metal door shut several purple tentacles starting to bend down the door over her head making her eyes widen comically.
Effect: If this card is the only card in your hand and is discarded from your hand to the graveyard by a card effect you can draw one card for every face up monster with the word 'Kozaky' in its name. For every card drawn by this effect you must then skip an equal number of battle phases.
