Good Day Readers and welcome to the sequel to One Last Step! Thanks to all of you for the support and I hope that you all enjoy this latest and final edition of the Hope sisters. Due to certain events that happened at the end of One Last Step, this story will solely be told from Katherine's perspective.
Obviously I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh only Katherine Hope, Yumiko Kazayama, the Hope parents and Kylie Hope along with the unique cards within their decks and whatever other OCs decide to crop up. Also italics symbolise a mind conversation, a flash back or anything spoken in a language that isn't Japanese. I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy
Chapter 8: - The Rivals Face Off
Naturally all of us were surprised by the sudden disappearance of Aigami which left only his Puzzle piece behind, I could no longer sense the magic that came off of Aigami yet one did not disappear if they died. That meant that Aigami must have retreated to another dimension after his defeat against Yugi but to do what was unknown to anyone but Aigami himself.
"Still Yugi may have won, but Bakura-kun is still…" Anzu pointed out. The girl did have a point as our white haired friend had yet to be returned to us, suddenly a surge of magic occurred so I snapped my head in that direction. This allowed me to see a ring of light emitting from an area some distance away from us within the audience, so we all went to check it out revealing that our missing friend had been returned which we informed Yugi of, relieving the boy as he looked down towards us.
"Yugi! The remaining pieces of the Puzzle are now with you, right?" Seto asked. The CEO had lowered himself down to the platform Yugi was on; in response to the question Yugi presented the two missing pieces to the CEO before commenting that Yugi was challenging Seto as just another Duelist. "Unfortunately, the opponent I need to defeat isn't you. Your role is to put those final pieces in this Millennium Puzzle, let the king's spirit take stay in your prison of a vessel once again and become the prisoner set to do battle with me," Seto insisted. He placed the Puzzle in an anti-gravity tube allowing it to freely float before the boy that had once worn it.
"Kaiba-kun, will you listen to what I have to say? The Other Me, he's-," Yugi began to protest. However, Seto cut the words off instead deciding to start the Duel claiming that the young boy would have to put everything into it, I hoped that Yugi would be able to defeat Seto and force the stubborn man to realise that Atem wasn't going to be coming back to our world ever.
Seto – LP: 8000
Yugi – LP: 8000
I'm pretty sure that the rest of the audience were completely confused about what the Duelists were talking about, but it was best that they do not know about the mystical world due to the fact that normal people wouldn't be able to handle these revelations although I'm fairly confident that it'd be a few days before they forgot the events of this tournament.
"It's my turn! Draw!" Yugi declared. He pulled a card free from his Deck and quickly placed it on the Duel Disk. "I Summon Marshmacaron in Defence Mode! I place two cards face down, ending my turn!" Yugi declared. The little Monster appeared on the field followed by the two cards, due to my knowledge of Marshmacaron's Special Effect I knew that Yugi was probably attempting to prepare for an Advanced Summon or perhaps a Ritual Summon.
Marshmacaron – Attribute: Light, Type; Angel, Level: 1, ATK/200, DEF/200
"Here I come, Yugi the Vessel! Show yourself, Assault Wyvern!" Seto declared. He drew a holographic card as his hand was projected before his eyes, I was angered that Seto was treating Yugi as a thing instead of the person he was despite having recognised him as a capable Duelist in the Mortuary Temple. Assault Wyvern appeared on the field and Seto instantly had it attack Marshmacaron destroying it and activating the Special Effect allowing two more Marshmacarons to be Special Summoned to the field.
Assault Wyvern – Attribute: Light, Type: Dragon, Level: 4, ATK/1800, DEF/1000
"In that case, I will use Assault Wyvern's Effect calling forth this monster! Come, now! Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Seto decided. The mighty dragon appeared behind her master ready to fight against the boy standing as his opponent just as she had done so many times before in the past, both in this current life and the one before now.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon – Attribute: Light, Type: Dragon, Level: 8, ATK/3000, DEF/2500
"In addition, I activate Dragon's Fighting Spirit! Blue-Eyes gains a number of Attacks equal to the amount of Monsters you control! Triple Burst Stream of Destruction!" Seto continued. That wasn't good because that meant Yugi would be receiving a direct attack from Blue-Eyes once his Marshmacarons were destroyed unless one of his face downs blocked the attack from reaching him, sadly he didn't and took the attack.
Yugi – LP: 8000 – LP: 5000
"Trap, activate! Dark Horizon! By receiving damage, it lets me Summon this Monster! Come Black Magician!" Yugi retaliated. The Trap caused a black circle to appear in the sky allowing the chosen Magician to descend down ready to face off against his millennial old foe and yet at the same time they were trusted friends and comrades, theirs and their masters' relationship was eather paradoxical.
Black Magician – Attribute: Dark, Type: Magician, Level: 7, ATK/2500, DEF/2100
Seto proceeded to end his turn by throwing down a face down thus allowing Yugi to take the reins of the Duel but the only move that the young boy made was to repeat his opponent's final move by setting a face down card on the field, I had to wonder what my boyfriend could possibly be up to with that move.
"Yugi, I will now show you why you're just a simple vessel!" Seto announced. I was just about ready to do something to Seto that I couldn't take back for how he was treating my boyfriend, but a hand rested on my shoulder, putting a stop to my hasty actions, a quick glance back showed it was Jounouchi… ok when did he start being able to read me? Seto drew another card and ordered his majestic dragon to attack Black Magician, but this allowed Yugi to activate a Trap known as Metamorph Clay Fortress which enabled him to summon the card as a Monster out onto his field.
Metamorph Clay Fortress – Attribute: Earth, Type: Rock, Level: 4, ATK/1000, DEF/1000
Black Magician settled onto the top of the newly summoned Trap Monster and a portcullis lowered itself in front of Yugi acting as a protective barrier, this card enabled Black Magician to become a equip card to the new monster not only protecting him from being destroyed but also adding his own Attack to Metamorph Clay Fortress' Attack and Defence Points.
Metamorph Clay Fortress – ATK/1000 – ATK/3500, DEF/1000 – DEF/3500
Since Blue-Eyes' original attack target had been taken off the field by becoming an equip card it caused the attack to be stopped in its' tracks and Seto wisely chose not to change the attack target when given the option to do so, thus causing his turn to end although the CEO growled out a 'damn you' at Yugi; no doubt he was annoyed at his plans being foiled.
"My turn! Metamorph Clay Fortress to Attack Position!" Yugi declared. Upon hearing this declaration, it caused the Trap Monster to melt into liquid allowing it reform into the shape of a monster that could actually strike at the opponent instead of the fortress that had protected Yugi in the previous turn. Metamorph Clay Fortress proceeded to strike at Blue-Eyes destroying the beautiful dragon and dealing damage to Seto's Life Points.
Seto – LP: 8000 – LP: 7500
Due to the effect of Metamorph Clay Fortress, the Trap Monster proceeded to switch back into defence thus giving Yugi a powerful defender against the majority of monsters that lived within Seto's deck. Although there was at least one that could cause some problems if the CEO was successful in summoning out that specific Dragon monster.
"It would seem that unless I lash you with the whip of absolute defeat…," Seto declared. I didn't like where this was going as the brunette boy tapped against the holographic images of the cards that made up his hand. "The fetters of the king's spirit will never come loose! Ritual Summon! Descend forth Blue-Eyes Chaos Max Dragon," Seto continued.
Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon – Attribute: Dark, Type: Dragon/Ritual, Level: 8, ATK/4000, DEF/0
"This will end this farce! True Maximum Burst!" Seto declared. The CEO had his Chaos dragon unleash its' attack which proceeded to plough into the Trap Monster. "When Chaos Max destroys a defending Monster, it inflicts double piercing damage to you!" Seto declared. He spoke this as Metamorph Clay Fortress was blasted into rubble and unfortunately this attacked ended up taking Black Magician with it.
Yugi – LP: 5000 – LP: 4000
"Yugi can still win, I know it," I quietly yet strongly affirmed. I refused to believe that another other than the one I loved would be victorious, Seto wouldn't be able to defeat Yugi just like he hadn't defeat Atem and I knew for a fact that Kylie had never given up on Atem when the enemy seemed to have the upper hand, so how could I do anything less for Yugi?
"I will not lose… never! I made a promise… with him. That's why… I can't afford… to lose!" Yugi firmly declared. He got back on his feet and drew a card from his deck which he then proceeded to play. "I summon Apple Magician Girl!" Yugi declared. A winged apple fell down from the sky and transformed into a female magician. "Kaiba-kun, with my Monster friends by my side, I will defeat you!" Yugi responded. He set a card face down on the field to end the turn.
Apple Magician Girl – Attribute: Fire, Type: Magician, Level: 3, ATK/1200, DEF/800
I heard Yumiko let out a happy giggle as she clapped her hands in an excited fashion causing me to look at my young cousin allowing me to see that her eyes were bright as a large smile curved across her face clearly showing how happy she was to be seeing this newest female Magician being brought into play during the duel.
"Told you he added them to his deck," I commented. My hand gently ruffled the small girl's hair as I allowed a smile to spread across my face, Yumiko had brought Yugi some Duel Monster cards as a present for him being chosen to give the graduation speech and one of those cards that she gave to him happened to be Apple Magician Girl. The second card had also been a Magician-type Monster and it would perfectly complement the Monster out on the field.
"Defeat me, you say?!" Seto spat. He was clearly angered by Yugi's words much as in the same way that he used to get riled up by Atem's jabbing comments. "If so, then may you be gone with your friends in tow!" Seto ordered. The Chaos Dragon unleashed its' attack however before it could hit, this activated Apple Magician Girl's Special Effect.
This Special Effect of Apple Magician Girl would allow Yugi to summon out a Magician-type monster from his hand that was Level Five or lower, that monster would become the new target of Chaos Dragon's attack; but that very same attack would be halved as well. It was a powerful effect for weakening attacks to preserve Life Points, Yugi chose to summon forth Lemon Magician Girl which was the other card that Yumiko had gifted him with.
Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon – ATK/4000 – ATK/2000
Lemon Magician Girl – Attribute: Light, Type: Magician Level: 2, ATK/800, DEF/600
However, this counterstrike didn't end there as it was revealed that Lemon Magician Girl had a similar effect to Apple Magician Girl's; with Lemon Magician Girl Yugi was able to summon out a higher level Magician but its' effect was negated and this allowed Yugi to bring out another old friend of Atem's and by extension all of us, a card that had also been gifted to him but this time by me, Black Magician Girl.
Black Magician Girl – Attribute: Dark, Type: Magician, Level: 6, ATK/2000, DEF/1700
Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon – ATK/2000 – ATK/1000
With Blue-Eyes Chaos having been severely weakened and its' attack focused on Black Magician Girl there was only one way that this battle was going to end. The laser beams of light energy shot out, but the female Magician easily flew through the danger until she reached a safe spot allowing her to unleash a magical attack thus destroying the Chaos Dragon.
Seto – LP: 7500 – LP: 6500
"But with this, I'm able…" Seto calmly stated. As those words passed his lips, the CEO proceeded to lift a holographic card above his head. "To call forth my ultimate dragon. Infinite time. O white force hidden within its' origin, spread your wings which tremble in the echo of intersecting souls and come forth from the blue abyss! Deep-Eyes White Dragon!" Seto announced.
Deep-Eyes White Dragon – Attribute: Light, Type: Dragon, Level: 10, ATK/0, DEF/0
The newest dragon appeared on his field and because of the effect it held, it was allowed to deal six hundred points of damage directly to the opponent's Life Points for each Dragon-type monster that was in Seto's Graveyard which meant Yugi would be dealt one thousand, eight hundred points of damage as a result of the effect.
Yugi – LP: 4000 – LP: 2200
"Next, Deep-Eyes! Inherits the power of Chaos Max Dragon! Now time to close the curtain on this, on this Duel!" Seto announced. The new Dragon began to concentrate an energy attack within the ring that rested behind its' head clearly preparing to destroy one of Yugi's monsters and it was likely that Seto would pick either Apple or Lemon in order to end this duel.
Deep-Eyes White Dragon – ATK/0 – ATK/4000
"Trap, activate! Magicians' Protection! This reduces damage to me by half," Yugi countered. Apple and Black Magician Girl fell back and raised a protective shield around Yugi whilst Lemon Magician Girl took the hit thus depleting Yugi greatly of his Life Points, however he had at least managed to stay in the duel although Yumiko had decided to rebury her head in my skirt again.
Yugi – LP: 2200 – LP: 600
Yugi had been thrown back by the powerful attack whilst Seto looked extremely unhappy that Yugi was still managing to cling on, he had clearly hoped that this would be a quick match. Since the CEO didn't want to be delayed in attempting to bring Atem back just so he could fulfil his selfish goals. Seto set a card face down and handed the duel over to Yugi despite ordering him to stay down.
Honda and Jounouchi realised the dangerous position that Yugi had got stuck in despite the fact that the Trap he had played managed to save him, Yugi drew a card from his deck and proceeded to look at it before turning his attention to the brunette boy standing across from him with a determined edge to his look.
"This Magic card, I'm giving it to you, Kaiba-kun!" Yugi announced. He threw the card that he had just draw at his opponent allowing the brunette boy to catch it although when he looked at it his blue eyes widened in surprise causing me to wonder what card had been given to him, but I was more curious as to why Yugi would suddenly hand over a card to his opponent for no reason.
"This lets me activate the Magic card, Magical Contract Door! It lets me put a new Monster into my hand which I'll Summon here now!" Yugi continued. Both Apple Magician Girl and Black Magician Girl were sacrificed in order to bring out this new Monster that Yugi had selected. "Raging dragon of blackened steel, shatter the lock enclosing the bounds of the mortal plane and bring forth destruction to my enemy! Show yourself Gandora Cross the Dragon of Demolition!" Yugi announced.
Gandora Cross the Dragon of Demolition – Attribute: Dark, Type: Dragon, Level: 8, ATK/0, DEF/0
Like the normal version of Gandora, this dragon was able to destroy other cards on the field apart from itself and Yugi opted to activate this effect, the red orbs across Gandora Cross' body began to light up one after the other. Then beams of red light burst forth from Gandora Cross striking out across the stadium and completely annihilating Deep-Eyes, this also caused Seto to lose Life Points equal to the dragon's attack points with Gandora Cross gaining those Attack Points.
Seto – LP: 6500 – LP: 2500
However, before Yugi could utilise his monster's new strength, Seto activated Deep-Eyes' Special Effect which caused Gandora Cross to be taken down with it causing me to let out an annoyed huff at the sudden turn around. Once the smoke cleared, I saw the shaft of light falling from the ceiling with the Millennium Puzzle floating back down into the stadium aiming to land between the two duelists.
"So, you intend on being a constant thorn in my side, do you? Yugi!" Seto questioned. Yugi responded by stating he had come here so that he could tell Seto something very important, Yugi then began to walk up to the Millennium Puzzle as it finished its' descent allowing Yugi to hold the object in his hands for the first time since the Ceremonial Duel began. "Yugi?" Seto questioned
The boy didn't respond to the call of his name, especially since it was so soft as opposed to how Seto had been acting previously, then all of us who knew what was going on were rendered into shock. This shock came from the fact that Yugi proceeded to slide the two missing Puzzle pieces into where they belonged on the ancient object and then the centre piece with the eye was pushed in completing the Puzzle.
I wondered, would it work, it wasn't like I wanted Atem to return to this plane of existence, but I couldn't help but be curious as to what happen once the Puzzle was completed once again. Kebi had been so certain that the power of the Prana would encourage Atem to return in order to stop it if the wielder went rogue, but that didn't mean it was guaranteed that he would return.
"Kat, is that meant to do something?" Yumiko asked. Everyone looked at the young girl who had her head cocked to the side staring at Yugi holding the Puzzle and I let out a sigh. Of course, Atem wouldn't return now, this world was safe from harm and his duty was done so there was no reason for him to return to the land of the living even if the Puzzle had been recompleted.
I didn't give an answer to Yumiko since she had remained mostly unaware of the Millennium Puzzle's power, all I did was reach out to wrap my hand around her shoulders, I had no idea how to respond to those words or what to say. It was probably even worse for Yugi, because he had missed Atem so much, he had probably wanted to see him as well, but this confirmed that Atem wasn't coming back no matter how hard any of us wished for him to come back.
Something cold and foreboding washed over me causing my eyes to dart around as I started to shiver violently, however Yumiko's soft whimper letting me know that she had also sensed the evil that had suddenly washed over us. Like I said earlier, it's never this easy when it comes to stopping those that want to do harm to the world we lived in.
"Atem is no longer within this Millennium Puzzle. I had come to realise that fact, the moment I took the last piece into my hand. And you calling me so that you could fight Atem is something I, of course, knew. But… but this is… the truth. I had to accept it and you have to as well Kaiba-kun," Yugi spoke. His hand released the completed Puzzle allowing it to float away once more.
"I refuse," Seto hissed. I knew the CEO couldn't be taking this revelation well, but he had to accept the fact that Atem was never going to return just like the rest of us had to. "I refuse to accept this, Yugi! I absolutely won't! I will defeat you and bring forth the spirit of the king!" Seto declared. He then activated the Trap, High Speed Aria allowing him to discard a Magic card to the Graveyard letting him activate its' effect, the card was the one Yugi gave him which was actually Resurrection of the Dead intending to bring back Deep-Eyes.
"Trap, activate! Final Geas! This removes all Monsters from both of our Graveyards! And from the removed Monsters, I… will resurrect this Monster!" Yugi countered. As usual the monster that Yugi elected to bring back was Black Magician whilst Deep-Eyes was removed along with the rest of the monsters thanks to the Trap's effect.
"Just like with Atem, he stopped the use of Resurrection of the Dead using a card effect and wins the duel via attacking with a Magician," I muttered. It was almost ironic in a sense but perhaps this would teach Seto the hard truth that Atem couldn't ever return to us by having Yugi defeat him in the exact same way that he had managed to defeat Atem.
Suddenly a sharp cold sensation washed over both me and Yumiko causing me to shove my cousin into the arms of my friends confusing and startling them as I quickly ripped the cardigan from my arms. This revealed the Millennium Gauntlet to the rest which confused them even more, all this happened as Black Magician launched a Black Magic attack at Seto.
Seto – LP: 2500 – LP: 100
"Trouble!" I announced swiftly. However, I didn't let the others ask any more questions as I immediately teleported myself to where the battle was about to take place.