Yumei-LP 4000
Titan-LP 4000
"Prepare yourself fool to enter into the shadows." Titan said, activating his dual coat, and drawing his sixth card. "I summon Infernalqueen Archfiend to the field in attack mode."
A fiendish looking female monster with blue and beige claws, and armor materialized on Titan's field, screeching at Yumei. Atk-900 Def-1500
"Huh, an Archfiend monster?" Yumei asked, her brow knitting together.
"Yes." Titan answered. "And now that this monster is out, every monster that has 'Archfiend' in its name gains one thousand attack points."
Infernalqueen Atk-1900
"Hey, if you play Archfiend monsters, then you should know you have to pay five hundred points to keep them on the field at the start of your turn." Yumei said.
"Not after I activate the spell card Pandemonium." Titan replied, sliding the field spell into his dual coat. The playing field then changed to that of a field of bone, with statues of grotesque looking creatures, and a pool of lava in the middle. "And it doesn't just change the scenery, it changes the rules. Now I don't have to pay life points for my Archfiends, and if they're ever destroyed outside of a battle, I get to add another fiend monster right into my hand. And I know what you're thinking. The fate of your little friend is all but sealed. And you're right."
At Titan's words, the coffin Alexis was in sunk into the ground.
"Okay, you're gonna pay for that." Yumei growled, drawing her sixth card. "Alright, say 'hello' to my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian!"
A tall more heavily muscled version of Celtic Guardian appeared on Yumei's field, fearlessly staring down Titan's Infernalqueen. Atk-1400 Def-1200 "Then I'll set two cards face down, and activate a spell card known as the A. Forces!"
The spell card appeared behind the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, with its artwork showing the Warrior Dai Grepher, and the Marauding Captain. "See with this continuous spell card on the field, my warrior monsters get a 200 point power boost … for each warrior monster on the field."
"Each?" Titan deadpanned, as he posed his question.
"Each." Yumei answered as a red aura engulfed her monster
Obnoxious Celtic Guardian Atk-1600
"A shame you won't get the chance to power him up any further. I summon Terrorking Archfiend in attack mode." Another fiendish looking creature with the same blue and beige color scheme as Infernalqueen appeared on Titan's field. Atk-2000 Def-1500
"And thanks to my Infernalqueen, his attack strength grows."
Terrorking Archfiend Atk-3000
"3000 Attack points!?"
"That's right, and I'm about to put them all to use! Terrorking Archfiend, attack Celtic Guardian! Locust Storm Barrage!" Titan's monster snarled, as its chest opened up to send a very angry looking swarm of locusts at Celtic Guardian.
"Hold on, you forgot about my facedowns." Yumei said with a victorious smirk on her face, while flipping one of her facedowns up. "My trap card; Mirror Gate! Now our monsters switch places, my Celtic Guardian for your Terrorking!"
Titan simply shook his head. "You think traps will work on me? Take a look around and tell me who's trapped."
"What are you talking about?" Yumei's eyes narrowed at Titan's words.
"I mean your trap will not work on my Terrorking. When he's targeted by a trap, his effect activates. An effect that will determine the fate of this battle phase, by way of chance." At Titan's words six different colored spheres appeared over the shadow duelists outstretched hand, each of the numbered one through six. "Terrorking's special ability gives me a gambling chance. A number between one and six is selected at random, and if it happens to be a two or a five, your trap is destroyed, and my Archfiend stays on my field. So let us spin the wheel, and see what happens shall we?"
A ball of fire engulfed the first sphere and began spinning around rapidly.
"It's okay, the odds are way in Yumei's favor."
"Chumley, you flunked math." Cyrus groaned.
"No I didn't. I got a 54."
When the ball of fire stopped, it had unfortunately for Yumei landed on the number two. Mirror Gate shattered, and Celtic Guardian was engulfed by the locusts.
Yumei-LP 2400
Titan's eyes narrowed behind his metal mask. "What's going on here? Your monster should be destroyed. Why is it still on the field?"
"That's my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian's effect." Yumei explained, drawing her next card. He's not destroyed by a monster with an attack strength of over 1900."
Titan simply scoffed, as he pulled out his golden pyramid. "Your monster may be safe, but you aren't safe from the shadows. Don't your life points feel insignificant, compared to your body."
"Yumei!"
"What? … oh." Yumei saw that her upper left forearm had vanished, but simply shrugged. "That happened."
Yumei's reaction caused Titan to scowl. "Why are you treating this Shadow Game as simply another duel?"
"Because tall, dark, and ugly, I've been in Shadow Games before. With much darker consequences for life point loss. Now say hello to this; Card of Demise. Now I draw until I have five cards in my hand." Yumie smiled, when she saw the cards she'd drawn thanks to Card of Demise.
"First I activate the spell card Double Summon, and call to the field my Valkyrian Knight, and Silent Swordsman!" The two warriors, the serious looking Silent Sowrdsman, and the regally dress Valkyrian Knight appeared when their cards were placed on Yumei's duel disk. "And don't forget about my A. Forces card. Now my monsters get a 600 point boost in their attack!"
Silent Swordsman Atk-1600
Valkyrian Knight Atk-2500
Obnoxious Celtic Guardian Atk-2000
"Those numbers matter little." Titan growled. "You still don't have enough strength to bring down my Terrorking."
"Oh how wrong you are." Yumei replied, pointing to Infernalqueen. "I take out your queen, and no more attack boost to your Terrorking! Celtic Guardian, bring that queen down!"
The heavily muscled warrior charged Titan's Infernalqueen, decapitating the fiendish monster with a heavy swing of his blade.
Titan-LP 3900
"And with your queen out of the way, your king loses his strength!"
Terrorking Archfiend Atk-3000-2000
"Now, my Valkyrian Knight takes down your Terrorking!" At Yumei's command, Valkyrian Knight bisected Terrorking Archfiend.
Titan-LP 3400
"But wait, there's more! Silent Swordsman, attack directly! Silent Sword Slash!" The large bladed warrior slashed Titan across the chest, causing the large man to groan in pain, as both his life points dropped, and his left leg vanish completely.
Titan-LP 2200
"Guess you can call me the kingslayer, because I just wiped out some royalty." Yumei smirked, setting another card facedown. "And the icing on the cake, is that I just made you suffer the effects of your own Shadow Game."
"Enjoy it while you can, because you will soon be an offering to the shadows." Titan growled, drawing another card from his dual coat. "I'm resurrecting Terrorking Archfiend, by using Desrook Archfiend's effect. I'm allowed to bring back my monster by discarding this card. So say hello to a not so old friend."
Terrorking Archfiend snarled, when it was brought back from the graveyard. Atk-2000 Def-1500
"Now my Terrorking attacks your Silent Swordsman with Locust Storm Barrage!" The angry swarm of locusts flew from Terrorking Archfiend's chest, but were swatted away by Valkyrian Knight. "What is this!?"
"My monsters effect." Yumei explained. "See you can't attack another monster on my field but her, provided I have another warrior on my field. So once again, my knight takes down your king!"
Once again, Valkyrian Knight, bisected Titan's Terrorking.
Titan-LP 1700
"Awesome! We'll get Alexis back in no time!" Jaden cheered.
"It matters not, as I simply discard another Desrook Archfiend, to bring back my Terrorking. Rise again!" Once more, Terrorking rose back onto Titan's field, as Titan set three cards face down.
"That guy is really overstaying his welcome." Yumei sighed, drawing her nex card. "Well, I guess it's time for my Silent Swordsman to become stronger."
Silent Swordsman Atk-2100
"Liscious, now all of Yumei's monsters are stronger than that Archfiend." Chumley said smiling.
"Better than that Chumley, I think I figured out this scam of a Shadow Game." Yumei smirked.
"Shadow Game scam?"
"Yep." The female Ra pointed to Titan's golden pyramid. "Shadow Games need a Millenium Item to be initiated, and I know that all the Millenium Items are currently lost. Which means, if that's not real, then this whole thing isn't real." Yumei picked up a rock off the ground and threw it at Titan's golden pyramid, which promptly shattered.
"What did you do!?" Titan snarled, as his legs and Yumei's upper left arm reappeared.
"Alright!" Cyrus cheered. 'You got your body back!"
"I never lost it." Yumei managed a laugh. "This was all some form of hypnosis, mixed with smoke and mirrors. This guy's no expert in Shado Games. In fact, he's probably just some out of work carnie."
"That's not true." Titan protested, and Yumei was pleased to hear a desperate note in his voice. "I can get my job at the fair back anytime I want."
"Sure you could." Yumei replied. "And I'm sure that paper mache Millenium Puzzle goes over real well with the kids."
"No! Be quiet! It's real! I'm real."
"You're a sideshow phony." Jaden scoffed.
Titan suddenly smirked. "You fools, you forget. I still have the girl."
"Alexis!"
"That's right, and thanks to your earlier carnie comment, you can find her on your own!" Titan turned and ran, only for Yumei to give chase … right into a sphere of impenetrable darkness.
"Okay, this is a new trick." The Ra mused. "How'd you manage this?"
"I didn't…" Titan said, clearly panicking. "I don't know what this is…"
A shiver ran down Yumei's spine. This wasn't one of Titan's tricks. This was something she was all too familiar with. "We're in the Shadow Realm. This is the real deal … again."
Out of nowhere, Titan was swarmed by a wave of dark blob shaped creatures which quickly engulfed him. Despite everything Titan had done, Yumei would have gone to try and save him … if she didn't have the same blobs attempting to envelop her.
"This isn't… good." Yumei felt her jaw go slack, as standing in front of her was something she hadn't seen in a long time. "Silent Swordsman…?"
The spirit of the dual monster, looked back over his shoulder, nodded at his living partner, and swung his large blade at the blobs, who quickly backed away.
"Too bad Titan doesn't have someone to look out for them like I do. Thanks partner." Yumei said with a sigh of relief. "Now let's look for a way out of-"
"Yumei Hyoudou." Titan's voice said, as he rose from the mass of black blobs. "The shadows pang for a soul, and only one shall survive."
"Then I guess this duel is back on."
Yumei-LP 2400
Titan-LP 1700
"Well Titan, unfortunately for you, it's still my turn. And before this phony Shadow Game became a real one, I was about to take you down."
"Not this turn." Titan replied, flipping one of his facedown cards up. "My Threatening Roar prevents you from attacking me this turn."
"Okay…" Yumei winced from the loud roar Titan's trap card made. "Well I can still do this, I play Mystical Space Typhoon. So say goodbye to you Pandemonium!"
Titan winced when Pandemonium was blown away. "It matters not, as I have the trap card Battle Scarred. Now you as well as I have to pay the 500 points in order to keep my archfiends on the field."
Yumei-LP 1900
Titan-LP 1200
"And then I activate the spell card Double Spell. By sending a card to the graveyard, I can use a spell card that's in your graveyard. And I chose Double Summon. Now I'll sumon both my Infernalqueen Archfiend, and tribute my Terrorking to summon my Skull Archfiend of Lightning."
Infernalqueen Atk-900 Def-1500
Skull Archfiend looked like a far more terrifying version of Summoned Skull. Atk-2500 Def-1200
"And my monsters become stronger thanks to my queens effect."
Infernalqueen Atk-1900
Skull Archfiend Atk-3500
"Well that's not good…" Yumei said worriedly.
"Not for you." Titan smirked. "Skull Archfiend, attack Valkyrian Knight."
The terrifying Archfiend snarled as it let loose a evil looking surge of lightning, which blasted away Yumei's knight.
Yumei-LP 900
"This isn't good…" Yumei groaned. "I don't do something right now, I'll lose the duel…"
Yumei let out a sigh of relief as she saw her next card. "Right then, I set a card and the use this! Level Up! This spell card lets me summon a more powerful monster ignoring its summoning conditions, so say hello to Silent Swordsman Level Five!"
The tall silent warrior dissolved, to be replaced with a more muscular version of the same warrior. Atk-2300 Def-1000
"It doesn't end there though, I have two more spell cards to play, and you're about to experience the full force of both!" Yumei smirked as she held up her first card. "The first is this; The Claw of Hermos! With it, and the Red Eyes in my hand, I can summon the Red Eyes Black Dragon Sword!"
The familiar black sword shaped like the outline of the Red Eyes appeared on Yumei's field. Atk-2400 Def-2000. "And I'll equip it to my Silent Swordsman!"
Silent Swordsman Atk-4700 Def-3000
"But it doesn't end there. I have my second spell card, Silent Sword Slash! Now my swordsman gets an extra 1500 point boost!"
Silent Swordsman Atk-6200
"Now my Swordsman attacks your Skull Archfiend! Infernal Fire Slash!"
Titan smirked. "Fool! I have a trap!"
"Too bad for you, it doesn't work on my monster since Silent Sword Slash was activated." Yumei replied shaking her head, as Silent Swordsman split Skull Archfiend in half with the Red Eyes sword.
Titan-LP 0000
NOOOO!" Titan screamed, as the black blobs swarmed and enveloped him once again. "Get them off me! Tell my kids… I love them…"
"Titan!" Yumei made to rush to help the man, but the spirit of Silent Swordsman flung his arm out to prevent her from doing so. The duel spirit, shook his head, and pointed to the mass of black blobs that were making to swarm her. "Okay, if you have any ideas, now's the time to do something."
Silent Swordsman raised his blade, and brought it down with a mighty swing. It sent a wave of energy slicing through the blobs, and also sliced a hole through the black sphere.
"There's our way out." Yumei rushed towards the light created in the darkness, and dove through just before the blobs could get to her.
"Yumei!"
"Are you alright?" Jaden asked helping her to her feet.
"Yeah." She sighed in relief, happy to be out of the Shadow Realm. "Good thing I had some help."
'Woah, she's got a duel spirit too' Jaden thought excitedly, as her Silent Swordsman vanished.
"Hey guys, we still need to find Alexis and Yuki." Cyrus said, right as the dark sphere vanished.
"Where do you think we should start looking?" Yumei asked, thinking of heading back to where they had found the stone carving of the Millenium Items. "Hopefully Yu's okay…"