Chapter XII: Fused Shadow Energy Max!

All 3 duelists looked at each other, the air tense. Zant then declared "My move!" After he drew his card, he proclaimed "Time for my comeback! First I play the magic card Card of Demise! It allows me to draw 5 new cards, but in 5 turns I must discard my entire hand." He then scoffed "Of course I plan to destroy you long before that."

"How" questioned the young princess mockingly. "You have no monsters to defend you and no face-down cards."

Zant smirked and replied "With this; it's a magic card called Evil Element. It can only be activated when Essence of Ganon is in the graveyard." The duo gulped as he continued "Now, by paying half my life points, I can summon a monster that can ONLY be destroyed in battle! Meet DARK LORD GANONDORF!" The duo watched as Zant's Life Points lowered to 1175 and the familiar Gerudo warrior materialized on the field, with the Sage's sword in hand.

Link looked down at the attack label and gasped "4000 Attack points?"

Zant smirked. "Yes; not only is it only able to be destroyed by battle, but it also has a staggering 4000Attack Points!" He then declared "Now Ganondorf, Attack Dark Magician Knight!" Link and Midna could only watch as the knight was sliced in half and Midna's life points decreased to 8400. Link growled as he remembered the day he fought the real Ganondorf.

The two were locked in seemingly eternal combat, both equally matched and both unwilling to give up. I must finally beat this hero… thought Ganon as he lunged at Link. I must win…for Midna… thought the hero as he reflected the Dark Lord's assault. Good versus evil, justice vs tyranny, a battle that would end up deciding the fate of the entire world.

Link was brought back to reality by a delicate touch on his clenched fist. He looked up to see Midna smiling at him, silently urging him to go on. Link relaxed and nodded. Zant then continued "I place one card face-down and end my turn."

Link then drew his card and declared "I activate the magic card, scapegoat! This lets me summon 4 sheep tokens to my field." Four multicolored sheep then appeared in front of Link. He continued "Next, I play one card face-down and end my turn."

Midna nodded and drew her card. "Now…" she began, but then Link interrupted "Not so fast; I reveal my face-down card, Reckless greed! Now Midna can draw 2 more cards, but I can't draw for 2 turns."

Midna smiled in appreciation as she drew. Then she declared "As I was saying, now I activate Pot of Greed! Now I can draw 2 more cards from my deck." As she drew, she continued "now I can send 4 all-powerful cards from my hand to my graveyard to summon an all-powerful monster of my own! So now I'll discard Forest Shadow, Mine Shadow, Lake Shadow, and Twilit Shadow, so I can summon the FUSED SHADOW BEAST!" Link looked up in amazement as the familiar Fused Shadow Beast appeared in the air, staring menacingly at Ganondorf. She continued "Next, I'll activate my monster's effect, but first I must sacrifice 2 monsters." She then glanced over at Link and asked "Link, do you mind if I use your tokens?"

"Of course" Link immediately replied. "That's why they're there."

"Excellent" Midna replied. "Then I sacrifice 2 of Link's sheep tokens to activate my Beast's effect. Watch its attack points."

Link and Zant watched as the Beast's attack meter rose from 4000 to 5000, and then to 6000, and over and over again until it skyrocketed to infinity. "Infinity?" Zant stammered.

Midna smirked and continued "Now, Fused Shadow Beast, show him what true power is all about, with your SPEAR OF FURY!" When she finished, the Beast got out its spear and plunged into Ganon with all its might, destroying the Lord and sending Zant's Life points to zero. "Game…set…match" exclaimed Midna. Zant growled and said "THIS…IS NOT…OVER YET". He then continued "You may have beaten me, but by doing so, you played right into my hand."

"What do you mean?" demanded the princess.

"While you were dueling me, the energy coming from the duel was feeding Ganondorf's soul, and now he's free and on the verge of conquering Hyrule again. Soon it will fall, and Ganon will reign supreme. And the best part is that I couldn't have done it without you, Hero. I opened the portal, I brought you to the Twilight, and I tricked you to leave your home so it would be ripe for the picking." Zant laughed one last time before collapsing.

"Link?" asked Midna. "Are you okay?" She reached out to touch him, but the moment she did he turned around and ran away. Sighing, she warped after him, thinking This isn't your fault Link, and I'm going to help you to fix it.