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 54

INTERCONTINENTAL DUEL DOME

Jenna slowly ascended the steps leading to the level base of the platform. "Miki…are you sure you want to go through with this?" she asked.

Miki smiled a small smile. "It's for the best, Jenna. It's all about fun as far as I'm concerned. Win or lose, things between us won't change. I'll still be your cousin…and we'll still love each other."

"Oh, Miki…" Jenna was almost on the verge of tears.

Then the coin appeared on the field, and Miki got to call it. "I'll call tails."

The coin was flipped – and it turned out as tails. "All right, then I'll go first." Miki nodded her head in resolution.

"This should be a good match," Blaze observed.

"Yeah," Marcus nodded. "Miki's certainly gotten stronger since that time when she and I dueled. Only thing is now, how will she fare, especially since this is more than a physical duel…it's also an emotional one. They're family, after all."

Miki's voice became stronger as she drew her card. "I summon Silent Swordsman Lv. 3 (ATK 1000, DEF 1000) in Attack Mode!" She then summoned a child warrior that wore a hat similar to a sea captain's hat, and wielded a massive sword shaped somewhat like an anchor. "Then I'll set two cards facedown, and end my turn."

"Silent Swordsman…my father used to have a monster like that," Yugo mused. "It's got great power, if I'm not mistaken…"

"Really?" asked Kyo. "Like what?"

"Watch and see," said Yugo, mysteriously.

Jenna drew her card. "So that's your opening move? Well, how about this one for size? I'll play the magic card Fissure, to destroy your Silent Swordsman!"

As Jenna played her card, a huge rift opened in the ground below Silent Swordsman's feet – but the little warrior nimbly jumped elsewhere, out of harm's way. "What!" Jenna shot out.

"Silent Swordsman Lv. 3 is immune to any of your Magic cards that designate him as a target," said Miki calmly. "You'll have to do better than that."

"Well, then I will! I summon Rocket Warrior (ATK 1500, DEF 1300) in Attack Mode!" Jenna then summoned a figure with a sword and a shield, colored with yellow and green checkered squares.

"I think not! I activate my trap card, Trap Hole, to destroy your monster!" Miki countered, flipping one of her facedown cards. And as Jenna looked on in astonishment, her Rocket Warrior vanished into a hole right before her eyes!

"Argh…fine! I'll set a card facedown, then, and end my turn!" Jenna then set a card.

Miki drew her next card and chuckled. "You know, there's a reason why he's called Silent Swordsman Lv. 3," she pointed out. "During my Standby Phase, I can offer him as a tribute to Special Summon his stronger form from my deck – come forth, my Silent Swordsman Lv. 5 (ATK 2300, DEF 1000)!"

Silent Swordsman suddenly grew taller, his face more mature and handsome, until he had the look of a teenager and his clothes fit him better – and his sword became bigger and longer, too. "I personally like him when he's older, don't you?" Miki asked, giggling.

"Oh, dear…" Jenna's eyes widened as she realized what would happen next.

"Since summoning this form of Silent Swordsman in this way is a Special Summon, I can summon another monster: Giant Soldier of Stone (ATK 1300, DEF 2000) in Attack Mode! Come forth, my mighty stone soldier!"

A moment later the Giant Soldier of Stone appeared on the field. "Now, my monsters, attack directly!" Miki commanded.

Giant Soldier of Stone slowly unsheathed his sword, and then with one swing the stone blade came crashing down, right next to where Jenna stood. She managed to jump out of the way in time, but her life points went straight down to 6700. Then Silent Swordsman Lv. 5 took a swipe at Jenna, reducing her further to 4400.

"Come on, Jenna! Don't disappoint me now!" Miki cried.

"Damn…" Jenna grunted.

"Well, if you're not going to play at your best, then fine. I'll end my turn for now." Miki sounded disappointed.

Narrowing her eyes, Jenna drew another card. What is WRONG with me? I'm really not playing at my best right now…why? What is it I'm doing…or not doing…?

"What's with Jenna? It's as if she's deliberately holding back on more than half of her skill," Yugo said, frowning.

"It's simple, really," replied Kyo. "She's dueling against her flesh and blood at this moment. She wants to win, but at the same time she wants Miki to do well, too." He sighed. "She still very likely remembers that Miki's first duel ended in a bad loss…she doesn't want to have to let her go through that again. She's willing to take all the weight so that Miki can shine in the spotlight…"

Yugo gritted his teeth in annoyance at this. "Well, I won't stand for it!"

Before Kyo could stop him, Yugo took two steps forward. "JENNA!"

Startled, Jenna turned around. "Huh?"

"Don't be afraid to go all out!" Yugo called to her. "If you do a sloppy job simply because you want to please somebody, you'll only end up despising yourself somewhere in the future! Holding back just because your opponent happens to be somebody you love is not how a real duelist does things! You have to show that you can handle yourself well, and right now you need to get more into the game! Don't be scared, Jenna – show everyone how far your talent goes!"

Jenna looked at him for the longest moment. Then a quiet smile came across her lips and she turned back to face Miki. Yugo…I owe you…

Miki's life points were untouched at 8000, whereas Jenna had 4400. Miki had three cards in her hand, and on the field she had Silent Swordsman Lv. 5 and Giant Soldier of Stone in Attack Mode, plus one facedown card. Jenna, on the other hand, had one facedown card on the field, but she also had three cards in hand.

Swiftly Jenna drew another card. "All right – now I'll get serious! I summon Armed Dragon Lv. 3 (ATK 1200, DEF 900)!" Then she summoned a small red dragon with silver armor plating.

Then she held up another card. "And next, I'll activate Swords of Revealing Light, to stop your monsters from moving for the next three turns!" And as she played her next card, the three swords of light came down and went into the ground, in front of Miki's monsters.

"Finally, I'll set one card facedown, and end my turn." And Jenna did this with a small smirk on her face. "Your turn, cousin."

"I see…now you're finally getting serious. Good!" Miki had a happy smile on her face. "Now, I can feel as though this duel will be worthwhile!"

Then Miki drew her next card – and immediately, Silent Swordsman began to transform again. "What's going on?" Jenna queried suspiciously.

"It's the effect of Silent Swordsman Lv. 5," said Miki. "When he attacks my opponent's life points directly, during my Standby Phase I can send him to the Graveyard to Special Summon his truest form to the field from my deck – Silent Swordsman Lv. 7 (ATK 2800, DEF 1000)."

In a moment Silent Swordsman looked older, more handsome that before, a lot more experienced – and his sword seemed to have grown twice its previous size. "And…as long as this form of Silent Swordsman exists on my side of the field, all Magic cards' effects are negated." Miki chuckled. "Which means that your Swords of Revealing Light is of no consequence to me!"

"Crap!" Jenna groaned.

"And now, I'll offer Giant Soldier of Stone as a tribute to summon Jack's Knight (ATK 1900, DEF 1400)!" Miki's stone soldier then disappeared as she summoned her knight, wielding his sword in one hand and a frown on his youthful face. "Silent Swordsman, attack and destroy that Armed Dragon!"

"I think not! I activate my trap card, Draining Shield, to stop your Silent Swordsman's attack and increase my life points by an amount equal to his ATK points!" Jenna shouted, flipping one of her cards face-up. As Miki watched in stunned surprise, Silent Swordsman Lv. 7 stopped his attack and Jenna's life points shot up to 7200!

"Hmmm…very nice," Miki admitted. "But my Jack's Knight can still attack! Do it now, Jack's Knight!"

"No, Jack's Knight, don't!" Jenna rebutted. "I activate my other card, Shadow Spell! This will wrap your Jack's Knight in chains so tight that they'll reduce his ATK by 700 and keep him stuck in his current battle position!"

A wave of chains shot out of her upraised card and wrapped around the surprised Jack's Knight, reducing his ATK to 1200. "Whoa! Now I really know you're playing seriously!" Miki exulted. "You had that card there from before, and now you use it…I simply don't know what to say to you, except…brilliant timing!"

"Well, do you have anything else to try?" asked Jenna.

"Nope! I'll end my turn!" Miki grinned. "Come on, Jenna – show me what you're made of! Show me what else you can do!"

"As you wish." Jenna drew another card. "During my Standby Phase, I can offer Armed Dragon Lv. 3 as a tribute to Special Summon his stronger form from my deck – and here he is now, the powerful Armed Dragon Lv. 5 (ATK 2400, DEF 1700)!"

The Armed Dragon got bigger…and bigger…and its armor plates grew harder and more sturdy. "Now, that is what I call a rugged monster!" remarked Jenna. "Now, Armed Dragon, destroy Jack's Knight!"

"Uh-uh! Activate the trap card, Kunai with Chain!" said Miki. "This will shift your Armed Dragon into Defense Mode and at the same time increase the ATK of my Jack's Knight by 500 points!"

Jack's Knight was soon holding a massive chain, wrapped around a helpless Armed Dragon. At the same time, Jack's Knight's ATK went to1700. "Oh, man!" Jenna sulked.

"It's all a part of life, dear cousin," said Miki. "Live with it."

"But at least I still have something I CAN do!" Jenna recalled. "Since I Special Summoned my Armed Dragon Lv. 5, I can offer him as a tribute to summon something else – my Summoned Skull (ATK 2500, DEF 1200)!"

The Armed Dragon vanished – and in its place stood a hulking behemoth of a monster, something that looked like a skeleton with horns and partial flesh over its body. "Then I'll set one last card facedown, and end my turn." Jenna played the last card in her hand with a smile on her face.

Now the stats of the duel had changed somewhat. While Miki's life points were still at 8000, Jenna's were now at 7200. Miki now had Silent Swordsman Lv. 7 in Attack Mode, along with Jack's Knight who was equipped with the Kunai with Chain trap card. Jenna had her Summoned Skull on the field, plus her Shadow Spell trap card that was trapping Jack's Knight, her Swords of Revealing Light whose effect was negated by Silent Swordsman, and one other card facedown. Jenna had no cards left in her hand; Miki had three.

"All right – now they're starting to really go at it," Yugo observed.

"Yes," agreed Kyo. "Jenna's taking Miki more seriously now, and that's a good thing – she's acknowledging that Miki is a true duelist, like us."

Miki drew her next card – and to her surprise, the card Jenna had set last turn flipped face-up. "I activate my trap card, Thunder of Ruler!" said Jenna. "Since I've activated this card during your Standby Phase, you cannot attack me this turn with any monster."

Then Jenna smirked. "I've figured out the weakness of your Silent Swordsman, Miki. No matter what level he's at, he's still vulnerable to trap effects – and I'm going to keep manipulating that weakness until I win."

"Very clever," said Miki, clapping. "But that's not to say that I don't have any other strategies to fall back on! And, in case you haven't noticed, my life points are still untouched, anyway. So you'll have to come up with something really good to do me in."

Miki then turned her attention to the cards in her hand. "Hmmm…okay…I'll summon Armaill (ATK 700, DEF 1300)…" And here she summoned the strange warrior with two swords and a bladed tail. "…then I'll set another card facedown…and that's it! I'll end my turn with that!"

Jenna frowned a bit. "So that's it, then?"

"Yep!" Miki nodded.

"Well, all right, if you say so."

Jenna was troubled. She surveyed the card she'd just drawn. What am I gonna do? That Silent Swordsman Lv. 7 negates the effects of all magic cards…and that means my deck's practically been cut down to two-thirds of its power! Damn it all…

She closed her eyes and tried to think. Come on…I took cards from Dad's deck to formulate my own…what would he do?

After a moment of deliberation, she made up her mind. "I'll set this card facedown, shift Summoned Skull into Defense Mode, and end my turn."

"Oh, what's the matter? Can't get to play any good cards – or maybe your good cards are being negated by my Silent Swordsman Lv. 7, huh?" Miki challenged. "Well, we'll soon find out, won't we?"

She drew her next card. "I summon Orgoth the Relentless (ATK 2500, DEF 2450), offering my incapacitated Jack's Knight and my Armaill as tributes!" And then she took Jack's Knight and Armaill away from the field and replaced them with the heavily-armored Orgoth, whose sword was ready to slice opposition apart. As Jack's Knight disappeared from the field, so did her Kunai with Chain and Jenna's Shadow Spell.

"I think I know why you didn't attack me with your Summoned Skull when you had the chance, even though both Jack's Knight and Armaill were far weaker," remarked Miki. "You thought my facedown card was a trap card, didn't you? Well, it is – but of a different sort! Activate the trap card, Conscription!"

"HUH?" Jenna stared in perfect amazement. "I've never heard of that card!"

"Then you won't mind if I explain what it does," said Miki, smiling. "This card allows me to pick up the card that's on top of your deck—and if that card is a monster that can be Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon it to my side of the field. If it's not a monster card, or if it is but it can't be Normal Summoned, then it gets added to your hand. So…hand over the card on top of your deck, dear cousin!"

Yugo had his eyebrows raised in astonishment. "Where is Miki getting cards from? I never gave her a card like that!" he remarked.

"Maybe she's been doing what we stopped doing long ago – buying booster packs to add good cards to our decks," said Kyo quietly. "Miki knew she didn't have good enough cards after her defeat to Marcus in the Kaibacorp Challenge Cup, and she wanted to be able to keep up to us…so she very likely went to one of the stores back home and bought cards out of her pocket money. Maybe we should start doing that again, don't you think?"

"Maybe…"

Jenna picked the top card off of her deck and looked at it…and much to her horror, that card turned out to be the Red-Eyes Black Dragon (ATK 2400, DEF 2000)! "Aw, hell, no!" she wailed – but obediently she walked over to Miki and handed the card to her.

"Sweet!" Miki exclaimed when she saw what it was. "All right – now be Special Summoned to my side of the field, Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

A moment later the Red-Eyes was on the field next to Orgoth the Relentless, growling in anger. "Well, now I've got three strong monsters on the field," boasted Miki. "And what do you have, dear Jenna? Only one monster that's helplessly sitting in Defense Mode as I speak! But that's about to change right now…Red-Eyes Black Dragon, destroy Summoned Skull! Inferno Fire Blast!"

The Red-Eyes blasted a ball of fire from its mouth, consuming Summoned Skull. Then— "Orgoth the Relentless, it's your turn now! Attack directly!"

Orgoth raised his sword and charged, slashing Jenna on the arm and reducing her life points to 4700. And then – "Silent Swordsman, do it now! Ultimate Blade!" And Silent Swordsman Lv. 7 let loose with his humongous sword, bringing the blade crashing to the ground and knocking Jenna down in the process – and reducing her life points further to 1900.

"Oh, dear…" Mrs. Taylor sighed. "It looks as if Jenna will really lose this duel."

"Perhaps…unless something happens…" Pegasus seemed to be talking almost to himself.

"That about does it!" Miki sighed. "One more attack on my next turn, and I'll win. Though honestly, Jenna, I'm disappointed…I would've thought you'd provide a bigger challenge than this. Maybe your win against Blaze last round was just luck, after all."

Maybe she's right… Jenna sighed inwardly. I guess I really am not making much of an impression right now. But…

Jenna looked at her side of the field as the Swords of Revealing Light – whose three turns had already gone by – disappeared; then she looked at her deck. Gotta do this…gotta do this…gotta do this! This kept screaming in her head as she reached to draw her card. Slowly she pulled it out…ever so slowly…

…and then when she looked at it, she couldn't believe her eyes. Incredible!

Miki looked at her, puzzled. "Something wrong?"

Jenna looked up. "I'm not sure…but everything's gonna have to rest on this next play." And she prepared to play her card…

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neomage: MWA! Have another dose of cliffhanging! This duel's gonna be finished next chapter, believe me, and the result is not going to be what anyone is expecting! And…on a side note, I've been getting a lot of mail from people who want to know who Seta's mother is. Well, you'll just have to wait a bit longer to find that out! All will be revealed in due time and in a way I'm sure none of you will expect! Keep reading!