*Sigh* So... sorry about the long delay. Like I said last update, working extra hours takes away writing time and I've been having a hard time focusing on writing. I've got a new laptop, finally so can't go using that as an excuse. But anyway... so my muse is a fickle thing, and as I state on my profile, I'm prone to writer's block. Plus I've been dealing with feeling off, mentally and emotionally... writing's just been hard. I've got this one done but don't have any other's written. I wanted to keep to a schedule but that obviously hasn't worked out. I'm going to keep trying with this one but I'm afraid until I get back into it, updates are going to be pretty sparse and sporadic. But even if I post a new story, don't think I've forgotten this one.
Anyway, Enjoy!
Seventeen - Face Off
"What's this," Bakura says suddenly, drawing everyone's attention to the white haired boy who's looking down at his ring "My Millennium Ring is pointing..."
"There," Tea points up "To Pegasus' Castle." The group has come out of the tree right at the base of the stairs. Lila pats Bakura on the shoulder as she passes him "We're heading that way anyway sweetie, no need to use the magic magufin for that this time." Bakura smiles at her light hearted teasing as he follows after the group, with Joey tacking on "Right, because the three of us all have enough chips to get us into the castle now. Isn't the right Yuge?" The tri haired boy nods, accompanied by Tea's "Finally!" The brunette then goes quiet as she looks at her friend, thinking of how far Yugi has come. Lila notices that after a moment, Tea's expression changes to one of shock as the blue eye girl suddenly remembers the dream they all had. Yugi then notices the girl staring at him and looks up from his duel glove.
"Something wrong?" Tea shakes her head with a small smile "I just wondered... do you ever feel like-"
"Hey you three!" Joey yells from the top of the first section of stairs as that the other boys have already gotten too, making Lila's eyes widen, they sure can move it when they want to can't that "What's the hold up?"
"Hurry up, or we'll go inside without you," Lila smirks at that and waves to Yugi and Tea, sprinting to catch up with the other three as Bakura reminds Tristan "You know, since none of us are even supposed to be here, maybe we should wait for them."
"Good point," Tristan acknowledges with a small chuckle as Lila makes her way up the stairs while Yugi and Tea lag behind a little longer. The longer haired girl glances behind her to see if they've started to catch up and winces as she turns just in time to see Yugi trip on a rock and face plant into the ground. Tea teases him for a moment but they're talking too quietly for those on the stairs to hear as Lila makes it up to others waiting. No sense in sprinting the whole way, they'll just tire themselves out so a break's not so bad. She shorter girls sits down on the stairs, bouncing one of her legs up and down as Tea helps Yugi get up, the two of them talking a moment to talk before Joey, impatient as ever, shouts down "Hey, do we need to carry you guys up?"
"You offering?" Lila ask with a chuckle, holding her arms up at him like a toddler asking to be picked up. The blonde playfully shoves her, making her laugh again as Tristan shouts down to the two still stood at the edge of the trees "Yeah, what's the problem? Come on!" The two finally seem to realise that the rest of the group are getting to the point where they won't wait too much longer so they hurry after them, Tea and Yugi both laughing. It makes Lila smile, maybe Yugi'll work up the nerve to ask their friend out yet.
"You'd think someone as rich as Pegasus would put in an elevator," Joey complains and Lila frowns, didn't he make that same complaint the first time they had to climb all these stairs back when they first got the the island... has it really only been two days, it feels way longer. Of course, his whining is ignored when Tristan sees someone waiting for them at the top of the final flight of stairs in front of them "Hey guys, look. You're not gonna believe who's blockin' our way into the castle."
"It's... Kaiba," Lila blinks in confusion, looking up at the taller boy as Joey asks "What the heck's he doing here?"
"I can't let you pass Yugi."
"I've won ten star chips, so stand aside."
"You may have won enough star chips to qualify for the Duellist Kingdom playoffs Yugi, but I can't allow you to face Pegasus. He's mine," Kaiba glares at the group of gathered teens "You and I are going to have one final duel. You will lose, and I will win. The winds of change are blowing Yugi Muto." As if to coincide with Kaiba's words, there's actually a gust of wind at that moment.
"He's so smug up there," Tea snipes, making Lila nod in agreement and tack on "And dramatic. If duelling doesn't work out, he should take up a career in show business." The group step forward a few steps, Yugi gritting his teeth as he says "Step aside Kaiba!"
"Not until you agree to duel me."
"Why should he?" Lila asks with a frown "He doesn't have to. He's already qualified and you're not even part of the tournament. In fact, last time we saw you, you pretty much said the tournament was a childish waste of time."
"So Yugi, you're having a girl answer for you. No longer confident your so called heart of the cards can help you win? Or are you afraid you can't beat my deck without Exodia?" What am I, chopped liver? Lila thinks as Kaiba ignores her to continue trying to taunt Yugi, all she asked was a simple question "That's it, isn't it Yugi? You're just afraid you can't beat me a second time, you coward."
"You back off. He doesn't have to prove anything."
"You want a duel smart mouth? I'll take you. Come on, let's duel," despite Joey's bravado, Kaiba just chuckles darkly, winding the blonde up more "Don't laugh!" He lunges forward with clenched fists to the other two boys have to hold him back from trying to start a fist fight with Kaiba, Tristan scolding him with "Joey! Down boy."
"Don't forget when you battled him before, he slaughtered you," Bakura reminds, knocking the fight out of the irate blonde as Tea watches unimpressed "Like you could do any better?" Kaiba looks at the would-be challenger, taking note of his filled duel gloves and his eyes narrow a little "Ha! I can't believe the little barking chihuahua already has ten star chips. You earn them yourself, or did Yugi throw you a few bones?" Joey growls at the dog insults, Kaiba really knows how to tick the other boy off. Lila rolls her eyes but steps forward ahead of Yugi and Joey "If not Joey then how about me? I've beaten your deck before don't you have something to prove that it was just 'cause you weren't the one using it?" Kaiba turns his attention to the girl standing with a raised eyebrow and hand on her hip.
"There'd be no challenge in humiliating Joey again or even you, there's only one player who's ever beaten me at Duel Monsters, and that's Yugi," Kaiba remarks, crossing his arms across his chest and turns back to the shorter boy "Yugi, you said you won by tapping into the heart of the cards, and for a long time I didn't know what that meant, but now, I think I do. And it took Pegasus to show me." He reaches into the collar of his shirt and pulls out a necklace like the one Lila saw Mokuba occasionally looking at, the short time he was with them, a Duel Monster's card locket "He gave me a reason to put my heart in the cards. For the first time Yugi, I can duel with fire and passion in my heart!"
"I can feel it," Yugi responds, stepping around his friend, Lila looks between the two of them and sighs, stepping back, they may like to try and keep Yugi out of trouble but sometimes that boy heads right into it, like he's able to sense things the rest of them can't, even so, Bakura still tries to dissuade him "Yugi, you can't accept this duel."
"You've already earned enough star chips to get into the castle."
"I've changed," Lila looks over to Kaiba and her eyes soften slightly, his voice sounds different, not as aggressive and taunting... something must have happened because she's pretty sure that's true "I deserve a rematch. Give me a chance to play you now Yugi. Let me play you for the right reasons," the brunette girl gives a small gasp and her eyes widen as she looks to her pointy haired friend.
"Yugi," he looks to the green eyes girl "Remember what your grandpa taught us? Can you really deny him?" Yugi turns back to Kaiba and his puzzle lights up. The spirit smiles up at Kaiba and Tea looks at the taller Yugi, slightly shocked at the sudden change "Kaiba, I accept your duel! We'll see what you've really learned. You just name the place."
Kaiba smirks "Our dueling field has been prepared," he reaches down to pick up the briefcase at his feet "Follow me." He leads the group away from the entrance and over to a walkway leading off to the roof of a seperate, smaller part of the castle that backs directly over a cliff. Kaiba and Yugi both quickly take their place on either side while the rest of the group hangs back near the walkway.
"All right Kaiba. It's time to duel."
"Yugi, here's the deal. We'll each wager five star chips on this duel, and the winner will be the only one who earns the right to enter the main castle," Yugi agrees and starts removing the wagered chips from his glove. The two then throw them into the space between them "We'll use my duel disk system. Insert your shuffled deck into the card recognition slot," that's the bit attached to his arm "Life points automatically set to two thousand."
"Take him!" Joey encourages "You did it once Yugi, so we know that you can do it again!" The others shout their agreement.
"All right. Are you ready to duel Kaiba?"
"This is it Yugi, whoever wins faces Pegasus and whoever loses, well, you'll be left a broken man."
"We'll see who get broken Kaiba," Lila frowns at that, that doesn't sound like Yugi, or even the spirit, normally does during a duel "I will defeat you once and for all!" The duel then starts with Kaiba taking the first move "Stand back and prepare for battle. I play Ryu-Kishin in attack mode!" Kaiba throws his disk and the red armored creature appears with a roar. Then images of the cards that no doubt act as the player's hands appear in front of him, which Tea points out to the rest of those watching. Lila looks and raises her eyebrows, holograms of the hand too, that's impressive but it makes sense since you can't exactly hold a hand properly and throw the disk without risking loosing a card or showing it to your opponent.
"On your guard. I play Curse Of Dragon in attack mode!" it's Yugi's turn to throw the disk and have his monster appear. After his duels with Weevil and Panik, the group reconigse the yellow dragon when it appears and then it is followed by his own holographic hand appearing.
"Well done. A formidable card Yugi, and a play I would expect from a duellist of your calibre."
"Don't patronise me."
"Yugi, I know from playing you you're a talented duellist, but you're just not as good as I am. Listen up. Only one duellist is gonna challenge Pegasus and that's me!"
"Wrong," there's clear tension and aggression in Yugi's voice while it's Kaiba that's being the more calm, collected one, it's weird, like their personalities have... well not switched but they've certainly changed, even if Kaiba is still acting like a jerk and a snob as he goads his opponent "Then attack and find out. What's the matter Yugi? No faith in your monster?"
"You'll see. He's mightier then yours. Go Curse Of Dragon! Attack Ryu-Kishin! Dragon flame!" Yugi's dragon flies up and lets out a breath of flames onto Kaiba's monster, turning it black as it chars then destroys it "There. Ryu-Kishin is no more." Kaiba loses four hundred life points with that attack, a reasonably sized lost, especially for the first round. The disk goes flying back to him, phasing through the holographic cards.
"Hm," he smirks "You're good but oh so predictable. Don't you think I expected that attack? And once again, you've played right into my hands Yugi."
"He's bluffing. You already got Kaiba on the ropes!" Joey calls out while Lila frowns and rests her knuckles on her chin thoughtfully. That might not be true. Kaiba was pretty eager to goad Yugi into attacking, and weirdly, Yugi fell for it, taunt like that don't normally get to him, the duel with Panik was a good example, he didn't fall for the taunt, he just returned them and turned the duel on it's head, so why is he acting this way? Still, Joey is oblivious to the brunette's thoughts as he continues to cheer "All right! Go Yugi!"
"It's not a bluff, as you will all soon see," Kaiba draws and smiles when he looks down at the card, instantly playing it "I play Swordstalker!" The weird, demonic looking warrior is bright purple and barely passes for humanoid, he also wields and impressive looking bronze blade "The Swordstalker gathers the life force of a fallen ally, raising his own attack power by twenty percent. Watch." A spectral version of Kaiba's last monster appears and wraps around the new one's sword, acting as a power up similar to cards like Salamandra. Yugi's eyes widen as he realises that Kaiba's right, he did just walk right into his trap. Kaiba let a weaker monster be destroyed to make an already strong monster, even stronger. Strong enough to wipe out Yugi's dragon "Attack now Swordstalker! Vengeance Strike!" The warrior lets out a strange, animal like howl as he races forward and lifts it's sword above it's head, using both hands to slice through Yugi's monster. But before the blow can land, a yellow light appears around Yugi's monster and it vanishes "What? The Curse Of Dragon Disappeared!"
"That's because I laid a Monster Replace magic card on the field," the card in question spins around from in front of Yugi, showing it's the same small card that he used in the tag duel to swap Dark Magician with Black Skull Dragon "This card switches the monster on the field with the monster in my hand that has the highest attack power, and you know what that means. The creature with the greatest attack power in my hand, is the Dark Magician," who appears before Yugi, already poised to deflect Kaiba's attack "Dark magic attack." The spellcaster fires energy out of the head of it's staff and destroys the purple warrior, taking another hundred life points from Kaiba "The Dark Magician vanquishes your Swordstalker." Joey cheers again and decides to try his hand at taunting his friend's opponent "Hey Kaiba, Yugi but the moves on you again!"
"Clueless," Kaiba responds, not at all phased and then carries on talking to himself, but it's so quiet that no one else can hear exactly what he's saying "If those fools only knew what I have in store."
"Now I can re-play Curse Of Dragon in attack mode," the dragon's card spins around and he reappers on the field "Your move Kaiba." Kaiba's hand disappears as he says "I'll take on your magic with a magician of my own. I summon La Jinn, The Mystical Genie!" the green genie appears with a deep chuckle, head slightly bowed and arms crossed, looking for all the world like the evil brother of Aladdin's blue friend "My wish is his command."
"Dark Magician, attack La Jinn! Dark magic attack!" Yugi's magician charges up the energy in his staff but Kaiba interrupts "You attack activates my trap, the Ancient Lamp!" A trap card spins around with an image of an old gold lamp then the card lights up and the lamp pictured on it appears, and slowly starts to suck the green spellcaster inside "First it protects my genie by drawing him into the lamp."
"What?!" but Yugi's monster still continue's it's attack, despite it's target no longer being there "Then the lamp deflects your attack, turning it back on your monster." The attack lights up on the lamp but then it blasted back and destroy's Yugi's dragon "Which lowers your score to equal mine. Reflect upon the incredible defensive powers of my Ancient Lamp!"
"My deflected attack may have destroyed my Curse Of Dragon, but I still have the Dark Magician. Kaiba, for all your bragging, the score is tied. We're evenly matched."
"This is way to intense," Tristan says with a swallow as he looks over at the two duellists, both of them are staring each other down without even a hint of enjoyment on their faces, completely serious "Remember Tristan, Yugi beat Kaiba once before."
"I'd like to beat Kaiba."
"What's with Kaiba anyway?" Tea asks with a slight frown, unlike Lila, she can't see any change in Kaiba from before. She glances over at the other brunette who seems to be ignoring the rest of the group in favour of watching the turns with her arms crossed over her chest. The duels been progressing quickly, despite the taunts, there's none of the toying with his opponent that Kaiba's known for, it's all to strange. Lila sighs and shakes her head. Tristan was right, this duel is way more intense then usual.
"What's the matter Yugi? You look a bit worried. Finally realising that without your precious Exodia cards you don't stand a chance against me?"
"I won't need Exodia to defeat you Kaiba."
"If I keep drawing card like this you will," Kaiba remarks with a smirk as he looks at the card he's just drawn and places it on his disk "I arm my genie with the De-Spell card. The De-Spell card can deactivate any magic card and that's a loss I'm quite sure you can't afford Yugi. La Jinn, my Mystical Genie Of The Lamp, activate De-Spell," the green genie pushes his hands forward, palms out stretched with his fingers splayed out as energy crackles from them.
"Oh no! My cards!" the blast explodes forward and shatters the spell on the fair left, making Lila tilt her head, so are those cards not the hand? They're the back row... but didn't Yugi's Dark Magician appear from there. She shakes her head, these new duel disks make it hard to tell "De-Spell has destroyed your Swords Of Revealing Light. That's a tough loss Yugi. Your swords could have paralysed my monsters for three turns, but I guess now you'll just lose three turns sooner."
"Don't count on it Kaiba."
"That genie's big trouble, but as long as he has the lamp to hide in, Yugi can't touch him."
"Is there anyway to destroy the lamp?"
"Well I'd use MST," Tea looks at Lila in confusion "Mystical Space Typhoon, or really any card with a similar ability, but it's a matter of if Yugi's put them in his deck and if he has, he still needs to draw them." Yugi draws and looks at his card, Lila's not wrong but he thinks this card might be able to help so he plays it on the disk "I call upon the Dark Magician!"
"I'm surprised you've put your magician at risk Yugi, when you have no idea what I have in store for you."
"Then perhaps before I attack, I should see what you're planning for myself," one of the cards starts spinning, startling Kaiba "Behold my magic Eye Of Truth! So called because the Eye Of Truth knows all, sees all and it will reveal every card in your hand." The holographic cards flip around to face Yugi, which makes those watching even more confused but at this point they've given up trying to figure that part out. The cards shown are De-Spell, Saggi The Dark Clown, The Ancient Lamp and Blue-Eyes White Dragon "What's this? You've got a Blue-Eyes White Dragon in your hand but you haven't played it yet?" Lila's eyes widen, why wouldn't have played his favourite monster? Sure she sometimes holds back on throwing out her Dark Witch, but that's because unlike Kaiba's dragon, her witch isn't an almost guaranteed power house against anything the opponent throws out. Think Lila think, she scolds herself You know this one. What reason would there be to try and keep the dragon secret? Dammit! She knocks gently at her head, trying to get the thought to come through, she's got a vague impression that she should know this but it just isn't coming through.
"You can always count on Kaiba to have a Blue-Eyes White Dragon or three up his sneaky, slimy sleeves," Lila turns her attention to the blonde and gives him a gentle shove "Joey when you complain like that, you sound jealous. Kaiba loves that card, of course he's going to keep it close or have more then one." Joey pouts while Bakura latches on to a different part of what Joey said "Three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, that's got to be nearly impossible to beat."
"Nah, Yugi's done it before, hell so have I," Lila shrugs, turning Bakura's impressed gaze on her. She mentioned beating Kaiba's deck before but he hadn't thought she's have had to go up against his famous dragons, the girl is more impressive then he thought.
"So Yugi, the mundane magic of your wimpy Eye Of Truth allowed you a sneak peek at my hand, but what good does it do you? The fact still remains that your Dark Magician can't do anything against me genie, La Jinn. Not while he has his lamp to protect him."
"Then I'll extinguish it! Through the magic of my Mystic Box! Now watch closely Kaiba, as first, my Dark Magician is sealed within the box."
"A trick!"
"It's much more then a mere magic trick, as you're about to find out Kaiba. Now watch and be amazed as the Mystic Box is skewered! But have I destroyed my own Dark Magician?" as with the Paradox brothers, the black box the appeared around Yugi's monster is run through with knives but as the door opens, it's not the monster that's there, but the image of one of Kaiba's cards "Or have I magically extinguished your Ancient Lamp, just as I promised?"
"No! You've destroyed my genie's lamp."
"And the magic's only half done Kaiba, for my Dark Magician emerges from the Mystic Box unharmed."
"But how?"
"You know a good magician never reveals his secrets," as Yugi says that, the smug looking purple clad spellcaster wags his fingers at Kaiba "Now Dark Magician, dark magic attack!" Yugi's monster attacks the genie from behind, destroying it.
"No, my genie!"
"It's just as you said Kaiba, the Ancient Lamp may have protected your great genie La-Jinn, but once it was destroyed, your genie was no match for my Dark Magician."
"You little magic show may have been entertaining, but let's not lose perspective. You know I've got a Blue-Eyes waiting in the wings, and I know you have nothing that can stand against it."
"You know nothing. The Eye Of Truth showed my your hand, not the other way around."
"I don't need to see your hand. But I think you need to be taught a lesson, and I'll be happy to make my next play painfully instructive," Kaiba takes moment to play a defensive monster and another card that Yugi can't see "Behold. Saggi The Dark Clown!" The creepy clown appears with a creepy laugh that makes Lila shudder What is it with Kaiba and that gay clown?
"Saggi The Dark Clown?" Yugi looks at the monster with confusion. Still no Blue-Eyes, instead Kaiba plays a monster he knows he weaker then Yugi's, suspecting a trap, Yugi recalls his disk and draws a card he looks at the monster. It's Gaia, looks like history is going to repeat itself and have the warrior destroy the clown for a second time "Gaia The Fierce Knight in attack mode!" the purple steed whinnies loudly as it is appears and the warrior races towards Kaiba's clown. It pierces the monster, which explodes into pieces "Your dark clown has been vanquished Kaiba!"
"Vanquished and sacrificed are two very different things Yugi. Look again," the pieces of the clown quickly turn into purple sprinkles, like the toxic spores of a plant or fungus.
"No! What's happening?" the horse whinnies as Yugi's monster starts to fizzle before evaporating into dust "Gaia!"
"Not just Gaia Yugi," the card for Yugi's Dark Magician, which he had withdrawn to try and protect from the possible trap lights up "No! My Dark Magician!" it to fizzles to dust "What have you done Kaiba?"
"It's really quite ingenious actually. Knowing that you couldn't resist attacking my dark clown, I infected him with the Crush Card Virus."
"A crush card?"
"By destroying the infected Saggi, you released the Crush Card Virus, a virus that is so highly contagious to Duel Monsters that even as I speak these words, it is infecting all but the weakest cards in your precious duelling deck."
"No, my cards!" Yugi looks down at his duel disk that that lit up in certain places and has a flashing virus on the life point reader to show to effect of Kaiba's card. Kaiba laughs "The only monsters unaffected by the Crush Card Virus are those with an attack power weaker then fifteen hundred. Looks like I've broken the heart of your cards Yugi."
"Well played. But it will take more then a virus to win this duel Kaiba!"
"Yes, I expect that it will Yugi. Actually I'm looking forward to subjecting you to a wide array of debilitating cards."
"Keep talkin' the the talk big mouth Kaiba. Just don't forget that Yugi beat you last time."
"Yeah, and now Yugi's an even better duellist."
"Yes but last time he didn't have a Crush Card forcing him to play just magic cards and weak monsters," Bakura points out. Lila nods in agreement, thinking on her own deck. While she doesn't exactly fill it with powerhouses, a lot of her monsters would fall on the brink of the power limit that virus allows.
"You're kiddin'. He's only allowed to play magic cards and his wimpiest creatures?"
"He'll still win!" despite her voice sounding confident, anyone who even glances at her expression can see that Tea's worried.
"Your turn Yugi. Let's see how your disease ridden deck serves you now."
"You may have infected the body of my deck Kaiba, but it is the heart of the cards that will see me through this contamination," Yugi draws and Lila looks over to watch him as he looks at the card. For a moment his eyes light up then they dark slightly. Must have drawn a powerful card, which means it's useless right now. Kaiba clearly notices this and pipes up once again.
"Face it Yugi. To continue playing in this duel, you'll have to serve up your weakest monsters," despite wanting to retort, there is much Yugi can say when his opponent is speaking the trust. All he can do is play a card to keep the duel going "Silver Fang! Defence mode! And his attack points are low enough to make him immune to your virus." Yugi's wolf appears with a growl, golden eyes gleaming "Your turn."
"Ironic that a wolf will be the first of your sacrificial lambs, but so be it," Kaiba draws then smirks, for him it was the perfect draw, one of the cards he's been waiting for, putting him one step closer to going through with his plan "Battle Ox awaken and let loose the dogs of war!" The angry bull from Kaiba's duel with Joey appears making the blonde take a step back, he hates that thing "Axe slam attack!" The cow charges forward and cuts down Yugi's wolf, upsetting the natural order of predator and prey, but at least Yugi's life points didn't take a hit "Your puppy has been put down."
"It's cool," Tristan shouts, trying to be encouraging "Just a minor setback, no big deal."
"Your pitiful defences can't even withstand the crude assaults of my Battle Ox," Kaiba declares loudly with a laugh "How do you expect to protect your life points when your defences are demolished and you have nothing left to shield you against my even more powerful monsters? I guess we'll find out soon enough. You should accept your fate for now Yugi. After all, you'll have the rest of your entire life to brood over this defeat." Yugi does his best to shake off Kaiba's taunts as he draws and plays his next monster "Griffore! Go! I summon you! Let's see you deal with this attack Kaiba."
"A Griffore. I think you've made a grave miscalculation Yugi," Kaiba remarks with a smirk "His pathetic defences are no match for my Battle Ox." Yugi chuckles "Whoever said that I was going to be playing him in defence mode Kaiba?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm attack with my Griffore," one of Yugi's card spins around to reveal the equip spell "With the help of my Horn Of The Unicorn. Magic lightning combo attack!" The horn appears on Yugi's monsters and crackles with a dark purple energy that it fires at Kaiba's barnyard reject "Your Battle Ox has been destroyed."
"All right! I'm feeling a comeback in the works," while Joey cheers, joined by the others, Lila lets out a relieved breath, so there is a way for Yugi to get out some stronger monsters. Combining the weaker ones with magic cards. That's good to know. And with Kaiba on only six hundred, if their friend can keep it up, they might not have to see Kaiba's dragons this duel.
"Impressive Yugi, using a combo attack to combat the perils of my virus. But I'm afraid that there are some hazards in my deck that are simply inevitable. It's my turn now. Prepare yourself for ultimate annihilation Yugi. But first, I'm invoking the Mystical Elf," the image of the blue skinned lady appears behind Kaiba and chants a soothing spell "You see Yugi, if there's one thing I've learned in my matches with you it's that you have an uncanny ability for snatching victory from the jaws of defeat," glittering golden sparkles appear from the female spellcaster and twinkle down over Kaiba "But I don't intend to give you such an opportunity today. Which is why I've summoned the Mystical Elf to reinforce my life points by three hundred." Lila watches as Yugi frowns. No doubt the spirit is thinking about how differently Kaiba's dueling. Like he's had each and every step of this duel planned out in advanced "Behold the mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Well there goes that hope of Lila's. Everyone gasps as the dragon appears with a roar "Now Yugi, your fate belongs to me. Take flight Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Rise!" A cloud of dust appears as Kaiba's dragon beats it's wings and lifts itself into the air "Go white lightning attack!" As the dragon gets higher, it gathers energy within it's maw and blasts it at Yugi's monster, obliterating it completely "Already my Blue-Eyes has you cowering. And this is only the beginning. Soon, you will know what fear is."
"I don't fear your Blue-Eyes Kaiba," Yugi declares as he plays his next card "I've defeated him before. And with my Giant Soldier Of Stone Guarding me, I'll manage to defeat him again."
"I'm afraid you're mistaken. Yugi, when you battled my Blue-Eyes before, they were three separate dragons. Formidable yes, but not invincible. But now I've found a way to merge their power, combine their attack points to create a monster with power beyond imagining!" the image of three cards appears before Kaiba and they flip to show the other two Blue-Eyes cards and a Polymerization card, all of which light up "Now I create a Duel Monster without peer, with attack force so great that no monster can stand against him." There is a golden beam of light that envelops Kaiba's dragon and the silhouette changes from a single headed beast to one with three, it's body and wing span far larger then before. And when the light fades, the Blue-Eyes heads, though similar to the original are sharper and more aggressive, each with a strange symbol on their forehead "I create the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Everyone watching is taken back, Lila swallows and glances at Yugi nervously. This is not good, how's he going to deal with this? Kaiba laughs victoriously "Yugi Muto, there's no escape. Nothing can save you now."
"That monster's attack points are off the charts."
"Yeah, how could any creature in Yugi's deck beat that thing," Joey glances over to Lila, hoping she'll have some idea but she shrugs, biting at her thumb. She wishes she knew but right now, she can't think of anything.
"That Kaiba! He's been setting Yugi up for that beast this entire time!" pretty much everyone watching, even Yugi himself, can't argue with Tristan, he's right. Kaiba had each and every turn planned out from his Crush Card to holding back on his dragons until the last minute "Yugi, how I savor this moment. This is the moment I've been waiting for, ever since you handed me my first and only Duel Monsters defeat. Prepare yourself to see the power of my creature unleashed. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, neutron blast attack!" The three dragon heads all turn and in between the three of them, they charge a sparking ball of energy that explodes into a stream of brilliant white, firing towards Yugi defensive monster.
"No! My stone soldier!"
"You're lucky your stone soldier was in defence mode."
"Whoa! At least Yugi didn't lose any life points."
"But he can't win the duel playing defensive the whole time, eventually he's going to have to try and attack," Lila reminds Joey, worried when she takes in the actually scared expression on the spirit's face. And she thought nothing could shake him in a duel, this is really bad.
"My Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon atomised your creature to dust Yugi. You know you have nothing to stand against it. You should concede," the worry is getting to him as he glances over at his friends, his hand shaking visibly as he moves to draw.
"No Yugi."
"You can win this."
"That's right. We all believe in you," the three cheer and Lila nods, speaking up "Remember what you're fighting for! Your Grandpa!"
"You've never let anyone down before, and I know you're not gonna let your Grandpa down now!" Joey reassures their worried friend. The mention of his grandfather seems to give Yugi the shock he needs to snap out of his nerves. With renewed confidence, he readies to draw "No Kaiba. I will never surrender to the likes of you."
"That's it! That's the kind of determination I expect from you. Fight on. Gather every last bit of your strength Yugi. I prefer to take you down when you're fighting your hardest," Kaiba smirks, happy that his opponent didn't choose to give in and take the easy way out. As Yugi moves to draw, all of his friends think similar things, they mentally wish him luck and encourage him to keep going. Joey even going so far as to shout out his encouragement, though that may have been accidental, it's hard to tell with the blonde "It comes to this. So draw your card and face your fate." Yugi closes his eyes and takes a deep breath as he draws.
"Let's finish this Kaiba!"
"It doesn't matter what card you play next Yugi, you have nothing that can withstand the phenomenal attack strength of my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. You might as well give up."
"That ultimate dragon can wipe out the rest of Yugi's life points in one breath," Joey remarks nervously, though he keeps his voice down, not wanting his friend to see how nervous they all are "Kaiba has the upper hand and he knows it. He's just waiting for Yugi to back down. I don't see how Yuge can pull this one out." Yugi looks at the card he's just drawn and makes a slightly shocked noise. Kaiba takes note of Yugi's change in expression as the boy starts laughing and looks confused and slightly wary "Kaiba, I just drew the card that will defend me against your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon."
"Impossible."
"Watch and learn," looks like the spirit's more cocky nature is back, it's actually refreshing when compared to the worry from before "This is it! The beginning of your defeat! Kuriboh in attack mode!" At seeing the brown ball of fluff, Lila let's out a coo, that has the boy's looking at her strangely but she ignores them, so she likes Kuriboh, sue her, it's cute, especially the adorable warble it lets out.
"That's ridiculous. In the entire game, Kuriboh is the weakest monster."
"He's right. What can Yugi be thinking, playin' that little guy?"
"Yugi," Kaiba chuckles "You're free to concede and forfeit the match. But come on. Don't embarrass yourself by playing that runt of a monster," at the insults, Kuriboh's eyes narrow and it lets out an annoyed warble "You must know that's the puniest monster with the lowest attack points in all of Duel Monsters. I've never known a serious duelist to even keep one in their deck. Yugi, don't insult my intelligence pretending that miserable creature can defend against the unbridled might of my ultimate Blue-Eyes." But despite Kaiba's insults to his monster, Yugi just smirks.
"Kaiba, you're mistaken. This card will defend everything. And, before this duel's over, your dragon will fall!"
"My ultimate dragon?"
"No your Baby Dragon," Lila shouts, rolling her eyes, making the spirit shoot her an amused glance, which she responds to with a playful wink. So she enjoys riling people up, it's a talent, may as well embrace it. Kaiba ignores her though "Hurry up and finish your turn so I can knock the stuffing out of your Kuriboh and win the game."
"As you wish!" a card in front of Yugi spins around "My last card will be the magic card Multiply! Multiply works with monster with attack power below five hundred and multiplies them endlessly," dozens of Kuribohs appear on the field, each warbling and Lila looks around them with a big smile, even going so far as to try and grab one that appears near her, which leads to her pouting when her hands just pass right through it and Tea chuckling "More then you bargained for, eh Kaiba?"
"So is this some kind of a joke?" Yugi laughs "The joke's on you Kaiba. When you attack you thought I only had one defender, but now I have many. And I'm getting more and more defenders by the second."
"No matter. Have you forgotten the incredible assault power my dragon possess? It'll burn 'em to a crisp. Neutron blast!" once again the three dragons come together to fire a blast at Yugi's monsters "So there!" Kaiba spits out as smoke rises to surround Yugi's field. However the smoke clears and the remain Kuribohs warble as they are joined by even more copies "But wait, what's going on here? My dragon's attack had no effect on your life points at all, and those annoying creatures continue to multiply."
"That's right. You can't take my remaining life points away Kaiba, until you wipe out all the Kuriboh. But as quickly as you destroy them, they multiply right back."
"Hairballs! For each one I destroy, two more take it's place."
"That's right. Kaiba, you may have created the ultimate attack monster, but I've created the ultimate defence, an ever expanding army of furry protectors. They may not look like much, but they've stopped your dragon in it's tracks. That's just the beginning. For now I go on the attack!"
"You've nothing strong enough."
"Watch me. For I'm going to show you the combo that will bring your dragon down. Mammoth Graveyard, Polymerization and the Living Arrow card," as Yugi says their names, the three card each spin around to reveal themselves.
"What's a Living Arrow card?"
"Living Arrow allows me to use my other cards in combination not with my own cards, but with my opponent's monsters. I'll show you. Normally I make a fusion with my cards, but for a new twist, Living Arrow lets me fuse my cards with your cards, opening up bold new possibilities," the cards fall into a line with the monster at the front which lights up as the elephant skeleton appears and rushes towards Kaiba.
"Now what?"
"I can use the magical power of the Living Arrow to bond my Mammoth Graveyard to the heart of your beast," the monster turns golden and the glow changes into an arrow, which shoots towards Kaiba's dragon. It rears back with a roar of pain as the head of Yugi's monster appears from it's belly, surrounded by a sickly, burgandy, flame like aura.
"No my dragon! What have you done?"
"Since my Mammoth Graveyard is an undead type monster, he can't properly fuse with your living ultimate dragon. Instead it causes your monster to rot and decay from the inside out," the aura flames cause off coloured smoke to rise from below the dragon's shimmering scales "Each turn, your ultimate dragon will lose attack points, until your creature is no more. Your so called ultimate dragon, and your victory, is rotting away Kaiba. It's only a matter of time now. And there's nothing you can do to stop it."
"There must be something I can do to save my ultimate dragon."
"My Mammoth Graveyard has attack points of twelve hundred. That means that each turn that goes by, he drains twelve hundred points from your ultimate dragon's attack power. Soon it will be weak enough for me to destroy," Yugi gloats smugly as Kaiba looks at his deck with gritted teeth. Lila swallow the bile threatening to rise in her throat as she watches as the dragon slowly starts to drip. Every so often it moves slightly and she swears she can see the holograms bones and moving flesh. She shudders and looks away, not wanting to see the beautiful dragon like that. It's funny. After her duel with the 'ghost' Kaiba, she's had a new respect for the Blue-Eyes and doesn't like seeing the pain it's probably in. It makes her a little sick to her stomach. No doubt the sight of his favourite monster like this is even worse for the brunette boy duelling. The three headed dragon gives off a weak growl that makes the green eyed girl's heart ache. She doesn't join in with the smiles and cheers from her friends. She is glad Yugi's still in it, but she doesn't have it in her to be happy about what's happening on the field. Kaiba mutters something to himself that the other's can't hear, but something is clearly bothering him, more then just what Yugi's done to his dragon as he calls out "Attack now ultimate dragon! Neutron blast!"
"Again?" it has the same effect as last time, it takes out a sizeable chunk of the furry little balls but they quickly refill and Yugi takes no damage "When will you learn? The Kuriboh multiply faster then you can eliminate them with your neutron blasts.
"No. I will not, can not be defeated."
"I'll draw one more card and let my mammoth finish my turn."
"Go, ultimate dragon! Neutron blast!" Kaiba's voice is desperate now as he keeps commanding his dragon to attack, but to no avail.
"Once again your attack has failed Kaiba. My defence holds. And you have no other strategy to use against me. Your time is running out," Kaiba's body is shaking and his face is gaunt, lifeless as he watches his attack fail to break through Yugi's wall "You should never have challenges me Kaiba. You see? My mammoth takes another twelve hundred points from your dragon. Even my weakest monsters can destroy it now." Kaiba is quiet for moments as everyone watches. Then his eyes focus but they don't hold the same strength as before and he glances down. His dragon gives a weak growl that has Lila shaking her head and covering her eyes. Tea glances at the other girl in confusion but doesn't say anything as she turns back to watch Yugi, though she does keep glancing at her. On her other side, the two taller boys are both having a poke at Kaiba's silence.
"What's with Kaiba? He's just standing there spacing out."
"Maybe it's finally sunk in that he's lost."
"True. In just a minute it will all be over. But it's almost sad to see a player of his calibre take losing so hard," Yugi pulls his disk back and draws, knowing that at this points, as long as it's a monster, he can take the dragon down. Maybe once the suffering dragon is gone, Lila will be able to enjoy watching the rest of the duel pan out "This is it Kaiba! Prepare to meet your demise! Celtic Guardian, attack ultimate dragon!" The elven warrior leaps into the air and slices clean through the neck of one the dragon's heads, dropping the severed mass of melting flesh to the ground as the watching boys cheer until they realise something.
"Hey, the ultimate dragon's still standing. What's up with that?" Lila speaks up, her voice shaky as she refuses to glance away from the ground "The dragon's made up of three Blue-Eyes. Each head is basically it's own monster so despite everything the poor things gone through, in order to end it, Yugi'll have to destroy each of them."
"But when the Celtic Guardian destroyed one of them, Kaiba took the five hundred points difference in their attack strength," Bakura tacks on, moving around to place a hand on the girl's shoulder as she shakes her head. Like Yugi, Lila has a stronger connection to Duel Monsters then most, so even though it's only a hologram, seeing the ultimate dragon like this is really taking it's toll on the girl. Plus it doesn't help that zombies and the like are her second biggest fear "But when the Celtic Guardian takes out another weakened head next turn, that will win Kaiba out and win the match."
"You mean, Kaiba's toast!"
"Yugi. It can't end this way. If I don't defeat you in this duel, Pegasus will keep Mokuba prisoner, forever," at the mention of the long haired boy, Lila's head snaps up and over to Kaiba in concern, that explains it all, he's trying so hard because he wants to get his little brother out of harms way. She can relate to that "I can't let that happen. And even though I don't have a card that can keep you from attacking, I think I still have a strategy that will stop you in your tracks."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm going to force your hand and win this battle Yugi."
"Looks more like he's retreating to me," Joey comments as Kaiba starts to walk backwards to the edge of the roof "Is this a trick?"
"Yeah. What's he up to?"
"Kaiba!" Yugi shouts as his opponent gets to the edge and steps up onto the tooth shaped parapet "Stop this!"
"What's Kaiba up to now? Does he think this cheap stunt's gonna keep Yugi from winning the match and saving his grandpa?"
"Your move Yugi. You can attack my Blue-Eyes again and wipe out my remaining life points, but if you do, the resulting shock waves might cause me to lose my balance."
"Don't tempt me!"
"My fate is completely in your hands Yugi. You'll decide this duel one way or another. Of course if you don't surrender, I might be hurt. You wouldn't want that, would you?"
"Stop it Kaiba!" Tea shouts before Lila shouts over her "Kaiba get down from there. If you fall you won't be hurt, you'll be dead! How can you help your brother then?"
"Kaiba's bluffing," Joey brushes off before he snaps at the other boy "Come on, drop this cheap ploy and get down from that ledge and play fair! You know that Yugi doesn't wanna hurt you." Kaiba ducks his head and chuckles softly to himself.
"He knows. He's counting on Yugi to surrender."
"But he can't do that. If he loses to Kaiba, he won't get into the castle."
"I'm warning you Kaiba. Don't push me too far. I must win to rescue my grandfather."
"And I must win this duel to rescue Mokuba. The difference is I'm willing to risk anything to do it. You know I can stand up here all day Yugi. And I'm certain that you won't make any attack for fear that you might knock me off. Even though you know by not attacking, you give up the only chance you have to save your grandpa. Which means I have the advantage over you. For in my case, there's nothing holding me back," Kaiba draws "Ah, a magic card. Reborn The Monster. Which I'll use to resurrect the Blue-Eyes head that was just destroyed by your guardian."
"What? Restore a head of the Blue-Eyes?" through the ashen muck a gleaming, healthy Blue-Eyes emerges with a mighty roar.
"Now one of my Blue-Eyes with it's normal attack points of three thousand has just been reborn. With all of your Kuribohs in defence mode I couldn't touch you, but now that you've put an attack monster on the field, I can take out the rest of your life points. Which I'll do next turn. Two of ultimate dragon's heads are still weakened, but the third can wipe our your guardian in a breath. Our life points are equal Yugi. Strike now if you dare. Otherwise, next turn, I swear I'll take you down. Surrender Yugi. That is unless you have the courage to unleash your attack!" Yugi is quiet for a moment and to those paying closes attention, they can see the flickering in his eyes as he seems to be having some kind of internal debate. Or rather, the spirit and the boy he's bonded to are debating the next move.
"Kaiba, I've never backed away, and I'm not starting now. Celtic Guardian attack!" Lila's eyes widen and her head snaps over to her long time friend. There's no way... he's not actually going through with it! She shakes her head and sprints over to him, seeming to race the elf on his path to the dragon.
"You don't! You can't! You'll kill him! You're not like this! Stop!" her voice seems to knock Yugi out of his frame of mind and just as she reaches him, he's back to the small Yugi, yelling "Stop!" His warrior freezes in place and Lila and Yugi both drop to their knees, the small girl pulling her friend into her eyes as they boy shake. Tea rushes over to see if they're okay can hears Yugi's breaths coming in heavy pants as he buries himself into Lila's shoulder.
"Couldn't do it huh? White lightning attack!" the healthy head fires it's attack and destroys Yugi's monster and his life points, but it doesn't even seem to register with the smaller boy.
"I can't believe it. That underhanded sleazeball wiped Yugi out. Kaiba steps down from the ledge and Lila starts rubbing her friend's back as his shoulders shake with his quiet sobs. She shushes him softly and whispers to him "It's okay. You didn't do it. You're still you." Tea watches the two of them, unsure of what to do to help. She wants to comfort the boy, but how can she when she doesn't understand the full force of what just happened. The boys all call to their friend and hurry over to the crouched pair.
"It's okay man."
"I almost couldn't control it. This other presence deep inside me. He was willing to go all the way against Kaiba!" despite being right next to Lila's ear, he still shouts that last part out, but it doesn't seem the phase the small girl, she keeps her arms around him and let's him cry it out into her oversized t-shirt. The other's don't quite know what to make of what Yugi said, Joey asking "Another presence... inside you?"
"What do you mean? What the heck are you talking about buddy?" as the boys ask this Lila whispers to her crying friend again "But he didn't. You got control back. Kaiba's safe." Seeing the other two in the know aren't really in a position to explain what's going on, Bakura takes the lead "Like me, Yugi has some sort of ancient spirit inside him. It has something to do with out Millennium Items."
"I'm afraid of this spirit inside me. So afraid that I will never duel again!" Tea crouches down at Yugi's side, her own tears spilling down her cheeks as she sees the boy she cares about so torn up "I'm sorry, sorry about your grandpa. But you did the right thing. You couldn't hurt another person, not even to save him." Lila nods in agreement, pulling Yugi tighter as she adds "He wouldn't want you to save him that way."
"Then I guess he got what he wanted," Kaiba's cold voice states over the two soft voiced girls, making them all turn to look at him "If Yugi had done what needed to be done, he would be entering the castle not me. But he was too weak to follow through on his play."
"He spared you!" Tea spits out, rushing to her feet while Lila turn in her hold on Yugi to glare at the taller boy adding "If the compassion and decency to not kill someone is weak then any of us here will take being weak anyday! I feel for you with your brother but you have no right to act this way!"
"Yugi and Lila's compassion are way more then you deserve!" the boys all seem taken back by the venom in Tea's voice as she stares the billionare down with teary blue eyes.
"He lost the game."
"The game? Yugi may have lost one lousy Duel Monsters game, but at least he hasn't lost his heart. Not like you Seto Kaiba! You've spent so much time with your machines, you've forgotten what being human is about." Normally people saying things like this wouldn't effect Kaiba but for some reason Tea words and the hate filled glares of the two girls has him gritting his teeth to bite back a retort. Lila slowly gets to her feet and steps to the slightly taller girls side as Tea continues "Yugi has a heart Kaiba. Yugi has us. Friends that'll stand with him til the end. No matter whether he wins or loses from lousy game. And what do you have Seto Kaiba? What do you have at the end of the day? Tell me. Tell me!" Kaiba growls as he grabs the star chips.
"I have all that I need!" he moves to walk away but Lila ends up in his way, glaring up at him her jade eyes shake slightly before seemingly out of nowhere she pulls her arm back and punches him in the face. He recoils before as soon as he rights himself, ready to yell at the girl, she's back at Yugi's side, hugging him close. She glares at him, daring him to react. He shakes his head and brushes it off, making his way to the castle.
"Yeah, keep fooling yourself Kaiba. Yugi's twice the man you'll ever be."
