A/N: And here comes part 2 of Kyle vs. Samantha in the ritual duel of the century! Enjoying it so far? I am!
Lumen: Of course I do! It's what makes my craft so successful, after all... I make everyone itch for more while they wonder what happens next.
Mira: Good question, glad you asked. You can't summon ritual monsters the normal way, no. You have to use a corresponding ritual magic card and do it the way that card says – sacrifice monsters from your hand and/or field whose total level stars equal or exceed the level stars of the monster you're bringing out. Good to know you like it!
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Kyle's LP - 4950
Samantha's LP – 3550
--
If it's an advantage they wanted their cronies to have, it looks like they've got one. Now let's hope that my LP holds out against it.
You have defeated Monica in duels before.
She's beaten me more times than vice versa. And if the magicians picked her deck apart, who's to say they don't have other cards that belong to her?
This exchange occurred in a split instant within the minds of Kyle and Theoris. None of it changed the fact that the monster staring Kyle's Sangan down now was a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, nor did it change the fact that the legendary dragon was responding to the order made by its current owner to attack the ugly, pumpkin-shaped creature.
I'm not planning on losing this duel.
Kyle activated the last trap he'd played. "Activate Magic-Arm Shield!"
A strangely-shaped shield formed on Sangan's arm. The center opened up, to reveal a pincer-like device that reached across the field and wrapped around Magician of Black Chaos' midsection.
Sangan swung the shield around and forced Magician into Blue-Eyes' attack path.
Magician took the blast head-on and was obliterated by the attack. Kyle also lost 200 Life Points, as the Magician was in attack mode, bringing his score to 4750.
Losing 200 is a lot better than losing 2000, as well as the last defense I've got. She'd have wiped half my Life Points out, and next turn, she most definitely would have taken me down.
Samantha groaned. "I needed that..."
Kyle suddenly became aware of what she had said to him before Blue-Eyes' attack. Save her brother...?
The life of another, Kyle. I was right; it is the life of another at stake here.
"But how?" Kyle asked aloud. "What's your brother got to do with all this?"
He saw the pain in Samantha's eyes as she responded quietly. "My brother was kidnapped by the same men who took your friend. They've threatened his death if I don't win this duel."
Her voice cracked. "Everything is at stake here, Kyle! I love my brother! I don't want him to die!"
Kyle sighed. "Look, Samantha... I don't want anyone to die because of me. But I can't hand over my shield, either."
"Why?!" she exploded. "It's just a molding of painted brass with a couple of pretty jewels inset! There's nothing special about it!"
"If that were true, those men would have no reason to want it so badly. They could just have one made for themselves," Kyle responded. He raised his right arm, silently offering her to inspect the shield. "This has changed my life more than you could know. And if they get their hands on it... no one would want to see that happen, I can guarantee you that. It's because of this shield that you've got a Blue-Eyes White Dragon on your field right now."
"It must be nice to be able to put a piece of metal above someone's life," she snarled.
"Look, I've got someone at stake, too, okay?" Kyle snapped. "This duel's painful for me, too. I wish I hadn't had to go through with it. I wish none of this had ever happened. But there's no way out of it now, unless you have something in your deck that can turn this game into a draw."
She shook her head. "No... nothing."
He sighed gravely. "Then let's both hope that they're more merciful than they bill themselves to be. Otherwise one of us really is going to lose it all."
Kyle saw her shudder at his words. He had to repress the urge to do the same.
"My turn's finished," she said.
Kyle drew his next card. Hmm... "I place one monster in face-down defense, then switch Sangan to defense mode, as well, and end my turn."
Samantha hastily drew her next card. "The sooner this duel's overwith, the better. I place one magic/trap face-down, and then activate Swords of Revealing Light."
Kyle blew his breath out his nose as the familiar swords surrounded him and his monsters. His face-down monster was revealed at that moment.
"Probably best I didn't attack," she chuckled. "Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200) can get you some pretty decent cards."
"True, that."
"So, instead of attacking, I'll end my turn."
What, she's providing a little saving grace?
Who knows what her motive is? Perhaps she simply is looking for the right time to attack. Sangan and Witch only allow you to draw cards into your hand, not place them on the field. If she gathers enough monsters to destroy them both and attack your Life Points in the same turn...
No defense. Yeah, yeah.
Kyle drew his next card. There's got to be a way out of this. Maybe this'll do it. "I'll sacrifice both Sangan and Witch to place a monster face-down, and use their effects to gather two more cards into my hand."
I think I know just the ones I want, too. Kyle placed his sacrifical cards in his graveyard slot, then searched through his deck. Yeah... That'll hit the spot, all right.
Samantha laughed out loud. "You've got to be kidding me! You and I both know that there's nothing in Duel Monsters that requires two sacrifices and has a defense of 3000 or more! You've just doomed yourself to a direct attack!"
"That's what you think," Kyle answered blandly. "As a follow-up, I place one magic/trap face-down and end my turn."
Kyle! She is right, and you know it! Your face-down is not even one of the Labyrinth Brothers! She will attack you directly!
No, she won't. She doesn't have what she needs to bring another monster to the field. And I needed Witch and Sangan's effects.
Kyle, you gave up your last defenses for one monster, and that Blue-Eyes is going to destroy it!
Samantha drew her next card, then looked up at the field. "Kyle, even if that monster is a Labyrinth Brother, it won't stop me from attacking your Life Points for more than one turn. Its effect can only be used once during the entire duel."
"You only have one monster on the field," Kyle responded. "If it's a Labyrinth Brother, it'll stop you for two turns."
Samantha looked up at the legendary beast hovering over her field. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack his face-down monster!"
Blue-Eyes' mouth yawned open again, and let loose a flood of energy at the face-down monster.
"Activate Ultimate Offering!" Kyle shouted. I may not be able to save my face-down, but the attack activates my trap card... which is all I need to turn this thing around.
A single trap?
C'mon, Theoris. Have some respect for the individual cards.
Samantha's eyes hardened. She knew the ramifications of Kyle's trap. "That doesn't stop me from destroying your monster."
"True, Tri-Horned Dragon (2850/2350) is still destroyed," he replied, as Blue-Eyes' white lightning obliterated his less powerful dragon, "but I played it knowing that. All I needed was for you to attack it to activate my trap." Kyle chose three cards and placed them on his field. "I sacrifice 1500 Life Points to place three monsters in face-down defense mode."
Three new defensive monster cards appeared to take Tri-Horned Dragon's place on the field, and Kyle's LP dropped to 3250.
Her eyes narrowed. "And you can afford that kind of loss. That was your plan all along, wasn't it?"
"You're catching on."
She growled. "Fine. I'll end my turn."
Kyle drew. Here we go. This is really starting to turn around. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon on Swords of Revealing Light!"
A simulated vortex of energy curled around the numerous swords and shattered them like glass. Samantha growled and put her card into her graveyard slot.
"Next, I flip Magician of Faith, and bring Monster Reborn back to my hand," Kyle continued. "Which I'll use on one of your Black Luster Soldiers."
A Black Luster Soldier (3000/2500) appeared on Kyle's field, fully ready to battle.
"Then I flip Penguin Soldier (750/500), and use its effect to send both Magician of Faith and Blue-Eyes White Dragon back to our respective hands."
Samantha paled. "No!"
You were right, Theoris. I didn't have to destroy Blue-Eyes. I just had to put it back in her hand. And with Soldier and Penguin's combined attack of 3750 on her Life Points, this should be the last turn.
"I'm sorry, Samantha, I really am," he muttered. "And I wish I could hold back. But I can't. If I do, you'll come back at me with everything you've got. So I have to do the same."
She crossed her arms and said nothing in response.
Kyle's eyes narrowed. Why is she not upset about this? If I destroy her Life Points, she'll lose her brother to the magicians. She couldn't have gone numb all of a sudden. Not with that expression.
She still has one last face-down card on her magic/trap field.
It may be her trump. Kyle sighed. But like I said... if I don't go all out, she will. I don't have a choice.
"Black Luster Soldier, attack her Life Points!"
The ornately decorated soldier charged forward to obliterate the majority of the Life Points left to her.
She pressed on the one card still on her field, and quietly uttered, "Activate Mirror Force."
Kyle resisted to get down to one knee and pound his fist into the ground. How could I be so blind?! Of course she was going to have Mirror Force!
The 3D representation of Mirror Force flipped face-up and fired out two lances of energy. Black Luster Soldier and Penguin Soldier were caught in the beams, and they, like so many of the monsters during this duel already, shattered into holographic shards and vanished from the field.
Kyle, you still have one face-down monster, and Magician of Faith in your hand. Black Luster Soldier need not be destroyed permanently.
I've been relying on magic cards a lot, Kyle mused.
So has she. You play by what you have.
"Fine. I'll place one more monster in defense mode and end my turn," Kyle said.
"Play defense until you're blue in the face, for all I care," Samantha snapped. She drew her next card.
A smile crossed her features.
"I play Dark Hole and wipe the field clean of monsters."
Damn! Now I can't use Magician to bring back a Soldier! Kyle groaned and discarded Magician of Faith and his face-down Vorse Raider (1900/1200).
"That ends my turn."
Kyle drew. "I play one monster in defense mode and end my turn."
Samantha pulled her next card. "I play Zera Ritual and sacrifice Blue-Eyes White Dragon to bring out Zera the Mant (2800/2300) in attack mode."
Her Blue-Eyes appeared on the field again for a fleeting moment, then disappeared in favor of the slightly weaker monster.
"Zera the Mant, attack his face-down monster!"
Zera swooped forth and slashed its razored claws through the face-down card, revealing Kyle's Crass Clown (1350/1400) just a moment before destroying it.
Kyle sighed. "Sweet sorrow."
"I end my turn," Samantha announced, ignoring the comment.
Kyle drew his next card, and nearly groaned aloud. No good! This won't do me any favors in this duel!
He placed the card on the field anyway. "I place one magic/trap and end my turn."
Perhaps your Trap Hole won't do you any good now. But perhaps she will be afraid to attack.
Samantha drew, and wasted no time with her command. "Zera, attack Kyle's Life Points!"
Zera slashed at Kyle; he flew back and landed ignominiously on his rear as his Life Points fell from 3250 to 450. Then again, perhaps not.
"I end my turn. You've got one more turn, Kyle," Samantha said. "You'd better make the most of it."
With 450 Life Points. Yeah, right. Kyle felt despair overwhelm him. Theoris... I don't know what to do. I've got nothing left.
Not true. You have one turn left, just as she said. Use it.
I don't know what else I can do!
DRAW YOUR NEXT CARD!!
Kyle jumped at the ferocity of Theoris' mental voice.
If this is the only way to get through to you, then let it be so! But I will NOT sit by and listen to you say you can do nothing when you still may have an option left! You told me to have respect for the individual cards... now you must do the same! Draw your next card, or may Ra strike you down!
Kyle grit his teeth and silently – silent on both the mental and physical planes – drew his next card.
His eyes narrowed.
This is it...
He placed the card on his duel disk. "I place one monster in defense mode and end my turn."
Samantha pursed her lips as she drew. "Going to fight to the bitter end, are you? Well... guess it's not really fighting. Just putting up pathetic shields. Like the one on your arm. Zera, attack!"
Zera slashed at Kyle's face-down monster.
The card flipped up, and revealed an ornately painted pot, with a demonic face inside.
"Morphing Jar #1 didn't take," said Kyle, "so let's see how well Morphing Jar #2 (800/700) does."
Samantha's eyes widened. "What?!"
"Hey, don't blame me for anything. You're the one that attacked." Now she has to put Zera back in her deck and draw until she gets another monster in her hand. And a perk is that any magic and trap cards she draws are discarded. Let's hope she doesn't have another ritual card already in her hand.
That is not the only perk, Kyle. If her entire deck truly is comprised of ritual monsters, she will be unable to play any monster she draws without the appropriate ritual card. And meanwhile, if you draw a monster at level 4 or lower...
It goes to the field in defense mode, and I'm safe.
As it turned out, the very next card that Kyle drew, as per Morphing Jar #2's effect, was exactly level 4. This may do it. He placed it face-down on the field.
Samantha ended up drawing four cards before finally getting a monster. She groaned as she discarded the other three. "My Reckless Greed trap was my next card!"
Ha. Kyle drew.
He looked up at Samantha's field. Nothing. Not even a single magic/trap.
"This is the end," he said quietly. He placed the card he'd drawn. "I play Mechanicalchaser (1850/800) and flip Gemini Elf (1900/900) to attack mode."
Even across the field, he could see his opponent's eyes welling up with tears.
"Please, no..." she whispered. "Don't..."
Their combined attack makes 3750. Her Life Points are at 3550. All I need to do is attack.
But... I don't want to.
Now it comes to it. If I attack, I may as well have murdered her brother.
If I don't attack, I may as well have given everything to the magicians.
Theoris... how can I get out of this?
You cannot.
Kyle almost reeled from the response.
I am sorry, Kyle. But there are only two options. Win or lose. Those options may have been delayed throughout this duel, but now they are staring you in the face and demanding you to choose one. And you can only choose one.
"I don't want to choose!" Kyle yelled aloud. "I don't want to cause the death of an innocent!"
"You must choose!"
Kyle whirled at the new voice. He found himself facing a man in a dark blue cloak. His head was hooded; the only feature Kyle could spot was the man's overgrown white beard.
A magician, Theoris snarled.
"Either you will hand over the Millennium Shield," said the old man, "or you will end the duel and allow the boy to die. There are no other options available to you."
"And who gets to decide that?!" Kyle snapped. "You? Your clan? That miserable bunch of wannabe Rare Hunters who don't have anything better to do than obsess over something they'll never have?!"
The magician's lips curled into a sickly grin. "Call us what you wish. The decision is still yours to make."
"How am I to know that you even have her brother in your..." Kyle sneered. "...care?"
"You want proof? You shall have it." The magician gestured upward and behind both of the duelists.
Kyle and Samantha both looked.
Hanging high over the street four blocks away was a small figure. Kyle couldn't make out any features, but he could see that there seemed to be nothing holding the figure in the air. He wondered if perhaps it was a magician's power holding him up.
A voice drifted down and touched their ears. "Sammy, help me!"
"There is all the proof you need. That is indeed her brother, and I do not think you would wish to challenge the claim by seeing him fall. It is a seven hundred foot drop to the concrete – marvelous invention – and if he falls, he will not be landing on his feet."
Kyle glanced back at the magician, his face pale. "You really would kill innocent people to get to my shield. You sick maniac."
"As I said, you may call us all you wish, but it is still your decision. And if you do not decide within the next ten seconds – another marvelous invention, a way to precisely measure time – he shall fall, no matter what you do."
Kyle clenched his eyes shut.
Kyle... I cannot help you.
I know.
"Kyle! Please, don't let him die! I'm begging you! Please don't!" Samantha sobbed, her voice cracking.
"Five seconds!" the magician barked.
Kyle's eyes snapped open. They landed on his weeping opponent, who had fallen to her knees... who was pleading him with her very soul laid bare.
And he made his choice.
"Mechanicalchaser and Gemini Elf, attack!"
"NOOOO!!!" she screamed.
The attack came, but Kyle could barely see it... could barely hear it... could barely feel anything.
He barreled forward, running straight through the holograms that attacked and destroyed the last of his opponent's Life Points.
All his intent was focused on the boy hanging over the street.
"You are too late!" the magician yelled out.
No, I'm not!
Kyle moved as fast as his legs would carry him. A part of his mind told him that he would never make it, that he wasn't possibly fast enough to catch the boy.
He shoved that part down to his feet and trampled it, then left it behind and moved even faster.
He could hear the boy screaming as he plunged down between the buildings... could hear the people below the boy screaming as they saw what was happening...
They're not going to do anything about it, they don't want to break their bones catching a boy who's falling from that height, no matter what kind of rewards they'd reap for it, I have to do it because no one else will, I have to do it because no one else can...
Kyle emitted a primal roar as he charged forward.
He refused to believe he wouldn't make it.
He simply refused to.
His entire being was focused on one thing.
I won't let him die. Whatever power I have, let it help me do this!
He suddenly felt as though something was being ripped away from him.
And he let himself go.
--
Everyone saw it, but their ability to comprehend precisely what they had seen was impaired because it was nothing like anything they had ever seen before. Later on, most of them would choose to deny that anything remotely miraculous or magical had happened; they would simply say that they'd seen the boy falling from the edge of a building he wasn't supposed to be atop, and was saved by a very courageous young adult.
--
The Eye of Horus adorning the Millennium Shield glowed with a brilliant, unnatural light. Kyle's arm swung out, seemingly of its own volition, to where the eye of the shield was looking up at the building to the right of the falling boy.
A brilliant golden beam streaked from the eye and struck something on the roof of that building.
Another beam streaked out toward the screaming child and covered him in a brilliant golden aura.
His fall began to slow.
And slow.
And slow.
Kyle leapt forward with all of his might and reached out for the boy.
His arms wrapped around a warm back and flailing legs.
He landed in a belly-flop on the ground, his momentum causing him to skid across the concrete. The pavement ground into him, scraped away the exposed skin on his left arm, made sparks against the shield on his right, tore at the front of his shirt and put shallow gashes into his chest.
The boy was crying.
And he was safe.
Kyle gasped for breath and tried not to scream in pain because of his exposed raw flesh. He rolled to one side and released the boy to the ground, now only a millimeter below and quite safe for him to land on.
He struggled to his feet and looked up at the people who had gathered around them. "Make sure this kid's all right... get a doctor," he snapped. "But stay with him."
He pushed his way through the crowd, back toward where he and Samantha had been dueling. Both she and the magician were still there, still in the same positions they'd been in when he'd left them both behind.
"That was a mistake, Kyle McCraine!" the magician shouted. "Now the boy will lose his sister!"
A reddish aura surrounded him.
No.
I won't let it happen.
Kyle's anger-filled eyes were set on the magician as he strode toward him. He brought his arm up, aimed the Eye of Horus at the magician, and allowed the shield to do what it was meant to do.
Protect the innocent.
Another golden streak of light boiled from the eye and wrapped around the magician. Another aura surrounded him, this one of gold, and it engulfed both the magician and his red aura.
The magician's magic had no place to go except within the boundaries of the aura cast upon him by the shield.
He tried to shout, but the golden glow permitted no sound, no air, no escape of any kind.
The reddish aura grew white hot and turned upon its conjuror.
The magician was consumed by his own fire.
Kyle watched the magician disappear in his own flames, and he watched without a trace of remorse or regret. He would have killed to get to me. I won't allow it.
There was nothing left within the golden boundary once the light vanished. The beam from the shield retracted, and Kyle's thoughts turned to Theoris. But I can't protect everyone. What if they try to kill again? What if my remaining opponent is faced with a similar threat? The magicians won't try to drop someone over a building again; they'll be too smart for that. What will I do?
You will cross that bridge when you come to it, Kyle. You cannot know if your other opponents will also have loved ones at stake or not. And until you do, you must not worry yourself with such. You have done well today. Your power increases.
But my frailty remains.
Kyle suddenly felt very tired. His power might have been increasing, but it was still taxing to use the powers of the Millennium Shield.
He approached Samantha, who was still collapsed on the ground. Tears streamed down her face. She had the look of someone who had lost everything.
She had seen Kyle catch her brother... but she refused to believe it.
Kyle knelt down to her side. He gently touched her arm. "Samantha..."
She continued to sob uncontrollably. "I lost him... I lost my little brother... Nate... I'm so sorry, Nate..."
"Samantha," Kyle said again, this time more loudly.
She sniffed and looked up at him through a haze of tears.
"He's safe," Kyle said gently. "Your little brother is safe."
He pointed to where the crowd had gathered around the boy. "He's right over there, safe and sound. In the company of people who will keep him safe."
She sniffled again, and tried to speak, but her sobbing choked whatever she was going to say.
But her lips told him all he needed to know. It was a one-word question.
"You know how," he responded. "It's up to you to decide whether to believe it or not. But whether you believe it happened or not doesn't really matter, I guess... the result is the same, either way. Your brother is safe."
He got to his feet and gathered his holoprojectors, which he snapped back into his duel disk. He packed all of his variously placed cards back in his deck slot, then approached Samantha again and extended his hand. "Let me take you to him."
She reached up with a trembling hand, slipped it into his.
He gently pulled her to her feet. Her knees buckled, and she fell into him. He held her up, trying to hold back expressions of pain for his scraped skin.
She needs some comfort right about now, Kyle thought. He tried to push past the awkwardness of having a girl so close to him, and held her in a half-hug as they moved toward the crowd.
The boy was hugging a random woman. The woman didn't understand what was going on, nor did she really care at the moment; she saw a child in need of a protective, motherly figure, and she figured that if he saw her as such, so be it. She was gently returning his hug and rocking him back and forth slightly.
Now that Kyle had a more calm look at the boy, he could see that he was just barely into his double-digits, if at all. His brown hair was mussed up from the fall, and his frightened blue eyes showed Kyle that he'd been through more than anyone should have to experience.
Sobs overwhelmed the boy's sister once again, as she saw that he was perfectly safe, just as Kyle had said. She rushed to him and grabbed him up in a bear hug.
"Nate..." she whispered. "Nate... you're safe, oh my God, you're safe..."
Kyle allowed a small smile. Looks like things will be okay, after all.
Samantha looked up at him, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. "You... you're an angel," she whispered.
He shook his head. "No. Not an angel. But hopefully, a friend."
She threw herself at him then, and wrapped an arm around his neck. "Thank you... thank you so much..."
He smiled and encircled her waist with one arm. "It's all right."
She pulled away after a moment and sighed. She pulled a card from the graveyard slot of her duel disk. "Here."
He looked down at it.
It was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon she'd used. And it wasn't one Kyle had ever seen before. He frowned slightly at it. The magicians had the other missing Blue-Eyes? And they gave one of Monica's to Peter... this must mean my final opponent has the third one.
I'll need to be ready to counter it.
"Beat them," she whispered.
He took the card and nodded gravely. "Count on it."