Chapter Fifty-One
Noah summoned a monster in attack mode. With his new monsters special ability, he could turn any of Yami's monsters from defense to attack mode, or vice versa. So Noah switched Kuriboh into attack mode. Yami looked slightly worried. If Kuriboh was attacked, Yami would lose. But Noah sacrificed his monster and his face down card to bring back his dragon from a few turns earlier. The dragon reared his heads, fire building in its mouths, and attacked.
I gritted my teeth and prepared for the full force of the attack to hit Yami and for the energy to hit the rest of us.
"Yugi!" Joey and Tea shouted.
"This can't happen!" Tea said, the worry evident in her voice.
"Finally, an end to this duel! You and your friends will be trapped here forever!" said Noah, triumphantly. The attack hit Kuriboh. "I've finally proven my point, Yugi. You see, no one is superior to me."
"You wish," Joey sneered.
"Yugi!" called Tea. "You lost…"
"Not quite," I said. The smoke from the attack had cleared, and Yami appeared unharmed. He hadn't lost any life points.
I smiled.
"What's the matter? You look shocked," Yami said to Noah.
"You…you should have lost the rest of your life points," said Noah.
"Take a closer look," said Yami.
Yami had activated a trap card. It was a card called nutrient z. Since Noah's card was strong enough to wipe out two thousand of Yami's life points, he was able to activate his trap card to protect him. Yami had received an additional four thousand life points before Noah's attack did any damage. He now had eighteen hundred life points.
"You can't get rid of me that easily, Noah," said Yami.
"Did you forget?" asked Noah, grasping at the only advantage he held. "After every one of your turns ends, I'll turn one of your friends to stone."
"Noah!" Yami shouted.
"Relax, Yugi!" said Noah. "My turn is far from over."
The special ability of Noah's deck master kicked in and his life points were boosted to eighty two hundred. Then he played a magic card that raised his life points further, to ten thousand five hundred. Then his dragon returned to his hand, which activated his other magic card. Noah now had eleven thousand life points.
"Eleven thousand life points…" said Joey in disbelief.
"How is he ever going to get Noah down to zero?" asked monkey-Tristan.
I watched Yami's features. He was angry and worried. He glanced down at the statues of Mokuba, Kaiba, and Duke and I knew he was feeling guilty. I glanced at the statues myself and I knew how he was feeling. Even though I didn't have much to do with it, I somehow felt it was my fault. I should have done something. I should have forced Seto and Mokuba to stay near me or pushed Duke out of the way. Yami turned back to the duel, looking determined.
He played Alpha the Magnet warrior in attack mode and attacked Noah's life points. But it barely made a dent.
"I have so much power, I barely felt a thing," said Noah, shrugging off the attack.
"Fine," said Yami, frustrated. "Your move, then."
"Not so fast. First I must keep my word and turn one more of your friends into stone now," said Noah.
Lightning shot out of the sky with a crack of thunder. This time, monkey-Tristan was hit.
"No! Tristan!" Tea yelled.
"THIS MUST STOP!" Yami thundered.
"It will stop when all of you are turned to stone!" said Noah. "Then you'll all be trapped here."
"Look, Yugi's gonna shut this place down," said Joey. "Then we'll all be free, so your threats mean nothing. Threaten whoever you like, Noah."
"Whoever I want?" asked Noah, with an evil smile. "So I guess that includes your sister, Serenity? Fine. If Yugi doesn't win this turn, she's next."
"ENOUGH, NOAH!" Yami yelled.
"There's still a chance. All you have to do is beat me," said Noah, keeping a level tone. The angrier Yami got, the more pleased Noah seemed. "If not, then you'll just be trapped here forever!" He laughed. "Soon I'll prove that no one's better than me."
"Yami," I said. I wasn't talking particularly loud, but he turned to look at me. "Relax," I said, nodding at him. I tried to smile. "Just relax, okay?"
Noah drew a card and summoned a spirit monster that looked like a white rabbit. It had the ability to jump over Yami's monsters and directly attack his life points. The white rabbit attacked and Yami's life points dropped to eleven hundred.
"Now what?" asked Serenity.
"Relax," said Joey. He tried to smile at his sister, reassuringly, but I could tell he was worried.
"Serenity, Yami's got this," I told her.
She paused and then asked, "Yami?"
"Just a weird nickname Olive uses every so often," said Tea, giving me a weird look. "I'm a little surprised she remembers that."
"I'm not," Marik said in my mind.
"Oh yea?" I thought back at him. "And why's that?"
"Olive, I know so much more about you than you realize," Marik said.
"Of course you do," I thought. "You're in my head and I can't access any of my memories."
"Even if you had your memories, Olive," said Marik. "I know more about you than you think. I know about your past lives. I know a lot of the things that you and Yami are trying to figure out."
"And are you going to tell me after I get my memories back?" I asked him.
"We'll see," he said.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"It means that we'll see," he replied.
"I think you must be an asshole in real life," I thought at him.
"That didn't stop you from wanting me," he shot back, sounding smug.
Yami drew a card and placed it face down on the field. Then he summoned his magnet warrior to summon his dark magician girl. He used her to attack his life points directly, but Noah didn't care.
"Was that your best shot?" he asked. "You'll have to do better than that if you want to save Joey's sister. Why don't you try again."
"I can't," said Yami. "I have to end my turn."
Joey hugged Serenity.
"Oh no!" she cried.
Noah laughed. "I guess it's time to say goodbye, Serenity," he said.
Lightning shot out of the sky again and Serenity shoved Joey away. "Get back, Joey!" she yelled, just before the lightning hit her. Joey looked devastated.
"Joey, I'm so sorry," said Yami.
"If you really cared, you wouldn't have let that happen, Yugi," Noah scoffed. He brought back his white rabbit and asked, "You remember my rabbit, don't you?"
"I do, and I'm glad to see him. His arrival has triggered my trap card," said Yami. Once Noah summoned a monster, the trap card allowed Yami to bring a spell caster monster back from the grave. But first, Yami had to sacrifice one of his monsters and one of Noah's. He sacrificed Noah's rabbit and his own big shield guardna to bring back his Dark Magician.
I clapped and let out a cry of joy.
Noah placed one card face down and ended his turn.
"You have nothing to defend you and I have two monsters on the field," said Yami. "It's about time I turned this duel around."
The corners of Noah's eyes twitched in annoyance.
Yami drew a card.
"Prepare to release me and my friends from your twisted game," said Yami. "I activate dark magic ritual. This magic card allows me to summon a dark magical creature once I make a sacrifice. So, I'll sacrifice this card, my valkyrion the magna warrior. Now I'll summon my third magician - the magician of black chaos! This monster completes my trio of magical beasts that will combine to take you down. When added together, dark magician, dark magician girl, and magician of black chaos have over seven thousand attack points. Almost enough to wipe you out."
"He's got three dark magicians?" Tea asked, incredulously.
"Yea, but he's never had all three on the field at once," said Joey.
"This is good," I said. My stomach was doing flips. I felt alive. I had recognized Yami. I recognized these monsters. There was something so familiar in all of this and I finally felt like I knew something that was going on.
"Noah, this is for my friends!" Yami yelled. "Combine forces, my magicians, and strike his life points directly!"
But at the last minute, Noah activated a trap card. It moved dark magician girl in the way of the attack, which caused Yami's points to drop to three hundred. All of the life points Yami lost went to Noah.
"Bravo, Yugi, bravo," said Noah, clapping. "You've put on such a good show that I see no need to continue. So I'll transform your friends back to normal and we can end this duel."
Yami looked at us. "Don't toy with me," he said to Noah.
"I ask only one little favor in return, Yugi. I want you to forfeit the duel and admit I'm superior to you," said Noah. "It seems a small price to pay for your friends safe return. Of course, Seto and Mokuba will remain as they are and stay with me."
"Don't do it, Yami!" I yelled. "Don't give in to that little shit."
"You prick!" Joey yelled at Noah.
"Joey, Olive, stop it," said Tea. "You'll both be next."
"He can't play with people's lives like this," I said.
"Yugi, you can beat this creep fair and square and end his sick games," said Joey.
"What if I'm defeated?" asked Yami.
"You won't lose, Yugi," said Joey.
"Joey's right! You're going to beat this kid!" I added.
"I don't remember asking for your opinion. I've had just about enough of you, Olive! Say goodbye!" said Noah, pointing at the sky to cue the lightning.
But before it hit me, I felt myself fall and hit the ground, painfully. My head hit a rock and I winced, but glanced back just in time to see the lightning hit Joey.
"No! Joey!" Yami shouted.
"Not you too," said Tea, sadly. She looked like she was going to cry, but she turned and helped me off the ground. "I'm glad you're okay, at least," she said, hugging me. She buried her face in my neck and began to shake with the effort to hold back tears.
"Noah!" I screamed. "What is the matter with you!"
Tea lifted her head and yelled, "You think you're really tough, don't you?"
"Why, yes," said Noah, nonchalantly.
"Well I think you're just a spoiled brat who's got no guts. If things aren't going your way, you just keep changing the rules til they are," she said.
"Ha! Do you think I really care what you think of me, Tea? I've already proven that there's no one out there better than me. Now it's up to Yugi to admit the same thing and I'll gladly reverse the damage that's been done," said Noah. "I am sorry that I hit Joey, however. That one was for you, Olive."
I flipped him off.
"Looks like I've got some disappointing news for you then. I still plan to win!" said Yami.
"What? Suit yourself then. I tried to make things easier for you, but you chose the hard way. I place a card face down in defense mode and I'll place another card face down. Now, since I can't lose, there's no harm in showing you the next card, Yugi. Get ready," said Noah. He held up his card. "When your turn starts, I'll use ground breaking to bring back one of my spirit monsters. My white rabbit. He possesses seven hundred attack points, which is more than enough to wipe you out." He placed the trap card. "Once he attacks you directly, you're finished and you can say goodbye to your cheerleader and that bitch, Olive. Now, make your final move, Yugi."
"You haven't won this yet, Noah," said Yami. Yami drew a card.
"I activate my trap! Go, ground breaking!" said Noah. "This brings my white rabbit right back to my hand."
"Not for long," said Yami. "I activate card destruction. You have to discard your entire hand, including your white rabbit, and draw four more cards. It all stops here. Magician of Black Chaos! Destroy his face down monster."
But unfortunately, it activated the special ability of one of Noah's cards. Dark magician was switched into defense mode so Yami couldn't attack again. Another trap card, vessel of illusion, was activated. It allowed Noah to summon a monster. He brought back a monster in defense mode. "Your turn's over, Yugi," said Noah. "So which of your friends is it going to be?"
Yami glanced down at us.
"Yugi's gonna crush you!" yelled Tea, startling me. "Then he'll set us all free, you got that?"
"Tea," said Yami, warningly.
Noah laughed and the lightening shot out of the sky again and struck Tea. She reached out towards Yami and choked out parting words. "Yugi! I still … believe…" she called before she was turned to stone.
"You are such a coward," I sneered.
"Keep talking, Olive," said Noah. "You're next. I'm just glad that you're going to be here to witness Yugi's defeat and see just how wrong you are. Speaking of your defeat, I activate the magic card change of heart. It allows me to control one of your monsters. Guess who is now mine?"
The dark magician disappeared from Yami's side of the field and reappeared on Noah's side.
"No! My dark magician!" Yami cried out.
"Now your favorite monster stands by my side," said Noah, sounding triumphant. "Next, I will sacrifice him along with my monster. This allows me to summon the most powerful spirit in all of duel monsters. Then I'll play the magic card flaming fists, which will give my beast two hundred extra attack points for one turn. The end if just about here. Attack! Destroy his magician of black chaos! Now!"
Noah's monster attacked and Yami was knocked over completely from the force of the attack.
I winced.
Noah smirked.
Seven hundred life points were added to Noah's total. He played a magic card called spirit energy settle machine. It allowed him to keep a spirit monster on the field after discarding one card from his hand.
Yami had only one hundred life points left.
"You may as well stay down, Yugi. It's all over," said Noah.
"Don't listen to him, Yami!" I yelled. "Get up!"
"Shut up, Olive!" Noah yelled.
Yami laid his head back and closed his eyes. He seemed so weak.
"If you could speak, Yugi, I'm sure you'd admit now that I'm the better duelist. You have no monsters in play, no cards in your hand and no friends to cheer you on," said Noah. "You're all alone now, Yugi. There's no one left to support you."
"That's not true!" I yelled and suddenly, I was standing in front of Yami. Yugi, little Yugi, appeared to be standing next to me.
"As long as we're here, you're not alone," said Yugi and we both held out our hands to help Yami stand up.
Suddenly we were somewhere else. We were in a room filled with walls and doorways and stairs going every direction. Somehow I knew I'd been here before. I was inside of Yami's mind.
"All you have to do is open your heart and your mind to know that your friends are never far," I heard myself say, but I sounded far away. It was almost like I wasn't speaking. Some other part of me that I didn't quite have access to was speaking with a knowledge that was lost to me.
"I don't see anyone," said Yami.
"Just look in here," I said. I took his hand and smiled at him. I walked over to a door and it opened without me touching it. It was empty, but we walked inside.
"I've never seen this room before, Olive," said Yami.
"It holds your recent memories," Yugi told him.
Joey, Tea, Tristan, Duke, and Serenity all appeared.
"I think I understand," said Yami, looking at me.
I nodded. "As long as our friends are in our thoughts, they'll never be too far away," I said.
He squeezed my hand and I knew that was his way of thanking me.
"Well put," said Joey, clapping Yami on the back. "We'll always be right here in your mind, man. No matter what."
"That's right," said Tea. "You may not remember your ancient past yet, but you still remember us." She looked at me. "The same goes for you, Olive."
"That's true," said Yami. "But I'm afraid I have nothing left to fight with."
"That's pathetic," came another voice from behind us that sent chills through my whole body. I wasn't positive if I liked that yet, or not. "Are you telling me my future's in the hands of a quitter?"
Yami and I turned to see Kaiba and Mokuba walking towards us.
"You can't let that little punk win this duel, Yugi," said Kaiba.
"I know," said Yami.
"Then get back in the game and face him like a man. Remember you have my cards too," said Kaiba. "With the power of my deck in your hands, you can't lose."
"There may still be a chance. The power to win could lie in Kaiba's deck," Yami mused aloud.
"Don't mess up," Kaiba ordered. "You've only got one shot left." Kaiba turned his eyes to me. He reached out and touched my face. I didn't feel his touch but I still shivered a little. "Stay safe, Olive," he said, quietly.
Yami and I were suddenly out of Yami's mind and back in Noah's world. Yami's eyes opened and grabbed my hand. I was still a little unsure how I was standing in front of him and about what had happened, but I pulled him to his feet and then turned to look at Noah.
"I will save my friends," said Yami. "Just watch me."
"You just insist on humiliating yourself, don't you?" asked Noah. "And how the hell did you get up here, Olive? That's not a part of the game. You are breaking the rules and there are consequences for breaking the rules."
Lightning crackled in the sky, warningly, for a second before it shot down. I looked up as it hit me. Light flooded my eyes.
