A Note from the Authors: The conclusion of the biggest duel in our story is finally concluding!!! Wahoo! On a strictly technical note, the Rope of Life card was altered to fit the circumstances - please bear with us. And enjoy!! And just so you know, there will be at least one more chapter after this (maybe even two) so stay tuned!!!
Chapter 38
"Final Duel, Part Four: Rage of the Gods- Triumph!"
Yami was seething, teeth clenched as he was forced to swallow the bitterness of the images Jetsu had just shown them. His little daughters crying still rang in his ears, and all at once he realized that the sobbing wasn't just in his head. He jerked his head up, and his gaze landing on his queen. Dedi's head was hung and he could see her body shaking slightly. He wanted to reach her, release her from the bonds Jetsu held her in and hold her close to him. But there was no way to do so as long as the duel was still going on.
Forcing himself to concentrate on the duel, he looked down at his hand, a plan formulating in his head. "We'll see how confident you feel when this duel is over, Jetsu," he said, setting two cards into their proper slots, "I summon Kuriboh to the field in defense mode and equip him with the magic card Multiply, creating a large army of monsters!"
On the field, thousands of the brown and green fur balls began congregating on the stone floor around Obelisk. They squeaked and clambered over one another, trying to bring themselves up to the God monster's height in vain. "And that ends my turn," Yami said, reaching down to pat the nearest Kuriboh lightly above its eyes. It purred happily. The tiny creatures were not very powerful, but they would prove essential in his plan for victory.
"This is rather pathetic, and the most ridiculous monster-pairing I've ever seen," Jetsu scoffed, "Those puff-balls will bring you no closer to victory…and look, they're starting to annoy your God monster."
It was true, Obelisk was glaring at the mass of fur surrounding it and growling. The gold eye on Yami's forehead glowed briefly and the blue beast quieted. It was under control…for now. Yami couldn't let the God card ignore his authority, or everything would be ruined. He just hoped his magic was strong enough to restrain the gods until he could win.
Jetsu pulled out his next card from his deck (Nightmare Steel Cage), "I play the magic card Nightmare Steel Cage!" A vast, metal cage appeared out of nowhere and trapped Yami and his monsters. Jetsu held up two fingers, "That will give me two more turns to replenish my hand!" The Millennium Shield began to glow at Jetsu's side, the red mark of the Millennium Eye beginning to burn on the Priest's forehead. And unbeknownst to Yami, a faint symbol of the same color began to form on Obelisk the Tormentor's forehead.
Yami frowned as the Kuribohs, now trapped in close quarters, pressed in on him, nearly making him fall over. Her heard Obelisk growl again and quickly drew his next card (Alpha the Magnet Warrior) and then he slapped one card down on the DD2. "I play De-Spell, destroying your-" Yami stopped in the middle of his sentence, mesmerized by what was happening within the cage.
Obelisk was holding its head with its hands and roaring loudly. The Millennium Eye Symbol was burning red upon its forehead and clear, commanding thoughts continued to penetrate through the creature's complex mind. Obelisk, destroy the Pharaoh! DESTROY THE PHARAOH NOW!!!!!!!
"Yami, lookout!!!" Dedi cried as the God monster began lashing around in a blind rage, first smashing the De-Spell magic card that had appeared on the field and then ramming itself into the steel cage.
'We've got to get Obelisk back under control!!' Yami heard Yugi's panicked voice in his head, 'If we don't he'll destroy everything!!'
"OBELISK!!" Yami thundered, the gold eye on his forehead glowing fiercely, "Stop this at once!" The monster turned towards him and Yami saw the eye on its forehead half red and half gold. The poor beast was still roaring in an almost pained sort of way, and Yami knew that the magical battle for control of the mighty beast was causing unneeded strain on it. "Please…" Yami said, more calm, but still forceful, "Don't betray me…do not betray the world you once watched over."
The blue God monster stood stock still, holding a piece of the broken Nightmare Cage in its hand and breathing heavily. The many Kuriboh were backing away from the much larger, more powerful monster. A few of them decided to hide behind Yami, quivering and cowering at his feet.
Yami sighed and took another card from his hand, staring at it apprehensively. It's a risk, but I have to do it. To truly finish this, I have no other choice… "Now, I sacrifice three of my Kuriboh to summon the almighty Slifer the Sky Dragon (2000/2000)!"
It was impossible to tell which three of the Kuribohs had been sacrificed because there were so many of them, but as soon as they disappeared the room began to quake again, as the enormous red dragon materialized on Yami's side of the field, knocking another hole in the ceiling as it tried to stretch out. The numerous Kuriboh that were still on the field had begun to panic slightly, and were clambering to get as far away from the God monsters as possible.
Obelisk blinked dully at Slifer and let out a low growl, which Slifer answered back with one of its own. Yami breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. They seemed to be getting along…for now. "This ends my turn," he said, to which Slifer destroyed what remained of the steel cage with its long tail.
From across the room, Dedi was staring up at both the God monsters in trepidation. She had read about the God Cards, but never seen them in action before. And with Jetsu's magic arena fueling them, they were actually live creatures…which might or might not prove to be an advantage. Whatever the risks were of resurrecting the Gods, it seemed to be his only option if Yami was going to end it all now.
Jetsu stared at his deck, suddenly feeling fear for the first time. He couldn't lose this duel! If he lost this duel all that he and his ancestors ever worked for would be wasted! He couldn't rely on his deck without any cards in his hand and his last defense gone. The man felt the one card that he kept up his sleeve and let it slide into his hand, "I play Swords of Revealing Light!" Jetsu's magic card appeared on the field and the hundreds of bright Swords formed a barrier around Yami's many monsters.
'That's impossible!!' Yugi's voice sounded, 'How could he draw that just when he needed it?? He's gotta be cheating!'
'That may be so…' Yami responded mentally, 'But we've got no proof of it…and the DD2s don't recognize foul play. There's nothing we can do but wait out the three turns….'
'And hope the God cards don't get impatient…' Yugi added nervously.
"That will end my turn," Jetsu said. He began to stare up at the gods again, wondering how much influence he would have over them if the Pharaoh ordered them to attack him in three turns…
Yami pulled another card from his hand (Celtic Guardian), "I choose to end my turn."
Maeda picked up his card (Royal Magical Library), "I'll set one monster in defense mode (Royal Magical Library (0/2000)) and-"
Suddenly, Slifer reared back in rage, its top mouth opening wide. A wide burst of energy emitted from the god creature and filled the entire chamber with light.
When Jetsu was able to see again, his monster had revealed itself, acting more like a field card than a monster and transforming the walls into a seemingly endless library, with sunlight pouring in through the direction of the ceiling. Small cloaked figures wandered through the shelves, riding up and down on flat disks supported by glowing green orbs. The stats of the monster decreased to zero rapidly, because of Slifer's effect.
Yami pulled another card (Book of Secret Arts), "I end my turn."
A bead of sweat dropped to the floor. When he had lost control of this duel, Jetsu realized that he had also lost his physiological advantage. There was nothing he could say to the Pharaoh with only the cards he had now (Rope of Life), "I set one card (Rope of Life) and end my turn"
"Not doing much to protect yourself are you Maeda?" Yami smirked triumphantly at his opponent and drew a card (Collected Power), "Now I sacrifice fifteen of my Kuriboh to summon forth the Winged Dragon of Ra (4500/4500)!" As the little creatures vanished from the massive crowd, their spirits conjoined near above the arena in the center of the field, spinning rapidly around and around, until they formed a glowing gold sphere that solidified itself with a sound like heated metal hitting water. The containment pod of Ra hovered above the duelists and their monsters, gleaming from the fake sunlight provided by the Royal Magical Library, the engraved Hieroglyphics standing out very clearly.
Yami opened his mouth and began to chant in Egyptian to summon his monster, but was surprised to hear another voice miming his across the room. Jetsu was chanting the ancient words, his red Millennium Eye shining brightly and branding a portion of Yami's God monster pod with the same symbol.
The Pharaoh concentration doubled and he poured every last bit of magic he could muster into the pod. Seeing her husband's plight from across the room, Dedi closed her eyes, the Egyptian Eye glowing on her forehead as she chanted the words as well.
Through the combined forces of the King and Queen of Egypt, Ra erupted from his pod, shining gold eye on its forehead. Jetsu was knocked backwards by the shockwave of the summoning. Ra roared proudly and landed on the ground, pushing Obelisk and Slifer off to either side of it. The other Gods were not pleased with this at all. Obelisk shoved at Ra, growling, while Slifer bit at his wings with both mouths.
Highly affronted, Ra let loose a blast of energy that swept across the floor, destroying the heard of Kuriboh and the Multiply card as well as a large portion of the opposite wall.
* * *
Outside the pyramid, Tea and Mokuba were sitting with their backs against the tan stone wall, watching the Egyptian sunset worriedly while Tristan paced back and forth in front of the door where the finalists had disappeared into that morning. "I can't take this anymore!!" he cried, kicking at the door, "I hate being stuck on the outside!"
Tea sighed. It was no use trying to get him to relax – they had been feeling minor earthquakes all day long, and the later it got, the more she worried that something terrible had happened. More than once that day she had felt a horrible jolt in her heart, and feared the worst for their friends.
Mokuba for his part was trying to stay calm, but the tension was getting to him as well. His thoughts never strayed from his older brother, and he found himself growing nearly as frustrated as Tristan. Being unable to know what was happening was just too aggravating.
All of a sudden, the ground shook for the umpteenth time that day, and they were all knocked around by the force of it. "Holy shit!!" Tristan cried, "Look at the pyramid!!"
Tea and Mokuba turned, and gasped. A beam of yellow light was shooting out from near the tip of the structure and fading away into the red-orange sky. "What on earth could've happened??" Tea asked, putting a hand over her mouth in shock.
"Well, I'm not gonna stand around and wait to see!" Tristan said, slamming himself up against the door.
"Mokuba, go find help! Quick!" Tea said.
"Right!" Mokuba nodded and dashed off, back towards the city.
* * *
Dedi cringed as debris went flying around her. She had been afraid of as soon as Yami had nearly lost control of Obelisk. The Gods had never gotten along in the ancient past, and it was this rivalry that had originally caused them to start attacking the world they had been meant to protect. And so Yami had given his life to seal them away all those decades ago, and Dedi hoped with all her heart that the past wouldn't be forced to repeat itself.
Jetsu rose up slowly, watching the confrontation unfold before him. He ran a tired hand along the back of his head, wiping away the sweat that was dampening it. Behind his Swords of Revealing Light and his monster, he would be safe form the god's wrath. He sat down and began to hover in mid-air, meditating to replenish some of his lost magical strength.
Meanwhile, Yami was trying desperately to get the Gods to stop fighting amongst themselves. Something about this was horribly familiar, and he was suddenly hearing faded, frightened voices which he could only assume was a dim recollection trying to bring itself to the surface. But he had no time to dwell on it at the moment. Lifting up his good arm, he felt the Millennium Puzzle vibrate against his bare chest as he shouted at his monsters, "Enough of this!! Stop this madness this instant!!"
Slowly, the golden eyes on each forehead burned more brightly and the Gods all turned towards the Pharaoh, each still growling annoyedly, but no longer trying to destroy each other. "That's better…" Yami said as he lowered his hand. He was breathing hard and felt rather drained.
"Are you ready to continue?" Jetsu asked from across the room, not moving from his position.
Yami frowned and nodded, "Yes…I end my turn."
The Swords disappeared, allowing all three of the god monsters to move as far apart from each other as they could. Jetsu pulled his card from his deck (Axe of Despair) and stood up, "Now, I sacrifice my Royal Magical Library to activate Rope of Life, bringing my Mystical Knight of Jackal back to the field with 800 extra attack points from what he was destroyed at!" Out of the ground, holding the flimsy, rope cord was the menacing Jackal, brandishing his katarn once again (4500/1200).
Before Jetsu could finish his move, Slifer the Sky Dragon opened its second mouth and blast the Jackal, causing the monster to fall to the ground at its master's feet (2500/1200). Maeda was horrified, "No… Slifer's second mouth… how could I have forgotten? How?" Angrily, he kicked the poor creature, sending it sprawling away from him.
Yami heard Yugi's triumphant voice ring out through his head, 'All right, Yami! We did it! There's no way for Jetsu to win now!'
Realizing now that nothing he did would be enough to finish the duel in his favor, Jetsu placed his last card into his Duel Disk 2, "I equip my Jackal with the Axe of Despair!" His eyes were slightly blood-shot and his voice increased in volume with each word he emitted, "If I can't win this duel, then you won't either!" Jetsu raised his hand threateningly and Yami realized what he was about to do.
"NO DON'T-"
The Priest snapped his fingers, and the Jackal rose to its feet and began to sprint towards Dedi. With a cry of absolute rage, Jetsu raised the Shield high in the air and the Millennium Sword glowed red for just a moment before its power was sent to the Shield, sending the Item clattering down to the floor, "BRING ON YOUR GOD MONSTERS, PHARAOH! NOTHING YOU DO NOW CAN SAVE YOUR FRIENDS!"
* * *
Deep in the Shadow Realm, the Soul dungeon had begun collapsing in on itself. "What the hell??" Kaiba demanded, dodging a piece of ceiling as it fell inches away from his head.
"Jetsu is using his magic to destroy this realm…" Shadi said, not even moving from his place on the floor, "and us along with it."
"What?!?!" Joey cried, instinctively grabbing hold of Mai as a bit of stone nearly hit her, "What is he – crazy?!"
"Exactly…" Shadi said.
"He must be losing to the Pharaoh…" Vitani said, "Only that would cause this rage to rise in him."
"But what can we do about it?" Athena asked desperately.
"Nothing…" Shadi said, "Everything lies in the Pharaoh's hands now…"
* * *
Yami waved his good arm instructively at the Gods, "STOP HIM!! Slifer – destroy the Jackal! Obelisk and Ra – combine your powers and bring down Maeda once and for all!!" At once, Slifer took off into the air and soared towards Dedi, hitting the Jackal with a blast from its first mouth and disintegrating it seconds before it was about strike. The rock to which Dedi was bound tipped over backwards with a crash that would've been deafening if not for the commotion already going on.
Then it circled back do float beside Obelisk and Ra, who were combining their energy into one, large blue and gold blast aimed at Jetsu's Shield. Slifer opened both mouths, eager to prove itself to the other two, and combined its red energy with that of the other two, making the stream twice as large. Yami turned to watch their progress, but to his dismay, Jetsu was still safe behind the Shield.
The High Priest roared with laughter, "You're pitiful monsters are no match for the power of my Millennium Shield! The souls of your friends will be long gone by the time your monsters can defeat me!" He took a deep breath, still rigidly holding his last line of protection in front of him, "It doesn't matter that you were able to save your Queen, Yami. She'll have nowhere to go without little Tsuki..."
At these words, Yami felt a huge surge of energy flowing through the Puzzle and he knew that Yugi had snapped. Realizing that the Gods would not be victorious alone, he began channeling the energy Yugi was giving off into strengthening their attack. Harder and harder he fueled them, feeling his bond with his counterpart stronger than ever as they worked together for their common goal.
The struggle seemed to stretch on forever, and Yami began to worry faintly that Yugi's body would not be able to handle the magic that it was emitting. He weakly turned again to look over at his enemy.
Jetsu was holding the Shield up against their attack, thinking over and over, 'It's almost gone. Before I die the dungeon will be gone!' When suddenly, there was a resounding crack and he was pushed backwards several feet. As Yami watched, astounded, the ghostly forms of the other Millennium Items began floating out from the crack in the Shield. 'What? No!!' Jetsu thought. But he could already feel the heat of the Gods attack getting stronger as the spirits he had trapped also began to escape.
As Yami watch, the transparent, unconscious forms of all the other finalists slipped out into the air and vanished through the door behind him, no doubt speeding back towards their bodies.
Bakura…Yami Bakura…Athena…Vitani…Tsuki…Mai…Joey…Kaiba…Weevil… Shadi…and a few others that he didn't recognize all rushed past, followed lastly by the freed Spirit of Dedi. As she went by him, unable to stay, she reached out a hand and touched his face quickly before being sucked out of the room as well.
It was no longer enough. Without the support of the spirit energy, his Shield couldn't take the strain of the Gods attack. Lastly, the smiling face of what looked like Yugi in a Pharaoh's robe managed to free itself form the Shield. It paused only a moment to smile at Yami and bow to him, and then with a wave of its hand he disappeared.
Yami, despite everything, smiled. His grandson could finally rest in peace. He had actually seen his grandson!
As the heat of the tri-beam force began to overwhelm him, Jetsu's mind began to cloud over. Everything was lost… everything, 'Well,' he thought sadly, smiling to himself, 'No one will ever again be able to use this Shield of my forefathers, at least they saw to that. Take that, Seline!' Then, as if time itself had stopped in its tracks, Jetsu felt the Shield pulled free from his grasp by another surge of energy and everything went bright white.
The Gods attack had knocked the Shield across the room and plowed on right through Jetsu's body, blasting another hole in the far wall. And when the dust settled, there was nothing left. Yami stood there in the strange quiet as the Gods all stood around him, grunted softly and then evaporated into thin air.
It was all over.
Completely exhausted both mentally and physically, Yami collapsed unconscious on the floor just as Tristan and Tea burst into the chamber.