Me: Hey everyone and welcome back to the next chapter to The Millennium Puzzle.
Hikari: We hope you enjoy this chapter just as much as we enjoyed writing it.
Me: Anyways without further ado here is Duel 18 to the Millennium Puzzle…
Disclaimer: We don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! And never will it's the rightful property of Kazuki Takahashi the only thing we do own are the mangas that we buy. We also don't own Heila or Yami Heila for they belong to Animegirl20 the only ones we do own are Arainaina and many others that will appear later on in future chapters.
"…." - Talking
'….' - Thoughts
(….) - Yami's to their Hikari's
/…./ - Hikari's to their Yami's
Duel 18: Second Stage
"Wh-What the…?" exclaims Yami as he slowly looks into the huge hole that was before him. "Something's down there….under the floor", 'It's something big, trying to crawl it's way up…This is bad…I have to get away'.
But just as that was thought two large hands suddenly reach up and out of the ground just as Yami turned around to leave. "YAMI!" cries Heila just as the large hands grab Yami by the arms once his back was turned.
"WHA?" exclaims Yami once grabbed by the arms. "NO!", 'It's a monster' thinks Yami. "You can't escape Yami. This is the second stage of our game….The Shadow Game…..Concentration or Death" remarks Shadi at Yami's feeble attempts to get away.
"A shadow game!" gasps both Heila and Yami.
"Hear me Yami, There is only one way to escape the clutches of Ammit…And that is to win" explains Shadi. "URR…" groans Yami as Ammit appears behind him, mouth open wide as if ready to consume him.
'First mummies, now a crocodile monster….! Is this another one of Shadi's illusions?' wonders Yami as he takes a look behind him.
"That is correct…The thing that holds you, Ammit, is not "real" in the way you use the word. But illusion or real, when you feel her teeth bite you will die….and ammit will consume your soul, so you know her last meal was the soul of the museum owner. Not long ago. She must still be ravenous…" admits Shadi.
'It was him, he killed Kanekura' thinks Yami as he looks to Shadi. "Yami…the only way you can survive is to clear this stage and dispel the illusion of ammit" says Shadi which gets Yami's full attention now.
"Allow me to explain the rules" and with that said nine stone plates appear in front of Yami with giant question marks all over them.
"Nine stone plates?" exclaims Yami. 'What in the world….?'
"Do you know the game "Concentration"….? You spread out a deck of playing cards and attempt to turn over matching numbers, one pair at a time.", "Those stone plates, like cards, have pairs of pictures etched onto the reverse side" replies Shadi as he looks to Yami.
"HOLD ON! THERE ARE NINE PLATES! YOU NEED AN EVEN NUMBER TO HAVE PAIRS" yells Yami to Shadi as if telling him he miscounted his plates.
"Heh…That's right…There is one extra plate in the middle. In this version of the game, you must name the picture etched on that middle plate, you don't have to match the other pairs. If you can solve that puzzle, the illusion of ammit will disappear…however….YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TURN OVER EVEN ONE OF THE NINE STONE PLATES" explains Shadi.
"WHAT?" yells Yami in shock.
'So in other words Yami has to guess at what the picture is in the center without touching it?' wonders Heila with worry for she knew all about ammit and what she could do to someone if she bit you.
"There is a time limit though, You have five minutes to answer. When that time is up, ammit will close it's jaws on your head" and with that said both Yami and Heila gasp in shock and horror as Yami is suddenly put to the test.
"Heh Heh…Let me tell you the KEY to the puzzle…..Those stone plates are a mirror of ammit" answers Shadi to Yami as he gives Yami his clue to solving the puzzle.
'A mirror of the monster…?' wonders Yami.
"Now, Yami, Shake off your fear and solve this puzzle….What is the picture on the center plate?" asks Shadi
"GAME START!"
'How….?' panics Yami as he looks to the nine stone plates before him. 'The picture on the center plate…..? Concentration….A mirror of the monster….There are too few clues to solve the puzzle!'
'I don't know! I can't think straight! I'm too scared!' cries Yami's mind as panic begins to settle deep within him as he struggles to solve the puzzle before him.
But just then the sounds of cracking could be heard as Yami's ushebti from before began to crack once more only deeper than before.
'Damn…if I show any weakness, the ushebti that support Yugi will shatter' thinks Yami in shock as he takes notice to the badly broken ushebti before him.
'YUGI' screams Yami silently as Yugi continues to stand motionless just outside the roof area.
"Careful Yami…There are only three ushebti left! You can't afford to lose another" shouts Heila as she too noticed the badly damaged statue.
'Yugi, Koi…..I'll save you if it costs me my own life….I'll solve this puzzle no matter what' remarks a determine Yami as he goes back to concentrating on the puzzle before him.
Mean while Joey was still running for his life and was beginning to run out of options as well.
"DAMMIT! Don't you ever stop?" yells Joey as the zombie Professor gets closer and closer to him.
But with that said Joey suddenly turns another corner of the building only to come face to face with a dead end leaving him no were else to run.
'GGH…It's a dead end!' panics Joey just as the Professor appears right behind him as well.
"WHA…" gasps Joey as he sees the Professor. "JOEY, Quick in here" shouts a voice as a slender hand waves to him from the doorway which alerts Joey to come but not before he grabs the fire extinguisher in the process.
Once Joey has the extinguisher in his hand Joey quickly makes a dash for the room only to be grabbed by the jacket and yanked over to a near by wall.
"Stay here" whispers the figure to Joey. "Who are you?" asks Joey as he looks to the person before him only to notice that he couldn't see much due to the hood covering the persons body.
"I'll explain later now shush" remarks the hooded figure just as the Professor approaches the room that Joey had entered just minutes before.
Upon reaching the room the Professor slowly begins to enter the room but upon entering the room the hooded figure silently sneaks up behind him and knocks him hard across the head which knocks him out.
"Whoa, nice shot" remarks Joey as he moves away from the wall just as the hooded figure moves over to the window and opens it.
"He won't be out for much longer, we better act fast before he wakes" replies the hooded figure once the window was open.
"Right….but who are you? And how do you know my name?" asks Joey as he looks to the hooded figure.
"I'll explain later alright, right now we have to get to the roof….Yugi's in danger" exclaims the hooded figure. "What? What do you mean? Hey I want answers" demands Joey as he stands a few feet from the person who helped him.
But before the hooded figure can respond the Professor manages to get back to his feet and gets ready to attack Joey.
"Ah! Behind you!" exclaims the figure as the figure takes notice of the Professor.
"Huh?" wonders Joey as he turns around only to see the Professor walking his way. Quickly as to act fast Joey quickly grabs the extinguisher from before and aims it at the Professor.
"EXTINGUISHER ATTACK!" shouts Joey as he uses the fire extinguisher on the Professor. "Ha, take that, zombie Professor. In my fights, "Fair and square" means "Anything goes".
"GUGAAHH" groans the Professor as he slaps the extinguisher out of Joey's hands. "Crap!" exclaims Joey before deciding to punch to Professor right across the face.
"Nice shot!" exclaims the hooded figure only to notice the Professor grab Joey by the jacket and begin to push him towards her.
"HUH? H…Hey! What're you doing?" exclaims Joey as he glances behind him as the Professor continues to push him.
"You're not…! Wait! This is the third floor!" shouts Joey as he notices the window and the hooded figure. "Quick! Get out of the way".
"HUH?" gasps the hooded figure just as Joey collides with her and both of them go flying threw the window.
"NOOOOOO" shouts Joey just as he and the hooded figure begin to fall.
Suddenly though, as if by chance Joey managed to grab a hold of the curtain from the window before quickly grabbing the hooded figures hand which prevents them from falling any further.
"Few…that was close" sighs Joey as he and the figure hang from the window. "Are you ok?" asks Joey to the figure below him.
"Ya, thank you…for saving my life" replies the hooded figure to Joey when suddenly there was the sound of popping, which alerted Joey.
"No way" groans Joey as more popping was heard. "ACK! Gimme a break!" shouts Joey as the curtain continue to come loose. "Listen I need you to jump and grab a hold of a ledge on the count of three" shouts Joey to the hooded figure.
"Right" replies the Hooded Figure.
"Ok, One….Two….Three" and with that Joey swings the hooded figure to the closets ledge he could find just as the curtain finally broke causing him to, to let go as well and make a daring jump for the same ledge.
Upon reaching the nearest ledge Joey is able to take a look above him only to notice Yugi who was still standing on the Bridge of life. "YUGI!", 'What is he doing up there…..!' panics Joey as he sees his best friend standing there on a wooden bridge.
But just as that was thought, a scream can heard as the hooded figure yells to Joey which alerts him causing him to turn and take notice and the zombie Professor makes his way down from the window as well and heads for Joey.
"WUK….", 'You've got to be kidding' thinks Joey as he sees the Professor mere feet from him.
Meanwhile back with Yami and Shadi, Yami was still trying to figure out the clues to his next challenge.
"Yami, you have one minute left" answers Shadi, which causes Yami to glance his way before looking back to the puzzle.
'Damn…at this rate both Yugi and I…..' thinks Yami as he tries not to think of the outcome.
"Come on Yami you can do it!" shouts Heila as she tries to encourage Yami.
"Heila" whispers Yami as he glances to the girl. 'Ok, let's run through everything again…Nine stone plates in all…The one in the middle is the puzzle….What was Shadi's clue? These plates are a mirror of the monster….', 'A mirror! A mirror reflects your face and form' thinks Yami once he's able to figure out the clues.
'And since this game is "concentration"…eight of the plates must hide four pairs of pictures! But the plate in the middle is left out' thinks Yami as the clues become clearer and clearer.
"30 seconds left!" exclaims Shadi as he lets Yami know of the time.
'If the stone plates are a mirror then they must show parts of the monster! What does this monster have TWO of? And what does it have only ONE of….?', 'There are TWO…Eyes! Nostrils! Hands! Ears!' thinks Yami.
"5 seconds left" remarks Shadi.
'Hurry Yami' thinks Heila with worry as Shadi begins the final count down to clock.
'And there is only ONE….That's it! I know the answer! There's only one…..', "MOUTH!" remarks Yami as he yells out his answer.
So with that said Ammit finally vanishes from site just as the stone plates flip to reveal two of everything except the one mouth that Yami had stated for his answer.
"Phew…He made it" sighs Heila just as Shadi got ready to speak again.
"Yami…..you have done well to beat my second game…..But this is the final stage, the challenge will be much more difficult than the ones so far" explains Shadi as he gets ready to Yami his last and final test.
'The final stage…..' thinks Yami as all he can do is wait for the last and final challenge.
TBC
A/N: Well how was it? Good? Bad? Please R&R