Yugioh GX: Konami/Kazuki Takahashi
A/N: (*) If you ever watched The Simpsons' "Homie the Clown", you would understand this reference...
The first act takes place among the tall buildings of Domino city, home to a few of the world's most famous duelists. In one of its tallest buildings sat the president of the world-renowned gaming company KaibaCorp.
"I think that just about does it…" he muttered, letting out a sigh in relief. "And I managed to spare a fair amount of time. So…" with a few keyboard taps and mouse movements, he switched windows from his work to the Duel Academy Database. Without many hobbies he sometimes looks into the data of its students, trying to see if there were anything out of the ordinary in his absence. It was just recently that he was checking in more frequently because a few first-year students have caught his attention. But this time, he's interested in one in particular…
The lit bulbs rotated slowly yet brightly atop of the lighthouse a certain Obelisk student spent his nights leaning against. But tonight he doesn't seem to be alone.
"I never really expected you to be here this late," Zane greeted Chakra as she turned the corner, "I'm sure Alexis must've told you I'd be here. Is there anything you need?"
"I was hoping you could help me with something…" she opened a laptop she carried with her and turned it on to the school's website. There she pulled up one of the students' profiles.
"Hm. Isn't that…"
"Let's see here; his name is Jason Hutchins, a first-year Slifer Red at age 15. …Right here it says they never received his tuition! Then what is he even doing there?!"
"I've been looking into Jason's dueling and I figured you could give me a little insight. You are one of the school's best duelist after all."
"A little insight, huh?" Zane then sighed, "Do you have a record on him?" Chakra performed a few mouse clicks and went to Jason's dueling record.
"This looks interesting. It seems Jason did well on his first practical exam, and against Crowler no less. Even though Crowler used his Deluxe Limiter Removal and sacrificed three different Gadget monsters to bring his Gadjiltron Dragon at his full potential, this kid managed to survive such a combo by using a well-outdated card. I forgot that card still exists…"
"Despite that, he still allowed himself to be beaten by Obelisk Blue students," Zane said, looking further into the records, "Crowler may just be losing his touch."
"Regardless, you can't argue with the results when he's faced with high stakes."
"That's right. He was caught trespassing on forbidden grounds. But for some reason they decided to give those rule-breakers a chance to stay in school. Two of them were arranged to face the Paradox Brothers, but they managed to win regardless of being in Slifer Red. As for Jason, he and another Slifer was forced to duel one another to face a third arranged duelist while the loser had to be sent home. But the Jason person somehow managed to pull out a tie game using the Last Turn trap card. But seeing that other duelist's deck profile I knew he has stronger monsters than that. Did those two planned that tie?"
"Anyway, Jason used that tie to give Chumley a chance to duel alongside him," Chakra said, "And since there was only one other duelist to face, they have to give him last-minute partner from the student roster."
"So Bandit Keith has a younger relative that goes there, huh? And like him, she plays a machine deck of her own. Together they overwhelmed the Slifers with a combination of raw power and massive effect-damage. But Jason managed to pull off another win for him and his partner by using a combination of a Spiritual Art card and a corresponding-attribute monster. Let's see what else is here," he scrolled down until he spotted one that made his eyes widen a bit, "…whoa. Losing to that thing cannot be good for anyone's reputation. All it needs is an annoying Brooklyn accent and I could consider introducing the two."
"But to be fair, he did hold back."
"A loss is still a loss. Anything else?"
"Let's see…there was this one other duel he held back in, but in this he managed to manipulate the duel and made it into a draw."
"So he used another Spiritual Art combo, huh? I'm starting to think his theme isn't limited to some archetype like I originally thought. There's one other duel here, and this one is the most recent," he scrolled down, "This opponent looks like an overgrown monkey without any decent clothes on. And he's supposed to be an Obelisk Blue? Do they accept just anyone in my academy? I need to make sure they manage to run a tighter ship in my absence…"
"I'm sure that's all for now," Chakra closed her laptop, "So if you were to duel him in the state he's in now, what would you think?"
Zane paused, before looking back over the horizon, "…He's gonna need a lot more practice than that to hold a candle against me."
Chakra looked away and smiled sadly, "I thought you'd say that. Well, I'd better get going then…" she walked away from the harbor, leaving Zane to mull by himself.
Jason sat lazily on a table as he huffed into the empty space. Apparently there was a lottery in Crowler's class today to write a five-page, single-spaced report that he has to finish by the beginning of next week. Even worse, he's still hasn't decided on a topic for it. So now he's sitting in the library, tapping his pencil on a blank piece of paper. He hasn't even started and he's already reached a dead end.
But not wanting a failing grade, he risked taking one of the nearest magazines the previous students may have left behind and tried to find ideas from there. From the title it seemed like nothing special, just an old catalog of duelists from some tournament years back. He was flipping through it looking for easy access to duelist files and stopped at a page spread that got him very curious…
On one page was an article on a duelist named Ryo Bakura. It says here that his deck had an occult theme, focusing of not only fiend-type monsters and other cards related to ghosts and spirits. There are cards here that he's seen before. The Dark Door, Dark Spirit of the Silent, even Dark Necrofear, he remembered Calypso using those same monsters.
The next duelist was similar: Marik Ishtar. It said that he only participated in one tournament and it was said to have left a lasting impression. His deck contained mostly fiends as well, but its primary focus was disrupting the opponent's battle tactics and playing hand. Calypso did the same thing. Helpoemer, Dark Jeroid, Legendary Fiend, she used a similar tactic. She must have based her entire deck on those two…
"I though I'd find you here," Jason looked up to see Chakra approaching him, "With that report you've been given, it's good to see you're doing research. How's it going?"
"Do you know what topic I should use?" Jason asked, "I've been looking into some stuff so I can know where to start…"
Chakra looked over Jason's shoulder at the magazine, "Looks like you're looking up the Battle City Tournament. Why don't you try that for a report?"
"Battle City? Is that what it's called?"
"Please, don't tell me you don't know about that Battle City Tournament," Chakra said as she took a seat next to Jason, "It's a part of dueling history; not to mention it's where the first official duel-disk made it's debut, you know, the one you're always using?"
Jason remembered the duel-disk he always uses, which was different then the duel-disks issued by the academy. Which reminds him, why hasn't he gotten one yet? "Is there anything you can tell me about it?"
Chakra sighed, "Okay, first of all Battle City was the turning-point of how we played duel-monsters. Before, we'd have to find giant virtual arenas to experience our cards in holographic form. But thanks to the duel-disks issued to Battle City participants, we can duel anywhere without having to wait to rent for an arena."
"Okay…"
"The goal is to win duels by anteing up your rarest card, as well as a special 'Locator Card'. When you collect six of those you're given the secret location where the finals would be held."
"What else?"
"You can't expect me to give you all the information. If you want to do the report them you're gonna have to do the research. But I can point you in the right direction. I'm sure there are news articles of Battle City somewhere."
The door to the library opened and someone stumbled inside. Both Jason and Chakra looked up to see Noire Kennedy slumped against the wall, nearly our of breath.
"Noire? You look in a hurry!" Chakra stated. Noire panted and wheezed as she tried to form words in her mouth, but nothing came out, "Look, just relax and sit down. Here." Chakra got up and lead Noire to a seat and settled her down, "Okay, let's start over. What is it you have to say?"
Noire calmed down and took a few deep breaths before giving her answer, "It's Calypso!"
The three made a beeline for the school's infirmary and saw what Noire meant. Lying limp on the bed was Calypso, who looked like she had been in a fight with all those scratches and patches of dirt on her. Nurse Fontaine was watching over her when they entered.
"Your friend found her a few minutes ago," the nurse said, "and by the state she's in and what Noire told me I think she had walked out of some kind of fight!"
"Well, there are no animals on this island so an animal attack is ruled out," Chakra said, then looked towards Noire, "You said she came from the forest?"
"That's where she came from," Noire replied, "I saw her limping towards the Ra dorm and she passed out near there."
"Is she going to be okay?" Jason asked Fontaine.
"She's in a state of fatigue and she's very exhausted," Fontaine said, "She'll need some rest, but other than that, she'll be fine."
Chakra, Jason and Noire left the nurse's office so Calypso could get her rest.
"Um, Noire, did Calypso have anything in her possession when you found her?" Chakra asked.
"Um, no. Why do you ask?"
"I thought so…" That does seem strange. Calypso's rarely seen without that book. It makes him wonder if someone took it from her. And if that's the case, does that mean someone else could use it?
"Jason, can I talk to you privately for a minute?" Jason didn't need to reply as he followed Chakra around a corner. The Obelisk peeked around to make sure they were alone before speaking to him again, "I didn't think much of it until now, but think you made a fair point there. Have you ever seen Calypso without the book at anytime besides when she's in your dorm room?"
Jason shook his head, "Now that you mention it, I don't think she ever went anywhere without it."
"I figured as much," Chakra sighed, "I think we both know how dangerous that book is, right?"
"I remembered," Jason nodded, "Do you think someone took it off of her?"
"It's a possibility we can't rule out. If someone stole the book from her or at least found it, we could have a problem. Besides, we both know how dangerous that book is. Whoever has it can cause trouble. Even if they don't know how to use it, it could cause even more harm."
"Do you think we should find the book, do you know where to start?"
"Better to start now than later. And I'm planning to solve this problem as soon as possible." Chakra turned around and walked away.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Just wait until I come back with something," Chakra waved off, "In the meantime, just focus on that report!"
After a while in the library he's finally had plans set for his report. After doing a little more research he could try writing a rough draft. After that he'll do a bit more research while he types it down before changing it into a final draft. With that decided, he checked out a few resources and carried them to his dorm room which, for the umpteenth time, he had all to himself for the evening. It was getting dark out and Jason looked into the few magazines he checked out. Eventually he reached an article with a picture of a tiny island of rubble with a large, mechanical tower in the center. 'The Battle City Finals' it said. It said here that the island was the tournament's final stage, which someone named Yugi Muto won. He looked over to the roster of the final four duelists and one of the caught his eye.
"Familiar…" that word escaped out of his mouth while looking at the one with the spiky head that isn't hard to miss. He thought back to the day of his entrance exam where he ran into someone similar to him.
Suddenly he was alerted by the sound of his PDA beeping and brought it out to answer it. It was a video edited by a shadow and an altered voice:
"We have what you're looking for. If you want your book returned, meet me at the central rooftop within twenty minutes. Duel to earn your prize…"
This seemed too convenient. But he and Chakra were right to assume someone would steal Calypso's book. The question now is why they did it, and can he win it back? He couldn't help but feel this is some kind of ploy. Why would they steal something just to give it back? He'll need some assistance for this…
"Thank you for helping me, Chakra." Jason said as he and Chakra walked through the dark halls of the school.
"You're right to call me here. It'd be too dangerous to do this alone."
"They said to meet them on the middle rooftop. That must me the giant silver one, right? Do you know how to get there?"
"Strange. The roofs aren't exactly a place for students. Even if our thief's up there I doubt it would be accessible to us, unless they leave the door open for some reason." After a couple more minutes of hallways and a couple more staircases, they finally found a certain door with a sign reading 'Maintenance Only' beside it, with the door itself open.
The lights came on as they went in. Inside seemed like a standard maintenance closet, with tools on one corner and cleaning supplies on another. On the other side is another open door, the lights lit from the inside. They walked inside, revealing a large, hexagonal room with four mechanical pedestals, each large enough to fit one person and attached to a vertical rail on the side walls. But the one thing that caught their attention the most…
…Standing in the exact center of the room is a human-shaped figure under a black cloak, just as shown in Jason's message. "It's him!" Jason gasped at the sight of the stranger.
"It's good to see that you came, duelist," the stranger greeted in an amused tone, its voice under the same filter, "And it looks like you brought a friend."
Chakra stepped forward, "We came here because you have something that doesn't belong to you!"
"Then if you want it back, there's only one way…" the stranger threw aside the shroud hiding his left arm and revealed a duel-disk. "And that's in a duel."
"Fine. Then I'll duel…" Jason stepped forward.
"What about your friend?" the stranger asked snidely, "I don't see any reason to leave her out of the fun."
"Two against one isn't fair," Chakra argued, "But if that's what you want…"
"I assure you, things will be evened out. I won't be dueling alone…" another cloak stepped out from behind the first one, "We'll make this 2-on-2."
'I knew it would be a bad idea to leave Jason alone on this. Now I know why.' Chakra thought, and then stepped up to stand beside Jason. "Fine. It's a tag-duel, then."
"Then it's settled. We'll have a double-duel, but we'll be battling in another location," the stranger nodded over to one of the pedestals, "These lifts will take us to our destination. There we will have our duel."
"I guess there's no other way," Chakra looked up to the ceiling with Jason, then down to the four pedestals. "Jason, you take one while I take the other."
Jason nodded and went to the nearest one on the left while Chakra took the right. The two cloaks did the same for the remaining pedestals. They looked for a way to activate them, but the pedestals seemed to turn on automatically and alarmed them slightly by lifting them up the wall. Two hatches opened to let each pedestal carry them up through the ceiling.
The motions finally stopped and a new set of light illuminated the darkness of yet another room, revealing a large duel-arena almost as large as the main stadium arena. Stepping off of their respective pedestals, the four duelists gathered together at the core arena. Jason and Chakra stood on one end while the two black cloaks stood parallel on the opposite.
"Now, before we begin…" Chakra began, "We want to make sure you don't back out of the deal. So show us the book, and throw it to the center of the stage," the first cloak revealed the book from under their cloak and tossed it over, where it landed in the middle with a thud. "Better. Now that it's out in the open where we can all see, I'm sure you won't try any tricks. Now o to the rules: both teams start with a shared amount of 8000 points. When they reach zero, the team loses then and there. Also, no one attacks until everyone gets their first turn. Any questions?"
"Just one…" the cloak pushed back its cape and opened their arms, where they pulled out their deck and placed it inside their duel-disk. Their partner did the same. "Are you ready to lose?"
"How's this for an answer…" Chakra got set up herself for the duel while Jason did the same.
"Let's Duel!" they all exclaimed.
Cloaks 1 & 2: 8000
Jason and Chakra: 8000
"We'll make the first turn!" Chakra started, then glanced over to Jason, "Jason, you go first!"
"Aright!" Jason drew his sixth card, "I summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat in ATK mode!" the female fire hero appeared (ATK: 1300), "Next I place one card face-down and end my turn, which activates Lady Heat's special-ability and inflict 200 points of damage to your life-points!" Lady Heat launched a small ball of flame that exploded at one of the cloak's feet.
Cloaks 1 & 2: 7800
Jason and Chakra: 8000
"I guess it's my turn now," the first cloak drew their card, "I summon (1) Makyura the Destructor(4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200) in ATK mode!" the monster summoned appeared as a knight in fully-suited violet-and-gold armor. The single-eyed helmet it wore has a large, spiky crest on the top with a pair of axe-like blades on the sides. Equipped on each wrist is a giant set of claws that look like they could slice through metal (ATK: 1600), "That ends my turn."
"It's my turn!" Chakra drew her sixth card, "I set one monster in DEF mode!" a face-down card appeared in the monster-card zone, "Then I end my turn by placing four cards face-down!" four more set cards appeared behind the first one.
"Now it's my turn…" the second cloak said, with a calm and cool tone in contrast to his partner, "I place these two card face-down and end my turn." Two reverse-cards appeared.
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I summon Elemental Hero Heat in ATK mode!" Lady Heat's male counterpart appeared (ATK: 1600), "And while he's on the field, his ATK increases by 200 for every Elemental Hero on my field, including Heat himself (ATK: 2000)! Elemental Hero Heat attacks Makyura!" Heat ignited its fists and slammed them against Makyura, cracking its armor before it shattered into pixels.
Cloaks 1 & 2: 7400
Jason and Chakra: 8000
If anyone listened closely, they could hear a small chuckle from the cloak's hood, "Because Makyura was sent to the graveyard, I can activate a trap card straight from my deck. And the card I choose to activate will be Nightmare Wheel!" a large, gruesome skull carrying a large wheel in its maw appeared.
'A trap card from his hand?!' Jason gasped in his mind.
"When this card is activated, it can capture one of your monsters, preventing it from attacking or switching its battle-position. Also, it deals its owner 500 points of damage each time my standby-phase comes to pass. So I'll use Nightmare Wheel to capture your Elemental Hero Lady Heat!" a set of chains shot out towards Lady Heat.
"I activate my trap card, Spiritual Fire Art!" Jason's reverse-card open, "This lets me release a fire-attribute monster! And since Lady Heat is a fire-attribute, when she leaves the field, your Nightmare Wheel misses its target!" Lady Heat skipped back into the trap card, escaping the wheel's cage.
"Jason, let me help! I activate my own face-down cards: Chain Detonation, Chain Healing, Accumulated Fortune and Chain Strike!" all four of Chakra's cards flipped open, one after another, "Each of these cards can't be activated on their own; but activated together, they activate a powerful domino-effect!"
"Domino effect?" the cloak muttered.
"I mean I'm gonna use them all in one combo! And I'm going to use Jason's Spiritual Fire Art to set it in motion!"
"My Spiritual Fire Art?" Jason asked.
"Just like you did with Harrington!" Chakra nodded, "By countering one card activation or effect to another, they create a chain of effects that resolve one after another. And here's how it works: first you countered Nightmare Wheel's activation using Spiritual Fire Art. Then I chose to counter your very Spiritual Art with a card of my own called Chain Detonation. Meanwhile each card in this chain are numbered from the first card played on down."
Nightmare Wheel: Chain Link 1
Spiritual Fire Art-Hiita: Chain Link 2
Chain Detonation: Chain Link 3
"Wait, so those other cards you activated, are you countering them to each other as well?"
"Yes. Chain Detonation is counted by Chain Healing, and Chain Healing is countered by Accumulative Fortune, and finally Accumulative Fortune is countered by Chain Strike.
Chain Healing: Chain Link 4
Accumulative Fortune: Chain Link 5
Chain Strike: Chain Link 6
"So you managed to link out cards together…" the cloak said, "It's nothing new."
"Apparently you haven't seen the combo I have in store. Now that the chain is complete, the effects that are to activate will do so in the exact opposite order they were played! Since Chain Strike is activated last, its effect goes first, inflicting 400 points of damage for each card in the combo. So since there are six card in the combo, you take 1600 points of damage!" the quick-play spell glowed and launched a series of chains at the two mystery duelists.
Cloaks 1 & 2: 5800
Jason and Chakra: 8000
"Next up is the trap card Accumulative Fortune! This card can only be activated as the forth card in the combo or further! Its effect allows me to draw two more cards from my deck!" Chakra drew two more cards, "Now for Chain Healing and Chain Detonation! They can only be played as the second card in the combo or further! Chain Healing increases this side's life-points by 500 while Chain Detonation's effect…I think you get the idea." Chain Healing appeared as a porcelain chalice decorated with silver chains while Chain Detonation appeared as a yellow x-shaped mine with a red gem on it. The Chalice tipped over and shower Chakra with stardust while the mine flew over to the opposing side and exploded on impact.
Cloaks 1 & 2: 5300
Jason and Chakra: 8500
"There's something else you need to know about Chain Detonation and Chain Healing. If either of them were played as the second or third card in the combo, that card is shuffled back into my deck instead of going to the graveyard! Any further, and they get to be added back to my hand! I'm sure you can follow all that, right?" Chakra shuffled Chain Detonation into her deck and returned Chain Detonation. "Jason, it's all you now. Continue where I left off.
Jason nodded, "Now Spiritual Fire Art's effect activates, inflicting damage equal to the released monster's original ATK. And without a monster you Nightmare Wheel is useless!" Jason's trap fired a large fireball that burst between the cloaked opponents.
Cloaks 1 & 2: 4000
Jason and Chakra: 8500
"I place one card face-down and end my turn," Jason concluded with a reverse-card, the turned to Chakra, "I didn't know there were cards that could do what you did. Now we're already halfway done. Thanks again for helping…"
Chakra beamed a smile, "No problem. We're in this together, right?" but their moment was interrupted by laughter from the opponents' field.
"I must admit, you truly are a talented duelist," one of them praised, "I guess that means it's time we all take this duel seriously. I've held back long enough!"
The sound of gears whirring and turning filled the area as the arena they're standing on began to rise. The ceiling above opened to give more space for the arena to continue rising up to a larger, more open space. But the time it snapped to a halt, the stage became a large, cylindrical tower on the main rooftop of the school building.
Unbeknownst to them, it was all seen from the edge of the inactive volcano. They were perched on a platform surrounded by the night's darkness that no one could see then if they were paying attention.
The sound of rotating blades caught their attention as a helicopter landed on the platform beside then, the pilot climbing out carrying something with them, "Here's your personal items right here, sir."
The stranger retrieved the box from the pilot, "That's all I'll need for you right now. Go to the back of the island and wait for further instructions."
"Thank you, sir!" the pilot saluted and returned to the helicopter to leave. As it hovered away, the stranger already opened the box, and stared at its contents with intensity, grinning wickedly, "It looks live I've been busy lately! I can't wait to brush off my skill after so long..."
"We're outside?!" Jason gasped as he and Chakra looked around.
"If you ask me, it's sort of reminiscing," the cloak said, "It's been years since I've dueled in a place such as this."
"So you dueled here before?" Chakra asked.
"So sorry. What I mean is, it reminds me of the days of Battle City, where I played in the finals on KaibaCorp's Alcatraz Tower!" hearing those words, the two academy duelist have been clued in…
"Alcatraz Tower?" Jason gasped aloud, "Like the one I read in the article…"
'But Alcatraz Tower is where the Battle City final four dueled! And those four were Yugi Moto, Seto Kaiba…' by the time Chakra continued down the list, she gasped and then hardened a glare, "You better show me who you are under those robes, now!"
"Well, since you asked nicely…I was going to do that anyway!" grabbing their cape, the mystery duelist flung it over and off of them, tossing it out of the arena and into the winds. Their true identity were revealed, wearing a black sleeveless tank top and beige pants along with golden earrings, neckwear, armbands and bracelets. His ash-grey hair spiked up a several direction as a third eye glowed alit on his forehead. Due to his overall appearance, Chakra stood stiff in confusion.
"He looks like one of the guys I found while I was researching Battle City!" Jason said, "His name was Marik Ishtar!"
"Then you'd know how old your references are…" Chakra replied, shuddering, "Battle City dated back over a decade. This guy can't be Marik! He looks the same age as he was during the tournament!"
"So you know who I am," the person know as Marik gave a flourished bow, "It's good to see my fame precedes me!"
"So you were in Battle City?" Jason asked.
"That's right. And I'm not the only one here with history of Battle City…" Marik waved over to his partner, "Let's see who's under Curtain #2!" on cue the second one tossed away his cloak but this time it was thrown towards Chakra.
By the time she caught it Jason could already see their plan. It was just a distraction to take the book back while she was preoccupied. He jumped towards it, but the book was snatched away and he fell on his face instead.
"Are you okay?" Chakra asked Jason as she threw away the cape. He glanced over at the second opponent, but a glance was all it took for her body to lock back up.
The new figure wore normal jeans and a teal short-sleeved collared jacket worn over a blue and white horizontally striped t-shirt. His stiff white hair was pointed downwards in various directions and trails half way down his back.
"Ryo Bakura's here too?" Chakra shuddered, 'And he's also the same as he was back in Battle City! It doesn't make any sense!'
"Pleased to meet your acquaintance," Ryo Bakura greeted, his tone sounding darker, "Now that the introductions are out of the way let's say we continue this little game…" he glanced over to Marik, "Let's take it to the next level, shall we?"
"With pleasure," Marik snickered, getting the same idea. Swiftly he opened the book and flipped the pages in a single flaunt before letting the page fall still, when he skimmed another look to Bakura, "Just one question: you rather we do this SAW-Style or Hellraiser-Style?" (*)
"Listen to you heard." Bakura waved off and Marik browsed the book a bit more before stopping at a particular page.
"Get ready, because you're about to witness a game unlike anything you played before!" Marik raised the book in the air and black smoke spilled out of it in massive quantities.
"Here it comes!" Chakra warned as the fog spread over them, surrounding the arena and cutting them off from the outside. Soon the arena and everyone standing on it were at the mercy of complete and total darkness, no longer in the world they knew.
"Now this feels more like home!" Marik declared, "Welcome to the Shadow Realm!"
This is what they were afraid of. The last time Jason and Chakra were here with a few others, they almost lost their souls here. Whatever tricks those two veteran duelists plan to pull…
'Those two can't be the real Marik and Bakura!' Chakra thought, then looked up to the dark clouds, 'But how do they know how to use that book, or that it even exists? Something weird's going on.' "If you two are the duelists you say you are, then how did you come to be here?" Chakra demanded, "How come you look like you haven't aged?"
"I guess it is a story worth sharing, if you don't mind my bragging," Bakura chuckled, "You see the Book of Lost Millennium dates back as far as the Millennium Items were created. And as you've seen for yourselves not long ago, it works as a gateway to the Shadow Realm."
"And to think I used to believe Shadow Realm was all a myth..." Chakra muttered.
"I'm afraid that's where you're wrong, my dear," Marik said, "The Shadow Realm is all to real. And this book can manifest dark powers using the souls trapped deep inside it. And there are many souls than you can possible imagine."
"That still doesn't explain how you look the same as the Battle City articles!" Chakra snapped, "And another thing, how did you know that Jason and I dealt with this sort of thing before? I doubt you two were even there!"
"I can assure you, we were there," Bakura said, "Remember how that girl Calypso was able to utilize souls for her cards? Especially when summoning Dark Necrofear?"
'I remember Calypso saying she used souls to make her cards real,' Jason thought, 'But I don't know what that has to do with now...'
"Of course I remember, because I was one of the souls trapped behind the books bindings until now."
Chakra gasped, "You were trapped inside the book?!"
"I can vouch for him," Marik said, "After all, I was trapped there myself as well."
"But...now you're out..." Chakra said, "How's that even possible?"
"The same way it was possible for your Slifer friend to free you and your fellow students from Calypso's grip that night," Bakura looked towards Jason, "Don't you remember how you freed them from being consumed by the discard graveyard?"
Jason thought back to his duel with Calypso and how he was able to free the girls by using Elemental Hero Flash. Then he thought back further to when Dark Necrofear was summoned, "Did Dark Necrofear have anything to do with it?"
"You're catching on. That particular shadow-game was formed to eject spirits that were banished from that current duel."
"Too bad she wasn't paying attention to whose spirits she was releasing." Marik added.
"But...why would you choose now to make your move?" Chakra asked.
"You do know that spirits can't interact with this world without a corporeal form, right?" Bakura said, "Knowing our jailer would return to reclaim her lost spirits we decided to 'rent out space' using a couple random students."
"You mean you possessed them." Calypso guessed.
"At first we were just occupying their bodies, hiding within the darkest corners of their minds until we were strong enough to actually use possession," Bakura explained, "Eventually we were able to put those bodies to use while their asleep, and used the opportunity to corner her while she was out last night. And now that we have the book we can use the souls inside to form actually bodies of our own."
'So that's why Calypso's been out so late!' Jason thought, 'those spirits must have been wandering the island ever since our duel. So she's been looking to take bake every last one of them. And then these two show up...' "Wait! Why did you call me out here do duel you?"
"Surely there are powerful duelists on this island whose souls are worth taking," Bakura said, "so why not start with the one person who defeated Caypso in a duel."
"Now, if you heard enough, let's get back to the duel, shall we?" tucking the book under his arm, Marik proceeded with his next turn, "I activate Temple of the Kings!" after slipping the card into his duel-disk, the fog behind the opposing field parted and revealed a giant stone temple; a huge stairway leading up to a large casket, "A spell card…that is what you children call it these days, right? And what it does is the same as Makyura's ability, which allows me to activate a trap card directly from my hand. And this trap is in a class unlike anything you've ever played; for you see, it's a trap and a monster!" the trap card Marik played became a black-skinned shield-and-sword warrior with a lower belly of a snake, including a snake's head protruding from its back (ATK: 1600), "Embodiment of Apophis(4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1800)!"
"Chakra, do you know anything about this card?" Jason asked.
"As this Marik-Imposter implied, that monster comes from an exclusive class of traps that not just special-summons a monster, but becomes the monster itself," Chakra replied, "And every monster like it are formed from continuous-trap cards just so they can legally remain on the field."
"I'm getting the feeling that someone doesn't think I'm the genuine article," Marik snickered, "I'm hurt. But you're right on one thing: since the monster I played is a special-summon, I can still summon a monster from my hand. So by sacrificing my Embodiment of Apophis, I can summon the powerful (2) Mystical Beast of Serket(6/ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000)!" a large brown-colored scorpion-like creature appeared from inside the temple and scuttle down the stairs, over to Marik's side (ATK: 2500).
"Jason please tell me you have something prepared…" Chakra pleaded, which Jason could only shake his head.
"Time to remove this so-called hero from the field, Serket!" the scorpion grabbed Heat with one of its pinchers and, to Jason's horror, sucked him into its mouth, devouring him.
Yami Marik and Yami Bakura: 4000
Jason and Chakra: 7800
"And here's the best part: not only is your monster removed from play, Serket absorbs 500 ATK points from each monster it devours (ATK: 3000)! Finally I place one card face-down to end my turn."
"It's my turn!" Chakra drew her next card, "I place two cards face-down, and that'll be it for now."
"Then I guess it's my turn," Bakura drew his next card, "I activate the spell Graceful Charity. This allows me to draw three additional card from my deck, as long as I discard two card from my hand," he drew three times and discarded twice, "Next, I activate the spell Magical Stone Excavation. Bu sending two card from my hand to the graveyard, I can add any spell card, a spell like Graceful Charity, from my graveyard," Bakura took the spell back to his hand, "Now I can activate Graceful Charity once more." The process repeated as he drew three cards before discarding two.
'He must be looking for something important,' Chakra thought, 'why else would he draw cards so recklessly?'
"Next I activate yet another spell, A Feather of the Phoenix. By discarding one card from my hand, I can take a spell card from my graveyard and place it on top of my deck," Bakura did just so, "Next, due to the Temple of the Kings' effect, I activate the trap Spirit Barrier from my hand," the continuous-trap was played next onto his duel-disk, "Finally I end my turn with a face-down."
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I place one monster and DEF mode. I end my turn."
"Then it's my turn," Marik drew his next card, "And I'd like to thank you for providing my Mystical Beast another morsel!" Serket scuttled towards the set monster.
"I activate my trap card, Reverse Trap!" Jason opened his reverse-card, "For the rest of this turn, any power that increases a monsters ATK and DEF points will decrease it instead!"
Mystical Beast of Serket: (ATK: 2000)
The set monster rose as Elemental Hero Woodsman (DEF: 2000). The wood-limbed hero caught the creature by its clutches and forced it back. "And since Woodsman's DEF is the same as Serket's ATK, it can't be destroyed in battle!"
"For now at least. But I have something better in mind," Marik grinned, "I activate my Temple of the Kings' second effect!" Serket turned and jumped back into the Temple of the Kings, opening the large casket before scuttling inside, "By sacrificing both the temple and its guardian, I can summon a monster from anywhere in my deck!" the stone temple collapsed into nothing but rubble with Serket still inside. Amidst the debris a grotesque demon with four snake-like tendrils rose and hovered over to the arena (ATK: 1500), "I'm sure you remember my Legendary Fiend, don't you? After all, it remembers you, and how you disgraced it by turning its power against him!"
"How could I forget…?" Jason muttered, 'But I also didn't forget how that monster can power up at the start of every turn. But if Chakra summons a stranger monster on her next turn, we won't have to worry about it…right?"
"I activate the quick-play spell card Turn Jump! As soon as this card's active, the entire duel is skipped over by three rounds!"
"Three rounds?! But what does that mean?"
"It means I can skip three standby-phases! And since my Legendary Fiend powers up by 700 ATK points, it gains a complete set of 2100 points, giving it a grand total of 3600 ATK points!"
Legendary Fiend: (ATK: 3600)
"A monster he summoned weaker that Serket, just became even stronger!" Chakra gasped, "I was hoping we can get past this before it became too powerful, but…"
"But now you can't!" Marik laughed, "And soon it'll be too late to do anything about it! Now make your move!"
Chakra drew her next card, "I place one card face-down. That's it."
"Then it's my turn," Bakura drew his next card, "And since I share the same field as my partner, my standby-phase gives Legendary Fiend an additional 700 ATK points."
Legendary Fiend: (ATK: 4300)
"And remember last turn when I used A Feather of the Phoenix to add a card from my graveyard? Guess what I've chosen…" for the third time, he activate Graceful Charity to draw three cards and discard two, "Then I guess I'll end my turn with a face-down." A reverse-card appeared.
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "With Woodsman's effect, I can add one Polymerization card to my hand!" he searched his deck for his spell card before shuffling the rest, "Next I activate Polymerization and use Elemental Heroes Knospe and Poison Rose to summon Elemental Hero Gaia!" the heavily-armored earth hero appeared (ATK: 2200), "And when he's summoned, he can cut the ATK points of an opponent's monster in half while gaining half the ATK points it lost!"
Legendary Fiend: (ATK: 2150)
Elemental Hero Gaia: (ATK: 4350)
"Now Elemental Hero Gaia, attack!" Gaia slammed its fist into the field and destroyed it.
Yami Marik and Yami Bakura: 4000
Jason and Chakra: 7800
Marik growled, seemingly disappointed. "You got lucky…"
"But you life-points didn't change…" Jason realized.
"Very observant," Bakura insulted, "That's because of my Spirit Barrier trap that's in effect. It protects the user's life-points whenever there's a monster in the field."
"But that's not all. I play a trap card of my own called Option Hunter!" Marik activated his face-down, "This card adds the ATK points of the monster you destroyed this battle to my life-points. So all you did was give me Legendary Fiend's power!"
Yami Marik and Yami Bakura: 5500
Jason and Chakra: 7800
"I place one card face-down and end my turn." Jason concluded.
"Then it's my turn," Marik drew his next card, "I set one monster in DEF mode, and that'll do."
"It's my turn!" Chakra drew her next card, "I summon the Morphing Jar that I had face-down a few turns ago!" the monster revealed itself as a stone jar with a grinning face inside, "With his special-ability, we all have to replace our hand by drawing five new cards from our decks!" each player discarded their hands before drawing, "Next I sacrifice Morphing Jar to summon vanished and was replaced by a lovely blond-haired woman, the white sleeves and collar dressed as large violet petals and a series of large grass blades draped behind her from her collar (ATK: 2400), "And now Iris attacks your face-down card!" Iris summoned a pair of green vines that pierced through the set monster card. But something long and slimy shout out and coiled around the Earth Mother, restricting her movement.
"The monster you destroyed happens to be my (3) Kiseitai(2/ATK: 300/DEF: 800)!" Marik explained, "And thanks to you, it'll give me half of Iris' ATK during each of my partner or my standby-phase!"
'I can't believe I fell into that one,' Chakra groaned, 'I guess the best way I can get rid of that thing is to sacrifice my own monster. But for now…' "I place one card face-down and end my turn."
"It's my turn," Bakura drew his next card, "And due to Kiseitai's special-ability, I gain 1200 life-points."
Yami Marik and Yami Bakura: 6700
Jason and Chakra: 7800
"I'd like to thank you for the extra cards. But for now, I'll end my turn with this…" a reverse-card appeared in front of Bakura.
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I switch Elemental Hero Woodsman to ATK mode!" the wood-limbed hero rose to his feet (ATK: 1000), "And since there's no monster on your field, both monster can attack you directly!" both Gaia and Woodsman charged forth to attack.
"I plated my trap card, Depth Amulet!" Bakura activated his continuous-trap, "So until the end of my opponent's third turn I can sacrifice any number of cards from my hand, which in turn negates the same number of attacks." The two cards he discarded formed a barrier that repelled the attacks.
"I end my turn…" Jason concluded.
"That's means it's my turn again!" Marik drew his next card, "And Kiseitai's ability once again activates!"
Yami Marik and Yami Bakura: 7900
Jason and Chakra: 7800
"I summon (4) Revival Jam(4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 800) in DEF mode!" a shapeless mass of blue slime appeared (DEF: 800). "Then I place one card face-down," a reverse-card appeared, "That'll do for now."
"It's my turn," Chakra drew her next card, "I summon (5) Blast Asmodian(3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 300) in ATK mode!" a small red imp with a bulbous head appeared, wearing tight black pants and an open, green wool vest (ATK: 1000), "And now my monsters will set their sights on that Revival Jam!" both monsters move in to attack.
"I think not," Bakura smirked, "Have you forgotten about Depth Amulet's effect? All I have to do is sacrifice two more cards and both your attacks will be negated."
"That's why I decided to counter your trap card with a few of my own! Activate Chain Healing, followed by Mystical Wind Typhoon and finally Miraculous Rebirth!"
'She's about to do another combo!' Jason realized.
"First, Miraculous Rebirth has to be activated as the forth card at the very least. But it's well worth the wait because now I can summon one monster from my graveyard! And the card I decided to bring back will be my (6) Lightning Punisher(7/ATK: 2600/DEF: 1600)!" the quick-play spell summoned a man in a sleeveless black jumpsuit with silver tesula-like bands sparking around his upper thighs and waist, and a sapphire gem on his chest. His short and spiky silver hair has a golden mask disguising his face. And on his hands he wore golden gloves that stopped just above his knuckles (ATK: 2600), "Second, my Mystical Wind Typhoon can only be played as the third-or-higher card in a combo. But it also allows me to destroy any one spell or trap card on your field, and I choose your Spirit Barrier!" a gust of wind shot out of the card and tore through the Spirit Barrier card, "Next, my Chain Healing gives me 500 more life-points."
Yami Marik and Yami Bakura: 7900
Jason and Chakra: 8300
"But since it's played as the second card, I have to shuffle it back into my deck," Chakra did just that and added the card with the others. Finally, Depth Amulet canceled the second volley of attacks, including the third from Lightning Punisher, "But that's not all. The special-ability of Iris, the Earth Mother activates whenever there's a combo of three or more cards have been played. It allows me to draw one extra card from my deck!" Chakra drew once more, "Also, Blast Asmodean inflicts 500 points of damage for every combo played while he's on the field; something your Depth Amulet can't stop." the imp tossed a small projectile that exploded on contact.
Yami Marik and Yami Bakura: 7400
Jason and Chakra: 8300
"Finally, I place one card face-down and end my turn." Chakra concluded.
"Well, would you look at that," Marik snickered, "A few rounds has passed and we're back where we started."
'I hate to say it but he has a point,' Chakra thought, 'Jason and I gave it as good as we can give them and they just keep dodging damage. It's like they're stalling for something…'
'I don't like this…' Jason thought, sharing Chakra's concern, 'I was barely able to destroy two of Marik's monster. But Bakura hasn't been able to summon anything, just kept throwing away cards. I don't think he's doing this to be reckless. If what he's planning, whet either of them is planning, has anything to do with a shadow game, I don't think we can make it out this time!'
DUEL-MON DATABASE
(1) Makyura the Destructor
Stats: [Warrior/Effect] LV: 4 (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200)
Attribute: DARK
Effect: During the turn this card was sent to the Graveyard, you can activate Trap Cards from your hand.
(2) Mystical Beast of Serket
Stats: [Fairy/Effect] LV: 6 (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000)
Attribute: EARTH
Effect: If you do not control "Temple of the Kings", destroy this card. Banish any monster destroyed by battle with this card. If this card destroys a monster by battle: It gains 500 ATK.
(3) Kiseitai
Stats: [Fiend/Effect] LV: 3 (ATK: 300/DEF: 1200)
Attribute: DARK
Effect: When your opponent's monster attacks this card in face-down Defense Position, this card becomes an Equip Spell Card equipped to the attacking monster (No damage calculation is conducted). During each of your opponent's Standby Phases, increase your Life Points by half of the ATK of the monster equipped with this card.
(4) Revival Jam
Stats: [Aqua/Effect] LV: 4 (ATK: 1500/DEF: 800)
Attribute: WATER
Effect: When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: You can pay 1000 Life Points; Special Summon it in face-up Defense Position during your next turn's Standby Phase.
(5) Blast Asmodian
Stats: [Fiend/Effect] LV: 3 (ATK: 1000/DEF: 300)
Attribute: FIRE
Effect: If any Spell or Trap Card(s) are Chained, inflict 500 damage to your opponent.
(6) Lightning Punisher
Stats: [Thunder/Effect] LV: 7 (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1600)
Attribute: LIGHT
Effect: After a Chain with 3 or more Links resolves, destroy 1 card on your opponent's side of the field. This effect cannot activate if multiple cards/effects with the same name were activated in that Chain.
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