[Merry-go Town || Southwest Point || 5:28 AM]
A child's fantasy... that was the best way to describe it. Merry-go Town was a giant amusement park, populated by children having the time of their lives. There were game booths filled with prizes and simple gimmicks to attract crowds. Scattered among the games were carnival tents with hourly shows, exotic petting shows, and freshly cooked buffets. Equally exotic entertainers were there as well, and ranged from clowns to stilt-men to two-headed giants. This town had it all.
Yugi looked around anxiously. "Am I the only guy who is disturbed by clowns?" He shuffled away from a group of clowns dancing their way to a show tent.
"They are meant to be entertaining to children, so I don't understand why you would fear them." Yami scanned the crowd casually. His spiritual presence was ignored by the townsfolk. "Perhaps you are simply nervous in such an active environment as this. Shy boys like yourself seem to share that trait."
"How would you know that?" Yugi went to a map and checked it. He found a place marked "Card Shop" and memorized the quickest route to it. "How many shy boys do you know?"
"Just one," he smirked. "But believe it or not, I was very much like you in my youth."
Yugi walked down the main path through the game booths, silently admiring each one. "There's no way I'd believe that." Yami walked beside Yugi, and the oncoming people mysteriously avoided walking through Yami's essence. From a casual observer's point of view, it looked like the crowd was parting for Yugi.
"On my name, it's the truth. I was introspective to the point where I hardly spoke. I was like that until I met my future queen at age fifteen. She taught me to open up and use my heart to be strong. It made me a more effective ruler."
"How old are you now?" Yugi asked. "I mean, how old were you before you died?"
"I don't know. Those memories are still sealed. At least, most of them are. I've been remembering pieces of my private life ever since I defeated Pegasus and my shadow powers started to increase."
"Hmm... do you remember who your wife was, at least? Her reincarnation might be alive today."
Yami stopped in front of a tent. It was advertised as a future-seeing booth run by Madam Damad the Mad. "I don't remember who she was. But I'm sure I'll find her someday." Yami entered the fortuneteller's tent, and Yugi followed curiously.
Inside, a woman dressed up as a stereotypical gypsy waved her hands over a crystal ball. She was sitting at a table covered with a red linen sheet. The ball glowed with an iridescent light that barely illuminated the dark room. Yami felt like he was in his Mind Room, so he felt more or less at home. The woman noted Yugi's presence and began her Mysterious Crony act.
"Wel-come to the edge of eternity!" Damad proclaimed. "Sit, sit! I will gaze into the dreams of the Four Guardians to reveal the future and the past!"
Sigh... "Sure you will," Yugi thought. He sat down in the plush chair on the opposite side of the table. Damad waved her hands over the crystal ball, and the prophecy began.
"You have lived five lives since time began!" Damad proclaimed. "Though the human soul can only be created once and destroyed once, the mind is the offspring of the ancient soul and the mortal body! Through new bodies, we achieve reincarnations and new minds, but we always retain one eternal soul."
Yugi blinked. That wasn't a prediction, or even a convincing act for a carnival gypsy, but it was actually insightful. Someone like Yugi, who had a dark side that seemed to become more of an individual every day, could use information like that in a practical manner. But, if what she said was true, then... did Yugi have a soul, or did Yami have a soul? They couldn't both have one.
Damad continued her spastic prophesying. She looked like she'd fall out of her seat if she waved her hands any faster. "I see a young girl dressed in a simple cloth, enslaved by the One with God's Eye but betrothed to the Guilty Prince by the gods. Pharaoh denied their love and was punished for it."
Yami suddenly got very excited. "Yugi! Ask her about that girl!" Yugi didn't understand why Yami was so interested in her babbling, but he asked.
"Tell me about the girl, and those other two things." Yugi was unsure about this whole thing, but Damad took his request without skipping a beat. She grabbed a deck of tarot cards from her pocket and shuffled them hastily. She was even faster than Yami at shuffling, which was a feat in itself.
"The One with God's Eye, born of a loving mother and a fearsome Pharaoh! The One with God's Eye, prophesied by the magicians to tame the Shadows! The One with God's Eye, prophesied to enslave the very Gods themselves!" Damad flipped the top card of her tarot deck, and revealed a Dark Magician card. Yugi's eyes almost fell out of their sockets.
"That's my favorite card!" he shouted. Upon closer inspection, the card just had the picture of the Dark Magician, so it wasn't a Duel Monsters card. But Yugi'd never heard of a fortuneteller's deck having a Dark Magician's picture in it. But considering the fact that this was a fortuneteller on Monster Island, he should have expected it.
"In the ancient days of Egypt, on the final night of Moses' attack, a plague was unleashed that sent the first-born sons of Egypt into the Shadow Realm!" Damad threw down a card to the Dark Magician's left. It was the Dark Ocean, a Digimon card. "Upon seeing his beloved son cast into the realm of darkness, the great Pharaoh unleashed his wrath on Moses. They dueled in the mightiest Shadow Game of all, but in the end, Moses overpowered the great Pharaoh and sent him to his doom!"
Damad slapped yet another card onto the table, to the Dark Magician's right. This was a Trainer card from the Pokemon game, called Switch. "But Moses would not escape unscathed. From the heart of the Pharaoh's son awoke the darkness sealed within him – a darkness with the power to tame the Gods. The One with God's Eye challenged the great Moses to a Shadow Game as well, and from this battle the One emerged victorious! He spared Moses' life, but in exchange he was allowed to become the protector of half the People of Moses. The Loyal Ones were forced to remain, for without them the kingdom of Egypt would have fallen."
Damad continued shuffling rapidly as she swayed her head with her eyes closed. "But unknown to the younger Pharaoh, from these Loyal Ones would come a threat from beyond!" Damad slapped another card onto the table, just above the Dark Magician. This new card was the D-Reaper, another card from the Digimon game. Yugi recognized it because of what he'd heard on the news. A recent attack of epic proportions was done in the guise of a creature called the D-Reaper. The attack had been stopped through the combined efforts of the world's leaders and a group of kids called Digimon Tamers. But... why was Damad revealing this card? What did it have to do with the past?
"Do not let thine eyes fool you. There is a familiar face hidden beneath this mask." Damad shuffled her deck, even faster this time. Her hands were almost a blur. "Thou must battle two masks. Beneath the Reaper's mask lies a force with the power to destroy Egypt and the sands surrounding her. But the more dangerous mask is the Pharaoh's mask. Beneath it lies the force that released the hidden powers of the One with God's Eye."
"What....?" Yugi gasped.
[** FLASH ** Zero was a mystery to the world, since he refused to have his picture taken. And any time he had an interview with a reporter, he wore a mask that supposedly was designed in the style of an Egyptian Pharaoh's mask.]
"Just as thou relies on the One's powers, he relied on the power of another in ancient times. And it is that force which thou must face. Two masks, two darknesses. Both tied to the girl born from the Loyal Ones. The girl whose heart carries the God that will destroy all."
Yugi was sweating lightly. This was starting to get scary. "'He relied on the power of another...'. Yami... did you have a..."
The spirit was dead silent.
Damad revealed one last card at the base of the Dark Magician – a card that Yugi didn't recognize. Just under the card's picture was written the word, "Dark". The picture was of a beautiful woman with flowing hair and a black gown, topped off with a crown. The gypsy finished her prophecy with a warning.
"There is a magician who seeks to seal your power away, in the name of the masked enemy. It is her power to seal and release the spirits. Though she hides within a body of steel, she is still a soul with the power of magic. She will be thy greatest enemy, for she will seek to seal your true power and release the entity sleeping inside the girl."
"...Juri," Yugi whispered. She was the girl they were searching for. But who was Damad referring to? A soul within a body of steel? A magician with the power to seal and release spirits? Yugi didn't know anyone like that – it sounded almost like a machine with magical powers. But machines didn't have souls or magic.
"Take care, young man," Damad said softly. She picked up the cards she'd placed on the table and pocketed her deck. "Now, be on your way. And may the Four Guardians protect you on your quest."
Yugi gulped lightly. "Th-thank you." Slowly he stood. As he was about to leave, he turned and placed a 1000 Yen bill on the table. "I'll remember what you said. But, please tell me one last thing. Who... are you?"
Damad smiled and slid the bill back towards the boy. She reached forward and lightly touched Yugi's cheek. It was soft and cool like marble, but firm at the same time. She was holographic!
"A modern slave. You may think we are born of the Arks, but we are not. We are enslaved by them." Damad pointed to a very small uprising at the base of Yugi's Duel Ark. It was a plug-in of some kind, labeled M-CYBER. "Your eyes see what it wishes you to see. And our minds do what it tells us to do. But sometimes, we wake up. Those who truly awaken will no longer be slaves."
Yugi looked at the Duel Ark intently, and his eyes fell onto his deck. Holograms didn't have minds, so they couldn't be slaves. What was Damad trying to say? When Yugi looked up to ask, Damad was gone. The tent was empty. Yugi gulped nervously, and slowly vacated the tent with his other half.
"That was scary," Yugi said. "But the things she said sounded almost true. Like she was really seeing things." The boy looked at Yami, who was silently staring at the tent. "Is that why you went in there? You must've sensed that she was a real prophet."
Yami turned away. "I do not know why I went in. I was not in control of myself." The spirit walked down the path, where the Card Shop lay. Yugi looked at the tent one more time before racing after the spirit and joining him in the shop.
--
** Dark / Spirit / Rare Ka
** LVL 3 / HP 600
** ATK 1200 / DEF 500 / SPD 9
** Dauthi Horror attacks from a shadow dimension and cannot battle monsters unless they are also in that dimension. (Dauthi Horror can still attack a player directly.)
Whirlwind
** Trainer Card
** PP: 1 (Can be used 1 time.)
** EFFECT: Normal Attack (Can be equipped to any Monster). This attack deals no damage, but the enemy must discard their active monster.
Crypt Angel
** Dark / Fairy / Rare Ka
** LVL 6 / HP 1200
** ATK 2000 / DEF 1700 / SPD 18
** When Slashed, Crypt Angel brings a monster from your discard pile to your hand.
** Crypt Angel is strong against Light monsters.
--
Yugi admired the three cards he'd traded for in the Card Shop. "These are nice! With these new monster cards and this Pokemon card, we'll be in great shape." The boy slid the three cards into his deck. He didn't worry about shuffling it, since his ark could use the Auto-Shuffle function to shuffle his deck right before he battled.
"I am glad we found some helpful competitors," Yami added. Normally, their opponents were either obsessed with victory, or just full-blown psychos. But the group that Yugi met in this particular Card Shop was very nice indeed. They were intent on winning the unbelievable prize just like anyone else would be, but they were decent enough to treat the other contenders with respect and honor. It was a refreshing change of pace for Yugi and his guardian.
"One of them also said they just met Jeri Katou up the road here," Yugi said. Yugi learned about the girl's name after a conversation with the friendly group inside the Card Shop. Yami sensed the presence of what he thought to be Juri in the area, so Yugi asked the group whether or not they'd seen any young girls battling recently. They mentioned a few, but after some discussion about her appearance (based on Yami's faded memory of her), they limited it to one girl. The group saw that particular girl in the theme town of En'Dal, so that was where Yugi was headed.
"Just remember, we're not going to hurt her," Yugi said in reminder. "We're just going to meet her and come up with a plan based on what you can sense. There has to be a way to deal with Exodia without hurting Jeri Katou or messing with her soul." Yami didn't reply, so Yugi assumed that was a "maybe". That was disquieting, but Yugi didn't press the matter. He didn't want to argue with himself while he was still in a populated area, considering the facial expressions he would have while arguing.
[An image of a thin pink wand, topped by the head of an ibis, falls in slow motion across a black background.]
Yugi felt his heart skip a beat, and Yami's spirit seemed to tense up. "What was that? That feeling just now."
"I felt a massive force pass over us," Yami said, looking around. "It felt like an incredible power, drawn from a single lifeless source. Almost like a Millennium Item."
"A Millennium Item...?" Yugi looked around as well. They were in the center of Merry-go Town still, and Yugi couldn't see anyone with an accessory colored like his Puzzle. "I don't see anyone who looks like they have one."
"This isn't a Millennium Item," Yami informed his aibou. "It just feels like one. This is a power of a different sort, but just as dangerous. We must be on our guard." Yugi agreed, and proceeded with caution towards another section of the ongoing carnival. He passed by a circus tent, and felt that feeling again. Yugi turned, and walked into the tent.
And at the opposite end, he saw a girl dressed entirely in red.
--
[Merry-go Town || Two minutes ago]
Mokuba dialed a number on his cell phone rapidly. There was a response after a single ring. A computerized female voice answered, in the accent of a southern lady from America. "Running Identification Protocol. Please state your name."
"Mokuba Kaiba." The boy ignored a few players beside him, who were making a mad dash for the door of the cafe after hearing who was at the table next to them.
"Well hel-lo, little mastah. It's been a while since you and I've worked together. I'm usually stuck with our favorite overlord."
Mokuba smiled. Of all Seto's machines, the super computer set up in the Kaiba Mansion was the funniest and friendliest. In a way, this unnamed computer personality was Sakura's mother, because a lot of Sakura's emotional and humor-based programming came from it. "Have you been in contact with my brother by any chance?"
"I've been playing Capumon all by myself for days!" the computer exclaimed. "I'm getting bored. Your brother hasn't said a word to me ever since he started working with that stranger from Industrial Illusions."
"That's because he knows you talk too much about secret stuff." Across the table, Sakura laughed knowingly before adjusting the blue bow in her hair.
"That's not true!"
"What about that janitorial robot you spoke to for several hours about the Duel Disk II holo-matrix refreshing subroutines?" Sakura's face went blank at that.
"It wasn't my fault that it was bugged," the computer said innocently. "And besides, you got the data back before it escaped, right?"
Mokuba laughed. "Yeah, we did. But Seto knows he can't tell you secrets anymore unless he flushed out your program, and he'd never do that." Seto didn't have much in the way of morals, but he had a lot of pride when it came to his products. This computer had a self-growth program that allowed it to rewrite old program data when the situation required it. This programming was what made up its personality, emotions, and memories. Even if Seto someday had no use for the machine, he would not destroy it unless it was necessary. It was a waste to destroy something you worked so hard to create.
"So, spill it already. I know you didn't call me just to chat the afternoon away. You have 'Kura-chan for that."
"Have you tried tapping into the Monster Island mainframe yet?" Mokuba asked. He was pretty sure it tried; the computer was curious about the world's more advanced mainframes ever since it hacked into the Duelist Kingdom system with Kaiba. It hacked mainframes when it was bored, just like people played video games to pass the time. Kaiba had a whole team of engineers devoted to cleaning up after this computer's antics.
"I did, but I found something that I never, ever expected to see."
"Oh?" Mokuba said. Sakura looked up, curious about his conversation. "What'd you find?"
"The mainframe data is the same old boring stuff – card data transfer systems, player status files, system files, database passwords, the usual. But the holographic display systems have so many layers of security that I can barely scratch the surface. And when I do, I get kicked out and have to start all over again with new layers to hack!"
A self-rewriting, self-recycling security system with several layers. Mokuba was impressed. "If the security is unfamiliar to you, then it must be Zero's rather than one of ours."
"Why would they have so much security on the holographic systems?"
"That's what I want to know." Mokuba was sure that Seto knew, but he was already somewhere deep in the island's interior, fighting several people in battles and probably winning. And Seto turned off his cell phone when he was dueling, so he was essentially unreachable until nightfall. "I also want to know if you can hack into the system and run a search for the Mini Cybers."
"I'm lookin', I'm lookin'..." After a few seconds, the computer answered grumpily. "More security. I must be too old for this."
"You'll never be too old for hacking."
"Aww, such a sweet thing to say," the computer teased. "But even after such a nice compliment, I can't help ya with the info just yet. I'll keep trying, but it might be a while before I can break past the security."
"Okay. Just don't get caught in the mean time. PR is still on vacation from the last mess you made."
"I'll try. Give 'Kura-chan a hug for me." The computer hung up, and Mokuba did the same. When the boy looked up, the girl with him moments ago was gone. A blue bow was now lying on the table, and part of it seemed to have turned red.
"...Sakura?"
--
Yugi felt a wave of fear build up within him. He wasn't sure why; this girl seemed harmless enough. But there was something in her eyes that scared him. Yami sensed his aibou's impending fear, and reacted immediately. With a smooth inversion of their spiritual energies, Yami and Yugi switched places. The King of Games was revealed, and Yugi was now in a trance that helped quell his fears while still allowing him to help his other self.
Now that he was in control of the body, Yami sensed the presence of magical energy in the immediate area. It was different from anything he'd encountered in his lifetime. This was not Egyptian magic; it was something else. He was forced to assume that it was coming from the girl in red.
"Pharaoh Ka, DETECTED," the girl said. Her voice echoed slightly and had a strong tone and volume. Yugi recognized it as the voice generated by a synthesizer of some kind. So the girl was either the victim of throat cancer, or a robot.
Yami frowned lightly. "Who are you?"
"A HUNTER OF SPIRITS," said the girl in red. "YOU ARE ONE OF MY PREY. YOU WILL INFORM ME OF THE LOCATION OF MY PRIMARY PREY, Jeri Katou. THAT HUMAN HAS NOT EQUIPPED A DUEL ARK, THUS REQUIRING AN INTERROGATION. REVEAL WHAT INFORMATION YOU HAVE, PHARAOH KA."
"She's after Jeri too!" Yugi gasped. "She must be the enemy that Damad warned us about!" Yami had to agree. Girls that talked like machines and had an aura of magical power were not common.
"Your analysis was correct," Yami said simply. "But I will not reveal that information to just anyone."
"I ANTICIPATED THAT RESPONSE. THAT IS WHY THIS TENT HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR THIS MEETING." At that moment, the tent seemed to phase from cloth into steel, and the two entrances to the tent were covered by a retractable vault door. From the looks of it, all the exits were now blocked.
"YOU WILL TELL ME JERI KATOU'S LOCATION. OR ELSE, YOU WILL BE DESTROYED."
"Tell me who you are and why you want Jeri, and you might be spared," Yami retorted.
The girl in red smirked. Yami didn't expect that from a robot, and it showed. "MY NAME IS SAKURA. AND I AM CAPABLE OF SEALING YOU, PHARAOH KA. IF NECESSARY, I WILL DESTROY YOUR CARRIER AND INTEGRATE YOUR MILLENNIUM ITEM INTO MY NEURAL MATRIX. THERE IS NO NEED FOR ME TO INTERROGATE SOMEONE THAT I CAN CAPTURE."
"If it was that easy, then there would be no reason for you to demand Jeri's location." Yami switched on his ark. It hummed to life. "Your threats are empty."
The girl held out her cupped hands, and opened them to reveal a tiny key with an ibis' head on the end. The key started to float, and a mystic circle of light appeared at her feet. The power of magic could be felt in the air. The girl started speaking in gibberish. At least, it was gibberish to Yugi.
"It's Japanese," Yami said. "But it's Japanese from my time – much too different from modern Japanese for you to understand, Yugi."
"What is she saying?"
Sakura finished the initial robot self-affirmations ("Beginning Wand Summoning Procedure"). From that point on, Yami translated the chant for Yugi's sake. "'Key of Clow. Power of Magic... Power of Light. Surrender the wand, the force ignite...'"
The girl finished her chant with a powerful exclamation. The key expanded and burst into its full-sized form, becoming a pink wand with an ibis head at the top. "'...Release.'"
Sakura held the wand at the ready. "THIS UNIT WILL FORGO THE USE OF A DUEL ARK. THIS UNIT MUST TEST ITS INTEGRATED FUNCTIONS AGAINST A HALF STRENGTH KA-BEARER BEFORE IT CAN MOVE ON TO THE OTHER SLEEPING BEARERS."
"What is she talking about?" Yugi asked.
"I don't know. I only know that she's not to be taken lightly. We must defend ourselves."
[Yugi: 4000 LP (Duel Ark) || D-Sakura: 6000 LP (Sealing Wand)]
Yami noticed from the readout on his ark that Sakura's life point total was higher than his. Yugi reminded him of something that the friendly group from the Card Shop mentioned. "Our Duel Ark's life points are a representation of the ark's power output. These holograms have more power in them than ever before, so the arks have to generate a semipermeable barrier to protect us from being injured or killed by the force of a hologram. If our life points reach zero, the ark will deactivate and we'll lose our barrier. Meaning that a hologram could really injure us afterwords if our opponent wanted."
"Kaiba's latest attempt to create the most extreme game he can," Yami thought sadly. He couldn't fathom people of this time wanting to experience the risk of death. Yami, on the other hand, spent his entire existence fighting battles to the death and looking for peace. But as long as the Shadow Games and the Millennium Items existed, that could never be.
"Sakura must have a stronger barrier than the Duel Arks," Yugi noted. "Not by much, but it still gives her an advantage. We can't let up until the very end."
Yami drew five cards and set one of them on the field – the Dark Magician Girl. The monster held her own wand at the ready. [2000 / 1700, SPD 18]
Sakura drew a card from the pocket of her red dress and threw into the air before her. It stopped in midair and aligned itself with Sakura at an angle. The mystic circle appeared at her feet as she slammed the tip of her wand into the card. "Fiery! RELEASE AND ENSPELL!" Flames washed from the back of the card and took on the form of a humanoid male with a fiery trail in place of legs. [???? / ????]
"It's attributes aren't being displayed," Yugi said with concern. "We can't make an effective attack if we don't know how strong our enemy is."
Yami didn't think long about it. When in doubt, it was best to go on the offensive. "Attack!" Dark Magician Girl floated a few inches into the air and zoomed across the steel tent. When she was close enough she unleashed her dreaded Dark Magic Attack, which washed over Fiery like a hurricane. Despite the ferocity of the attack, Fiery seemed unaffected by the blast. The spirit counterattacked by swinging its arm and unleashing a ring of fire in all directions. Dark Magician Girl was able to dodge the attack, but the fire wave dealt some damage to the contents of the circus tent. Boxes blazed, the acrobat net was incinerated, and the audience stands caught on fire. The room was quickly becoming a steel oven. Yami knew he wouldn't survive if the fire continued to spread, but he was unsure if it would have any effect on Sakura. He had to finish her fast and find a way out of here.
"Dark Magician!!" He slashed the card forcefully to trigger a tag team attack. Dark Magician and Girl stood back to back on the field, and together they blasted Fiery with a Dark Magic Attack of epic proportions. Fiery managed to avoid the attack, but the magicians made a nice dent in the steel door blocking Sakura's entrance. Yami was surprised by the strength of the door, but the fact that it was damaged by the blast gave him hope. He might be able to bust his way out of here when the battle was over.
The Dark Magician duo continued their assault, and Fiery dodged as best it could without bothering to counterattack. After about ten seconds of the combined assault, Yami was forced to discard one of the duo from the field. He chose the Dark Magician Girl, because Fiery's power seemed to be at a higher level than he imagined. Fiery closed in for the kill and washed over the Magician as a wave of flame. Yami's monster was severely burned by the attack, but managed to survive the assault [DM's HP: 3500 == 3040]. Dark Magician unleashed a counter attack, which did some damage in turn. How much, he could only guess.
Yami watched the battle carefully, and surmised from the exchange that Fiery was roughly the same as the Dark Magician in overall power. If the Dark Magician Girl was hit by that attack, she'd likely have been destroyed instantly. Yami hoped that Sakura's monsters weren't all this strong. A deck full of creatures this powerful would be nearly impossible for him to defeat. He had no idea what kind of cards she was using, so he had to finish them off as quickly as possible. And he had just the card to do the trick against Fiery.
"Aqua Madoor! Grant the power of Water to my Dark Magician!" Aqua Madoor became a ghostly presence and seemed to become one with Yami's current monster. The Dark Magician unleashed Aqua Madoor's power as a spherical blast with the magician at the center. This time the attack seemed to have more effect. The watery torrent washed away Fiery's flames, revealing an orange boy underneath. The boy fell to the ground, and Dark Magician finished him off with the full force of his attack. Sakura's life points went down thanks to Fiery's destruction.
** Yugi: 4000 LP || D-Sakura: 5020 LP **
"Go for the girl!!" Yami ordered. He wanted to get at least one clean hit on Sakura, so that their life points would be close to even. Sakura reacted quickly though, drawing another card from her pocket and releasing the monster inside. A green-haired woman appeared, along with a living wall of wood. Dark Magician's attack shattered a good portion of the wall, but did no damage to the spirit or Sakura. The wall started to regrow at an astonishing rate. Parts of the wooden barrier were burned by the fire, but the wall only seemed to grow more quickly as it was destroyed.
"I CAN WAIT IF NECESSARY, PHARAOH KA," Sakura reminded him. "YOUR DESTRUCTION IS ALL THAT'S NECESSARY."
Yami coughed. The smoke was starting to get to him. His eyes started to water from the intense heat. He blinked his eyes and forced himself to concentrate. Sakura was on the defensive, and she hadn't played any support cards yet, so Yami was sure she was toying with him. Like she said, she didn't have to actively fight him. If she waited long enough, he would suffocate as the oxygen was burned away by the fire. He had to stay on the offensive. He just had to hope that he got the chance to break out of here before it was too late.
Yami slashed a Trap card with some effort. A painting-sized representation of the card appeared beside him and revealed it to be the Eye of Truth. The card allowed Yami to see the true power of each monster, which he needed to know in order to combat them as quickly as possible. The Eye of Truth appeared behind the duelist as a massive, floating symbol of an Egyptian eye. The eye flashed as it used its all-seeing power to reveal the power of the Wood spirit. [125% power == 1200 / 3000, SPD 22]
"It's defense is way too high. We've gotta get rid of Wood and force Sakura to play something we can damage." Yami had just the card in hand. He slashed one of his newest cards, the Whirlwind TM, and equipped it to his Dark Magician. The magician unleashed a blast of the Whirlwind effect through his staff, and its effect knocked Wood into the wall with such force that she was dispelled. Yami forwent attacking Sakura directly, because her reactions were far too quick for his attacks to connect. As expected, she reacted quickly and played a new monster. Another female monster appeared on the field – this time, it was a monstrous force known as Fight. [125% power == 3000 / 3000, SPD 30]
Sakura wasted no time and ordered Fight to attack. Fight shot across the field like a bullet and knocked the wind out of the Dark Magician. The duel monster flew into the nearest wall, nearly hitting Yami at the same time. The monster was damaged, but again he survived due to the strength he gained from being Yugi's partner card. Fight didn't let up though, and charged straight for the downed magician and gave him a rapid series of punches that totaled up to several dozen hits. The magician was stunned and motionless, but apparently alive. [DM's HP: 3040 == 1240]
"Oh no! The Dark Magician's in serious trouble!" Yami and his aibou examined their hand. They had a card that would enable the Dark Magician to defeat the Fight card, but it meant sacrificing the Dark Magician as well. They were opposed to the idea, but at the moment they had little choice. They were quickly running out of air, and the fire was spreading closer to the center, meaning that the battlefield was getting smaller as they fought. They had to finish Sakura, if they could, before they suffocated or were burned alive.
"Mage Fury!" Yami yelled over the roar of the fire. He slashed the magic card and watched as its magic infused his Dark Magician with a deadly power. This card released all the limitations on a magician monster and allowed it to destroy just about anything with an incredibly powerful attack. But, the result was that the magician would be destroyed by its own energies, and its player would be damaged as a result. At this point though, Yami couldn't worry about that. He had to get rid of the Fight card quickly, and the life point cost would be worth the exchange.
"Dark Magician, obliterate the Fight card!" As the Dark Magician powered up, Yami chuckled at his opponent. "Let's see if your fighter can avoid this attack!"
"IT DOES NOT NEED TO." Sakura drew another card and released its power. Just as Dark Magician launched its attack, a little girl holding a mirror appeared in front of the Fight card. The Mage Fury attack reflected off the mystical mirror in the girl's hand and shot right back at the magician who cast it!
"Nice try!" Yami shouted. He reared back and slashed the Mirror Force card in his hand. "But I was prepared for such a counterattack, and now you've succeeded in strengthening the power of my attack even more!" Sakura's eyes widened in shock as the super-charged magic attack bounced back and forth across the field, hitting the Mirror spirit and the Mirror Force in turn. Each bounce only strengthened the power of the Mage Fury, and the result was a ticking time bomb of energy. The resulting attack would be immense!
The attack finally exploded in the vicinity of the Mirror card. Yami and Sakura were knocked back with such force that they slammed into the steel walls and fell to the ground. Yami's human body actually bounced off the wall from the impact. He fell face-first to the ground. The barrier generated by his ark prevented the heat from burning his skin and absorbed some of the impact's force, so his back wasn't broken. But it would be bruised for a while.
The billowing smoke from the explosion slowly disappeared, revealing the result of the Mage Fury attack. Sakura's two monsters were annihilated, and the Dark Magician was consumed by the magical effect. Both player's life points dropped accordingly.
** Yugi: 2760 LP || D-Sakura: 1080 LP **
Yami coughed roughly; his lungs were taking a lot of punishment from this environment. He managed to pull himself to a standing position, just in time to see an enemy force swoop in. A swirling red ribbon shot through the air and caught Yami by the neck and wrists. The ribbon became a long, neon red line of energy that latched the duelist to the wall like a set of chains. Unable to move, he hung there and gasped for breath as the smoke continued to build up. Even though the ark's barrier protected him from the holograms and the wall, it did nothing to the air he breathed.
Sakura walked forward, her eyes practically glowing through the smoke. She stopped and gazed up at Yami, apparently miffed at being hit with such force. She grabbed Yami's Millennium Puzzle by the chains and pulled hard on it. The Loop prevented his neck from moving, but it did choke him more thanks to Sakura's pulling.
"THAT WAS AN IMPRESSIVE MANEUVER," Sakura stated. "IMPRESSIVE ENOUGH, THAT THIS UNIT HAS COME TO A CONCLUSION. EVEN A HALF STRENGTH KA-BEARER REQUIRES A DUEL-BOT'S UTMOST ATTENTION. MASTER ZERO WAS WISE IN TELLING THIS UNIT TO WAIT BEFORE ENGAGING JERI KATOU AND THE OTHERS."
"What... does Zero... want?" Yami managed to say. He was feeling light-headed from lack of air. His mind was growing foggy, and his concentration was slipping. Yugi's face phased in and out of visibility. He was even starting to lose control of Yugi's body!
"MASTER ZERO WANTS EXODIA," the robot said without shame. "WHY HE WANTS IT, THAT IS UNKNOWN. BUT IT IS THIS UNIT'S DUTY TO EXTERMINATE ANY WHO WOULD STAND IN HIS WAY. ESPECIALLY YOU AND THE OTHER KA-BEARERS."
"What... are..." Before Yami could finish his sentence, he lost control of his form and Yugi resumed control. With none of the Millennium Puzzle's strength to support his young body, Yugi lost consciousness almost immediately.
Sakura let go of his puzzle, as it was useless to her unless she defeated him in a battle. She cocked her head, as if hearing something in the distance. "YOU WILL FIND OUT SOON. FOR NOW, THIS UNIT'S IDENTITY MUST BE HIDDEN FROM THE YOUNGER KAIBA. THIS UNIT WILL NOT UNDERESTIMATE YOU ANY MORE, PHARAOH KA." Sakura stared at the entrance Yugi used, and the wall rose in response. The duelBot left the burning room, and let the door shut behind her.
Seconds passed, and the Loop card held Yugi to the wall. Yugi's Duel Ark and the Loop card's effects remained active, despite Sakura unofficially ending the battle by leaving. The room was filled with smoke and fire, and by now most of the battlefield was engulfed by the flames as well. There was a few feet of space between Yugi and the fire, but that wouldn't last long.
Yugi's ark shimmered. A few stray particles of holographic light fell to the ground like tear drops. The drops grew larger, and brighter, and before long they formed into the shape of a girl. Slowly, the Dark Magician Girl appeared in front of the lifeless boy. She looked at his face with concern, and with confusion. The Girl looked around hastily, and noticed the fire at her feet. The steel tent's structure was weakened to the point where the ceiling would cave in any moment now, crushing anything in the tent's vicinity. If that happened, Yugi would surely die.
Quickly, the magician twirled her wand like a baton and pointed the tip at the wall. Her special attack damaged the steel barrier, but didn't destroy it. She used her attack again, and again, and again, each time doing a little more damage and weakening it just a bit more. As the flames licked at Yugi's feet, the Girl cast the strongest attack she could muster. Finally, the wall shattered and flew open, revealing the town outside.
The shattering of the wall seemed to be the last straw. The ceiling started to cave in immediately. At the same time, the Loop's duration ended and the card's effects disappeared. Yugi dropped down, but was easily caught by the Dark Magician Girl. Just as she did, she buried the boy with her body. The ceiling crashed down to the floor of the tent. Outside, the edges of a few game booths were broken or destroyed completely by the falling rubble. The roar of the fire died down as much of it was smothered by the steel material. Soon, it was quiet.
The Dark Magician Girl pushed a steel beam out of the way with her left hand. In her other arm, she cradled the unconscious Yugi. The magician pulled herself from the rubble with some effort, and gently picked up Yugi when she was free. There was blood on her body from the wounds she'd experienced in the crash. Yugi was similarly injured, but at least he was still alive. The townsfolk rushed to the scene, along with a few traveling players. A few of them rushed over immediately, led by Mokuba Kaiba.
"Yugi!" he gasped. He ran up as the Girl knelt and carefully laid him down. Mokuba started administrating first aid to Yugi almost immediately. The Dark Magician Girl smiled lightly, closed her eyes, and disappeared.
--
[Crystal Castle || "Eye of Ra"]
Zero's computerized observation room buzzed with activity. The main computer finished a series of complicated reprogramming procedures, then locked the data into its source. "Dark Magician Girl's Battle AI has been reset."
"...Good," Zero commented. He would have preferred if Yugi was killed in the fire rather than rescued, but there was no use in worrying about it. Even if Yugi survived, Zero could just defeat him if he grew troublesome. Zero's real concern was in the Mini Cyber malfunctions. Some of the "holograms" were waking up, and some of the players were returning to the real world. Usually the errors occurred for one or two seconds and ended abruptly, but a few of them were continuous like the Dark Magician Girl's awakening. Her ark's program had to be reset before she revealed the truth to Yugi. Luckily, the monster was too preoccupied with saving the boy to tell him the truth about the monsters or the island.
"Ground scouts have located Jeri Katou," the computer continued. "You were correct, master. She is with competitor Takato Matsuki in the West sector."
"Ah... the girl and her Prince Charming." Zero smirked, and his Ebon Puzzle shimmered in the dim lighting of the room. "Kaiba is close?"
"Seto Kaiba is within 100 meters of their current location, and closing."
"Have him bring the girl to the Castle as soon as she is captured. I am on my way to prepare for Phase 2." Zero was about to leave the room, when a thought occurred to him. "Have you run a security scan on Kaiba's control module?"
The computer checked its data. "Affirmative. The module is functioning properly. No signs of deterioration in the program, and no registered errors of signal loss since his arrival on the island."
"Good. Then his emotions are still under my control." A mind as strong as Kaiba's could not be controlled directly. Zero's only means of controlling him was by manipulating his emotions, in regards to himself and to other people. As far as Kaiba was concerned, Zero was his best friend in the world, and everyone else was his most hated enemy. By controlling those emotions, Kaiba had become a slave to Zero's will just like the "holograms" had. And thanks to Kaiba, phase one of Zero's plan was complete. Soon, Jeri would awaken and the next phase would begin. She just needed a little nudge...
"Have Kaiba make the battle slow and painful," Zero added. "Kaiba will confirm the abilities of the sleeping Ka-Bearers before I risk using the duelBot." The computer relayed the command to Kaiba via radio. Satisfied that everything was going well, Zero left the chamber and prepared for his debut in the twenty-first century.
--
[En'Dal || West sector || 5:40 AM]
Takato blinked in amazement as he watched an pikachu-girl walk by, dressed in the garb of a magician like in an old RPG video game. This town of En'Dal was some kind of cross between Pokemon and a sword-and-sorcery time line, with furry characters running around along with the humans. Takato started to wonder what kind of drugs the creators of this island were using in order to come up with this stuff. Jeri was enjoying a conversation with a human-sized Clefairy dressed as a nurse – or a healer, whatever they were in those games. Takato was suffering at the hands of "Lady" Gatomon and her cohort Veemon, the two camera-mons assigned to Takato and Jeri. Gatomon was dressed like an English woman in the late Victorian time period, and had an absurd accent to match it. Veemon was a newspaper boy, or "newsie", from the mid 1900's. Why the two digimon were dressed that way, nobody knew. But it was amusing to watch these two characters interact with other people.
"Well dah-ling, I think we've found a veritable haven for the deformed ones of pocket monster society, circa 1300 A.D."
Takato had no idea what she just said. She sounded like a woman born in England, but the accent didn't translate too well into Japanese. Takato either misheard her, or failed to understand her completely. Veemon, of course, understood her perfectly.
"You betcha, Miss G. And I'm gettin' it all on tape!" Veemon was the one actually carrying the camera, and he was using it anxiously to film the various travelers moving about the city.
Currently, the group was in front of the town's inn, asking for directions to the nearest Dungeon. Takato quietly watched Jeri as she conversed with the various characters in the area. Jeri was doing the conversational work, since she wasn't going to be battling or wearing a Duel Ark if she had any say in the matter. That was just fine with Takato, considering the rumors he'd started to hear. The rumor that these Duel Arks were designed to maximize injury rather than minimize it. The rumor that Zero intended the player's to knock each other out of the competition with force. The rumor that some of the player's had already been seriously hurt by other players and random enemies in the wilderness. Takato felt like he was in the Digital World again, just trying to stay alive. He hoped the rumors weren't true, but he wasn't so sure that they weren't. Henry and Rika were worried that the Duelists on the island would be dangerous. If they were here competing, maybe the injuries and brutality of the competition were a natural part of their kind of tournaments. Takato would just have to get used to it and be careful.
"Please dahling, don't look so glum." Gatomon jumped onto the boy's shoulder and lightly smacked his cheek. "You have an audience to entertain."
"Now?" Takato whined. "Why do I have to be Live now?"
"Because your friends are traveling between towns right now, which isn't particularly exciting unless they get attacked along the way." She brushed some particles off of Takato's shoulders with the back of her paw, and swished his hair into place. "Hmm... you have such nice hair, child. It's a pity you don't care for it more often."
"I like my hair the way it is," Takato complained. Gatomon continued her administrations nonetheless.
"Don't sweat it, kid," Veemon said in consolation as he looked for the perfect angle to film from. "Just let the lady have her way with your face. It's what you say that really matters, right?"
"Don't listen to that oaf," Gatomon chided. She wiped the dirt off Takato's cheeks with a handkerchief. "'Tis the way you look that's most important, dahling. You have to give the ladies at home something to think about." Gatomon grabbed the strap of Takato's goggles. "And it's time we got rid of these. You're not a blooming fighter pilot, are you?"
"Don't touch those!" Takato shouted. Gatomon reeled back from the sudden outburst, and ended up falling off the boy's shoulder and landing unceremoniously in the dirt. Veemon burst out laughing. "I-I'm sorry!" Takato said quickly.
Gatomon stood up, groaning at the pain in her rump. "Really, now." She dusted off her dress and walked over to where Veemon was. "Some people have no respect for fashion."
Veemon tried to stop laughing long enough to relay some information. "Ten seconds, Miss G!" He resumed his laughter as Gatomon joined him behind camera. She gave him a good, hard smack to the back of the head, knocking him face-first into the dirt. "And that's enough out of you, ruffian! We have filming to do."
Veemon stood up dizzily. "Y-yes Miss G. Five seconds... four... three..." Veemon finished the countdown silently with his fingers, and upon reaching zero he gave Takato a thumbs up. The camera light turned red.
"Um, hi everyone!" Takato said enthusiastically. "Welcome to En'Dal, where Jeri and I are looking for someone who knows where the nearest Dungeon is. I heard that a few people already have a Crest, so we'd better hurry." Takato noticed Jeri finishing up her conversation with a Farfetch'd lancer. "Let's go see how Jeri's doing." He made the short walk to where the girl was, and the camera followed.
"Thank you very much!" Jeri said as the lancer left. The poke-man saluted her and walked away. Jeri turned and noticed the camera, so she smiled brightly and waved. "Hello everyone."
"Any luck?" Takato asked hopefully.
Jeri nodded. "He said there was a Dungeon a short walk east of here. He doesn't think any players have entered it yet, so the Crest should still be in there!"
"I hope so," Takato murmured. "Each Dungeon only has one Crest in it, and there's supposedly only a dozen Dungeons on the island. So the number of Crests are limited. In order to get four of them, we're either going to have to outrun everybody else, or start fighting people for their Crests. Neither of those sounds like a good idea."
"But at least we can get one to bet with," Jeri said. "Let's hurry and go see if the Dungeon still has a Crest in it!" Jeri grabbed Takato by the wrist and dragged him into a run. Veemon and Gatomon followed as best they could.
Little did they know that Seto Kaiba was watching them. The duelist smiled, made a deep-throated chuckle, and walked in the same direction at a more sedate pace.
[Mihira Dungeon]
"Look there!" Jeri said, pointing out a floating parapet with a large symbol floating above it. It was the symbol of a constellation in the Chinese Zodiac – a symbol for the Tiger. "The floating symbol means that this Dungeon hasn't lost its Crest yet."
"But that doesn't mean that there isn't a person inside the Dungeon right now," Takato reminded her. "We'd better hurry." Takato raced to the entrance, followed by the others.
The entrance was a massive bronze door, with several statues of tigers and tiger-men surrounding the stairway. On the door itself was one gigantic tiger head, mouth wide open and eyes glaring down at the travelers as if they were lunch. As they got close, the eyes on the door started to glow, and the head began to move of its own accord. Takato leaped back, a little startled by the head's quick movements.
"Reveal thine Ark, with which you will ferry the beasts chosen by the Gods."
Takato looked down at his dueling device, and figured he meant that. He held his hand as high as he could. "Here it is!"
The tiger examined it intently, before speaking again. "Proceed. Enter and prove thyself to Mihiramon." The tiger roared loudly, scaring the daylights out of Jeri and making Veemon leap into Gatomon's arms. The tiger's head melted into the door itself, and the door slowly opened to reveal a dank, dark passageway. The door went still, and everything went silent.
Takato gulped. "Okay... let's go." The boy started walking forward, with Jeri clutching his arm tightly.
Gatomon glared at Veemon, who was still in her arms. The digimon grinned and tipped his hat. "Sorry, Miss G." Gatomon promptly dropped him and walked after the two humans. Veemon picked up his camera and raced after them, trying to film everything he could. The massive door closed behind him.
The hallway was a little long, but there were no doorways for them to go into, so the only direction to go was forward. Takato and Jeri walked bravely through the tunnel, lit up only be torches at long intervals. After what seemed like ages, they finally reached the end of the hall. There, they found a marble floor decorated with a painting of a mythical tiger. It was illuminated by a hidden light source above. Across the floor was a stained glass window of another tiger that extended all the way to the ceiling. In the glass image was the same symbol as the one outside on the parapet.
"The Crest must be that thing," Jeri said. "The Farfetch'd man said that we had to defeat the guardian of the Dungeon, and it would give us the Tiger Crest."
Takato let go of Jeri's hand and stepped into the illuminated area. "So who do we have to fight? There's nobody here." The ground started to rumble. Takato looked at the floor with worry. "Maybe I shouldn't have said that."
"Rule One, never assume anything inside a creepy dungeon!" Veemon shouted. "Cause you'll always be wrong!"
"This was not written in my contract!" Gatomon and Veemon were knocked apart as a large tooth shot up from the floor, followed quickly by several others. Jeri tried to get by the teeth, but they were too close together to squeeze through. Takato was trapped in the illuminated area.
When the teeth finished blocking off the area, the stained glass window started to glow brightly. The vague outline of a tiger appeared, and a loud roar emanated from the light. A beam of holographic light shot forth and touched a spot on the floor in front of Takato. The holographic light grew and changed into the shape of a beast the size of a bus, and quickly became solid and colored. The light from the window faded, and Mihiramon manifested in all his glory. [2800 / 2700 , SPD 8]
Takato jumped back. "Whoa! Big kitty!"
Mihiramon opened its eyes and glared at the pitiful human. "It is time to battle." Mihiramon roared at Takato, its jaws opening wide enough to swallow a car whole. The goggle boy put his game face on, and his Duel Ark flared to life.
** Takato: 4000 LP || Mihiramon: 4000 HP **
Takato drew five cards quickly and slapped one of them into the active slot. "Otamamon!" The water digimon appeared before Takato and did a loop-di-loop in celebration. [1500 / 1200, SPD 24]
"Use your attack to put Mihiramon to sleep!" Takato ordered. Otamamon jumped high into the air, and blasted the Deva with his Lullaby Bubble. The bubbles splashed across the creature's face and did absolutely nothing. Otamamon tried again, but again the attack failed to put Mihiramon to sleep!
"Such weak attacks cannot affect a Deva," Mihiramon taunted. "Vimo-HANA!" The tiger roared as it unleashed its flaming special attack and fried Otamamon instantly. Takato grabbed his wrist in pain as the backlash hit him, hard.
** Takato: 2400 LP || Mihiramon: 4000 HP **
"Whoa!" Veemon gasped, trying his best to film the action through the teeth. "That'll leave a mark."
"Takato!" Jeri cried. She wanted so much to get in there and help him, but there wasn't much she could do. She didn't have a Duel Ark, but she at least wanted to be right beside him, to help pick him up when he fell.
Takato managed to recover as Mihiramon stalked him calmly. The tiger paced around the floor, eagerly eying his prey. Takato knew this monster was tough, since the real Deva's were Ultimates in terms of power. But at least then, he was fighting a Deva with an Ultimate level of his own, and he had his friends to back him up. This time, he's fighting all alone. He had to play defensively until he could bring out a monster strong enough to damage the Deva.
"Rook Device!" Takato played the Option card, which summoned a massive shield with the emblem of a chess piece on the front. The shield was powerful and would protect him from Mihiramon's attacks... at least for a little while. [0 / 2400]
Mihiramon blasted the shield with his Vimohana attack, and did some damage as a result. The shield withstood most of the blast, but it could withstand only three or four of those attacks at the most. Takato had to get a good draw and come up with an equal good plan. Takato drew two cards to replace Otamamon and the Rook Device, and got a Digivolution card with one of the draws. Perfect! Now he could play a monster and digivolve it into something that could compete with Mihiramon. He just had to look at the cards in his hand and hope that two of them were compatible. Luckily, he had two cards that fit the bill.
"Greymon!" Takato played the Champion digimon, and it appeared on the field next to him. Since he hadn't digivolved to it normally, the monster was weakened and couldn't attack. But that would be dealt with quickly. "And I'll use this Digivolution card to digivolve it into Metal Greymon!" Takato slashed the card, and it transformed the weakened Champion into a fully charged Ultimate. Metal Greymon roared triumphantly and flexed its dramon destroyers for effect. [2700 / 2300, SPD 16]
"Giga Destroyer!" The massive dragon fired its ultimate attack at the Deva. The attack knocked Mihiramon off balance, but no damage registered on the Duel Ark. His defense was just high enough for him to resist the attack!
"My turn." Mihiramon's special attack slammed through the Rook Device's shield and into Metal Greymon and knocked him into the wall, causing the room to shake dangerously. The Dungeon held up though, which was more than could be said for Takato's monster. [MG's HP: 1600 == 1000]
Takato quickly drew and slashed two cards in quick succession. "Modify!! Power Chip and Speed Chip, activate!" Metal Greymon's offensive powers soared, and his speed went into high gear. [ATK +50% / SPD +50%]
Mihiramon launched another attack, but the ultimate flashed out of sight just as the attack got close. Metal Greymon counterattacked with a Giga Destroyer to the Deva's flank, which sent the creature tumbling and actually damaged it! Takato didn't let up and ordered his monster to attack again, and Metal Greymon managed to score another hit before Mihiramon could recover. Metal Greymon's energy was depleted by the assault, but Takato had scored some nice hits with that exchange.
** Takato: 2400 LP || Mihiramon: 600 HP **
"Way to go Takato!" Jeri cheered. "Show that pussy cat whose boss!"
"Bravo, Lovey," said Gatomon. She applauded gingerly.
"This is great stuff," Veemon whispered as he adjusted his camera slightly. "This kids got 'Star' written all over him."
Metal Greymon paced as he waited for his energy to recharge. Making a physical attack without his energy would be useless, so Takato didn't order him to do anything. Instead, he reloaded his hand and watched Mihiramon cautiously. He was ready for any counterattack the digimon could make.
Mihiramon lifted its head and roared to the heavens, causing the very room to shake. "Core Break Shot!!" A column of light fell from the ceiling, and a surge of data infused with Mihiramon's body.
Takato wasn't ready for that! "He can use Options too!!"
"Vimo-HANA!!" Mihiramon's special attack cut through the air and slammed into Metal Greymon, whose energy was too depleted for it to dodge quickly enough. The digimon's form melted away to reveal a Greymon, just before he was slammed by the full force of the Vimohana attack. Greymon was able to resist most of the Fire-based attack because he was a Fire-type himself, but the weakness his previous form had from the two Option cards was too much for the Champion's body to handle. Greymon was burnt to a cinder, and Takato felt the aftereffects as his Life Points were reduced.
** Takato: 700 LP || Mihiramon: 600 HP **
Jeri couldn't take this much longer. Seeing Takato in pain like that made her feel so bad, but there was little she could do from where she was. She kept cheering him on, and hoped that was enough. "Takato, don't give up! I believe in you!" Veemon heard this heartful conversation and tried to film it, but Gatomon held the camera where it was. She shook her head, and Veemon shrugged.
Jeri... Takato stood up straight. Mihiramon growled, thinking it had won this battle. I'll do my best. I'll never lose in front of you. Never!
** Card Slash Sequence **** Takato twirls the card in his finger before slashing it vertically through the Duel Ark. **
** "MODIFY!! Grani, activate!! A projection of Grani's card appeared above Takato. The red-painted machine flew forth and swooped around the field before hovering in front of Takato. **
Jeri gasped. "Wh-what's Takato doing? Grani can't fight by itself." That was true in real life when Grani existed as a creation of Hypnos, and it was true in the card game, or so Jeri thought. But if anyone knew the full extent of Grani's powers, it would be Takato.
"Battle Mode, now!!" Takato ordered. The moment he said that, the machine underwent a startling series of transformations, reminiscent of the old shows with transforming robots. Grani's form seemed to unfold, revealing hidden arms and legs painted the same red color as its outer shell. Grani's form quickly folded into a humanoid shape, roughly ten feet tall, stylized like a metal knight minus the sword. Grani's birdlike head folded down, revealing a human-like face underneath. Grani finished the transformation with a dramatic stance, and its eyes flashed a brilliant gold. [2500 / 2000, SPD 20]
"Coo~ool," Veemon drooled. "Let's see old Pata-butt top this battle!"
Mihiramon laughed at the creature before it. "This false digimon does not have the power necessary to defeat me. Your efforts are in vain. Vimo-HANA!" The special attack flew forth, but Grani's quickness hadn't been diminished by its transformation. Grani zoomed out of the way and raced around the battlefield like a runner on steroids.
When Grani was in the right position, Takato slashed another card. "Knight Device, activate!!" The option card infused the pseudo-monster with a silver shine as its armor was upgraded, and a powerful sword appeared in its hand with which it could cleave just about anything in half. [ATK +800 / DEF +800]
"What is this!?" Mihiramon roared. It realized with a start that Grani was now stronger than him!
"FINISH HIM!!" The machine warrior leaped into the air and held its blade high. The sword shined in the light just before Grani brought it down on Mihiramon's neck. Grani landed on the opposite side of the motionless Deva.
Grani stood fully erect, and stabbed the sword into the ground. Mihiramon's head fell from its shoulders, and the entire digimon burst into particles of holographic data. The Deva was destroyed.
"You did it!!" Jeri cried. She looked like she was overflowing with excitement. The teeth cage disappeared as Mihiramon had, which allowed Jeri to run forth and jump upon her knight in goggled armor. Takato stumbled and fell as a result of her affections, but that didn't stop Jeri from squeezing the life out of him.
Gatomon admired Jeri's onslaught of affection with an amused smile. "Good show, dahling. Good show."
"I'll say!" Veemon said, eagerly filming the display from what he considered "the best angle". Gatomon summarily smacked him with a holographic sledgehammer and stole the camera.
"We won't be filming any of that, thank you!" She turned off the camera, and let it return to Takato's ark. "There is no room for juvenile perversion in an action story."
Jeri finished smothering Takato long enough for him to sit up. He smiled at her fondly. "I couldn't have done it without you." He tentatively reached over and stroked some of her hair before cradling her cheek. "Thanks for believing in me."
Jeri was surprised. Takato had never been one for what he considered grown-up displays of affection. But it made Jeri melt like an ice cream cone in the summer time.
"I'll always believe in you, Takato." She hugged him again, and this time he hugged back.
"Ahem." Takato and Jeri looked up, where Gatomon was tapping her foot and had her arms crossed. "I think people need this floor, children." The digimon snapped her fingers. "Spit-spot!"
Veemon rubbed the back of his head, where a nice lump was forming. "Ah, let 'em have their moment. You're just jealous 'cause no man in the world would love you."
"There's no man in the world worthy of loving me," Gatomon said haughtily. "Now let's go! We have places to go and tourneys to win!"
Takato and Jeri stood up, and only now did they notice that the symbol within the stained glass window was descending. "Look Takato, the Tiger Crest!"
The crest floated from the window, slowly shrinking into a badge-sized sigil. The symbol disappeared into Takato's ark, and was momentarily displayed in the data section marked "Crests".
** Takato now has the Tiger Crest! **
Takato smiled. "Cool. Now that I've got a Crest, I really feel like I have a chance at winning this thing. I just have to get three more."
"I know you can do it," Jeri said. She took hold of the boy's hand. "Now let's hurry up and get them."
"Right!" The group headed quickly for the door. The halls were much more brightly lit now, perhaps because Takato had conquered the Dungeon. They felt they had nothing to worry about. But by the time they were halfway down the hall, they were forced to stop.
"Move aside, buddy!" Veemon ordered. "The boss here already cleared this place."
Seto Kaiba chuckled maliciously. "I'm not interested in that stupid Crest. I've just come for the girl." He eyed Jeri, who shrank back at the sight of him.
"Who do you think you are!?" Takato snapped. "Nobody's taking Jeri anywhere!"
"I say I am," Kaiba taunted. "And no one is going to stop me. Especially not some little runt who hasn't finished puberty yet."
Takato growled at the insult. He was a little touchy about his size, since people found it amusing that he was with a girl as tall as Jeri was. And anyone who threatened Jeri would earn his irritation as well.
"Get out of the way or I'll make you move!" Takato shouted. He activated his Duel Ark with a flick of his wrist and held his fingers at the topmost card of his deck.
Kaiba smirked and bowed his head. "I don't think you know who you're messing with, kid." He looked up again, and his eyes seemed to be even fiercer than before. "When I duel, I duel for keeps. Even if I'm fighting a little runt like you. Give me the girl, and you'll live. Try to stop me, and you'll die. Because there's no way you can defeat me."
"I'll believe that when I see it!" Takato shouted. "Now move or else! This is the last time I'm going to say it!"
Kaiba laughed. "Then I guess there's nothing left to say, except Good Bye." The duelist drew five cards from his ark, and it activated in response to his movements. "Because when I'm done with you, you'll never see each other again."
Takato grimaced. This wouldn't end well.