A/N: another chapter of Dimensional Duels. I sincerely hope those who have read this story are enjoying it for some reason or another, it's good for my inspirational muse, so to speak and positive and preferably relevant feedback helps me write too. Anyway, this chapter revolves around a Duel between Lizzie and Draco with comments from the sidelines all too likely. On with the disclaimer. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its spinoffs, otherwise I would have had somebody other than 4kids run the dubbed versions. It's time to Duel!
Chapter 10, Duel of the Heart, Awaken Cyan Knight Shenlong
Lizzie followed Draco back to the duel field, but on the way she tripped over a rock and fell down. When she lifted her face from its comfy bed of dirt, she found a card laying on the ground in front of her. It was the good luck charm that Maki gave her. She picked it up and looked at it, but it was totally blank like before, no statistics or anything but for some reason she couldn't place, she put it in her Extra Deck box. Draco was already at the duel field, looking at her uneasily for heavens know why. 'Was it because of when he slapped me earlier? I mean sure it was rude, but I totally deserved that so I don't think he should feel that way towards me for that.'
when she reached the dueling platform, she hesitated 'What if I lose control again? I don't want to risk hurting Draco, I would never forgive myself if that happened...' she shook her head hard 'No, Draco is doing this for my sake, it might hurt him even more if I *don't* duel him. Well, here goes nothing.' she stepped onto the duel field then looked at Draco, who let out a small smile upon seeing her up here with him
"You know," he began "It's been awhile since we dueled seriously, I'm kind of happy to be up here w-" he paused, his face turning slightly red, then corrected himself "happy to be up here dueling you." Lizzie found this kind of strange, 'why would he be so nervous about being up here with me? I'm the one who's been traumatized twice in the same day, what's up with him?' she thought, confused before the duel started in earnest.
Draco went first " I'll start by summoning Lancer Lindwurm in attack position and throwing two facedown cards on the field, that's all for now. You're up Liz! Lizzie was still disoriented from her duel with Mari but she told herself to do what she could "I-I summon Cobraman Sakuzy in defense position then set a facedown. Your turn.
On the sidelines Joey asked Yugi "What is Lizzie doing? she did much better than this against me during our training sessions, what happened to her anyway?" Yugi answered honestly "It seems that her last duel left her confidence in herself injured, so her judgement isn't at its best right now." Téa had a sad expression on her face "This isn't like Lizzie at all, she's usually upbeat and full of life when she duels, I wish there was something I could do to help."
Yugi turned to Téa "The best we can do is watch for now and have faith that Draco will get through to her, he is the closest person to her out of all of us after all!" Téa nodded in agreement as the duel continued with Draco's turn "I'll set another facedown card, then summon Blade Knight in attack position" the knight arrived on the field, sword drawn (Level 4, Light. Warrior/Effect.) 'I have to keep this duel going until Lizzie can realize why dueling is so important to her, she can't keep going like this and breaking down every time something bad happens.' Draco thought before entering the Battle Phase
"Battle! Lancer Lindwurm, attack her Cobraman Sakuzy!" the dragon lancer stabbed through Sakuzy's defenses destroying it "When Lindwurm battles a monster with lower defense points than its attack points, it does piercing damage!" Lizzie's life points dropped, and Draco kept talking to her (-400= 1600 life points) "Come on, Lizzie. I know you can duel better than that! where's your resolve and passion for dueling? Show me the real you, not this empty shell of a duelist!" he slapped another facedown on the field then ended his turn.
Lizzie glared at Draco "What are you talking about? I'm the same as I was before! I summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4 in attack position" a very much birdlike dragon appeared on the field, letting out a mournful cry at what Draco knew was for Horus' card bearer (Level 4, Fire. Dragon/Effect. Atk/Def: 1600/1000.) Lizzie forced herself to make a move "Horus, attack his Blade Knight!" the dragon attacked with his fire breath
"What is she thinking? She'll just destroy both of their monsters then leave herself wide open for attack..." Joey wondered until Lizzie played another card just before the two monsters attacks made contact "I activate the Quick-Play Spell Forbidden Dress, with this, your knight will lose 600 attack points, leaving Horus the victor." Blade Knight was overcome by the flames and was sent to the graveyard (-600= 1400.) "I'll end my turn, but not before Horus gets a growth spurt, upgrading to level 6!" Horus became larger and gained some more draconic traits than before (Level 6, Fire. Dragon/Effect. Atk/Def: 2300/1600.)"
Draco started his turn immediately "You just don't get it do you? I activate the trap card Jar of Greed to draw an extra card. Next, I summon the Marauding Captain in attack position and activate his effect, which allows me to summon a level 4 or lower monster from my hand. Come forth, Shine Knight." the Marauding captain had blond hair and blue eyes. He stood before Lizzie proudly in his armor, cape flowing in the wind and twin swords in hand (Level 3, Earth. Warrior/Effect. Atk/Def: 1200/400.) "In response to Marauding Captain's summoning I activate Copy Knight to become a monster of the same level as him"
Lizzie was puzzled by the words he spoke of during the duel 'the resolve part is obvious, but the real me? How exactly am I an empty shell? I'm still here aren't I?!' when she voiced her thoughts, Draco shook his head "You'll see what I mean, even if I have to pound it into your head repeatedly, now..." he was interrupted when something glowed from within his deck box. He took out the Blank Number Card and found himself somewhere else.
He was at the cliffside cabin he and Caleb trained with their mentor at. He felt a strong spiritual energy coming from within the cabin and followed it, finding a cloaked figure whose identity was currently unknown "You have arrived, now I can take shape too!" the figure blurred and became two different forms instead of one. the first had messy brown hair, green eyes and wears brilliant white armor. He wielded two swords called Pendragon and Durendal apparently. His Number Symbol was located on his left shoulder-piece. The second was a knight whose body could only be seen as a blur of clear energy that was vaguely human-shaped, he wielded the sword Nox in his left hand and the Dagger of Distortion in his right. His Number Symbol is located on his sword Nox.
Draco was a bit surprised at this, never had a Number Card become two separate cards instead of one, with the exception of Shining Numbers and Chaos Numbers. Noticing that their Number Holder was at a loss for words, the knight wearing white armor spoke first "I am Number P13: Galahad the White Knight, and I am the card the girl Maki gave you." Draco blinked and looked in the direction he thought the other monster was "What about him? Is he a Number too?" the invisible monster made a grumpy noise but nothing else, so Galahad decided to speak for him "that's Number P31: Garland the Invisible Knight, I've fought against him for ages but it seems he's decided to join your quest too..."
Garland made no response. Galahad leaned over to Draco's ear and whispered "Turns out he's very shy, though I can't say why." if Garland could be seen, he would be giving the White Knight a death glare. Draco said "o-k, so are we going to return to the duel or not? I have to get Lizzie back to her normal self as soon as possible!" the two Numbers looked at each other then back to Draco "As you wish, Sir Draco" then Draco was back at the duel field
Lizzie was waiting nervously when Draco continued his turn "You fail to realize something, your monsters aren't just holograms, they have hearts souls like you and I do. Look at your dragon, can't you see how it hurts him seeing you as you are now?! Listen to your cards voices, you can hear them if you'd just listen!" Lizzie was taken aback by the mixed emotions and the meaning of his words. She closed her eyes 'That's right... the monsters in my deck aren't just cards, they're living entities that feel like I do and I've ignored them... but not anymore!'
She tried communicating with Horus the Black Flame Dragon first, and it responded " I have sworn myself to your service, as have the other monsters in this deck, would you give up and let us all down?" she inwardly agreed with Horus words then began listening to the cards in her hand "We are connected to you and always have been, what makes you think you can sever that bond with us so easily?" Ancient Lizard Warrior said in her mind with a smug tone in his voice, then she finally got to Gagagigo, Draco's Contract Card "Do you understand now? You don't have to do everything alone Lass, you have all of us supporting you, and we just want you to return to the way you should be."
Lizzie teared up a bit then heard Draco's voice within her mind again "Now answer me this: Can you duel for what you believe in, regardless of the outcome?" when Lizzie opened her eyes, they were filled with determination, and this time nothing would ever shatter her resolve again "I can. Draco, It's time to duel!" Draco grinned and replied "Well said, but let's put your renewed resolve to the test first!"
a galaxy shaped vortex appeared one the field "I overlay my Marauding Captain, my Shine Knight and my Copy Knight in order to build the Overlay Network." the form of a Sealed Number appeared and began shaping itself, shocking Lizzie and their spectating friends that he had a Number as well "Final knight of the great kingdom, I summon you to aid my quest for the truth. Xyz Summon. Knight of the Thirteenth Seat, Number P13: Galahad the White Knight!" Galahad emerged from the vortex and unsheathed his swords (Rank 3, Light. Warrior/Xyz/Effect. Atk/Def: 2500/2100.)
Draco spoke to Lizzie as he continued his turn "let's see how you deal with my Number. Galahad, activate your effect, by removing one overlay unit then selecting one monster on the field, I can gain life points equal to half its attack or defense points, whichever is higher, and I choose Galahad. Pendragon's Boon!" Galahad raised his sword Pendragon to the sky and energy shot from his body, granting life to Draco (+1250 = 2650 life points) "I'll end my turn there, it's your move."
Lizzie drew her card, then heard the voice of an unfamiliar Duel Spirit "Use me, let me take my true form..." the voice came from her extra deck box. she looked inside, it was her blank card. When she touched it, it began to take a new shape, she grinned widely at this 'this... will be... EPIC!' she stated "I summon Gagagigo in attack position!" Draco felt more than a little weird seeing his own body preparing to fight him but it turns out that Lizzie wasn't done
"Next I play the spell card Double Summon, which grants me another normal summon. Come on out, Ancient Lizard Warrior" the green scaled reptile arrived with a confident look in his eyes "I overlay my Ancient Lizard Warrior and my Gagagigo in order to build the Overlay Network!" Draco waited patiently for the summon to be completed "Dragon knight of the East, I summon you to bring forth a new age of hope. Xyz Summon. The guardian of sea and sky, Number P71: Cyan D. Knight Shenlong in attack position!"
Shenlong resembled a bipedal, human-sized, light blue armored dragon with antler-like protrusions coming from its helmet. It had piercing green eyes. It carried a rune covered katana named Yukiryu on its back, but rarely used it, using its fists to fight instead. Its number was located on the right shoulder piece, colored white. Draco whistled upon seeing Lizzie's Number Card, then said "Well then let's see whose Number is stronger!" Lizzie reacted by saying "With pleasure! I'll set one card facedown and play the Spell Back-Up Rider on Shenlong, increasing his attack by 1500."
Yugi was watching with interest "Looks like Lizzie is back to the way she was before. No, that's not right, she's better than ever!" he said happily while Joey and Tristan had their eyes glued on the Number Battle. Lizzie continued her turn "Shenlong attack Number P13: Galahad the White Knight!", Yukiryu Unbound! By removing one overlay unit, he gains attack points equal to the number of spells and traps on the field times 100, so he gains 200 more attack points! and due to Shenlong's Dynast Aura effect, your monster cannot activate his effect during this battle!"
Shenlong reached for his sword, suppressed the seal on its power, then blurred past its opponent, slowly sheathing Yukiryu as the enemy is sliced by his attack. 'Galahad never had the chance to activate his second effect, that's a shame, and it looks like Garland won't get a shot here. Oh well' Draco thought as Lizzie destroyed his Lancer Lindwurm with Horus, thus dropping Draco's life points to zero and ending the duel" Téa ran over to Lizzie's side of the duel field "You did it! You beat Draco in a duel, and you seem to be feeling better too!" Lizzie smiled and stated "Guys, It's good to be back!"
Scene Change
Elsewhere, Mari was in a temple of unknown origin when Koda the Ignition reported back to her "Interesting" she mused "It would seem she isn't a total waste of time after all, right Byakuya?" The man named Byakuya spoke up "Yes, she might be one of the ones we're looking for. But for now, we wait. We cannot do much without the Duel Disks being invented in that time period yet."
another of the white robed men complained "Man, I was hoping to have some fun with those duelists. How long do we have to wait? My Tengu monsters are getting bored too you know!" Byakuya said firmly "Not much longer, once Battle City Tournament starts, we can begin our next mission. With that the meeting was dismissed and everyone went their separate ways.
Chapter End
A/N: whew, that's the third chapter I've done this week, I'm on a roll here, huh. Who are the white robed men and what is their goal? That is for another story, but one thing is for sure, this series will continue! Lizzie's Parallel Number is one of the first ones I worked on, and Draco's two make at least minor references to the Arthurian Legends. Thank you for reading. Duel Standby...