Yu-Gi-Oh! Avatar
The Grand Tournament
Fanfic Chapter 253: Trace Memories Pt 2: Borrowed Cards
Episode Basis: None
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Trying to find Katy, Harold and the others came across Todd who was thrown out after his duel with Drew Thruno. Todd accepted their help and they went to the Fun House to confront Drew. Drew was chock-full of revelations, namely that he claimed to be Harold's one true friend. He was even able to prove it by showing everyone an old photograph. As creepy as it sounds, Drew wanted Harold to give up being Yugi's friend and come home with Drew. All Harold wanted to do was free Katy and was willing to stake his friendship with Yugi and the others, essentially his freedom, on the line to free her, his twin sister. Harold proved how serious he was by summoning Wingweaver right on the first turn but can Wingweaver overpower Drew's deck especially since he incorporated Katy's cards into it?
Katy felt exposed as she watched the duel between Harold and Drew. Though neither of them lost any life points, Harold had just put down Rebellious Peasant, which was originally her card. This isn't fair, she thought. Drew's using my cards without permission, if Uncle was here, Drew would be obliterated for interfering with our plan.
"Both of them have used up their entire hands already," Tea noted.
"Yup," Yugi agreed. "So now they're top-decking."
"I've never heard of an instance when top-decking worked," Amara commented.
"But sometimes it happens," Joey admitted.
Drew took a card from his deck. "I play Pot of Greed, so now I draw two extra cards also. Then I play the magic card called Reinforcements of the Army, this allows me to summon a warrior-type monster from my deck to my hand. Now I summon Marauding Captain (1) in attack mode and I'll use his special ability to summon another warrior monster from my hand, Command Knight (2)!" A blond man in armor and a woman (it might've been a woman, it was tough to see under all that armor) appeared. "Command Knight's special ability raises the attack points of all warrior-type monsters by 400 points."
(MC: 1200-1600)
(CK: 1200-1600)
"Plus while my Marauding Captain's on the field, you can't attack my Knight!"
I wasn't planning on attacking his Captain or his Knight anyway, Harold thought as he drew a card. "I summon Mystical Elf in defense mode. Wingweaver, destroy Oppressed People with Light Spark!" The angel fired a blast of light which destroyed it. "There, now you can't use any more of Katy's cards. I can't believe you, Drew, I mean asking me to duel is one thing, and kidnapping Katy, who you know I have a connection with is another, but using her cards without her permission against me? Where's your honor as a Duelist?"
"When you disappeared years ago, it was lost along with you. And when I found out that you would rather be friends with Yugi Moto than me, it slipped further away from me."
"Are we supposed to feel sorry for this little rodent just because he's been alone for a long time?" Tristan asked. "If you ask me, loneliness is no excuse for kidnapping and theft."
"Don't be mad at him, Tristan," Harold said. "I understand what he went through. From the time I woke up in that apartment with no memory up to the day I met Tea, I felt just as alone as he does now. He deserves a chance to make friends and find his own happiness."
"Thanks, Harold," Drew said drawing a card.
"However, Tristan is right about one thing: kidnapping, theft, and blackmail are not methods you should use to get your friends back."
Drew looked somewhat ashamed. "I did what I had to do," he said. "I summon Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight (3) in attack mode!"
"Cheater!" Alexis accused. "That monster has too many stars; he can't summon it without getting rid of some monsters."
"Normally yes," Yugi confirmed. "But not in Swift Gaia's case, its special ability allows it to be summoned without a sacrifice if it's the only card left in the player's hand."
"With Swift Gaia on the field, he gains 400 attack points thanks to Command Knight."
(SGFK: 2300-2700)
Should I attack his Mystical Elf, Drew wondered. No, it won't affect his life points; besides I have a better plan. "I end my turn!"
Strange, I would've expected him to attack my Mystical Elf. He probably thinks it would be a waste of an attack. At any rate, I can't pass this up. Harold started his turn, "Wingweaver, attack his Marauding Captain!" Wingweaver fired her attack and destroyed the Captain.
(H: 4000)
(D: 2850)
"I'll set a card face-down and end my turn."
"Wow, Harold, you weren't this good in the past."
"What can I say, I guess some of Yugi is rubbing off on me."
"Well when we become friends again, maybe it will rub off on me as well."
"You can't assume you will win, it just takes one card to change a duel around."
"You're absolutely right." Drew started his turn. "A card like this one, Mining for Magical Stones!"
"Whoa, that's a rare card," Yugi said. "By discarding two cards from the top of his deck, he can get a magic card back from the graveyard."
"I use Mining for Magical Stones to bring back Pot of Greed which I play now." Drew studied his two new cards. "I sacrifice Swift Gaia and Command Knight to summon Sword Hunter (4)!" A knight in silver armor holding two swords appeared. "And thanks to Legendary Sword, my Hunter's about to get even stronger!"
(SH: 2450-2750, 1700-2000)
"Don't you think our two monsters are perfect for one another?"
"Maybe in current attack points," Harold replied. "However, if you attack Wingweaver, they'll just end up destroying each other."
"That's okay, I'll attack your Elf instead." Sword Hunter slashed its two swords and destroyed the Elf. Suddenly the sparks that were the Mystical Elf flew into Sword Hunter's armor. A piece of its armor became blue.
(SH: 2750-2950)
"What did you do?" Harold asked.
"I used Sword Hunter's special ability instead of sending a monster to the graveyard it incorporates it into its armor raising its attack points by 200!"
"That means it's strong enough to destroy Wingweaver next turn," Amara realized.
"Cool card, huh? My Sword Hunter, I mean. I know you used to have one as well, I wonder why you didn't include it in your deck, you could've had a big advantage over me."
Harold looked down at his deck. Even if I did have that card, it's not a light attribute monster so I wouldn't include it in my deck. He drew a card, "I set another card face-down and switch Wingweaver to defense mode. That ends my turn."
Drew took a card. "Awesome, hey Harold, guess what, I just drew a magic card."
"So?"
Drew showed him the card. "It's called The Warrior Returning Alive and it lets me bring back a monster from my graveyard as long as it's a... yup, you guessed it, a warrior-type. So now I summon the monster I brought back, Command Knight! And thanks to him, Sword Hunter is now 400 points stronger!"
(SH: 2950-3350)
(CK: 1200-1600)
"Sword Hunter, attack Wingweaver with Double Strike!" Harold couldn't even look away as Wingweaver was slashed twice, once across her right set of wings and again across her chest. Even before her body turned into light, it was already being absorbed into Sword Hunter's armor. Its chest plate turned yellow.
(SH: 3350-3550)
"How about that; Now I got your favorite monster helping me out. And we're both going to make you remember who your true friend is; and where you truly belong."
"You moron," Joey insulted. "Harold would never go along with an idiot like you."
"Joey's right," Tristan agreed. "If you knew how many times Harold's saved our lives…"
"I don't know who you are, but how dare you intrude on this sacred sanctuary. Surround him!" The other robed figures surrounded the newcomer.
"Get out of the way, man, you're out numbered twenty to one!"
The red cloaked figure looked around then held his arm up, the arm with the strange bracelet. The symbols seemed to come right off the bracelet and started spinning around him. Pegasus' "disciples" (for lack of a better term) went flying.
As the monsters converged on the helpless guards, they were suddenly destroyed by a ring of archaic symbols. "What!"
A figure dressed in a red cloak appeared on the steps.
"Who's that?" One of the guards wondered.
"You again," Yami Bakura growled. "Apparently you're more than a one-trick pony."
The newcomer turned towards the guards and pointed down the staircase. The guards' legs were too frozen to move. The figure held out his arm and the ring of archaic symbols formed again. The ring of symbols acted like a wall and shoved the guards all the way down the stairs. It then turned to Yami Bakura.
"I don't know who you are," Yami Bakura said. "But I won't allow you to interrupt my plans again! I summon the White Magical Hat, attack that fool and show him no mercy!"
The cloaked figure held out his hand, the one that contained the strange metal wrist band. The ring of archaic symbols appeared around the White Magical Hat and destroyed him.
"No, I can't believe this is happening! I didn't wait thousands of years just to be stopped by a wanna-be hero! Prepare to face the full power of my Millennium Ring!"
"Hey Casper, catch!" Tristan called throwing Mokuba. The boy's body slammed into Bakura's head and the two went tumbling down. The cloaked figure caught Mokuba but Bakura ended up unconscious. The cloaked figure ripped off Bakura's Millennium Ring and Frisbee-tossed it to Tristan who did the same to it over the ledge and into the forest. "That's the end of that."
"So, any ideas, bud?" Joey asked.
"First thing we need to do is get inside," Tristan said. He gripped the door handle but yelped in pain and jumped back. "Well, scratch that." He turned to Avatar. "Hey Zorro, you have any idea?"
Avatar just pointed to the door. "There's someone inside," he said in a whisper so that Joey and Tristan didn't really recognize the voice.
"Now we really have to get in there," Tristan said as he tried kicking the door down.
Avatar held out his arm, the arm that had the strange gold-colored wrist band with strange archaic symbols on it. The archaic symbols literally came off the wrist band and started to rotate around it facing the door. Avatar thrust out his hand and the circle of symbols rammed into the door shattering it into pieces. Avatar ran inside with Joey and Tristan following behind.
Avatar leapt on to the duel ring. The archaic symbols appeared and began rotating in front of the flames.
"Call me crazy, but I think that overgrown chicken scratch is actually pushing back the flames," Tristan realized.
"Stand close, everyone," Yami-Yugi instructed. "Harold, can your Armlet protect us?"
"We're about to find out," Harold said and raised his arm to the sky. The archaic symbols came off the Armlet and began spinning around the kids. Harold decided to include the Kaiba Brothers as an afterthought. The lightning bolts bounced off of the Armlet's shield.
Harold said something that caused Tea to cover Serenity's ears. "I don't care about this crummy tournament any more, I won't stand by and watch people I care about get hurt!" Using his Armlet, Harold propelled himself onto the platform. He set up a shield between Joey and Mai and the blast. "I may not be able to stop Marik from winning the duel, but the least I can do is lessen the physical damage!" His shield pushed back the blast.
Tea-Marik opened his/her eyes. Neither his/her attack nor the attack of Yami-Marik connected. Harold was in between them, blocking the Millennium Rod Dagger with his Armlet's shield while using his Duel Disk to block the kick made by Tea-Marik.
"Now, children are we going to behave or do I have to put you in separate corners?" Harold asked.
Yami-Marik pulled back and growled at Harold, "Avatar, your constant interference is beginning to get on my nerves."
"Well too bad for you, three-eyes," Harold said turning to face Yami-Marik.
"What are you doing?" Tea-Marik asked.
"You're inhabiting the body of my friend, and I'll protect my friends no matter what."
"How cute," Yami-Marik said. "But you have interfered for the last time!" He raised the Millennium Rod and aimed it at Harold.
"Go ahead," Harold dared aiming his Armlet. "Make my day!"
"Hold on, Yugi, help is on the way," Harold said revealing his Armlet from underneath his dark blue jacket.
"Harold?"
"Time for this seal to feel the power of the Avatar Armlet! Now, Avatar Armlet, activate!" The symbols rose off the Armlet and faced the Seal of Orichalcos. They started spinning. "Take… THIS!" He thrust his Armlet arm out and fired the shield towards the Seal of Orichalcos. The ring of symbols struck the force field that blocked the Duelists. Lightning danced along the clash of the two shields.
"Harold has protected our lives more times than he's protected yours," Tristan boasted.
"Yeah, and what have you done to repay him?" Drew asked. Tristan didn't reply. "I thought as much, you see, Harold, they don't really care about you like I do, you save their lives and how do they repay you? Just come back with me, and things can be the way they've been."
"Don't listen to him, Harold," Yugi called. "You still have more life points, you can still win." He turned inward to Yami. "There is a way he can win, right, Pharaoh?"
"I'm afraid winning alone just isn't enough any more."
"What do you mean?"
"Take a look at Katy."
Yugi looked up at the girl. She was gripping the bars of her cage so hard her knuckles were turning white. Tears could be seen streaming down her face. "She's… sad?"
"That's right."
"At Drew stealing then using her cards?"
"Not just that, do you remember what Brian Berg said after his duel?"
"A Duelist's deck often reflects how the person truly is. Katy was using People Running About, Oppressed People, United Resistance, and Rebellious Peasant. This shows that someone is holding her back, keeping her from doing something she wants to do. She wants to break free and is ready to turn her back on it. But as for the details, I have no idea."
"He said she was being oppressed."
"That's right. It seems that up to now, somebody or something was holding Katy back, suppressing her dueling spirit, suppressing her heart. When Drew took her cards, it was the final straw, her heart was ripped out of her. Harold's job is no longer to just win the duel and her freedom, but to restore Katy's heart."
"But how can he do that?"
"I wish I knew, Yugi."
"I set a monster in defense mode."
"You do know that any monster that's destroyed would just become part of my monster, right?" Drew asked. He drew a card, "Suit your self, Sword Hunter go!" A small fairy appeared before being absorbed into the knight.
(SH: 3550-3750)
"My Skelengel (5) may be absorbed into your Sword Hunter but not before its special ability allows me to draw one extra card."
"Fine by me, Command Knight direct attack!" Command Knight thrust his sword into Harold's chest.
(H: 2400)
(D: 2850)
"Looks like nothing changed, Harold."
"What does that mean?"
"This is how all our duels went in the past. You would start out strong but I would quickly pull ahead."
"And… who would win in the end?"
"It varied, but at last count, I had ten wins over you."
"How come?"
"Because I practiced, I wanted to become a great Duelist for you. And it started to show right before you disappear. In fact, I thought you were originally hiding from me because you were afraid I was going to become a better Duelist than you."
Drew is only telling half the truth, Katy thought. While it's true that they used to duel in the past, Harold would actually let Drew win because Drew's confidence was lower than Harold's own. So Harold would purposely make bad moves and leave himself wide open for Drew to win.
"Now I'll attack your monster. Yay, I win again, Harold."
"That's your twelfth victory in a row, Drew, good job."
But while Harold needed to relearn his dueling skills after he got amnesia, Drew just kept growing stronger, that's the only reason why Drew is ahead now.
"That may have happened in the past," Harold said drawing a card. "But I assure you it won't happen today. Because I'm not playing for the past, I'm playing for the future, mine and Katy's."
"I liked it in the past," Drew said. "And when I win, things will just be like the way they were before."
To Be Continued
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Marauding Captain
Level: 3
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 1200
DEF: 800
(2)
Name: Command Knight
Level: 4
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Fire
ATK: 1200
DEF: 1900
(3)
Name: Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight
Level: 7
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 2300
DEF: 2100
(4)
Name: Sword Hunter
Level: 7
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 2450
DEF: 1700
(5)
Name: Skelengel
Level: 2
Type: Fairy/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 200
DEF: 700