Chapter Fourteen
A crowd gathered once the duel started. I stood a little off to the side with Joey, my arms folded and a frown on my face.
"You okay, Olive?" asked Joey.
"Huh?" I asked. "Yea, I'm fine. I'm just worried. I'm trying to concentrate on thoughts, but it's hard with so many people here."
Joey shook his head. "Sometimes I'm grateful that you're crazy," he said.
"I draw first," said Yami. "Now get ready."
I studied the rare hunter's face as he drew, doing everything I could to try and focus on his thoughts and entering his mind. It was as if there was something blocking my powers. I could feel pressure trying to push me away from his mind.
"Yugi…" Joey started.
I touched his arm and shook my head.
Joey grimaced. Staying quiet about whatever he knew was really hard for him.
"First I'll place two cards face down," said Yami. "Then I'll summon beta the magnet warrior in attack mode. Can you handle my newest monster?"
"What is that?" I heard someone in the crowd ask the man he was standing with.
"It's obviously a big yellow magnet with eyeballs," his friend replied.
I smiled a little bit.
"My first card," said the rare hunter, drawing his first card, "will be just what I suspected. Graceful charity let's me draw three cards and I discard two."
Even without being able to read the man's mind, I could see something in his eyes that was untrustworthy.
"He's cheating somehow, huh?" I asked Joey.
Joey looked like he was going to answer me, but then he shut his mouth.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I cleared my mind until I saw nothing and then pictured the rare hunter. I pictured him behind a clear door. I pictured myself walking forward to unlock it. The thoughts came so quickly and unexpectedly that, for a moment, I felt like I'd walked right into a swimming pool without realizing it was in front of me.
"…only two more pieces left," I heard him think.
"If you only knew what was waiting, you'd forfeit now and relinquish your rare dark magician," he taunted Yami out loud.
I kept my eyes shut, focusing. I needed to practice more.
"Never," said Yami. He played a trap card called light of intervention to reveal all of the rare hunter's hidden monsters on the field.
"Doesn't matter," said the rare hunter. He set down a card in defense mode.
Yami sacrificed his magnet warrior and played two cards, which he fused together to create a monster called chimera the flying mythical beast. Yami threatened to kill his monster next turn and then attack his life points directly.
"Forget about what's on the field. Worry about what's in his hand," I heard Joey think.
"Joey, would you mind thinking a little more quietly?" I asked. I smirked, but kept my eyes shut.
"Sorry," said Joey. "I'm really worried. You let me know the second you can tell who's going to win."
"Of course," I said.
"Impressive, but you'll need more than that for what I've got in store for you," said the rare hunter.
"Listen, Yugi, he plans to destroy you. Check out that grin on his ugly face," said Joey. "This is exactly what the creep did to me. He's got something in his hand that's gonna…"
"Silence, Wheeler!" The rare hunter snapped, very angrily. Being so close to his mind, I could feel the anger almost flooding myself as well. "One more word out of you and you can say goodbye to your red eyes forever!"
I took a deep breath and pushed the feelings away.
"I'll end my turn by placing this card face down on the field," said Yami.
"I predict another graceful charity," said the rare hunter, drawing his card. "Imagine that, he said, playing the card. I was correct." He played the card and then drew three more cards and discarded two.
"How does he know what card he'll draw next?" I heard Yami think.
"Excellent, I now have four Exodia pieces," I heard the rare hunter think. "I only need one more to summon the beast that will obliterate Yugi in one attack. He's about to lose his dark magician forever!"
"Rare hunters," another voice flooded my mind, catching me off guard. It took me a moment to realize it was Kaiba. "They took my bait. It's just as I planned."
"Yugi, your dark magician is as good at mine," the rare hunter declared.
"…with the help of some invisible ink and my x-ray contact lens…" I heard the rare hunter think.
Shocked, I snapped out of concentration for a while, my eyes snapping open.
"So that's how he's cheating," I murmured.
"What?" asked Joey.
I shook my head and focused again.
"Now I'll strengthen my defenses," said the rare hunter. To protect himself, he played something called a moving fortress. It had too many defense points for Yugi's chimera to destroy.
"You may be able to defend your life points with fortresses and stone walls, but in order for you to win this, you eventually have to attack me," Yami pointed out. "So what are you waiting for?"
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough, Yugi," said the rare hunter. "So go ahead and make your move. The hunter will strike his prey when the time is right."
"Hey, Yugi," Joey burst out, running forward.
I opened my eyes again and tried to grab Joey. He knocked my hand out of the way.
"Hold it, I can't stand by and watch this," said Joey. "No way! I won't let you lose your dark magician for me."
"That's enough, Joey!" Yami snapped. "You must not reveal the rare hunter's strategy. You're my friend and I'm fighting this duel for you just like you would for me. Do you remember the time Weevil threw my Exodia cards into the ocean? You risked your life to try and get my cards back. It wasn't just because Exodia is one of the most powerful cards in the game, but because I was a friend in need."
Yami's eyes widened ever so slightly. I never would have noticed if I wasn't looking at his face.
"Exodia!" he thought. "That's it! This rare hunter is drawing cards until he can assemble all five pieces of Exodia." Yami smiled and I wanted to cheer.
"I'm onto you," said Yami. "I know your strategy, rare hunter! You're planning to summon Exodia the Forbidden One!"
The rare hunter gaped in astonishment. "No!" he cried out in his mind. "How does he know?" he looked at me. "Her powers should not be that advanced. Did that little witch find a way to tell him somehow?"
I shook my head ever so slightly, just enough that he would notice. It made me a little uneasy that he knew I had powers, though. I had no idea who he could have gotten that kind of information from.
"Thank you Joey, you helped me figure out his strategy without actually telling me," said Yami.
"Even if you know my strategy, it doesn't matter," the rare hunter declared. "Everyone knows that Exodia is the most powerful monster in duel monsters. How will you stop the unstoppable?"
"True, no one has ever defeated Exodia," said Yami, confidently. "But in order to win back Joey's dragon, I'll be the first."
"Give up, Yugi," said the rare hunter. "My hunt is over."
"I may have discovered his strategy to summon Exodia, but I still have to find a way to stop it," I heard Yami think. Even while he was all confidence and composure on the outside, his thoughts seemed a little nervous.
"You can do this, Yami," I told him. "Just remember to have faith."
"I can't wait to see Yugi squirm when he faces the same Exodia he used to defeat me," I heard Kaiba think.
"Kaiba's watching the duel," I said to Joey. "His thoughts are driving me crazy."
"Hey, just stay focused, Olive," said Joey. "Maybe you can help Yugi."
Yami attacked one of the defenses, but the rare hunter brushed it off. He went to draw another card, when Yugi activated a trap card that stopped the rare hunter from drawing any cards.
"This duel is far form over, rare hunter," said Yami.
"A desperate move for my desperate prey," the rare hunter commented nonchalantly.
Yami drew another card. It was a card called light force sword and it destroyed one of the pieces of Exodia. Then Yami sacrificed chimera for his summoned skull. Yami attacked the remaining monster defending the rare hunter.
The rare hunter drew another card.
"You no longer have any monsters to defend you," said Yami. "Looks like this is a whole new game."
The rare hunter threw his head back and began to laugh like a crazy person.
"What's with that guy?" Joey murmured.
"A whole new game, Yugi?" asked the rare hunter, skeptically. "Do you really think you can stop me with one card?"
"I do," said Yami.
"A professional card hunter like me is prepared for any situation," said the rare hunter. He played the swords of revealing light.
"No!" Yami cried out.
"Now you cannot attack me for three turns," said the rare hunter. "And once your light force sword wears off, I'll have the fifth piece of Exodia and I'll be able to summon the beast."
"Come on, Yugi," said Joey. "You've got to get to him before he gets to that last piece of Exodia."
"It's about time Yugi felt what it's like to face Exodia," I heard Kaiba sneer in my head.
"I'm gonna kill him," I whispered. "What an asshole."
"It's my turn," said Yami. "I'll draw one card and end my turn."
"That's all you can do," said the rare hunter. "You've been reduced to watching your own duel. You're unable to attack. You're unable to even make a move. I should just end your misery. Why wait for your sword to wear off when I can just draw another arm? Exodia cards are so rare that most duelists never even see one, but I have three copies of each piece of Exodia in my deck. There are two more arms just waiting in my deck."
Yami smiled.
"Hey, what's so funny?" he demanded.
"Your deck is loaded down with so many Exodia body parts that the odds of drawing the right arm is slim to none," said Yami.
"We'll just see," said the rare hunter.
"Your mistake is that you're relying on one good monster when a good dueling deck requires the right balance of cards," said Yami.
"Come on, Yugi, you can do it, buddy!" said Joey.
Yami played one card face down and summoned another magnet warrior in attack mode.
"Did you forget about my swords of revealing light? You can't attack," said the rare hunter.
"Not yet," said Yami. "But when I destroy your swords, all my monsters will be waiting to attack. You need more cards to destroy my monsters, but all you have in your hands are Exodia cards. You're not defended at all. Once your swords wear off, I can directly attack your life points."
"Wishful thinking," said the rare hunter, although he did look a little more nervous. "It's over, Yugi."
"Take him down!" Joey called.
"You can do it, Yami!" I cheered.
"There's no way you'll summon Exodia in time," said Yami.
"You forget your monsters are trapped in my swords of revealing light and it's my turn," said the rare hunter, drawing another card.
"I bet it's a duplicate Exodia card," Yami taunted.
"It makes no difference to me," said the rare hunter. "Your light force sword will soon disappear, allowing me to access the final piece of Exodia, which gives me an automatic win."
"Not soon enough," said Yami.
"What is Yugi does discover some trick to destroy my swords of revealing light?" I heard the rare hunter think. I closed my eyes. "My life points will be devastated unless I defend with a monster of my own. Each individual piece of Exodia is also a monster card, so I can defend myself with my double of Exodia's head."
"Get your eyes open, witch!" he shouted, hatefully. At first I didn't realize he was talking to me, but then I looked at him. "That's right," he said, "my master has told me all about you. Now stay out of my mind."
"Then keep your mind closed," I shot back, my voice full of spite even though I was completely caught off guard with what he'd said.
He glared at me and then summoned Exodia's head in defense mode.
Yami smirked. "That's exactly what I wanted you to do," he said. "You activated my trap card! A costly mistake!" Yami's trap card revealed itself. It was a card called chain destruction which would destroy all of the Exodia heads in his hand and in his deck. "All of your Exodia heads have been taken from your hand and from your deck. With the heads gone, you can no longer summon all five pieces that you need to summon Exodia." Yami smiled.
"That's impossible!" I heard the rare hunter cry out in his mind. Yami's skill had caught him so off guard that he wasn't keeping his mind closed anymore.
"That's not all," said Yami. "I have also found away around your swords of revealing light!" He activated another trap card called dust tornado. The card would destroy one magic card, which shattered the swords of revealing light. With an excited, confident smile, Yami said, "Next, I'll play monster reborn and bring back chimera! Chimera, destroy the final Exodia head!"
The rare hunter cried out in anger and shock.
"Now your life points are defenseless against my attack," said Yami. "I play alpha the magnet warrior and summoned skull! Summoned skull's electricity raises alpha's attack power by two hundred points. Now, my monsters, attack the rare hunter's life points!"
Alpha the magnet warrior attacked and the rare hunter's life points were reduced to zero. He fell to the ground with the impact of the attack.