Good Day Readers. Obviously I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh only Kylie and Katherine Hope along with the unique cards within their decks and whatever other OCs decide to crop up. Also italics symbolise a mind conversation or a flashback.
Thank you the Guest(s) for their reviews I don't know why the Snow Queen was never mentioned in Yu-Gi-Oh, perhaps the dubbers didn't know of it, I don't know if it was published in Japan and I'm not sure how to answer your other reviews. As for greyflower22, WHAT to do you mean by, covered it? I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy
Chapter 18: - The Power of Cooperation
Azurite looked at the card she had drawn before grinning even wider – that had the effect of making her look like a maniac – as she proceeded to play the card face down she then proceeded to activate Pot of Greed letting her draw to more cards and she then summon another monster which was known as Djinn Demolisher of Rituals in defence mode.
Ritual Djinn Demolisher – Attribute: Dark, Type: Demon, Level: 3, ATK/1500, DEF/600
I couldn't tell what Azurite was up to exactly although it was quite possibly connected to Ritual Summoning due to the fact that both of her monsters' names had contained that word, I wasn't overly familiar with this Djinn archetype and one look at Kylie confirmed she was in the same boat; I decided to instead focus on the duel in order to discern what they were planning.
"My turn! I summon Messenger of Gods, Hermes in attack mode!" I announced. Playing the card onto the field allowed a young man to be projected, he had short curly brown hair that was mostly hidden by the petasos on his head, his eyes were a light grey colour that sparkled with mischief that didn't synch with the gentle smile on his face, he wore a light blue toga which contrasted his tanned skin alongside two golden bracelets, a pouch was slung around his waist and on his feet were winged sandals.
Messenger of Gods, Hermes – Attribute: Wind, Type: Angel, Level: 4, ATK/1500, DEF/1800
"So? It's not strong enough to really hurt either of us," Azurite mocked. However Rhodonite looked at my monster with a wary gleam in her eyes, it was clear that Azurite put too much stock in the fact that she had access to cards that most people wouldn't even be able to dream of getting but that also meant she was vulnerable to her own arrogance, Rhodonite on the other hand was by far the more cautious of the two.
"Maybe, but I activate Hermes' Special Effect!" I retaliated. Azurite's eyes widened whilst Rhodonite grimaced at this, Kylie smirked glad to know we could catch these two off guard. "By discarding one card, Hermes can attack you directly! I choose to target Azurite!" I announced. The card was discarded as Hermes' smile turned to one of pure mischief and he ran forward before leaping into the sky.
The wings attached to his sandals spread out and Hermes used them to alter his trajectory allowing him to drop down an aerial kick onto Azurite who had raised her arms to take the brunt of the impact, Hermes pushed off of Azurite allowing him to fly back over and land in front of me ready to protect me from harm alongside Persephone, with the damage done I proceeded to end my turn.
Azurite – LP: 4000 – LP: 2500
"You were careless Azurite! These two aren't ones we can deal with lightly!" Rhodonite chastised. In response to those words Azurite let out an unintelligible grumble of words before recomposing herself. "Now then, it's my turn," Rhodonite stated. She drew a card from her deck and looked at it before moving to her hands. "I summon Hunter Owl in attack mode!" Rhodonite announced. The monster was projected onto the field but I was concerned by her moves since neither of her monsters were powerful enough to destroy mine or Kylie's monsters, so what was Rhodonite up to.
Hunter Owl – Attribute: Wind, Type: Avian Beast, Level: 4, ATK/1000, DEF/900
"Now Hunter Owl's effect activates! For each Wind Attribute monster I control it gains five hundred attack points and if I control another Wind Attribute monster, Hunter Owl cannot be targeted for attack!" Rhodonite announced. Well that answered my question whilst adding a whole load of trouble for us to deal with as Hunter Owl was now a significant threat since it would be able to destroy our monsters.
Hunter Owl – ATK/1000 – ATK/2000
"Hunter Owl attack Messenger of God, Hermes!" Rhodonite commanded. Her empowered owl charged over and struck down my mischievous god causing me to frown deeply as Hermes was sent to the graveyard, Rhodonite didn't gloat or anything like I'd seen from previous Ghouls, instead she remained quiet causing my eyebrows to furrow in confusion at this unexpected behaviour.
Katherine – LP: 4000 – LP: 3500
"I activate my Trap, Rope of Life!" I announced. I activated one of my face downs causing it to rise up causing the two Ghouls to frown at my actions whilst Kylie quirked an eyebrow at me. "When a monster is destroyed I'm allowed to summon that monster back with an increase in attack power! Return Hermes!" I explained. The monster appeared on the field with him bowing to the two Ghouls before kneeling in a defensive position
Messenger of the Gods, Hermes – ATK/1500 – ATK/2300
"My turn! Virgo's effect activates allowing me to treat her as a Spell Card for this turn and that causes my Life points to rise by one thousand!" Kylie began. I noticed that Azurite sneered whilst Rhodonite tensed in response to this revelation, the more Life Points that Kylie had for this duel would make it easier for her to win, I just had to keep myself in the game long enough to help her win.
Kylie – LP: 4000 – LP: 5000
"Next I activate Tribute to the Dead, I discard one card to destroy one of yours. I destroy Hunter Owl!" Kylie announced. She had already slid the card into her graveyard causing white bandages to shoot out of the ground and bind Hunter Owl who struggled against the binds but eventually the monster was dragged into the depths. "Now I activate Resurrection of the Dead allowing me to bring back a monster from any of our graveyards, I summon Corona Borealis!" Kylie continued. She must have discarded that card in order to activate her previous Spell card all in order to summon it back; the creature was a golden king styled crown which produced an aurora that vaguely formed a humanoid shape making it look like the aurora was wearing the crown.
Corona Borealis – Attribute: Light, Type: Angel, Level: 6, ATK/2000, DEF/1700
"Thanks to Borealis' effect I'm allowed to summon its' counterpart Corona Australis!" Kylie announced. The card was played onto the field with the crown shaped like one for a queen but the rest was the same, although the presence of both these cards did serve to cause an almost magnetic pressure to be placed upon our area of dueling. "Now I end my turn," Kylie finished. Azurite quickly placed her fingers on her top card and drew it.
Corona Australis – Attribute: Light, Type: Angel, Level: 6, ATK/2000, DEF/1700
"Alright! I activate the Ritual Magic Card The Vermillion Bird!" Azurite announced. The artwork of the card she'd activated was shown to us as Kylie sucked in a sharp breath upon hearing its' name, a spiralling flame burst into life before us causing sweat to begin gathering on my brow and I was half tempted to remove the cardigan I wore due to the amazing heat. "I Release my Djinn and the Flelf in my hand in order to summon the Guardian of the South, Suzaku!" Azurite announced.
The spiralling flame reached out to consume the mentioned monsters and it then morphed, its' appearance twisting into the shape of a bird, it was massive with the feathers being different shades of red that glistened in the light, razor sharp talons like steel and a beak made of gold, Suzaku's eyes were a keen melting pot of red, yellow and orange as it gazed down at us.
Guardian of the South, Suzaku – Attribute: Fire, Type: Avian Beast/Ritual, Level: 8, ATK/2900, DEF/2700
"Ah… so this is where you are fair child, how I have longed to meet you," Suzaku admitted. Kylie looked at Suzaku with her eyes misting before she narrowed her eyes into a glare as she stared at Azurite with all the hatred she could muster at seeing the person who Suzaku kept away from her even with them being so close; summoning this Guardian was probably going to be something that Azurite deeply regretted.
"Suzaku attack and destroy Corona Australis!" Azurite commanded. The massive phoenix flagged his lustrous wings causing waves of fire to surge outwards causing the heat to rise dramatically as the waves flooded towards my sister; however as I looked at her Kylie wasn't worried as she simply activated one of her face downs which summoned a familiar wall of reflective crystal that caused the attack to be stopped. "What happened?!" Azurite questioned.
"Permanent Trap, Silver Screen Mirror Wall. When you attack this card stop it and slices the attacking monster's power in half," Kylie explained. In response to this revelation Azurite scowled but she proceeded to activate the Continuous Spell Ritual Cage, this card would serve to protect Suzaku from any monster effects, fortunately it wouldn't protect the Guardian from Spells or Trap; Azurite then ended her turn.
Guardian of the South, Suzaku – ATK/2900 – ATK/1450
"Alright, my turn," I stated. Pulling a card from my deck I looked at it and the card that remained in my hand as I tried to think about what to do for my move. "I release Carer of Springs, Persephone to Advance Summon!" I announced. The named monster was encompassed in glowing light before deforming into an orb that raced up to the ceiling. "Come forth, Carer of Harvests, Demeter!" I declared. The warm and motherly like monster appeared on my field in defence mode.
Carer of Harvest, Demeter – Attribute: Earth, Type: Plant, Level: 6, ATK/2000, DEF/2500
"I play one card face down! Turn Over!" I announced. Rhodonite made her move by drawing a card from her deck and she looked at it before sighing as she moved her hand to activate her face down card which rose up to reveal that it was the card Trade In causing me to frown as I wondered what the red-eyed Ghoul had to be up to.
"Trade In is a card that allows me to discard a Level Eight monster in exchange for drawing two cards, I discard Windrose the Wind Spirit God and draw," Rhodonite explained. She showed us the monster and then proceeded to remove her required cards. "Now I activate the Ritual Magic, The White Tiger. By Releasing the Harpie Dancer on my field and the Sonic Bird in my hand to Ritual Summon Guardian of the East, Byakko," Rhodonite announced.
"I don't think so!" I cut across. Everyone turned to look at me as I activated one of my face downs revealing the Trap I'd just set. "I activate the Horn of Ascension, by sacrificing one of my monsters I can destroy a monster you're about to summon! I sacrifice Demeter to destroy Byakko!" I declared. Rhodonite gritted her teeth as she was forced to send both Byakko and its' Ritual Card to the graveyard and she ended her turn.
"Nice work Kathie! It's my move now and I'm going to show you what happens when the Guardians are wielded by who they chose. I activate the Ritual Magic cards, The Black Tortoise and The Azure Dragon; I Release Corona Australis and Virgo to Ritual Summon Guardian of the North, Genbu and I then Tribute Corona Borealis and the Lupus in my hand to Ritual Summon Guardian of the East, Seiryu!" Kylie announced. The chilling cold that accompanied Genbu was not helped by the water spout that brought forth Seiryu.
Guardian of the North, Genbu – Attribute: Water, Type: Water/Ritual, Level: 8, ATK/2900, DEF/3100
Guardian of the East, Seiryu – Attribute: Wind, Type: Dragon/Ritual, Level: 8, ATK/2800, DEF/3000
"Alright first I use Genbu's Special Effect to Freeze all your Magic and Traps in place preventing you from activating them! Freezing Wave!" Kylie announced. Genbu unleashed his chilling cry, the act caused me to shiver violently since I wasn't actually well protected against the monster like normal but it did freeze the cards. "Now Genbu, attack Suzaku!" Kylie commanded. Her northern Guardian did as commanded with its' chilling attack smothering the heated flames that Suzaku wielded and the brilliant Phoenix was destroyed.
Azurite – LP: 2500 – LP: 1050
"I'm not done yet! I activate the Continuous Magic, Ara! This lets me tribute one monster and deal half its' attack as damage to my opponent! I tribute Genbu in order to deal damage to Azurite!" Kylie announced. Azurite's expression turned pale as she looked vacantly ahead, Genbu was enwreathed in light and flew forward slamming into Azurite who got winded in response and collapsed to the floor.
Azurite – LP: 1050 – LP: 0
"Now it's your turn! This attack will take you out," Kylie stated. Rhodonite was looking at Azurite with panic on her face before it descended into confusion and she eventually turned to face us with the furrow between her eyebrow deepening as the words that my sister had spoken final seemed to sink into her mind.
"That's impossible, you can't beat me with one attack," Rhodonite commented. However that was quite true as I proceeded to activate my face down revealing that it was Harmonic Bond and with both Hermes and Seiryu as Wind Attributes that added Hermes' attack points to Seiryu thus drastically raising the draconic Guardian's power; throughout this battle me and Kylie had linked out minds and were working together to bring the two Ghouls down.
Guardian of the East, Seiryu – ATK/2800 – ATK/5100
"Seiryu attack with Stormy Claw!" Kylie commanded. The blue scaled dragon raced forward and swung its claw downwards with wind pressure trailing off of the limb; surprisingly Rhodonite didn't flinch from the attack instead she closed her eyes and raised her head to meet the oncoming attack, her mouth formed words but I couldn't hear them as the roaring wind that Seiryu controlled drowned them out.
Rhodonite – LP: 4000 – LP: 0
Rhodonite also collapsed and I waited with baited breath for something to happen, Kylie eventually walked forward causing me to let out a squeak due to the explosive threat that had been delivered to us at the beginning of this duel but Kylie waved her hand clearly making it known that such a thing was to be dismissed.
"She was bluffing, there wasn't any explosives," Kylie explained. I let out a sigh of relief at that fact our lives weren't in danger, Kylie punched out the Graveyards and retrieved her Guardians before looking at me but I re-enacted her dismissal motion from before signifying I didn't want any of their cards, we then took the necessary amount of Puzzle Cards from them as they had a fair few and Kylie took off; however I hovered behind as I looked at the two female Ghouls, worried for their fate
"Do not fear, child. I will take care of them," A serene voice spoke. I jumped having been startled by the unexpected intrusion but it also served to stir the two women as they looked in the direction of the voice and called out Ishizu-sama; I followed their gaze to find the woman who must have spoken those words and had been addressed.
The woman was twenty years old with long straight black hair that trails just below her shoulders and features two locks wrapped in gold rings coming from behind her ears and continue in front, stopping at her neck, she had a slender build with tanned skin, her outfit consisted of a long ankle length dress partially bearing her shoulders featuring black patterns around the neck and the rims of the sleeves. However the most interesting fact was that her jewellery consists of a gold piece of headwear circling her head and featuring an emerald where it met at the front and around her neck was a golden chain attached to a familiar eye
"Come on Kathie! We need to catch up to Yami and Seto!" Kylie called. Breaking my stare down with the Egyptian lady I turned and ran to catch up to my sister and so we ran as fast as we could up to the roof since that was where our Duel spirits had tracked them to, hopefully they were still there and hadn't lost their duels it was doubtful but always a possibility.
We burst out onto the roof and I had to blink my eyes a few time because of what I saw, Yami and Seto were stood on the glass skylight – that had Life Point counters attached to bombs – alongside two Rare Hunters with them wearing half masks split vertically, the short one wore a white half mask that covered the right side of the face whilst the tall one wore a black half mask that covered the left side of the face.
Currently our friends were locked in a Tag Duel and given the current Life Points, the Continuous Trap Mask of Sacrifice Sealing, the Continuous Spells Masked Doll and Mask of Magic Power Dispelment, the Equip Spell Mask of the Accursed Souls and the monster Masked Demon Beast – Death Guardius, Yami and Seto were definitely on the losing side, the only relief we had was that it was Yami's turn.
Mask of Darkness: - LP: 3700
Mask of Light – LP: 4000
Seto – LP: 1800
Yami – LP: 500
Magnet Warrior α – Attribute: Earth, Type: Rock, Level: 4, ATK/1400, DEF/1700
Magnet Warrior β – Attribute: Earth, Type: Rock, Level: 4, ATK/1700, DEF/1600
Magnet Warrior γ – Attribute: Earth, Type: Rock, Level: 4, ATK/1500, DEF/1800
Masked Demon Beast – Death Guardius – Attribute: Dark, Type: Demon, Level: 8, ATK/3300, DEF/2500
"And the Special Ability of Alpha, Beta and Gamma. Change Form!" Yami spoke. The two Rare Hunters repeated those last two words with confusion in their tones, all three of the Magnet Warriors flew apart which effectively destroyed the Mask of Accursed Souls and they then proceeded to recombine to form one monster. "Magnet Valkyrion the Magnetic Warrior!" Yami announced. Seto then added on that this monster was the combined power of their efforts.
Magnet Valkyrion the Magnetic Warrior – Attribute: Earth, Type: Rock, Level: 8, ATK/3500, DEF/3850
"Seto… and Yami… working… together," I commented. Kylie nodded in response to my words but even she seemed surprised by this occurrence after all the stubborn CEO had always believed that cooperation between duelists was a foolish thing despite all evidence to the contrary and now he was working with the person he considered his arch-rival; Seto then pushed Yami to attack and avenge his Blue-Eyes even admitting cooperation was a great power… some body pinch me, this cannot be real.
Yami turned back to look at Death Guardius and had probably noticed that he two Rare Hunters weren't worried about the possible attack that might be coming their way, that set off alarm bells for me instantly as whenever an opponent welcomed an attack that meant there was some kind of trap set for them and with no reverse cards out that meant if was Death Guardius' special ability they were counting on.
"Why are you hesitating Yugi? I sacrificed my Blue-Eyes so you could play your trump card! Then hurry up and eliminate the enemy monster with that trump card and ease my anger!" Seto pushed. The brunette had always been easy to rattle whenever his Blue-Eyes was destroyed as he lost his normal calm and collected demeanour instead becoming filled with anger; Yami didn't respond or attack instantly and instead set a card face down before turn to the CEO.
"Kaiba, will that really ease your emotions if I do that this turn?! If it will, I'll attack," Yami commented. However this caused Seto to utter a 'what' at the ancient spirit. "Emotions only hold a Duelist back. By giving into them, you're falling into the enemy's hands," Yami stated. Seto rejected this was a fight was about anger so Yami implored the brunette to stay calm and think about the key to victory; Seto turned back to his hand, after a little he insisted Yami attack but far more calmly so Yami complied and destroyed Death Guardius.
Mask of Light – LP: 4000 – LP: 3800
With the destruction of the monster Mask of Light revealed that by being destroyed, Death Guardius allowed for the activation of the Mask of Testament which attached onto Magnet Valkyrion and allowed it to be taken over by the Rare Hunters meaning that they would now be able to attack both of our friends directly and end this duel, Mask of Light wanted to defeat Seto for humiliating him earlier so Mask of Darkness was to destroy Yami.
"My turn. Got it. Masquerade Ball. This card allows me to control Mask of Light's monsters this turn," Mask of Darkness stated. As Mask of Darkness activated his card a rainbow glow to emerge from the card and surround Magnet Valkyrion. "Go Magnet Valkyrion. Attack Yugi directly!" Mask of Darkness commanded. The combined creature flew towards the ancient spirit and I became worried about what would happen to him.
"I'm not so sure of that! Set card open! Fusion Release!" Yami revealed. Valkyrion wasn't a typical monster as it technically employed a different type of Fusion known as Contact Fusion but because things were still being worked out the rules surrounding it were complicated although Fusion Release did work as it returned Alpha, Beta and Gamma to the field. "Remember this! Your anger is no match against us!" Yami warned.
"My turn! I'll let you fools see God once again," Seto announced. I furrowed my eyebrows wondering how this would be possible since that Trap card sealed off any attempt for them to summon via sacrifices and that was what Obelisk needed and even the Rare Hunters found this an absurd idea. "That card restricts us from sacrificing our own monsters. Then I'll just sacrifice your monsters instead! With this, the Magic card Cross Soul! I'll sacrifice your Magnet Warriors!" Seto responded.
Naturally the Rare Hunters were stunned by this occurrence but it just showed what Yami and Seto were capable of when they put aside their pride and worked together, the three monsters were sacrificed and the colossal Obelisk rose onto the field, its' immense size was still rather shocking even though I'd already seen it but no other monster came close to this beast, Osiris could fly and that toned down its' size somewhat but Obelisk didn't and that added to it in a strange way.
Giant Divine Soldier of Obelisk – Attribute: God, Type: Phantom God Beast, Level: 10, ATK/4000, DEF/4000
Obelisk delivered a strike to the defenceless Mask of Darkness which annihilated the rest of his Life Points and caused the man to collapse onto the glass ceiling, Seto reminded the two that with his Life Points gone that meant that the trap they'd set for our friends would now be sprung on Mask of Darkness instead.
Mask of Darkness – LP: 2000 – LP: 0
The explosion went off which caused spider webs to crack across the reflective surface and Mask of Darkness tried to flee but he was unable to escape in time as the glass crumbled away beneath his feet and he went plummeting into the building so me and Kylie ran up to the edge of the glass to see what happened to him, he managed to loose a parachute which caught on a pole hang out, Mask of Light called down to him but no response came.
"Parachute, eh? Well I expected that of you guys from the star, not much off a 'Death Match' now is it? You no longer have any hopes of defeating us. How about you surrender?" Yami mocked. However Seto protested this course of action, due to the rules of a Tag Match and his own intention to punish the Rare Hunter. "Wait Kaiba! There's no reason to harm him as well. Such an act will tarnish our humanity as Duelists," Yami protested. Seto claimed that crushing them was his humanity but in that moment Marik took over Mask of Light as evidence by the glowing eye half visible.
"I saw Obelisk clearly! The power of the god is really strong!" Marik announced. Yami demanded that he stop hiding and come show himself but I doubted that would happen as Marik caused his puppet to laugh and Seto noticed the personality change and Yami had to explain the mind controlling to him but Seto believed this impossible although he did wonder by who.
"Marik, the leader of Ghouls. He organised the theft of my Guardians and was the person who had a hold of Osiris and I'm assuming he currently has Ra," Kylie spoke up. Everyone turned to look at us as we stepped onto the glass to stand with our friends, Seto asked if he really had Ra even calling it by the cards full name making it clear that whoever had given Seto Obelisk knew of the other two God cards as well.
"Pleased to meet you Kaiba-kun. Right, right! I thank you for getting rid of my weak underlings in this duel. They were simply here to buy me some time, my plans proceed as scheduled. To start, these Rare Hunters have allowed me to witness the entirety of you decks. There's no way you four can beat my deck and moreover, my Ra holds a hidden terrifying power, stronger than both of your cards. It's the strongest card in existence. There's one more part to my plan and Yugi, that is related to our fight that has lasted over three thousand years… you must perish at my hands to erase the anger of the Tomb Keepers Tribe and settle my revenge. In order to ensure my revenge, I've prepared a few extra soldiers on my team. The little followers you call friends have already fallen under my control and have become warriors that will be used against you," Marik revealed.
"Marik! What have you done to Jounouchi-kun and the others?" Yami questioned. Marik claimed they'd become puppets which served to make Yami rather mad since that meant Marik was controlling them like the other Rare Hunters we'd run into, Marik dared the ancient spirit to come to his location and fight Jounouchi to the death. "Marik! You bastard!" Yami cursed. Seto then took over and went to demand answers about Mokuba even walking over to Mask of Light and lifting him off the ground and demanding the boy's return.
However Marik didn't understand or was mocking the CEO so Yami explained Marik was only controlling him so threatening Mask of Light was a pointless endeavour; Seto dropped him and after letting out a laugh Mask of Light fainted implying that Marik had cut the connection so Yami asked for Seto help as Mokuba would be were our friends were and Seto agreed whilst giving Yami his sixth locator card along with Seto, so we were all qualified to enter the finals.
Yami got annoyed and claimed now wasn't the time or place for such things and Seto turned away but didn't say anything as a helicopter rose to hover over the roof and low and behold Mokuba was inside it; apparently Anzu helped him to escape but he only knew her location so Seto told us to get on so that he could repay his debt to her as was his policy.
We loaded onto the helicopter and this time around Kylie and Mokuba were able to track Jounouchi's Duel Disk making it known this was effectively a trap for us, the signal was coming from Domino Port so the pilot set off for that location and I could only hope that we made it in time to save our friend from the psychopath that was currently attacking us.