YU-GI-OH! Forever
A fan-fiction by neomage
(DISCLAIMER: Do not own, do not own, do not own, do not own…I'm doing it again, aren't I? Sigh…)
CHAPTER 53
INTERCONTINENTAL DUEL DOME
Miriam drew her first card. "First, I'll play the Dark Snake Syndrome magic card!" As she played the card, the familiar brown snake spirit darted around the field. "As you should remember, the damage this card inflicts to both of us during my Standby Phases will start at 200 and then double each turn!"
"Is that the best you can do?" Yugo demanded.
"Hardly! Now I'll set one monster facedown, and end my turn."
She's trying to trap me…trying to get me to attack her facedown monster…well, I'm not buying it! Yugo thought to himself.
He drew his card. "I'll set one monster in Defense Mode. Then I'll set one card facedown, and that'll do for now."
"Hmmm…playing cautiously, I see," Miriam observed. "But how long do you really think that will help you? Now I'm going to do something I'm sure you will despise me for, but hey – that's how it goes in a duel!"
She drew another card, and then Dark Snake Syndrome took 200 life points from both of them, leaving them with 7800 life points apiece. Then she checked her hand. "Now, I activate the magic card, Dark Room of Nightmare!"
Suddenly, the sinister columns appeared on the field, surrounding both of them. "You remember this? Every time you get damage to your life points as a result of a card effect, 300 extra points of damage will be dealt to your life points!" Miriam reminded Yugo. "And now, I'll set one card facedown, like so…" She placed a card in her magic/trap slot.
Yugo watched her warily.
"Then I'll activate the magic card, Meteor of Destruction! This will inflict 1000 points of damage to your life points!" Miriam swiftly played the card – and the next thing Yugo knew, a hot ball of fire shot down from the sky and hit him so hard he was knocked to the ground. As his life points dropped to 6800, the Dark Room of Nightmare inflicted an additional 300, putting him at 6500!
"Yugo! Don't let her beat you up like this!" Jenna cried from the sidelines.
"You can win, Yugo! Just remember what we told you before!" Miki added.
Miriam examined the two cards left in her hand. "All right…next I'll Flip Summon my facedown monster, and reveal Stealth Bird (ATK 700, DEF 1700)!" And then she revealed a creature that looked more like a bat with feathers than an actual bird. "When he's Flip Summoned successfully, I can inflict 1000 points of damage to my opponent's life points!"
"What?" Yugo exclaimed in alarm.
The Stealth bird flew over to Yugo and began to peck him without mercy. As he did his best to shield himself from the attack, his life points dropped to 5500 – and then Dark Room of Nightmare kicked in once again, bringing him even further to 5200.
"And," said Miriam, obviously pleased with herself, "I can also flip Stealth Bird into facedown Defense Mode once per turn during my Main Phase. So, go back facedown, my pet!" And then, much to Yugo's astonishment, the monster returned facedown.
"I'm gonna kill that bird…" Yugo said menacingly.
"Oh, I'm sooooo scared!" Miriam mocked him. "And now, one more card…I'll activate the magic card, Messenger of Peace! This stops all monsters with an ATK of 1500 or higher from attacking, at a cost of 100 of my life points during each of my Standby Phases. And now, I will end my turn."
"Grrr…you're really not making it easy for me, are you?" demanded Yugo as he drew his next card. "Well, I'll deal with you properly, right now!"
"And how do you plan on doing that, pray tell, when I'm the one who clearly has the advantage?" asked Miriam, very amused.
"Well…" Yugo grinned. "I did say I was going to kill your stupid facedown monster. So, that's what I'll do first! And I'll do it by Flip Summoning my facedown monster – Old Vindictive Magician (ATK 450, DEF 600)!"
As the elderly mage was revealed, Yugo smirked. "Whether Flip Summoned or otherwise flipped face-up, his effect is the same – he destroys one monster on the field!"
Miriam's amused smile vanished. "Uh-oh…"
The Vindictive Magician raised his staff and fired a blast of energy at the facedown Stealth Bird, utterly obliterating it. Then Yugo held up another card. "Now, I summon Skilled Dark Magician (ATK 1900, DEF 1700) in Attack Mode!"
He then summoned the black-clad monk to the field. "Take a good look at this guy…because he's going to be the instrument by which I defeat you," he told Miriam. "Now, Old Vindictive Magician, attack!"
The elderly mage fired a blast of energy from his staff again, hitting Miriam directly and reducing her life points to 7350. "Even if I have to whittle your life points down little by little, I'll defeat you!" Yugo vowed.
Yugo had 5200 life points, while Miriam now had 7350. He had four cards in his hand; she had one. On the field Yugo had his Skilled Dark Magician and Old Vindictive Magician in Attack Mode, plus one card facedown. Miriam had three magic cards on the field – Dark Snake Syndrome, Dark Room of Nightmare, and Messenger of Peace – and she had one other card facedown.
"Hey…that Skilled Dark Magician…d'you think Yugo will try to use that tactic?" Jenna asked.
"Very likely…" Kyo murmured.
Miriam drew her next card – and Dark Snake Syndrome kicked in, the shadowy snake biting both of them and this time reducing their life points by 400, putting Yugo at 4800 and herself at 6950. Then Dark Room of Nightmare sapped Yugo's life points by another 300, leaving him with 4500. Finally, Messenger of Peace drew 100 more life points from Miriam, so she was left with 6850.
"Well, now that that's all over with," she sighed, "I can activate my facedown trap card, Type Zero Magic Crusher!" And as she made this announcement, a weird contraption appeared on the field. "As long as this card stays on the field, I can send one Magic card from my hand to the Graveyard at will at any time – to inflict 500 points of damage to your life points!"
"No…way…" Yugo groaned.
"And now, I'll activate the magic card, Card Destruction! This will force both of us to discard our entire hands and draw the same number of cards we discarded!" Miriam laughed wickedly as she discarded the one card left in her hand, Mass Driver, to the Graveyard.
"Shit…" Yugo groaned as he watched Miriam draw one card according to Card Destruction's effect. Gritting his teeth, he himself discarded the four cards he had in his hand and drew four more.
"And now, I'll activate Pot of Greed!" Miriam announced, playing the last card in her hand and drawing two more cards in the process. When she saw the cards she'd gotten, she laughed out loud.
"How wonderful! All right – now I'll activate Monster Reborn, to revive my Stealth Bird in Defense Mode!" Miriam played her card, and in a moment the bat-bird creature was back on the field, baring its fangs at Yugo in a mocking manner. Then, at Miriam's command, it activated its effect and flipped back facedown.
"And finally…" Miriam held up the last card in her hand. "I'll activate one more Magic card, Wave-Motion Cannon!" And as she played the card, a massive cannon appeared on the field, its barrel almost overshadowing everything else on her side of the field!
"Whoa! Miriam's actually going to use THAT?" David gawked.
"She's really serious!" Luke exclaimed.
"Would you look at the size of that thing…" Wade said, his breath taken away by the might of such a huge weapon.
Miriam had a superior smirk on her face. "As long as this card remains on the field, it'll gain 1000 points worth of power during each of my Standby Phases. Then, at any time during one of my Main Phases, I will be able to discard the card to the Graveyard, and it'll basically blast you into pieces – delivering damage equal to 1000 times the number of my Standby Phases it was on the field for!"
"Damn!" Jenna cried. "If Yugo doesn't do something soon, that thing will—!"
Malachi had an eye on Yugo. What will you do, kid?
"Oh, man!" Mr. Devlin exclaimed. "Yugo must surely be a goner now, with such a powerful thing on the field ready to blast his life points away!"
"What can he possibly do?" worried Mrs. Taylor.
But to their surprise, Pegasus was laughing. "Oh, ye of little faith," he rebuked them with a smile, "just look at Yugo's side of the field…"
And Yugo was smiling, even as he took his turn and drew another card. "Are you done now?"
Miriam raised an eyebrow. "Yeah…why?"
"Well, just look at my Skilled Dark Magician," said Yugo.
Miriam looked – and her eyes in surprise. Floating around the monster in question were three flaming orbs! "But – what are those things? They weren't there before!" she exclaimed.
"Well, if you had been paying attention earlier, you would have noticed something special about my Skilled Dark Magician," replied Yugo. "You see, he gets a Magic counter for every Magic card that you or I play on the field. And, since you played three a while ago, he's got three counters!"
"So, that's what they are," mused Miriam. "So? What's that got to do with me?"
"Plenty! For when Skilled Dark Magician has three counters, I can offer him as a tribute to Special Summon a stronger monster from my hand, deck or Graveyard…and here he is, coming exclusively to you from my deck – my Dark Magician (ATK 2500, DEF 2100)!"
Suddenly Skilled Dark Magician vanished from the field, together with his three Magic counters; in his place, emerging from a dark portal, was the mighty spellcaster in his purple robes and wielding his green staff. Miriam took this in with shock. "No…way…!"
Malachi raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm…"
"You see, you just made it so simple, so easy, because you were playing all those magic cards from the get-go," revealed Yugo.
"Well, congratulations for getting a powerful monster on the field, but so what? My Messenger of Peace magic card will still prevent him from attacking!" Miriam snapped.
"Not for long, it won't…because I've got a magic card in my hand that will change all of that!" Here Yugo held up the five cards in his hand and selected one. "It's a card that can only work with the Dark Magician on the field, but it'll blast every card in your magic/trap slot to eternity and beyond! And I use it now…the power of the Dark Magic Attack magic card!"
On the sidelines, Seta stared, dumbfounded. "Dark Magic Attack…? There's a magic card named after the magician's signature attack…?"
Dark Magician raised his staff, as a ball of energy swirled at the tip. Miriam was still shocked at the sudden turn of events. No way…how could this kid break through my fool-proof strategy? It's unheard of!
Suddenly the mage released his energy ball, and it flew to Miriam's magic/trap zone, utterly obliterating every card there. There was a loud BANG, and a gigantic shockwave that threatened to blow Miriam off the platform! "Oh, Godammit to hell!" she yelled.
Pegasus chuckled, even as Mr. Devlin and Mrs. Taylor looked on wide-eyed. "Told you so," he smiled.
Now Yugo looked at the four remaining cards in his hand. "Okay – time to show you how I use magic cards! First, I'll activate a magic card from my hand, Double Spell!"
He played one of the cards from his hand. "By discarding one Magic card from my hand…" and he discarded the Mage Power magic card. "I can select a new one from YOUR Graveyard and use it as my own. And I choose…Pot of Greed!"
As Miriam watched in astonishment, the card flew out of her Graveyard and went straight into Yugo's hand. "Now, I activate it to draw two more cards!" And he did so, giving him a total of four cards in hand once again.
Malachi was now very interested. What's he gonna do?
"Next, I'll activate the magic of another card! Again, this one can only be used if Dark Magician is on the field…but it will destroy one monster on your side of the field! And the card is Thousand Knives!" Yugo played the card.
Immediately a rain of knives shot out from somewhere behind the Dark Magician, skewering Miriam's facedown Stealth Bird. Miriam was shaking her head in dismay. "This can't possibly be happening!" she wailed.
"Oh, you'd better believe it," said Yugo. "And now, it's time for me to introduce you to a little friend of mine…the Dark Magician Girl (ATK 2000, DEF 1700), who I'll summon by offering my Old Vindictive Magician as a tribute!"
The elderly mage disappeared, replaced in a moment by the cute female magician. But evidently Yugo still wasn't done. "Now, it's time to activate my facedown magic card, Dedication through Light and Darkness, and offer my Dark Magician as a tribute to Special Summon another mage from my hand…Dark Magician of Chaos (ATK 2800, DEF 2600)!"
A dark portal opened behind the Dark Magician, and he stepped backwards into it…and a moment later the more powerful magician emerged to take his place. "When Dark Magician of Chaos is summoned successfully, I can return one Magic card from my Graveyard to my hand – and the card I choose is Double Spell!"
The card emerged from the Graveyard slot and Yugo took it back into his hand. "And again, I'll activate Double Spell, this time targeting your Monster Reborn magic card!" And he discarded the Knight's Title magic card from his hand.
Much to Miriam's chagrin, her Monster Reborn card went into Yugo's hand by this action. "And now," said Yugo, activating the card's power, "come forth from the Graveyard, my Dark Magician!"
Dark Magician was then back on the field in all his glory, sandwiched between the Dark Magician Girl and the Dark Magician of Chaos. "So now, I've gotten three of my strongest monsters on the field in just one go," Yugo said with a smirk, "with enough power among them to wipe out every life point you have!"
Miriam screeched. "EEEEK!"
"Go, my magicians! Tri-Powered Dark Magic Attack!" Yugo commanded.
The three magicians crossed their staves together so that the tips were touching. Then, a massive orange glow began to burn, getting bigger and bigger – and then was released directly at Miriam. The force of it was so great, it launched her off her feet and sent her sailing off the platform, even as her life points shot down to 0.
"MIRIAM!" David and Luke yelled simultaneously, rushing to where she'd fallen.
"I'm…I'm okay…" Miriam gingerly rose up, wincing as a sharp pain hit her in her stomach, where she'd been hit. "Damn…who would've thought he had so much power at his disposal…"
"Shit…he really was holding back on you in your match, bro," David whispered.
"Yeah…" A cold sweat covered Luke's face as he glanced at Yugo, still standing on the platform.
"Duel over! Winner: Yugo Muto!" Mr. Devlin shouted, even as the crowds burst into one giant cheering.
"Yay! Yugo won!" Jenna cried out.
"Wow…such a massive power display…" Shigeo gulped. "I wonder if I could survive that, if I were the one to face him…"
Hardly anyone seemed to pay attention to Malachi now. But if they had, they would have noticed that his hands were shaking, and on his face was a look of pure wonder. So…this is his power…he's not as much of a shrimp as I first thought!
"Okay! Time for the next duel to begin…" Mr. Devlin paused. "Serenity…this one's between your daughter and your niece…what do you think is going to happen?"
Mrs. Taylor sighed. "I…I don't know, Duke. Just announce it and then we'll see."
Mr. Devlin nodded. "Next match, Miki Taylor vs. Jenna Wheeler! Please go to the platform!"
"Well…looks like this is it," Jenna said quietly.
"Yeah." Miki then walked toward the platform without another word.
Kyo sighed. "She's a bit reluctant about this duel…but make sure that you two go at it to the fullest, Jenna. Make it a duel she won't regret, win or lose."
Jenna nodded. "I understand." Then she turned and headed for the platform, as well…
----------
neomage: Yay! Another chapter finished! Well, the clash of cousins is about to begin, and it starts in the next chapter! Keep reading, everyone!
UPDATED 01/12/2005: Ahem…after doing much back-reading and research on the Internet, I'm finally assured of how Type Zero Magic Crusher actually works, so…I had to re-edit this chapter for corrections' sake. Not too much editing to be done, actually…
