Disclaimer: Same as the other pages.
Special notice: Once again thank you to BMK and Jaesai for Role Playing with me, these fics are just getting better and better.
Now for a special treat, we have two fabulous duels going on in this chapter but you must read on to see whom they're between and what's going to happen in them. The duels are all courtesy of Jaesai, who is a great duellist in my opinion. Thanks Jaesai. Now on with the fic, enjoy.
- - - - -
Last
time: "What do you think he wants us for?" she asked,
although they'd all agreed earlier that they probably didn't want to
know.
"Our
Millennium powers," Yugi responded eventually. "It's always
about them. I hope Yami is careful if he finds us, and the others.
Ryou and Kara both nodded.
It
was at that time that the darkly clad figure reappeared in the room,
his face totally covered by his hood. He smirked down at the three
and stopped just a few feet away from them.
"Soon
enough," he told them. "The power of your millennium items
and your lives will be used to power my masters powers back to what
they should be, it'll save him time regenerating."
"What
we're going to be part of some ritual?" Yugi asked now that they
knew it was definitely them and their powers this freak wanted.
"Yes,
that it is small one," he responded as the shadows in the room
began to move. "In this warehouse, no one will hear or see
anything till it's too late."
-
- - - -
"You
can't do that!? Kara cried. "Talk about things that simply
aren't done! You can't just sacrifice us to someone you know!"
"I
can and I will. Thanks to the last one of you walking into my
clutches I can send you all into the deepest, darkest depths of the
shadow realm so my master can be fully restored," the creature
responded coldly.
"Why
us?" Yugi asked. "Why only three of us?"
"My
master has been regenerating for a long time," the figure
responded as the shadow realm finished forming. "He just wants
to finish a lot quicker, and human magic and sacrifice will do
perfectly, and as for why only three of you is because you're all the
remaining strength he needs and are the only sennen item holders near
by I could get my hands on." The figure chuckled darkly as the
ropes seemed to dissolve from around the wrists of his three
captives, but they couldn't escape despite that fact.
For
moments later the three found themselves trapped against three tall
standing tablets of stone, littered with hieroglyphs they simply
could read. Magical energy ropes held them there via there wrists and
ankles, and as the magic began to seep around them to start the
ritual the three eyes at the centre of the three items began to glow
slightly. Matching eyes appeared on their foreheads, as the magic
began to twine around them. Mentally it hurt as their energy slowly
began to float away on the air and into the tablets themselves. Their
minds called out for help, sending a shockwave through the shadow
realm and right towards the only remaining sennen item holders in the
surrounding area, Yami and Bakura.
In
the middle of their continued search for the three missing sennen
item holders, Yami suddenly stopped and grasped his head in pain as
it began to throb sharply.
"Yami
what's wrong?" Tea asked worriedly as he stumbled and fell
against a nearby warehouse wall.
"Yugi,"
he responded through gritted teeth. "Ryou and Kara, they're
being hurt, I can feel it." The former Pharaoh screamed in
response to his light halves pain, he could feel him close by, he had
to get to him. Steadying himself he hurried off with the others close
behind him, till they came to the cause of all of this, the warehouse
with essence of the shadow realm seeping out beneath the doors.
- - - - -
Suddenly,
a chill ran through both players as they felt Millennium energies
activating. Derek shuddered, and looked up to see that his opponent
had the same reaction. "Did you feel that?" he asked
curiously.
"Weird;
I did," mumbled his opponent. "But whatever it was, it has
nothing to do with this duel," he reminded Derek, who nodded.
"Right.
I activate Pot of Greed, to draw two cards," he declared.
Drawing them from his deck, his brow furrowed as he studied his next
move.
Yami felt his body begin to tremble as he walked up to the smaller side door in the warehouse wall. The shadows that were leaking out of the building via the base of the two doors, coiled around his feet. It was a horrible feeling, he had to get in there as he had a feeling that Yugi was in terrible trouble as were Kara and Ryou.
"We need to get this door open," he told the others and quick. "I think whoever kidnapped Yugi and the others is planning to do something seriously bad to them.
"No problem," Tristan responded as he and Joey gently moved him aside. "You leave it to us." That said the two began to smash their weight against the door, trying to break it down and soon Duke attempted to help out.
In the warehouse, the three other sennen item holders were becoming tired and weak. Their bodies were slowly falling limp as their energy flowed away from them, and to say they were feeling light-headed was an understatement.
"We have to try and break free," Yugi whispered weakly.
"I don't have the strength to summon a freeing spell," Kara told him. "I can barely focus my thoughts as it is." It was then they and the creature heard a loud crash and the smaller door was broken open with a loud crack.
"Ouch!" three voices cried. "That hurt." Looking up they spied Yami and the others.
"Yugi!" Yami cried seeing his hikari's rapidly weakening form.
"Yami," Yugi managed to whisper before he lost consciousness. Kara and Ryou held on longer, but they to slipped into unconsciousness their sennen items still glowing around their necks
Yami
Bakura narrowed his eyes and he ran into the building behind the
others. After sensing the strong shadow magic he'd come running. He
felt stupid for not listening to his senses before when they'd told
him Ryou was in trouble.
Bakura
glanced at the others then up at the three unconscious forms strapped
to the tablets. He then turned his gaze to the figure whom he could
tell was the one causing this. A low growl started in his throat as
he glared at the figure.
"I
suggest you let them go if you value your pathetic life mortal,"
Yami Bakura hissed as his hands went instinctively to his deck of
cards, ready to summon a monster to his aid if need be.
He
ignored the presence of the pharaoh and the others as he stepped
towards the figure who just laughed at him, "Why don't we have a
little duel then. If I win, I finish what i'm doing here and take
your powers as well and if I loose, they go free."
"Sounds
good to me," Yami Bakura said calmly, narrowing his eyes.
"Very
well," said the dark figure in an amused voice. Throwing out his
hand, a bubble of force threw Joey, Tristan and Duke against wall,
where they were chained. "Let's make this a double duel, tomb
thief. You and the pharaoh. You win and I let you all go. I win and I
take ALL of your souls. Do we have a deal?"
Yami
and Bakura exchanged glances, and then nodded. Their Hikari's souls
were at stake.
-
- - - -
Derek
activated his next card. "I activate Dragon Slayer's Horn! If
there are three or more total dragons in our Graveyards, I can
Special Summon my Buster Blader to the field!" The
purple-armoured monster erupted from thin air, wielding his massive
sabre. "Then I'll activate the Magic Card Halted Growth! No
monster's attack or defence can be changed." Grinning at his
opponent, whose eyes registered shock, he continued. "Buster
Blader, attack his face-down monster!" His monster leapt into
the air and sliced at the card, but it flipped up to reveal a rocket.
His opponent laughed.
"Behold
my Satellite Cannon. No monsters of Level 7 or less can destroy it in
battle!" The rocket lifted off, and reaching suborbital space,
opened up and expanded into a massive laser cannon, powered by solar
panels. "And at the end of each of my turns, it gains 1000
attack points. Try stopping that!" He laughed at the look on
Derek's face.
"Fine
then. You have a deal, whoever you are," Yami Bakura said with a
hiss. He didn't even bother waiting for 'the pharaoh' to reply. He
knew well enough that Yami wouldn't disagree with the terms while his
hikari's life was at stake.
"If
it's a double duel, shouldn't you have someone to fight along side
you?" Bakura asked curiously as he eyed the figure.
Yami
Bakura extended his arm and the duel disk he had aquired expanded and
clicked together, as Yami retrieved his and Yugi's disk and deck from
Yugi's bag and put them on. Raising his arm his to snapped together,
and lit up. The shadowy figures disk appeared from out of nowhere on
his arm, and he followed suit of activating it.
"Who's
going to be your partner?" Yami demanded. The figure snickered.
"Why
he's right here," he told them as another shadowy figure wearing
a duel disk appeared at his side. "Now let's duel." The LP
counters lit up to 4000 LPs and the duel began.
"Considering
you're the ones who'll lose," the first figure smirked as they
all drew some cards. "You can go first."
"How
nice of you," Yami snorted as he looked at his cards. Not a
bad hand he thought as he saw his Queen's Knight, Card
Destruction, Magical Cylinder and several other good cards sitting
there. These will really come in handy. He glanced over at
Bakura and gave him a nod to go first, hoping the other Yami would
TRY and work with him, for their three friends sake.
Up
on the tablets, three sets of weak eyes opened and surveyed the room
through somewhat blurred vision.
'A
duel' a female voice thought. 'A big one'
'Yes'
a male voice agreed. 'Let's hope they can pull it off' Kara, Ryou and
Yugi looked at each other that was strange, their bond must be
stronger when they were in trouble.
"Very
well," growled Bakura. "I summon Earthbound Spirit, in
defense mode!" The zombie rose out of the ground, moaning its
cry. "Then I'll place one card face-down. Your move, Pharaoh."
Yami
nodded as he drew. "I place three cards face-down, and then I
summon Queen's Knight, in attack mode!" The blonde girl dressed
in red and white checked armour rose in front of the pair, wielding a
short sword and a shield. "I end my turn."
The
dark figure laughed.
"Is that really all you can do?" He drew his card. "I activate Dark Hole! This destroys all of the monsters on your side of the field." The dark vortex spun very quickly, sucking in the two monsters before they disappeared.
"Hold
on," called out Yami. "I activate Soul Rope. By merely
paying 1000 Life Points, I can summon a level four monster! Go, Beta
the Magnet Warrior, in defence mode!"
"Fine,"
replied their opponent. "Then I activate Graceful Charity. I can
draw three cards, and then discard another two." He did so, then
played another card. "I activate Tribute Burial! By removing a
monster from each of our Graveyards, I can summon a high level
monster! I'll choose your Earthbound Spirit, since I know you are
planning to summon the Dark Necrofear, and my monster will be my
Warrior Dai Grepher." The two monsters popped out of their
Graveyards before dissolving. "I use these two to summon Invader
of Darkness!" The robed figure rose in front of them, powerful
enough to take a large chunk out of their Life Points; and Bakura was
wide open. "Go, my Invader! Attack the tomb thief's Life Points
Directly!"
Yami
activated his other card. "I activate Hallowed Day! This stops
all battling, and restores Life Points! Wait! What's going on?"
he asked, for his card hadn't flipped up and activated. "Sorry
to disappoint you," replied his opponent. "But Invader of
Darkness prevents the activation of Instant Magic cards." He
laughed loudly as Bakura's Life Points took a heavy hit. (B's LP:
1100) "Oh no," whispered Yami as Bakura was blown all the
way to the edge of the shadow bubble. A trickle of blood dribbled out
of his mouth, and he was rapidly disappearing into the shadows.
Ryou's body was similarly fading.
"Don't
worry about me, Pharaoh. Save Ryou," hissed Bakura, face paler
than usual. He gave Yami a look. Yami looked confused for a moment,
then nodded. "I activate Card Destruction! Now we all discard
our hands to the Graveyard, and draw cards equal to what we held
previously!" They all discarded their hands and then drew some
more cards. Bakura gave Yami a thumbs-up with what was left of his
hand. "Very well. I'll place two cards face-down, and end my
turn."
Bakura
shuddered unwillingly.
"My
move. I draw." He picked the card up very slowly. His vision was
becoming blurry. He shook his head to clear it. "Thanks to Card
Destruction, I now have three fiends in the Graveyard!" Their
opponent did not respond, but his eye twitched, as if in anger. "I
remove all of them from the game to summon Dark Necrofear!" The
humanoid demon rose from the ground, clutching a marionette, and
ready to fight. "I then equip Axe of Despair, to increase its
attack by 1000 points! Go, destroy Invader of Darkness!" Dark
Necrofear rushed forward and dealt a heavy blow to Invader of
Darkness's forehead, and it exploded. (D's LP: 3700) A small bit of
his leg disappeared, though it made no difference to his robed
appearance. "Is that all?" he asked coolly, as if this was
all a mildly interesting trip. "Yes," growled Bakura,
wincing.
"Good.
I activate A Bargain With Dark Ruler! By sending my Invader of
Darkness to the Graveyard, I can now summon Berserk Dragon!" The
skeletal dragon appeared, snarling, and a bit of red lava ran down
its chin, denoting its desire to fight. "Your move Pharaoh."
"I
draw. I sacrifice Beta to summon Dark Magician Girl, in defence
mode!" The pretty spellcaster apprentice rose to defend her
master. "I'll place this card face-down. And that's all for
now."
Their
opponent drew his card, then laughed. "I activate my Magic Card,
Card of Sanctity! We all draw until we have six cards in our hands."
He drew six, Yami five, and Bakura three. The dark figure grinned
menacingly, sizing up the situation. He still had one card face down.
The tomb thief had one as well. And the Pharaoh had two, one of which
was Hallowed Day. And he knew which one that was. "I activate
Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy your Hallowed Day card!" Yami
gritted his teeth. "Go! Berserk Dragon! Attack Dark Magician
Girl!"
"Hold
on! I activate Magical Pigeons! I replace my magician with these
pigeon tokens to protect her! And now that she's gone, your attack
ends!"
"Wrong.
I will activate Berserk Dragon's special ability, and use it to
attack all of your monsters!" declared their opponent
triumphantly. "What?" gasped Yami in astonishment.
"How—
could ya— forget— that, Yug? We— duelled it— before—"
Joey gasped out. "Silence," ordered the dark figure coldly.
"There will be no interruptions. Berserk Dragon, destroy Dark
Necrofear and the Pigeon Tokens!" The dragon who had been
charging up its attack, now blasted a positive shower of lava balls
at the monsters.
Bakura
glanced at Yami from the corner of his eye. "I can't believe I'm
doing this. I activate Shadow Spell, to restrain your dragon, reduce
its attack by 700 points and stop its attack!" he called out,
not at all good-naturedly. Black chains sprang out of thin air and
restricted Berserk Dragon from any movement. Yami looked at him in
surprise. "Thank you, Bakura."
Bakura
growled. "I don't need your gratitude, and I'm only in this for
my hikari; nothing more. Don't thank me for it."
"He's
right you know. Don't thank him," advised their opponent. "I
activate Raigeki Break! By discarding a card from my hand, I can
destroy any card of my choice, and I choose Shadow Spell, breaking
its bonds!" A bolt of lightning shot out of the card and
shattered the binding chains as the dark figure slid a card into his
graveyard slot. "This allows my dragon to continue its assault!
Destroy them all!"
The
blast heavily affected the two other players, who were blasted
backwards from the intensity of the attack, and as they landed on
their backs, the dark figure played another card. "I then
activate Blasting the Weak! In a Battle Phase in which one of my
monsters destroys a monster of yours in defence mode, I can inflict
damage to your Life Points equal to half the difference of my
monsters attack and the monster's defence. So half of Berserk
Dragon's attack is deducted from your Life Points, Pharaoh, since
your Pigeon Token was 0. As for you, tomb thief, you take damage
since your Necrofear was in attack mode. This also means that it's no
longer safe to keep your monsters in defence mode." (B's LP:
800, Y's LP: 1250)
Yami
got up slowly. "How did you activate that trap? It wasn't on the
field!"
"But
the card I discarded with Raigeki Break allows me to activate trap
cards from my hand for that turn. I discarded the monster Makyura the
Destroyer!" he said.
Bakura
laughed weakly. "The drawback of Berserk Dragon is that it loses
500 points from its attack at the end of each of your turns."
"Which
is why I'll get around that with this trap. Skill Drain! It negates
any and all effects of every monster on the field. Thus my Berserk
Dragon's attack will stay at a healthy 3500," he explained to
the horror of everyone else. "Of course I have to pay 1000 Life
Points to use this card. However, it's a small cost compared to what
you've lost." (O's LP: 2700)
Bakura
chuckled again. "But you sent my Dark Necrofear to the
graveyard. Which allows me to activate this! Behold my Dark
Sanctuary!" He laughed as the red fog with its strange eyes and
mouths enveloped the field.
Their
opponent pursed his lips and muttered,
"A
minor drawback."
"Hardly,"
responded Bakura. "You ought to know its ability, seeing as you
know my deck."
"That
I do. I place one card face-down, and end my turn."
"My
move," growled Bakura drawing his card. Granted, he was looking
much worse for wear, but he seemed more confident than he had been a
turn ago. Playing the Dark Sanctuary seemed to have lifted his
spirits.
"I
place three cards face-down, and activate the Dark Door! This makes
it so that only one of your monsters can attack per turn," said
Bakura.
"Of
course, this restriction also applies to you and the Pharaoh,"
pointed out the dark figure.
"Hmm.
It makes no difference. I summon Headless Knight, and sacrifice him
to Dark Sanctuary. I end my turn," muttered Bakura.
"My
turn now," said Yami. He looked over his hand as he guessed
Bakura's strategy. 'I guess I should back him up, rather than taking
an unnecessary risk, and going on the initiative.'
"I
summon King's Knight, in attack mode." A bearded knight in
orange with a broadsword appeared in front of Yami. (4/1600/1400)
"Then I activate Monster Reborn to resurrect Queen's Knight.
Together, they allow me to summon Jack's Knight!" The
aforementioned girl knight appeared on the field, as did a tall
blonde knight in blue armour. (5/1900/1400) "I'll place four
cards face-down on the field, and end my turn."
"It
ends here, all right. For all of you," declared the dark figure
as he drew his next card.
- - - - -
Derek
winced as he stared up the barrel of the Satellite Cannon. How on
earth was he supposed to beat that thing? Ah well, he'd have to try.
"Are you done?" asked his opponent. "Yeah," said
Derek with a sigh.
"I
draw," mumbled his opponent. "I'll place this card
face-down, switch my Satellite Cannon to attack mode and I'll end my
turn. My Satellite Cannon powers up by 1000 points!" The small
energy gauge displayed on the rocket platform from which the
Satellite Cannon had lifted off showed the needle rising to the first
mark.
"My
turn," said Derek. "I activate the Magic Card, Card of
Sanctity! We now both draw cards until we have 6 in our hands."
They both drew six cards. Derek grinned ferally. Perfect. "I
activate Polymerization, to fuse my Buster Blader with Versago the
Destroyer, who'll stand in for the Dark Magician! They combine to
form the Dark Paladin!" The combined spellcaster and warrior
rose in front of Derek, looking at his opponent with an arrogant
face. (8/2900/2400)
"Since
there are five dragons in total in our Graveyards, Dark Paladin's
attack increases by 2500," added Derek. Dark Paladin's attack
rose to 5400. "Attack, Dark Paladin! Slice his cannon into
shreds!" His monster obeyed, destroyed the cannon, and took a
large chunk out of his opponent's Life Points. (O's LP: 2600)
His
opponent coughed hard before standing up. "Now that
hurt," he admitted. "I activate Vengeful Follower! When a
monster is destroyed as a result of battle, I can activate this card
to summon a monster of Level 4 or less! I summon the Death Armour
Virus!" A blob shaped like a teardrop point down with an
upwards-pointing blade-shaped protrusion in its side appeared on the
field. (7/0/3400)
Derek
frowned. "I thought you said the monster had to be Level 4 or
less."
"Death
Armour Virus has an effect that states that for the costs and effects
of Magic and Trap Cards, I may choose to consider it a Level 2
monster instead," explained his opponent.
"I'll
place two cards face-down, and end my turn," grumbled Derek.
"My
move. I draw," declared his opponent, a new determination in his
eyes.
- - - - -
Three
sets of weak eyes continued to watch the duel, once again Kara was
thankful she didn't have a darker half as she could see what was
happening to Yugi and Ryou as Yami and Bakura continued to lose life
points. The more they lost the worse it became for her two friends.
She wished she could help, but magically strapped to a tablet kept
her from doing so. Come on she thought to the spirits. I
know you two are better, you've got to beat him
Ryou
closed his eyes for a moment. This didn't seem to be going so well
for the two Yami's. By this time he'd lost more then three fourths of
his body as his Yami had lost three fourths of his life points. How
could they be loosing so badly? Two against one and they were still
being beaten. The thought gave him an instant idea.
God
Yami, you really do suck at this don't you? How pathetic can you get?
It's two to one and you're still loosing, Ryou taunted through
their mind link, Keep this up and it'll be back to the shadow realm
for you. You'll be nothing but a bad memory.
Bakura
growled slightly and turned his gaze to Ryou who smirked weakly,
"You'll pay for that after I win this duel," he said
narrowing his eyes and returning to the duel. He saw Yami glance at
him with a slightly confused look on his face and brushed it off,
waiting for their opponent to finish his turn.
Kara chuckled lightly on looking at Ryou's face, what ever he'd just done had definityly helped a bit, then she looked at Yugi. Yugi seemed to have noticed to, although neither of them had a clue as to what Ryou had said to his other half.
Yami, don't whack your brain over it Yugi chuckled as he saw the confused look on Yami's face. Just carry on dueling
No problem, you save your strength Yami advised with a nod.
No need to tell me twice Yugi laughed lightly.
"I
now activate the Magic Card Fiend's Sanctuary! This allows me to
summon a Metal Fiend Token to the field!" declared their
opponent. A small ward appeared, with smoke billowing all over the
place. When it had cleared, a small crouching metal devil took its
place, baring its fangs. (1/0/0) "I now sacrifice my token to
summon this! Justin the Dark Fighter!" The metal devil
disappeared, to be replaced by a humanoid demon. With glowing red
eyes, and brown hair reaching to his shoulders, coupled with a blue
mask showing nothing but his eyes and a purple armour-like suit, he
cut a terrifying figure. (6/2400/2000)
"Since
Justin the Dark Fighter can't be selected as a target by monster or
Magic effects, your Ghost of Dark Sanctuary can't possess him.
Therefore I can safely attack with him! Justin! Destroy the Pharaoh's
Jack's Knight!" Justin's fist glowed a dark blue, but as he
charged at Jack's Knight, Yami activated one of his face down cards.
"I
activate Mirror Force to stop your Dark Fighter and destroy it along
with your dragon!"
"Nice
try, but Justin can't be destroyed via Trap Cards," commented
their opponent dryly.
"Yes,
but your dragon still dies!" The Berserk Dragon screeched
horribly as the reflected attack blasted into its body, shattering it
into thousands of pieces.
Suddenly,
their opponent began to laugh, softly at first, then increasing in
volume and echoing around the Shadow Realm until soon it sounded as
though ten of them were in the room laughing at the same time.
"What's
so funny?" growled Yami.
Their
opponent shook with laughter. Bakura even thought he saw him wiping
tears of laughter from his eyes. "Thank you. I can't believe you
fell for it," he chuckled.
"Fell
for... oh no," said Yami, his eyes growing wide.
"Oh
yes," hissed their opponent. "I activate the Magic Card Big
Bang Soul Tempest!"
"Quite
a mouthful," commented Bakura.
"Yes,
and it's got quite an effect, too. Whenever a Dark attribute monster
with 3000 attack or higher is destroyed by an opponent's card effect,
and I have Justin the Dark Fighter on the field, this card does
something very special. Watch," he said. A circle of dark energy
was gathering around Justin's feet. Suddenly, in a violent explosion,
it all erupted upwards, consuming Justin.
"You're
destroying your own monster?" asked Yami, confused.
"Yes,
but for something much, much better," replied their opponent. As
the bright energy faded, they noticed something. Another demon had
taken Justin's place, but it was larger, bulkier, with a cape, and
some tan armour along with the purple. The purple shoulder pads and
spiky hair reaching to his back combined to make him one of the
strongest-looking monsters that Yami had ever seen, and he had the
stats to prove it. (12/4800/4000) Suddenly, he began to gather energy
in the palms of his hands, and the rushing energy formed a powerful
vortex, causing a heavy, almost unbearable wind to blow across the
field, making Bakura and Yami shield their faces.
"Meet
my trump card: Julian the Darkness!" their opponent shouted over
the roar of the vortex, then laughing insanely with pleasure, looked
on as Yami and Bakura flinched visibly, wondering how in the name of
the Millennium Items they were going to defeat this.
Oh
no Kara thought. We're in trouble now The duel was getting
far worse for the Yami's, they had to win or all three of them would
be sent to the shadow realm for all eternity. She turned to look at
Yugi and then at Ryou, their bodies were pretty badly faded already.
Yami
Yugi called through their link. Don't give up
I
have no intention of it Yami told him.
Ryou's gaze fell from the battle to the ground bellow them. This wasn't looking good and there wasn't much else he could do to rile his dark half to fight harder. He felt so weak, not only physicly but mentally. He couldn't concentrate.
Bakura
and Yami stared wide-eyed at their opponent's newest monster. It was
powering up for something, but what? "I'll show you,"
sneered their opponent, leaving Yami wondering whether he could read
their minds. Then he realized that he had spoken his last thought
aloud.
"Or
rather, I'll show your Hikari's!" With a burst of dark magic,
Yami and Bakura suddenly found themselves chained to the tablets,
though still in good condition. Yugi and Ryou, however, remained
weak, and now standing in the position of the duellists, both sagged
visibly, tiredly trying to hold onto consciousness. Yami was sure
that it was his imagination, but the two hikari's still seemed to
be a little faint.
"What
is the meaning of this!?" snapped Bakura angrily. "Don't
you think it's fair that your hikari's should have a bit of the pain,
and the two of you a bit of the suffering?" asked their opponent
mirthlessly. "I will now activate one of Julian the Darkness's
special ability! When it is Special Summoned and my opponent has
three or more monsters on the field, I go straight to my Battle Phase
or start a new one, and Julian can automatically attack all of those
monsters with a power of 3000!"
Yugi
had barely time to comprehend this when Julian threw a flurry of
punches. He winced and drew backwards instinctively, but stopped when
he realized that Julian wasn't punching him. Instead, pulsing
with the energy absorbed earlier, his fists released purple and
magenta-coloured skull-shaped blasts of dark energy at the three
knights standing in front of him. If he didn't stop the attack, he
would lose all of his Life Points when that storm of attacks cleared.
Sluggishly,
Yugi reached up to activate a card. As the blasts annihilated the
three knights, Ryou winced from the dust kicked up. Yami looked on in
horror. However, when the dust cleared, Yugi was still standing. "I
activate... the trap... Magic Ruler!" he declared in a weak
voice that was taking all of his energy to project. "If all of
my monsters are destroyed in battle during a single Battle Phase, I
can bring them all back and restore all of my lost Life Points. I
haven't lost yet." He smiled weakly at the looks of evident
relief on Ryou's and Yami's faces and the look of fury on their
opponent's.
"It's not over yet," he said a little more firmly.
Bakura
and Yami stared wide-eyed at their opponent's newest monster. It was
powering up for something, but what? "I'll show you,"
sneered their opponent, leaving Yami wondering whether he could read
their minds. Then he realized that he had spoken his last thought
aloud.
"Or
rather, I'll show your Hikaris!" With a burst of dark magic,
Yami and Bakura suddenly found themselves chained to the tablets,
though still in good condition. Yugi and Ryou, however, remained
weak, and now standing in the position of the duellists, both sagged
visibly, tiredly trying to hold onto consciousness. Yami was sure
that it was his imagination, but the two hikari's still seemed to
be a little faint.
Kara
gasped when she saw this, the two hikari's were already weak as it
was, how were they going to survive any more of what was going on?
She wished she could help them duel as she wouldn't been in the same
situation as them or at least not totally, but unfortunately she had
no choice but to watch.
"Are
you two all right?" she managed to ask Yami and Bakura.
"Yes,"
Yami responded. "I think so." Bakura just nodded an angry
glare on his face.
Joey,
Tristan, Tea and Duke had said nothing during the whole duel, they'd
been too shocked at what had happened so far, especially now.
"Don't
worry Yug, Ryou!" Joey called. "We're with ya man!"
"That's
right," the other three agreed.
"Thanks,"
Yugi and Ryou chimed simultaneously.
"SHUT UP!" roared their opponent in anger. Yugi and Ryou both jumped at his intensity, watching him shudder in rage and seemingly, agony. What was going on?
- - - - -
Meanwhile, in the dusty outskirts of town, Derek's opponent declared his next move."First
I'll return Sinister Serpent to my hand. Next, I'll activate one of
Death Armour Virus's effects. It can attach itself to an opponent's
monster, being a Union monster. Now watch!" The shapeless blob,
which had been motionless only a second ago, sprang to life with a
frightening speed. It hurled itself at Derek's Dark Paladin, slashing
two gashes in either sides of his neck before it could blink, then
clamped itself around the Dark Paladin's neck. The Dark Paladin
clutched its neck in pain, trying in vain to rip off the slimy
creature. Suddenly, it disappeared, and the Dark Paladin ceased
struggling. In fact, it had stopped moving altogether. It seemed that
the virus had invaded the spellcaster's body.
Suddenly,
the warrior began shaking violently, turning a nasty pale colour, and
seeming to grow old. His face wrinkled up, and his eyes bulged in
pain before going frighteningly blank. Gasping for breath, he was
forced down onto one knee, in the crouching position that denoted
defence mode. His sword, which he had dropped earlier, embedded
itself in the ground and exploded. As quickly as it had all started,
it stopped. The Dark Paladin's head drooped, as though in defeat, and
the same blade-like protrusion on the Death Armour Virus extended
from the gashes in his neck, forming a sort of collar. Also, the
armour the Dark Paladin was wearing looked bulkier, with small spikes
jutting out everywhere. Derek was, to say the least, shocked. "What
have you done to my monster?" he asked belligerently.
His
opponent laughed. "Death Armour Virus has a multitude of special
effects when it's attached and when it's not. When it is, the monster
it has infected cannot attack, and is forced into defence mode. It
can't switch back to attack mode. Its attack power drops to 0, but
its defence is raised by 1000 points." Following this
explanation, accordingly, the Dark Paladin's defence rose to 3400.
Derek
growled. How was he supposed to destroy this virus? "Are you
done?" he asked roughly.
"First
I'll place these three cards face-down. Now I'm done," said his
opponent, shrugging. "I'll draw," declared Derek. "I
summon Ruby Dragon to the field!" A stout, but strongly built
dragon made entirely of ruby rose beside his virus-ridden companion,
roaring defiance. (4/1600/1200)
"I'll
use Tunnelling to Headquarters! If all of my opponent's monsters have
an attack of 2500 or higher, and all monsters I currently have an
attack of 1600 or lower, all of my monsters can attack my opponent
directly!"
"Wait
a second," interrupted his opponent. "My virus has an
attack of 0." Derek shook his head. "That may be, but being
a Union monster and equipped to my monster, it's on my side of the
field and not even counted as a monster." His opponent grumbled
assent.
"Anyways,
I can sacrifice my Ruby Dragon to summon a Sapphire Dragon from my
hand or Graveyard! Go, Sapphire Dragon!" Another dragon, taller
and slimmer but more vicious-looking, and sapphire from head to talon
materialized in front of Derek. "Then I activate Premature
Burial, to resurrect Ruby Dragon for a payment of 800 Life Points!"
The Ruby Dragon popped up yet again and Derek's Life Points dropped a
bit, slightly lessening his lead, though it wouldn't really matter
after this next move. (D's LP: 5500) Go, my dragons! Attack this guy
directly!" The two dragons lunged and sprayed ruby red and
sapphire blue flames at his opponent.
"I
don't think so," commented his opponent dryly. "I
know as well as you do that if these attacks go through, I'll be
killed. So I activate this trap: Magic Cylinder! I'll reflect your
Sapphire Dragon's attack right back in your face!" A pair of
cylinders marked with magical symbols and question marks appeared in
midair. One sucked in the blue flames, negating the attack. The other
one spat them back out, directly at Derek, taking out a large portion
of his Life Points. (D's LP: 3600) Derek's lead only spanned 1000
points now. Having reeled back from that assault, Derek now got up,
and added "But Ruby Dragon's attack still goes through!"
"Nope,"
replied his opponent. "I activate this Magic Card: Command
Silencer! I can stop all attacks this turn, and then draw a card."
As he did so, Derek fumed. He could have easily used that during his
first attack, and stopped all further attacks from him. But he chose
to reflect the attack instead, and damage him. This person was indeed
an excellent duellist.
"I'll
end my turn," grumbled Derek.
"I'll draw," declared his opponent.
- - - - -
R&R If you want to see what other twists are going to appear in these two fabulous duels.
