None of my readers know this (other than Cyber Commander), but I'm big on studying Pirates.
So naturally, I like the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, especially the new one, Dead Man's Chest.
So, I decided to bring in the villain of that movie, and have him duel Renee.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
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Did you ever have one of those days, where the whole world seems to be working against you?
Well, I'm having one of those days, and when your a duelist, that's the worst kind of day to have.
Especially when your facing a sea demon bent on enslaving your soul for all eternity.
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CHAPTER 10
SKULL MARINER
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"Ahh, finally, light!" Darren says as the 4 friends emerge from the cave, in front of them is the coast, and the ocean, a town rests just by the water.
"Wow, the ocean is beautiful here," Renee, says, looking at the clear water.
The 4 friends walk into the town, which looks somewhat like an old colonial town.
"The Library of Nautical Records," Katie says, looking at the largest building in the town. "Its worth a look."
They enter, and gasp, towering over the entrance hall is a statue of a pirate, wearing the hat you would usually picture on a pirate, as well as a jacket, with long curled hair, the oddest feature about him is a cross on his chest. The pedestal he stands on has a quote, "A short and merry life have we."
"You be interested in old Black Bart, are ye?" A voice from behind them says, and an old man with an eye patch, leaning on a cane enters.
"Yeah, who was he?" Wendy asks.
"The most successful Pirate to ever sail the Spanish Main, Captain Bartholomew Roberts captured 400 ships before going down to meet Davy Jones," the old man says. "Roberts wasn't exactly how you would picture a pirate captain, he never drank rum or any of that, he was a Christian, and even held Sunday services on his Pirate Ship. We just have a statue of him up to honor the golden age of piracy that ended so long ago."
"Hasn't piracy always existed as long as the gains outweigh the risks?" Renee points out.
"Yes, but..." the man starts, and then his ears perk up. "Bloody hell, the sea demon's come back."
In the distance, the sounds of cannon fire can be heard.
"Who is it?" Katie asks.
"You've heard the legends about him, a demon wandering the seas, taking whatever falls into the crushing abyss," the old man says, and the 4 friends look bewildered. "Davy Jones, he's here, with his ship, the Flying Dutchman. The only problem is, he only arrives here under the orders of her."
"Who?" Katie asks.
"Well, I don't be knowing the exact details, but they say that Jones takes orders from a woman towards the center of the Dimension, some even say that she be a demon herself," the man says. "He must be here for a reason."
Katie and Yami exchange glances.
"You don't think that he's after us, do you?" Katie asks him.
"After everything that's been happening, I wouldn't doubt it," Yami says.
They exit the library, and a voice can be heard through a Megaphone.
"Bring me Katie Motou and her friends, and my crew and me will leave your town be, otherwise we will attack, and raid your town of all your valuables," a crackly voice says. "You can't miss them, find the short girl with an upside-down pyramid around her neck."
Some of the townspeople see Katie and her friends, and soon the 4 duelists are dragged off towards the harbor, and sent on a boat to a hideous looking ship with a monstrous maw for a bow, and the image of the Grim Reaper as the masthead.
"That's the Flying Dutchman alright," Katie says, remembering seeing the ship in the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
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The 4 duelists get unceremoniously thrown onto the deck of the ship, and dragged off by a group of hideous crewmembers that look like a combination of men and sea monsters.
"You'll stay here until the captain decides what to do with you," a pirate with a head like a Hammerhead shark says, and forces the 4 duelists down onto the deck.
As they wait, they notice that some of the crewmembers are playing Duel Monsters. Renee turns to one of their captors.
"I doubt that they're dueling for fun, is there a reason to it?" She wonders out loud.
"Crewmembers duel each other, and wager the only thing we have to wager, years of service to Davy Jones," the pirate says.
"And any crewmember can be challenged, right?" Renee asks, and the pirate nods. "Then I challenge Davy Jones!"
"Are you nuts, he'll never accept!" Katie says.
"Its our only chance at getting free," Renee replies.
Suddenly, the sound of a peg leg (or something similar) hitting the deck above is heard, and then goes down the steps, and out steps what appears to be a man with the head of an octopus, topped by a hat with its peaks pointed upwards like the horns of a devil, and a claw and leg like a crab.
"I accept yer challenge," he says, and a bizarre duel disk appears, fitting over his claw, and the pirates make room. "What be the stakes?"
"An eternity of servitude for me and my friends, against our safe return to the town," Renee says, activating her duel disk.
"I accept those terms," Jones says, and takes his deck out. "I choose as my deckmaster, Nightmare Penguin!"
A Penguin in a tuxedo appears next to him.
"And I'll pick..." Renee starts, looking through her deck, and stops on a card. "Guardian Elma!"
The beautiful female guardian carrying a dagger, and wearing an outfit shaped like a butterfly appears.
Renee, me and my allies served by your father faithfully, I am glad to be of help to you, she says to Renee.
"Thanks," Renee says. "What's your deckmaster ability anyway?"
When an equip card is sent to the graveyard, you can discard one card from your hand to bring it back, Elma replies. But when it's destroyed a second time, it is removed from play, so keep that in mind.
"Thanks," Renee says.
"I'll be going first," Jones says, and draws. "I place one card face down, and activate the field spell, A Legendary Ocean!"
Water crashes around them, and a huge castle appears behind Jones.
"Now, I summon, Drowned Zombie (1500/0 + 400/200)!"
A waterlogged corpse dressed in ragged pirates clothes appears, swinging a cutlass.
"And that's it for me."
Renee draws. Talk about a crappy hand, she thinks. Just 6 spell cards. "I place one card face down, and activate the spell card, Magic of the Pure Cemetery!"
A spell card depicting a holy man looking over an old grave appears.
"Now, I activate the spell card Pot of Greed," Renee says, and draws 2 cards. "Now, I can activate the spell card, Guardian Treasure, I discard these 5 cards..." she says, and discards the remaining 5 cards in her hand. "And I can draw 2 cards, and on each of my draw phases, I can also draw 2 cards instead of one."
She draws 2 cards, and looks them over. One of the cards I need, my family's heirloom, she thinks to herself, looking at the exotic looking fairy monster. Thanks dad, this card will be of use to me later.
"I set one monster in defense mode to end my turn."
Jones draws. "I summon the master of the Legendary Ocean, Seastealth-2, also known as the Legendary Fisherman (1850/1600 + 200)!" He says, and a bizarre looking man carrying a spear, and riding a shark appears. "Now attack her face down monster with Harpoon of Doom!"
The fisherman throws his harpoon at the monster, but it gets thrown back, and Jones' life points fall to 3850.
"Thanks for attacking," Renee says with a chuckle, and an ugly looking demon with long red hair appears. "That was my Back Up Guardna (0/2200), a little too strong for your monster."
"Fine, your move lass," Jones says.
Renee draws her two cards. "I activate Magical Mallet, so I'll shuffle one card from my hand, and my hammer back into my deck, and draw 2 more cards," she says, and shuffles the Mallet card, and a Guardian Aitos back into her deck, and draws 2 cards. Okay, I only have Guardian Kay'est and her weapon that I can use, not to mention this Guardian Grarl, oh well, this will have to do, she thinks. "I'll equip Guardna with Rod of Silence-Kay'est."
As she says this, a purplish blue rod appears in Back Up Guardna's hand.
"Now, I can summon the owner of the Rod of Silence, Guardian Kay'est (1000/1800), in attack mode!"
A mermaid-like woman appears.
"Now, I'll use Guardna's special ability, and switch the Rod of Silence to Guardian Kay'est."
The rod switches to the mermaid.
"Since none of my monsters are strong enough to defeat yours, I'll end my turn."
Jones draws. I'll save this card in case she manages to get rid of my field card, he thinks, adding it to his hand. "Now, I summon Jolly Roger (1900/1700 + 400), in attack mode!"
A ghostly pirate captain appears.
"This activates his special ability, I pay 1000 life points to summon two Skull Mariners (1600/900 + 400/200 x2), from my deck in attack mode!"
His life points fall to 2850 as two ghostly pirate ships appear
"Now first things first, Fisherman, attack her mermaid with harpoon of doom!"
I could use my face down card on this monster, but there wouldn't be much point, Renee thinks as the Fisherman throws his spear, but its suddenly blocked by a bird made of water. "Guardian Kay'est cannot be attacked."
"Arrgh, Roger, destroy her Guardna with Undead Cutlass Slash!" Jones commands, and the ghostly captain charges at Guardna.
"Activate trap card, Guardian Formation!" Renee counters, and Back Up Guardna dodges the attack, which goes harmlessly by. "This negates your attack, and allows me to take an equip card out of my deck, and give it to one of my monsters Renee counters, and takes a card out of her deck. "I'll equip Guardna with the Gravity Axe-Grarl!"
The axe appears in the demon's hand.
And if my luck holds out next turn, I can summon Grarl from my hand without a sacrifice, Renee thinks.
"Arrgh, I'll end me turn," Jones says.
"Hmm, Jones seems to be using an ocean deck, with some zombies, probably water-based one's for that matter," Yami says to Katie.
"Yeah, I hope that Renee can win, Ocean decks are tricky," Katie says.
Renee draws 2 cards. Okay, I have Guardian Baou and Heart of Clear Water, I can only use one of these cards now, which means I can't summon Grarl without a tribute, she thinks. "All right, I'll equip Back Up Guardna with Heart of Clear Water, so he can't be destroyed in battle, to end my turn."
Jones draws. "I activate the continuous spell card, Dark Evolution!"
A card with the image of a coastline with 4 dark figures appears.
"Dark Evolution? Oh man, Renee's got her work cut out for her now," Darren says. "I got that card in a pack once, I've never been able to use it, but, it's extremely powerful in an ocean deck."
"Before I do anything else, I switch Jolly Roger, and my two Mariner's to defense mode, and activate the spell card, Offensive Armageddon, which destroys all monsters in attack mode!"
Kay'est, The Legendary Fisherman, and Drowned Zombie are destroyed.
"I summon the first card I'll need for Dark Evolution, Gigobyte (350/300 + 400/200)!" He says, and a cute little lizard appears. "And to finish things off, I'll place two cards face down."
Renee draws.
"I activate the trap card, Kraken's Rage, so you must skip your battle phase for this turn!" Jones says, and a huge sea monster appears, and wraps its tentacles around Renee's duel disk.
"Fine, I'll activate the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your field card!" Renee says, and a huge maelstrom comes up, and wipes out the city and water. "Now, I play Pot of Greed."
The symbol of avarice appears, and Renee draws 2 cards.
"Good, now I'll equip Back-Up Guardna with Wicked Breaking Flameberge-Baou!" Renee says, discarding a card, and a giant sword appears in the demon's hand. "Now, I summon Guardian Baou (800/400)!"
A demonic looking guardian appears.
"And now, since it's the last card in my hand, I can special summon Guardian Grarl (2500/1200) to the field!"
A dinosaur-man appears wielding an axe appears.
"I'll end my turn there."
Jones draws.
"I'll sacrifice Gigobyte for my Dark Evolution card, to summon forth, Gagagigo (1850/1000 +200/200)!"
A lizard-man appears.
"And now, I activate the spell card Graveyard of Ships, by sacrificing my two Skull Mariners, I can take back my Legendary Ocean card."
The card slips out of his graveyard, and he adds it to his hand.
"And, I'll play it again!"
The ocean rises around them again.
"And now, I'll summon Amphibious Bugroth MK-3 (1500/1300 + 400/200)!"
A machine appears.
"Now Bugroth, direct attack!"
The submarine blasts Renee with two water blasts, and her life points fall to 2100.
"Fine, my move," Renee says, getting up, and drawing. "Grarl, destroy the Bugroth, with Gravity Axe Smash."
The dinosaur smashes through the submarine, and Jones' life points fall to 2250.
"Why didn't Renee attack Gagagigo?" Wendy wonders.
"Because then the Bugroth could've attacked her again, which would've left Renee with only 200 life points," Katie says.
"Your move, freak," Renee says.
Jones draws. "Now, I can sacrifice my Gagagigo, to summon Giga Gagagigo (2450/1500 + 400/200)!"
The lizard man mutates, and becomes more hideous and demonic.
"Now, attack her Guardian Baou!"
The lizard man blasts through the demon, Renee gasps, and collapses as her life points fall to 150.
"Oh no," Katie says. "Jones just might win this one, unless Renee has a plan."
Renee groans as she gets up, and draws. "I activate the spell card, Fallen Guardian, now I can remove one Guardian monster from the game, and draw 3 cards," she says, gasping as Guardian Baou dissapears, and she draws 3 cards. Finally, this duel can end, she thinks. "I activate the equip card, Celestial Sword, and give it to my Guardna!"
A sword appears in the demon's hand.
"Now Jones, its time to finish you off once and for all, I activate the spell card, Soul Release, and I'll remove from the game your Graveyard of Ships, Offensive Armageddon, and my Guardian Kay'est!"
The 3 cards appear, and then disappear into the Different Dimension.
"And now, I can summon this monster without a tribute, the mighty, Guardian Aitos (2500/2000)!"
A woman dressed in native American-like clothes, carrying a sword, and having large wings appears.
"And now, I'll use the effect of my Guardna to switch the Celestial Sword to my Guardian Aitos!"
"And now, her effect is activated, removing monsters from your graveyard until I hit a spell or trap card, and increasing her attack by the attack of each one!"
All of Jones' monsters appear, and vanish, Aitos' attack goes up to 10,900.
"Now Aitos, attack his Giga Gagagigo with Celestial Sword Slash!"
The fairy guardian cuts through the demonic-looking lizard man, who bursts into pixels, and Jones' life points fall to 0, and Renee's duel points go up to 4.
"No, I won't accept this! I want a rematch!" Jones shouts.
"There will be no rematches!" A voice from above them shouts, and a dark figure appears on the deck.
"Mistress Doppler, I'm s-sorry!" Jones says, falling to his knees.
"I didn't ever expect you to win anyway, your just a pawn in this game," Doppler says. "Now, you must keep your end of the bargain, and return them to the coast."
The strange woman turns to Katie.
"We'll meet again, Motou, you can guarantee it," she hisses, and vanishes.
Jones nervously gets up, and starts barking orders at the crew.
Katie and her friends are brought to the Captain's cabin for the remainder of the voyage back.
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That night, back in the town, Katie and her friends spend the night at a hotel.
Katie places her Millennium Puzzle on her bedside table, and goes to sleep, wondering what Doppler meant.
About halfway through the night, her dreams turned strange.
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Rafael used Magic of the Pure Cemetery, Guardian Formation, Celestial Sword, and Guardian Aitos during the Waking the Dragons series.
Dark Evolution was created by Cyber Commander, and so was a few of the other cards used in this chapter, the information for those will be below.
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Offensive Armageddon
Spell card
Image of an army being destroyed by a huge blast. When this card is activated, destroy all monsters on the field that are in face up attack position.
Fallen Guardian
Spell card
Image of Guardian Aitos blessing a young man on an island. Remove one monster in your graveyard with "Guardian" in its name to draw 3 cards.
(The image is supposed to be based off of Rafael, and his years trapped on an island before the Dartz incident.)
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Deckmasters-
Guardian Elma-Arsenal Reload: Discard one card from your hand to add an equip card from your graveyard to your hand. When the card is destroyed a second time, it is removed from play.
Nightmare Penguin-Ocean Power: All water monsters on your field gain 200 attack points as long as this is your deckmaster.
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Yes, I know Renee used Pot of Greed twice, sorry, it won't happen again.
Next time, Katie gets an unusual nighttime visitor, and follows the Path of Dante Alighieri down through the Inferno, in, "Inferno".
Don't miss it.