Good Day Readers! I only own Kylie and Katherine Hope along with the unique cards within their decks and whatever other OCs decide to crop up. Also this was originally written in dubbed so some chapters may have some dubbed dialogue remaining because I like it. Also italics symbolise another language not Japanese, I'm follow the Manga's timeline year speaking because it's easier for me.
I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy
Chapter 29: - Best of Friends, Best of Duelists (II)
No one that was watching this duel could deny that the duel between Other Yugi and Jounouchi was very intense as neither was willing to hold back in this duel which meant this match could end either way, this was honestly one of the closest matches that I had ever witnessed and it only made my desire to face Other Yugi grow even more.
We knew that neither boy was willing to give up so easily in this match and it was anyone's guess who would walk away the victor in the end, Other Yugi reached out to his deck and withdrew a card from it, when he looked at the card an inquisitive look appeared on his face with Jounouchi asking Other Yugi if he wanted to give up which nearly made me laugh since that was probably the last thing that would ever happen.
"No this turn, I'll use this card. Black Magician in attack mode!" Other Yugi announced. The mighty spellcaster appeared on the field ready to do as his master commanded in this battle, yet despite this unwavering loyalty Black Magician was hardly capable of taking on Black Demon's Dragon without a power boost.
Dark Magician – Attribute: Dark, Type: Spellcaster, Level: 7, ATK/2500, DEF/2100
"Yugi's Black Magician finally came out but you can't fight my Black Demon's Dragon," Jounouchi boasted. Despite this Other Yugi wasn't fazed in the least even asking if Jounouchi was sure about that. "In front of a strong attack monster, if you put it in attack mode it'll become the target. That's what you said," Jounouchi taunted.
Other Yugi reminded Jounouchi of another lesson that he had been taught, which had also been repeated by both duelists in this duel already, a combination of both Spell and monster cards and this caused Jounouchi to panic as Other Yugi activated the Spell Magical Silk Hats thus shrouding the spellcaster from our sight as duplicates were created to fill up other spaces.
"Well that'll at least slow Jounouchi down for a bit allowing Yugi to come up with a strategy," Katherine commented. Other Yugi dared his opponent to make a guess as to where the Black Magician could possibly be hiding, from Jounouchi expression it was clear that he had hoped to have finished the duel before that Spell card had been played.
Jounouchi didn't hesitate for much longer as he ordered his dragon to attack destroying one of the hats and sending up a small cloud of smoke for a moment but once it faded away, all of us felt a little relief when it turned out that Jounouchi's guess had been wrong.
With three hats left and a turn to come up with a plan it was clear that the tide of this duel was turning once more in Other Yugi's favour as it had been proven that giving Other Yugi any time to recover was a bad move since he always found some way out of a mess and that meant that Jounouchi could lose this duel because of it.
Other Yugi then proceeded to ask about what Jounouchi had proclaimed earlier, how he would destroy Other Yugi's monsters one by one, the blonde haired boy claimed he didn't want the duel to end too quickly and so Jounouchi used this opportunity to summon out Garoozis in attack mode.
Garoozis – Attribute: Fire, Type: Beast-Warrior, Level: 5, ATK/1800, DEF/1500
The move that Jounouchi had made was so damn obvious it was almost too embarrassing to watch, by playing Garoozis it was clear that Jounouchi wanted Other Yugi to attack the weaker monster with the Black Magician thus forcing it out of hiding and leaving it vulnerable to attack by the Black Demon's Dragon.
Despite the fact that by attacking and destroying Garoozis, Jounouchi would have been left with only fifty Life Points if Other Yugi had taken the bait then he would have lost the duel although Anzu's stupidity shined through when she only caught onto half of the situation which was the half that correlated with Jounouchi's Life Points.
Thankfully Bakura explained this to her before I snapped at this stupid brunette once again, she was beginning to really grate on my nerves, as was true to his nature as a skilled duelist Other Yugi did not fall for the obvious bait and instead opted to lay a single card face down onto the field thus hiding something else within the Magical Hats.
Jounouchi was clearly annoyed that his trap had failed as Other Yugi tempted him to take a chance on another hat, Jounouchi seemed to be in deep thought for a while as he tried to puzzle out exactly what Other Yugi could have possibly hidden underneath the hats, eventually Jounouchi declared another attack upon the hats with Black Demon's Dragon.
The hat was destroyed leaving only the two at the very ends of Other Yugi's side of the field, this hat proved to be empty as well which meant that no matter which hat Jounouchi attacked next time he was bound to hit something with each target having its' own risk since the hidden card was an unknown variable in this match.
I noticed that Pegasus seemed to have a dark look on his face as he observed the match almost as if he was only half interested in the match but that was hardly any surprise since he'd be more interested in the finals to see who his opponent would be and learn their strategies but at the same time I couldn't be sure as it almost seemed like he was lost in thought.
For his turn Other Yugi simply drew a card from his deck and then passed his turn thus turning it over to Jounouchi, now it was a fifty-fifty chance of Jounouchi actually managing to find the Black Magician although there was also the risk of him hitting whatever else had been hidden, the blonde refused to run from the match since he wasn't facing a regular duelist and so he ordered Black Demon's Dragon to attack the hat on Other Yugi's far right.
"Curse of Hexagram!" Other Yugi declared. As he spoke the deadly trap rose up from within the smoke and flew forward locking itself around the Black Skull Dragon thus forcing its' power to be significantly weakened in the process.
Black Skull Dragon – ATK/3200 – ATK/2500
Jounouchi realised the danger he was in and knew how much danger he'd be in if both of his monsters were in attack mode so he swiftly switched Garoozis into defence mode since Curse of Hexagram prevented Black Demon's Dragon from changing its' battle position.
"Next is my turn Jounouchi-kun," Other Yugi reminded. Jounouchi was clearly annoyed by this turn of events, however even if Other Yugi attacked with the Black Magician all it would result in would be for both monsters to be destroyed, stripping both of them of their powerful monsters and leaving Other Yugi defenceless.
"Jounouchi-kun you're the ideal opponent for me to go all out on," Other Yugi declared. Had anyone not been looking, which many of them weren't, then they would have seen Pegasus push back the curtain of hair allowing me to see his Millennium Eye as it glowed, clearly prying into the minds of the two duelists to see if they were holding back.
Other Yugi made his move by declaring that he would obliterate Jounouchi's precious Dragon and soon proved exactly how he would accomplish such a thing by playing the Equip Spell known as Book of Secret Arts which would raise Black Magician's attack and defence power, the more impressive feat was that it was also the card he had just drawn from his deck.
Black Magician – ATK/2500 – ATK/2800, DEF/2100 – DEF/2400
With a stronger attacking force at his disposal, Other Yugi promptly had the mighty Spellcaster attack the chained Black Demon's Dragon thus removing that threat from Jounouchi's field and successfully lowering Jounouchi's Life Points so that now there was only one hundred points difference between them and now Other Yugi was in the lead.
Jounouchi – LP: 750 – LP: 450
Pegasus clapped his hands and congratulated Other Yugi for his accomplishment however now it was time to see if Jounouchi would be able to find a way back at all or if Other Yugi would maintain control of the duel for the rest of the match.
"Jounouchi, you did great getting this far but you can't go anymore," Honda claimed. Upon hearing those words I let out ah um as I moved my head from side to side whilst Katherine pressed the index finger of her left hand to her lips whilst she thought which was exactly what I was doing as well, this caused the other three to look at us in confusion.
"It's hard to say really, at the moment it does seem that Yugi has the advantage in this game but…," I spoke trailing off. Katherine nodded her head agreeing with the same thoughts that I had most likely been thinking however none of the other three caught on to where my words were actually leading.
"But it all depends on how well Jounouchi plays now. So to speak, Jounouchi needs to find the kinks in Yugi's armour and exploit them if he wants to win," Katherine finished off. The other three spectators understood what the two of us were meaning thanks to Katherine's explanation.
Jounouchi seemed to be nearing the verge of giving up believing that he couldn't come back from the blow that Other Yugi had just dealt to him however Jounouchi's closed eyes suddenly flew open almost as if he had been hit by some sudden epiphany and the normal determination that shone within the boy's eyes came back in full force.
Jounouchi slammed his hand on top of his deck but this was in no way a surrender as he drew a card free from the deck and when he looked at it, Jounouchi's eyes widened upon seeing the artwork that was upon the surface then he played the card allowing us to see that Jounouchi had called upon his Baby Dragon in attack mode.
Baby Dragon – Attribute: Wind, Type: Dragon, Level: 3, ATK/1200, DEF/900
However Jounouchi didn't end his turn there as he proceeded to throw a card face down in the Spell and Trap zone, from all the time I'd seen Jounouchi play that move then it was naturally to assume that the face down card was Time Magician and Other Yugi would no doubt assume that same thing.
"No way, that's too simple," Katherine muttered. I looked down at my sister seeing her eyes keenly observing the duel whilst her eyebrows furrowed causing her forehead to crease slightly as she seemed deep in thought about the current play of the duel that we were watching.
Both Other Yugi and Jounouchi had seen each other duel numerous times so their knowledge was each other's decks and moves were quite vast but at the same time the person might actually be able to use that knowledge to their advantage by pretending a move was one thing when it truly was another, all us spectators could do were wait to see what would happen.
"Battle! Black Magician attack Baby Dragon!" Other Yugi commanded. The spellcaster unleashed his Black Magic towards Baby Dragon however instead of managing to destroy the little dragon, Jounouchi revealed that he had actually laid a trap by revealing the face down card was in fact Chain Attached Boomerang, this allowed Jounouchi to stop the attack and increase Garoozis' attack power.
Garoozis – ATK/1800 – ATK/2300
It seemed Jounouchi's play had actually been a bluff and now that left Other Yugi unable to stop Jounouchi from utilising his Baby Dragon-Time Magician combo, the two duelists agreed that this blindside move had brought this duel into the ending part of its' time.
After both duelists agreed that the duel would cause no hard feelings between the both of them, the blonde proceeded to actually play the Time Magician – which he had just pulled from his deck – causing the clockwork monster to appear on the field as Jounouchi commanded it to use its' Special Effect.
Time Magician – Attribute: Light, Type: Spellcaster, Level: 2, ATK/500, DEF/400
With baited breath everyone watched as the arrow on the sceptre began to spin around and around picking up speed and then gradually slowing down until eventually the arrow landed on one of the time machine symbols causing Time Magic to activate thus aging Baby Dragon into its' Thousand Dragon form whilst turning Black Magician into a decrepit old man.
Thousand Dragon – Attribute: Wind, Type: Dragon, Level: 7, ATK/2400, DEF/2000
Due to the effect of Time Magic, the Chain Attached Boomerang had lost its' effect thus allowing it to crumble into dust however that hardly mattered since Black Magician's attack power had plummeted all the way down to a measly one hundred points.
With that attack power there was absolutely no way that the Black Magician could stand up against the strength of Thousand Dragon however Spellcaster-type monsters didn't solely rely on attack power as their true strength was in any Special Effect that they might possess, I'd never seen Black Magician aged a thousand years and from the glint in the magician's eyes we would soon find out if those years had been a waste or not.
Despite the clear advantage that Jounouchi had it seemed that he was shell shocked by what he had managed to achieve as with a single attack then Jounouchi would be able to defeat Other Yugi and progress onto the finals with a very real chance of gaining the money necessary for his sister by his own strength, Jounouchi finally recovered and ordered his dragon to attack.
"I counter with Magical Mist, Makiu!" Other Yugi declared. I gaped in shock as the mystical spell rained down onto the duel arena thus dousing the attack from Thousand Dragon and protecting Black Magician from the attack but I was extremely confused and so were Jounouchi and Katherine.
"Hold it Yugi! How did you play Makiu when its' Jounouchi's turn, it isn't a Quick Play Spell or out on your field?" I protested. The other three spectators and even Pegasus were confused but only a Quick Play Spell or Trap could be used to protect a monster during the opponent's turn yet Makiu was a Normal type so it shouldn't have been possible, also there had been no other cards out on Other Yugi's field when the attack had been launched.
"Normally that would be correct Kylie however over the thousand years that passed my Black Magician has learned powerful magic. That Time Warp did age my Black Magician but it made him stronger not weaker and with age comes great wisdom, a thousand years of wisdom that have transformed him into the Black-Clothed Great Sage," Other Yugi explained.
Black-Clothed Great Sage – Attribute: Dark, Type : Spellcaster/Effect, Level: 9, ATK/100, DEF/?
Jounouchi's hope that the Time Magician would be able to end this duel on that very turn and in his victory had been dashed thanks to the might powers that the Black Sage possessed since it allowed Other Yugi to play any Spell card no matter if it was his turn or his opponent's turn and with no other moves available to him Jounouchi was forced to end his turn.
"Now during my turn, I'll be able to add a new Spell card to my hand," Other Yugi explained. He lifted up his deck and looked through it before selecting a spell card and then shuffling the deck once more so that he didn't have an unfair advantage as tears gathered in his eyes. "Thanks to the power of the Black Sage, I can now use a Spell card!" Other Yugi declared as tears fell down his face.
The card that had been selected was Resurrection of the Dead and this allowed Other Yugi to summon back the Black Demon's Dragon onto his field, realising that he had lost this duel a single tear fell down Jounouchi's face but that didn't stop the small smile that curved its' way onto the blonde's face because he had played a great duel and should be proud of what he had accomplished.
"Come on, Yugi!" Joey encouraged. It was brilliant to see that their friendship hadn't been shattered by the fact that they were forced to face off against each other; Other Yugi nodded and commanded the Black Demon's Dragon to attack Thousand Dragon with Molten Fire Ball.
Joey – LP: 450 – LP: 0
"They really didn't hold back," Honda admitted. The brunette boy was correct and I had to admit that this was the first time I'd ever seen two friends face each other in a duel and still maintain a strong friendship, normally a duel ended up tearing friends apart but since this was different it was actually rather difficult to watch that move and it was probably even worse for Other Yugi to had to execute such a move.
Anzu began to cry and claim that she now could understand the duel she had been watching and the reason why but I don't think she truly understood… she wasn't a duelist after all; now with the first semi-final match out of the way it was time for my match, I pushed off the balcony rail and looked down at Katherine who was staring back at me.
"Alright Katherine, it's time," I stated. Katherine nodded then reached down to her pouch and withdrew her deck with me doing the same thus allowing us to trade decks; we proceeded to do several complicated shuffles until certain that neither could read the deck during out match and returned the decks to their true owner.
"To a good duel," Katherine commented. As she did her right hand reached out so I quickly interwove my right hand with hers so that no one would look at the golden metal on her hand, we shared a smile and then dropped hands as we descended down the stairs towards the arena.
