Zypher: Welcome all! I'm glad you all enjoyed the last chapter so it's time for another chapter so here you are and enjoy as always.
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Yami no Game: Dark Saga
Chapter 11
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After the amazing duel between Jou and Kozuka, he was able to gain eight star chips, only two away before he had enough to enter the castle. "Oh man, you guys should've seen it! My one-shot deadly combo!" Jou exclaimed, pumping his fists.
Honda nodded. "Eight star chips. Wasn't expecting you to actually make it to eight, especially with so many strong duelists left."
"It sounds like it went great! Even if it was mostly luck..." Diamond stated, smiling brightly. Honda placed a hand to his chin in thought. "This streak of good luck is something you should really think about, man...do you ever worry that, since you came to this island, you've used up your good luck for your whole life?" he questioned and Jou blanched.
"What! That can't be?!" Yami watched him, even though Jou looked ready to pummel Honda into the dirt, a small smile was on his face.
'Jou-kun's wins can't be put down to something simple like 'luck or 'miracles'...the desperation to win...the concern for his burden...that's the true strength of a duelist! A duelist just after jii-chan's heart and the tutelage from us both.' Bandit Keith and the others started making their way out the cave.
"Fuck...let blow this taco stand." Keith muttered but wasn't able to sneak off just as easy. Jou glanced over to them before turning to them fully. "Wait! Bandit Keith!" he called and Keith turned to him, glasses hiding the glare aimed at him.
Yugi's eyes widened. 'Bandit Keith? The prize hunter who used to be famous in America? What could've brought him here?' he wondered. Honda was also surprised but not because of the fact it was Bandit Keith.
"Jou...you got into a fight with these guys?"
"No...it wasn't like I accepted their challenge..." he started. "They shanghaied me and dragged me here! Like a pack of hyenas chasing their prey! They even punched me at least once!" he explained, eyes still trained on Keith. "Bandit Keith, if you call yourself a duelist, why don't you play fair next time?" he said and Keith sneered.
"Fuck you! Don't tell me how to play, you damn kid!" he snapped before smirking. "Did you say 'play fair'? Don't make me laugh! Card games are about outwitting your opponent! And that starts before the game begins! So don't go talking shit about something you don't know anything about!" Smirk still on his face, he continued.
"Tell me you're faking, Jounouchi?! Why don't you stop playing the nice guy act? Do that and the prizes and glory will come your way! Just like me." As he finished, he pulled open his jacket, revealing the dueling decks he had stashed away.
"No way! H-He's got a ton of cards under his jacket!" Jou exclaimed.
"That's right! Dragon decks, warrior decks, machine decks...and they've all got dozens of rare cards. I've got a deck to beat any poor sucker who fights me!" Keith spoke. "Hey Bandit Keith...isn't there a rule that you can only bring forty cards to the island?" Yami questioned.
"Yeah! You were allowed to trade cards on the boat...but when we got to the island, they checked everyone's decks and confiscated any extra cards." Myrrh added. "Damn! Let me break it to you slowly—I'm not officially in this tournament. And that means the rules don't apply to me!" he replied. Jou growled. 'What a jerk...! He must've snuck onto the island just so he could get the prize money like the prize hunter he is!' he thought.
"I only have one rule for this tournament...I'll do whatever it takes to get to Pegasus castle! And let me warn you...no bunch of little kids will hold me back!" he claimed before walking off, leaving the group of three that was with him behind and they ran to catch up. "Bandit Keith!" Keara called, arms crossed and he stopped. "The Duelists' Pride is the rule on this island! You can't learn that then you aren't a true duelist." she said and Keith only laughed. "Don't make me laugh with logic like that. Oh wait, you already did!" he said, laughing more as they continued their way out of the cavern.
"Man...that creep!" Jou sneered. '"I'm going to beat you!" That's what I want to say to him so badly but he's too strong for me now...I've got to get stronger and stronger so one day, I will beat him!' he thought. "Well, we best get out of here ourselves. No need to stay down here any longer." Aqua said and they nodded as they started making their way through the caves again. "Yeah...I hate dark places." Jou muttered. As they walked, Jou looked down to Yami. "Hey, Yami! You've got six star chips and I have eight...maybe if we win out next duels, we'll both have ten so we can enter the castle!"
"Yeah! We'll finish our search with our next duel!"
Jou smiled widely. "You got it!" They soon reached another fork in the path. "Ok...I think the exit's this way." Myrrh said, pointing off to the right. "Yeah, we take a right here, I think." Ryou added. They went along the path and it was a few minutes before they saw the light of the outside. "There it is! The way out!" Jou cried as he started to run towards the exit. "Yee haw! Oh sunlight! Lemme feel your warm embrace!" he exclaimed but saw something being pushed in front of the cave mouth. "What the...!"
Whatever it was continued to cover up the entrance and from the outside, Keith kept ordering Sakate, Kozuka and Takaido to push the boulder in front of the entrance. "C'mon, put some muscle into it!" Sakate groaned as they continued to move the heavy boulder. "This is the only way out of the caves! They might just be stuck down there forever and become part of the dead just like those soldiers!" Keith said, laughing all the while before walking over and looked through the tiny opening left. "Yo, losers!" he said, grinning.
"Bandit Keith! What are you up to?!" Jou demanded. "If the Law of the Island is to win with duels...then my law is to win like this! Now that I'm this close to entering the castle, you guys are just in my way...so you can stay here in the grave! Game over for you! But I'm sure somebody will eventually find you...of course, it may take a few years!" Yami snarled in anger and with a glance over to Aqua, they were ready to jump up to prevent the boulder from sealing the entrance but Jou held an arm up. "Just wait a sec, I have something to tell this scumbag." he said and Yami nodded.
"Bandit Keith!" he hissed, looking to him. "I'm going to beat you once I get out of here!" Keith only laughed again. "Scream all you like! Later 'champ'!" he sneered before leaving away from the crack and once he was gone, both Yami and Aqua shifted into their demon forms and leapt towards the entrance and started to pry it open.
Outside, they gave a yelp as they started to slide back. Keith saw this and snarled. "Get that boulder in front of the entrance now!" he commanded. "We are! They're pushing back!" Takaido wailed as they all tried to get the boulder into place but their feet started to slide back, bringing up dirt and dust along the way.
Keith looked through the crack that was slowly widening and saw only deadly crimson and cerise eyes, like two beasts trying to claw out from their imprisonment. 'No way...Kozuka couldn't be right about that whole demon thing, can he?' he wondered before he ran over towards the boulder and helped push but it was only doing so much.
"Come on, Yami! Aqua! You're plenty more powerful than them!" Yugi called just as Jou, Kaiser and Honda ran up to help push the boulder up as well. It was a test of strength as both sides continued to push the boulder, one trying to seal up the entrance while the other tried to open the way. Keith knew they wouldn't have a chance and looked around before spotting a few good sized pebbles on the ground.
He smirked and grabbed a handful before looking towards the crack, aiming to hit right between the eyes. He let one fly and it hit the mark, Aqua's roar of pain heard and he stepped back, rubbing his face as if he got burning ashes thrown into it. "Aqua! Are you alright?" Yugi yelped as he ran over to him.
Another roar was heard and Yami backed off, rubbing the spot between his eyes and with the loss of force on their side, the boulder was slammed over the entrance. "Come on, speed it up and place some more rocks over the boulder so whoever was putting off the strength can't even get it out!" Keith demanded and quickly, the three started placing rock after rock around the boulder.
'You no-good jerk!' Was Jou's thought as he glared upon the boulder now blocking their way out. 'I'm gonna get you even if I have to dig my way out! Just you wait!' He looked over to Yami and Aqua who were snarling in anger as they tried to rid of the pain still felt from the flung pebbles. "Are they alright?" he asked, looking down to Yugi. "We're fine but when I get my hands on him, I will rip him in half, literally!" Yami hissed as he cracked one eye open to look back to the boulder. "But right now, we need to get that thing out of our way."
Back outside, Kozuka, Takaido and Sakate slumped against the wall after stacking enough rocks to keep the boulder from budging. "I can't move anymore..." Takaido whispered. "Do you think that was too much...?" Kozuka questioned as he and Sakate made a move to stand. Keith only laughed as his answer before looking to them.
"Now...the next order of business..." Like the strike of a snake, Keith's foot flew out, making contact with Kozuka's chest and causing him to fly back onto the ground. "You little shit! Thanks for losing to that newbie!" Kozuka coughed as he looked up to Keith.
"B-But...I just...played the cards how you told me..." he whispered and flew back again with another well placed kick. Sakate and Takaido, who got up after regaining some of his strength, winced as they saw Keith mercilessly beating down Kozuka. "Ptui! You lost your star chips...now you aren't good for anything! Just die so your face can amount to something scary!" he said, turning his back to him and Kozuka raised a hand out to him weakly.
"K-Keith-sama..."
Refusing to look to him, he turned his attention to Sakate and Takaido. "Hey, you two! How many star chips do you have?" he questioned. "I have five..." Sakate said as he looked to his glove. "So do I..." Takaido added. Keith smirked wickedly. "I see...so there's enough for one person?" he whispered. "Then I'll be taking those star chips from you both!"
"What the...! Why our star chips?!" Sakate demanded. "Listen up, you little nerds! Do you know the only reason you got this far? Isn't it because of me, Bandit Keith?" he said and they knew he was right so silently, they took out their star chips and handed them to Keith. "All right... that's a good boy...now give me the glove with the ring!" he demanded and Takaido handed him his duel glove.
Keith placed it on before placing the star chips into the slots. 'Now then...they gone and lived out the usefulness...right on schedule...' he thought with a smirk. 'I collected ten star chips without soiling my hands in a stupid duel! I'm coming for you, Pegasus! Don't think that I have forgotten how you humiliated me at the tournament with that kid in the crowd.'
Again, there were punches and kicks before Keith left Sakate and Takaido to writhe on the ground with Kozuka. "I'm the first one to the castle!" he said, laughing as he walked towards the castle.
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In the cave, Jou, Honda, Ryou, Yami, Aqua and Yugi tried to move the rock but it was harder to get it to budge. It was move partly but after that, it wouldn't move anymore even with Yami and Aqua's demonic strength. "Alright, this has gone on long enough." Aqua murmured. "Stand back, everyone." They nodded and backed off from the boulder to stand behind him.
He took a deep breath before unleashing a wave of black flame at the boulder. The boulder only moved a fraction more than before and Yami added his own power to help but it didn't work, not even to at least crack the boulder apart.
Another few minutes went by before they stopped and Aqua slumped to the floor, chest heaving and Yugi walked over to him. "Are you alright?" he asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. He took more deeps breaths before shaking his head. "My power...it must be weak since I haven't eaten for a while." Aqua whispered. "Then why didn't you tell us? We have plenty of food!" Honda said as he took the bag from Myrrh and started to rummage through. "No...not regular food..." Honda stopped. "Then what?"
Yugi's eyes widened. "Oh no! We forgot! He hasn't had at least one meal of flesh ever since we came to the island. The last time he actually had one was when they dealt with Inogashira for destroying our carnival booth." he whispered. "So that's how the booth got restored." Jou murmured before looking down to him. "So what are we going to do? There are surely no other people in this cave except for us. We can't move that boulder. I'm sure he isn't going to chow down on age old meat that could be left on these bones." Jou listed off before looking to Yami.
"And what about you?"
"Well, I did have a meal. That Player Killer that took Mai's star chips so I was fine then but whatever we consume in flesh and souls is added to our overall energy. I burned up a lot of that energy from that meal to use my power to locate you, Jou. That's why I was weak as well. So if you all were wondering why the boulder didn't blow apart, that's why." Yami explained.
"I guess we'll just have to see if there's another way out. If Pegasus would place a duel box down here, there's has to be a place where you can leave out if not from the main entrance." Yugi said and they nodded as they started to walk back along the path, Honda taking out the lantern that was in the bag before they went any further.
As they walked, Yugi looked to Keara. "Now that I wonder, why didn't you use your magic or abilities as a dragon?" he asked. "So your friends won't be asking questions. I would've gladly used my powers but I want to wait for the right time to reveal more about me and now's not the time. We need to focus more on getting out of here than to answer questions." she replied. He nodded as they continued along the way until they came back to the fork on the path. "Ok, the passage to the left leads to the duel box, but after that it's nothing but dead ends. If we were on the surface, the right path will go in the direction of the castle..." Ryou murmured.
"Really, Ryou? You got a good sense of..." Honda started as he looked over to him but saw he had the Ring out which was pointing to the right. "...Oh, you used that creepy Ring..." He nodded. Yami looked over to him, feeling some power emanating from it. Like the blink of an eye, Ryou's eyes dulled and a short chuckle floating through the air before his eyes returned to normal.
'What could Bakura be up to?' he wondered, eyes narrowed, before they started to go down the right path. "As long as the Sennen Ring keeps working, we shouldn't get lost in here." Aqua said and they continued down the path, glad for the lantern Mai had left for them.
Another few minutes went by and they began to wonder if there even was an end to the tunnel. "We've gone pretty far already...and since the start of the path, I haven't seen any way out yet." Honda murmured. "Yeah, and the path's getting narrower as we walk." Jou added. They looked around them before realizing the walls started to look different.
"Hey, a while back the wall was all rugged like a cave wall would be...now they're smoothed out like a stone wall." Yugi examined. It didn't take them long, seeing as Honda came up across Myrrh around another corner, to realize they were in a maze.
"Where did this maze come from?" Myrrh wondered as they started to find a path that led out. They soon found themselves in a large room with a table set in the middle and four chairs around it. "What the...! What is this place?!" Kaiser exclaimed as they looked around.
Yami's ears flicked before looking around. "Someone's here!" he spoke and soon, two people came from the shadows, doing back flips and one huge midair flip, landing beside each other. "What are these guys? They look like they came out of some Hong Kong movie!" Jou exclaimed.
"We are the Guardians of the Dungeon..." One spoke
"...The Meikyu Brothers!" The other finished.
'The Meikyu Brothers?' Jou thought, a dumbfounded look on his face. "Hmm, what do we have here, brother? Travelers lost in the maze?"
"Who knows, brother? It wouldn't be a maze if people didn't get lost!" Yami looked to them before seeing the duel gloves around their wrists. 'They have duel gloves…Could they be player killers?' he wondered. "Have you come to ask us, lost travelers...to find the right path...?"
"The right door..."
Taking a pose, they both looked to the group again. "To find the answer..." They pointed over to the duel table. "...you must face us in a duel!" They both said in sync. /They have to be player killers if they're wearing duel gloves and this place being down here./ Yugi said to Yami and Aqua. "So that explains the table. And just like the actual room...there are two doors down on the table." Jou spoke. The two brothers watched them before speaking once more. "Now...will two duelists please step forward! This duel will be an unorthodox two-on-two fight!"
"Two on two? A Duel Monsters tag team match?" Yugi questioned curiously. "Yes. Beat us and you will learn the right way..." The first spoke. "...But run away and you will be lost in the darkness forever!"
Yami snorted before looking over to Jou. "Jou-kun...sounds like we've got no choice." Yami said. "Yeah! Bring it on, Mario Brothers!" Jou proclaimed, pulling out his deck. 'If we don't win this duel, we can't get out of these tunnels!' Yami thought pulling out his own deck. "Then enter...The labyrinth field!" They both spoke again and they both went to sit down. 'So this is the labyrinth field...but where the labyrinth?' Yami thought questioningly as he placed his shuffled deck onto the table then looked to the board. 'In the back are two doors labeled "Mei" and "Kyu"...so the Meikyu Brothers each guard one of these doors.'
/From what I see, I'm guessing you already figured out one of them each guard a door so that must mean one of them leads to the surface so you'll have to beat them so we can get out of here./ Yugi said.
/I will. And once we deal with them, we can have them for a quick meal since we'll get our last few star chips out of this so we can enter the castle./ Yami said back and Yugi nodded. "Wager your star chips!" They both spoke. "I'll bet two!" Jou spoke as he took out two of his star chips. "And I'll bet four...a total of six!" Yami said as he placed his wager of chips down onto the table. "Let's do it, Jou-kun! If we win this duel, we'll have enough star chips so we can go to the castle!" Jou grinned and nodded. "You bet!"
On the other side, the two brothers chuckled to themselves. 'Not so fast...! We are the player killers of the labyrinth! By the orders of Pegasus-sama, we'll make sure your journey ends here!'
"Duel Start!"
They drew their cards and Kyu took the first turn. "I go first! And I'll play this card!" He said, placing Labyrinth Wall onto the field. A sound was heard before walls started to rise up out of the ground. 'Now this is truly an unknown duel!'
"This is the labyrinth field! Just try and get to the doors now!" They said and Yami snarled.
"Looks like this duel is turning out harder than we thought." Yami said and Jou nodded in agreement. 'If we can't beat them, we'll be trapped in this dungeon until Pegasus decided to let us out...which could be never. Everyone's life is riding on this match and one slip up may cost us the duel.'
"Now that my first turn is done, let me explain the new rules. All four players have 2000 life points each. But your life is tied to your partner's! If one partner loses all his life points, both partners die - and both lose!" Kyu explained. 'Great! If I lose, I'll never be able to face Yami ever again...!' Jou thought with worry. "We alternate turns, one player on each team. And now about this labyrinth field..." Kyu continued.
"...We shall explain how to play!" Mei finished. "To make it simple, think of your monsters as chess pieces. If the card's in attack mode, it can advance as many space per turn as the number of stars shown on its card." Mei explained.
"If you can survive the dungeon and beat us gatekeepers, you can open one of the two doors!"
"But which door will you choose?" Mei gave a smirk. "Mei, the door of deception...? Or Kyu, the door of the palace...?"
"So, only one of the doors leads to the surface...? Which door do we head for?" Jou questioned, looking over to Yami who was silent through the explanation. "Of course, we will each do our very best to guard our door!" Kyu spoke. "We are the gatekeepers of the dungeon after all!" Mei added. "Hey, wait a second! You're playing with our lives here! So even if we win, there's still a 50-50 chance we survive? That's stupid! At least give us a clue which one's the right door!"
"Very well..." They both spoke at the same time. "Then from now on...one of us will always tell the truth..." Kyu started.
"...And one of us will always lie!" Mei finished, both sporting grins on their faces. Yami's eyes narrowed as he looked closely to them both. "That better be the truth..." he whispered, just audible enough to be heard by them. "Of course it is!" Kyu answered but Yami wasn't convinced. "Now that we established that, let me give you a little friendly advice...my Kyu door is the correct door!" Kyu spoke.
"No, no, no...my Mei door is the correct door!" Mei countered, both of them chuckling afterward. Yami looked to them once more while Jou looked beyond confused on the spot. 'Which one is telling the truth...Wait a sec?! I've heard a riddle like this before!' he thought in realization.
'I think it went like this..."A man stood at the crossroads between Honest Town and Liar Town. A villager came to the crossroads but the man didn't know which village he was from...The man wanted to go to Honest Town, but he could only ask one question..."' he thought, directing the thought to Yami who was intrigued by his idea.
'And what question did he ask?' he transferred back.
'He said "Take me to your town!" If he's honest, he'll take you to back to his own town! But if he's a liar, he'll take you to the other town...Honest Town!' Yami nodded, seeing he was going somewhere with the riddle but also knew there was a fatal flaw in it as well.
"Hey, you guys! You gotta answer our questions!" Jou said and both nodded. "Very well..." Kyu spoke. "We will each answer one question from each of you." Mei finished. "All right! If one of the doors is the right one...take us to your town...I mean, your door!" Jou spoke. 'Now the honest guy and the liar will both point to the same door! And we'll know who the liar is!'
As Jou suspected, Both Mei and Kyu pointed to Kyu's door. Jou laughed in triumph. "Did you see that?! Kyu is the right door! Mei is the liar! It's easy now that we know which door to go to!" Jou said triumphantly but Yami wasn't easily convinced. Jou looked to him and saw he didn't agree with what he said.
"What's wrong, Yami? I got it right...right?" Jou asked. "Depending on how you look at it, you question is logically correct...but! Should we heed their words at face vault?" he said, chuckling under his breath. "I'm a very cautious demon and when it concern of the lives around me, I won't truly believe everything that is said unless there's a flaw that will reveal the truth." he finished. "What do you mean? If one's honest and the other's a liar, they should've answered the question..." Jou stated.
"No...what I'm saying it that it's dangerous to compare our current situation with the "Honest Town riddle"! First of all, in the riddle, there's only one villager...but we face two villagers! Our two villagers told us "One always tells the truth and one of us always lies." But that in itself is suspicious. If one of them is a liar, both of them should claim to be the honest one. There's also a possibility that both of them are liars and we shouldn't believe either of them!"
'Whoa! Glad that he straighten that out or else I may have been the one to get us stuck down here!' Jou thought. "So, in other words..."
"It's not certain that there's even a town at the end of the road! Perhaps the road leads off a cliff...?" Both Mei and Kyu's eyes darkened, seeing that Yami could've near figured out the scheme before they could get themselves caught into it. "But in any case, let's play..."
"Fine by us. Resume the game!" Mei spoke. "Now, it's my turn!" he said, as he took a card from his hand. 'We have no choice but to enter the dungeon and beat the enemy!' he thought. "I play Beaver Warrior in attack mode! Since he has four stars, he can move four spaces." he finished as the monster started into the maze. "My turn's over." Yami looked over the expanse of their field. 'We have quite a distance between us and the enemy...it seems like the battles will be concentrated in the second half of the game...' he thought.
Mei smirked as he watched Yami's examining gaze over the board. 'I know what you're thinking and you're oh so wrong! I'll show you the true terror of the labyrinth!' He drew his card and smirked more. "First, I'll play Polymerization...and then the Shadow Ghoul! I merge Shadow Ghoul with the board itself!" he spoke as the ghoul-like monster appeared, giving a mighty roar before disappearing into the wall. "It can't be...!" Yami spoke with shock as he saw the shadow of the monster zipped through the walls of the labyrinth and towards his Beaver Warrior.
'It's too fast! Beaver Warrior can't escape!'
The Beaver Warrior looked up and gave a squeak as Wall Shadow emerged from the wall. "Go, Wall Shadow! Labyrinth Kamatachi! (Sickle Weasel)" Mei called and Wall Shadow raised its deadly sickle like claws and slashed at Beaver Warrior.
The Beaver Warrior faded away in a swirl of mist, its death cry echoing throughout the labyrinth. After committing its deed, Wall Shadow retreated back to hide itself in the walls. 'This Wall Shadow is a tough and crafty enemy! It can move through walls as easily as a fish moves through water and kills any monster with one slash of its claws.' Yami thought.
'Now do you see? The Wall Shadow will immediately intercept any monsters from entering the labyrinth! Nothing will be able to survive its deadly claws!' Mei thought, smirk still present after the defeat of Yami's monster. 'Both of you are as good as captured by the giant beast called the labyrinth...you'll never make it out alive!'
"My turn!" Jou called, drawing his card. "Alright! I'll play Axe Raider in attack mode...and one more card face down onto the field!" he said as the axe wielding warrior appeared on the field. "Since I can't see what I'm fighting, I can't head into the labyrinth so I'm not moving this turn! I'll keep some distance and when that monster comes close, I'll attack!" Jou said and Yami smiled. 'Good move, Jou-kun.'
'Yami, I hope you get my strategy...!' he thought as he ended his turn. From the sidelines, the others watched silently. "I hope Jou doesn't do anything stupid..." Honda whispered. "Don't worry! Yami will back him up!" Yugi reassured.
"I hope so too...since it's a tag-team match, there's a chance that the opponents will focus on Jou and take him out first..." Keara stated. Yugi looked up to her then back to Yami and Jou. /Yami, do you think that Mei and Kyu will go after Jou as he's the weakest? They know you are a strong duelist but they may think of Jou as nothing but a beginner and easy to take out so you'll both will lose the duel./ Yugi spoke.
/Don't worry, I'll will watch his back and make sure that the Meikyu Brothers won't focus their attention on him to try to take him out./ Yami responded and looked back as Kyu conducted his turn. 'First, I'll play a trap card face down...now when they step on one of the wrong squares, they'll fall prey to the living land mine!' he thought as he placed the Jirai Gumo trap card onto the field.
"And now...! I play Labyrinth Tank!" he called, the blue and red tank monster appearing on the field. 'Now you have two things to worry about. Enter the labyrinth and face Wall Shadow or stay and let Labyrinth Tank come to you! There is no escape now!'
"My turn!" Yami drew his card and saw it was Celtic Guardian. He glanced over at Jou and seeing a glint in his eye that said he had something prepared, he nodded discreetly before making the move. "I play Celtic Guardian in attack mode! Advance into the labyrinth!" Celtic Guardian started walking into the labyrinth, stopping after four spaces and Mei smirked. 'What a fool! He made the same mistake twice!' he thought as the turn came to him and he drew his card before sending Wall Shadow to strike Celtic Guardian.
Celtic Guardian felt that something was wrong and looked around, not seeing the Wall Shadow's form and was taken aback when the monster appeared above him, claws ready to tear him apart. Yami smirked as the monster revealed itself. "Got you." he whispered and that confused Mei at what he meant. His thoughts were answered as a three pronged weapon attached to a chain came out of nowhere, tangling around Wall Shadow. Axe Raider kept a firm grip upon the weapon as Wall Shadow started to struggle in the chains.
'No, he got the shadow!'
Jou chuckled as he showed them the Kunai with Chain trap card. "Check this out! The Kunai wraps around attacking enemies and immobilizes them. I saved this trap card to help out Yami!" Jou explained and Yami nodded to him before looking back to the board. "Attack, Celtic Guardian! Destroy Wall Shadow!" he called as Celtic Guardian's sword flashed. He, with the extra 500 from the Kunai with Chain's added effect, gave a mighty blow, easily slicing through Wall Shadow's head as if it were butter. "Wall Shadow is slain." Mei growled in anger as his monster was defeated and his life points fell to 1700.
"Let's go, Yami! We're in this together and no labyrinth brothers are going to defeat us!" Jou said and he nodded. "Nice move, Jou-kun!" Yugi called. "You can do it, man!" Honda cheered. 'What do you know, Jou? You're actually getting pretty good at this! At this rate, you'll be able to save your sister's eyesight.' he thought proudly as he and the others continued to watch the duel. 'If we win this duel, it's off to Pegasus castle! One step closer to glory.'
'You think that's all it takes? You'll plummet to your death in the pitfalls of our maze!' Mei thought. "Let the game continue! Jounouchi, it's your turn!" Kyu called and Jou nodded. "I'm on it!" Jou drew a card and looked at it before looking down to the board. 'Let's see, I only have Axe Raider out on the board. I need to get more pieces out to support Yami!'
"All right! I send out Flame Swordsman for my first move. Then for my next move, I move Axe Raider closer to Celtic Guardian. He used the kunai for a surprise attack so it's done its purpose, now it's nothing but a regular weapon...but that still means his attack is raised by 500! And I'm done!" he finished as Axe Raider made his move to stand next to Celtic Guardian.
Kyu looked down to the board silently. 'So, they're in close formation now...' he thought before drawing his card. "My turn! Labyrinth Tank, attack!" The monster continued on its path through the maze, inching ever closer to their group of monsters. 'The Labyrinth Tank is a heavyweight killing machine with high attack and defense! Soon, you fools will be in its range. And that's not all...' Kyu thought with a smirk. 'The Trap-Door Spider is waiting for you! There's no way you'll avoid stepping on its space!'
"It my turn again!" Yami called as he drew another card. 'It's obvious they've set up traps along our route...' he contemplated, looking down to the field. Jou also looked down to the field and groaned. "Man! If only we could jump over those walls, we could get to the doors faster!" he whined.
"We can't do that, Jou-kun. Flying monsters won't work in the labyrinth. We can't see it as players but in all actuality, this setting is a dark dungeon with a stone ceiling. There's no room to fly in there." Yami stated. Jou's eyes widened in horror. "H-Hold on! But my Red Eyes is a flying monster!"
"That's right. Dragons are no good here. Warriors, Beast-Warriors, Spellcasters...it can only be conquered by ground units..." he spoke, drawing a card. "For now, we just have to go forward one step at a time!" Mei and Kyu's eyes narrowed, feeling as if he had more planned than they thought. 'But there is another way.'
"I play the Black Magician! Advance in attack mode!" he called and the magician moved forwards until he was standing ahead of the group. 'Now our marching order is very tight...we don't have any openings for them to try any sneak attacks.' Yami thought, examining the board. 'Now brothers, what will you try now?'
'So, you plan to try to get through our dungeon through the sheer force of numbers? Not if I can help it!' Mei thought as he drew his card and grinned. 'Time to put an end to your so called "teamwork"!' He set the card onto the board and they gasped, the card revealed to be Magical Labyrinth.
The board started to shake, causing the monsters to look around before the board shifted, bringing a wall between Yami's monsters and Jou's monsters. "Great! Now there's a wall between our monsters!" Jou exclaimed. 'Now both of your pieces are isolated! With that wall between you and your friend, you can't help each other, even if your life's at stake!' Mei started to smirk darkly.
'And now we get to the real business of a tag team battle...preying on the weaker partner!' he thought, looking to Jou. "Alright! I'm gonna go!" Jou said, drawing a card. Jou looked down to the board, looking at the long path that would lead him back to Yami's monsters.
'I'd have to take a big detour to get back together with Yami's group. Guess I've gotta leave him alone and get through the labyrinth by myself...' he thought. "Alright, guys! Looks like it's just us fighters! Let's go!" Jou called and his monsters started to advance forward, unaware of the trap waiting for them. Kyu watched silently and once Axe Raider landed on the spot, he activated his trap card.
"You activated my trap!"
"What?!" Jou looked down to the board seeing the large spider leaping up out of the labyrinth floor, attacking Axe Raider and easily crushed him. "No!" he cried. "Jou-kun, hang in there!" Yami told him. Kyu chuckled with glee. 'He fell for it like a ton of bricks! But it's not over until all of Jounouchi's pieces are dead! I'll pin him down even further!' he thought as he drew a card. "My turn!" By his command, the Labyrinth Tank advanced further until it was sitting right behind Jirai Gumo.
'And the Flame Swordsman is within range! Just one more turn and he dies!'
"It...It looks like he's dead..." Jou moaned, knowing that Flame Swordsman didn't have enough attack points to defeat any of Kyu's monsters. "Don't say that, Jou-kun!" Diamond called. "Yeah! Don't give up now!" Honda added. 'But he's right!' Kyu thought in response to Jou's statement. 'Yami's Black Magician can't interfere with the wall in his way! Your piece is as good as dead!'
Yami had a passive look on his face as he drew his card, then smirked, revealing fangs. 'He must think he really has something to stop me! Hah! All you can do is sit there and suck at your thumb while you friends die on the other side of the wall!'
"You think so, huh? Let me show you then. My next card is Mystic Box! The Magic Boxes of Death! I use the in combination with the Black Magician!" Yami said and the box appeared around the magician, swords embedded on the floor around him. The magician gave a look to Celtic Guardian and smiled before the door sealed him inside, the guardian's grip tightening on his sword as he gave a nod before stepping back. Kyu watched in curiosity but his eyes widened as he saw the swords lift up from the ground and went through the box, skewering the magician, or so he thought.
'Did he just kill himself?!' The brothers could only wonder why Yami was willing to kill his own monster for his spell card. "No, look!" Mei whispered, pointing to the board and Kyu looked down, seeing that there was another box that was in the space where Jirai Gumo was. He looked back over to where the first box was, seeing the doors opening and gasped.
'No! My spider was the one to die! Then that means...' He looked back to the second, seeing the doors swing open and Black Magician appeared. "Get it now? My magician teleported using the Mystic Box! It switched places with your spider and used it as a sacrifice! And now, he gets another attack!" Yami spoke.
"Go, Black Magician! Cast your spells! Black Magic!" He gathered his magic before letting the power loose, demolishing the Labyrinth Tank, Kyu's life points decreasing to 1600. "Sorry to wreck your plan...but the power of teamwork overcomes any wall!" Yami said. Jou grinned over to Yami. "Thanks, Yami! You saved me big time!" Jou said happily. He nodded.
"But we're not done yet. Come on! Let get out of this maze!" Jou nodded in agreement and Kyu growled in anger. 'Don't think it's that easy! You'll never escape!'
"Yami! Jou-kun! You can win this!" Yugi called, now holding onto Aqua who struggled a little to keep standing. 'And hurry, he needs a meal and fast.'
"You bet!" Jou said, looking back with a nod before turning his attention back to the board. "It's my turn!" Mei spoke as he drew a card and looked to it, smiling wickedly. 'Sanga of the Thunder! The demon god of thunder! One of the three great guardians of the elements...water, wind and thunder...like its twins Kazejin and Suijin...' His smile grew even more.
'In Duel Monsters, some monsters can only be summoned by activating several cards at once. It used to be only Exodia but Pegasus-sama created one just for us...the other two sit within our decks but once all three come together, the demon god—Gate Guardian, will arise!'
He placed the card onto the board, chuckling quietly but Yami was able to catch the low sound and looked to him. Soon, a sealed box materialized on Mei's side of the field, catching his attention with the feeling of immense power from it. 'That box is marked with Rai, the symbol of "thunder"...something is sealed in there and we need to be wary of whatever it could be.' Yami thought then shuddered.
'I am having a bad feeling about it, though.' After Mei ended his turn, Jou made his. He examined the board and grinned. "Not one bad guy in sight! Flame Swordsman! Charge on forward!" The monster obeyed and moved the numbers of steps that the stars marked on his card pertained before stopping.
"That's my turn!"
Kyu looked at the board, smirking. 'They have three pieces on the board...slowly but surely coming closer to the exit...but they won't escape the labyrinth before the two final guardians are drawn!' he thought, drawing his card and his smirk widened. He placed the card face down and another sealed box appeared onto the field.
Yami shuddered once more, snarling slightly. 'The air is getting heavier with power. Something is up with those boxes and this bad feeling is only rising.' he thought. Kyu picked another card out from his hand and placed it onto the field. "I play Dungeon Worm in attack mode!"
A rumble was heard and Yami looked over the field, not seeing the monster. Soon, a roar was heard as the monstrous worm appeared from the ground underneath Celtic Guardian, tossing him up into the air before clamping down, causing a wail to come from the elf and Black Magician, unnoticed to the duelists, looked back in horror as the elf was consumed by the worm while Flame Swordsman had glanced back to the spellcaster, worried. Yami looked on with horror as well as his life points decreased to 1200. The worm crawled through the path a short ways before burying back underground.
'After each meal, the Dungeon Worm hides underground, away from attacks. No matter where you run, you're worm food. And with each meal, its attack goes up by 10 percent!' Kyu thought, grinning.
'He's just like Kajiki. We can't attack his worm while it's hidden underground.' Yami thought. "Crud! What are we going to do, Yami?" Jou questioned. He didn't respond, only drew his next card before taking one from his hand. "I use Magical Hats!" he said and four top hats appeared onto the board concealing the Black Magician and Flame Swordsman from view. Mei and Kyu were surprised with the trick and Jou grinned.
"Sweet! Now that worm won't know where our monsters are!" Jou exclaimed happily.
Yami chuckled as well. "Yes, our monsters are hidden underneath the hats. Even with its power-up, your worm only has 1980 attack points. Find the hat with the Black Magician and your worm is as good as dead." Yami spoke. Mei chuckled darkly as he drew his card. 'Very well, I'll take you up on that little challenge...I'll play this card!' he thought, placing the monster onto the field.
'The Monster Tamer of Hell! Ordinarily, I wasn't able to control a monster on the board played by my brother. But now, with Monster Tamer, I not only gain control of Dungeon Worm but it also gains another 600 attack points!'
Yami growled in anger. 'Great. With that tamer's guidance, the worm is much stronger than Black Magician! If he's hit, he's dead!'
"C'mon Dungeon Worm!" Mei called, his Monster Tamer snapping the whip upon the ground. The rumbling was heard again and soon, the worm appeared out of the ground through one of the hats, but it didn't get any monsters. "Yes! It missed!" Jou exclaimed.
'So it missed. No matter. It will only go back underground and make another attack. It will be bound to get one of their monsters soon enough.' Mei thought as the worm slithered back into the hole until it's time to make another attack. "My turn!" Jou drew a card and grinned. "Y'know...I just hate being stuck in a small dark place..." he said as Flame Swordsman leapt out from the hat he hid in.
'Jou, what are you doing?' Yami questioned. 'You'll see.' he responded. "What is he thinking? His monster is not a match for that worm!" Honda spoke. "Look at this! See the power of this handy card!" he said, placing the card onto the field. "Salamandra, the Fire Snake! It goes inside Flame Swordsman's sword and his power increases!" Jou explained. "Now go, Salamandra! Toast that worm!" With a fiery hiss, Salamandra pursued the worm through the hat it came out of, surprising Mei and Kyu and Yami smiled.
'Good plan. The worm is only confined to that space, making its escape very thin.' he thought as the worm came out from the hole, wailing in agony as it was consumed by the serpent's flames. 'This is impossible! They got the worm!' Kyu thought as his life points decreased to 1080.
"Good job, Jou!" Yami praised, smiling over to him while the others cheered from the sidelines. 'Cheer while you can for once the last piece is revealed, your death is imminent.' Kyu thought as he drew the card and grinned broadly. He placed the card onto the field and soon, a great power was released, making Yami and Aqua reel back from the power emanating through the room.
"Hahaha! Thunder, Wind and Water unite! Rise, Gate Guardian! Demon God of the three elements!" The ropes sealing the boxes snapped and mist started rising out of the boxes heavily, combining together to create a form. "What the...!" Jou exclaimed.
"What is that thing?!" Yugi said with worry. The monster finally formed, revealing three separate demons of thunder, water and wind combined to form one great beast that blocked the way to the exit. 'Now between the two doors is this monster...we will never escape unless we beat it first!'
Jou groaned in anger. "Gate Guardian! I shoulda known dungeons always have some sort of humongo boss character we had to fight! Let's do our best, Yami!" Yami nodded in agreement while on the other side, Mei and Kyu kept a permanent smirk on their faces, thinking that there was no way they could defeat Gate Guardian.
"Man, that monster looks tough. I hope they can beat it." Honda murmured. Aqua groaned again, pupils dilated as he was struggling with instinct to not harm the others in a starved rage. Yugi looked down to him with worry before getting an idea. 'I know if he still had any sense of what he was doing, he would stop but this is as good of a time as any. He needs something to sate his hunger until Yami and Jou can beat these two and have a heartier meal.' he thought, looking back to Keara then down to Aqua.
He pried open his mouth and stuck his wrist there, nicking his skin with his fangs. When a drop of blood hit his tongue, he quickly grabbed hold of the source and started to lap at what was offered. Myrrh saw this and frowned, skeptical of his actions. "Yugi, you sure you should be doing that while he's like this? What if he starts to eat away at your arm?" she inquired softly.
"I'll pull away before he can, he may have a strong grip but I can make him stop before he can take it a step too far." he replied. Myrrh nodded, worried but knew well that Yugi have an idea what he was doing and turned back to the battle.
Mei and Kyu chuckled. "You made a fatal mistake to give us time to send out Gate Guardian." Mei spoke. "And now, it's your fate to die at the hands of the great fusion demon god!" Kyu finished. Jou snorted. "Listen up, cue balls! If you're going to use card combos...we'll show you what a real teamwork combo can do!" Jou said, clenching a fist in determination.
Their smirks widened, just beckoning them to show their teamwork defeating the demon god standing in their way. Yami looked towards the field, seeing that Kyu used up his turned summoning Gate Guardian.
'We have two units left, Black Magician and Flame Swordsman. From here, they can't take down Gate Guardian unless they move closer. It's too risky to even try that...' he thought before drawing a card and placed it into his hand before taking another. "I'm going to play two cards face down!" he started, placing the cards onto the field. "And that's my turn!" Mei nodded before drawing a card. "Now, Gate Guardian! Use your power! Sanga of the Thunder! Attack Flame Swordsman!" he called, surprising Yami. 'No! It can strike anywhere in the labyrinth! There's no place to hide from its attacks!'
"Thunder Shot!" The demon god raised its arms, gathering thunder in the palms of its claws before unleashing the devastating blow towards Flame Swordsman. Jou gasped with worry. "No! Flame Swordsman!" Jou called. 'If that attack connects, I'm dead and we both lose!' Jou thought, cursing himself for being so weak.
The attack engulfed Flame Swordsman and Mei chuckled in victory. 'Yes! One down! Goodbye Flame Swordsman!' Yami chuckled, hand resting over a card on the field. "I don't think so." he said, flipping up the card and revealing Mirror Force.
"I play Mirror Force! Protect the Flame Swordsman with your holy barricade!" he called and the dome of magic appeared over Flame Swordsman, blocking him from the attack and sending it back towards Gate Guardian. "Kazejin! Reflection! Storm Barricade!" Kyu called out and the monster responded, the midsection blowing out a gust of wind that became a huge barrier, blocking Sanga's attack from hitting the monster. Yami sneered slightly in anger. 'So Kazejin can create a barrier using its own wind. An airtight magnetic field that double deflects.'
He then chuckled. "Too bad your little barrier doesn't protect your other monster from harm." he spoke and then the two brothers realized that the Monster Tamer was unguarded from the attack and took the full force of it, causing Mei to have his life points hit 900. "Whew! That was close! Nice save, Yami!" Jou said, looking over to him.
He then turned back to the field. "Now it's my turn! C'mon Flame Swordsman! Attack Kazejin with Flame of Salamandra!" The flaming serpent appeared from his blade and aimed for the midsection of the towering guardian but the unexpected happened before the attack could connect.
"Reflection! Wall of Water!" A flood of water came from the lower half of the guardian, dousing the flaming serpent and its attack. 'No! It can also create defensive walls using water?! It's the ultimate beast in attack and defense!' Yami thought.
'Can't you see now? Water, Wind and Thunder! The power of the three guardians makes this beast invincible! Now pay the price for your insolence!' Kyu thought. "My turn!" He drew a card before announcing his attack. "Attack, Suijin! Aqua Wave!" Another torrent came from the mouth of the water element, flushing through the maze in a roaring wave that passed over the hats harmlessly but Flame Swordsman was hit with the brunt of the attack.
Flame Swordsman was washed away with a groan, his attack reduced by 300 due to the attack being water based before he disappeared off the field. Jou gasped as he watched his monster get swept away, his life points falling to 1300. "Aw man! Losing Flame Swordsman right before we get to the doors! That's not cool!" Jou groaned.
"Do we have to walk through the labyrinth all over again?" he questioned. "No...your monster's death won't be in vain, Jou. " Yami said. "My turn!" he drew his card then smirked. "I'll use kin to follow the path your monster made!" he said before placing the card onto the field. "Come forth, Summoned Skull!" he called and the large demon appeared on the field, hissing angrily.
'How is the Skull Demon going to attack me? It's on the other side of the field. Its attack won't reach Gate Guardian.' Kyu thought. "We'll see about that." Yami remarked, smirk still present. "I thought I told you that I'm following in his footsteps...the footsteps of his path through the water of the maze!" he finished and Kyu looked down to see what he meant. 'Oh no! Suijin's attack left the whole dungeon flooded...and that means...' he didn't even finish the thought for Yami finished it for him. "...That means you die!" he roared. "Go, Demon Lightning!"
Summoned Skull hissed with anger again, gathering energy about him before unleashing the attack. As Yami said, the lightning follow the path of water towards Gate Guardian. "Oh yeah! We did it!" Jou cheered. "Forget it! I'll blow it away with Kazejin's wind power! Reflection!" Kyu called, but nothing happened. "Surprised? Here's a clue, remember when your attack passed over the magical hats?" he questioned, placing a hand over the second face down sitting on the field. 'No! Not a trap!'
"Yes, a trap. The curse of the hexagram curse was attached to the Black Magician all along. Hexagram activate!" By his command, the hexagram seal appeared around Gate Guardian, sealing it from making any attacks to block the lightning charging towards it. "Eat Lightning, Suijin!" Jou declared as the lightning entered the mouth of Suijin. Soon lit up with the electrical charge that did double due to it being a water element before it was destroyed, causing Kyu's life points to decrease to 780.
"All right! We'll knock him down from the bottom up like a daruma otoshi!" (Japanese toy where you knock out the bottom segments of a pillar) Jou continued. "That boss is easy! They should be able to beat it in no time!" Honda announced. "C'mon guys!" Diamond called. Yugi continued to watch the battle, Aqua still lapping up blood although at a slower pace.
"My turn! Mei called, drawing a card and examined his hand. 'We need to remove that spell at once or else Gate Guardian won't be able to move.' he thought. He played De-Spell, removing the curse around Gate Guardian. "It's your turn!" he said. 'Even if you make it out the maze, you will never defeat the guardian!'
"Here goes!" Jou said, drawing a card the turned to look at Yami, giving him a short nod. He nodded back. 'Now is the time to play our trump card!' Jou nodded and then placed the monster onto the field. "I send out my Red Eyes Black Dragon!" Jou said, the black dragon appearing onto the field with a roar.
"And we're not done yet. I use the magic card I played face-down! Polymerization!" Yami said, flipping the card face up. "Now, we merge the Red Eyes and Summoned Skull together to create the Black Skull Dragon! Arise!"
A roar came as the two fused monsters revealed itself into a huge dragon with the skeletal features of the Summoned Skull and the midnight black shade of the Red Eyes with a good 3200 attack points. "This is our ultimate monster! This will be the final battle!" Jou said. "Better start looking for a new dungeon because we're busting this one wide open!"
'The Black Skull Dragon...!' Both Mei and Kyu thought before Kyu laughed. "Fools! Have you forgotten? This labyrinth can only be crossed by ground units! You can merge your monsters all you like but they can't advance forward! The Black Skull Dragon has wings - so it can't fit through the narrow corridors! It can't get to Gate Guardian but Gate Guardian can attack anywhere in the maze!" Kyu explained, laughing again. 'Aw man! He's right! They told me that monsters like Red Eyes were useless but I still played it on impulse!' Jou thought.
He then got a thought and looked to Yami. "But hold on...Yami, you knew that too. But you played Polymerization like you had a plan...I didn't screw up that badly did I?" he asked. "Not at all...you did just what I wanted you to do. We still have a chance to get out of here!" Jou grinned and nodded. 'This guy always has plans before I can even figure them out! And to think I thought I was going to ruin this entire duel because I was so weak compared to these brothers' expert skill.' he thought. "All right, bald dudes! I'm done!"
The others continued to watch, Yugi still holding his wrist to Aqua's mouth before he felt the other pull away weakly. He looked down to him and saw that his eyes were back to normal. Aqua finally pulled his jaws away and looked to him. "Why'd you do it, Yugi? If I didn't leave that trance, you could've been dead." he whispered.
"I couldn't let you sit there and become weak with hunger. But it looks like Yami has something planned to win so you'll have something to eat soon." Yugi whispered, stroking his head, and he nodded before looking back to the duel. "You can do it! Getting out this maze depends on you two!" Aqua called.
Ryou nodded in agreement. "This is the last thing between us and Pegasus' castle..." he said softly before looking down to the Ring. 'Pegasus' castle and the secret of the Sennen items...' The Ring still pulsed with power, trying to draw Ryou once more into its complex web and the arms of the demon within. "My turn!" Kyu drew his card and grinned. 'Ah yes...this card scares even me but it will bring more fear to them once I use it!' he thought as he played the card. "I use the magic card, Ryoku!" he said and Yami's eyes widened.
'Ryoku? The legendary ultra rare magic card?!' he perceived in horror. "Now! Half your life points belong to me!" he said and Jou gaped. "What?! No way! Half of our life points?!" Jou exclaimed as their life points decreased from 1300 and 1200 to 650 and 600 respectively.
"Now, I take the power from you and feed it to the guardian!"
The power taken from Yami and Jou was added to Gate Guardian, making Sanga and Kazejin's attack raise up to 3250 and 3000. 'They're lucky I can't attack on the same turn I used Ryoku but on my next turn, both Sanga and Kazejin will attack and destroy your dragon with their combined attack. No matter what, you both will lose!'
Jou growled angrily and the other watched on worriedly. "Before that, it's my turn!" he said as he drew a card. 'Hmm...the Shift card.' He mulled over it and smirked. 'Yes...that'll work.' After running the plan through once more, he started on his turn. "Black Magician proceeds towards the exit from the labyrinth!" he said as the magician leapt from the hat he was hidden under and started walking towards the exit of the maze. 'Hah! Do you think you can just walk out of this maze alive? You should know by now that in order to get out, you'll have to pass our ultimate guardian!'
Yami heard the thought and snarled. "Listen and listen well! We will overcome any of your obstacles as long as there's a shred of chance!" he said before looking down to the magician as he took the seventh and final step out of the maze. "...And just one step from the exit. Before I end my turn, I playing one more card on the field." he finished, placing the card onto the field. "Monster Reborn! Now it's time to bring back one of your monsters and make it defend for me!"
Mei chuckled as he watched the move. 'Reborn whatever monster you like! It won't save you!' he thought. "My turn! Gate Guardian! Attack the Black Magician! Double attack! Demon Thunder and Wind!" he called and the monster gathered its elements before Kazejin released the mighty blast towards the Black Magician.
'If I defeat the Black Magician, Yami's life points will hit zero then we'll win!' Mei thought. "Attacks are useless! Suijin! Use Reflection!" Yami called and in a bright flash, Suijin appeared back in place on the guardian but it supported Yami's side, shooting out a torrent of water that rose up and protected the magician from the blast.
'No! He brought back Suijin and although it's reconnected with Gate Guardian, it's on his side now! It can deflect any attacks made to them now!' Mei thought in horror. "Yes! Smooth move there, Yami!" Jou said happily. "Somehow, they survived their turn...now can they make it past Gate Guardian?" Myrrh whispered softly. Mei and Kyu growled, seeing that now, they couldn't do a thing with Suijin on their side and yet connected with their monster. "All right, Jou-kun! It's your turn!" Yami said and Jou nodded.
'Now what? There has to be a way left that we can win.' he thought as he drew his next card. 'They'll destroy Suijin on their next turn and then we'll have no way to stop their attacks. Everything will depend on Jou's next card.' Yami thought, taking a glance over to him. Jou looked at the card and his eyes widened in realization.
'This card is...Copycat!' He thought about it then grinned. "I just had a good idea!" he said, placing the card onto the field. "I use Copycat and copy...your Ryoku card!" he said and they gasped as their life points were cut in half, leaving Mei with 450 and Kyu with 390.
"In other words...I'm taking half your power and adding it to Black Skull Dragon!" he explained and the dragon gave a menacing roar as his attack increased from 3200 to 4040. 'Over 4000 attack points! We can never defeat it now if they bring it to the end of the labyrinth!' Kyu rationalized and grinned. 'But they can't so it will be useless for them to bother powering up their dragon.'
"My turn! Kazejin, destroy Suijin!" The monster let lose a strong gust of wind that curved and struck Suijin, destroying it easily. 'Now what, Yami? You lost your last line of defense! Next turn, we'll win!' Mei thought.
"Now's the time where I laugh at your idiocy..." Yami whispered darkly. 'Huh?'
"Haven't you figured out anything? Don't you know the real, true reason why I took the Black Magician through the maze?" he lifted the card on the field and showed it to them, making them gasp in horror. "To use the magic card, Shift! This card will switch the position of our monsters, putting the strongest up front!"
'No! It can't be! If even one of his monsters gets through the maze, he can switch it with another monster...and Black Magician is face to face with the guardian!' Kyu thought, knowing that they couldn't stop the attack since Kazejin already made an attack and couldn't use Storm Barricade.
"Here I go! Monsters, shift your places!" Yami called and a ring of light appeared around Black Magician and Black Skull Dragon, shifting their positions so that now, Black Skull Dragon stood in front of Gate Guardian. "Now, show your anger and attack with Meteor Flare!" The dragon roared once more as fire gather in his jaws before unleashing blast upon blast of meteors towards Gate Guardian, destroying it. Gate Guardian fell with a low, decrepit wail before fading off the field and both brothers' life points decreased to zero.
"We win!" Yami said, he and Jou grinning with victory as the monsters disappeared from the field.
"Yes! They did it!" Honda, Diamond, Myrrh, Ryou and Yugi cheered. "Teamwork always comes through!" Honda said excitedly. "And that means..." Myrrh started. "...Yami and Jou have..." Yugi added.
"Ten star chips!" They cheered again.
They placed the chips into the gauntlets. "And earned the right to enter the castle." Yami murmured. "The game isn't over yet..." Mei whispered, both chuckling. Jou looked over to them quizzically. "What're you laughing about? Didn't we just beat you two?" he questioned. "Yes, you defeated us and you have our respect for that but have you forgotten...?" Kyu started.
"That you haven't really won until you actually get out of the maze!" Mei finished. Jou flinched, now remembering about the two doors they had to choose from but Yami only chuckled, licking at his fangs. "We haven't forgotten...isn't this what you told us at the start? There are two doors. "Mei' and "Kyu". Only one leads to the surface...and we only get to open the door of the person we beat.
"But...we beat you both at the same time! So both doors should be opened!" Yami said. "No!" They both said. "Only one door will open!"
"What?! That's not fair!" Jou exclaimed. "Then there was no point in beating them both at the same time!" Diamond growled. "Aww man! This is all for nothing if they choose the wrong door!" Honda groaned. "Now you must choose your fate..." Mei spoke.
"On your right, the Kyu door! On your left, the Mei door! Which will it be?" he questioned. "Let me give you a hint...the Kyu door is the right door." Kyu spoke.
"No no! The Mei door!" Mei countered.
"Dang it! I know one of you's lying! But I don't know which one so zip it already!" Jou whined, pointing towards them.
They chuckled darkly and Yami looked to them, trying to think of a way to find the right door. 'They claim one of them is lying and the other is telling the truth...is it possible to figure it out from everything they've said so far? Let me think back once again...' he thought, recalling the thoughts of everything they said that was about the riddle then remembered the riddle Jou told him about. 'What did Jou asked them again...?'
"If one of the doors is the correct one...take us to your door!"
'And in response...both pointed to the Kyu door...at that moment, it seemed like Mei was the liar but he never spoke a word. In other words, he didn't say a lie. That could be the trick that could confuse us. Retracing what they said was like a labyrinth of words without an exit...' His eyes narrowed.
'Their words are just tools to deceive...' Jou moaned in agony, tipping back in his chair and would've hit the floor if Myrrh and Honda didn't jump for him and grabbed his chair. "Yami...I can't think anymore! My head hurts...it's all yours now..." he whispered, holding a hand to his head. "Pull yourself together, Jou-kun!" Myrrh huffed. Yami watched Mei and Kyu once more, seeing their looks of victory as if they have chosen wrong already.
'They seem very certain that we'll choose the wrong door...but really it should be a 50-50 chance...how can they be so confident about this? I need to think again...there's one possible answer...one: Mei is the right door. Two: Kyu is the right door. Three: both doors are right. Or four: both doors are wrong and there's a third hidden door somewhere else...' Mei and Kyu chuckled again before one spoke.
"It seems you're suspicious that there are more than two doors in this hall..." Kyu spoke.
"Very well. You have five minutes...to search every inch of this hall..." Mei finished. "All right! Let's search this place from top to bottom!" Honda claimed and they nodded and they started to look around for any sign of a hidden door. "I'll start here." Ryou said as he examined the walls. Mei looked to Yami who didn't move from his spot. "Aren't you going to look?" he asked. "I'm fine where I sit...it's easier to judge the correct door from right here..." he said and they only chuckled again.
"I guess the door we came in from doesn't count..." Honda muttered as he looked around.
Ryou continued to examine the walls before a dark presence started to creep around the hall. /"I'll tell you which door it is..."/ The voice whispered and Ryou jumped looking over to Aqua. "D-Did you say something, Aqua?" he asked and he shook his head. Ryou looked around once more, starting to fear the worse. /"Heh heh...it's me, little prince..."/ The voice spoke again.
'It can be...th-this voice...' Ryou pulled out the ring and saw it glowing, the needle pointing to his left. /"It's been a long time, little prince. How long are you going to waste your time here? Playing these stupid and ridiculous card games when a new Sennen item is just a stone's throw away...didn't you know I was guiding you to it this whole time?"/
Ryou shivered as the voice coiled around his mind like a serpent ready to snag its prey and shook his head. /"Put me on! Put me on and I'll tell you where the door is! It'll be easy for a thief like me!"/ Bakura spoke again. Yugi looked over to him, curious at why he stopped. "Is something wrong, Ryou?" he asked.
He jumped again and turned to him. "Oh...um...N...nothing's wrong, Yugi." he murmured and Yugi nodded before they went to search for any sign of a third door. /"I see now...you're afraid of me because of what happened before? Relax! I'm a new person now! I'm just trying to help you get your friends out of this maze!"/ Bakura assured.
"Stop it! Leave me alone!" Ryou whimpered, keeping quiet so the others wouldn't know of his predicament. /I won't listen to you anymore!/ he cried mentally. /"Oh? You won't, eh? Well, listen to this...if you don't put me on right now, your friends will be trapped here..."/
/"...Forever!"/ Ryou's eyes widened and knew he couldn't risk the lives of his friends if he had the slightest clue to get through the labyrinth brothers' trickery. Slowly but surely, he placed the Ring over his head and once it rested on his chest, Bakura gave a laugh as he took his place back in Ryou's soul. 'Now, Crimson only needs to convince Diamond to do the same and then once we reach Pegasus, it will be a meal fit for a king. Soon we'll gain our own bodies and live how we want…' he thought with a chuckle. "Your five minutes are up!" The brothers said and they all gathered back over to Yami's side, not finding a hint of a third door.
"Yami...we looked everywhere but we couldn't find anything leading to a third door." Myrrh confirmed and looked to Ryou as he walked back over to them. "Did you find anything, Ryou?" she asked. He shook his head slowly. "No..." he whispered. Seeing as they didn't find anything, Yami assumed option four out.
'There's one way for them to stop us from choosing the right door...this is a final gamble...' he thought. "Now, Yami! Choose a door! Will it be...Mei? Or will it be...Kyu?" The brothers said once more. Yami didn't speak a word, only lifted a hand, showing two coins with the kanji for Mei and Kyu written on them in between his fingers.
Kyu laughed mockingly. "You're going to decide with a coin toss!" he spoke, still laughing. "Be quiet and watch. I have coins in my left and right hands..." he started before placing them down on the table, his fingers blocking the kanji so that no one could see. "...And now I put them on the table." They all watched with curiosity, seeing what he was up to. "Now, the coin I leave in my hand will show which door I'm going to choose! Are you ready?" he questioned, looking to the brothers. "Hmm...very well." Kyu spoke. "Now, move your hand!"
Everyone was silent, waiting to see what the coin's kanji said, all but Ryou who watched with dulled eyes. "Here I go..." he whispered, lifting up his left hand to reveal the coin that read Kyu. "Ahh...the Kyu coin...so the coin in your other hand must be Mei. So you choose the Mei door." Yami was silent but Ryou spoke up in a voice that wasn't his own. "He chose Mei? You're wrong, Yami! The Kyu door's the right one!" he hissed. Diamond looked to him with fear and worry. "R-Ryou?" she whispered softly. Yami turned back to look to him as well. 'Ryou...?'
"It's too late...Yami already chose the Mei door..." Kyu said, chuckling. "You should have listened to your friend instead of taking a gamble; Yami...the correct answer is..." The small doors opened, revealing a key labeled Kyu. "The Kyu door! This key is the only thing that can open the door out of here!" he said before laughing. "Yami! You chose wrong! Thereby you are forbidden to leave this labyrinth! You and your friends must stay here-" He was cut off by a snicker from Yami. "I knew it..." he whispered.
That stopped the brothers from their gloating and they looked to him. "You gave everything away...all the clues that I needed to solve your little riddle right on your faces..." he said and they gaped. "Huh...!" They both exclaimed.
"Yes, your faces! Those smug expressions, confident that I would chose the wrong door...because there is no right answer! If I chose Mei, you'd say the correct one was Kyu...and if I said Kyu, you would say Mei..." Yami said as he stood, still keeping a finger over the other coin but started to growl.
"In other words, they decide which door is the correct one...after knowing what their opponents choose..." Ryou whispered. "It's a perfect swindle...heh heh heh..." he finished and Diamond continued to watch him. "That doesn't matter! He still answered incorrectly! We win the game!" Kyu said with determination to prove them wrong.
"Too bad for you...I chose the Kyu door!" he said, lifting his hand from the other coin which indeed said Kyu. They reeled back in shock at seeing this. Yami chuckled as he lifted up one of the coins. "The coin I hid under my right hand only had Kyu written on one side...but the other coin, the coin I revealed, had Mei and Kyu written on both sides..." he explained, flipping the coin to show that on one side was Kyu and the other side was Mei.
"I forgot to tell you...one of my hands...doesn't play fair." he whispered. Both brothers growled angrily. 'We lost! They conquered the labyrinth!'
Like a snap, Ryou was back to himself and looked around in confusion. "What...what just happened?" he murmured before looking to Yami. "Did you just win, Yami?" he questioned and Diamond tilted her head in confusion. "Are…you ok, Ryou?" she asked and he nodded. Yami looked to him as well.
'Did Ryou figure out the trap by himself? I had no idea he knew...I was saved by him shouting and distracting them so they wouldn't have known about my double-sided coin...but there has to be more to this.' he thought, letting his senses examine the room.
Then he felt it.
A trace of Bakura's power.
'No...he couldn't have...' he thought but knew he couldn't mull over it anymore and looked back to the brothers with a dark look. "Now that we conquered the labyrinth, we have more of a prize in store for Aqua and myself." he hissed as he walked around the table towards them. Yugi helped Aqua up and he started to advance as well, snarling softly.
"Come on. We don't need to be in here when they're ready to feast…" Yugi whispered as they walked over to the door. Jou pushed it opened so they could slip out, slowly closing the door behind them. The group could only giving a fleeting look to see the brothers trying to run off but was too slow as they pounced, their screams piercing the empty cavern as they went for the first part of their body their teeth could latch onto. Jou shut the door, stepping back and dusted his hands.
The door muffled out most of the sounds and time was lost to them before the door opened once more. Both Yami and Aqua walked through, not a drop of blood on them as the room behind them was pitch black from the extinguished torches to leave the labyrinth a forgotten memory. "Next stop: Pegasus' Castle." Yami growled, swiping the back of his hand across his mouth before they started leaving out of the cave and towards Pegasus' castle.
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Zypher: And that the end of this very long chapter. I'm so sorry for the extremely long wait for this chapter but my mind just kept denying me to work on this so I spent some time working on other updates but here's this one to satisfy all that have been waiting. Now, time for another Duel Monsters story, mainly focused on the happening in Yami and Yugi's deck but I may just add in a smidgen of what happened in Jou's deck as well.
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Shadow Realm: Yami and Yugi's deck
Mahaado quickly made his way to the warriors' dorm infirmary after the battle was won by Yami and Jou, his heart pounding fast as he worried about the condition of the elven warrior. Once he made it there, Gaia looked to him before nodding to him, opening the door to allow Mahaado entry. "Celtic!" he called as he looked to the bed where the elf laid. He was bandaged around his chest and waist, donned in lighter clothing in contrast to the heavier clothing worn under his armor.
Mahaado walked over to the bed and looked down into the sleeping face of the warrior. 'Celtic…' He sighed softly and sat down on the side of the bed. "If only I could've helped you before you were devoured but I was on the other side of the wall and couldn't reach you." He sighed again and reached down to grab the other's hand and stayed silent. "I failed to protect you, Celtic. I failed…" he whispered. He looked up when he felt his hand being gripped and looked down to see Celtic awake and looking up to him with a smile.
"You didn't fail me, Mahaado. You may not have been there for me but you helped Master Yami and Katsuya to win the fight and help Master Aqua. That's means much more to me than to protect me from some underground parasite." Celtic spoke, smiling up to him. Mahaado nodded and gave a small smile, gripping Celtic's hand. They stayed like that for a while longer before Mahaado stood and brought his staff into his hand. He started to whisper a healing spell as he waved it over him, the emerald orb glowing as the magic did its work, healing the wound just enough so that Celtic was able to battle in the next challenge that awaited Yami.
Once he was done, he sat the staff beside him and looked down to him. Celtic looked up to him and smiled once more. "Thanks, Mahaado." Mahaado nodded and brushed a few strands of blond from his face before leaning down to kiss him softly. "No problem. Just get some rest and your wounds should be fine before the next duel." he said and Celtic nodded before he got comfortable once more and soon fell asleep. Mahaado watched as he went to sleep before getting up and leaving out the room, nodding over to Gaia.
"He's sleeping now. I used some healing magic so he should be fine by the time Master Yami is ready for another duel." Mahaado noted and he nodded. "I'll watch over him for you. You should go and rest yourself, Mahaado." Gaia replied and he nodded as he left the warriors' dorm. He gave a fleeting look back before he made his way back to the spellcasters' dorm so he could get some rest himself and let his magic recuperate after that last duel.
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Zypher: And that's all for now. Would've made it longer or at least add a little tidbit from Jou's deck but as always, my mind started to leave me bit by bit so I hope you enjoyed this at least. Will try and get the next chapter up sooner but that all depends so I will see you all later.