Last time on Yu-Gi-Oh: After losing almost half his life points against
Kyton, Rathje discovers his opponent if a cheater, and a good one at that.
Finding a loop hole in his methods, Rathje summoned Gate Guardian, winning
the duel and giving five star-chips to Joey Wheeler.
Author's Note: Time Mage, I'll take a minute to explain my summoning methodology. Alright, first off, this fiction is written by using local rulings. If there is a dispute on something, such as summons, I use the rules local kids play by. In this case, summons and sets. Everyone knows a summon is face-up and a set is face-down, right? And I quote: "Note: It is important to remember that a Monster Card played to the field in face-down Defense Position IS NOT considered to be summoned." This quote is taken from the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game Official Rulebook, which you may receive upon purchase of Yugi or Kaiba Starter Decks (Sounds like an advertisement, doesn't it?). And so I rest my case. Without further adieu, chapter thirteen!
~
Joey walked ahead of the rest of the group, head held high. In fact, he wasn't even watching where he was going. Now he just had to explain that to the kid he ran into.
"Hey. . ." the kid moaned.
"Sorry," Joey mumbled.
The kid looked at him closely, "Hey, I know you!"
"You do?" Joey muttered, starting to blush as the arrogance returned.
"Yeah."
"How?" Joey jumped to his feet, "Is it because I was a finalist in Duelist Kingdom?"
". . .no. . ." the kid said, "You watched me duel Rex Raptor."
"Huh?"
"On the boat, you saw me beat his Trakadon with my Harpie's Brother. I explained to you that Richard Pegasus had already made his speech about dueling for star-chips."
"Right. . .and you remember me?"
"It's because of your hair."
"Oh."
"So, want to have a duel?"
"Uh, sure," Joey replied.
"How's five star-chips sound to you?" the kid asked.
'Great, I only have five,' Joey thought as he opened his mouth to reply, "Sure, but you gotta tell me your name."
"I'm called Edward," the kid answered, "but most people call me Ted."
"I'm Joey, and Tedward, you're goin' down!"
"I'm called either Ted or Edward."
". . .right. . ."
~
'I got gold,' Joey thought as he looked at his hand.
Ted went first. He played two monsters face-down and one magic/trap and ended his turn.
Joey drew. He grinned broadly, looking down at his friends, "Don't worry, guys, this one's in the bag!"
"It better be, Joey!" Tristan shouted back in reply.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Serenity smiled at her brother.
"Alright, Ted," Joey's eyes burned with determination, "I play Rock Ogre Grotto #1 in defense mode and end my turn!"
". . .that's not so impressive. . ." Tristan sighed.
Ted drew. He then flipped Mystical Elf, tributing it for Flame Champion. He then attacked, and destroyed, Rock Ogre Grotto #1. He ended his turn.
Joey drew. He smiled, "Well, Tristan, this is my good move!"
"I'm watching," Tristan stated doubtfully.
"I play Polymerization! Fusing Masaki the Legendary Swordsman and Flame Manipulator from my hand to make Flame Swordsman!" Joey declared proudly.
"That's still 100 attack points short," Tristan pointed out.
"I'm not done yet!" Joey smirked, "I equip Flame Swordsman with Salamandra! That brings him to 2500 attack points, more than enough to beat your Flame Champion! Flame Swordsman, attack!"
Joey: 8000, Ted: 7400
"Way to go, Joey!" Yugi shouted up to his friend.
"Heh, yeah!" Joey grinned, giving Yugi a thumbs up.
Ted drew. He played one monster face-down and ended his turn.
Joey drew. He added Axe Raider to his arsenal. Flame Swordsman attacked, destroying Island Turtle, then Axe Raider attacked Ted directly.
Joey: 8000, Ted: 5700
Ted drew, then smiled slightly. He set one monster and ended his turn.
Joey drew. He played one monster face-down and then attacked with Axe Raider. Man-eater Bug was flipped, destroying Flame Swordsman. Joey gritted his teeth, ending his turn.
Ted drew. He set one magic/trap, then played Card Destruction, having both Joey and himself discard their hands and draw new ones. Ted then flipped his Monster Reborn, bringing back Tri-Horned Dragon, which had been in his hand. He then attacked Axe Raider, sending it to the graveyard.
Joey: 6850, Ted: 5700
Joey drew warily, hoping for a powerful card. He thought for a moment as he saw his card. He flipped his face-down card, a Big-Eye. After arranging the top five cards, he played his magic card, Pot of Greed. He smiled, seeing his two new cards.
'I got a wicked idea,' Joey thought, laughing under his breath and trying to disguise his idea, "I play Snatch Steal, taking control of Tri-Horned Dragon! I also use Upstart Goblin, drawing a card and you recover 1000 life points. I set one magic or trap card and I end my turn!"
"Why didn't he attack?" Tea whispered to Yugi.
"I don't know. . ." Yugi thought to himself.
Joey: 6850, Ted: 6700
Ted, gaining another 1000 life-points from Snatch Steal, drew, a little confused. He set one monster and ended his turn.
Joey: 6850, Ted: 7700
Joey drew, grinning broadly. If this worked, he could just make it into Castle Pegasus, "Alright, Ted, here's what I'm gonna do. I flip my face- down DNA Surgery, making all monsters on the field Machines. I then use Change of Heart, taking your face-down monster. I flip it face-up, revealing. . .another Man-eater Bug? Okay, it'll kill itself, I guess. . ."
'Hmm,' Joey thought to himself, 'will this still work?'
"I equip Tri-Horned Dragon with Megamorph, bringing it up to 5700 attack points, almost enough to wipe you out!" Joey grinned.
"But still 2000 short!" Ted declared.
"Hey, I haven't attacked yet!" Joey smirked, "I haven't added Limiter Removal!"
"What?!?" Ted flinched.
"That's right, Ted," Joey smiled confidently, "your Tri-Horned Dragon now has 11400 attack points, and you've got nothing to defend yourself with! Tri-Horned Dragon, attack!"
Joey: 6850, Ted: 0
"Way to go, Joey!" Yugi shouted.
"Yeah, Joey, good job!" Tristan added.
"You played like a tournament-style duelist should!" Solomon smiled.
"Aw, thanks guys," Joey grinned sheepishly from his platform.
"Hey, Joey," Ted yelled across the arena, "Here's your star-chips!"
Ted lifted a small brown bag into the air. He threw it as hard as he could. It soared through the air, past Joey. Joey leapt from the platform, trying to catch the bag. He failed, falling to the ground. When he looked up, he saw Tristan lying on the ground a few meters ahead of him, brown bag in his hand.
"Chalk one up for Tristan!" Tristan cheered.
~
Yugi, Joey, Solomon, Serenity, Mai, Tristan, and Tea were walking in the general direction of Castle Pegasus. Joey was in the lead, looking quite proud, Yugi and Tea were close behind him, looking at the scenery. Then came Solomon Moto and Tristan, discussing how to improve Tristan's Rock and Dragon deck once they were back in Domino City. Serenity and Mai were behind all of them, trailing quite slowly. They were talking quietly about Joey.
Joey suddenly stopped, "He-ey. . .wait a minute. . ."
"What is it, Joey?" Yugi asked.
"Where's Bakura?" Joey looked around for a few minutes, "He isn't here to bask in the glory of my victory!"
"I'm sure he'll turn up," Mai dismissed Joey's frantically searching and continued walking.
"Mai's right," Yugi agreed, "Bakura wouldn't miss the finals! He already has eight star-chips!"
"Yeah," Tristan nodded, "He'll turn up."
They continued walking. They were strolling down a dirt path. The forest was on their right, the meadow to their left. They could see the mountains in the distance. Before them stood Castle Pegasus.
A kid stood a ways away, facing the castle. He wore a dueling glove on his right hand. His eyes were glimmering. He was probably around ten, a bit younger than Yugi and the gang. He turned as he heard them approach him.
"Hi!" the boy greeted, "Who are you?"
"My name's Yugi Moto," Yugi smiled.
"I'm Sam!" the kid smiled back.
"Sam. . ." Joey muttered, "that sounds familiar. . ."
"Would you like to have a duel, Sam?" Yugi asked, for he still needed five star-chips.
"Alright, how many star-chips?" Sam asked.
"Five."
They climbed onto their dueling platforms, placing five star-chips aside. Joey appeared to be quite entranced by his thoughts. As Yugi and Sam drew five cards, Joey burst out.
"Yugi!" Joey shouted, "I remember this kid!"
"You do?" Tristan asked, quite shocked.
"Yeah," Joey explained, "Kaiba told us about him. Pegasus took this kid out of the stands at the Intercontinental Championships! He defeated Bandit Keith, under Pegasus' orders, of course."
"Really?" Yugi asked, looking at Sam.
"You guys know about that?" Sam seemed quite surprised people knew who he was.
(Mind Shuffle)
"Alright, Sam," Yami grinned, "This won't be as easy as against Bandit Keith. Make your move."
Sam drew. He played a Pale Beast in attack, then added Beast Fangs, raising it to 1800 attack points. He then ended his turn.
Yami drew. He then played Celtic Guardian in attack mode with Sword of Deep- seated. Being at 1900 attack points, he attacked Pale Beast. Yami played one magic/trap and ended his turn.
Sam: 7900, Yugi: 8000
Sam drew. He set two monsters and ended his turn.
Yami drew. He attacked one of the monsters, revealing Spear Cretin. Sam took his Pale Beast back as Yami could not take nothing.
Sam drew. He flipped his face-down Prevent Rat, tributing it and Pale Beast for Gaia the Fierce Knight. He then played Tailor of the Fickle, moving Sword of Deep-seated onto Gaia the Fierce Knight, raising him to 2800 attack points, and bringing Celtic Guardian to 1400. He attacked his Gaia the Fierce Knight.
Sam: 7900, Yugi: 6600
Yami drew. He set one monster, one magic/trap, and ended his turn.
Sam drew. He added the card to his hand and attacked. He would have destroyed the Witty Phantom, if not for Yami's Waboku.
Yami drew. He tributed Witty Phantom for Summoned Skull. He attacked Gaia the Fierce Knight, activating Reverse Trap. Gaia was destroyed, and Sword of Deep-seated moved to the top of Yami's deck.
Sam: 7200, Yugi: 6600
Sam drew. He set one monster and ended his turn.
Yami drew, adding the Sword of Deep-seated to Summoned Skull. He set one monster and attacked, defeating the High Tide Gyojin.
Sam drew. He set one monster and one magic/trap and ended his turn.
Yami drew. He played his Neo the Magic Swordsman in attack mode. Summoned Skull attacked, destroying Guardian of the Throne Room, and Neo the Magic Swordsman attack Sam's life points directly.
Sam: 5500, Yugi: 6600
Sam drew. He summoned 7-colored Fish, then attack Neo the Magic Swordsman, destroying him. He then ended his turn.
Sam: 5500, Yugi: 6500
Yami drew. He attacked with Summoned Skull, destroying 7-colored Fish.
Sam: 5000, Yugi: 6600
Sam drew. He set one monster and ended his turn.
Yami drew. He set one monster, then attacked. Sam flipped his Man-eater Bug. He selected Summoned Skull to be destroyed. Yami flipped Shift, changing the effect's selection to his face-down Mystical Elf.
Sam drew. He played one magic/trap face-down and ended his turn.
Yami drew. He immediately attacked, but Sam flipped his Spellbinding Circle, trapping Summoned Skull. Yami used Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying it and continuing the attack.
Sam: 2000, Yugi: 6600
Sam drew. He sighed, setting one monster and ending his turn.
Yami drew. He set one monster, then summoned Man-eating Treasure Chest. Summoned Skull attacked. Sam flipped his second Spear Cretin. Sending it to the graveyard, he took one monster and played it face-down. Yami took Neo the Magic Swordsman, who attacked the face-down monster. Sam flipped it, and it was the Spear Cretin. It proceeded as the last time, only Yami had no monsters in his graveyard.
"I'll keep doing this until I draw a card I can use to defeat you," Sam smiled.
"You can try," Yami gritted his teeth.
Sam drew, ending his turn.
Yami drew, ending his turn.
This continued for several more rounds, each one drawing, occasionally setting a magic or trap card, then ending their turns. Neither one would give in. They were determined to find a way to defeat the other.
"How long is this gonna go on?" Tristan sighed discontentedly.
"I don't know," Tea moaned, "Stop asking."
"Never!" Tristan raised a fist into the air.
"Pipe down," Joey muttered, watching the duel before them intently.
"Joey," Tristan looked over at him, "the field hasn't changed once in the past hour!"
"But it's about to!" Yami declared.
"What?" they all chorused, including Sam.
"I play Stop Defense!" Yami shouted with a classic smirk, "bringing your Spear Cretin into attack mode. My Summoned Skull attacked, doing 2500 points of damage to your life points. That's game over, my friend."
"Aw. . ." Sam sighed.
Yami, after leaving the arena, collected his star-chips. Sam, having no star-chips left, wandered off. The sun was setting as the group made their way up the stairs to the entrance of Castle Pegasus.
~
"Y'know, Yasumi," Rathje managed to mutter between breaths, "You didn't have to follow me around like this."
"I like to though," Yasumi gasped.
"You enjoy this?" Rathje looked at her, surprise spread across his face.
"Hey!" Kimu's voice echoed behind them.
The two ran a ways further, stopping suddenly at a wall. They turned, facing Kimu and two guards. The bodyguard approached them, fists clenched. He threw a punch at Rathje, but his target ducked out of the way a split- second too soon.
"Stay still!" Kimu commanded.
Kimu tried again. Rathje caught his fist, swinging around with his leg and striking Kimu in the side. As he staggered back, Kimu commanded the suits to attack.
"Get them," Kimu coughed.
In an instant, one of the men was down. Rathje's eyebrows shot up as he realized Yasumi had taken one down easily with one mere kick.
"Pretty good," Rathje murmured, taking the other guard by the arm and smashing his back into the wall, "any advice for amateurs like myself."
Yasumi grinned, delivering the final blow to the other guard, "Just practice."
The two turned back to Kimu, who was already on his cell phone calling for more guards. Rathje tripped the man as he and Yasumi dashed off the way they had come.
~
Author's Note: Next time: Tension rises as duelists discover their first opponents in the finals within the walls of Castle Pegasus. Finally, the duelists meet their long awaited foe, Richard Pegasus.
Author's Note: Time Mage, I'll take a minute to explain my summoning methodology. Alright, first off, this fiction is written by using local rulings. If there is a dispute on something, such as summons, I use the rules local kids play by. In this case, summons and sets. Everyone knows a summon is face-up and a set is face-down, right? And I quote: "Note: It is important to remember that a Monster Card played to the field in face-down Defense Position IS NOT considered to be summoned." This quote is taken from the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game Official Rulebook, which you may receive upon purchase of Yugi or Kaiba Starter Decks (Sounds like an advertisement, doesn't it?). And so I rest my case. Without further adieu, chapter thirteen!
~
Joey walked ahead of the rest of the group, head held high. In fact, he wasn't even watching where he was going. Now he just had to explain that to the kid he ran into.
"Hey. . ." the kid moaned.
"Sorry," Joey mumbled.
The kid looked at him closely, "Hey, I know you!"
"You do?" Joey muttered, starting to blush as the arrogance returned.
"Yeah."
"How?" Joey jumped to his feet, "Is it because I was a finalist in Duelist Kingdom?"
". . .no. . ." the kid said, "You watched me duel Rex Raptor."
"Huh?"
"On the boat, you saw me beat his Trakadon with my Harpie's Brother. I explained to you that Richard Pegasus had already made his speech about dueling for star-chips."
"Right. . .and you remember me?"
"It's because of your hair."
"Oh."
"So, want to have a duel?"
"Uh, sure," Joey replied.
"How's five star-chips sound to you?" the kid asked.
'Great, I only have five,' Joey thought as he opened his mouth to reply, "Sure, but you gotta tell me your name."
"I'm called Edward," the kid answered, "but most people call me Ted."
"I'm Joey, and Tedward, you're goin' down!"
"I'm called either Ted or Edward."
". . .right. . ."
~
'I got gold,' Joey thought as he looked at his hand.
Ted went first. He played two monsters face-down and one magic/trap and ended his turn.
Joey drew. He grinned broadly, looking down at his friends, "Don't worry, guys, this one's in the bag!"
"It better be, Joey!" Tristan shouted back in reply.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Serenity smiled at her brother.
"Alright, Ted," Joey's eyes burned with determination, "I play Rock Ogre Grotto #1 in defense mode and end my turn!"
". . .that's not so impressive. . ." Tristan sighed.
Ted drew. He then flipped Mystical Elf, tributing it for Flame Champion. He then attacked, and destroyed, Rock Ogre Grotto #1. He ended his turn.
Joey drew. He smiled, "Well, Tristan, this is my good move!"
"I'm watching," Tristan stated doubtfully.
"I play Polymerization! Fusing Masaki the Legendary Swordsman and Flame Manipulator from my hand to make Flame Swordsman!" Joey declared proudly.
"That's still 100 attack points short," Tristan pointed out.
"I'm not done yet!" Joey smirked, "I equip Flame Swordsman with Salamandra! That brings him to 2500 attack points, more than enough to beat your Flame Champion! Flame Swordsman, attack!"
Joey: 8000, Ted: 7400
"Way to go, Joey!" Yugi shouted up to his friend.
"Heh, yeah!" Joey grinned, giving Yugi a thumbs up.
Ted drew. He played one monster face-down and ended his turn.
Joey drew. He added Axe Raider to his arsenal. Flame Swordsman attacked, destroying Island Turtle, then Axe Raider attacked Ted directly.
Joey: 8000, Ted: 5700
Ted drew, then smiled slightly. He set one monster and ended his turn.
Joey drew. He played one monster face-down and then attacked with Axe Raider. Man-eater Bug was flipped, destroying Flame Swordsman. Joey gritted his teeth, ending his turn.
Ted drew. He set one magic/trap, then played Card Destruction, having both Joey and himself discard their hands and draw new ones. Ted then flipped his Monster Reborn, bringing back Tri-Horned Dragon, which had been in his hand. He then attacked Axe Raider, sending it to the graveyard.
Joey: 6850, Ted: 5700
Joey drew warily, hoping for a powerful card. He thought for a moment as he saw his card. He flipped his face-down card, a Big-Eye. After arranging the top five cards, he played his magic card, Pot of Greed. He smiled, seeing his two new cards.
'I got a wicked idea,' Joey thought, laughing under his breath and trying to disguise his idea, "I play Snatch Steal, taking control of Tri-Horned Dragon! I also use Upstart Goblin, drawing a card and you recover 1000 life points. I set one magic or trap card and I end my turn!"
"Why didn't he attack?" Tea whispered to Yugi.
"I don't know. . ." Yugi thought to himself.
Joey: 6850, Ted: 6700
Ted, gaining another 1000 life-points from Snatch Steal, drew, a little confused. He set one monster and ended his turn.
Joey: 6850, Ted: 7700
Joey drew, grinning broadly. If this worked, he could just make it into Castle Pegasus, "Alright, Ted, here's what I'm gonna do. I flip my face- down DNA Surgery, making all monsters on the field Machines. I then use Change of Heart, taking your face-down monster. I flip it face-up, revealing. . .another Man-eater Bug? Okay, it'll kill itself, I guess. . ."
'Hmm,' Joey thought to himself, 'will this still work?'
"I equip Tri-Horned Dragon with Megamorph, bringing it up to 5700 attack points, almost enough to wipe you out!" Joey grinned.
"But still 2000 short!" Ted declared.
"Hey, I haven't attacked yet!" Joey smirked, "I haven't added Limiter Removal!"
"What?!?" Ted flinched.
"That's right, Ted," Joey smiled confidently, "your Tri-Horned Dragon now has 11400 attack points, and you've got nothing to defend yourself with! Tri-Horned Dragon, attack!"
Joey: 6850, Ted: 0
"Way to go, Joey!" Yugi shouted.
"Yeah, Joey, good job!" Tristan added.
"You played like a tournament-style duelist should!" Solomon smiled.
"Aw, thanks guys," Joey grinned sheepishly from his platform.
"Hey, Joey," Ted yelled across the arena, "Here's your star-chips!"
Ted lifted a small brown bag into the air. He threw it as hard as he could. It soared through the air, past Joey. Joey leapt from the platform, trying to catch the bag. He failed, falling to the ground. When he looked up, he saw Tristan lying on the ground a few meters ahead of him, brown bag in his hand.
"Chalk one up for Tristan!" Tristan cheered.
~
Yugi, Joey, Solomon, Serenity, Mai, Tristan, and Tea were walking in the general direction of Castle Pegasus. Joey was in the lead, looking quite proud, Yugi and Tea were close behind him, looking at the scenery. Then came Solomon Moto and Tristan, discussing how to improve Tristan's Rock and Dragon deck once they were back in Domino City. Serenity and Mai were behind all of them, trailing quite slowly. They were talking quietly about Joey.
Joey suddenly stopped, "He-ey. . .wait a minute. . ."
"What is it, Joey?" Yugi asked.
"Where's Bakura?" Joey looked around for a few minutes, "He isn't here to bask in the glory of my victory!"
"I'm sure he'll turn up," Mai dismissed Joey's frantically searching and continued walking.
"Mai's right," Yugi agreed, "Bakura wouldn't miss the finals! He already has eight star-chips!"
"Yeah," Tristan nodded, "He'll turn up."
They continued walking. They were strolling down a dirt path. The forest was on their right, the meadow to their left. They could see the mountains in the distance. Before them stood Castle Pegasus.
A kid stood a ways away, facing the castle. He wore a dueling glove on his right hand. His eyes were glimmering. He was probably around ten, a bit younger than Yugi and the gang. He turned as he heard them approach him.
"Hi!" the boy greeted, "Who are you?"
"My name's Yugi Moto," Yugi smiled.
"I'm Sam!" the kid smiled back.
"Sam. . ." Joey muttered, "that sounds familiar. . ."
"Would you like to have a duel, Sam?" Yugi asked, for he still needed five star-chips.
"Alright, how many star-chips?" Sam asked.
"Five."
They climbed onto their dueling platforms, placing five star-chips aside. Joey appeared to be quite entranced by his thoughts. As Yugi and Sam drew five cards, Joey burst out.
"Yugi!" Joey shouted, "I remember this kid!"
"You do?" Tristan asked, quite shocked.
"Yeah," Joey explained, "Kaiba told us about him. Pegasus took this kid out of the stands at the Intercontinental Championships! He defeated Bandit Keith, under Pegasus' orders, of course."
"Really?" Yugi asked, looking at Sam.
"You guys know about that?" Sam seemed quite surprised people knew who he was.
(Mind Shuffle)
"Alright, Sam," Yami grinned, "This won't be as easy as against Bandit Keith. Make your move."
Sam drew. He played a Pale Beast in attack, then added Beast Fangs, raising it to 1800 attack points. He then ended his turn.
Yami drew. He then played Celtic Guardian in attack mode with Sword of Deep- seated. Being at 1900 attack points, he attacked Pale Beast. Yami played one magic/trap and ended his turn.
Sam: 7900, Yugi: 8000
Sam drew. He set two monsters and ended his turn.
Yami drew. He attacked one of the monsters, revealing Spear Cretin. Sam took his Pale Beast back as Yami could not take nothing.
Sam drew. He flipped his face-down Prevent Rat, tributing it and Pale Beast for Gaia the Fierce Knight. He then played Tailor of the Fickle, moving Sword of Deep-seated onto Gaia the Fierce Knight, raising him to 2800 attack points, and bringing Celtic Guardian to 1400. He attacked his Gaia the Fierce Knight.
Sam: 7900, Yugi: 6600
Yami drew. He set one monster, one magic/trap, and ended his turn.
Sam drew. He added the card to his hand and attacked. He would have destroyed the Witty Phantom, if not for Yami's Waboku.
Yami drew. He tributed Witty Phantom for Summoned Skull. He attacked Gaia the Fierce Knight, activating Reverse Trap. Gaia was destroyed, and Sword of Deep-seated moved to the top of Yami's deck.
Sam: 7200, Yugi: 6600
Sam drew. He set one monster and ended his turn.
Yami drew, adding the Sword of Deep-seated to Summoned Skull. He set one monster and attacked, defeating the High Tide Gyojin.
Sam drew. He set one monster and one magic/trap and ended his turn.
Yami drew. He played his Neo the Magic Swordsman in attack mode. Summoned Skull attacked, destroying Guardian of the Throne Room, and Neo the Magic Swordsman attack Sam's life points directly.
Sam: 5500, Yugi: 6600
Sam drew. He summoned 7-colored Fish, then attack Neo the Magic Swordsman, destroying him. He then ended his turn.
Sam: 5500, Yugi: 6500
Yami drew. He attacked with Summoned Skull, destroying 7-colored Fish.
Sam: 5000, Yugi: 6600
Sam drew. He set one monster and ended his turn.
Yami drew. He set one monster, then attacked. Sam flipped his Man-eater Bug. He selected Summoned Skull to be destroyed. Yami flipped Shift, changing the effect's selection to his face-down Mystical Elf.
Sam drew. He played one magic/trap face-down and ended his turn.
Yami drew. He immediately attacked, but Sam flipped his Spellbinding Circle, trapping Summoned Skull. Yami used Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying it and continuing the attack.
Sam: 2000, Yugi: 6600
Sam drew. He sighed, setting one monster and ending his turn.
Yami drew. He set one monster, then summoned Man-eating Treasure Chest. Summoned Skull attacked. Sam flipped his second Spear Cretin. Sending it to the graveyard, he took one monster and played it face-down. Yami took Neo the Magic Swordsman, who attacked the face-down monster. Sam flipped it, and it was the Spear Cretin. It proceeded as the last time, only Yami had no monsters in his graveyard.
"I'll keep doing this until I draw a card I can use to defeat you," Sam smiled.
"You can try," Yami gritted his teeth.
Sam drew, ending his turn.
Yami drew, ending his turn.
This continued for several more rounds, each one drawing, occasionally setting a magic or trap card, then ending their turns. Neither one would give in. They were determined to find a way to defeat the other.
"How long is this gonna go on?" Tristan sighed discontentedly.
"I don't know," Tea moaned, "Stop asking."
"Never!" Tristan raised a fist into the air.
"Pipe down," Joey muttered, watching the duel before them intently.
"Joey," Tristan looked over at him, "the field hasn't changed once in the past hour!"
"But it's about to!" Yami declared.
"What?" they all chorused, including Sam.
"I play Stop Defense!" Yami shouted with a classic smirk, "bringing your Spear Cretin into attack mode. My Summoned Skull attacked, doing 2500 points of damage to your life points. That's game over, my friend."
"Aw. . ." Sam sighed.
Yami, after leaving the arena, collected his star-chips. Sam, having no star-chips left, wandered off. The sun was setting as the group made their way up the stairs to the entrance of Castle Pegasus.
~
"Y'know, Yasumi," Rathje managed to mutter between breaths, "You didn't have to follow me around like this."
"I like to though," Yasumi gasped.
"You enjoy this?" Rathje looked at her, surprise spread across his face.
"Hey!" Kimu's voice echoed behind them.
The two ran a ways further, stopping suddenly at a wall. They turned, facing Kimu and two guards. The bodyguard approached them, fists clenched. He threw a punch at Rathje, but his target ducked out of the way a split- second too soon.
"Stay still!" Kimu commanded.
Kimu tried again. Rathje caught his fist, swinging around with his leg and striking Kimu in the side. As he staggered back, Kimu commanded the suits to attack.
"Get them," Kimu coughed.
In an instant, one of the men was down. Rathje's eyebrows shot up as he realized Yasumi had taken one down easily with one mere kick.
"Pretty good," Rathje murmured, taking the other guard by the arm and smashing his back into the wall, "any advice for amateurs like myself."
Yasumi grinned, delivering the final blow to the other guard, "Just practice."
The two turned back to Kimu, who was already on his cell phone calling for more guards. Rathje tripped the man as he and Yasumi dashed off the way they had come.
~
Author's Note: Next time: Tension rises as duelists discover their first opponents in the finals within the walls of Castle Pegasus. Finally, the duelists meet their long awaited foe, Richard Pegasus.