Hey y'all, I hath returned! Sorry again in advance for the sucky duel you're about to witness. I've actually been sick lately with a cold and a fever, possibly strep throat, so I've had more time to work on this. Hope I didn't do too bad!
Disclaimer; I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, or any of the other fandoms mentioned in this story. I am not getting any money out of this; this is just for your and my personal pleasure.
.:.:.
Chapter 8; Defeater or Defeated?
Randy's heart constricted as she watched her mother summon Andro Sphinx. The holographic creature was so massive and frightening, how could Yami defeat this? 'It's okay,' she tried to tell herself, 'He's defeated worse. Heck, he's beaten this card before! He can pull through.'
But then the little doubting voice in her head (that wasn't Marik) muttered, 'But he was able to use Kaiba's Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon then. Now he has nothing.'
Randy squeezed her eyes shut, trying to mentally block out her doubting voice. All of a sudden, she heard Kaiba say, "Stop it."
She looked at him in surprise. "W-what?"
He was glaring at her. "You started dating him knowing something like this would happen, right? Then quit doubting his ability and watch the duel. If you know so much about him from that stupid anime of yours, then you should know that there's no way he's going to lose. Now quit closing your eyes like a coward and stand proud."
She stared at him for a bit, and then she grinned. Despite his gruff and somewhat rude way of saying it, he was trying to comfort her. And of course, he was absolutely right; she wasn't putting enough faith in Yami. He was the King of Games, and he was going to win this thing. "Thanks." She said.
Kaiba just grunted. Meanwhile, Loretta called to Yami, "Well, Pharaoh, are you going to make your move? I can't attack the moment I first summon Andro Sphinx, it's your turn."
Yami bit his lip and reached for a card. Despite her confidence in him, Randy knew he was nervous. She should see a sweat drop trickle down his cheek. She could also see him calculating a strategy to overcome the situation.
"I activate Spell Economics, meaning that I don't have to pay any lifepoints to activate a spell card, and…I end my turn."
After drawing a card, she smirked. "I place a card face down and Andro Sphinx attacks your Judge Man!"
One swipe of the sphinx's giant claws and Yami's monster was no more. Yami was now down to 2700 lifepoints: still higher than Loretta's, but still very alarming when she had a monster with 3000 attack. "I end my turn!" she called mockingly to him.
Randy glared at her mother. She knew that Loretta thought this duel was in the bag. She had never wanted to punch her mother before, but she sure enough wanted to now. Yami wearily drew a card, and then he perked up a bit. "I activate Swords of Revealing Light!"
Three swords made of blinding rays of light fell from the sky and surrounded Loretta's monster. Loretta cursed as she watched them settle. "Fine, you're safe for three more turns, but you're only buying time until you lose. My turn!"
She drew a card. "Heh, guess I don't have anything to set down. I end my turn. Two more turns until you're finished."
Yami drew a card. "I summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke and end my turn."
Randy looked at him worriedly. He had all five of his spell and trap spots filled up. Surely he could use one of those four facedown cards to defeat her mother. Or did he have a different plan for them? Suddenly, she heard Bakura chuckle. "Oh boy, the pharaoh's really got himself in a pickle now, doesn't he?"
She looked at him. "What do you mean?"
Bakura sent a little smirk her way. "There are only two reasons a person will fill up all of their spell and trap spots: one, they have an incredibly complex strategy planned out and are waiting for a specific time to use it, or two, as I suspect, he has no clue what he's going to use them for and is either trying to scare his opponent or get cards out of his hands."
Randy frowned at him. "He's got to have a strategy, he wouldn't be him if he didn't."
Bakura shrugged. "I didn't say he wasn't going to win, I just said he's in trouble."
Randy watched her mother confidently draw a card. 'As if I didn't know that…' she thought.
Looking briefly at the card she drew, she smirked and said, "I place a card facedown and end my turn."
Yami drew a card. "I sacrifice Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke to summon Neo Aqua Madoor and end my turn."
Now Randy was very worried. Why wasn't Yami using any of the spell or trap cards he had laid down? Surely he could do something with them while her mother was trapped under the effects of the Swords of Revealing Light. What was holding him back? Loretta drew a card. "I activate Hammer Shot!"
Yami's eyes got wide. "Oh no!"
Loretta smirked. "Oh yes. This means I can destroy the only monster you have on the field, and now you have no protection!"
A giant wooden mallet came out of the sky and crushed Yami's monster. Randy winced at the sight of the spellcaster's hand sticking out from under the mallet and twitching before both it and the mallet disappeared. "Well," called Loretta gleefully, "I end my turn, and this means the Swords of Revealing Light are done! There isn't anything you can do to turn this around, admit it!"
Sure enough, the shining swords vanished, and Andro Sphinx gave a loud roar. Randy turned to look at Yami, and froze. She knew that look in his eyes – he only got it when he was doubting himself. She brought her hands up to her mouth and practically screamed, "Yami!"
He looked at her in surprise, and she called, "Don't give up! I know you can do this, I believe in you!"
She could feel her mother's glare drilling into the side of her head, but she ignored it. Yami blinked, took a deep breath, and then gave her the thumbs up. Randy beamed. She knew that whatever happened next, Yami would be the one victorious. Yami reached to draw a card, and Randy closed her eyes and thought as hard as she could, 'Heart of the cards, if you really exist, please help Yami out a little bit!'
Dramatically, Yami drew the card, and looked at it. Then he smirked. At the sight of his smirk, Marik stared to wander off. "Where are you going?" asked Aunt Cher.
"It's obvious that the duel is over," said Marik, "I'm going to set up the portal so that it's ready when he finishes."
As if to confirm Marik's words, Yami called out, "Mrs. Henderson, it's over. I just drew the exact card I needed to defeat you."
.:.
The look of surprise on Loretta's face didn't last long. "Don't be ridiculous, what could one card do that you haven't already tried to do? My Andro Sphinx is unstoppable!"
"But it's not just one card. Every card I placed on this field is part of a plan that I had created to bring you down."
Off to the side, he heard Randy say, "Ha, I told you!" to which Bakura replied grumpily, "No you didn't."
Loretta took a step back. "You're bluffing."
"Oh am I," asked Yami with a grin, "Well then let me show you what I had in mind."
He flipped a card on the field over. "First, I activate Pyramid of Light."
Loretta's eyes got wide as the sparkling pyramid appeared above their heads. "H-how did you—" and then realizing what must have happened, she turned angrily to Cher and yelled, "Cherubim, how could you?"
Cher winced. "Sorry sis, but it was the right thing to do."
"Next," Yami called, "I activate Brain Control, and use it to control your Andro Sphinx."
The sphinx disappeared from Loretta's side of the field and reappeared on Yami's side. Now Loretta was starting to look nervous. "So what are you going to do, attack me directly?"
Yami chuckled. "Not quite." He pulled the card he had drawn out of his hand. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, and its target is Pyramid of Light!"
A huge whirlpool appeared, and a lightening bolt came out of the middle of it and zapped the pyramid, causing it to vanish. "And because Pyramid of Light was destroyed," Yami continued, "Andro Sphinx is also destroyed."
Sure enough, with one last mighty roar, Andro Sphinx exploded in a flash of holographic smoke. Yami could tell that Loretta was starting to panic. "Fine," she said, "So you destroyed my Andro Sphinx, that doesn't mean you've defeated me!"
Yami smirked. "But I'm not done yet," he said, and flipped over another one of his facedown cards. "I activate Monster Reborn, and use it to bring back Dark Magician!"
Once again, his faithful friend appeared on the field and turned to look at its controller. Yami smiled. "Welcome back, old friend."
He then pointed at Loretta. "Dark Magician, attack her directly with your dark magic attack!"
As the spellcaster went to attack, Loretta yelled, "H-hold it! I activate Ordeal of a Traveler!"
Yami cursed in his head as Dark Magician halted its attack. 'She had more than one?' he thought.
She held up her hand, smiling slightly. "Well, you know the effect. Choose a card."
Yami stared at the cards. He knew that if he blew this one, he could quite possibly ruin everything. He looked over at Randy, the girl whom he loved and who believed in him. She looked worried, but she also looked determined. If she knew he could do this, then he did too. He turned back to Loretta and closed his eyes. Then, very decidedly, he pointed at her hand. "The card on your left. It's a monster card."
Loretta's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "H-how did you do that?"
Yami grinned. He had guessed correctly! "I figured if you and your daughter were anything alike, you would both hold your cards in your hand in the order of 'monsters, then spells, then traps'. Looks like I was right. And because I was right, your trap card is negated, and Dark Magician can continue his attack!"
Dark Magician held up his hand and hit Loretta directly with a blast of dark magic, causing her to scream in despair and her lifepoints to drop to zero. "You lose," said Yami, "And Randy gets to come with me."
Loretta fell to her hands and knees. "N-no, I can't believe I lost…" she muttered in anguish.
Suddenly, Yami heard Randy call, "Yami!"
He turned to face her, and before he could react she tackled him to the ground and was kissing him so hard he could feel her teeth scrape against his. He returned the kiss eagerly and they just stayed like that for almost two minutes. Eventually, Randy broke the kiss off. "That was amazing!" she said breathlessly.
Yami smiled at his beloved. "I was only able to pull it off because you believed in me."
Randy blushed happily, and then got off of him carefully, helping him up as she did. She then looked at her mother, who hadn't moved. She walked toward the woman who had raised her all her life, whom she was now abandoning. "Mom…" she said quietly.
"Get out of here." Said Loretta sharply.
Randy winced at the tone of her mother's voice, and Loretta looked up at her daughter. Her eyes were hard and cold. "Go on, go through that stupid portal with your stupid anime character boyfriend and his stupid card games. Just know this – you're not my daughter, and if I ever see you again, I'll say as such."
Yami couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was Loretta really disowning her only child over a card game? Evidently, Randy couldn't believe it either. The look on her face was the equivalent to if Yami had told her that him and Yugi were hooking up and that he had a new job involving kicking puppies and kittens. "M-mom…" she said, her voice warbling with the tears that were sure to come soon.
"I said go!" Loretta yelled.
Randy flinched, but she didn't protest again. Instead, she turned around and walked back to Yami, a anguished but determined look on her face. "Let's go." She said, taking Yami's hand.
Yami followed her as she walked toward the portal that Marik had by now finished setting up. Cher gave a heartbroken look to Randy. "Oh, honey, I—"
Randy shook her head. "Don't say anything." She said.
Cher nodded and gave her one last hug goodbye. Kaiba handed her duffle bag, which he had grabbed from her room while she was kissing Yami, to her, and she nodded her thanks at him. After Bakura and Kaiba had gone through the portal, Randy took one last look behind her at her aunt and mother, and stepped through the portal as well. Before Yami stepped through, turned and said coldly to Loretta, "I hope you're happy." but when Loretta said nothing in reply, he stepped through the portal as well.
The moment he set foot in his own dimension, Randy collapsed against him and sobbed her heart out.
.:.:.
Afternote: Blaaaaah, please disregard this crap chapter! Oh wait, you can't, it's the climax…um, well, never mind then… Man, I didn't intend to make Randy's mom so cruel when I first wrote her, but somehow she turned out like this! Well, you know how OCs are, once you create them, they take on a life of their own. The next chapter is the final chapter in this story, and probably in the whole CONfusion saga. I can't believe it's going to be over soon! Unless, of course, I get people asking me to write follow-up stories, and I have enough ideas… There's going to be a oneshot focusing on Ryou published soon, so stay tuned.
Anyhoo, I really don't have any more conventions stories at the moment…oh, except that I finally found a Yami to my Yugi! Her wig was so much better than mine, but I had the better puzzle! Speaking of which, I have a new one, so my old one is for sale. If you're interested in buying it, send me a message! My starting price is $15, but I'm willing to negotiate the price. There's a picture of it on my deviantArt account under "Cosplay" if you want to see what it looks like.
Well, see you for the last chapter, and remember, reviews help this sickly author to get better again!
~DaAmazingMeepers =3
