YU-GI-OH! Forever
A fan-fiction by neomage
(DISCLAIMER: Takahashi-san owns Yu-Gi-Oh, not me.)
CHAPTER 25
OUTSIDE KAIBACORP
As the duel between Blaze and Yugo was paused, the stats were clearly shown on the big-screen: Blaze was in the lead with 7600 life points, while Yugo was struggling along with only 2700. He had no cards on the field and three cards in his hand; she had the Backfire trap card, the Molten Destruction magic card, one other facedown card, and the Inferno monster on her side of the field and two cards in her hand.
"That girl…" Mrs. Wheeler lowered her gaze.
"Huh? Honey, are you okay?" Mr. Wheeler asked, concerned.
"I'm wondering about Blaze Redman…somehow, she reminds me of me when I was younger," Mrs. Wheeler answered. "I can see it in her eyes right now…she's suffered and endured much, all on her own…"
Mr. Muto looked across at her. "Perhaps…"
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KAIBACORP ROOFTOP
"Blaze…?" Yugo prompted.
She sighed. "Years ago…I was an orphan, bounced around from foster home to foster home. I never had anybody who wanted or loved me…I never knew my own parents, because I'd lost them both to a car accident at the tender age of three…"
The others stared at her in surprise. "Wade…Flora…did you guys know about this?" Kyo whispered.
The two shook their heads. "Blaze has never spoken about herself before," Wade answered. "This is news to me."
"…then…after what seemed like forever, I found someone…or rather, she found me…" Blaze smiled a little. "She was in her early twenties, unmarried, no kids…and, like me, she had been an orphan. She was everything to me…a mother, a big sister…and my best friend." As she spoke, hot tears began to form in her eyes.
Yugo relaxed his stance. "What…happened?"
Blaze cleared her throat. "She…she was a firefighter. Every day she'd go to work, and sometimes she'd take me along to see how things worked around the fire department. Lots of times, I got to wear one of their helmets, ride on their trucks, and I'd watch my foster mom in action and think, 'Hey, now there's a hero!'
"And then…one day…we went out together, as usual. There was a blaze at an apartment complex, so I had to stay by the truck while she went inside to rescue the people trapped inside…"
The tears were now flowing freely down her cheeks. "All of a sudden, just as they were getting the people out, the roof caved in…and SHE was trapped inside!" Blaze almost screamed this, and in her eyes was unhidden rage. "I wanted to run in there and save her, the same way she'd run in there to save those people…but by then, nobody could do anything…and she…" She couldn't say anything more, the sobs choked her voice.
"So…that's why you use Fire monsters, isn't it? To honor the memory of your foster mom?" Yugo said quietly. He hung his head. "I see…I think I understand better now. And…I think I sympathize."
Kaiba stood nearby, arms folded. As he listened to Blaze's story, he unconsciously reached for a locket around his neck and stroked it, a hint of sadness on his face. Roland noticed his master's action, but said nothing.
But Blaze appeared indignant by Yugo's declaration. "How can you say that? After she died and was buried, people just didn't care about me anymore! I got lost in the system for ten years! Ten goddamn years! I was on the streets for most of my damn life, always feeling sorry for myself, having to fight for myself! Nobody gave a shit about some little nine-year-old kid! I had to fend for myself, take care of ME! Not once did anybody offer their assistance, not once did anybody offer sympathy! I lost the only person who ever cared about me, the only person I could ever call my friend! You've got friends, you've never known loneliness! So how the hell can you possibly understand what I've been through!"
"BECAUSE I DO!"
Everyone looked up at Yugo, stunned. Blaze had a look of utter shock on her face. Even Kaiba looked up in astonishment. That outburst had not been expected by anybody.
Yugo was standing there, his body trembling. His bangs were overshadowing his eyes; but the manner in which he was gritting his teeth showed plainly the anger that the rest of his face didn't reveal. His fists were clenched at his sides, and clenched so tightly his nails were digging into his palms.
"Yes…Blaze…I do understand, whether you believe it or not," he whispered through his teeth. "For I, too, once had a mother…and then I lost her forever…"
Blaze's shocked look softened as she heard the anguish in his tone.
"She died…only two years after I was born," Yugo continued. "Even now, I barely know what she looked like, except for what I've seen of her picture." He raised his head; his eyes were filled with tears that slowly trickled down his face. "For years, I felt like I'd lost a part of myself after I lost her…like I'd lost a huge portion of my childhood, a portion I never had time to know or understand…"
At this point Yugo crumpled to his knees. Blaze looked at him, and her heart ached even more to see such agony – agony that could easily be compared to her own. It was just at that point, then, that Kaiba came back to himself and stepped forward. "Many people suffer loss in one way or another," he said sagely. "But there is also a time for everything, including grief. You've both lost someone important to you…but as much as I can understand your anguish, there are people out there who'll nevertheless be waiting for you to finish what you've started here. So, please pull yourselves together and save your grief for afterwards."
Kyo nodded. "Mr. Kaiba's right, Yugo, Blaze," he said to them. "At the very least…honor their memory by completing the duel. Who knows – they could be looking down on both of you right now, waiting to see what the outcome will be."
Yugo nodded slowly. Wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve, he stood up…and when he spoke again, some of the confidence had returned to his voice. "Blaze…show your mother how much her little girl has grown!"
Blaze jumped a little in surprise at that. "Y-yes!" she answered.
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OUTSIDE KAIBACORP
"…Yugo…" Mr. Muto slowly sank down on the nearby bench.
"Hey, chin up, Yugi," Mr. Bakura said gently, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "We all know about what happened…and how much you must've suffered…"
"That's true," Mrs. Bakura agreed. "Yugo must have buried his own grief because he knew how much you were hurting…he didn't want you to see him suffering, too. It was probably only a matter of time before he released his sorrow."
"Yeah…" Mr. Muto sighed. "My son…all this time I thought you wouldn't have been so badly affected, since you were so young when she died…I owe you an apology, Yugo…"
He buried his face in his hands and sank his head in between his knees. His mother and friends stood around him silently, not saying anything more, all of them understanding that right now, just being there was the best thing they could do for him.
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KAIBACORP ROOFTOP
"Now, then, let's do this!" Yugo resumed his confident attitude as he drew his next card, giving him four in all. "Now, I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (ATK 1600, DEF 1000)!"
The armor-clad mage-warrior appeared, bearing sword and shield. "He's all ready to do battle," Yugo declared, smirking, even as Breaker's effect gave him a Magic counter and put his ATK at 1900.
Blaze said nothing to that. But in her mind, she reasoned, He must've lost it! If he attacks my monster and destroys it, my Backfire trap card will take down his life points further! Well…I guess I won't have to DO anything here…
Then Yugo smirked again. "Now, I'll activate Breaker's effect! By removing his Magic counter from him, I can destroy any of your Magic or Trap cards – and the card I choose is your Backfire trap card!"
But as Breaker's ATK went back down to 1600 and he prepared to release his energy to destroy the trap card, Blaze suddenly laughed. "Exactly what I hoped you'd do! Now I can activate my other trap card, the Fake Trap!"
The facedown card she had been holding onto flipped face-up, revealing a purple goblin holding a card with the word "Fake" on it. "When you use a card effect that'll destroy any of my traps," Blaze explained, "Fake Trap acts as a substitute for those Trap cards, and it gets destroyed instead. So, your monster's effect will not destroy my Backfire trap card, after all!"
"Geez," Miki moaned. "And I thought Yugo had her with Breaker's effect! But she's one step ahead of him!"
"True," said Kyo. "And if Yugo doesn't play his cards right, then Blaze will be one step further to winning this tournament."
Breaker thrust his sword forward, releasing a blue blade of energy that destroyed the Fake Trap. Yugo sighed. "Bad luck," he muttered. "But at least I have something else I can use!"
"Huh?" Blaze was dumbstruck.
Then Yugo held up another card, the one he'd just drawn. "And now, I activate the magic of Heavy Storm to destroy every magic and trap card on the field!"
Blaze reared up on hearing that. "Say what?" she cried out. "But that means – "
"That's right," Yugo smiled at her. "Your monster will lose its field power bonus, plus your Backfire trap card will be destroyed! Now – I activate Heavy Storm's power!"
As he played the card, a mighty blast of wind suddenly erupted on the field, forcing everyone to try to stand their ground with as much strength as they could manage. "Holy cow! That's one serious storm!" Jenna cried out.
"Tell me about it!" Wade agreed, almost being blown away.
The force of the storm utterly destroyed the Molten Destruction volcano and the Backfire trap. Blaze herself watched with horror as her cards were utterly destroyed, leaving her Inferno alone on the field with its stats returned to normal.
"Shit!" Blaze cursed. "Inferno's vulnerable to attack now!"
"Damn right!" Yugo answered. "Now, Breaker the Magical Warrior, destroy Inferno!"
Breaker ran forward and sliced through the fiery entity; and Blaze's life points dropped to 7100. "Had enough yet?" Yugo taunted her.
"You're in no position to be taunting me, Yugo – my life points are still higher than yours by plenty!" Blaze retorted as she drew another card. "All right! Now I summon the Command Knight (ATK 1200, DEF 1900) in Attack Mode!"
A warrior clad in Scottish-type armor appeared on the field, a large broadsword hanging by her side. "Uh…is that supposed to be a boy or girl?" Yugo asked, puzzled as he looked at the monster – for, indeed, it was difficult to tell the knight's gender.
"That, Yugo, should be the least of your concerns," Blaze informed him. "Just look and you'll see what I mean."
Yugo looked – and almost shouted. The Command Knight's ATK suddenly shot to 1600! "Hey! What's up with that?" Jenna asked.
"That's the Command Knight's effect," Flora informed the group. "As long as she's on the field, her effect increases the ATK of all Warrior-type monsters on Blaze's field by 400 points – and that includes the Command Knight herself."
"And that, my friends, is just for starters," Blaze added. "For next, I'll equip the Command Knight with the Magic card, Salamandra! This'll increase her ATK by 700 points!"
Suddenly, the Command Knight was holding a sword with a blade that burned with red-hot flame along its edge. At the same time, her ATK increased to 2300!
Then Blaze held up the very last card in her hand. "And now, I'll remove one Fire monster in my Graveyard from play to Special Summon this cute little monster. You remember him, right? It's the Spirit of Flames (ATK 1700, DEF 1000), right here! Come to the field, my little pet!" And Blaze removed one monster from her Graveyard, afterward playing the Spirit of Flames to the field.
"Shit…" Jenna swore to herself. "Spirit of Flames…its effect increases its ATK by 300 during Blaze's Battle Phase! And…if she attacks now, Yugo's a goner!"
"But Blaze CAN'T attack, remember?" Kyo reminded her. "Last turn, Yugo activated his Frozen Soul trap card – that stops Blaze from attacking this turn. So therefore, Yugo has just one turn to turn things around in his favor."
Grumbling, Blaze ended her turn. "Luck doesn't save lives – never has, never will!" she pouted.
Yugo shook his head. "We'll soon see how much luck will come out of this next draw." He then placed his hand on his deck…and drew his card slowly…
…and when he looked at it, his face lit up. "All right!" he exclaimed. "Okay, Blaze! Prepare yourself right now!"
"For what?" asked Blaze scornfully.
"For the appearance of the true power behind my deck!" Yugo held up the three cards in his hand. "First, I'll activate the power of the Magic card, Dark Magic Curtain! This'll allow me to Special Summon one Dark Magician (ATK 2500, DEF 2100) from my deck at a cost of half my life points!"
A giant curtain appeared on the field – and who should step out from behind it but the Dark Magician himself, smirking confidently. "This is the monster whose immense power will be your downfall," said Yugo, smiling, even as his life points were cut in half, leaving him with 1350.
"Yeah, right!" Blaze snapped. "Even if he does destroy my monsters, my life points will still be up there in the high places!"
"Really?" Yugo then picked the second card in his hand and played it. "I now activate the field effect of Yami! This'll increase my Spellcaster monsters' ATK and DEF by 200 points!"
Suddenly eerie shadows began to creep across the playing field. Miki was understandably unnerved. "W-w-what is this?" she quavered.
"This is the same card he played during his duel with Seta," said Jenna. "It looks like Yugo's really going to be playing seriously now!"
It certainly seemed that way, as Breaker's ATK and DEF went up to 1800 and 1200 and Dark Magician's stats went to 2700 ATK and 2300 DEF. "All right…this darkness is creeping me out," said Blaze, looking around.
Then Yugo held up the last card in his hand. "This card…I had this card in my hand for a good long while now, but I couldn't activate it unless I had my Dark Magician on the field. Well…say hello to the magic power of – the Thousand Knives!"
From behind the Dark Magician, a hail of knives suddenly materialized from the shadows. "At a command from the Dark Magician, the Thousand Knives will skewer any monster on your side of the field that I choose," said Yugo. "And, personally, your Command Knight is a little too strong for my taste, so…"
Blaze reared up in shock. "NO!"
The Dark Magician raised two fingers slightly…then let them drop. Instantly, the numerous knives flew forward, slicing and stabbing into the Command Knight and destroying her. This left only the Spirit of Flames on the field.
"Okay! Breaker the Magical Warrior, attack!" Yugo called out.
Breaker charged up energy in his blade, and with one swipe the Spirit of Flames was cleaved in two, reducing Blaze's life points to 7000…and then…
"Dark Magician! Dark Magic Attack!"
This time around, the Dark Magician just raised his palm toward Blaze. Instantly she felt an invisible force hit her powerfully in the gut. The attack sent her flying, reducing her life points further to 4300.
"Way to go, Yugo! You have her right where you want her now!" Jenna cheered.
But Kyo wasn't so sure. "Are you forgetting, Jenna, that even now Blaze is still in the lead where life points are concerned?" he asked. "Sure, Blaze has 4300 life points now, but Yugo's got 1350. There's an obvious difference there."
"Then…Yugo could lose…?" Miki asked worriedly.
"I'm sorry to say this, but yes. That is exactly what I'm saying right now." Kyo sighed and adjusted his glasses.
Blaze slowly got back up and drew her card. She chuckled. "Oh, Yugo," she said sweetly, "now you've gone and done it…the game is really about to begin…"
Yugo raised an eyebrow. "Okaaaaay…now this looks like trouble…"
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neomage: Posted at 13/06/2005 – Today, at approximately 4:20 p.m., the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, was acquitted of all charges. Today was a day of great celebration, so I decided to write some more since I was in an especially good mood. Call me a fanatic, but hey – I just love the guy and his music! Well, anyway, the real question concerning this fic is: What has Blaze drawn? And will it be the end for Yugo? Stay tuned, everyone!
Updated and posted at 27/06/2005 – I went back and re-read some info on Union monsters, and it appears that I needed to do some correcting and updating in Chapter 2 and this chapter, so the necessary corrections have been made. And now, keep reading, everyone!