Did they use magic and trap cards in the Ancient Egyptian duels? Yes? No? Someone review and tell me! (Oh, well. Too bad if they didn't. I use them in my duels ^_^)
~KR
P.S. By the way, my family's going on a vacation to Illinois for a week, so I won't be updating any time soon. -_-
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"What's going on?" Katsuya demanded as a black fog enveloped the dueling arena and the two duelists. "What happened to Yami?"
Seto frowned. "They're going to finish this duel in the Shadow Realm," he said quietly.
"But that could kill Yami," Nakht spoke up. "He's never dueled before, so he wouldn't be able to survive under the strain."
Seto didn't move. "Do you think that Yami doesn't know that?"
The devil, Katsuya muttered.
"No one ever said that dueling was easy," Kashta reminded them, and they all waited and watched in agitated silence
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Yami slowed to a halt. Wherever he was, it seemed to go on forever.
"Why do you whine, boy? Afraid of a little blood and pain. Or perhaps of what you think I'm going to do next?"
The voice was Terran's—him speaking to someone of whom Yami had not thought for a long time.
Atari.
He was taking punishment meant for me.
The spiky-haired teenager clenched his fists. "No," he whisperingly thought aloud. "You are dead, Terran. This...this isn't—can't be real!"
"And yet it is."
Yami glanced up. "Where did you take me, Rai-djedi?" he demanded.
The high priest grinned at his opponent from across the vast darkness that separated them. "Take you? Yami, you're making me think that you don't know your own mind." Although he spoke quietly, his voice boomed in empty space.
"Exactly," the teenager hissed. "I'd much rather forget...all that happened to me when I was younger."
"All I did was take you on a little trip into your subconscious, just to remind you that, although you may be a skilled novice in the dueling world, you will never truly win until you dig deep and call upon all of your energy—"
Yami flinched. The priest's words were almost exactly the same as Atari's. "Even though you are incredibly resourceful for a boy your age, Yami, you will never truly be as great as the pharaoh until you learn how to use all of your energies."
"—And to get that energy...you must remember." Rai-djedi was suddenly serious. "Now! We will finish this duel here, in the Shadow Realm. And if you don't survive, then it shows that you are truly weak."
As if on cue, the Blue Eyes White Dragon appeared before the high priest, spanning the huge distance between them. It hung in the air, growling low as it waited for the next monster to become the dragon's prey.
"I summon the Axe Raider!" Rai-djedi announced.
Yami scowled. There has to be a way to win this... "Giant Rock Soldier!" If I can't attack, then I'll defend!
"Blue Eyes! Destroy him!" the high priest ordered. Pieces of smoking rock flew everywhere after one white lightning blast.
The teenager clenched his fists, nails digging painfully into palms. Dammit.
"And that's not all!" Rai-djedi raised the Millennium Rod he held. "Come to life, Mystical Elf!" He was laughing now. "Axe Raider! Mystical Elf! I sacrifice you to enliven...the Red Eyes Black Dragon!" He smirked as the Black Dragon vociferously rose to life. "As you can see, Yami, dragons are my favorites."
"Ohh..." Yami shut his eyes.
What do I do now? If I summon another monster, he'll only destroy it and bring me closer to my defeat. And if I summon one that's stronger than his dragons, I won't be able to support it.
It's hopeless.
His eyes snapped open with a start. Wait...
If I summon the force of Change of Heart...and that of Monster Reborn... A confident smirk changed his face. Heh...
"That look on your face..." Rai-djedi scowled. " I don't like it."
Ignoring the priest's remark, Yami raised his voice, in spite of the fact that he was rapidly weakening. "I invoke the powers of Change of Heart! Monster Reborn!"
The girl holding the powers of light and dark appeared in a sparkle of brilliance. Beside her was the ankh, the symbol of life.
Rai-djedi was so surprised that he nearly dropped the Millennium Rod. "Whaaat?!"
"Now!" Yami declared. "Change of Heart, bring Red Eyes Black Dragon...to me!" He almost laughed at the expression on the high priest's face. "Monster Reborn! Restore the Summoned Skull! To me."
The two monsters were instantly on either side of him. Yami's hand went to the pyramid-like puzzle in the pouch at his belt. He almost gasped as he realized that it was warm, as if it sensed the excitement of the duel and wanted to join in. Without a second thought, the teenager held the puzzle high, bathing in the energy it sent him.
"Unite now, Red Eyes and Summoned Skull! Bring to life the one who is stronger than the Blue Eyes." Yami was laughing now, something he hadn't done in a long time. "Black Skull Dragon!!" The giant black monster came to life. It was quickly consuming the teenager's energy, and he had to act fast. "Destroy the Blue Eyes White Dragon!"
Black light enveloped the white dragon.
Needless to say, Rai-djedi was speechless. He opened and closed his mouth, but no sound came. Osiris! I can't lose! Not against this...this...boy!! Then he regained control of his emotions and took a deep breath.
"I applaud your feeble efforts to make me lose," the man said coldly. "But it'll take more than that to bring me down!"
I just used the most powerful monster I could support to destroy his favorite. Yami scowled. 'Feeble', he calls that...
Rai-djedi suddenly smiled. "And I applaud the fact that you have the Millennium Puzzle; the Charm of a Thousand Years that has been missing for so long...!" He began to laugh. "Now, when I beat you, the Puzzle will be mine, and I will be that much closer to ruling Egypt." The man clenched his fists. "I conjure up the magic of Dark Hole!" A huge black portal appeared. It began to spin, the force of its windy vacuum almost pulling Yami into it. "Suck the Black Skull Dragon away! Away, and deep into your black void!"
"My Dragon!" Yami crossed his arms over his eyes. The wind blew stronger. "No...!"
"Heh..." Rai-djedi let out a breath of relief as the Dark Hole and the Black Skull Dragon disappeared. "I now summon another one of my charming dragons!
Yami cringed imperceptibly. Oh no...
"Winged Dragon Guardian of the Fortress!"
Relief was so great that Yami almost laughed. "That's what you call a 'charming dragon'?" he taunted under his breath. "May the gods be cursed if I don't destroy it on my move!"
Rai-djedi's face returned to its usual smirk. "Yes, Yami," he said icily. "May the gods be cursed." The high priest raised his voice. "I power the Winged Dragon with my rare Dragon Treasure! And again with Dragonic Attack! Ha!" The man began to laugh as his monster grew in proportion to its power. It let out a deafening roar that grated in the spiky-haired teenager's ears. [1]
He could feel himself growing weaker.
And just when I thought things couldn't get any worse... Yami clutched the Millennium Puzzle tightly in numbed hands, closing his eyes. He didn't seem to notice when the puzzle's sharp edges cut his palms and blood streamed freely. What am I going to do? I don't have the strength left in me to support the essence of the one who is stronger than the Winged Dragon.
Ra, I can't believe this. I'm going to lose.
I'm sorry, Atari.
As if it sensed his distress, the Millennium Item began to glow; softly at first, but then with an unnatural, sharp quality. Yami felt the light's warmth, and forced himself to open his eyes. "What-?"
Rai-djedi scowled suddenly, but didn't speak.
The luminosity intensified a thousand times until both duelists were sure that they were blind. Yami took a deep breath...and he knew which monster he would summon.
"Awaken, my powerful monster!! Go, Dark Magician!!!"
The high priest's jaw literally dropped. "Wha-aat?!"
"Hn." Yami smirked. Looks like I am here for a reason, after all. "Dark Magician! Dark Magic Attack!! Annihilate the Winged Dragon!"
"No!" Rai-djedi shouted. But with one blow, the Winged Dragon was gone. The high priest opened and closed his mouth. He lurched on unsteady feet and let out a string of growled curses.
While the man was trying to think of what to say, of how to best insult the teenager—the only one who had ever beaten him—Yami decided to finish the man off. He doesn't have enough strength to support anything else. I had better make this swift and painless for him... "And now, your punishment!" He raised the Millennium Puzzle, still stained crimson from his blood. "Penalty Game! Torture Illusion!"
Rai-djedi clasped his hands around his head as pain within him grew. "No!" he screamed. "I can not lose!! Not to some underprivileged...fool like you!"
Yami stood over him, his face apathetic. "This is the punishment you deserve," the teenager said quietly. "Maybe now you will begin to see just how much you hurt your opponents...and how you've hurt yourself."
The high priest glanced up at Yami in surprise, as if to say, How does one so young know so much? But all he managed to gasp was, "Damn...you...boy..." before collapsing to the ground. His body was gone in a shower of dark sparks.
He's...gone...
I...won.
I won!
Yami sank to his hands and knees as the Shadow Realm faded around him. Thank Ra, I won.
"Yami!" exclaimed Katsuya. "You're...alive!" He raced to his friend's side with the others right behind him. "A-are you all right?"
No... The teenager squeezed his eyes shut. He was too tired to move; too tired to speak. The energy from the Puzzle was gone, and all anyone saw of him now was an exhausted teenager with fresh cuts on his hands.
But he had won. And that's all that really mattered.
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[1] In today's Duel Monsters, the Winged Dragon's attack power would be 2200 when combined with Dragon Treasure and Dragonic Attack. Heh...yeah, I know...I study my cards. ^_^
R/R!!!!! Kani out!