I look at this and I always think: Oh, wow, this has Puzzle-shippy potential!
Yami: …remember the rating!
Yuugi: …right...
Yami: -lean forward to Yuugi- right now?
Yuugi: Agh! Yami, hands!
Okay, addressing reviewers Ms. Lilly:
This is SO good!
And I can't believe how much details you put in the duels! I actually google most of the cards you use to see what they look like.
Um... Yeah. That's all I had to say really. Have a nice day and I hope you update soon! Bye!
I find that detail helps to tell a story really well.
Thanks to Mei for offering to draw the Harpie Ladies (and if you can I'd like it if you could draw Ryou and the Darklords) and for offering the Gateway of the Six Samurai ruling, but I worked out that maybe it's effect applies to once per monster, as evidence in 'Six Samurai United'.
Thanks to people who support Ryou and the Angel deck (which will face more expansion upon the theme in later chapters) and onwards!
Enjoy!
Turn Twenty-Seven: Trial of the Princesses
There were days things absolutely could not go right, even for super-heroes.
And then, there were the days where it just did not pay to get out of bed.
Wonder Woman was quickly realising that today was one of the latter as she evaded Circe's magic blasts again. How had the sorceress found her in this particular airspace in this sector of Metropolis? Was her first reaction. Wonders would never cease, she decided again as Circe blasted at her again. Hard.
"We need to get close enough to either grab her or for Shayera to use her mace," Superman yelled past the slipstream as the heroes regrouped, having fought off the blue-skinned fiend earlier with only marginal difficulty due to the help of the Harpie Ladies. "I'll distract her, while the both of you attack from behind. I'm the only one fast enough to be a serious threat."
"Makes sense," Diana considered after a while, dodging more magic blasts.
"I doubt it," Circe's voice cooed in her ear as the Amazon stilled on instinct. "He might be able to move at speeds close to light, but there are few things faster than thought. Too bad I can't transform you this time, princess, but this would do."
Heavy iron shackles appeared around Wonder Woman's ankles and locked shut, the sudden change in centre of gravity leaving the heroine floundering momentarily as the sorceress aimed at Shayera. The mace that could defeat magic just barely deflected the blast in time.
"What do you mean?" Shayera asked, puzzled, still with a death grip on the mace. "You can't?"
"The battle is not here that we have to watch, and the princess is technically a bystander in this secret war," Circe sighed. "This struggle is between the Pharaoh and those who would oppose the natural order of light and dark. It is not something that your League can be involved in. Try to fight, and they will repel you. Fight them, and they will fight back, both against you. Try or no, one will die in this round. You would know, wouldn't you?"
"What?" Shayera shot back, irritated. "I don't have time to decipher riddles or chase conspiracies. Tell me!"
Grinning, the sorceress flew forward, just barely out of reach of the Nth metal mace, before her lips moved. What was said could not be heard, but Shayera's grip on the mace slackened as the Thanegarian drew away.
"So you know now," Circe laughed as she vanished. "Welcome, then."
The sorceress appeared behind Superman now, aiming a blast for him. "A frog sounds like a good idea," she commented.
Part of a set of shackles flew at her and hit, sending the sorceress flying back, wincing in pain from where the shackle hit as the magic blast went wild but hit Superman anyway, only this time it sent him flying back to collide with random skyscrapers dotting the skyline, thankfully not destroying buildings. The sorceress barely dodged in time to avoid the fist aiming for her head, attached to Wonder Woman.
"Self-defence. Well, then, ta," Circe lifted her hands, where magic danced ready to transmute the first unlucky victim and Wonder Woman, unable to run, closed her eyes.
"Dramatic Rescue!"
There was a yellow glow as Wonder Woman was swallowed into a cocoon of light and then said cocoon broke open. A golden chain wrapped itself around Circe's wrist as its wielder hauled forward and looped one arm around Circe's neck, keeping a firm hold on the shocked sorceress.
"Circe," the Amazoness Chain Master of Duel Monsters greeted calmly.
"Alexis?" Circe blinked before smiling down at her. "Well, it's been a long time, hasn't it?"
"Very," Alexis agreed. "I'd ask if you had time for a night out, but you know, duty before playing. Plus the fact that we're a few hundred metres above sea level and I'm on a contracted time."
"Oh?" Circe answered, intrigued. "So finally the Amazonesses found a contractor?"
"Two!" the Chain Master cheerfully replied. "One's fun, and the other's entirely too serious, but that's fine, really, because we don't see her much nowadays..."
Aboard the lower deck, Wonder Woman blinked as the last of the yellow light faded away. "That was... odd," she finally stated after some consideration.
"Quite," the glamorous blonde woman in purple with the strange device hanging on her left arm before her shrugged. "Never tried it myself, but since I figured you're an Amazon, so it should work." She held out a hand. "I'm Mai Kujaku. The monster hanging around the sorceress out there is mine."
"Diana of Themyscira," Wonder Woman replied, taking the hand in her own as she stood.
Mai sighed, her hand not outfitted with device on her forehead. "Small world. I have a friend with the same name as you. Her jack-ass of a brother just escaped when he summoned Demise and blasted us. He's the guy behind all this. Now, if you don't mind, do tell me what the Justice League is thinking exactly, intruding in Battle City."
"And why would I say so?" Wonder Woman asked, all the while absorbing everything just said. "Why don't you tell us what your side thinks as well. We could figure out a plan together."
"That would be sensible," Mai admitted, nodding slightly. "Except that, what is your opinion of those like us?"
"...not very good," she admitted. "On my island, we do not speak of it much."
"It is a war we are fighting here, and if you are involved, your side gets involved," A feminine voice echoed in the hold as the skimpily-clad Chain Master appeared back on the closest thing to ground at the moment, the links clinking as she swung the chain. "Even the gods will not will it, princess."
The golden chain looped around Wonder Woman and latched tight as its wielder hauled and threw the captured princess out into the skies. The chain then sprang free and unravelled, throwing the Amazon heiress into the wide blue expanse as the Amazoness Chain Master retrieved her weapon.
"Alexis!" Mai yelled at her monster in shock as a blur in green streaked across towards Wonder Woman.
"She can fly due to the armour," the Chain Master scoffed dismissively. "Besides, remember. Lady Athena told us not to involve her champion. This is a game played against fate, there is no need to further disrupt plans already laid with those of Olympus and their ilk."
"I remember," Mai sullenly replied as the Amazoness faded. "Keep yourselves safe!"
"As you wish, mistress." the Amazoness echoed. "As you wish..."
Silence only echoed the monster's final warning in the steel corridors then.
Meanwhile, Superman had collided into Wonder Woman, the two heroes rubbing their heads where Wonder Woman had impacted the Kryptonian.
"What exactly is going on here? Who was that?" Kal El asked.
"A Duel Monster," Wonder Woman answered, looking back to the airship deck. "One of the Amazonesses, presumably under the lead of the rebel leader Adrasteia."
"That's the Themysciran stand?" Superman blinked. "Ah. So, did you find a way onboard, Diana?"
"No," the Amazon princess shook her head. "Neither are they willing to talk to us. Perhaps Batman would have more help from them."
"Yes, but at what cost?" Superman sighed. "You and I know the Bat. He works alone unless we beat it into his head with a crowbar that he can't do everything alone, and even then it's only temporary. I'm afraid that after this, he's going to become even more... him."
"More than already possible?" Wonder Woman queried.
She never got her answer as a blast of magic scattered them, Circe already back into the fray.
"Fair play, fair Duel, then," Yami said as he shuffled Rebecca's deck.
The young American Duellist scowled as she shuffled his own deck with hardly the same amount of care he showed to her own. "I'll win fairly enough," Rebecca shot back. "How about a deal?"
"A deal?" Yami asked as he handed back the deck.
Rebecca took it and handed him his own deck back. "If I win this Duel, you have to let Darling go out with me at least once."
"Aibou's time is hardly monopolised by me," Yami coolly replied. "Furthermore, what does Yuugi say about it?"
"Darling can just sit back and watch as his princess rescues him from the mean Pharaoh!" Rebecca yelled back at Yami as the two walked to opposing sides of the Duel platform, the onboard emergency response team having already cleared an unconscious Iemitsu to the infirmary. The tournament goes on; such was the way of the Duellist world. The mysterious masked man that had appeared suddenly and demanded to talk with Kaiba had disappeared with the Kaiba brothers somewhere on the ship, leaving Isono to oversee the last duel of the preliminary rounds.
Judging from the looks Isono gave to both of them, he probably decided that the two of them were insane. "The final round between Yami Yuugi and Rebecca Hawkins begins, now! Start!"
DuelDisks unfolded simultaneously as Professor Arthur Hawkins sat down in chairs specially set out – even Kaiba wasn't inhumane enough to make people stand on an airship platform for eight hours on ends – and sighed. "My little girl is all grown up..."
"I just wish she'll grow out of her crush," Yuugi sighed as Yami and Rebecca exchanged glares.
"Duel!" both Duellists declared.
Yami: LP 4000
Rebecca: LP 4000
"Ladies first," Yami bowed.
"Thanks," Rebecca shot back. "Draw! I summon Ebon Magician Curran [1200/0] in attack mode! I then play Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards provided I discard two. I set two cards and end my turn."
"Very well then," Yami nodded as the sour-faced black-robed magician with bunny ears and carrying a whip appeared. "My turn, draw!"
"Trap card open!" Rebecca called. "Pikeru's Second Sight! Until your second end phase, you have to show me all your drawn cards before you add it to your hand!"
"Very well," Yami revealed the card drawn: Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts. "Then, I'll summon Phantom Beast Cross-Wing [1300/1300] in attack mode."
A golden bird appeared on Yami's side of the field as he placed the card down, shimmering in the dying sunlight as its tail feathers floated all around above the field.
"Phantom Beasts?" Jounochi turned to Yuugi. "Those new?"
"Yes," Yuugi nodded. "Yami and I divided our old deck between us, and Gazelle followed Yami, along with his brothers. It's a small but rather self-supporting archetype of monsters and cards that benefit from minimal support well."
"I then play Polymerization, combining Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts [1500/1200] and Berformet [1400/1800] to summon the mythical beast capable of flight!" Yami continued dramatically. "From two come one, and from one will come great power! Watch as they merge their might, combine their courage! Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast [2100/1800]!"
Rebecca took a slight step back as Chimera took the field, its two heads, one of Gazelle, one of Berformet, roared in excitement.
"Cross-Wing, attack the Ebon Magician!" Yami called.
"Trap card open! Gravity Bind!" Rebecca called as gravity increased and locked down all monsters on the field save for the little black-robed magician, who heaved a sigh of relief.
"Thought so," Yami smirked, the effect unsettling on any on the receiving end of it. "I set one card and end my turn."
"My turn, I draw!" Rebecca called. "During my standby phase, Marie the Fallen One [1700/1200] in the grave grants me two hundred life points! Plus, Curran inflicts three hundred damage for each monster my opponent controls. So, you'll take six hundred damage!"
Yami barely flinched as Curran cracked her whip in his direction.
Rebecca: LP 4000 → LP 4200
Yami: LP 4000 → LP 3400
"Furthermore, I equip Curran with Trial of the Princesses!" Rebecca called as the little magician glowed fairly with power. "This increases Curran's attack by eight hundred points [1200/0 → 2000/0]! Furthermore, by destroying a level five or higher monster by battle, Curran can win the trial set to become a princess! Curran, attack Chimera!"
"Oi, the attack difference is still there!" Jounochi yelled.
"I knew that already. Reverse card open, Miniaturize!" Rebecca called as Curran aimed to attack, glowing blue with power. "The monster targeted by this card loses one thousand attack points and one level. Of course, I choose the target as Chimera!"
"Reverse card open," Yami smirked. "Tyrant's Temper. I tribute Cross-Wing to activate this card. As long as it remains on the field, monsters I control are unaffected by all other Trap cards."
"Eh?" Jounochi leant forward as the golden bird disappeared. "That means..."
"So Rebecca gains all the disadvantages of Gravity Bind without the benefits, while Yami can use high-level monsters to attack without caring about Gravity Bind, and not worry about high-level monsters attacking him as Rebecca's own are locked down, plus his monsters are safe from all other traps," Ryou thoughtfully analysed.
"Oh, and, when Cross-Wing is in the grave, all Phantom Beast monsters, including Chimera and Gazelle, gain three hundred attack points [2100/1800 → 2400/1800]," Yami added as an afterthought. "Plus, your Miniaturize doesn't work. So..."
The Ebon Magician screamed as Chimera leapt on her and chomped down.
Rebecca: LP 4200 → LP 3800
"Fine," Rebecca nodded. "I'll play Ancient Rules, special summoning Millennium Shield [0/3000] in defence mode, before I end my turn."
A huge golden shield allowed Rebecca to hide behind and take cover from Yami's monsters, the Eye shining on it seeming to mock him.
"My turn, draw!" Yami revealed the next card, Ancient Rules, before he added it to his hand. "Rebecca, you still haven't answered the question, you know."
"Eh?" the young genius blinked.
"What does Yuugi say about it?" Yami repeated. "It's been almost one year already... haven't you figured it out yet?"
"Darling wouldn't abandon anyone! It's just you mean Pharaoh who's keeping him away from us!" Rebecca accused. "You're holding him back!"
The resulting silence was a palpable thing as the dark clouds that hung in the sky in the late afternoon sun seem to grow larger with every passing minute, as the former god-king's eyes seemed to take on an unnatural cant.
"Ne, Yuugi," Jounochi whispered quietly. "He's not going to flip out on us, right?"
"Yami may be saner than Bakura or Malik, but he's still a yami," Yuugi quietly answered. "I just hope nothing permanently damaging happens..."
"Aibou cares so much for others and hardly for himself." Yami whispered, every syllable thrumming with power borne of pain and darkness and sacrifice. "I did not drag myself out of death to claim him for myself. I don't care if he chooses someone else to love, even if it hurts me. Aibou has his own choice, and he always had that, and I will not take it from him! I will let aibou have his own choices, even if I must fret and worry and break my own heart every step of the way!"
"What a brave lad," Professor Hawkins sighed from the sidelines. Ah, to be old and obtuse again.
Yuugi buried his face in his hands, embarrassed. "I think Yami just outed us to everyone watching the Duel..."
"How romantic," Ryou cooed, earning him glares from Bakura and Malik which were quickly diverted to the former Pharaoh.
"For you, who impinge on his choices, for you to have forgotten his free will, for you not to respect his choices, I will teach you the difference between us!" the dark Yuugi, the Yuugioh, declared. "I banish Berformet and Phantom Beast Cross-Wing from my grave to special summon one of the strongest of the monsters of Chaos! My very own soul!"
"Oi, don't tell me..." Jounochi's eyes were beginning to bug out of his head.
"The strongest of Chaos monsters?" Otogi echoed.
"Yami," Yuugi whispered.
"One soul will be called to the light, while another will be led by the darkness!" Yami called as the banished monsters appeared, their ghostly forms glowing slightly, flying forth to herald the arrival of the new monster before fading off, leaving a floating path of clear light like starlight. "Together, the souls of light and darkness create the shadows of chaos! Appear now, Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning [3000/2500]!"
Sabre gleaming in the light, blue gold-edged armour shimmering in the sun, stylised shield and armour hardly weighing it down, the great warrior and emissary of the gods flew forward, descending on the field neatly on both feet, stance ready. There are many words that could be used to describe the appearance of the Soldier of Chaos there, dark aura meandering around him, but only one would truly fit the bill: god-like.
"The Envoy of the Beginning has two effects!" Yami continued. "In exchange for not being able to attack with him this turn, I can banish one monster on the field! I choose to banish the Millennium Shield!"
"Eh?" Rebecca drew back as her shield disappeared, never to be seen again.
"Chimera, go!" Yami called as the Flying Mythical Beast took to the skies, still a bit weak from losing its attack boost [2400/1800 → 2100/1800]. "Direct attack!"
"Eh?" Rebecca cowered as Chimera chomped down.
Rebecca: LP 3800 → LP 1700
"And like this, Yami San's taken the lead," Johan analysed, shivering. "How intense!"
"This is the dark of the Game King, the soul of the Nameless Pharaoh," Beside him, Judai murmured. "Scary..."
"Turn end," Yami stated, looking at the field.
"I won't lose!" Rebecca yelled back, her hand drawing. "Draw! During my standby phase, Marie gives me two hundred life points!"
Rebecca: LP 1700 → LP 1900
"I play Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two cards!" She drew again, her moves erratic with desperation. "I won't lose Darling! I won't lose! I summon White Magician Pikeru [1200/0] in attack mode! I then play one face-down card and end my turn!"
"Very well," Yami nodded as the white-robed happier rival of Curran appeared and curtsied before waving her wand about. "My turn. Draw!"
"Trap activate!" Rebecca called. "A Rival Appears! I select one monster you control, and special summon one monster from my hand with the same level as the selected. I choose Black Luster Soldier, which is level eight, so I can special summon Blizzard Princess [2800/2100] in defence mode!"
A cold north wind seemed to blow as a white-robed magician appeared, the blue edges of her robes comparable to the short blue skirt, the blue ice gems and the long staff completed with ice wrecking ball attached to one end appeared on the field, the gold crown set in blue hair an utter contrast as was the princess's smiling disposition.
I just need to stall for time until I can gather the cards needed, Rebecca considered. Chimera can only attack Pikeru due to Blizzard Princess's defence, so Black Luster Soldier would target Blizzard Princess. I just need a bit more time... darling...
"This battle..." Judai sighed. "Is already over."
"My turn, draw!" Yami called. "Chimera, attack the White Magician Pikeru!"
The winged mythical beast leapt forward and jumped on the magician,shattering it like its sister.
Rebecca: LP 1900 → LP 1000
"Black Luster Soldier, attack Blizzard Princess! Chaos Blade!" Yami called, the warrior slicing his sword down. The slicing winds generated cut the powerful mage to shards, though its defence served an adequate enough purpose.
"So, your attacks are over and your battle phase ends," Rebecca smirked, satisfied. The smile died as she looked at the former king.
"I wonder about that," Yami easily replied. "I told you before, the Envoy of the Beginning has two effects. One is to banish a monster from play in exchange for not attacking. The other is that when he destroys a monster by battle, he can attack again. Black Luster Soldier, Envoy of the Beginning, direct attack! Chaos Blade!"
"What?" Rebecca drew back in slight fear as the Black Luster Soldier advanced forward and slashed.
Rebecca: LP 1000 → LP 0
"He won..." Jounochi murmured. "Well, it's not like there's any other option..."
"Yami!" Yuugi jumped up, eyes glimmering with light tinged with sadness.
"Good game," said dark had walked over to Rebecca, offering a hand.
"Eh...? Why?" Rebecca murmured, like the child she, in age, still was. "Why would you–?"
"Even if you won, the outcome would not have changed anyway," Yami answered brusquely. "Aibou would not have been happy if I were to react unfavourably. He regards you as a dear friend, Rebecca. Come, stand proud and accept with grace. You did well now, and you will have left with experience where you had none before."
"Pharaoh..." Rebecca murmured, still dazed even as a beaming grandfather and hikari awaited them as they descended the platform.
"Good job, Rebecca," Arthur Hawkins smiled. "It was an exciting Duel."
"True," Yuugi smiled. Rebecca brightened visibly.
Yami smirked at the female Duellist's breaking out into chatter and sent a thought to his other half: I'm a supporter of polyamory, you know.
Ack! Yami! In the real world, a blush appeared on Yuugi's cheeks.
Yami inwardly snickered at his partner's innocence. He was a supporter of polyamory... selectively speaking. He could live with Yuugi having sex with other people... once he got the torture kit ready. Otherwise, come hell, shit, high water, or the Apocalypse, the Pharaoh was damn well going to be the only one to tap that, and the Shadow Realm would support him in it.
Yami no Yuugi was a warmer yami, hardly a better one. People just had a tendency to forget that he had the potential to be even worse than Bakura or Malik combined.
Holed up in a roomful of shadows, Apollymi Hunter sighed as he relaxed against the wall. Blood, coppery and thick, dripped from his left leg where the Harpie's scratch had gone deep.
"Another one like us, that Mai Kujaku," Apollymi assessed. "Although her power is erratic. Iemitsu... I see. Your last stand didn't take off, huh?"
Hesitantly, a masculine voice echoed from the gurney. "Sorry, Boss."
"It's not a problem," Apollymi shrugged. "Although being alone against them all is... quite the prospect. Did you have to get yourself injured to such an extent, really?"
"For our dreams..." Iemitsu sighed, his voice dying off.
"Sleep," Apollymi's eyes had turned wide, pupils contracting to barely any blue seen. "I will take things from here."
I look at this and I think I made Yami OOC... but then I decide that I saw Yami lose it in Duellist Kingdom and Battle City and all the rest, so it's not so bad. Besides, where's YuGiOh without the drama and the flair of our favourite Pharaoh if he's not doing proud declarations?
Next is the unofficial duel, Kaiba vs Marufuji! Who will win? Stay tuned for the next turn: Cyber End Dragon. Duel, standby!
