Yu-Gi-Oh! Eternal
A Fan-Fiction by neomage
(DISCLAIMER: The darkness continues to rise…and still, no, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.)
CHAPTER 38 – Battle for Destiny
Characters' First Appearance in Story
YUGO
NAME: Yugo Muto
AGE: 14
HAIR: Blond (same appearance as Yugi's)
EYES: Black
CLOTHES: Black leather jacket and jeans, white undershirt, black suede shoes
KYO
NAME: Kyo Bakura
AGE: 15
HAIR: Dark
EYES: Violet (wears glasses)
CLOTHES: Green jacket, aqua T-shirt, purple sweatpants and white sneakers
JENNA
NAME: Jenna Wheeler
AGE: 14
HAIR: Blond
EYES: Brown
CLOTHES: Yellow T-shirt, short black skirt, black sandals
MIKI
NAME: Miki Taylor
AGE: 14
HAIR: Brown
EYES: Blue
CLOTHES: Pink blouse, dark green shorts, green sneakers
DOMINO HIGH SCHOOL, DOMINO CITY, 4:00 p.m.
The large clock on the face of the high school's entrance ticked off the seconds slowly. The time was now 3:59, and the seconds went by…tick…tick…tick…tick…
BBBRRRRRRNNNNGGGGG! The school bell rang loud and long, seeming to echo all across the campus. And, like clockwork, the doors to various classrooms burst open, students emerged with their book bags, and stopped at their lockers to collect their street shoes.
In the midst of the clamor, a blond, spiky-haired boy emerged in the school's front yard, slung his book bag over one shoulder and chuckled. "Well, time to head on home and see what Grandma's got cooking," he remarked aloud.
"Yugo! Hey, Yugo! Over here!"
"Hmm?" Yugo turned and beheld three other students approaching him. "Oh, hey, guys. What're you all up to now?"
The trio in question consisted of a dark-haired boy with glasses, a blond girl, and a brown-haired girl. "We're all going to hang out at Jenna's place for a little while and do some group studying," the boy replied, indicating the blond girl. "Don't forget, we've got a chemistry test first thing Monday morning, so it's best to get as well-prepared as possible."
"BO-RING!" Yugo made a face. "Well, you guys can go ahead and do that—I'm going to head home and plop right into bed."
"But, Yugo, you're in the class too, or have you forgotten?" the brown-haired girl scolded him. "And last I recall, your chemistry grades weren't all that good…"
"Pshaw!" Yugo scoffed. "That chemistry teacher can eat my nuts for all I care!" He pulled at his pants crotch obscenely to emphasize the contempt. "Well, you guys can go study if you want. I'm out of this place." And he turned to leave.
Jenna chuckled and patted the other girl on the shoulder. "Never mind him, Miki," she said. "He can always miss out on the barbecued beef ribs Dad's looking about tonight."
"Hey, yeah!" Miki's expression brightened. "And Uncle Joey and Aunt Mai are gonna do some real shepherd's pie, aren't they? With cheese filling, mutton, sweet potatoes…"
Yugo had already taken several steps away from the trio—but on hearing these comments, he immediately backtracked. "What time did you say the study session is?" he asked with a grin, even as drool leaked from one corner of his mouth.
"Ugh…well, at least we know what motivates you…" Kyo turned away from the revolting sight.
"What's that, you bastard? I dare you to say that again!"
The quartet turned at the sound of the angry yell. "That's…!" Yugo's eyes widened.
Off to one side, three tough-looking boys surrounded a familiar blue-haired figure, rage very clear on their faces. "Seta!" Miki cried. "But—what's going on?"
"Oh?" Seta glanced up. "Oh, hey, guys."
The others ran up. "What's going on over here all of a sudden?" Jenna demanded.
"Stay out of this, twerps! This has nothing to do with you!" one of the three boys snapped.
"Like hell it doesn't!" Yugo shot back.
"Hey, wait—isn't this guy the kid that won Dueltropolis?" one of the other boys wondered, referring to Yugo.
"He could've won Mr. Universe for all I care—he's still just a brat!" the third one stormed. "And this one caused my uncle to be put in the hospital!" he added, pointing a hateful finger at Seta.
"Oh?" Seta cocked an eyebrow. "Sorry, but I don't recall doing any such thing…"
"You are NOT going to stand there and tell me that you don't remember!" the third boy yelled. "At Tokyo Dome, when you teamed up with those nutty people…my uncle was one of the security guards on duty the night those guys took it over! He got hurt in that attack…now he's in a hospital ward in a coma! And you're saying you don't remember?"
Seta sighed. "Well…even if I were to try and explain what happened back then, it would just be a waste of my breath. I'm sorry your uncle's in the hospital, but the ones responsible for that are all either dead or in jail by now—your revenge is already over."
"Hey, man, what's there to explain? You were on live TV!" the first boy retorted. "And now here you are, walking around out in the open like nothing happened—you've got to be really brave or really retarded!"
"In any case, we can't forgive you for your sins," the second boy added. "You're not walking out of here without some form of punishment!"
"Hey, come on now, there's no need for this kind of thing! What happened back then is already over and done with, isn't it?" Miki protested, stepping up to the boys.
"Get your nose out of our business, bitch!" the third boy snapped, turning and slapping her in the face, causing her to fall to the ground.
Kyo was livid. "WHY, YOU…!" and he made as if to charge at the trio.
"Stop it, Kyo." Seta's tone was loud and clear.
"But—!" Kyo began.
"They struck the first blow, so before the eyes of all witnesses they'll be the ones at fault." Seta's eyes narrowed. "But if you fight back now, even for the sake of a friend, you'll be in trouble as well. And also, if you retaliate, they'll find a way to easily say that you were the aggressor."
"Hah! That's just the talk of a wuss!" the first boy scoffed.
"Are you willing to go the distance to see if it's a bluff, then?" asked Seta.
"Seta…" Yugo frowned.
Jenna, meanwhile, was already at Miki's side. "Miki, are you all right?" she asked anxiously.
"Y-yeah…sorry about that, I should've been more careful," Miki said sheepishly, holding her cheek where she'd been slapped.
The three boys, meanwhile, gritted their teeth and glared at the group. Then, abruptly, the third boy turned on his heels. "Heh, whatever. Let's get out of here, guys. We don't need to deal with a bunch of sissies like these."
"We're letting you off easy for today, but don't think we'll forget this!" the second boy added.
"We'll get you back, just wait and see!" the first boy gave the parting shot.
The five friends watched as the three boys tramped off. "I still wish I could've kicked their asses," Kyo grumbled. "But, Seta, what they said…are you sure you're all right with that?"
"Well…there are bound to be people out there who despise me after what happened at Tokyo Dome back then," Seta admitted. "It can't be helped…they have every right to be angry, after all."
"But—that wasn't your fault!" Miki protested.
"Even so, they won't see it that way," Seta answered. "And it's not just me as an individual that the whole Zodiac incident has affected…at least one of Kaibacorp's major shareholders has dropped out of business with us because of what happened. The company is still doing well, but…it'll be a while before shareholder confidence is back 100 percent."
"I see," said Jenna. "In the meantime, what're you going to do?"
"What am I going to do?" Seta smirked. "I'm going to go and get ready for Drake Phoenix's tournament tomorrow."
"Hey, yeah, that's right!" Yugo's face lit up. "I'd almost forgotten about the tournament! But even so, I won't have to worry about preparation—my deck's already stacked and rearing to go!"
"Mine, too." Seta chuckled. "I was merely referring to my outfit that I'm going to wear for the tournament. I do have to look good for the fans—it'll be shown live, after all."
The other four sweat-dropped. "Uh…right…" Jenna chuckled.
"Say, Seta—what about the opponents you'll be facing?" Miki asked uncertainly. "I mean, sure, Yugo will be there too, and Janus Yuki from Duel Academy also…but didn't that Drake Phoenix say there'd be eight special duelists taking part?"
"Those guys?" Seta shrugged. "I know of them—eight powerful duelists from within the pro leagues who use a wide variety of powerful strategies. I've even dueled two or three of them, from when I first became the World Champion, so I can say right now that they're incredibly powerful."
Yugo looked at him with an upraised eyebrow. "But you're not really concerned about them, are you…?"
"Well, I'm not exactly going to go out of my way just to face those guys again," Seta replied coolly. "Right now, there are only two people I'm interested in facing head-on when we're there…"
Kyo adjusted his glasses. "Of course, we know Yugo is one of those two," he commented. "After all, he's the one opponent you haven't defeated yet, right?"
"No need to broadcast it, pal," Seta grumbled, a vein bulging on his forehead.
"But who's the second person?" Miki asked.
At that Seta smiled. "Who else? That Janus Yuki kid…he's got a rather intriguing deck strategy, from what I saw during his duel with Yugo in the Dueltropolis semi-finals. I'm curious to see just how well his Elemental Heroes would do against my Blue-Eyes White Dragon deck."
"And I want to duel against him, too," said Yugo, smirking a little. "Because right now, our overall dueling score is at a tie…and I intend to break that tie."
"That is true, isn't it?" said Kyo. "That time when Janus came to Domino City to tell us about the tournament, he dueled Yugo and defeated him…then Yugo beat Janus in the quarter-finals of the tournament…so the battle between the two of them is still unresolved."
"Then this tournament will be the place where the battle is resolved," and Yugo nodded with determination.
"Okay, then!" Seta announced. "I've already made arrangements with my father, Yugo…you and I will go together on our company's helicopter to Kaiba Land, where the tournament will be held. So, let's meet up at Kaibacorp at sundown, and then everything will be set."
"Got it!" said Yugo. "In that case, there's no time to waste! I have to go home and get ready! Sorry, you guys, but that study group thing's gonna have to wait!" And with that, he turned and dashed for the school's front gate.
"Just don't expect us to study for you as well!" Kyo yelled after him.
----------
DRAKE PHOENIX'S FAMILY MANSION, 4:25 p.m.
"All right…so now the members of the House of Cards have all gone their separate ways," Jessica noted.
"Only for the next few hours," Drake answered. "Then they will all congregate at the designated place."
"So, I suppose we should prepare ourselves for tomorrow, also," Jan added. "In that case, I'm going back to my room. You can have your servants let me know when it's time for dinner. Later." With that, he turned and headed off down the corridor.
"Aww…to think he's now part of our House of Cards, and that he'll be dueling alongside us…" Jessica's eyes turned to hearts as she stared dreamily after Jan's departing figure.
"Ugh, get it out of your head already, would you?" Drake scowled at her.
"More importantly, though…" Jessica's face became more serious. "Your planned layout for the tournament…don't you think it's a little unfair?"
"Fairness, unfairness…it's all relative," Drake said casually. "If those who've been invited to take part in this game can't endure it, they should just drop out. Only those whose wills are strong enough will last one hour into this tournament. No exceptions."
"Sigh…well, you're the organizer, so I guess I shouldn't question how you want to do this," said Jessica.
"Don't worry," Drake told her. "You'll be getting a special place in the tournament, with considerable power at your disposal, so you'll have a vantage view of every duelist who'll be there. It all depends on how well you'll prepare yourself, from now."
"And you?" Jessica asked. "I guess you won't need to do much preparation…"
Drake looked thoughtful. "Actually, I need to make some preparations for myself as well," he replied. "And I know exactly what I need to do to prepare…it just depends on whether or not Dad's going to be a stubborn bastard about it again."
"Again?" Jessica blinked.
"If you want to know more, follow me and you will see for yourself," said Drake. "Let's go find Dad. We'll start by looking for him in the living room."
The siblings walked along the corridor towards the living room area, where—and Drake smirked triumphantly as he saw this—Mr. Phoenix was indeed sitting on the couch, reading a book. "Oh? Did you kids need something?" the elder Phoenix asked, looking up at the duo as he paused in his reading.
Jessica looked at the book Mr. Phoenix had been engrossed in, a green hardbound book, and made a face. "Dad, don't tell me you're still reading that Dante's Inferno?" she asked.
Mr. Phoenix made a face right back at her. "Hey, you don't hear me complaining about your comic books, do you?" he rebutted.
"Touché." Jessica sighed.
Drake cleared his throat. "Dad…I'm going to prepare for the tournament tomorrow—but if my deck is going to be strong enough to be worthy of champion status, I need to upgrade it."
"So upgrade it. What's stopping you?" Mr. Phoenix asked idly, turning his attention back to his book.
"Well, for starters…" Drake's eyes narrowed. "The fact that, even now, you still have that card. And that's the card I need."
Mr. Phoenix was just about to turn a page to resume his reading—but on hearing Drake's statement, he paused in mid-action. "Drake…MUST we have this talk again?" he asked, shutting the book. "I've already told you, there is no way I'm going to let you have that card until you've demonstrated some degree of maturity, both as a duelist and as a human being. And so far, you have yet to show me that maturity."
"Um, I'm in the dark here," Jessica spoke up, confusion on her face.
"It's not that complicated, Jessica," Mr. Phoenix informed her. "Putting it simply, there is a particular card that I deliberately withheld from Drake when I gave him the Destiny Hero deck…because that card does not deserve to be in the hands of a duelist whose actions and strength are motivated only by hatred and greed." His eyes narrowed deeply. "Specifically, because your brother has not buried the hatred he still bears for Janus Yuki, nor discarded the greed that drives him to be the world's best duelist, he is not worthy of wielding that one special card. It has been tainted in the past by greed and desire…I will not allow that to happen again, and not from one of my own children at that."
Drake scowled in turn. "Tough words…but can you back them up?"
"Drake…!" Jessica looked at him with alarm.
"Are you questioning my authority, boy?" Mr. Phoenix asked dangerously.
"Duelists have to be strong…in order to be strong, they can't waste time on such out-of-place concepts as unselfishness or caring about others' feelings!" Drake snapped. "As a duelist, the only one you can think about is yourself! The only one you should strive to improve is yourself! And if any other duelist stands in your way to the top, then you should either run from them in fear or run over them without cowering!"
Mr. Phoenix put the book down and stood up, suddenly standing quite tall over Drake. "And still my response is no. You're not getting that card, Drake, not even if you go on your knees and beg."
Drake snarled. "I do not beg! And I do not quit until I get what I want!"
"Then why don't you try taking the card from me, if you're so brave?" Mr. Phoenix dared him. "But if you persist, then make no mistake—I don't care that you're my son, I'll beat you so badly with these two hands that you won't be able to stand up when I'm done!"
"This coming from a has-been duelist who left the pro leagues ages ago," Drake scoffed.
"Don't forget, this 'has-been' is the one who taught you what you know about dueling!" Mr. Phoenix flung at him. "But evidently I forgot to teach you about the humility that comes with mastery of Duel Monsters…so I'll gladly take a little time right now to give you some overdue schooling!"
"And I'm assuming you already have a prepared deck?" Drake sneered.
"You assume correctly," said Mr. Phoenix. "Now, then—fetch your dueling equipment and meet me outside, on the front lawn, right now."
"I'll be there, old man!" Drake replied defiantly.
With that father and son tramped out of the living room…leaving Jessica standing there, stupefied. "Um…okay…I'll just wait here, then, I guess…?" she said to nobody in particular.
----------
A SHORT WHILE LATER
Mrs. Phoenix emerged at the top of the staircase to come down to the living room—and noticed something off. "What's this all of a sudden?" she asked with a note of surprise in her voice. "Has something happened?"
For right below her, several of the house servants were chattering excitedly as they headed out the front door. Jessica was standing off to one side, watching everyone go outside; on hearing her mother's voice, she looked up. "Oh, hi, Mom," she hailed her mother. "Where've you been all this time?"
"Taking a nap in an attempt to deal with the migraine I had earlier," Mrs. Phoenix answered. "Those duelist friends of yours, are they gone yet? And why is everyone going outside all of a sudden?"
"Yes, Mom, they all left already," Jessica chuckled and shook her head. "But now Dad and Drake are going to duel outside on the lawn."
At that Mrs. Phoenix slapped a hand against her forehead in utter exasperation. "Honestly! When it's not you kids and your friends, it's your father!"
"Mom, give it a rest already—duels aren't all that bad," Jessica said reasonably. "Why don't you at least come outside with the rest of us and watch even this duel, eh?"
"And why should I watch your father and brother throw a bunch of cards and holograms around, and our servants watching them do it, when everybody could be doing other, more useful and meaningful things?" Mrs. Phoenix snapped.
"Excuse me, but it's rather strange that you're getting so worked up over 'a bunch of cards and holograms,' wouldn't you say?"
Turning, Mrs. Phoenix saw Jan standing there, looking at her with a small smirk. "You're still here?" she asked condescendingly.
Jan looked down at Jessica. "So, your brother and father are going to duel, eh? Should be interesting…a former pro league champ against a current pro league contender…"
"Yeah, Dad was well-known in the pro leagues back in his day," Jessica acknowledged. "I just wonder if he still has the same strength as back then…wanna come and see with me?"
"Eh, it'll be interesting at least," said Jan.
"You…all of you…you're morons!" Mrs. Phoenix exploded. "Fine! Waste your lives on some stupid pieces of paper if that's what you want! I'm going to go take some aspirin…" And she turned on her heel and stalked off.
"What's her deal?" Jan wondered aloud.
"Ah-ha-ha, never mind about Mom for now, she'll be okay," Jessica brushed it off with a sweat-drop on her head. "Anyway, let's go outside and see if they're ready to start, huh?"
So saying, Jessica turned and headed out the front door, Jan following after her only moments later. Right outside, they found the servants chattering excitedly as, not far away on the lawn, Drake and Mr. Phoenix were putting together their respective decks and Duel-Disks. "Oh, good, they're just about to start!" said Jessica. "Now let's see what Dad can do against Drake!"
"Shouldn't that be, what your brother can do against your dad?" Jan wondered.
Meanwhile, Mr. Phoenix finished packing his deck together, and now began to shuffle it. "So, Drake, you want to get a hold of that card so badly, huh?" he asked. "Your window of opportunity is right here…but…if you fail, you'll have to lose something in turn. And I know exactly what I'll be taking from you in that case—I'll be taking back that Destiny Hero deck from you."
"Fat chance!" Drake retorted as he shuffled his own deck. "I've built my reputation on these cards!"
"Then your reputation will be torn from you as well." Mr. Phoenix slotted his deck into his Duel-Disk. "Now, let's begin."
"Right!" Drake slotted his deck into his Duel-Disk as well.
DRAKE: 8000; Mr. PHOENIX: 8000
Their respective life points rose to 8000, and the holographic coin appeared. "As the adult here, I'll call it," Mr. Phoenix declared. "I call tails!"
The coin was immediately flipped, and flew high into the air even as all eyes watched it expectantly…and then it landed, showing its result to be tails. "Great…you get the first turn…but that won't make a difference against me!" Drake grumbled.
"We'll see about that, now won't we?" Mr. Phoenix quipped, as both of them drew their opening hands. "Anyway…I'll go!" He drew his card to begin, then studied his hand intently. "Hmm…well, then…I'll just set one card facedown, and that is all for now."
"That's pretty daring of you, Dad, not putting out any other cards to even guard your life points," Drake said scornfully as he drew his card. "I summon Destiny Hero – Dunker (ATK 1200, DEF 1700) in Attack Mode!" He then brought out a tall, muscular man with blue dreadlocks, body armor, and heavy-looking gauntlets on his wrists. "And here's his effect—"
"I already know that monster's effect," Mr. Phoenix interrupted coolly. "You can send one Destiny Hero monster from your hand to the Graveyard to do 500 points of damage to my life points."
"…right. Anyway, I'll discard my Destiny Hero – Malicious (ATK 800, DEF 800) and my Destiny Hero – Disk Commander (ATK 300, DEF 300) from my hand to do 1000 points of damage to you!" Drake went on, discarding the two named cards from his hand. In turn, two spheres of glowing light appeared in Dunker's hands, and he dribbled them around like basketballs for a moment before flinging one, then the other, at Mr. Phoenix. Both balls of light slammed into the older man with immense explosions.
DRAKE: 8000; Mr. PHOENIX: 7000
"Did you see that?" some of the servants were whispering. "Master Drake isn't holding back, even on his father!"
The light from the explosions soon died away…but Mr. Phoenix didn't seem to have moved an inch! Instead, he looked bored. "And…?"
"Hmm." Jan cocked an eyebrow. "He didn't even bat an eyelash at that assault just now…"
"Now, it's time for me to attack directly!" said Drake. "Go, Dunker—attack with Force Ball Dribble!"
Another ball of light emerged in Dunker's hands, and he dribbled it on the ground for a moment. Then he hoisted it over his shoulder, ready to throw it at Mr. Phoenix—who suddenly shouted, "And I counter that by revealing my facedown Magic card, Scapegoat!"
"Say what?" Drake's eyes widened.
As Dunker paused in his attack, four small and fluffy sheep of different colors—red, blue, yellow and pink—appeared and took over four of Mr. Phoenix's Monster Card zones. "Scapegoat permits me to Special Summon four Sheep Tokens, which are then treated as Level 1, Earth-attribute, Beast-type monsters with 0 ATK and 0 DEF, and they are summoned in Defense Mode," Mr. Phoenix explained.
"And Scapegoat itself was a Quick-play Magic card, which is why you could activate it during my turn," Drake noted. "But it doesn't matter how many creatures you summon, before my Destiny Heroes they're all weaklings! Dunker, redirect your attack toward the pink Sheep Token!" And Dunker obeyed, letting his energy ball fly and obliterating the targeted Sheep Token immediately.
"Aww…and that one was the cutest of them all, too…" Jessica sighed forlornly.
"Now, I'll set one card facedown," which Drake did promptly, "and that's it for my turn."
"Very well." Mr. Phoenix drew his next card, so he was holding six once again. "Now, Drake…normally, the Sheep Token that I Special Summon with Scapegoat's effect can't be offered as tributes for a Tribute Summon or Set…however, all other tribute-requiring situations still count, such as for card effects—or Special Summons, like right now!"
Drake's eyes widened. "Say what?"
Mr. Phoenix then held up one of his cards. "Now…I will sacrifice my remaining three Sheep Tokens to Special Summon this monster from my hand…the very card you want so badly! Now, be summoned…Destiny Hero – Plasma (ATK 1900, DEF 600)!"
All at once, the three remaining Sheep Tokens inexplicably turned to blood, rapidly dripping onto the ground into one giant puddle! "Ew! That's gross!" Jessica cried out in disgust.
Jan, however, was relatively unmoved by this. A Destiny Hero, huh…?
The blood puddle then rose up…and took the form of a humanoid with huge wings. As everyone watched expectantly, the blood gradually oozed away…leaving behind a man with wicked-looking armor on his body, tattered cape-like wings on his back, three large spikes protruding from the back of his helmet and pointing forward over his head, and a monstrous lizard-like head with fangs to replace his right arm. "Behold, Drake, the ultimate Destiny Hero!" Mr. Phoenix announced. "And now, I will activate his effect…"
"His effect?" Drake repeated, incredulous.
"Naturally—all Destiny Hero monsters are monsters that bear effects," said Mr. Phoenix. "In Plasma's case, I can choose one of your monsters and equip it to him as an Equip Magic card, and his ATK is then increased by an amount equal to half of that selected monster's ATK. And you only have one monster on your side right now, so…"
"NO!" Drake cried—but almost immediately a huge suction wave erupted onto the field, dragging the hapless Dunker off the ground and towards Plasma. Gritting his teeth, Drake watched helplessly and with revulsion as Dunker somehow got absorbed into Plasma's wings, in the process turning into a bloody pulp even as he screamed in agony. As well, half of Dunker's ATK got added to Plasma's ATK, increasing it to 2500!
"Aw, gross! That's even more disgusting!" Jessica looked about ready to retch.
"Hmm…interesting…so, in spite of his rather tame name, Plasma gains his strength by taking in the blood of his victims," said Jan.
"There's a small drawback to Plasma's power that I've just demonstrated," said Mr. Phoenix. "He can only be equipped with one monster at a time…and it's not like he's got an effect that'll just let me destroy the monster equipped to him for me to activate his effect again. But that's all right, since he's quite strong enough as he is now…although to be safe, I'll back him up as a precaution."
Drake scowled.
"Now—I summon my Dark Crusader (ATK 1600, DEF 200) in Attack Mode!" Mr. Phoenix announced, and a moment later he called out a black leather-clad swordsman with a skeletal face and wild red hair, sporting a tattered red cape as well. "And I activate his effect: by sending one Dark monster from my hand to the Graveyard, Dark Crusader's ATK will be increased by 400! So I'll discard my Dark Elf (ATK 2000, DEF 800) for the effect to activate!"
As Mr. Phoenix discarded a card from his hand to leave him with three, Dark Crusader lifted his gigantic sword in one hand with extreme ease, as his ATK rose to 2000. But Mr. Phoenix wasn't done. "Next, I'll activate the Magic card, Premature Burial, and pay 800 life points to Special Summon the very monster I just discarded for Dark Crusader's effect—Dark Elf!"
DRAKE: 8000; Mr. PHOENIX: 6200
Moments later, a purple-haired woman with a yellow headdress and clad in a green robe appeared on the field even as Premature Burial's effect brought Mr. Phoenix's life points down to 6200. "And I'm going to take a guess that that facedown card of yours can only be activated in conjunction with Destiny Hero monsters—but with nothing else on your end of the field, right now it's nothing more than just another card," Mr. Phoenix chuckled. "Now, pay for your arrogance and your insolence! Go, my monsters—attack him directly!"
Dark Crusader was up first—and he lunged forward with his sword, slashing hard into Drake and lowering his life points to 6000. Then Dark Elf began to chant—but all at once a red glow appeared around Mr. Phoenix's body, and his life points dropped to 5200! "Dark Elf requires that I pay 1000 life points in order to attack with her," Mr. Phoenix explained coolly—and then Dark Elf fired a ball of magic energy at Drake, hitting him and bringing his score down further to 4000.
DRAKE: 4000; Mr. PHOENIX: 5200
"Ow…Dad, that was NOT cool!" Drake fumed.
"Hmph," Mr. Phoenix replied carelessly. "Now, have a taste of the very power you crave so greedily! Destiny Hero – Plasma, attack him directly with Crimson Shower!"
Plasma raised his monster-arm, and at once the mouth at the end of that arm opened wide. Then the next thing Drake knew, the monster-arm's mouth fired a blistering rain of crimson liquid that scorched him and caused him to yell out in pain as his life points sharply dropped to 1500. "Ungh!" he grimaced, dropping to one knee in a desperate effort to brace himself from the bombardment.
DRAKE: 1500; Mr. PHOENIX: 5200
"Ooohhh…" Jessica winced at her brother's pain. "Dad could go a little easier on him…"
Jan shook his head. "Duelists don't have room in a serious duel for compassion for their opponent. In any battle, the slightest bit of compassion will cause you to drop your guard, and that will spell your undoing. Your father, no doubt, realizes this as well."
Mr. Phoenix, in the meantime, picked one of the two hand-cards he had left. "Now, to finish my turn, I'll set one card facedown," and he did so.
Drake glared at him. "So you got my life points by this much, and in one turn too…but you'll never beat me! And you'll never get your hands on my Destiny Heroes!"
"Need I remind you yet again, brat, that I was the one who taught you how to use the Destiny Hero cards?" Mr. Phoenix asked. "I used that deck for far longer than you have been, so naturally I know its every strength and its every weakness. And let me tell you one of its weaknesses right now: Its full potential cannot be reached if it's used by a duelist whose heart is full of negative emotion."
"Negative emotion, my ass!" Drake spat.
"Watch your language," Mr. Phoenix narrowed his eyes. "But then again, that serves as a very vivid illustration of my point. It's clearer and clearer to me now that it really was a mistake to give you control of the Destiny Heroes, when you're so full of rage and hate. The Destiny Heroes may have brought you success in your tournament participations over the last few years, but in turn you've become vain, cruel, heartless and corrupt. The Destiny Heroes are meant to be beacons of justice, but under your degenerated control they've become nothing more than tools for thuggish behavior."
"Like you even know what you're talking about!" Drake exploded. "Now, enough of this! It's my draw!" And with a vengeful flourish, he got back up on his feet and drew his next card, so now he held three in hand. "Time to send Destiny Hero – Plasma packing!" he announced. "It's got a lot of power that'll improve my deck a lot, sure, but right now he's being a serious pain in my ass! So, go, Destiny Hero – Doom Lord (ATK 600, DEF 800), in Attack Mode!"
A moment later Doom Lord appeared on the field, his claw-like fingers clicking together in expectation as his tattered cape billowed behind him. "Now, Doom Lord's effect activates!" Drake declared snidely. "When he's in Attack Mode, his power can remove one monster that you control from play for your next two turns, at a cost of me not being able to attack this turn!"
"And I suppose you're going to target Destiny Hero – Plasma for that effect?" Mr. Phoenix asked.
"You got that right!" Drake nodded.
But suddenly Mr. Phoenix laughed loudly. "You really are a fool, aren't you?" he remarked. "Haven't you noticed anything strange since you summoned Doom Lord to the field? Take a good look at him!"
"What?" Drake looked at Doom Lord—and only then did he notice that, for some odd reason, the monster was surrounded by a crimson-colored energy field. "Hey! What is this?" he yelled.
"That, my ignorant son, is the effect of Destiny Hero – Plasma at work," Mr. Phoenix replied. "As long as he's face-up on the field, his power negates the effects of all Effect monsters that are controlled by my opponent. And considering that every single Destiny Hero monster is an Effect monster…"
Drake looked at his deck in a sudden panic. "Oh, man—then that means all my monsters will be worthless as long as that Plasma is still on the field…!"
Mr. Phoenix looked knowingly at him. "It's still your turn…what're you going to do?"
"Hmm…" Drake looked at the field in annoyance. "For now, nothing. I'll just end my turn."
Shrugging, Mr. Phoenix drew another card. "Well, this would be where I'd attack Doom Lord," he commented, "but knowing the Destiny Hero deck like I do, that facedown card of yours is likely one of three cards: Destiny Signal, D – Counter, or D – Shield. If I do destroy your monster, Destiny Signal will let you Special Summon another Destiny Hero from your deck, and you'll probably go for Destiny Hero – Defender, who's got a DEF high enough to repel all of my monsters. Or, if I attack, D – Counter will destroy the attacking monster, which in this case is actually a one-in-three chance of destroying Plasma, but which would be a real headache for me regardless since it would entail unnecessary destruction of one of my monsters. Or, if the card is D – Shield, then you'll be able to shift Doom Lord into Defense Mode, make him impervious to destruction through battle, and keep your own life points safe, all at the same time."
Jan whistled. "Very impressive…he really could read the kid like an open book."
"Actually, it's not so difficult to do once you have an intimate knowledge of a Destiny Hero deck, or of any deck for that matter," Mr. Phoenix addressed him. "Even if you possess only a casual working knowledge of a given strategy, that should be enough to prepare you for what type of cards that strategy will employ, no?"
"Don't divert your attention, Dad," Drake said ominously. "You're going to regret not having attacked me!"
"I'll believe that threat when I see it in action—right now, all you're doing is shooting off your mouth." Mr. Phoenix crossed his arms. "For the time being, I will end my turn…and in a little while, I will end your ownership of the Destiny Heroes as well!"
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neomage: Well, now, what a pinch Drake is in! Face-to-face with the incredibly powerful Destiny Hero – Plasma, as well as other cards that have him backed up into a corner…what's he to do? Find out next chapter!