One finalist chosen, and one to go.
In our upcoming match, there's no reason for anyone to hold back!
First, the young business emperor we know and love: Seto Kaiba!
His opponent? None other than our resident beast-master Victor Greenstone!
Only one of these two will be walking out of the arena and into the space for the finalists.
The other will have a one-way airline ticket to Loserville.
It's time to release your wild side!
Primal Wrath
In the VIP box, Victor was watching as Tim fell to the pot of boiling liquid below. He looked to the only other person in the room with him: Seto Kaiba.
The young CEO was watching the match with a cold stare. He smirked a bit as he saw Tim plummet into the potion with a scream, and then turned to Victor, his face cold once more.
"Well, I guess it's down to us Mr. Kaiba," Victor observed, extending one hand to his neighbor. "May the best duelist win."
"I assure you, I will," Kaiba stated, looking at Victors hand before turning away with a dismissive shrug.
"Not too cold," Victor said to himself as Yugi reappeared next to him.
"That was a good duel down their Yugi," Victor said to the King of Games.
"Oh, thanks," Yugi smiled, looking pleased with himself. "Now I'm kind of wishing Zeffie had won her duel though. She's…overly energetic sure, but Tim's jokes…"
Yugi shook his head, and then leaned back.
"Well, good luck Victor," Yugi wished the older duelist.
"Thanks Yugi, I've got a feeling I'll need it," Victor smiled.
With that said, the card lists for both remaining duelists appeared. Victor and Kaiba began sorting through them one by one.
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"Only one duel left till the finals," Kevin said, sounding ecstatic. "I can't wait!"
"We already know who the finalists will be," Brian pointed out.
"Still, how often do you get to be a live witness to a match between Yugi and Kaiba?" Kevin responded.
"He has a point," Espa nodded.
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"So, do you think anyone cares who Kaiba is up against?" Mary asked her father.
"Dunno, probably not though," Gold answered. "They just care about supporting their hero."
"Just like back in Kansas!" Zeffie cheered. "They always cheer for Goldie down there!"
Gold chuckled a bit, and gently pat Zeffie on the head.
"Come on Zef, I'm not that popular," Gold said.
"Oh don't be so modest Julie-boy," Pegasus grinned. "You made it this far, and you're recognized as a champion. I'd bet you have your fair share of fans back home."
Gold just shrugged as Pegasus continued.
"The same could probably be said for Mr. Greenstone. He's just being overshadowed at the moment by Kaiba-boy," Pegasus went on. "Hope it doesn't damage his pride too much."
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"So why am I sitting next to this firebug?" Weevil wondered, looking at Tim.
"Because Mako refuses to sit next to him, and you didn't mind giving up your seat," Richington stated.
"That was before I knew he wanted to take my seat," Weevil grumbled. "I thought he wanted to dump laughing boy in it."
"Come on Mako, don't be mad," Tim said, trying to cheer up the ocean duelist. "I mean I only embarrassed you in front of an international audience in a children's card game. Is that anything to get worked up about?"
Mako cast a glare at Tim. It was clear that he thought it was something to be upset over.
"What?" Tim promptly stated.
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"Kaiba again?" Joey frowned. "Give me a break. Hope Victor wins this match..."
"Isn't he that new friend you met earlier in the tournament?" Serenity asked.
"Yeah, the one that beat me and Bakura," Mai answered for Joey. "If he took us out, he might just be a match for Kaiba."
"Oh come on Mai, neither of us would have a prayer against Kaiba, so him beating us…" Bakura began.
He trailed off as Mai cast him a withering glare.
"Um…Never mind," Bakura cut off.
"Wise choice," The ring spirit advised. "You don't want to disagree with a woman that gives you that look."
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Roland raised one hand overhead as the audience began to cheer.
"The time has come for our second finalist to be decided!" Roland shouted out, whipping the audience into a storm of support for Kaiba. "But don't go thinking that the match is cut and dry yet. Our last two semi-finalists are as tough as they come! My I present…"
Two rings of light descended, exploding against the floor and revealing Seto and Victor on opposing sides of the arena. Roland gestured to his employer first.
"Seto Kaiba, the chief executive of Kaiba Corp, and the man who made this day possible," Roland introduced. "His challenger…"
Roland pointed to Victor, who was taking a deep, calming breath.
"Victor Greenstone, who's beastly baddies have been laying down a major trail of hurt all day!" Roland called out. "Only one of them will have the right to take on Yugi in the finals, so who's it gonna be? It's time for PRIMAL WRATH!"
The audience's screams were drowning out all other noises as both duelists lifted their arms. The disks activated as Roland raised both hands.
"This match takes place in our…uh…." Roland paused.
The arena hadn't shifted at all. It was still a plain dirt floor with spotlights overhead. Kaiba and Victor now noticed this, and also stared, aghast at the lack of change.
"Someone is so fired…" Kaiba grumbled under his breath as he glared at Roland.
"Hey what's the hold up?" Shouted an onlooker.
The other bystanders seemed to share this feeling of confusion, questions raining down from the stands as Roland tapped his earpiece with one hand. The other hand was loosening his collar as he felt panic rise in his chest.
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"I am not getting paid enough for all the malfunctions I've had to put up with today!" Roland yelled on the screen of the control center. "What are you guys doing in there?"
"Sorry Roland, we're doing our best." Rei responded. "But for some reason the arena programs have all frozen."
"Can you see how Mr. Kaiba is looking at me right now?" Roland fretted. "The only times I've seen him look like that is when he's about to crush an opponent in Duel Monsters, or fire someone. I'm not a duelist!"
Mokuba was looking over his personal screen, musing over the figures on it.
"This doesn't make any sense, not even my codes are able to unfreeze the programs," Mokuba thought.
"You aren't having any luck either?" Noah lamented, looking over Mokuba's computer. "This doesn't add up…Hey wait a minute…"
Sota was seated at his terminal, frantically punching in a line of code and watching as the arena floor shimmered. Roland looked relieved as the dirt changed to metal and he redid his collar.
"What happened?" Noah asked. "Who did that?"
"Sorry sir…" Sota stammered out. "I just sort of panicked and I uh…downloaded on of the rejected programs…"
Mokuba looked ready to jump down and throttle Sota, who threw up his hands defensively.
"Don't worry, it's not dangerous!" He shouted. "Mr. Kaiba just didn't think it was elaborate enough. It was in a separate folder of rejected designs so I figured that maybe they wouldn't have…locked…up?"
Mokuba sighed; nothing could be done to stop it now unless Seto said so.
"I guess we'll have to go with it," Mokuba grumbled. "Next time though, run it past me before you upload something."
"Y…Yes sir," Sota whimpered, wiping his brow.
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Roland listened in his earpiece as to what had just transpired. He nodded, getting the information on the arena that they were now forced to use.
"Sorry for the delay, our battlefield is decided," Roland called out to the audience.
The arena shifted more, the walls and ceiling now turning metal as well. Each of the duelists gasped as a section of the metal floor rose up beneath them, revealing a black cube about five feet in height, width, and depth. On each side of the cube appeared the number 8000 in bold, red numbers.
"For lack of a better term, this arena is known as the danger zone. As players lose life points, the counter on their platform will drop." Roland explained. "And should they reach zero…Kaboom! The platform goes up with the force of about half a ton of dynamite!"
"This seems a touch extreme," Victor muttered.
"I thought I disapproved this one," Kaiba grumbled. "On the other hand, now I don't need to waste a good arena."
"Are you two ready?" Roland asked.
"Yes!" Victor nodded.
"Ready as I need to be," Kaiba grumbled.
"Choose your deckmasters!" Roland commanded.
Victor and Kaiba both nodded, and pointed to their left at the same time.
"I choose Pitch Black Warwolf!" Victor announced.
"I select Kaiser Seahorse!" Kaiba called out at the same time.
Victor's growling, black wolf man jumped from behind his cube and landed next to him. In the meantime, Kaiba's shimmering sea creature fell from above, catching his spear and twirling it before pointing right at his opponent.
"First turn honors go to…" Roland smiled.
The numbers on each cube suddenly began to flash randomly. Victor and Kaiba both watched as they went out then came back on. Victor's cube red seventeen, while Kaiba's was forty-two
"…Victor Greenstone, for getting the lower number," Roland confirmed. "Whenever you're ready."
Victor pulled six cards from his disk, while Kaiba drew five.
"Time to duel!" Victor intoned.
Victor: 8000
Kaiba: 8000
Victor took one card from his hand, setting it facedown onto his disk. In front of him appeared a facedown monster, and Victor gave it a nod.
"I'll start with just one monster facedown," Victor stated. "That's all for my turn."
"Good, the fewer you moves you make, the faster this will all be over," Kaiba said as he drew. "I open with a spell known as Ancient Rules."
Kaiba played a card from his hand, and in behind him descended a brown scroll. It unfurled, revealing a sequence of strange letters and a bluish-white dragon. Kaiba smiled as he pointed to the scroll.
"With this spell, I can special summon on level five or higher monster from my hand. Even with my deckmaster I'd still need one sacrifice for this monster, but with this spell…" Kaiba trailed off.
"Hang on, you can't already be…" Victor gasped.
Kaiba slapped down one of the cards from his hand, shouting out, "By the effect of Ancient Rules, I summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"
Kaiba's deckmaster raised its spear overhead, and the dragon on the scroll flew from the parchment. It shimmered with silver light, growing in size until it towered over Kaiba. The light faded, unveiling his prized dragon which looked lazily toward Victor and his facedown monster.
"Just to be certain though, I'll use my normal summon to bring in Lord of Dragons (1200/1100)," Kaiba went one, playing another card.
Next to the mighty dragon appeared a much smaller human. He wore brown robes and a headdress shaped like a dragon skull. He looked up at the Blue-Eyes and smiled under his hood.
"Blue-Eyes, remove that facedown monster from my sight," Kaiba ordered. "Unleash your white lightning!"
The dragon roared, snapping its head forward and releasing a burst of crackling energy from between its jaws. Victor's facedown monster turned over, and from the card leapt a familiar rough collie. The dog jumped to the side just in time as the beam of destruction slammed into where it had sat just a moment before.
"Mr. Kaiba, you were watching my duel with Mai Valentine I believe," Victor smirked. "I'm sure you remember my Dogged Defender (1000/1700) can't be destroyed in a fight with monsters that have more than 1900 attack points."
Kaiba glared at the dog as it lay down at the base of its master's cube and yawned.
"This is going to be a long duel," Kaiba grumbled. "That will end my turn."
Victor drew his card, staring up into the cerulean eyes of the monster that spelled the doom for countless duelists before him. He cautiously picked through his options, before settling on one card and placing it into his disk.
"Fine Mr. Kaiba, if you plan on bringing out your big guns early I'll just have to disarm them," Victor decided.
"I would love to see you try," Kaiba challenged.
"If you insist: I summon Rampaging Rhynos (1500/1500)!" Victor responded.
Pitch-Black Warwolf titled back his head in a long howl. One of the walls that surrounded the arena dented inward suddenly. It pushed in further, then finally the section of weakened metal burst and from the new hole sprang a rhino in blue armor, walking on its hind legs. It charged onto Victor's field, stopping right across from Kaiba's dragon and removing a battle ax from its back.
"I see…I remember this monster gains 500 attack points when it attacks an opponent across from it," Kaiba mused. "Even with that bonus however, it stands no chance against my mighty beast."
"Maybe, maybe not," Victor smiled as he played another card. "Did you perchance take into account that I have Wild Nature's Release ready to power him up?"
Kaiba's eyes narrowed as his enemy's monster began to glow with a red aura. Rampaging Rhynos (3000/1500) snorted in rage as its muscles expanded, causing its armor to groan with the effort of containing them. It cast aside its ax, now a much less effective weapon, and slammed its fists together.
"Rhynos, time to do what you do best and rampage all over Kaiba's dragon!" Victor ordered. "Rampant charge!"
Rhynos took off, aimed directly at the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, its power swelling even further to (3500/1500) as per its effect. The dragon groaned in pain as the power-packed pachyderm rammed directly into its chest, the sound of cracking scales and bones echoing around the compound before the monster fell over with a crash. It faded away in a barrage of sparks, while Victor placed a card facedown onto his disk.
Victor: 8000
Kaiba: 7500
"I think that's enough damage for one turn, go ahead Mr. Kaiba," Victor declared as the facedown card appeared.
Rampaging Rhynos suddenly clutched its chest and groaned. It toppled over and shattered into data bits as it struck the floor, Wild Nature's Release taking its toll on the monster and destroying it. If Kaiba found this to be comforting, he didn't show it. The look in his eyes was displeased (at the least) with Victor's attack.
"You'd dare insult my dragon by bringing it down with a monster not even half its level?" Kaiba growled.
Kaiba looked at the card he drew, and placed it amongst his other ones. He set another card onto his disk.
"I promise you'll pay for that, and your little dog too," Kaiba called out. "I summon La Jinn, Mystical Genie of the Lamp (1800/1000)!"
With a hearty chuckle and a plume of smoke, the wicked djinn rose up on Kaiba's field. He stroked his mustache as he looked toward Victor's lone monster, a smile on his face.
"La Jinn, put that mongrel to sleep with disastrous desires!" Kaiba barked.
The genie pointed at the Dogged Defender, pulling his finger as though he were pulling an invisible trigger. A bolt of dark magic shot from above, and Lassie's tribute howled in agony as it was struck down.
"Now Lord of Dragons, attack directly with draconic sorcery," Kaiba continued.
The wizard raised one hand, an orb of black energy swirling around his fingertips. Victor waved a hand toward his facedown card, causing it to lift up.
"I activate Scapegoats, granting me four fuzzy little friends!" Victor called out.
From the card sprang four goats (0/0 X4) which bleated happily as they floated above the ground. Kaiba grit his teeth, but nodded to his Spellcaster who continued his attack. A dragon skull made of black energy appeared next to one of the goats and gobbled it down, causing the other three to run behind Victor, bleating in fear.
"Hey, you guys are supposed to protect me!" Victor exclaimed, trying to shoo the little monsters back to the field.
"They have the right idea, trying to hide," Kaiba warned. "You bested one of my dragons. I guarantee that won't happen twice."
Sliding one card from his hand, Kaiba set it facedown on his field.
"Now take your turn," he ordered.
Victor drew and immediately placed another monster onto his disk.
"Okay Mr. Kaiba, time to release the hounds," Victor declared. "I summon Mad Dog of Darkness (1900/1400)!"
With a howl of anger, the orange canine bounded onto the field from Rhyno's entrance hole. Victor pointed at Kaiba's facedown card with smirk.
"Next, how about my deckmaster takes a whiff of your facedown card?" Victor offered.
The Warwolf inhaled sharply and then growled as Kaiba's trap lifted up. A web of black chains appeared in between the two duelists, and the wolf man charged forward, brining his sword down and carving through every last link.
"Your Shadow Spell trap is useless before me," Warwolf growled.
Kaiba grumbled something under his breath. Whatever he said didn't seem to go over well with either of Victor's canine monsters, both of whom now seemed even angrier.
"Wow, I don't know what you said, but I guess you forgot that dogs have much better hearing than humans," Victor observed.
"Then how come Wheeler never listens when I tell him to get lost?" Kaiba muttered.
Whether he didn't hear Kaiba or just chose to ignore the question, Victor went on and pointed at Lord of Dragons.
"Mad Dog, sic his Lord of Dragons!" Victor commanded.
The rabid canid bound forward, clamping its massive jaws around the chest of Kaiba's dragon tamer. He gasped in pain before vanishing from the jaws of the monster in a flurry of shadows. The counter on Kaiba's platform dipped a tiny bit more.
Victor: 8000
Kaiba: 6200
Victor looked over the rest of the cards in his hand. Shrugging his shoulders, he looked over to Kaiba who did not seem amused with this turn of events.
"Guess that's all I'll do for now," He offered.
"Fine, my move," Kaiba declared as he drew. "I'll think I'll start by setting one card facedown…"
A facedown card materialized on the floor in front of Kaiba, La Jinn giving it a reproachful look. He didn't seem confident in the card, whatever it may have been.
"I'll also set one monster facedown," Kaiba finished as another brown card appeared next to La Jinn. "Oh, and I'll switch my genie into defense mode. That's all."
La Jinn knelt down and crossed his arms over his chest. Victor drew, and immediately pointed at Kaiba's hidden monster.
"As long as I've got you pinned, I may as well press my advantage," Victor decided. "Mad Dog of Darkness, frenzied rush! Attack his facedown monster."
The dog barked once before beginning its charge, and Kaiba's mouth split into a smile.
"You have me pinned? I'm afraid you have it backwards," Kaiba corrected. "You walked right into my trap: activate Final Attack Orders!"
Kaiba's trap card lifted, and the lights in the arena began to pulse red. An alarm blared, causing La Jinn to jump back to an offensive position. The noise startled Victor's Scapegoats, all of which sprang up into the air with their eyes wide, bleating in fear. As Kaiba's facedown monster turned over, revealing the strange cloth demon known as Slate Warrior (1900/400), it also stood up and raised its woven fists.
"What? Your monsters moved into attack mode," Victor observed, scratching his head.
"That's what Final Attack Orders does, and according to the official rules, if a facedown monster is attacked it will move attack mode before we calculate damage," Kaiba responded.
"So then both our monsters get taken out!" Victor realized as his dog continued its attack.
"No, only yours does," Kaiba said. "When Slate Warrior (2400/900) flips face up, it raises its attack and defense by 500."
A powerful wind began to push out from behind Slate Warrior, causing its arms to fan forward, stretching on the breeze. As they got close to Victor's canine commando, the Scapegoats suddenly swooped down and chomped onto the stretchy limbs with their little teeth!
"What!" Kaiba exclaimed as Victor held up the card he had just played.
"A simple chain Kaiba, my Big March of Animals gives every Beast-type monster 200 extra points for each beast I control," Victor cleared up. "What's more, it's a quickplay spell card, so I can chain it to your trap. In short, my card goes first, and your fiend goes down!"
Mad Dog of Darkness (2700/1400) slammed into the chest of the Slate Warrior, causing the monster to fall over. It was smashed into a pile of rubble and strips of cloth by the crushing weight of the canine. Kaiba grit his teeth together, but then smiled as a blue mist appeared around the dog.
Victor: 8000
Kaiba: 5900
"Maybe you win that round, but Slate Warrior reduces the attack of the monster that destroys him by 500 points," Kaiba reminded Victor.
"Shoot, forgot about that…" Victor growled. "I end my turn."
Mad Dog of Darkness (1400/1400) looked sick, it limbs shaking and its fur ragged and patchy as it stumbled back to its owner's field. The Scapegoats nuzzled at its ankles, looking sympathetic for their comrade.
"Now then, my turn," Kaiba smiled as he drew. "How about another playmate? I summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600)!"
The warning buzzer had long since silenced, but the red lights still flashed over the field. As they did, they illuminated a large table which rose from the floor, carrying a massive chunk of blue crystals. The gems slowly fell away, shattering on contact with the ground, revealing a dragon with scales that shone like sapphires. It stood straight and tall, wings spread behind it as it glared down at Victor's field.
"Another thing I may have forgotten to mention: Final Attack Orders affects your monsters too," Kaiba smirked.
Victor looked to his Scapegoats, who were all trembling in fear.
"La Jinn, destroy his mangy mutt now!" Kaiba ordered.
La Jinn shot forth a bolt of black energy, striking Victor's monster right in the forehead. Mad Dog toppled over, and lay still before vanishing into particles of shadow.
"Luster Dragon, sapphire burst blaze!" Kaiba continued.
The dragon responded by spitting out an orb of blue fire which flew right into one of the goats. Victor screamed as the fireball went through the goat and right into his chest, the tiny token shattering apart an instant later.
Victor: 5700
Kaiba: 5900
Clutching his chest, Victor looked at his life point readout. Frowning, he took a look over the rest of his hand again.
"Guess it's about time to try that card out," he figured.
"Is it my turn yet Mr. Kaiba?" Victor asked.
"As a matter of fact, it is," Kaiba nodded.
"Good," Victor stated as he drew. "Then I'll start with my Stray Lambs magic card."
A soft bleating was heard, and two more goat tokens (0/0 X2) floated out from behind Victor's cube. They bleated softly as the red light raised them into attack mode.
"Next comes my Token Thanksgiving card," Victor went on. "Useful when you need a fast way to get rid of a few Scapegoats, no matter whose field they're on. This spell destroys them and gives me 800 life points for each one."
The four tokens lowered to the floor, and from nowhere appeared a green goblin carrying a wicker basket. He walked up to each of the little sheep and picked them up, placing them inside his basket before moving to the next one. After scooping up the fourth, he reached inside his parcel and pulled out a fist full of sparkling powder. Scattering it into the air, it drifted down over Victor, surrounded his body a multi-colored glow.
After taking a deep breath and relaxing his shoulders, Victor took another card from his hand and set it onto his disk while saying, "That's much better. Now I'll just set this card facedown before ending my turn."
A facedown monster appeared as the goblin vanished just as quickly as he had appeared.
Victor: 8900
Kaiba: 5900
"Gain as many points as you want, I'll knock them off just as fast," Kaiba threatened as he drew. "Luster Dragon, attack!"
The blue reptile reared back and released another shot of blue flames. Victor's facedown monster jumped up, showing a cuddly looking koala with brown fur. It growled as it bared its claws right before it was burnt to a cinder.
"Look before you leap next time, you just struck down my Des Koala (1100/1800)." Victor cautioned. "You lose 400 life points for each card you have now, and I count two."
A ghostly koala appeared behind Kaiba, who turned around just in time for the enraged marsupial to pounce on him. Kaiba fell over, the ferociously attacking monster ripping at his chest and face with its sharp claws and teeth. The young CEO finally shoved it off and got to his feet, his wounds healing over even as the counter on his bomb dropped.
"A minor annoyance…" Kaiba began.
"About to become a major problem," Victor interrupted. "Since you just destroyed a Beast monster I controlled, I can awaken the most powerful monster in my arsenal, one that I reserve for special opponents. Congratulations Mr. Kaiba, you qualify."
"I'm honored, really. Now let's see this monster," Kaiba challenged.
"If you insist," Victor nodded, spreading his arms as he dropped a card from his hand onto his disk. "I just pay 1000 life points…"
An anguished scream could be heard echoing from the hole that had been made in the wall earlier. The sounds of smashing machines and explosions could be heard as well as heavy footsteps.
"I call forth: Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest (2600/1800)!" Victor finished.
The hole that had been opened before suddenly grew much wider as a fist approximately one-and-a-half times the size of it forced its way through. It grabbed the edge of the hole, ripping upward to form a massive tear in the wall.
"I have no idea what Victor just summoned, but folks, it doesn't sound friendly!" Roland called out over the racket.
The tear was widened, and a huge ugly monster, a massive ape covered in green fur and armor made of boulders tied together with vines, stomped its way in. It was almost as big as the Blue-Eyes had been, and it towered over both of Kaiba's monster which trembled in fear.
"Well, what do you think? Be honest," Victor queried.
"I've seen better," Kaiba responded.
The beast roared and glared at Kaiba with an angry look.
"I would not want to get this thing mad at me, but Kaiba doesn't seem shaken at all!" Roland realized. "Either he has a plan, or he just doesn't care…"
"I'm guessing it's the first one," Victor reasoned.
Victor: 7100
Kaiba: 5100
Kaiba crossed his arms as he looked calmly up at the face of the beast. It let out another roar at the business man, blowing his hair back with its foul breath. Kaiba simply fixed his hair as he looked to Victor.
"I'll end my turn here," he said.
Both of Kaiba's monsters looked stunned and turned to their master. They then at each other and gulped nervously.
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Up in the audience, Joey fingers dug into the armrest of his chair as he watched the duel.
"I don't believe it…" he grumbled. "Victor's got the upper hand…But Kaiba's acting like he's the one that's winning!"
Joey's knuckles turned white, and Serenity placed a hand on his.
"Joey, calm down," Serenity requested. "You're starting to scare me a little…"
"Serenity's right," Mai sighed. "Look, Kaiba is one of the best duelists in the world. He didn't get that way by panicking every time a strong monster appears."
"He's certainly acting calmer than I would have," Bakura observed. "I'm scared of that monster, and I'm not even the one dueling!"
"If I recall, Mr. Greenstone didn't use that card in his previous duels," John chimed in.
"Well it's a powerful card. He probably planned to save it for Kaiba or Yugi," Mai pointed out.
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"I say…" Richington gasped, staring at the massive monster.
"Wow…" Weevil breathed.
"Don't you dare try to make any jokes now," Mako warned Tim as he looked to the fire duelist.
"Why do people always assume I'm going to make a joke?" Tim asked.
"I'm not sure I want to answer that," Mako muttered under his breath.
"Well, if you insist…" Tim began.
Before he could get a word out, Mako clamped one hand over the younger Hokage's mouth. Tim grunted in surprise, but got the message upon seeing Mako's glare.
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Victor seemed wary as he drew his card.
"He's not even playing a trap? What's Kaiba's game this time?" Victor wondered.
He looked at the monster he had drawn, frowning as he saw it.
"Oh no, Des Kangaroo! I removed Big Koala for Green Baboon, but I really should have taken this one out too," he realized. "Without Big Koala to fuse with him, he's useless…"
Victor looked up to his monster, which growled down at him, awaiting its orders.
"Well, seeing as the monster I already have is more than enough, I attack La Jinn with Green Baboon!" Victor ordered. "Primeval punch!"
The giant ape hollered and lunged at Kaiba's field. The green genie gasped in horror as the beast's massive fist came down on him. He vanished in a puff of green mist, a low moan escaping from under the gargantuan fist that had pressed it into the floor.
Victor: 7100
Kaiba: 4300
"That's all for my turn…I guess," Victor muttered.
Kaiba drew, and set another card on his field without hesitation. A facedown monster appeared, followed just as quickly by a facedown card behind it.
"Go on," he challenged.
"A very…short turn on Mr. Kaiba's part," Roland observed. "Is he planning something?"
Victor drew slowly once again, looking at the card as he added it to his hand. Behind him, Pitch-Black Warwolf drew his weapon and growled.
"I think I'll start my turn with my deckmaster," Victor began. "Show me his facedown card."
The werewolf sniffed at the air, and as he did Kaiba's hidden card turned over. It showed the image of a totem pole covered with loud speakers , surrounded by a green border for the card.
"A spell card?" Victor asked, his deckmaster looking disappointed. "And it's…Command Silencer? What does that do?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out," Kaiba answered in a mocking tone.
Victor thought for a moment before placing his new card onto his disk.
"Well, this duel won't get anywhere if neither of us takes a few chances," Victor declared. "I summon Enraged Battle Ox (1700/1000)!"
A snorting and stamping could be heard beneath the floor, which suddenly dented upward as something pounded on it from below. A door started to open where the dent had appeared, but whatever was under the door didn't want to wait. A pair of hand reached up and wrenched the portal open wide, followed closely by their owner: a ferocious minotaur in red armor. The bull-man detached a hand-ax from his waist and pointed it at Kaiba's monsters, a maddened gleam in its glowing eyes.
Green Baboon seemed to take well to its new company. Its eyes shone red and flecks of spittle gathered by the edges of its mouth.
"As I'm sure everyone remembers, my Battle Ox grants all Beast, Beast-Warrior, and Winged-Beast monsters a trampling effect," Victor reminded the audience. "So now there's nothing left to do but go wild on Kaiba's life points! Attack now my menagerie…"
Victor was cut off by a piercing whistle that sounded from all around the room. He and his monsters all grabbed their ears in pain as the noise increased in volume. Kaiba merely scratched at his ear for a minute, apparently un-phased (or possibly immune to) the auditory attack. After a moment, he snapped his fingers and the whistling ceased, allowing Victor and his monsters to recover.
"What in the world was that?" Victor demanded.
"That would have been my Command Silencer card," Kaiba responded with a grin. "You wanted to know what it does. It's very simple: Your monsters are no longer permitted to attack this turn, seeing as my quickplay spell has temporarily deafened them. As a bonus, I get to draw a card right now."
As he said this, Kaiba tucked another card into his hand. Victor clenched a quick fist, but released it with a sigh.
"No use in getting worked up about it I suppose…" he grumbled. "Your move Kaiba."
Kaiba drew his card, the smirk still on his face as he did so.
"Well now, I promised you'd pay for earlier," Kaiba stated. "Time to make good on it. I tribute my facedown Saggi the Dark Clown(600/1500)…"
The facedown monster flipped over, showing a white-facedown harlequin in purple and blue clothes. It laughed insanely before vanishing into a flurry of sparkles. A laser fired from the ceiling, striking the sparks and gathering them into a massive orb of light overhead.
"You wouldn't…" Victor gasped.
"Try and stop me," Kaiba snickered. "Bow before my second Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"
The orb exploded into a shower of silver sparks as the mighty dragon burst from it. It roared, spreading its wings and stretching its scaly neck, its eyes expressing nothing but anger at the man who had slain its brother.
"Oh, but don't think I brought him out here just to feast on your big, smelly ape," Kaiba sneered. "I had another plan. I activate a spell that only I'm capable of using: Burst Stream of Destruction!"
The card shone as Kaiba placed it into his disk, his destructive monster open its jaws and gathering energy between them.
"I remember this from the opening demonstration," Victor gasped. "It destroys all of my monsters, so long as you have a Blue-Eyes on the field!"
"Good to see someone was paying attention, now I don't have to waist time explaining," Kaiba shouted over the racket his monster was making. "FIRE!"
A massive burst of light and energy consumed Victor's field as the dragon fired its deadly breath at him. Both of the Beast-duelist's monsters screamed in agony before they were vaporized by the intense energy. Victor covered his eyes against the light, and as the attack faded he began to blink rapidly, his sight slowly coming back.
"Sapphire blaze burst!" Kaiba's order came.
Victor's eyes recovered just in time for him to see an orb of blue fire heading right for his face. With a yelp of panic, he raised his disk and intercepted the attack with his card tray. The flames exploded on the point of impact, sending the man stumbling back a few steps.
Victor: 5200
Kaiba: 4300
Kaiba was glaring at Victor as he lowered his disk.
"You beat one of my dragons due to a fluke. It won't happen again," Kaiba declared. "That's another promise. Now take your turn."
Victor shook a bit as he drew his card, but his hand steady as he turned it around.
"Pot of Greed, I get two new cards," Victor announced.
The green jar appeared on the field, laughter echoing from its depths. From the jar sprang a tiny imp made of green smoke, which chuckled as it produced a small pistol made of silvery metal. It pulled the trigger, a green light washing over the confused Victor's deck, and then both the pot and its occupant vanished without a trace.
"Someone seems to be going overboard with the special effects," Kaiba commented as Victor drew his cards.
In the real world, Sota was grumbling 'suck up' under his breath as he glared at Jackson.
Weird happenings aside, Victor took one of the cards he had drawn and placed it onto his disk. A hollering noise echoed from the hole carved by the Green Baboon, and through the opening leapt a mandrill with purple fur. It beat its chest as it landed in front of Victor, staring up at the two bigger monsters.
"For this turn, I summon Bazoo the Soul Eater (1600/900)," Victor announced. "Next comes his effect: I remove Rampaging Rhynos, Dogged Defender, and Mad Dog of Darkness from my graveyard, and he gains 300 attack points for each of them."
A hole opened in the ceiling, and from its slithered a black tube. The tube rattled and shook for a moment before spitting three glowing orbs onto the ground in front of Bazoo. As the tube retracted, the simian gulped down all three of the offerings, its muscles bulging and its fur turning bright red. Bazoo (2500/900) beat its chest wildly as it finished its 'soul food.'
"Bazoo, attack his Luster Dragon with sacrifice feast!" Victor called out.
The mandrill hollered again as it plowed forward, tackling the smaller of the two dragons and sinking its fangs into its throat. Luster Dragon gave a weak cry before it shattered to bits.
"That's all I can do," Victor sighed as his monster trampled back to his field. "At least the bonus sticks around until you end your turn."
"What a waste of time," Kaiba commented as he drew. "My Blue-Eyes can destroy that monkey even with its ability. Blue-Eyes, white lightning attack!"
Once more the mighty dragon built up energy within its jaws. This time the blast that it fired only struck one section of Victor's field, the one that was occupied by Bazoo. The simian screamed before it was atomized, Victor's life points falling…
Then proceeding to fall even more as a shimmer of light appeared in his graveyard.
"Thank you Mr. Kaiba, by doing that you've allowed me to use Green Baboons effect once again," Victor smiled. "Its power lets me summon it from my hand or my graveyard, so here comes his return appearance!"
Victor's life points finished dropping, and from the hole in the wall stomped his giant beast once again. It sported a bit of grave dirt on its stone armor, and it scowling at Kaiba as it took its place by Victor's side (2600/1800).
Victor: 3700
Kaiba: 3700
"And you brought that oversized hairball back because…?" Kaiba challenged.
"You'll see soon enough," Victor retorted.
"I hope," he thought to himself.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"It comes back from the grave too? How are you supposed to keep it dead?" Espa wondered aloud.
"I think that's the point," Brian answered, looking over the field. "Kaiba can't kill it for good if Victor can pay the 1000 life points to bring it back."
"Unless he's got some major gaining cards, he can only bring that…thing back three more times," Celeste observed, cringing a bit at the sight of the monster.
"Of course, that does not include the damage he might take from Mr. Kaiba attack his monsters," Ronaldo pointed out. "Don't forget that Final Attack Order card makes defending impossible."
"I'd say Kaiba has the advantage here," Kevin summed up.
"Kaiba always has the advantage," Celeste spoke back.
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"Mr. Pegasus? A question," Gold said, turning to the creator.
"Yes Julie-boy?" Pegasus said with a smile.
"What were you on when you drew that card?" Gold asked. Pointing to the grotesque monster lording over Victor's field.
"Well, I wanted a creature that would look like it embodied all of nature's fury and power," Pegasus explained.
"It smells bad," Zeffie whined, holding her nose.
"That you can blame on Kaiba-boy," Pegasus agreed.
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Victor drew his card, nervously biting his lip when he saw it.
"This will help him as much as it does me…" Victor thought as he reached for the card to play it. "However, I don't have a choice if I want to have a chance."
"I activate Card of Sanctity!" Victor cried, placing the spell into his disk.
Golden light exploded around both duelists, allowing them each to draw five cards. Seeing one of them, Victor smiled as he placed another spell into his disk.
"Next comes a fairly basic card known as Rush Recklessly, granting my monster an extra 700 attack points," Victor announced.
Green Baboon titled its head in a terrifying howl, causing Kaiba's dragon to begin to shake in fear! The powerful primate's attack sprang to (3300/1800) as Victor placed one more card next to it.
"Finally, meet my little friend from down under: Des Kangaroo (1500/1700)," Victor introduced.
A bouncing sound was heard as a green kangaroo wearing a purple vest and red boxing gloves. It took a few practice jabs before settling into a fighting position.
"Green Baboon, unleash nature's wrath on his Blue-Eyes!" Victor shouted.
The dragon roared in defiance, only for Victor's beast to grab it by its neck and force it to the ground. Straddling the dragon, Green Baboon grasped its upper jaw and pulled upward with all its strength.
Several members of the audience turned green as a loud snap was heard from the field (Gold, of course, covered Zeffie's eyes with one hand and Mary's with the other). The dragon went limp before vanishing, and Kaiba had a gleam in his eyes that made it sure Victor would be sorry he had done that.
"Des Kangaroo, dreamtime combination!" Victor shouted again. "Go teach Kaiba how they say 'pain' in Australia!"
The marsupial bounded toward its target on its powerful legs, hopping onto Kaiba's cube and pummeling him in the chest and stomach with a five-hit combo. Kaiba grunted as he staggered back, the numbers on his bomb dropping rapidly.
Victor: 3700
Kaiba: 1900
Roland was silent for a moment, but snapped out of it as the audience began to cheer wildly.
"I…Don't believe it folks! That challenger Victor Greenstone actually has the upper hand, and is only one attack away from winning!" Roland screamed. "Is this the end for the great Seto Kaiba?"
Kaiba glared at Roland as Victor chuckled a bit.
"Announcers sure like to blow things out of proportion don't they?" He laughed. "I have a feeling you'll prove him wrong on your coming turn."
"Like you wouldn't believe," Kaiba stated as he drew. "Thanks to your card, I've drawn just what I need. I activate Spell Sanctuary!"
The lights behind Kaiba began to grow brighter, and the holographic image of a temple made of white marble appeared behind him. Each player's deck began to shimmer with light as Kaiba explained.
"This spell lets each of us take one spell from our deck and add it to our hand," Kaiba instructed as he took a card. "Then, as long it stands, we can activate any spell on the field as though it were a quickplay spell, no matter what kind it really is."
"Interesting," Victor mused as he took his Heavy Storm card. "I'd imagine you have some great plan to take advantage of that."
"Naturally. It starts with my Premature Burial card, which will resurrect my Blue-Eyes Dragon!" Kaiba roared.
Rings of red light fell from the ceiling, and in them appeared Kaiba's dragon. The lights expanded to circle its entire body, illuminating several patches of missing scales and one wing which was bent at an odd angle. The creature growled from within its confinement as Victor took a nervous gulp once more.
"Of course, if I destroyed your monkey you could just bring it back later," Kaiba observed. "So I think its time for your kangaroo to teach us the Australian word for goodbye! Blue-Eyes, decimate the Des Kangaroo!"
The dragon's head snapped forward, extended outside the rings for a brief instant. A burst of white energy consumed the frightened marsupial, causing Victor to scream in pain as the spillover damage splashed across his body.
"That hurt…Much more than it should have…" Victor realized. "Ugh…This is what I was warned about…Got to use the emergency system and hope that still works,"
-----------------------------------------------------------
"REI!" Mokuba yelled as the female technician jumped in her seat.
"I know, Sir, I'm trying to reinstate the safeties now," Rei stammered. "But my whole keyboard is locked down, I can't do a thing!"
"Same here," Sota fretted.
"Don't look at me, my terminal is trashed too," Jackson withered under Mokuba's glare.
The same answer came from all the other techs, while Noah wheeled his body over to the corner of the room.
"That does it, if you want something done right…" Noah grumbled. "Mokuba, leave this one to me!"
Before the other Kaiba could protest, Noah had extended a plug from the back of his body and placed it into a special socket in the wall. The screen on his head powered down, his image vanishing from it and reappearing on Mokuba's screen.
"Be careful Noah…" Mokuba fretted.
-----------------------------------------------------
Back on the field, Victor was getting back up after Kaiba's attack. The last twinges of pain tingled from his arms as he shook them out and checked his life points.
Victor: 2200
Kaiba: 1100
"Two cards facedown, and that will end my turn," Kaiba finished, two more cards appearing next to his dragon.
"Not bad Kaiba," Victor grunted as he drew. "But don't count me out yet. I activate Heavy Storm…"
Winds began to pick up around the duelists, but Kaiba pointed to one of his facedown cards with a grin.
"To that, I chain Emergency Provisions, offering Spell Sanctuary, Final Attack Orders, Premature Burial, and my facedown Negate Attack. This grants me 4000 more life points, and removes the ties my dragon had to Premature Burial without destroying it," he listed off.
Victor cussed under breath as a computer screen appeared next Kaiba. The words 'VIRAL INFECTION' flashed across it in bold letters before the red lights and holographic temple both fizzled out. The rings of red light around Kaiba's dragon flared brightly before being extinguished, leaving the Blue-Eyes as good as new. Finally, Kaiba's facedown card shattered apart, and on the computer screen appeared the words 'RECOVERING PROGRAMS.' The numbers on the bomb below Kaiba faded away before being replaced by his higher total.
Victor: 2200
Kaiba: 5100
The winds of Heavy Storm, with nothing left to destroy, died down and faded before ever reaching their full potential. Victor took another card from his hand and removed his lone monster from his disk.
"In that case, I'll tribute Green Baboon for one monster in facedown defense mode," Victor stated.
The primal creature faded away, replaced by a facedown card and several confused murmurs from the audience. Everyone suddenly fell silent as a strange sensation swept through the whole crowd as well as over both duelists. A feeling like the world was suddenly moving much slower then sped back up.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Noah, who was wandering around the backdoor hallway of the Virtual World, suddenly stumbled as he felt the odd sensation as well.
"Urgh…Either they fixed the safeties or something bad just happened…" Noah muttered, reaching up next to his ear and tapping it once. "Mokuba, can you hear me?"
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Well, that's out of the way," Victor thought.
"I'll set these two cards facedown," Victor went on, the two cards appearing in front of him. "And that will end my turn."
Kaiba drew his card, but as he did Victor's hand flew to his disk. The lights overhead suddenly shattered, electricity arcing wildly between them. The Blue-Eyes roared as the stray bolts struck it, causing it to slump down as its muscles went numb.
"Thunder of Ruler forces you to skip your battle phase this turn," Victor said as Kaiba glared at him.
"How clever, I'll be sure to award you next turn with a painful end to this duel," Kaiba threatened. "Until then, nothing is stopping me from summoning my Vorse Raider (1900/1200)."
An axe fell from above and imbedded itself in the floor. Following it came Kaiba's ogre, which slumped down next to its weapon. A few sparks fell from its clothes, indicating it had probably been hiding up near the lights as it waited to summoned.
"That ends my turn," Kaiba finished.
His monsters slowly got up, the numbness fading from their limbs as they did so. Victor drew his card with another smile on his face.
"Time now for a little teamwork," Victor declared. "I summon Wild One (1500/900) in attack mode!"
A howl was heard from beyond the hole in the wall. White mist began to swirl around the floor as a blurry shape suddenly dashed inside. It settled in front of Victor, revealing a pure white wolf for a moment before the mist rose around it, obscuring any view of the animal.
"Another handy Beast for my deck, this creature allows me to treat any monster in my hand or on my field as though it were a Beast-type," Victor elaborated. "So now I flip summon my Manticore of Darkness (2300/1000)."
The mists swirled up then fell, leaving Victor's winged-lion crouching on all fours in front of him. It lifted its tail in preparation to strike as its master held up another card.
"Next comes my second Wild Nature's Release, adding Manticore's defense to its attack," Victor stated as he played the spell.
The amalgamated monster roared as a blazing fire rose up around it (3300/1000) burning away the mist that surrounded Victor's field and revealing the white wolf hiding in it.
"Manticore, attack! Hell breath of death on the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Victor ordered.
The enraged lion/scorpion/raven hybrid took a deep breath before spraying a massive surge of flames onto Kaiba's dragon. The Blue-Eyes screeched as its scales warped and cracked under the extreme heat right before it burst into flames itself and collapsed.
"You win that round, but your monster dies at the end of the turn," Kaiba growled.
"Unless I remove it from the field, that's where Wild One comes in," Victor went on as he activated his remaining facedown card. "Since I can treat my Manticore as a Beast-type, I can use it with this Beast Soul Swap trap card. This lets me take it off the field and back into my hand."
The manticore collapsed, panting heavily, and a white orb flew from its body. The body vanished into thin air, Victor's card rematerializing in his hand as he took another and placed it onto his disk.
"Of course, it is called Beast Soul Swap. That means I can replace it with a new Beast of the same level, like my second Manticore of Darkness (2300/1000)," Victor said as he played the card. "This one wasn't affected by the Wild Nature's release, meaning it won't die when I end my turn."
A blast of flames rose up around the white orb that had remained on the field, and from the column of fire emerged an exact duplicate of the monster that had just left. Wild One growled as the Manticore strode onto the field on two legs, causing the Beast-Warrior to look down at it. Seeing the wolf, Manticore fell onto all fours, its bestial nature taking hold.
"Seeing as it's still my battle phase, how about I take care of your Vorse Raider?" Victor proposed to Kaiba's sneering face. "Manticore, attack!"
The newer beast opened its mouth and belched forth a wave of fire, consuming Kaiba's ogre before it had a chance to lift its axe. Victor pointed to the now-defenseless Kaiba with a savage grin on his face.
"Time for the direct attack Wild One, howling claw!" Victor shouted.
The wolf howled as it leapt from the floor and raked its claws across Kaiba's chest. The younger man gasped in pain as he braced himself in place, the wolf pouncing back to Victor's field with a single bound.
Victor: 2200
Kaiba: 3900
Kaiba clutched at his chest as the claw marks faded away, scowling at Victor as he did so.
"Congratulations, Mr. Greenstone, you now have my undivided attention," Kaiba growled.
"Oh, didn't I before?" Victor asked with a smug grin. "You seemed fairly attentive after I beat two of your Blue-Eyes."
Kaiba grumbled something under his breath. All that could be caught was the word 'showoff.' Victor just shrugged the muttering off.
"I'll end my turn on that note," he said.
Kaiba drew, now brining his hand to five cards. He slapped one of the cards onto his disk, and a flurry of green cloth flew from the floor.
"I start this turn by summoning Versago the Destroyer (1100/900)," Kaiba announced.
The green wrappings twisted together, and in the center of them formed a black cloud. A white mask with glowing red eyes appeared on the top of this cloud, while purple wings and clawed hands burst from it as well. Kaiba took another card from his hand, placing it into the slot behind Versago.
"Next comes my Dragon's Mirror spell card, letting me summon a Dragon-type fusion monster by removing its components from my field or graveyard," Kaiba continued. "So I remove Lord of Dragons from my grave, and I use Versago's ability to stand in for the other fusion-material I need, namely Divine Dragon Ragnarok."
The folds of green cloth fell away as Versago's limbs retracted into its body. Its smoky form elongated into a serpent like shape with a draconic face at the head. It twisted about as a ghostly version of the Lord of Dragons floated from Kaiba's grave and came into contact with the pseudo-dragon. In a burst of black smoke, the two monsters vanished leaving a massive cloud over the field.
"What are you doing Kaiba?" Victor asked.
"Summoning a monster, what's it look like?" Kaiba taunted. "Descend now my King Dragun (2400/1100)!"
The cloud parted, and from it emerged what appeared to be Lord of Dragons wearing golden armor. As the creature descended though it could be seen that Lord of Dragon's upper torso was all that was familiar. From the waist down, his body was that of a golden, serpent-like dragon (much Divine Dragon Ragnarok). The creature pulled from his armor a golden flute shaped like a dragon's head, which he placed to his lips.
"Now I can activate the effect of my King Dragun and special summon one Dragon from my hand," Kiaba laughed. "Come forth my final Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"
King Dragun blew into the flute, and a single clear note rang out. A section of wall behind Kaiba suddenly began to glow red hot as sparks of lightning danced over it. With a massive explosion, the wall suddenly burst apart to reveal the last of Kaiba's dreaded dragons. This one was covered with bits of wire and circuitry, indicating it had probably taken a route through a computer lab of some kind. It shook off a few bits of electronics as it stomped onto Kaiba's field.
"Now my dragons, remove his monsters from my sight!" Kaiba commanded. "ATTACK!"
Blue-Eyes gathered energy between its jaws and unleashed it in an unstoppable torrent, obliterating Wild One in a single shot. Kind Dragun spat a ball of black and gold flames from his mouth, the fires ramming right into Victor's Manticore of Darkness and reducing it to a pile of ash on the floor of the lab. Victor began to sweat as his life points soared down, the bomb under his feet now flashing between 600 and the word WARNING!
Victor: 600
Kaiba: 3900
"I'm in trouble now!" Victor realized. "I've never heard of this King Dragun before, and I don't have anyway to summon my stronger monsters yet."
"I'm ending my turn now. Feel free to make your last move," Kaiba offered.
Victor snapped out of his thoughts as he quickly took the two cards from his hand.
"I discard the Manticore of Darkness in my hand in order to revive the one you just destroyed," Victor interrupted. "Plus, I'll discard my Exarion Universe in order to revive the Manticore I just discarded, so both can come back in defense mode!"
As Victor dropped the two cards into his graveyard, the two Manticores (2300/1000) suddenly flew in from the hole that had been opened up earlier by Green Baboon. They fell to their knees in front of Victor, folding their wings over their bodies in an effort to protect themselves.
Victor drew his card, and smiled as he saw it.
"Draining Shield? Seeing as my deckmaster can't help this situation, I guess it's my best chance," Victor reasoned as he set the card in play.
"One facedown is my entire turn," Victor admitted as the trap appeared.
"What else can you do?" Kaiba observed as he drew his own card.
"Mystical Space Typhoon, huh?" He thought, looking at the spell he had drawn. "Plus my Heavy Storm. Either of these would destroy his last pathetic defense."
Kaiba looked up at King Dragun and shrugged.
"On the other hand, why bother?" He asked himself.
"I activate King Dragun's effect once again to special summon my Cave Dragon (2000/100)," Kaiba declared.
The ruling-class dragon sounded another note from the flute he carried, and into the room lumbered in a large, wingless dragon covered in dust and grime. It plodded its way onto Kaiba's field and let out a yawn, which it attempted to stifle as King Dragun looked down at it.
"Normally, I can't summon this monster if I already have a monster in play, but that's only for normal summons," Kaiba elaborated. "Special summoning him works just fine. Now then, time I ended this and got to the real challenge in this tournament."
The audience began to cheer at this declaration, though a few voices of disagreement could be heard from the crowd. Apparently, Victor had made a few fans.
"Cave Dragon, destroy one of his Manticores with slumber blast!" Kaiba shouted. "King Dragun, you get the other one with dragon's rage!"
Cave Dragon opened its mouth wide again, this time unleashing a toxic green mist that billowed out over one of the manticores. The poor creature fell over, gasping for breath before it disintegrated under the toxic gas. King Dragun shot forth another blast of gold and black flame, consuming the second manticore where it knelt.
"Blue-Eyes, finish this! White lightning!" Kaiba demanded.
Blue-Eyes roared as it began to charge its attack once again…
"I activate my Draining Shield trap, stopping your attack and…" Victor began.
He was cut short as King Dragun unleashed a deafening roar, causing Victor's trap to burst into black flames and vanish as soon as it lifted!
"WHAT! Wait, something's wrong!" Victor gasped.
"Yes, what's wrong is that you expected such a simple ploy to save you," Kaiba spoke back. "King Dragun can negate and destroy any card effect that tries to target a dragon on my side of the field, and your Draining Shield does just that. Which means my attack will end the duel in three…two…one…FIRE!"
Blue-Eyes unleashed its devastating breath attack, slamming the white lightning right into Victor's chest. He screamed in pain as the attack almost knocked him from his platform, his life points soaring to nothing and his duel disk almost flying off his arm!
Victor: 0
Kaiba: 3900
Victor groaned as he picked himself up, his life points having hit zero. Under his feet, his bomb began to beep wildly and flash red.
"I'd like to say it was nice knowing you, but that would make me a liar," Kaiba said, his expression blank. "Happy landings…"
KA-BOOM!
Victor screamed once more as his bomb went off, sending him soaring upward and out of site. Kaiba simply crossed his arms as the arena faded away, along with his body.
"Amazing! Seto Kaiba has done it again folks!" Roland announced. "He's truly on top of his game today, no one has come close to beating him. But stay fastened to your seats, because the match you're waiting for is coming up. In just ten minutes, you'll be seeing what I'm sure you've all waited for today: Seto Kaiba vs. Yugi Mutou!"
The audience members were screaming their heads off as a ten-minute timer appeared overhead. Roland raised his arms as images of duels from the tournament appeared on the jumbo screens.
"To tide you over till then, please enjoy some of today's highlights, which will on be the DVD of this tournament," Roland invited.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"What happened, where's that Greenstone guy?" Mokuba asked.
"He's still alive," Rei answered. "And completely unharmed…The safeties switched back on by themselves."
Noah's face appeared on screen, and Mokuba looked up at his step-brother.
"Mokuba, what happened? I felt some strange lag and…" Noah started to ask.
Mokuba cleared his throat as he stepped forward.
"It was Victor, he re-enabled the safeties," Mokuba explained.
"So he had to use that code huh?" Noah asked.
"Looks like it, although the way things have been going so far I wouldn't count on it working twice," Mokuba warned. "Noah, I hate to ask this, but try to figure out what happened, please."
"I've already found a promising lead," Noah answered. "Remember the door you sealed the Big Five in? They're still there but I've found traces of something trying to bust the seal open…from the outside."
Mokuba bit his lip in worry.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Sighing Yugi looked at his deck. Next to him projected the astral image of the Pharoah.
"Are you ready Yugi?" Asked Yami. "If you're tired, I could take on Kaiba for you."
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm just mentally preparing," Yugi assured his partner. "This'll be the first time I've ever dueled him without your help though. Guess I'm a little nervous."
"No reason to worry, Yugi, you've been doing very well today," Yami smiled. "No matter the outcome, I'll still be here cheering you on."
Yugi nodded as his card list appeared in front of him. He began looking through his deck, checking for any changes he might want to make.
------------------------------------------------------------
Joey pulled Serenity aside just as Victor's blackened body slammed into the chair she had been sitting in a moment before.
"You alright Victor?" Joey asked, looking worried.
"Let me get back to you on that…" Victor moaned as he slid out of the chair and onto the ground.
This is it folks!
It's the big time now!
Yugi vs. Seto, you couldn't ask for a better match up!
The only question now is, can Yugi hold onto his title against the only duelist ever to offer him a worthy challenge?
Find out next time in:
Title Match!
You're gonna love it.
---
Original Card
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Wild One
EARTH
Beast/effect
Four star
1500 attack
900 defense
As long as this monster remains face up on the field, you may treat all monsters in your hand and on your field as if they were Beast-type monsters.