Yu-Gi-Oh!
Dawn of Fate

CHAPTER THREE – TEAM DUEL SHOWDOWN

The only sound that could be heard was Yami Bakura's wheezing breath as he struggled to breath properly. Other than that, the remains of the busy city street that surrounded the Gravekeeper and the tomb robber were eerily quiet. Marik went slightly ahead of the Egyptian spirit, who had stopped to see to a young boy trapped under what had been a car. This kind of devastation… they should have been able to hear something – anything – that would have caused it. Neither of them had heard a thing, however, but it all looked too real to be an illusion.

Yami Bakura rejoined him after a moment, a saddened look on his face.

"I hate dis shit," he muttered.

"You and me both," Marik agreed. "C'mon, let's go see if the others are all right."

The two of them turned, and were about to head back the way they came, when a burst of magic suddenly exploded at their feet, forcing them to jump back. They looked up to see two hooded figures standing before them, their faces shrouded with a death's head. Out of instinct, Marik reached toward his back pocket, only for his hand to come back empty.

"Crap! I forgot my wand!" he exclaimed. Yami Bakura gave him a critical look.

"Like youb coulb use it anyway," he replied.

Before Marik could retort, one of the Death Eaters started chuckling evilly.

"Ah… the possessor of the God of Ra," he sneered. "Just who we were looking for…"

Marik and Yami Bakura backed up, surprised. It was then that the two of them noticed the oddly colored Duel Disks on the arms of the opposing Death Eaters. The other Death Eater sneered.

"Should we kill them and take the card?" he asked, reaching into his robes, obviously going for a wand. The man that had spoken before, however, put a hand on his arm, stopping him.

"No, we were told that you have to earn a god," he pointed out. "This one we'll have to duel."

Yami Bakura let out a rude sounding snort. "Whab am I? Chobbed liber? You'll habe to geb drough me doo."

Marik sweatdropped. Under normal circumstances, he would not have minded a team duel with the tomb robber on his side. However, with that cold, it was next to impossible to take him seriously.

The four opponents – two on one side, two on the other – separated a safe distance before sending out the miniature holographic generators that would make their monsters come to life. Marik tossed a glance toward Yami Bakura; he did trust the tomb robber – reluctantly, yes, but he did trust him – but he did not know if the feeling was mutual. The spirit noticed him looking at him, and gave him a thumbs up.

Well, that solved his problem.

"Duel!"

-.oOOo.-

Seto grit his teeth against the pain in his arm, taking a step back as three Death Eaters approached him from behind the destroyed wall. He probably could fight the crowd of them off, but with his injured arm he would be much slower than normal, and it was possible they could kill him with a magic spell before he could take care of them. He took another step back, looking down to make sure his Duel Disk was still okay. It was a little banged up, but it was still operable.

"Give us Obelisk," one of the Death Eaters demanded suddenly, "and we'll spare your life."

Seto gave him one of his "I'm better than you and you know it" sneers. "Sorry, I don't trade with anyone."

Another of the Death Eaters whipped out his wand. "Think you're really smart, hunh, kid? I'll wipe that smirk off your face!"

"Stupify!"

Before the man could even move his wand an inch, a blast of magic hit him squarely in the chest. He dropped quicker than a brick just as a raspberry tipped spike came into Seto's line of vision. The CEO looked down in surprise to see Yugi standing before him, his wand out defensively. A soft inquiry on how he felt came from behind him, and he turned around surprised to see the koinu's sister – whatever her name was. He nodded briefly before focusing back on Yugi.

"What are you doing?" he hissed. "You're going to get yourself expelled."

"Given the circumstances, I think they'll forgive me for using magic outside of school," the shorter boy replied, not taking his eyes off of the remaining two Death Eaters. One of them just laughed.

"Wonderful! The holder of Osiris decides to save us some trouble," he sneered. "Listen kids, give us your God Cards now."

"Over my dead body!" Yugi snapped back, uncharacteristically.

"That can be arranged," the other Death Eater replied, reaching into his robes for his wand. The piece of wood never made it out, however, as suddenly the two of them were pushed against the remains of the wall by an unseen force.

"Baka," came the voice of Yami Yugi, who had somehow managed the switch places with Yugi quicker than a blink. "To possess a God Card is to earn the right to do so, not take it by force."

The Death Eater that had threatened them with their deaths snarled as he straightened himself out, the glare on his face obvious even through the mask. He pushed back the long sleeve of his cloak on his left arm to reveal a strangely colored Duel Disk. The two panels on either side of the central disk snapped together before the holographic generators shot out. The other Death Eater walked a short distance away from his partner before doing the same.

Seto and Yami Yugi soon followed suit, easily accepting the fact that they were playing a card game to save their lives; they had done it so often before, after all. Yami Yugi prepped his Duel Disk without a problem; Seto, however, was a different story. As soon as he tried to lift his bad arm to press the release on his holographic pods, a searing pain shot through his entire body, making him wince and grip his arm in pain. There was no denying it; his arm was definitely broken.

"Seto-kun, daijobou?" Yami Yugi whispered, concern clearly etched on his face.

"I'm fine," Seto growled, somehow mustering the strength to reach up and release the generators.

Hikari… came the concern voice of the high priest in his head. Are you sure you don't want me to take over? It'll be easier on your body if I'm in control.

No! Absolutely not! Seto snapped, another jolt of pain coursing through him as he reached over to take his five card starting hand. I fight my own battles. You know better.

Yami Seto grumbled something unintelligible, but remained silent. Of course, Seto was never going to admit how sorely tempted he was to take up his darker half's offer.

"Duel!"

-.oOOo.-

Draco grit his teeth as he and Jonouchi took up their five card starting hands, nervousness poisoning his body like a disease. He knew he had to use his new power as the owner of the Millennium Scale to make this duel a Yami-no-Game. How he knew how to do this, he could not understand. It was almost as if something deep within him imparted the knowledge unto him, shared with him the knowledge and wisdom of darkness without hesitation. Was that what it had been like for Yugi and the others, when they had first taken up their Items? He did not know, and was afraid to ask. Things in his life had been strange enough ever since he decided to let himself feel normal human compassion; he did not need anything else to be worried about.

"Well then, son of Malfoy," one of the Death Eaters sneered. "Shall you go first, or will you allow those of a higher standing than what you've sunk down to have the honor?"

Draco scowled, his nervousness chased away by the man's arrogance.

"There's just one condition left to be announced in this duel," he declared in a loud, clear voice. Jonouchi winced; oh boy, here it comes…

Both Death Eaters took a step back as a darkness spread out from behind Draco, seemingly coming from his backpack. The inky blackness swallowed all four duelists in its depths, cutting them off from the real world. The English boy reached into his backpack and pulled out the Millennium Scale before he tossed it up it to the air, the Item coming to a rest between the two sets of duelists. To finish his "final condition", Draco reached underneath his shirt and pulled out a golden-white feather – his feather, the feather of the goddess Ma'at. With a soft puff from between his lips, the feather drifted up, joining the Item above as it settled in one of the Scale's baskets.

"This duel shall be fought in Darkness," Draco declared, pointing up to his Item. "When you loose this match, the weight of your defeat will unbalance the Scale, calling the beast Ammit to feed on your souls."

As if to exemplify the point, a deep growling sound came from behind the Death Eaters, making the two grown men jump in fright. Draco smirked; apparently, no one warned them of what the Millennium Items could do. That meant more fun for him.

"Oh, looks like he's already here," he said idly, with the air of someone commenting on the weather. "Sounds a bit hungry too. Probably hasn't been fed in the last five thousand years."

Another deep growl came, almost sounding as if it were agreeing with him. The Death Eaters exchanged nervous looks, seeming like they were having second thoughts about the impending duel.

"Uh, Draco-kun," Jonouchi began, muttering out of the side of his mouth. "What happens if we loose?"

Draco blinked a couple times. "I dunno. I didn't think about that."

Jonouchi sweatdropped, before falling over in mock death. He managed to get back to his feet, however, as the Death Eaters before them finally composed themselves.

"Duel!"

Draco Malfoy: 4000
Katsuya Jonouchi: 4000

Death Eater 1: 4000
Death Eater 2: 4000

"I'll take the first turn!" Draco announced, drawing a card and adding it to his hand. He grimaced; what was with him and getting nothing but magic cards lately? It happened in the last battle too, and it was getting a bit annoying. At least he still had one monster he could use. "Zombyra the Dark, sign of attack. End of turn!"

A human like creature in bone armor appeared before Draco, crossing its arms as it glared down at the two Death Eaters. One of the two men gulped, realizing that this monster was much more realistic than normal. Draco smirked; yet another thing no one told these men of. They were in for a shock when they were directly attacked for the first time.

The first Death Eater across from him set a monster in defense and ended his turn quickly, leaving Jonouchi to make his turn.

"I set two cards on the field!" he announced, setting two trap or magic cards in their respective slots. "And I summon Landstar no Kenshin, sign of attack. End turn!"

An adorable little swordsman appeared on Jonouchi's side of the field, in addition to the two cards he had set earlier. Draco mentally nodded; the older boy's Nightmare and Angel Dice combo was probably one of his most well known, which was why he always tried to pull it off first. Thankfully, the Death Eaters did not know that.

The second Death Eater drew his card and let it join the others in his hand, before he summoned a monster. This one, however, was much different from any Duel Monsters card any of them had ever seen. It was tall and serpentine, wielding a rapier in one hand as a forked tongue snaked out.

"Serpent Fencer, sign of attack! End of turn."

Both Draco and Jonouchi exchanged worried glances. This was going to be a lot harder than they thought…

-.oOOo.-

"I'll take the first turn! Draw!"

Marik looked down at his hand as he added his first drawn card of the match to his hand. His sister had been surprised when he said he was going to change his deck a few days before the start of this year's Battle City. It was mostly out of practicality than anything else; he had been using the same deck since long before the first tournament, and while he loved his old deck, he was getting much too predictable, as Yugi so kindly pointed out in their first year of school. Now he had a Gravekeeper themed deck, which had gotten a laugh out of all of the Egyptian spirits. The only problem was he had not had much of a chance to test his new deck; he could only hope that he had not made a mistake.

"I set one card on the field, and summon Gravekeeper's Assassin. End of turn!"

The cloaked assassin appeared before him, its knife glinting eerily in the light from the Dark Mark above, as well as a face down card. The Death Eater across from him sneered as he drew a card and placed it on the field in face down defense position before ending his turn.

"My turnb!" Yami Bakura declared. "Braw!"

Marik face-palmed, not willing to tell the tomb robber what it sounded like he said as he drew a card.

"I subbon Da Gross Ghost 'a Fled Dreams," the tomb robber announced, sniffing loudly as a bed with a person sleeping in it and a ghost hovering about it, sword and shield in hand, appeared. "Emb turnb!"

The second Death Eater across from Yami Bakura drew a card, and set that one in defense on the field like his partner had done. Marik declared his turn and drew, gritting his teeth as he did so. Two unknowns on their opponents' fields, and he had just drawn his Necrovalley card. While the card did give his Gravekeeper monsters a five hundred point attack boost (as well as enable some special abilities on his cards), it prevented monsters being removed from the graveyard, something that the tomb robber's dueling strategy depended on. After a moment of deliberation, he decided to wait on using it; it was still only the beginning of the duel.

"Gravekeeper's Assassin! Attack the face down card!" Marik ordered, pointing at the card of the Death Eater across from him. The Assassin raced forward, its knife arched in a position to slice the card in half. Before the monster could, however; an odd, serpentine monster came out of the card, bedecked in strong armor. The serpent repelled his monster, forcing it to return to his side of the field amongst a beeping sound from his Duel Disk. Marik looked down at the Life Point counter in shock as its value went down two hundred points.

Marik Ishitar: 3800
Yami Bakura: 4000

Death Eater 1: 4000
Death Eater 2: 4000

"Now, wait a minute!" Marik exclaimed. "Whaa…?"

"Whab da heck is dis!" Yami Bakura protested. "Dat ibn't a Buel Monsters card!"

Marik sweatdropped. "Tomb robber, don't talk."

Yami Bakura muttered something under his breath. Meanwhile, the first Death Eater smirked, looking at his fake monster proudly.

"Of course it's a Duel Monsters card," the man declared. "Though it's not made by Industrial Illusions."

"Den dat means it's not dournament legal!" Yami Bakura declared.

"Does it look like we care?" the other Death Eater asked.

"Oh, and by the way, most of our cards have effects," the first Death Eater sneered. "This one is a flip effect, allowing me to choose an opponents monster to return to his hand. And guess which one I choose?"

Marik gave the man a sour look, before taking his Gravekeeper's Assassin off of the field and returning it to his hand. At least he had not summoned a monster before, during his first main phase. He could still re-summon the assassin during his second main phase.

"Oh, and one other thing," the Death Eater cut in, almost as if reading his mind. "You can't summon your monster again until your next turn."

The Gravekeeper gave the man a bland look, before setting a monster in defense and ending his turn. This was going to be more difficult than he initially thought. The two of them were going up against cards they had no idea about, and could not even predict what they could do. Maybe if he could get his God of Ra out on the field, they would have a better chance, but a God needed three cards sacrificed in order to get it on the field. Marik and Yami Bakura exchanged worried looks. They were really going to have to hang on tight in this duel.

-.oOOo.-

Yami Yugi's narrow eyes looked about the field as he ended his turn, hiding his concern behind the usual poker face he had on while he was dueling. He had Kuriboh in defense along with Multiply set face down on the field. Seto only had Spear Dragon in attack position on his side of the field, though considering the dragon's ability to inflict damage even against a monster in defense, it made a good starting card.

The cards on the opposing side of the field, however, were another story entirely. Both Death Eaters had monsters on the field that neither of them had ever seen before. The first one, standing across the way from Seto, had a serpent creature he had called "Serpent Servant". It was an effect monster that inflicted a hundred points of Direct Damage to an opponent each turn it was on the field, something Seto had found out the hard way. The other Death Eater had what he had called a "Serpent Halberdier", and while the creature was a normal monster, it had an attack power of seventeen hundred. In addition to that, both of them had a trap or magic card set on their fields.

This was not good.

"It's my turn!" Seto declared, hiding a wince as he reached up to draw a card. "Draw!"

He blinked as he added the card to his hand, the pain in his arm causing his head to swim and his vision to swirl. He shook his head a bit, before continuing on with the duel.

"Spear Dragon!" he shouted. "Attack Serpent Servant!"

The blue Spear Dragon sprung to life, soaring toward the first Death Eater's monster and spearing the serpent with its long bill of a nose/mouth.

"Uncover card!" the Death Eater exclaimed. "Serpent Hell Pit!"

The card the man had set on the field flipped up, revealing a picture of a hellish pit full of serpents. In response, his dragon suddenly broke apart as it was sent to the graveyard.

"N-nani!" both Seto and Yami Yugi exclaimed.

The Death Eater smirked. "Ah, I hope you like my little trap card. See, when one of our Serpent monsters is attacked, I can halve the attacking monster's strength and increase my own life value by that removed. I win, you loose."

Seto Kaiba: 3350
Yami Yugi: 4000

Death Eater 1: 4950
Death Eater 2: 4000

Seto glared. "End… end turn."

Yami Yugi glanced over at him, the hitch in his breath hard not to notice. The taller boy's face was flushed and he was breathing heavy, and what was worse than that was that the pharaoh did not think Seto was even aware of it, much less acknowledging it.

Mou hitori no boku, Yugi muttered in his mind, is there any way that you can help him?

I don't think so, aibou, Yami Yugi replied. There's only one person who can help him ease the pain, and you know it'll be a cold day in Khemet before that happens.

Yugi sighed as the first Death Eater announced his turn and drew a card. A twisted sneer appeared on the man's face, before he slid a magic card into the proper slot.

"Activate ritual magic card!" the man announced. "Our Lord and Master!"

On the Death Eater's side of the field, a cauldron appeared, spewing poisonous green smoke and surrounded by two floor-based torches entwined with snakes. The man took two cards from his hand and held them up for the others to see.

"I offer these two level four monsters as sacrifice to summon Dark Serpent Lord!"

Seto and Yami Yugi took a step back in surprise. Shizuka screamed from where she was standing out of the line of fire. Something was rising slowly from the cauldron. Like the other serpent monsters, it was humanoid – tall and muscular – but held that serpentine look to it, especially in the face. The creature was swathed in darkly colored robes, with a blood red cape encircling its form. It held a wicked blade in its hand, with serpents slithering up and down the length.

The Death Eater chuckled. "Meet the second most powerful monster in our arsenal. Now, who will feel its twenty-nine hundred attack power?"

Seto grit his teeth; like it was really that hard to figure out?

The young CEO did not really know what happened next. One second, the Death Eater across from him was ordering his monster to attack him, and the next second his world exploded in a pain he never thought humanly possible…

-.oOOo.-

Yami Yugi did not even have a chance to activate Multiply when Dark Serpent Lord attacked Seto. The creature's sword hit the young man right in his injured arm. Simulated or not, that kind of pain sent right into his broken arm had to hurt like hell. Apparently, it made him reach his limit; as the monster went back to its side of the field, Seto managed to stay on his feet for a few minutes before he started to collapse.

"Seto-kun!"

Before Yami Yugi could get near Seto, it looked like he split in two. One half continued to fall, while the other more solid half reached out and caught him. Yami Seto's eyes narrowed dangerously as he held onto his lighter half tightly, the pain of their body's broken arm only a slight tingle for him.

"You fucking moron," he snarled. "You did that on purpose!"

The Death Eater just smirked easily. "So?"

That was obviously the wrong thing to say. Yami Seto's eyes seemed to darken as he glared at the man with the full intent to kill. He probably would have too, if not for the current circumstances. Seto disappeared from his arms as his other self put him away in his Soul Room.

"Pharaoh, take your turn, and make it count," the high priest all but ordered.

Yami Yugi nodded, understanding. "It's my turn!"

Yami Seto: 450
Yami Yugi: 4000

Death Eater 1: 4950
Death Eater 2: 4000