Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Chapter 6: Entrance of the Dark Monarchs, a Double Duel!
Dock Warehouses.
"Is he usually this late?" Sakura impatiently asked. She had good reason to, for her watch said it was already 6:37, and Joey was still nowhere to be found.
"Joey can be a little absent minded sometimes." Yugi informed. "But he never shows up late for a duel. I wonder if Shin is willing to be waiting all this time."
"If Joey wants his Tri-Horned Dragon back, he'd better hurry." Sakura said. "It's already more than half an hour past six. I hope he didn't back down or something on his way here."
"Nuh-uh." Yugi said as he shook his head. "If there's one thing about Joey, it's that he never backs down from a challenge, especially not a duel. In the Battle City Tournament, he faced against one of the most dangerous men in the world, and still he never doubted himself. It's just not like Joey to give up on anything."
Sakura nodded. "But if he didn't back down, then where is he?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" A boastful voice came from behind Yugi and Sakura.
"Joey?" Yugi asked as he turned around. But instead of finding his friend, he found a tall man dressed in black robes with a headband that held back slick black hair in front of him.
"I'm afraid you're mistaken." The man said. "My name is Tamashii, the sixth member of the Dark Monarch Clan."
A robed woman with long blonde hair suddenly appeared by Tamashii's side. "And I am Kaede, the eighth member. If you want to know where your friend is, you'll have to go through us."
"What?" Yugi shouted. "Where is Joey? What have you done with him?!"
"Well, you're just going to have to duel us for that information, aren't you?" Tamashii snickered. "It'll be simple, Yugi Moto. In order to find your friend, you'll have to duel past me first. And if you are so lucky to survive, you'll have Kaede to deal with. If by chance, you happen to defeat both of us, then a third member of our clan shall release your friend."
"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Yugi demanded.
"Our word is all you have." The woman, Kaede, smirked.
"Fine." Yugi said as he strapped on his duel disk. "I'll make short work of you both."
"Not so fast, Yugi Moto." Tamashii said as he took out two devices. "It is tradition that in our clan, we duel for higher stakes, much higher stakes." He then threw Yugi one of the devices and attached the other to his own duel disk. "In addition to the standard rule that states the loser must hand over his rarest card to the winner, we'll also play with this risk. These are small grenades that attach onto the life point counter of your duel disk. If your life points reach zero, they explode, simple as that. If you're lucky, you'll die painlessly. These are the stakes that we play with."
"What?" Sakura gasped. "You can't be serious. Who the hell has ever heard of a life threatening duel? Yugi, let's just forget about them and find Joey ourselves."
"I accept your terms." Yugi said as he attached the small bomb onto his duel disk, surprising Sakura even more. "It won't be the first time I've had to put my life on the line for my best friend. I am more than willing to do so again."
'He sounds so different from before.' Sakura thought to herself. 'As if he's more confident, and more bold than before. Like a completely different person.'
"Then shall we begin?" Tamashii asked.
"Wait!" Sakura interrupted as she too strapped on her duel disk. "How about a two on two duel? Me and Yugi against you and Kaede?"
"Sakura!" Yugi shouted. "This is too dangerous for you! Don't draw yourself into this!"
"It's okay, Yugi." Sakura said. "If we duel them together, we can beat them faster. And the faster we beat them, the faster we can find Joey, right? And anyways, I can't let creeps like these guys go pushing other people around."
Yugi stared at the brave girl. "Thank you, Sakura." He finally said with a smile. Then he turned towards the robed figures. "We've agreed to your terms now agree to ours: a two on two duel!"
"Hah." Tamashii scoffed as he took out two more grenades. He handed one to his comrade and threw the other to Sakura. "Very well, Kaede and I shall duel you both together."
"The rules of a double duel state that partners may defend each other's life points with their own monster if their partner is threatened with a direct attack." Kaede informed. "Furthermore, you may attack any, with the exception of your own, monsters on the field, including your partners. But you may not control your partner's monsters, even with their consent. Graveyards are to remain separate from your partners and you may only tribute your own monsters. The first attack can only be declared by the duelist who goes last. Finally, magic cards, trap cards, and effect monsters that affect numerous monsters such as Raigeki will apply to only one opponent, both opponents, or every duelist depending on the card."
"Agreed." Saukra and Yugi said in unison.
'This makes it easier on us actually.' Tamashii thought to himself. 'If Kaede and I both focus on defeating Yugi, we can finish him easily and victory will be ensured for our master.'
"All right." Tamashii shouted. "It's time to duel!"
Yugi: 8000
Sakura: 8000
Tamashii: 8000
Kaede: 8000
"You may start the duel off, Yugi." Tamashii stated. "Then I'll take my turn, then the girl over there, then finally Kaede will finish things off."
"Very well." Yugi said as he drew his first hand. "I'll lay this one card face down in my magic/trap slot, and summon the mighty Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600) in attack mode!" The holographic projectors displayed a large yellow monster with magnets attached to its body and head. "This will end my turn."
"A weak monster to start with." Tamashii taunted as he played his own monster. "Compared to my powerful Mechanical Chaser (1850/800), your magnet warrior is scrap. But because I'm not allowed to attack yet, I must end my turn."
'Foolish Tamashii.' Kaede thought to herself. 'Always starting things off with your strong monsters without knowing what the opponent has. He's still playing like a low level duelist.'
"Okay, my turn!" Sakura excitedly shouted as she drew her hand. "Time to start things off with a magic card: Graceful Charity." She immediately drew three additional cards into her hand and discarded two. "Now I'll set two magic/trap cards face down and summon the Dunames Dark Witch (1800/1050) in attack mode!" The Dark Witch projection formed in front of the fiery duelist. "That ends my turn."
'One of the trap cards that I just laid face down was Call of the Haunted.' Sakura thought to herself as she reviewed her strategy in her mind. 'And I threw out my Dark Magician with my Graceful Charity card. That means by my next turn I'll have a level seven monster out without even needing to sacrifice anything!' This early offensive strategy had often won many duels for her in the past. It was quick and unexpected, and would prove successful if the opponent did not have the sufficient cards to counter traps.
'What is Sakura doing?' Yugi silently asked himself as he scanned through the graveyard. 'She just threw away her Dark Magician. She must be trying to revive it with those cards she placed face down. I just hope our opponents didn't catch on to her strategy.'
But just as Yugi feared, Kaede had already figured out Sakura's plan and had the perfect way to stop it. "You shouldn't make your strategy so obvious little girl." Kaede taunted as she inserted a card into one of the magic/trap slots. "I'll play the magic card: Monster Reborn to revive your Dark Magician (2500/2100) from the graveyard and back him up with the monster known as the Witch's Apprentice (550/500)." Through her holographic magic card, the powerful Dark Magician arose from the ground. A small monster holding a broom stick appeared next to it. Suddenly, the Dark Magician started to increase in size as its attack power grew to 3000.
"What's happening?" Sakura asked. "Why did its attack points suddenly increase?"
"The Witch's Apprentice is an effect monster." Kaede explained. "When she is on the field, all Dark monsters including herself gain an attack power of 500. Furthermore, the attack power of light monsters like your Dunames drop by 400." Sakura gasped in fear as her monster grew weaker and smaller. "Now, Dark Magician, attack Yugi's monster, Beta the Magnet Warrior!"
Yugi gritted his teeth as his magnet warrior was destroyed before him. He looked intently at his dropping life points, keeping in mind that the device right next to it would explode if he would lose. "My turn is over." Kaede declared. "So it's your move, Yugi Moto."
End of Turn 1
Yugi: 6700 (1 card face down)
Sakura: 8000 (Dunames Dark Witch in attack mode, 2 cards face down)
Tamashii: 8000 (Mechanical Chaser in attack mode)
Kaede: 8000 (Dark Magician in attack mode, Witch's Apprentice in attack mode)
"Alright." Yugi said as he drew his next card. "I'll summon one monster in defense mode and set one card face down, ending my turn."
'Is that all?' Sakura silently asked. 'With both Kaede and Tamashii having monsters on the field including the Dark Magician, how can his defenses hold?'
"Sakura." Yugi suddenly said. "If we are to win this we must protect each other as a team. That is the only way we can escape this with our lives. Do you understand?"
"I know that!" Sakura shouted with the "well DUH" tone. "I know the meaning of teamwork already. You don't have to lecture me."
'Wait!' Sakura suddenly thought to herself. 'What if he wasn't trying to lecture me? What if he was trying to tell me something?'
She looked at Yugi, who was smiling at her. "I understand." She said with a nod, smiling back at him.
"Yes." Yugi said. "Teamwork. Now make your move, Tamashii."
"I will." Tamashii replied with a smug on his face. "I'll wipe our your defenses with this level six monster, which I sacrifice the Mechanical Chaser to summon. Go, Cyber-Tech Alligator (2500/1600)!"
'Another machine monster.' Yugi noted in his mind. 'Good thing I've had experience battling against them during my duel with Bandit Keith.'
"And now I'll attack your monster in defense mode." Tamashii continued. "Cyber-Tech Alligator attack his monster!" The mechanical reptilian beast lounged towards Yugi's face down monster."
"Sakura!" Yugi shouted as the monster neared him.
Sakura nodded. 'I was saving this trap card for Kaede.' Sakura thought to herself. 'But Yugi wants me to activate it now, and I trust him.'
"Not so fast." Sakura interrupted. "I activate one of my face down cards, the trap card known as Kunai with Chain! This forces your monster into defense mode, stopping your attack. But that's not all, I can then equip this onto my Dunames Dark Witch to raise her attack power by 500 points!"
Tamashii frowned as his monster was forced into defense mode. "That was stupid of you, little girl." Tamashii grunted. "Very stupid."
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"Our plan was to defeat Yugi." Kaede explained. "Then after we both crushed him, we would consider letting you go, seeing as how you play no part in our master's plans. But you've just graduated from being a small nuisance to being a big annoyance." Her attention then turned towards her partner. "Tamashii, delay the mission to destroy Yugi for a little while. We'll crush the little girl first!"
Chapter 6: Entrance of the Dark Monarchs, a Double Duel!
Dock Warehouses.
"Is he usually this late?" Sakura impatiently asked. She had good reason to, for her watch said it was already 6:37, and Joey was still nowhere to be found.
"Joey can be a little absent minded sometimes." Yugi informed. "But he never shows up late for a duel. I wonder if Shin is willing to be waiting all this time."
"If Joey wants his Tri-Horned Dragon back, he'd better hurry." Sakura said. "It's already more than half an hour past six. I hope he didn't back down or something on his way here."
"Nuh-uh." Yugi said as he shook his head. "If there's one thing about Joey, it's that he never backs down from a challenge, especially not a duel. In the Battle City Tournament, he faced against one of the most dangerous men in the world, and still he never doubted himself. It's just not like Joey to give up on anything."
Sakura nodded. "But if he didn't back down, then where is he?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" A boastful voice came from behind Yugi and Sakura.
"Joey?" Yugi asked as he turned around. But instead of finding his friend, he found a tall man dressed in black robes with a headband that held back slick black hair in front of him.
"I'm afraid you're mistaken." The man said. "My name is Tamashii, the sixth member of the Dark Monarch Clan."
A robed woman with long blonde hair suddenly appeared by Tamashii's side. "And I am Kaede, the eighth member. If you want to know where your friend is, you'll have to go through us."
"What?" Yugi shouted. "Where is Joey? What have you done with him?!"
"Well, you're just going to have to duel us for that information, aren't you?" Tamashii snickered. "It'll be simple, Yugi Moto. In order to find your friend, you'll have to duel past me first. And if you are so lucky to survive, you'll have Kaede to deal with. If by chance, you happen to defeat both of us, then a third member of our clan shall release your friend."
"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Yugi demanded.
"Our word is all you have." The woman, Kaede, smirked.
"Fine." Yugi said as he strapped on his duel disk. "I'll make short work of you both."
"Not so fast, Yugi Moto." Tamashii said as he took out two devices. "It is tradition that in our clan, we duel for higher stakes, much higher stakes." He then threw Yugi one of the devices and attached the other to his own duel disk. "In addition to the standard rule that states the loser must hand over his rarest card to the winner, we'll also play with this risk. These are small grenades that attach onto the life point counter of your duel disk. If your life points reach zero, they explode, simple as that. If you're lucky, you'll die painlessly. These are the stakes that we play with."
"What?" Sakura gasped. "You can't be serious. Who the hell has ever heard of a life threatening duel? Yugi, let's just forget about them and find Joey ourselves."
"I accept your terms." Yugi said as he attached the small bomb onto his duel disk, surprising Sakura even more. "It won't be the first time I've had to put my life on the line for my best friend. I am more than willing to do so again."
'He sounds so different from before.' Sakura thought to herself. 'As if he's more confident, and more bold than before. Like a completely different person.'
"Then shall we begin?" Tamashii asked.
"Wait!" Sakura interrupted as she too strapped on her duel disk. "How about a two on two duel? Me and Yugi against you and Kaede?"
"Sakura!" Yugi shouted. "This is too dangerous for you! Don't draw yourself into this!"
"It's okay, Yugi." Sakura said. "If we duel them together, we can beat them faster. And the faster we beat them, the faster we can find Joey, right? And anyways, I can't let creeps like these guys go pushing other people around."
Yugi stared at the brave girl. "Thank you, Sakura." He finally said with a smile. Then he turned towards the robed figures. "We've agreed to your terms now agree to ours: a two on two duel!"
"Hah." Tamashii scoffed as he took out two more grenades. He handed one to his comrade and threw the other to Sakura. "Very well, Kaede and I shall duel you both together."
"The rules of a double duel state that partners may defend each other's life points with their own monster if their partner is threatened with a direct attack." Kaede informed. "Furthermore, you may attack any, with the exception of your own, monsters on the field, including your partners. But you may not control your partner's monsters, even with their consent. Graveyards are to remain separate from your partners and you may only tribute your own monsters. The first attack can only be declared by the duelist who goes last. Finally, magic cards, trap cards, and effect monsters that affect numerous monsters such as Raigeki will apply to only one opponent, both opponents, or every duelist depending on the card."
"Agreed." Saukra and Yugi said in unison.
'This makes it easier on us actually.' Tamashii thought to himself. 'If Kaede and I both focus on defeating Yugi, we can finish him easily and victory will be ensured for our master.'
"All right." Tamashii shouted. "It's time to duel!"
Yugi: 8000
Sakura: 8000
Tamashii: 8000
Kaede: 8000
"You may start the duel off, Yugi." Tamashii stated. "Then I'll take my turn, then the girl over there, then finally Kaede will finish things off."
"Very well." Yugi said as he drew his first hand. "I'll lay this one card face down in my magic/trap slot, and summon the mighty Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600) in attack mode!" The holographic projectors displayed a large yellow monster with magnets attached to its body and head. "This will end my turn."
"A weak monster to start with." Tamashii taunted as he played his own monster. "Compared to my powerful Mechanical Chaser (1850/800), your magnet warrior is scrap. But because I'm not allowed to attack yet, I must end my turn."
'Foolish Tamashii.' Kaede thought to herself. 'Always starting things off with your strong monsters without knowing what the opponent has. He's still playing like a low level duelist.'
"Okay, my turn!" Sakura excitedly shouted as she drew her hand. "Time to start things off with a magic card: Graceful Charity." She immediately drew three additional cards into her hand and discarded two. "Now I'll set two magic/trap cards face down and summon the Dunames Dark Witch (1800/1050) in attack mode!" The Dark Witch projection formed in front of the fiery duelist. "That ends my turn."
'One of the trap cards that I just laid face down was Call of the Haunted.' Sakura thought to herself as she reviewed her strategy in her mind. 'And I threw out my Dark Magician with my Graceful Charity card. That means by my next turn I'll have a level seven monster out without even needing to sacrifice anything!' This early offensive strategy had often won many duels for her in the past. It was quick and unexpected, and would prove successful if the opponent did not have the sufficient cards to counter traps.
'What is Sakura doing?' Yugi silently asked himself as he scanned through the graveyard. 'She just threw away her Dark Magician. She must be trying to revive it with those cards she placed face down. I just hope our opponents didn't catch on to her strategy.'
But just as Yugi feared, Kaede had already figured out Sakura's plan and had the perfect way to stop it. "You shouldn't make your strategy so obvious little girl." Kaede taunted as she inserted a card into one of the magic/trap slots. "I'll play the magic card: Monster Reborn to revive your Dark Magician (2500/2100) from the graveyard and back him up with the monster known as the Witch's Apprentice (550/500)." Through her holographic magic card, the powerful Dark Magician arose from the ground. A small monster holding a broom stick appeared next to it. Suddenly, the Dark Magician started to increase in size as its attack power grew to 3000.
"What's happening?" Sakura asked. "Why did its attack points suddenly increase?"
"The Witch's Apprentice is an effect monster." Kaede explained. "When she is on the field, all Dark monsters including herself gain an attack power of 500. Furthermore, the attack power of light monsters like your Dunames drop by 400." Sakura gasped in fear as her monster grew weaker and smaller. "Now, Dark Magician, attack Yugi's monster, Beta the Magnet Warrior!"
Yugi gritted his teeth as his magnet warrior was destroyed before him. He looked intently at his dropping life points, keeping in mind that the device right next to it would explode if he would lose. "My turn is over." Kaede declared. "So it's your move, Yugi Moto."
End of Turn 1
Yugi: 6700 (1 card face down)
Sakura: 8000 (Dunames Dark Witch in attack mode, 2 cards face down)
Tamashii: 8000 (Mechanical Chaser in attack mode)
Kaede: 8000 (Dark Magician in attack mode, Witch's Apprentice in attack mode)
"Alright." Yugi said as he drew his next card. "I'll summon one monster in defense mode and set one card face down, ending my turn."
'Is that all?' Sakura silently asked. 'With both Kaede and Tamashii having monsters on the field including the Dark Magician, how can his defenses hold?'
"Sakura." Yugi suddenly said. "If we are to win this we must protect each other as a team. That is the only way we can escape this with our lives. Do you understand?"
"I know that!" Sakura shouted with the "well DUH" tone. "I know the meaning of teamwork already. You don't have to lecture me."
'Wait!' Sakura suddenly thought to herself. 'What if he wasn't trying to lecture me? What if he was trying to tell me something?'
She looked at Yugi, who was smiling at her. "I understand." She said with a nod, smiling back at him.
"Yes." Yugi said. "Teamwork. Now make your move, Tamashii."
"I will." Tamashii replied with a smug on his face. "I'll wipe our your defenses with this level six monster, which I sacrifice the Mechanical Chaser to summon. Go, Cyber-Tech Alligator (2500/1600)!"
'Another machine monster.' Yugi noted in his mind. 'Good thing I've had experience battling against them during my duel with Bandit Keith.'
"And now I'll attack your monster in defense mode." Tamashii continued. "Cyber-Tech Alligator attack his monster!" The mechanical reptilian beast lounged towards Yugi's face down monster."
"Sakura!" Yugi shouted as the monster neared him.
Sakura nodded. 'I was saving this trap card for Kaede.' Sakura thought to herself. 'But Yugi wants me to activate it now, and I trust him.'
"Not so fast." Sakura interrupted. "I activate one of my face down cards, the trap card known as Kunai with Chain! This forces your monster into defense mode, stopping your attack. But that's not all, I can then equip this onto my Dunames Dark Witch to raise her attack power by 500 points!"
Tamashii frowned as his monster was forced into defense mode. "That was stupid of you, little girl." Tamashii grunted. "Very stupid."
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"Our plan was to defeat Yugi." Kaede explained. "Then after we both crushed him, we would consider letting you go, seeing as how you play no part in our master's plans. But you've just graduated from being a small nuisance to being a big annoyance." Her attention then turned towards her partner. "Tamashii, delay the mission to destroy Yugi for a little while. We'll crush the little girl first!"