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, or something in another language.
I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy
Chapter 21: - Countdown to Despair
I was deeply concerned about whatever Yugi was up to, not only had he taken over the duel but he'd removed the Millennium Puzzle preventing Yami from stepping in and protecting the boy if things got too dangerous and then to make things even worse he'd gone and given the Puzzle to Jounouchi who was currently possessed by a psycho that wanted to kill Yami and destroying the Puzzle seemed like a sure fire way to accomplish that objective.
Yugi was making his way back around to his side and despite my concerns Jounouchi wasn't making any move to dispose of the Puzzle but whether that was because his friendship with Yugi was actually getting through to his heart like Katherine thought or because Marik hadn't given the order to do so I didn't know.
Sadly Yugi wasn't looking so well as his face was rather pale with dark marks under his eyes, forcing me to recall his Shadow Game against Pegasus, add that fact on top of the fact that we were nearing the halfway point of this duel nearing the worst possible conclusion since the bomb atop the anchor had reached its' twentieth minute, we just had several additional seconds attached to that minute.
Yugi reached his side and the duel could now resume as Jounouchi had risen to his feet yet seemed to be deeply conflicted about some unknown struggle but I just knew it was connected to the Millennium Item he'd just received; my throat constricted as Jounouchi grabbed the chain holding the Puzzle whilst Katherine breathed in sharply and my heart began to pound in my chest as Jounouchi removed the object as he announced that he had won.
Jounouchi adjusted his hands to hold the actual Puzzle and then proceeded to remove the piece holding the Eye of Wadjet before enclosing that piece in his fist and he reeled his arm back clearly prepared to throw it into the sea, so I gripped Katherine's shoulder and she pivoted to face the crane threating Anzu whilst I remained focused on the actual duel as our magics began to pulse beneath the surface of our skin.
However just like during the Exchange scenario, Jounouchi froze up as his arm began to shake under some burden until the blonde let out a curse and he dropped to his knees causing my magic to fall asleep due to my shock and Katherine stopped her own mystic pulse as everyone watched the blonde wondering what he was going to do; amazingly Jounouchi got to his feet and put the removed piece back into the Puzzle then returned the object to resting around his neck.
"I'm… a duelist…," Jounouchi spoke. I looked at Katherine who shrugged her shoulders obviously not quite understanding the comment herself, the blonde picked up his cards which had been dropped when he collapsed and turned to look at Yugi. "I could care less about some 'revenge for what happened three thousand years ago' crap, right now I'm going to settle this in a duel! Yugi! It's your turn!" Jounouchi declared. Perhaps Yugi was beginning to break through to Jounouchi, sadly we only had a little over fourteen minutes left before Yugi and Jounouchi got pulled under and there seemed to be no definite escape for the both of them unless someone intervened.
"My turn! Since the effect of your Rocket Warrior is gone, Red-Eyes attack power increases by five hundred!" Yugi declared. That was probably the only bit of good news at this point in the duel, now all that need to happened was the rescue of all three captured individuals and the knowledge that Honda, Otogi and Shizuka had successfully found somewhere safe to hide.
Red-Eyes Black Dragon – ATK/400 – ATK/900
Yugi drew a card from his deck but didn't make a move immediately probably analysing the current situation he was stuck in and any possible ways to get out of said situation whilst also managing to bring Jounouchi back to his senses, Yugi made his move by setting two cards face down and then summoning Magnet Warrior Beta to the field in attack mode.
Magnet Warrior β – Attribute: Earth, Type: Rock, Level: 4, ATK/1700, DEF/1600
"Draw!" Jounouchi announced. He took the card and looked at it, his blank face was so unlike the normal full of life boy which made it much harder to read his face than any other times. "I'll… win?" Jounouchi spoke. I wondered if Marik was goading and guiding which moves the blonde made in this duel and some words might be him responding to Marik. "Beat… Yugi?" Jounouchi questioned. After a brief moment Jounouchi proceeded to summon out Jet-Black Panther Soldier.
Jet-Black Panther Soldier – Panther Warrior – Attribute: Earth, Type: Beast-Warrior, Level: 4, ATK/2000, DEF/1600
That monster couldn't attack without a sacrifice in the form of another monster or a token but if it did attack Red-Eyes then that was it for this duel and that meant that me and Katherine would have to make our very quickly; Jounouchi then had Rocket Warrior turn into its' Invincible Mode and then the blonde commanded Rocket Warrior to attack Magnet Warrior Beta, causing me to furrow my eyebrows in confusion at this action.
"Maybe Jounouchi's shaken Marik's control?" I suggested. No one had asked but it was an answer to my own confusion, the other spectators looked at me but in that moment Yugi activated his face down Trap, Magic Arm Shield which allowed Beta to use the shield depicted on the artwork to seize a hold of Rocket Warrior and forced it to turn its' attack upon Panther Soldier instead causing Rocket Warrior's effect to activate.
Jet-Black Panther Solider – Panther Warrior – ATK/2000 – ATK/1500
"Because of the Continuous Magic, War of Attrition, Panther Soldier loses attack points equal to Rocket Warrior's attack," Yugi stated. That meant that Panther Soldier would be completely defenceless until the turn was over but even after the turn was over its' attack points would be far too low to destroy either of Yugi's monsters and Rocket Warrior didn't have the power to destroy Yugi's Life Points in one move.
Jet-Black Panther Soldier – Panther Warrior – ATK/1500 – ATK/0
Mine and Katherine's Duel Spirits sent us a message that the trio of Honda, Shizuka and Otogi were currently travelling on foot but Shizuka knew that Jounouchi had been captured which annoyed me since I'd told Honda not to tell her in order to avoid worrying the girl but I guessed she'd have overhear him telling Otogi; Yugi announced it was his turn thus the effect of Rocket Warrior had ended.
Jet-Black Panther Soldier – Panther Warrior – ATK/0 – ATK/500
"Card draw! I sacrifice Magnet Warrior Beta to Advance Summon Dark Demon Tribe – Gilfer Daemon!" Yugi announced. The aforementioned demonic beast was summoned to the field and fortunately this one was strong enough to destroy Rocket Warrior which meant Yugi would at least last a little longer in the duel despite the slowly trickling away of time on that bomb.
Dark Demon Tribe - Gilfer Daemon – Attribute: Dark, Type: Demon, Level: 6, ATK/2200, DEF/2500
"Attack Rocket Warrior! Gilfer Flame!" Yugi commanded. The fiend gathered flames into an orb near its' chest and then sent the fire surging forward to Rocket Warrior. "Rocket Warrior explode!" Yugi cried out. And the cry was fulfilled when Rocket Warrior was destroyed by the blazing flames thus finally dealing more damage to the possessed blonde and Jounouchi's Life Points dropped below two thousand and Yugi called out to the blonde.
Jounouchi – LP: 2400 – LP: 1700
"Not yet Yugi! You can't reduce my Life to zero with such a weak attack!" Jounouchi responded. That attack hadn't been enough to snap our friend back to his senses and it did seem like the use of Red-Eyes would be the only way to drag Jounouchi's heart out from Marik's insidious hold but the poor dragon was too weak thanks to the Rocket Warrior-War of Attrition combo that had afflicted it.
Things were tense as we waited for Yugi to continue with his turn or end it so that Jounouchi could take over but that would only cause more tension for me no matter what move he made, there had to be some way of empowering Red-Eyes so that it could attack which might snap Jounouchi back to us but I couldn't quite think of how to achieve such a method and with only ten minutes left, this could be described at the crunch time.
Unfortunately as they say misery likes company as our Duel Spirits took that moment to inform us that the Ghouls had found our friends although Honda had chosen to sacrifice himself so that Otogi could get Shizuka out of danger and of all people the two of them had run straight into Mai, or rather Mai had almost driven over the duo.
"Jounouchi, thanks. You might have just saved Shizuka by saving Mai," I admitted. Fortunately I had said those words quietly so that the two duelists and by extension the nutcase controlling the blonde one couldn't hear although I did get confused looks from Seto and Mokuba but now wasn't the time for a history lesson.
An update came from our Spirit Partners that Honda had managed to overpower the Ghouls chasing them but that unfortunately meant that he had got our location from the grunts and having met up with Mai and the others they were on their way, knowing how strong willed and stubborn Mai was there probably wasn't anything short of the Apocalypse that would stop her from getting here so me and Katherine agreed to have our Duel Spirits watch over them in case the Ghouls tried any more dirty tricks.
"It's my turn!" Jounouchi announced. He drew a card and then looked at it, with how he'd been shaking Marik's control these last few turns I was unsure if it was another power struggle or if that monster had somehow managed to sink his claws deeper into our friend thus undoing all of Yugi's hard work, although the chance that Marik hadn't thought up a move yet was also a possibility thus Jounouchi who was still partially controlled wasn't making a move either with it or against his decision.
With so little time left there was a dangerous chance that Marik might just try to sink both of them but I couldn't be too sure what the crazy person could be up to and attempting to find out would lead to Anzu's erasure from this world since that accursed Ghoul was keeping a close eye on us ever since Katherine had run forward earlier.
"They're going to come here and if Shizuka is anything like how Jounouchi described her then she's quite liable to remove her bandages just to see her brother after all this time," Katherine spoke up. I looked down at my sister and saw that she was frowning deeply, being a younger sibling only Katherine had Mokuba had any idea of how Shizuka must have been feeling even if they were never in such a situation before.
"You're right about them coming here and if Shizuka does try to remove her bandages then we've got to stop her," I responded. Katherine nodded her head in agreement with my words obviously knowing that my words were right due to the repercussions that could occur if Shizuka did see Jounouchi in his current condition however Seto let out a scoff causing me to look at the brunette confused by his action.
"Why stop her? If that nobody's sister what's to see why stop it?" Seto asked. I almost wanted to snap at him for such dismissal but his eyes stopped me from speaking, Seto's face was always a blank canvas but his eyes were always so expressive and right now they were telling me that he couldn't understand what we were talking about, of course he didn't since he didn't know the relationship between Jounouchi and Shizuka so I calmed down instantly and smiled slightly before looking at the paused duel before me.
"Seto, Shizuka looks up to and loves Jounouchi just like how Mokuba looks up to and loves you. Now imagine Mokuba's horror and heart ache if after months of not seeing you, perhaps not even talking to you, his first sight is of a sick, twisted and corrupted version of his beloved brother," I suggested. Seto remained quiet but I could see the mental gears turning is his mind although Mokuba was much quicker as his face paled in terror and soon Seto's own eyes widened as the realisation hit him as well. "Now do you get it?" I asked. In response Seto nodded his head realising just how destroyed he and Mokuba would be if this situation occurred to them.
Throughout our discussion Jounouchi had remained still causing me to wonder what the boy and the psycho manipulating him could be up to, there were three cards in his hand and I knew one of them had to be the Hand Obliteration that he took from Yugi due to Exchange but I could only guess what the other two cards were but that was based on Jounouchi's normal deck and I didn't know what Illegal cards Marik might have stuffed into the blonde's deck.
"Jounouchi-kun, do you remember what happened in Duelist Kingdom. Back then, you fought really hard for your sister Shizuka-chan, fought as a duelist and you won the prize!" Yugi spoke up. Jounouchi slowly spoke his sister's name clearly recalling a memory or memories with the most precious person to him in the world. "And… then you promised me in Battle City…," Yugi carried on. However it seemed that his words didn't have any effect on Jounouchi as he simply set two cards face down and switched Panther Warrior into attack.
The bomb's timer was nearing the five minutes mark and with Yugi's turn he had to try and end this duel, in any way, if we wanted any chance of saving our friends from this deadly situation; after Jounouchi goaded Yugi, the boy set a face down and then commanded Gilfer Daemon to attack Panther Soldier but Jounouchi revealed he had had been waiting for the boy to declare and attack on his weakened monster.
"I know that! Gilfer Flame!" Yugi retorted. The attack came together and was sent forward but Jounouchi activated both of his faces downs revealing that one was the Trap card Demon's Dice and the other was its' counterpart Angel's Dice that was a Magic card; the cards artworks were projected onto the field as I bit my bottom lip at the combo that Jounouchi had thrown out.
"Angel's Dice strengthens my Panther Soldier's attack power, multiplied by the number rolled! And Demon's Dice weakens your Gilfer Daemon! Your monster is as good as eliminated!" Jounouchi explained. However Yugi wasn't about to let this combo follow through as he activated his own face down, which was the Magic card, Magic Removal, in order to destroy Angel's Dice ensuring that only half the combo could work; now all that needed to happen was for the dice to roll a low enough number.
The little demon holding that red dice proceeded to release it and the cube bounced across the sky as if hitting some invisible floor until it eventually decided to stop and the number that came up was a two; a sigh of relief escaped me as this meant that Gilfer Daemon would only have its' attack halved thus ensuring that Panther Soldier was destroyed and thus Jounouchi's Life Points were dropped to be nearly equal with Yugi's.
Dark Demon Tribe – Gilfer Daemon – ATK/2200 – ATK/1100
Jounouchi – LP: 1700 – LP: 1100
Fortunately the effect of Demon's Dice could only last for the turn that it was used on thus with nothing to do Yugi proceeded to end his turn and thus the effect faded and returned Gilfer Daemon's attack to its' normal stat; Yugi's move had brought this duel closer to an end but there was no way of knowing how it would progress when Jounouchi made his next move under Marik's manipulations.
Dark Demon Tribe – Gilfer Daemon – ATK/1100 – ATK/2200
Suddenly the roar of a car's engine came from our left so we all looked in that direction and my eyes widened as I easily identified Mai as the driver and Otogi behind the brunette female passenger who had to be Shizuka due to her physical similarities and the bandages around her eyes, that meant Honda had to be behind Mai and it was easy to tell their destination, an 'oh no' slipped from Katherine so I bolted forward coming to a stop before the car's path and spread my arms out.
"STOP MAI!" I bellowed. Fortunately the blonde did stop before she hit me, although she gave me a look that pretty much screamed she considered me a crazy person for performing such a stunt. "Don't get any closer! Any of you!" I continued on. They all climb out of the car and approached me with Mai gently helping the brunette, who was definitely Shizuka, and they approached me but complied and stopped before me. "If any of us try and stop the duel then that is it for Anzu. The freak show in the crane will drop that container above her with no hesitation!" I explained.
I notice that Shizuka had long auburn hair with a long fringe that framing the sides of her face and a cowlick of four small hairs that covered the middle part of her forehead and of course the bandages stopped me from seeing her eye colour but I knew from the pictures I'd seen that it was a green-brown shade, she wore a sleeveless pink and white shirt with a high collar over a short-sleeved yellow shirt along with light blue denim shorts and long white socks with blue sneakers.
"Are you serious Kylie?!" Honda exclaimed. Mokuba quickly back me up and repeated why Anzu had been taken as a hostage as we all came to gather were Seto and Katherine had remained. "Why the hell are Yugi and Jounouchi dueling in the first place? And what's up with that huge anchor they're attached to?" Honda asked. Seto was the one who answered by stating it was a Death Duel and Mokuba explained what Yugi had been doing during the duel.
"Big brother!" A soft and delicate female voice came. It had to be Shizuka's since I'd never heard it before so I looked at the brunette in time to see her reaching up to untie the bandages so I immediately lunged forward and seized both of her wrists in a tight grip and thrusted them downwards to stop her actions although this did cause her to squeak in pain. "W-who are y-you?" Shizuka shakily asked.
"Don't take off your bandages Shizuka!" I practically yelled. Shizuka's face slackened as I loosened my rather rough grip moving instead to gently grip her upper arms similar to how I treated Katherine. "My name is Kylie Hope and I'm a friend a Jounouchi's. Right now, please, for your sake and your brother's sake don't take off your bandages," I pleaded. Shizuka's muscles relaxed and so I let my hands slide down and went to move away but a hand grabbed one of mine and I saw it was Shizuka.
"Big brother…," Shizuka spoke. She seemed ready to cry and so Mai wrapped an arm around the brunette's shoulders and told the younger girl to have faith in Jounouchi; we turned our attention back to the duel with the anchor's bomb having gone passed four minutes, there had to be something we could do before this duel ended in the worst possible way.
Jounouchi proceeded to begin his turn by drawing a card and for some reason a chill shot through my spine causing many dark scenarios to shoot through my mind about what that chill could possibly mean for the result of this duel.