Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Legacy of Tarot
Chapter 2: The Serpent's Bite
When last I left you, our up-and-coming duelists Rebecca and Nick were gearing up to face off against a hooded intruder with a forked tongue, a violent attitude, and a short temper. The snake-like figure, whose name had not yet been given to his opponents, was quite obviously not human – far from it, at that. Perhaps he was, once. Perhaps someone or something changed him for the worse. Either way, his rash interruption of the Tare Invitational finals match had quite sparked Nick's curiosity – and his temper.
Slowly, the figure reached over his deck with his scaly green hand, drawing the usual 5 cards that all duelists start a match with. Between them, Nick and Rebecca also had five cards, but they were at an advantage – three of their own monsters already populated the field, and they had three face-down cards ready for action at any moment. A glint of yellow was seen from under the creature's green hood as he looked in their direction, and he placed a card face-down in defense mode, as well as another card in the Magic portion of the field. Saying nothing, he looked up at them as if daring them to attack. A bit reluctant, each of them drew their card. Nick and Rebecca whispered to each other for a few brief, fleeting moments before deciding on what to do. They were at a slight disadvantage in that they had only 1 Summon per turn, which meant that only one of them could place a monster. It took a while, but it was decided that Nick would place his monster this turn.
"I play Harpie's Brother in attack mode, and I play Black Pendant as well!" Nick began with a chuckle, certain that he'd come up with a rock-hard monster this time. "Harpie's Brother's attack is now 2300."
"I'll start this round off with an attack! Empress Judge, use your Judgement Ray on our opponent's face-down card!" Rebecca ordered, and just as before, a ray of light began to shine down upon the reptilian opponent's face-down card. However, this beam of energy bounced backwards just as quickly, shining itself all over Nick's and Rebecca's field. This prompted a chuckle from their opponent.
"Foolsss… I played a Trap card… Mirror Forccce… It negatesss all your damage thisss round and dessstroysss all your attack posssition monssstersss on the field."
Just as he had promised, the Empress Judge's reflected Judgement Ray attack made quick work of their entire playing field, destroying the Harpie's Brother, Harpie Lady Sisters, Neo the Magic Swordsman, and Empress Judge. This left their field near empty, with only a few face-down cards left to protect their life points.
"Drooling Lizard, attack!" The reptile hissed under his green hood. The image of a small lizard became visible to the combatants, and despite its petite stature, Drooling Lizard ran right towards Nick and Rebecca, prepared to attack their life points directly. It did, and their Life total dropped from 8000 to 7100. However, immediately afterwards, that same total increased above and beyond normal, to 8100! This, of course, made their opponent very angry.
"Let's not get angry now, my nameless foe!" Nick chuckled, trying to keep his cool. He knew that wearing down your opponent's mind was just as important as actual card strategy. "I just played a simple trap; Numinous Healer. This card allows me to increase my Life by 1000 points when I am attacked. I just chose to activate it now."
Another hiss followed, accompanied by a furious slam of their foe's fist on the playing field. A few of his cards shook out of place, but he returned them just as quickly. Nick and Rebecca simply laughed at his short temper.
"Very well… it isss your turn…"
The dynamic duo nodded, and each drew their card for that round. Again they conversed in no more than a whisper, formulating a plan that would deal as much damage as possible to their aggressor. Rebecca drew one card from her hand while Nick drew two, and each placed them on the field.
"I play Dark-Piercing Light!" Nick began, sliding the card into position. A bright light flooded the battlefield, even causing the snake-man to shield his eyes, and when he looked back, his face-down card was revealed to be a trap. "Waboku, eh? No matter. I'll play this card face-down."
"My turn! I play Gemini Elf in attack mode!" Rebecca announced, slamming the card down face-up on her field. Ripples of light coursed through the console and the twin elves appeared battle-ready on the field, arms interlocked, prepared to fight as one. "Gemini Elf, attack Drooling Lizard!"
The two elves began to dash in the hapless reptile's direction, only to be halted for a brief moment by Waboku. The figure chuckled, knowing that he had stopped their attack… or had he?
"Ah ah ah, not so fast!" Rebecca laughed, whipping a card from the field into her hand. "We played Seven Tools of the Bandit! This card allows us to negate the effects of your own trap card. Clever, huh?"
As their antagonist hissed impatiently once more, the priestly figures that were Waboku vanished instantly into thin air, leaving Gemini Elf prepped and ready to pummel Drooling Lizard into submission. The snake-man's Life points dropped to 7000 as a result.
"My turn…" The grim aggressor growled, drawing a card of his own. Suddenly, a deep look of victory and success came over what they could see of his face, and he hastily slapped a card down on the field. "Now you will witnessss the true power of the Tarot Beastsss! Sssorcerer of Ssserpentsss, come forth!"
Slapping the card down on his field, Nick's opponent caused a robed snake with arms to slither onto the field, energy beams crackling at regular intervals between its hands. The two finalists looked at themselves, stunned. They, in all their dueling years, had never seen a card anything like this. Also, it was easily more powerful than any of the cards they possessed, with an attack strength of 3000!
"I also play Harpie'sss Feather Duster, to dessstroy each trap or magic card on your field."
A grey feather began to flutter above Nick and Rebecca, and as it lowered, it opened into a merry dance that swept their two face-down cards right off the field and into their graveyard. They could have sworn the giggling of a Harpie Lady was heard afterwards, but it could have been a figment of their imagination.
"Sssorcerer Ssserpentsss, attack Gemini Elf with Lightning Volley!"
The Sorcerer of Serpents' hands began to crackle a bright yellow-and-blue colour, pure energy roaring through its veins. In an attack powerful enough to awe even the most hardy of Duel Masters, a blast of pure energy was thrown forth, disintegrating the twin elvenkin where they stood. Our heroes' Life total dropped to 7000, putting them even with their aggressor.
"Rebecca, what the hell is that thing?" Nick whispered frantically, bent over so that the reptilian foe could not see their words.
"I haven't got a clue… he called it a Tarot Beast, but what does that mean?"
"All I know is that it means big trouble… look at that attack strength! I don't think I have a single card that could take that down! And I'm all out of Trap Cards!"
"Me too… well, I guess all we can do now is prey…"
Gulping low in their throats, the duo took their cards and looked them over carefully. They knew that from this point on, any mistake would mean certain loss on their part. Anything, ANYTHING at all that could take down the Sorcerer of Serpents would be accepted. Their hearts sank; no powerful monsters, no all-encompassing magic cards. However, Rebecca did have one trick left up her sleeve.
"I'll play this card face-down… I'm afraid that's the best I can do!" She smirked, trying to keep her cool. She knew that her plan was a long shot, but the course of this battle depended on its success. "Your turn."
"Very well…" Their opponent chuckled, drawing a card. He
grinned even further, placing another card in Attack mode on the field. "I play
Vorssse Raider in attack mode… attack their face-down
card!"
The beast with the curved blade lumbered forward, much to the dismay of Rebecca
and her plan. A few quick slices were all it took to dispatch of the card she
had played; Dimensional Warrior. After the last swipe had found its mark, a
rift seemed to open in the center of the battlefield. Dimensional Warrior
simply jumped in of its own free will; Vorse Raider was
sucked in afterwards, definitely NOT of its own free will. Rebecca simply
sighed sadly – the best plan she had on such short notice had failed.
"Now… Sssorcerer of Ssserpentsss… attack them, now!"
Once again brimming with energy, the Tarot Beast lobbed forth its volley of electrical energy. Slamming hard into Nick and Rebecca's podium, the entire stadium seemed to rumble violently, and pieces of it even fell to the ground. Their Life points fell drastically from 7000 to 4000.
To be honest, things weren't looking too good as they drew their cards. Nick's face lit up as he saw the Millenium Shield in his hand; however, as a Level 6 monster, it required a Tribute to be played in battle. With Sorcerer of Serpents in play, that wasn't likely to be an option.
"I wish I had something better, Nick, but this is all I've got…" Rebecca whispered, playing a card face-down in Defense mode. "What about you?"
"Not much… I've got a trap, but I doubt it will do us much good at this point." He replied in defeat. "Alright… your turn." The finalist shouted at his opponent, showing as much false confidence as he could muster.
The snake-man drew his card once more, as well. Again he laughed, and Rebecca and Nick felt their hearts jump into their throats as he played his next card. Though not the most powerful card in the whole of Duel Monsters, it would certainly add to their horrid position.
"I play La Jinn the Myssstical Genie of the Lamp in attack posssition. Ussse Three Wishesss on their face-down card!"
Waving its hands in a strange fashion, La Jinn snapped its fingers and created a ball of shadowy energy in its hands. Then another. And another. These three spherical energy blasts orbited its body before, on his command, they shot directly at the face-down card, with revealed itself to be Beaver Warrior. A raising of its shield and a quick squeal were all that were heard before the poor beast was lugged off to the Graveyard pile.
"Thisss hasss been… enchanting… but I mussst end our battle here and now. First, I equip Sssorcerer of Ssserpents with Dark Pendant, increasssing itsss attack to 3500. Now, Lightning Volley!" He commanded, prompting an obedient nod from his monster. The beast charged up just as before, only the energy seeming more chaotic and destructive this time, volleying the charged beam of energy right into their Life points. After the onslaught, they were left with a shoddy 600 Life points to go by. "And it doesssn't ssstop there. I play Final Flame, which decreassses your Life pointsss by a further 600! Hahahahaha!"
The cold realization of defeat swept over Nick and Rebecca. Not only had they been beaten by this flying show off, they had been DECIMATED by him. One thing was still on their mind, however, beyond even the fact that they had lost the match: what would happen to them now that he had beaten them?
"Now… I shall take… my prize…" The reptile growled. His cards had, at this point, vanished into his robes, and he was darting through the air in Nick's direction, arms outstretched to snatch him right off the podium! Just as he reached a mere three feet from his target, Rebecca leapt in the reptilian aggressor's path, she herself becoming entangled in his clutches! "Not what I had intended… but you shall do, my pretty…"
"No! Leave her alone, you bastard!" Nick roared, slamming his fist on the playing field. The snake simply chuckled and levitated upwards, finally soaring through the hole he had created earlier. His new prize was tucked firmly underneath his arm, screaming fiercely as she vanished from sight. "Dammit… you bastard…"
