YU-GI-OH!
A NEW GENERATION OF DUELISTS
Enter the Shadow Realm
By Dan Kuhlmeyer
After Trevor's victory against Amy, Brian found someone to duel.
"Dark Magician, Attack!"
The Dark Magician destroyed his opponent's monster and wiped out his life points. Brian now had four star chips.
Mage was watching every duel that was played on a large screen. He always took his attention off of the others when Brian or his friends had a duel. He was just watching Brian's most recent battle.
"So Brian and Michelle now have four star chips, Derrick has three, and Trevor has two. This group of duelists is better than I imagined. But it's only Brian and his father's Millennium Puzzle that I want and I look forward to dueling him for it."
He took a look at the Millennium items he had. With interest, he stared at the Millennium Rod and the Millennium Ring with interest.
"Hmm. Maybe it will be sooner than I thought."
Night finally came. Brian and the others found the perfect place to camp. Brian was looking at the star chips he won.
"I only need six more to enter the castle."
"Don't worry," said Michelle. "Before you know it, we'll all be at the castle and your dad will be free in no time."
Derrick nodded. "Tomorrow, we'll probably have more than twice as many star chips as we have now."
Michelle looked at her cousin. "Don't you think so, Trevor?"
Trevor was just lying on the ground his eyes half-closed. He didn't look very good. The other three surrounded him at looked at him.
"Are you all right, Trevor?" Michelle asked him.
"What's wrong?" asked Brian.
"Want..Food," he mumbled.
They all just stared at him. Then they each heard their stomachs roaring.
"I guess we're all kind of hungry," said Derrick. He put his backpack down and took out a few things. "I brought some white rice and soup."
Michelle went through her bag. "Lettuce, apples, and carrots."
Brian looked through his bag. "Well I did bring some spaghetti. Oh, and my mom's Butter-Chip cookies."
"Are they any good?" asked Derrick.
"Of course they are," Michelle laughed. "You haven't lived until you've tried Mrs. Motou's Butter-Chip cookies."
Trevor stood up with excitement in his face. "Alright let's eat!"
"Not so fast, Stupid," Michelle said with a crossed face. "A lot of this stuff requires cooking. And everyone is going to help out."
"Aw man."
"And as for that, you are going to get us the water." She gave him a large pot. "Here, you might need this."
Trevor started grumbling as he head towards the lake. Brian walked up to him.
"Don't worry about it, Trevor. I'll help out."
"Thanks, Buddy."
So Brian and Trevor walked off. Michelle looked at Derrick.
"I'll go get the fire wood," he said. "But what are you going to do?"
She took some matches out of her pocket and smiled. "I'm going to be cooking."
Derrick shook his head and walked into the woods.
"Now's the perfect time to strike," said Mage, holding the Millennium Rod and the Millennium Ring. "I couldn't have planned it better myself. Brian's best friend will once again be his greatest enemy."
Brian and Trevor finally made it back with water and Derrick came back with loads of wood. Michelle finally made some spaghetti and salad. They each had their share and for dessert, each person got one Butter-chip cookie.
"Man, these are so good," said Trevor. "I could eat a year supply of these."
Michelle looked at Derrick with interest. "What do you think?"
Derrick thought for a while and then answered, "Satisfying enough."
Both Michelle and Brian looked at each other, confused. They both thought Derrick would have a better opinion than that.
"Well, glad you like them," said Brian.
Brian, said Yami.
What is it, Yami?
I sense something. Something familiar.
What?
I don't know. But be careful.
Brian noticed that Trevor was going through his entire deck, and stopped at one card. He just kept staring at it.
"What's up, Trevor?"
"I was just thinking. When you gave me this deck for my eleventh birthday, this was the first card I drew. Since then, it's been my favorite."
Derrick looked at him with interest. "You mean you like that card because it was the very first one you drew?"
"Bingo."
"Sounds kind of wacky to me."
"I don't think so," Michelle said. "Everyone one has a favorite card, for different reasons."
She drew a card and smiled.
"I like this one. But not because of how powerful it is. Because in every way, it's a lot like me."
Trevor grinned at her. "You're talking about your Dark Witch, right."
"THAT'S NOT FUNNY, TREVOR!"
Derrick looked at Brian. "What about you, Brian? You have a favorite card for a certain reason?"
"Well actually, yes. My dad's Dark Magician was his favorite. When I use it, I imagine my dad on the field instead."
Derrick looked at all three of them for a while. Then he spoke up.
"You know what? How 'bout another duel, Brian? Just for fun."
"Sounds great, nice to have a normal duel for once."
Derrick looked at Michelle and Trevor. "Since I'm the only one who finds this whole favorite card thing weird, you guys ought to add your favorite cards to Brian's deck."
Michelle and Trevor looked at each other with smiles.
"Sounds good to me," Michelle said.
"Don't worry, Bry. With Mr. Volcano, you've got nothing to fear."
Michelle shook her head. "And if he fails, Wingweaver will do the rest."
Mage laughed. "Dark Magician, Mr. Volcano, and Wingweaver. That's just what I wanted to know."
Trevor and Michelle gave Brian their cards, Brian shuffled the deck, and he was ready to duel. But Derrick just sat there, smirking.
"So, are you going to duel or what?" asked Trevor.
Derrick spoke in a deep, dark voice. "There won't be a duel."
All three of them stared at him in shock.
"What do you mean?" asked Brian.
Derrick reached under his shirt and took out the Millennium Ring. Brian already recognized it.
"A Millennium item."
"The Millennium Ring is very powerful. And you have walked right into my trap."
The ring started to glow. Their bodies started to glow as well. They screamed as they felt something was being torn from their bodies. And then their bodies fell lifeless to the ground. Derrick stood up and walked to Brian's lifeless body.
"Now their souls are where I want them. And now the Millennium Puzzle is mine?"
Suddenly, he was thrown away from the puzzle as it started to glow.
"What's this?"
Yami stood up. "Mage. I should've known."
"How...?"
"I had a feeling you were able to control the Millennium items you had. You used the Millennium Rod to control Derrick and you gave him the Millennium Ring so you could send Brian and his friends' souls to the Shadow Realm."
Mage snickered. "Very impressive. But it's too late. Their souls are now trapped in their cards and Derrick is now mine."
"Now. But what if I challenged you to a duel, in the Shadow Realm."
"Very well. But you do realize what's at stake."
"I am aware of that."
"Then let us begin."
They shuffled their decks, drew five cards, and began with 2000 Life Points.
"I'll go first," said Derrick/Mage as he drew a card. "And I attack with Battle Steer."
A large, armored bull carrying a spear appeared.
Brian/Yami drew a card. "I'll attack your Battle Steer with Trevor's favorite card, Mr. Volcano."
Mr. Volcano appeared. But he looked more like Trevor.
"Aw, man," he said, his eyes barely opened and his hand on his forehead. "What a nightmare."
He finally saw the Battle Steer and screamed. "If that was a friend of yours I had at the Burger Bar, I'm very sorry."
"Trevor," Yami/Brian called out. "Listen to me."
Trevor turned and looked at Yami/Brian, who was a whole lot bigger than him. "Now I know I'm dreaming."
"I'm afraid you aren't dreaming. Mage has taken over Derrick's body using a Millennium Item. And he used another one to turn you into your favorite card. Now, we're dueling and the only way out of this is to win the duel."
Trevor looked at him, confused. But then he looked at himself and saw that he was dressed as Mr. Volcano.
"I think I get all of this. Just tell me what I have to do, Brian."
"Your Attack Power is greater than the Battle Steer. You should be strong enough to destroy it."
"All right." He sneered at the Battle Steer and held out his hand. "Lava Hand Attack!"
A ball of lava shot out of his hand and destroyed the Battle Steer.
Mage/Derrick laughed. "I don't have a monster strong enough to destroy Mr. Volcano. But I can defend my life points."
He drew a card. "I'll just play this monster in defense mode."
He played a card horizontally facedown.
"It's my turn," said Yami/Brian as he drew a card. "And I play a card facedown and the Dark Magician in Attack mode."
Brian suddenly appeared, dressed as the Dark Magician.
"Wha-what's going on?"
"Brian?" Trevor looked at him with surprise. "But if your here, who's up there?"
Both of them looked at Yami with surprise. But then Brian was excited.
"That's Yami, the spirit I was telling you about."
Yami smiled and nodded his head.
"So what's going on?" Brian asked.
Trevor thought for a while, and then he answered. "It's kinda a long story so I'll just summarize. Mage took over Derrick's mind, blah blah blah blah blah, he turned us into our favorite cards, yada yada yada, and now the big guy's dueling him with us as our favorite cards."
Brian looked at him with astonishment. "So the only way out of this is to beat Derrick."
"I was getting to that part."
"Brian, Trevor," Yami spoke up. "We have to lower his defenses and defeat him quickly. We are dueling against Derrick's deck of course."
"He's right," Brian said. "He could summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and none of us can stop it."
Trevor made a terrified face. "I hate the Blue-Eyes."
Brian looked at the monster he had face down. "So let's end this now. Dark Magic Attack!"
His hand shot out a dark ray that destroyed the face down monster, which looked like a weirdo with metal claws and a saw instead of legs.
"Oh, no," said Brian. "I just destroyed the Trap Master that means the Trap I, or he, set is destroyed."
"Yes," said Yami. "And it was Mirror Force."
"Too bad," said Mage/Derrick as he drew a card. Yes, with the Dark Hole I can destroy all the monsters on the field. I will use this card once he has the Wingweaver out. "I will just play a monster in defense mode, ending my turn."
"He's keeping his defenses up until he summons the Blue-Eyes," said Brian.
"I hope the big guy can get us prepared for it before it comes," Trevor whimpered.
Yami drew a card. "Now I play Card Destruction."
Mage/Derrick looked at that card in anger. Then he sent all of the cards in his hand to the discard pile. Yami did the same thing and they both drew five new cards.
Brian saw one of Mage/Derrick's cards in the discard pile. "Dark Hole! Mage was about to use Dark Hole. If he did, we would all be sent to the graveyard and the game would be over for us."
"Whew," Trevor took a deep breath. "I'm glad the big guy used Card Destruction before that happened."
Yami wasn't finished. "Trevor, destroy Mage's defense Monster!"
Trevor shot out a ball of lava and destroyed Mage/Derrick's Defense Monster.
"And now I lay a card face down. My turn is over."
Mage/Derrick drew a card. "I'll attack with Swordstalker, equipped with Sword of Dark Destruction."
A huge, dark warrior appeared. Brian looked at it with horror.
"That increases its Attack to 2400."
"It's not strong enough to attack the Dark Magician," Mage/Derrick said. "But strong enough to destroy Mr. Volcano."
The Swordstalker headed towards Trevor, until Yami flipped over his facedown card. Trevor was terrified until he was surrounded by hooded people. The Swordstalker backed away.
"What's this?" Mage/Derrick looked at what happened with surprise.
Yami smiled. "The card I had facedown was Wobbaku, the moment I flipped it, your Swordstalker's Attack to dropped to zero.
Mage/Derrick sneered. "My, how clever."
Yami drew a card. "And now I play Wingweaver to destroy your Swordstalker."
The Wingweaver appeared, and she looked like Michelle dressed as the Wingweaver.
"Guys, what's going on? Why are you two dressed like that?"
"You oughta look at yourself, cuz."
She looked down and noticed the clothes she was wearing and then she noticed her wings. She was terrified.
"Guys, what is all this? And is it just me, or are there two Brians."
"It's kinda complicated," said Trevor.
Brian spoke up. "Remember the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle I told you about?"
"Sort of."
"Well that's him. And Mage has used Millennium items to control Derrick and turn us into our favorite cards."
"Well that explains the costumes," said Michelle. "And let me guess, the Big Brian is dueling Mage and we need to beat him to get out of this."
"Yeah," said Trevor. "That's kinda how the story goes."
Michelle looked behind her and saw the Swordstalker.
"I take it Big Brian wants me to destroy that monster. My pleasure."
She hovered above the ground and her wings shot out beams of energy and destroyed the Swordstalker.
Mage/Derrick laughed as he drew a card. "I'll just save her for later. For now I play the Judge Man equipped with Invigoration."
A huge, muscular man equipped with two clubs appeared.
"And now he is strong enough to destroy the Dark Magician."
Brian looked at it with terror as it lifted one of its gigantic clubs and was ready to hit him with it. But Trevor pushed Brian out of the way, and took the hit. Brian and Michelle ran up to their fallen friend with tears in their eyes.
"Don't worry about me guys," he whispered. "I was just in the way after all."
"No you weren't," Brian said. "You never were."
"Glad you feel that way, buddy." He then closed his eyes and disappeared.
Michelle shook her head as she cried. "You idiot. Always trying to be so brave."
Brian stood up and faced the Judge Man with fury. "Yami, can you boost me up?"
Yami drew a card and nodded. "I can. I will increase my Dark Magician's Attack with the Book of Secret Arts."
Brian felt stronger as Yami played the card.
"And now, I will avenge my fallen friend. Dark Magic Attack."
His hand shot out a dark beam of energy, which destroyed the Judge Man.
Trevor found himself in a dark land covered with tombstones and trees shaped like skeletons.
"This must be the discard pile," he said to himself. "No wonder they call it the graveyard. Man, gives me the creeps."
He suddenly heard a ghostly sound. He turned and screamed as he saw a hooded ghost with a scythe floating towards him.
After Mage/Derrick played a card facedown, Yami drew a card.
"Brian, Trevor's not gone yet. For I play Monster Reborn."
As Yami played the card, Trevor appeared with a terrified look. But then he was only confused when he looked around.
"What just happened?"
Brian and Michelle just laughed. Mage/Derrick did as well as he drew a card.
"You just wasted that card and your turn," he laughed. "And now to end this game right now."
They all had a look of terror in their eyes.
"Tell me he doesn't mean what I think he means," Michelle begged.
"Yes, I will now destroy you all with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon."
The gigantic dragon appeared and glared at them. They were all so terrified they couldn't move. But Yami was confident.
"Don't worry everyone," he said to them. "I have a feeling a little mishap has occurred."
"I don't think so," Mage/Derrick said. "Now Blue-Eyes White Dragon, destroy them all."
Horrified, the kids covered their faces because they didn't want to see what was coming. But as they looked, they realized that the Blue-Eyes White Dragon wasn't attacking. It was just standing there.
"What are you doing?" Mage screamed at the dragon. "I said 'destroy them'!"
The dragon just lifted from the ground and flew towards the Brian and the others. Then it turned around and faced Mage.
"What's going on?" Mage yelled at Yami. "What have you done to it?"
"I haven't done anything. You did it."
All of a sudden, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon started to talk. "I don't know what's going on here, but I'm not going to let you hurt them, nor force me to."
Everyone started to know what's going on.
"It's Derrick!" Brian shouted with excitement. "The real Derrick."
"Mage must have accidentally sent Derrick's soul into his favorite card," Michelle exclaimed excitedly.
Trevor shot a fist in the air. "Alright! Mage's in big trouble now!"
Derrick opened his gigantic mouth and shot out a ball of white lightning at Mage.
"Without any monsters to defend you, I have attacked you directly."
"Which means you have lost the duel," Yami said. "And now, I will free Derrick's mind from your wrath."
The Millennium Puzzle began glowing. Mage/Derrick screamed until Derrick's body fell lifeless to the ground.
In his chambers, Mage was thrown back after he lost control over Derrick.
I know you can hear me, Mage, Yami said to him. And know this. My Millennium Puzzle will shield my friends' minds if you ever try that again.
Mage sneered as the voice vanished. "Not only have I lost the duel, but I lost control over Derrick, the chance to have the Millennium Puzzle, and Derrick still has the Millennium Ring. Spirit of the Puzzle, I swear you will pay for this, and the next time we duel, I will have both Millennium Items and the world will be mine."
Yami walked up to Derrick's body and removed the Millennium Ring. He then looked at his small friends.
"Now that the Millennium Ring is in our control, I will return your souls to your bodies. But for the best, I must erase all memory of this."
Brian nodded his head. "I understand, Yami."
"Yes," said Derrick. I don't want to remember that I was forcing myself to destroy you."
"And I definitely don't want to remember the graveyard," said Trevor.
"As much as I like to remember that I was the Wingweaver," Michelle said, "I know it's for the best."
Yami nodded. "Alright then."
And the Millennium Ring glowed.
Brian woke up, startled.
"I just had the strangest dream," he said. "I dream we all turned into Duel Monsters."
"Yeah?" Michelle asked. "Well in my dream, there were two of you."
Derrick stood up. "Ugh. I dreamed I was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and I almost destroyed you."
"Wait till you hear my dream," said Trevor. "I dreamed I was attacked by a giant hamburger."
To Be Continued...