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 27: - The Inherited Card
The three newly summoned Trap Monsters writhed on the field like the ancient snake god they were named after as they loomed over Jounouchi ready to strike the blonde the moment that Marik commanded it and thanks to Jounouchi's earlier blunder regarding Judgement of Anubis, he didn't have many Life Points to spare and if all three of Mark's attacks got through then that might as well be it for the blonde.
"A Trap Monster Summon... was that what Marik was waiting for?" Yugi wondered. Katherine added on that the effects of Monster Box would disappear this turn leaving Jounouchi's monsters vulnerable to the attacks, Anzu commented all three attacks would destroy the blonde's monster even though only two attacks would do that whilst the third would rip away most of this Life Points but I decided not to start an argument by correcting the foolish girl.
"No way! Is there anything that can save my brother?!" Shizuka pleaded. Mai stated that setting up a face down card that would be able to counter Marik's move before the end of this turn might be able to save him, however there might not be a likelihood of Jounouchi holding such a card in his hand that would allow him such an opportunity; I shifted my stance as I examined the scenario before me.
"Unless Marik increases one of his Trap Monsters' attack power or it has some effect that deals extra damage or Marik brings out another card to deal more damage, then Jounouchi will have one hundred Life Points left. That means he's got a chance to make a comeback however whether he capitalises on that chance or not is up to him and his cards," I commented. Shizuka frowned at that, her concern for Jounouchi was good but we couldn't help him out of this situation.
"The Duel won't end next turn," Katherine spoke. Everyone looked at my little sister surprised by her words but this wasn't the first time most of us had heard her seemingly prophetic knowledge of a duel's flow; Jounouchi finally made his move and proceeded to set a face down card, we could only hope that it would be able to get the blonde out of this sticky situation that he'd end up walking right into, the blonde also switch Wyvern Warrior to defence which meant he'd have more Life Points by the end of Marik's turn, so long as none of the three possibilities I'd previously mentioned occurred.
"Is that meant to help you somehow avoid my attacks?" Marik questioned. Jounouchi responded that it would help him and I was curious as to what card he had set that could possibly help him out. "It's my turn. You had best prepare yourself Jounouchi. Embodiments of Apophis, three way attack!" Marik declared. Yugi called out to his friend, worry about what would happen to the blonde colouring his tone deeply.
"Now! Reverse card open!" Jounouchi declared. The card was the Magic card Scapegoat which summoned four tokens onto the field that would act as shields protecting the other monster from attacks, Jounouchi explained what the card did causing Honda and Mai to cheer as he'd avoid the damage now but Marik was quick to shoot that down as he revealed the Counter Trap, Magic Jammer which disabled Jounouchi's card when Marik discarded a card in his hand; this allowed all three monsters to attack, destroying Wyvern Warrior, Rocket Warrior and dealing damage to Jounouchi's Life Points.
Jounouchi – LP: 1900 – LP: 1800
Jounouchi – LP: 1800 – LP: 200
As the others called out to the blonde in panic, Jounouchi slumped to his knees, making it clear that he hadn't expected so many backfires during the course of this Duel but it was clear that Marik was a skilled duelist which meant the rest of us would have to be on our toes if Marik won this Duel and any of us ended up facing him next; Marik stated that Jounouchi couldn't defeat him with the blonde gritting his teeth in response yet his eyes were blank showing that his fighting spirit might have been broken.
The others were worried about what was going to happen especially Shizuka who out right asked Honda if her brother couldn't win, when the brunette didn't answer the girl Mai stated that it was very unlikely and reminded the auburn haired girl that she'd already been told how cruel dueling was that that Shizuka couldn't turn away from the reality before her; although the blonde vixen did state that Jounouchi could still fight until the bitter end.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," I commented. Everyone looked at me no doubt confused by my words and probably a tad angry as well but I wasn't going to mince my words or lie about facts I'd noticed. "Jounouchi's spirit has been smashed. Unless he pulls himself together then he can't and shouldn't continue this Duel," I added. As if responding to my words Jounouchi proceeded to lift his hand and move it towards his deck, making his intentions clear to all those watching the events and Mai surged forward as a result.
"Jounouchi! I have something to tell you before you surrender!" Mai called. The blonde vixen's words causing the boy to stop his movements implying he was listening even as his eyes stayed cast down. "A winning duelist has to take responsibility!" Mai stated. Jounouchi looked at the woman and proceeded to repeat the last word confused by Mai's admission. "All the duelist who lost to you, Insector Haga, Esper Roba and Ryota Kajiki... if it was them fighting in your place, what do you think they would do?" Mai asked. Her words seemed to be taking root in the blonde's mind as he looked up to the sky. "What would they think if they saw you like this? Of course maybe you shouldn't care about those who lost, but you inherit the loser's dream along with your own! This is the fate of someone who wants to win. It is what makes a real duelist who they are! If you don't mind shaming them, then place your hand on your deck," Mai finished her speech.
"Big brother! You can do it big brother! You worked so hard, for yourself and your friends and for me as well. If I didn't have you by my side, I would have been too scared to have my surgery, I wouldn't have been able to take off the bandage either! If I didn't have you big brother... I would still be wandering in the darkness! You've continued to fight and given me the light I need to live," Shizuka called. The auburn haired girl was certainly impressive, to have such optimistic strength and kindness but her nearly going blind might have made her cultivate these traits to survive almost losing her sight.
"Gave you light... while you wandered in darkness..." Marik spoke. He then gazed up to the sky were the clouds swirled above us before looking back at Shizuka with a soft gleam in his eyes yet the girl remained oblivious to this observation as she continued to encourage her brother to stand up. "Jounouchi, will you answer one question for me before the end arrives?" Marik asked. That caused my eyes to widen in shock as I'd expected that to be phrased more as demand than a polite question, Jounouchi turned back to face his opponent. "What did you seek by fighting in this Battle City tournament?" Marik questioned.
"There's a reason I must fight no matter what. To keep my promise with him! I've met all kinds of people on my journey to this point... and I fought them," Jounouchi admitted. As he spoke the light and determination returned to his eyes as he raised his hand and clenched it into a fist. "That's enough of an answer! Now I've got something to say to you! Take back that 'before the end' crap! I haven't lost yet!" Jounouchi declared. I let out a sigh of relief seeing that the blonde had managed to get back his courage with the others proceeded to cheer upon seeing this.
Jounouchi declared that he would continue to fight for those he had defeated yet didn't give up when facing him, he also thanked Mai, Shizuka and Yugi for snapping him back but then Marik proceeded to state Jounouchi could do no more and went on to ask if having the courage to accept defeat wasn't also a part of being a true duelist, at that moment Yugi's Millennium Puzzle glowed and it faded to reveal Yami standing there.
"Jounouchi-kun," Yami called. The blonde turned to look at his friend and rival probably wondering what he would say. "Something you can see, yet not see," Yami spoke. It seemed quaint that he would speak the words of advice he'd given to Jounouchi in his first duel in a tournament here, Jounouchi nodded his head and gave a positive response in understanding; Jounouchi turned to Marik and stated that he refused to given up even though he had a low chance of winning, he would struggle on this path with his deck no matter what, Jounouchi then drew his card, he set two face downs and summoned Swordsman of Landstar in defence mode.
Swordsman of Landstar – Attribute: Earth, Type: Warrior, Level: 3, ATK/500, DEF/1200
This was a smart move as Landstar would absorb the first attack with no loss of Life Points and one of his face downs could do something to end the remaining two snakes, I mentally sent a brief question to Katherine who shook her head in response making it known that Marik's coming turn wasn't going to end the Duel either, Marik didn't immediately make his move and instead cast his eyes down to us again before looking back at the blonde.
"If my prey so desires, I shall destroy you in a flash! Oh Embodiments of Apophis! Eliminate the enemy!" Marik commanded. The serpents slithered forward but Jounouchi used that opportunity to activate his Magic card which was Foolish Burial which sent one card from your deck to your opponent's graveyard which serious confused me; up until the knucklehead activated his second face down which was the card Graverobber that let the controller take a card from the opponent's graveyard meaning Jounouchi could reclaim the card he'd given Marik and bring it straight to the field.
"And the Monster I call to the field is...," Jounouchi started. He'd previously revealed the card had been a Monster and an image of it appeared in the hands of the cackling little robber but its' back was to us meaning we couldn't see the Monster's identity yet. "Come out, Psycho Shocker!" Jounouchi announced. The card had begun to glow slightly before it was flipped over and the bald robotic creature emerged onto the field whilst my mouth proceeded to openly slightly in surprise whilst Katherine let out a surprised gasp.
Android – Psycho Shocker – Attribute: Dark, Type: Machine, Level: 6, ATK/2400, DEF/1500
"Well ship me to Egypt and called me a princess... he had that card in his deck. He might just win," I acknowledged. A surprised and hope filled 'Really!' came from Shizuka and she proceeded to dash in front of me and she grabbed my hands with hope shining in her eyes. "Yes, Jounouchi could win thanks to having Psycho Shocker out due to its effect. But he could also lose, we'll only know when it's done," I answered. Shizuka nodded her head to show she had heard me and proceeded to step to the side so that we could continue watching the Duel.
"Impossible! You summoned a seven star monster in little to no time at all!" Marik exclaimed. It was rather satisfying seeing the calm expression on the psycho's face change into something else for the first time during the Duel; things were only going to get worse for him when Jounouchi revealed that Psycho Shocker's effect allowed it to disable and destroy Trap cards and he stated that the Apophis monsters had come from Trap cards. "Oh no!" Marik exclaimed. Jounouchi activated the creature's Special Effect which destroyed the three snakes and everyone cheered for the blonde's success in overcoming the Trap Hell.
"Now what are you going to do? Your strategy won't work on me anymore!" Jounouchi announced. Marik was certainly in a difficult spot as Jounouchi rightly pointed out that Psycho Shocker was essentially poison for the Egyptian man's Trap based deck, Marik was forced to end his turn so Jounouchi took over. "My turn! I summon Grappling Warrior Ultimator in attack mode," Jounouchi announced. Another monster was brought onto the field to giving the blonde more firepower to take Marik down.
Grappling Warrior Ultimator – Attribute: Earth, Type: Warrior, Level: 3, ATK/700, DEF/1000
"And I switch Swordsman of Landstar to attack mode!" Jounouchi continued. With all three of his monsters primed to attack the person opposing him that mean that Jounouchi was set to make his next move. "Let's go Psycho Shocker, direct attack! Cyber Energy Shock!" Jounouchi commanded. A ball of crackling energy was shot out by the mechanical being and straight into Marik with the other two monsters swiftly following up the attack.
Marik – LP: 4000 – LP: 2600
Marik – LP: 2600 – LP: 900
Marik – LP: 900 – LP: 400
"He did it! Now Marik's life has been greatly reduced!" Anzu stated. Mai, Honda and Shizuka also added in their hopeful sentiments about the end of this Duel coming soon but I wasn't about to breathe easy until Marik Life Points dropped to zero since to me as long as he still had points then he'd be able to Summon out the third God Card and from their tense expressions, Yami and Katherine were right with me; Jounouchi claimed that his triple attack was revenge for the Triple Apophis attack from earlier in the Duel.
"That was an impressive comeback, Jounouchi..." Marik complimented. Jounouchi seemed surprised by those words but I could hardly blame him since I was surprised by the words that had been spoken. "Despite being almost out of Life Points, you showed your pride as a Duelist by standing up to me," Marik continued. I stared at the man completely stunned by the words that were being spoken as it completely contrasted all of the times Marik had spoken through a puppet.
"Um... Kylie, I'm beginning to think that might not be Marik," Katherine's voice spoke in my mind. Glancing down at my sister who kept her dark eyes locked on the Duel as Jounouchi ranted at Marik, I found that I had to agree as the uncertain feeling I'd been getting, concerning Marik had only increased throughout this duel; I sent a message of agreement to my sister and returned my full attention to the Duel as the Egyptian man drew his card.
However he didn't immediately make a move and instead remained still with his eyes cast down towards us causing me to press my teeth against my bottom lips as I attempted to understand why he kept looking at us throughout the Duel, Marik eventually returned his attention to the Duel by activating the Magic card Sealing Swords of Light thus blocking Jounouchi from finishing the Duel on his next turn and two more after that which meant Marik had a chance to make a comeback and possibly win the duel.
When Mai stated that the Magic cards covered for the Traps weaknesses, Yami spoke up claiming that so long as Psycho Shocker was on Jounouchi's field he would be able to disable the Trap and prevent himself from taking damage in that fashion, Marik proceeded to end his turn so Jounouchi took over; the blonde stated he still intended to Summon more Monsters and did just as promised by Releasing Ultimator in order to Summon out The Legendary Fisherman in defence mode and he then switched his other two monsters to defence.
The Legendary Fisherman – Attribute: Water, Type: Warrior, Level: 5, ATK/1850, DEF/1600
That was the best plan given that it would prevent any monsters that could be hidden in Marik's deck from causing damage to his Life Points so long as they remained in that position, Marik drew his card but the moment he saw it, his eyes widened and I swear that he went just a tad pale which immediately set me on edge and I tried to feel the spirit of that card only to suck in a sharp breath as blazing and fierce rage pounded into my mind and it forced me to take a step backwards.
"Kylie," A strong voice called. I had to blink myself back to reality as I looked in the voice's direction finding it was Yami who had a concerned expression on his face and a hand on my shoulder, looking down I saw that Katherine was gripping my hand with panic clear on her face, the others were also looking at me with worry clear to see, including Anzu surprisingly. "Is everything alright?" Yami asked. I looked at the ancient spirit as I managed to regain my senses slightly enabling me to shake my head lightly.
"I think... a dangerous card is about to come into play," I answered. Yami's face paled at my words as we proceeded to focus back on the Duel with Marik having remained still during our conversation; Jounouchi pushed Marik to act and he did by setting a card face down however I noticed that he stuttered at the beginning of his sentence suddenly a tingling came to my mind so I closed my eyes to enter my Soul Room.
*Yu-Gi-Oh*
My Soul Room was elegant with a four poster queen sized bed covered in silver bedding with red embroidery, fine jewellery and magnificent clothing from a different era of time hung in a closet whilst books of stories and magic were crammed into a bookcase beside my bed, a silver wood vanity stand lay to the side but there was a strange crest carved into it which matched the crest on the underside of my bracelet so I never looked at it for long.
Moving to a blank wall I proceeded to draw a door way whilst muttering a spell as I thought about Katherine, a doorway connecting me to her mind appear so I opening it a rushed inside with my sister waiting by the door connecting her to Yugi and she pulled it open allowing us to dash through until we came to the young boy's room of course he was waiting in the corridor between him and Yami's Soul Room and he smile brightly upon seeing us.
"Thank you for coming Kylie-san, Katherine-chan. Me and My Other Self are concerned about the sarcophagus at the top of the Temple. There's something strange about it," Yugi spoke up. Exchanging a quick look of agreement that we shared the boy's sentiments concerning that strange box and I turned back to look at the two individuals with a grave look on my face.
"Our mum's archaeological work involved finding tombs and temples like that. Those kinds of sarcophagi often hold treasures of Royal families, that card is based on such things meaning the sarcophagus has to have some effect," I admitted. The look on each of the boys' face different with Yugi looking deeply worried whilst Yami's stoic face creased with tension as a flood of scenarios dashed across his mind.
"Kylie, what did you mean earlier?" Katherine asked. Looking at my sister, I saw the worried expression on her face and wondered briefly if she hadn't sensed the immense anger that had been roaring from that card, if so it was a rather terrifying fact that the Gods could mask themselves from one of us… or her Gods had protected her, glancing at Yami and Yugi I saw that they also looked concerned about my sensing a dangerous card so I drew in a deep breath.
"I sensed deep, fuming rage from the card and I'm worried. Ra was the sun god in the Egyptian pantheon and I definitely felt fire from that card, I think it might have been Marik's God card," I revealed. Worried wouldn't have been an even half way decent word to describe the expression my three person audience wore, abject terror might be the nearest approximate description of their feelings.
*Yu-Gi-Oh*
We all returned to the physical plane in time to hear Jounouchi yell at Marik to either get on with or end his turn, I knew all of us were immeasurably worried about how well the blonde would do if he came face to face with such a dangerous creature those beasts were as strong as my Guardians which meant they were capable of inflicting real damage as Osiris had proven but the rage I'd felt from that card was immense and practically a drowning force.
"No, I have not declared its' end. I seal one card away in the sarcophagus of the temple," Marik responded. The field magic slot popped out and he slid the chosen card – the one he'd just draw – into the slot causing a hologram of the card to appear above the sarcophagus just like it did with Graverobber before the card sank into the stone rectangle, in response to this move me, Katherine and Yami exchanged worried looks. "Now I end my turn," Marik stated. If that was Ra then Jounouchi was going to be trapped in a tight – almost inescapable – situation.
Jounouchi started his turn by drawing a card from his deck and immediately activated it revealing that it was Resurrection of the Dead to bring back Wyvern Warrior to the field causing me to wonder what the blonde was up to, that was clarified when Jounouchi swiftly Released the lizard creature and Swordsman of Landstar in order to Summon Insect Queen in defence mode; all three were capable and rare monsters which meant he must have won then from the three duelist that he'd managed to defeat in order to reach his current place, although only Psycho Shocker seemed to fit well into Jounouchi's deck.
Insect Queen – Attribute: Earth, Type: Insect, Level: 7, ATK/2200, DEF/2400
On Jounouchi's next turn the Sealing Swords would fade away allowing to him to attack and with no monsters currently out that left Marik with quite the sticky situation, unless he could Summon enough monsters to protect himself or bring out Ra thanks to sealing it within the sarcophagus and I'd rather not see that God card until quite a while later, preferably under Yami's control when that occurred; when Jounouchi brought up this fact Marik swiftly cut it down by declaring he wouldn't be touched by Jounouchi's monsters.
Marik revealed the sealed card was safe from all harm and the Sealing Swords had simply been a delay until Marik was able to prepare a ritual, apparently his three gathered cards would be able to Summon out the temple's guardian, Marik activated a card from his hand which was the Magic card Cup of Sealed Soul and his face down which was another Magic card known as Seal of Serket and activated the Temple of the Royal Family.
"When I gather these three Magic cards together, I can Summon the Mystical Beast who protects the secret of the altar!" Marik announced. As purple smoke spewed from the eye marked cup, Jounouchi repeated the title that Marik had given this creature he was making sound rather fearsome. "That's right! The guardian of the temple! The Scorpion God that shall devour your monsters! Show your glorious form before us! I summon the Holy Beast Serket!" Marik announced. Everyone began to panic as Katherine gripped my hand which I returned as the red armoured scorpion beast appeared crouched on the temple steps.
Holy Beast Serket – Attribute: Earth, Type: Fairy/Ritual, Level: 6, ATK/2500, DEF/2000
Jounouchi was also freaking out about the creature's appearance with Marik claiming that it protected the sacred card within the sarcophagus causing my eyes to widen and Jounouchi also latched onto that phrasing and began to ask its' identity – the way Marik treated them confirmed that he would only see three cards in such a light – Marik then vocally confirmed out fears, the sealed card was indeed his God card, the Winged Divine Dragon of Ra.
It was official, thing just got a whole lot worse.