Episode #43- Double Duels, Part 5
The light of the first attack faded as the five of them on the craft wait for any response at all, Raikoukou being the most alert of the group. In attempt to distract his impatience, Kevin peered over the arm of the chair where on the table was the Samurai's sword and Duel Disc. He took the sword, sheath and all, and examined the dragon stitching on the side, resembling much of Yin-Yang when he first saw the Dragon.
The handle was tough with gold and an old fabric wrapped the grip. On one side of it was the same Eye of Horus as on the other Millennium Items. "Odd sword," he murmured and popped the blade from the lip of the holster. He saw his reflection on the gold sheen, as well as a different image, much to match the owner but older. "Miranda, this psycho shows up again, and I thought the first time I'd meet him would be my last. I thought he was gone for good." He continued rambling to himself as he recalled the Duel he was involved in to save her. "But now he's back? Now it'll be my turn to make a stand, whatever it takes."
'Kevin?' A faint voice echoed in his mind.
"What the?" He mumbled louder, but not enough to make attention.
'Kevin, listen to me.' The voice was louder, but still in a whisper as if struggling for life, 'Miranda is losing this battle.' Raikoukou caught attention and tried to act casual as the fox wandered its way to Kevin's side. Still, Kevin was edgy about the fox but tried to keep from gaining attention from the others. 'I have had my chance to save her, but I have failed. My emotions ruled my heart and I lost the Duel to save Miranda.'
Kevin seemed to recognize the voice. 'You're the spirit of the Millennium Sword?' He wondered and examined the sword seeing not only his image in the blade but also a faint image of Miran next to him.
'Roughly, yes. But I lost to Yami Marik and as agreed I have to remain in the Sword, he now has full control over Miranda again.' Miran admitted.
'Master Mirandragon...' Raikoukou sighed.
'Raikoukou, I'm sorry. But I couldn't help it, my fear ruled that Duel and submitted Miranda to the Darkness.' Miran resumed blaming herself for her host's downfall.
'Isn't there something we can do? Miranda still has the Final Round to Duel.' Kevin joined the conversation. 'I know it's only been a day, but I just can't help it. Miranda feels like the first real friend I've had in who knows how long. Maybe even...'
"Kevin?" Mai interrupted his thoughts as she just now noticed him with the Millennium Sword in his possession and Raikoukou at his side. "What's Rai doing with you? I thought you were scared of the nine-tailed fox."
"Well, uh..." Kevin tried to think of the explanation, "I'm...I'm comforting Fox in its depression for its Master's fall." He would cross his fingers and hope that Mai bought it. Kevin even tried to make it convincing by rest a hand just below Raikoukou's head.
"Well, OK. You do seem to know how to calm someone, or something." Mai agreed to his answer as Raikoukou played along and rested its head on Kevin's knees. Kevin's focus was now back on Raikoukou's Master.
'Man, now I wish there was something I could do.' He returned thought back to the two spirits.
'Perhaps...' Miran began with Kevin eyeing her expectantly.
'Please, tell me how I can help Miranda!' Kevin urged.
'It'll be risky, I don't want anyone else to get hurt.'
'And I don't want anyone else to remain in comatose by a psycho-ghost! Tell me!' Kevin now demanded while trying to keep a straight face. 'I don't care the risks, I want Miranda back. She never deserved this, she never deserved any of it.' Kevin clenched the Sword tightly. 'No wandering soul should steal or control the life of anyone.'
'Defeat him. Just once and he'll relinquish control.' Miran finally answered. Raikoukou added a comment, believing to be the answer.
'That demon came back because he wasn't actually defeated.' Raikoukou stated in summary.
'What?' Kevin and Miran asked the fox.
'In that Duel between the real Marik and Master Miranda, that demon was on Master's side, and she was ensured victory after she regained dominant control.' Raikoukou continued, 'He was on the victorious side at that Duel, he was still free to come and go from Master Miranda's body. But he'll stop at nothing to claim the Egyptian God Cards and Yin-Yang, no matter whose body he resides in.'
'Raikoukou's right, you have to defeat him in a Duel.' Miran agreed.
'But what would happen to Miranda? Surely she'd get tipped in on the consequences as well.' Kevin tried to get the ground level.
'When you first saw Miranda, that body snatcher made her a second body; I had her original body.' Miran answered, 'Now Yami Marik resides in Miranda's body rather than have control of her soul, he'll be near powerless if the Shadow Realm doesn't take effect on her.'
'And we'll be here. Just as you, we are also concerned of Master Miranda's safety.' Raikoukou added, 'When Master Miranda awakes, call him out and free my Master. Please.'
'I will Fox, count on it.' Kevin agreed and kept his eyes on the Samurai, still out of it.
Was the Shadow Realm supposed to be as silent as death? It was long seconds since either one of us spoke after Yami Marik pulled me out of the Shadow Realm as result of their Duel. Though I would laugh at awkward silence, this wasn't a good time.
"Well, out of all that's happened," Yami Marik broke silence, "can you agree Miran is nothing to you?" I was hesitant to answer his question and changed subject instead.
"Can I get out of here before I forfeit the Final match and you lose your chance of a God Card?" I asked, suddenly reminding Yami Marik.
Raikoukou perked its ears and lifted its head toward me. My right hand twitched and I forced myself to wake up. Kevin put the Sword back on the table and got to his feet. "I think Miranda's waking up." Kevin pointed out and got everyone's attention. I found Kevin's voice clearly and followed right out. I threw myself back to consciousness lifted myself from the bed.
"Miranda, you're all right." Marik smiled, but hid suspicion.
"Yeah, I am." I answered while trying to wake up, still the necklace in my hand. "Is the semifinal match over yet?"
"No, they're still going at each other's throats." Mai commented while looking outside. Kevin was soon to approach with my items, but with a depressed look of the sort. Same with Ashley, both of them were out of sync compared to Mai and Marik.
"Ashley, what's wrong?" I asked her first but she turned away from me just as fast. Though I did catch the Millennium Ring around her neck and just had a smaller version of a true Item on her left wrist.
"Cuz, I'm sorry." Ashley said after her turnaround.
"For what?"
"That psycho ghost, he's back in your body. And it's my fault." She admitted with a fist trembling.
"I know that much, but it's not your fault." I answered as I clicked the Duel Disc on my left arm, leaving Kevin to hold the Millennium Sword at its full extent while I had dominant control.
"Just say it is." Ashley began to fume, "I should have thrown that Duel, so you wouldn't be in this."
"Ash, for once stop feeling sorry for yourself." I got serious fast as I tied the Millennium Sword holster around my waist. "That's all you ever do, feel so overconfident then crash like a computer. Do us all a favor and get a hold of yourself before you wind up like everyone else in the family." Ashley, as everyone else, caught me in another one of my moments. I just paused and took my leave out. "I'll be waiting for a winner." I said before I exited the room.
I just came into the hallway and was making my way to the elevator when I was stopped again. "Miranda, hold up." Kevin got my attention again from my room of the hallway.
"What?" I asked without turning my head. Yami Marik rose on my senses and looked for himself with a disappointed look.
"Yami Marik's the ghost, right? I'm calling him out." Kevin stated as a faint image of Miran backed him up as well as Raikoukou growling with its hair bristled and sending sparks.
Yami Marik took brief control for the moment and translated his voice through mine as much as possible. "You're supposed to be within the Millennium Sword, Mirandragon. Might I remind you that you've lost our Duel?"
"Let's say I can do ventriloquism and throw my image. But you never told me I couldn't ask for help in defeating you." Miran answered.
"Well, there's two loopholes so far. You need to make your terms more clearly before a Duel." I cocked, "The first one was when you fought my mom's spirit and mentioned that if she lost, neither of my parents could help again. But you didn't say anything about Raikoukou."
Yami Marik appeared to ignore me and he continued facing the opposition. "So now you're staking his soul in a Shadow Game? Do you not realize the power I hold now that this girl's deck contains The Winged Dragon of Ra as well as Yin-Yang the Eternal Dragon?"
"I thought you two don't see eye to eye." I continued mocking Yami Marik, somewhat of a bad move.
"Miranda, if you don't stop," Yami Marik finally turned around towards me as my body just stood motionless like a doll. But our argument was audible to the others.
'You have nothing against Master Miranda now that you hide within her like a shelter for your own.' Raikoukou stomped down on a paw and began to flood the carpeting with static, 'You rely on her for your existence. And that necklace around her wrist, the Beads of Sacred Sky, prevents you from escaping her body. You have no choice but to accept our challenge.'
"Though you have." Yami Marik said, "Al'right, I'll take on your Duel, but in this case, it shall be a Shadow Game." The Millennium Sword began to react with a brilliant glow and coveted the hallway in Darkness. No longer were the walls limiting space. As soon as the Shadow Realm took full effect, the images of Yami Marik and Miran became clear.
Again Kaiba was countered. It appeared that every time Kaiba could do anything, Murphy's Law-anything that can happen will-sent him back to Square One. Now he was angered because this time he was stopped by one of the weakest monsters in the game. Even his eye twitched in hint of his rage. "You just got lucky. I'll place another card down and end my turn." He said with much resistance to explode.
"I draw," Yami exclaimed as Slifer's attack climbed to 6000 again, easily overpowering Obelisk. "Now to end it. Slifer, attack Obelisk!" He commanded as Slifer wrapped coils on Obelisk like an anaconda.
Mokuba just arrived at the top of the Duel Tower and saw Obelisk getting strangled by Slifer. "No, Seto!" Mokuba cried. Kathy, after her freak-out, peeked through the hologram and saw Slifer about to destroy Obelisk.
"Kaiba!" She shrilled.
"I play the trap card, Power Balance." Kaiba instantly countered, "This card forces you to discard half of your hand, though it also allows me to draw how many you've discarded." He briefed, startling Yami as he drew three cards.
'Now Slifer loses attack power!' Yugi panicked.
"Obelisk, counterattack!" Kaiba commanded as Obelisk gripped Slifer's coils and struggled to break away. Yami quickly pulled another card from his hand, just passing the borderline of Slifer's demise.
"Go Necromancy!" Yami played another magic card, "This card, randomly summons four monsters from your Graveyard to the field." Yami explained as Blade Knight, X-Dragon Head, Sword of Soul, and Kaiser Sea Horse were summoned.
"You're summoning my monsters?!" Kaiba questioned in the crossfire.
"That's not all, Kaiba. Slifer's second ability comes into play." Yami continued, "Slifer, destroy Kaiba's monsters!" Yami commanded as Slifer loosened one coil and fired from its top set of jaws on Kaiba's line of monsters. "And by destroying your monsters, Obelisk will lose 600 attack points for each monster destroyed, that will weaken Obelisk to 1600 attack points." Slifer constricted Obelisk again, tighter than before.
"You forget, since you've destroyed my Sword of Soul, one of my monsters will gain 1000 attack points, so Obelisk's attack is increased to 2600, stronger than Slifer." Kaiba made another counter measure as Obelisk again pushed its way out of Slifer's coils. One hand free, Obelisk slams a fist into Slifer's face. Slifer released its constriction and returned on Yami's field. "What? Slifer should have been destroyed."
"When you played your Power Balance trap card, one of the cards I discarded was Electromagnetic Turtle; by discarding it from my hand activated its ability to give Slifer a small electrode. The electrode was set off when Obelisk was free to attack. Before any destruction was made, Slifer used the electrode to end the battle at will."
Kaiba growled with hatred, 'Again he saves himself.'
"I'll place one card faced down and end my turn." Yami finished and dropped Slifer's attack to a small 1000.
Rex continues to watch the Duel while messing with his own cards. "That Duel could take all day. If those are God Cards, then I doubt they'll be destroyed." He said, "But with damaging blows like that and considering how weak Yugi's God Card is, Kaiba has to attack, I know I would."
On another side of Domino at the water-park, Mako sat on the railing of a tank with a killer whale swimming inside it. He saw the tower off on the horizon flashing with light on occasions. "I've sailed all the seas and never have I seen beasts of this strength." Mako poetically stated as he saw the struggle between Obelisk and Slifer. "Go on, Yugi, fight!"
'What is he up to?' Kaiba puzzled himself and made his turn. Obelisk's power returned to 4000 while Yami left himself wide open with Slifer of 1000 attack points. "Yugi, you're even more foolish than I thought. Obelisk will put you down easily. Now attack and annihilate Slifer the Sky Dragon once and for all!" Kaiba commanded yet another attack simultaneous to the start of his turn.
"Yugi!" Joey called out and everyone watched intensely.
"I play Spell Textbook!" Yami declared another face-down card he had.
"Spell Textbook?" Kaiba questioned.
"It's a risk for Yugi, I doubt he'll have a chance." Kathy nodded.
'It is a risk. I have to discard my entire hand and draw one card. If it's a magic card, I can activate it.' Yugi briefed Yami, 'But what if we don't draw the right card, we'll lose the Duel for sure.'
'I know, but as long as we have our Heart in the cards, we can manage.' Yami replied and discarded the one card in his hand. It all faith in one card, Yami draws with his breath held.
Cards of Sanctity.
"I activate Cards of Sanctity!" Yami announced with Kaiba in another shocker.
"You what?!"
"By playing Cards of Sanctity, we each draw until we have six cards in our hands." Yami briefed and drew.
"Yeah, now Yugi has six cards in his hand!" Tristan cheered.
"And that brings Slifer attack to 6000!" Duke added.
"It's over Kaiba! Slifer, attack now!" Yami commanded and Slifer took another lunge at Obelisk.
"Now I activate Life Shaver, I set this card down two turns ago, so that forces you to discard two cards from your hand." Kaiba countered and flipped his trap card, the one he got from Yami in the Exchange.
"Whoa, now both of their monsters have 4000 attack points." Joey pointed out. Obelisk and Slifer again ram each other in the midst of battle. Suddenly a burst of light streams from the stalemate and takes in everything it shined.
"What's going on?! Kaiba Corp. holograms aren't supposed to do this!" Kaiba jumped as the light blinded him.
"Our Gods are equal, but neither one of them will give up!" Yami's Millennium Puzzle began to shine was well as the symbol imbedded on his forehead. "The light, it's too strong!" He answered as he could before the light took him as well.
The light of the stalemate threw everything out of proportion even on the craft. Just as Yugi's Millennium Puzzle dazzled with light, so did Marik's Millennium Rod and Ashley's Shield and Ring. "What's happening?!" He cried before the light reached the room.
"I can't see a thing!" Ashley shrieked as well as the Millennium Items powers appear to have no limits.
Kevin was taking his chances against Yami Marik. Their Duel was near ready before my Sword went off in a show of lights and seemed to swallow us with the Shadow Realm.
A vortex of aurora spun below them as Yami and Kaiba fell through endlessly, only guided by where the Millennium Puzzle was taking them. "Where are we going?!" Kaiba demanded answers just before they escaped the vortex.
Their sights now set on a gloomy blacken wasteland with ruins from horizon to horizon. "It looks like an ancient city." Yami looked over the lonesome land. From the dull rocks that seemed to mark something, it wasn't just recently they were destroyed.
"It's completely destroyed." Kaiba looked in shock as they floated at a height about a quarter mile up from the surface with their only light guided from Yami.
"I don't know." Yami answered with the same shock as Kaiba, "Could this be what the God Cards are showing us?" He mumbled as they both floated over the landscape, what was left of it. Soon some of the structures were becoming familiar; pyramids poked through but with shades of gray rather than their usual vibrant gold of the desert sands.
"Yugi, this looks like...Egypt. But it doesn't make any sense! We're at the Duel Tower!" Kaiba exploded.
"Kaiba, we've been transported to another place. Maybe another time." Yami continued to scan the dark grounds, obviously these lands have been overrun by the dark magic of the Shadow Realm. Both of their eyes suddenly reached at the same point. Standing above the rubble were two large statues, of the God monsters Slifer and Obelisk. They were also in the midst of battle before the calamity struck. "Those statues, they look like Obelisk the Tormentor and Slifer the Sky Dragon."
"They are. The detail is incredible, they do look like Slifer and Obelisk."
"Maybe because they are. They've been turned to statues, but how?" Yami looked in awe as Kaiba. They left the God statues and looked further into the city.
"Look at this dump. I'm guessing no one has lived here for ages." Kaiba critique the city.
"And it's shrouded in dark clouds." Yami agreed but not as harshly. With another turn, Yami thought he found the source. "Kaiba, the darkness appears to be coming from that castle, but what lies within?" He pointed out. Again they were transported to a different point.
Now below them was a wide room with few people on opposition of each other wearing clothes of the Egyptians. Two appeared as the ones fighting each other, one in resemblance to Yami, the other matched both likeness and the overconfident personality of Kaiba. Both standing on an elevated stone platform surrounded by ten other tablets carved with monsters.
"Hahahahahaaa! Look at the almighty Pharaoh now!" The Sorcerer whom took into the mirror image of Kaiba spoke, "It appears your most prosperous kingdom has crumbled under your feet and is now in the merciless grip of the Dark One." What surprised Yami was the fact that he wielded the Millennium Rod. "How does it feel to be virtually powerless?"
"Kaiba, these are the two ancient figures we saw on the stone carving." Yami pointed out the obvious.
"Don't be ridiculous." Kaiba answered. Yami gazed further onto the Pharaoh figure.
"Look Kaiba, it's my Puzzle!"
"Why have you chosen his side over mine?" The Pharaoh asked and pointed to the Sorcerer accusingly.
"That's where you're wrong, my Pharaoh." The Sorcerer answered, "My minions and I have no allegiance to the Dark One, but we have no allegiance to you either. I am here to finish our battle and prove no one can overpower my Millennium Rod." He boasted, startling Kaiba to confusion.
"The Millennium Rod?" Kaiba questioned.
"Even in my darkest hour I shall defeat you." The Pharaoh made declaration of a battle.
"Then let our Duel begin, Pharaoh." Challenged the Sorcerer. "The moment I've been waiting for is here! I will finally take you down!" The Pharaoh stood ground as the Sorcerer began to glow in a blue aura.
"Really?" The Pharaoh responded with a magenta aura himself.
"Yes. I shall forever be remembered as 'He who defeated the Pharaoh.' Now, prepare yourself, for it's time to meet my ultimate beast." The Sorcerer proclaimed as one of the tablets began to move and lift itself in response to his mastery of magic. "It will show you no mercy."
"Let's Duel!" They claimed at once. The Pharaoh had a tablet of his own left to his whim.
"Behold, my Dragon!" The Sorcerer made his move first. The tablet lit up brilliantly and unveiled Kaiba's most prized monster.
"Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" He leaped up in astonishment.
"Now you shall meet my loyal servant. Show yourself!" The Pharaoh made his move after him as his tablet lit up to release a monster, coincidence to Yugi's favorite monster.
"That's the Dark Magician!" Yami cried in the same factor as his rival, "This is the ancient conflict that Ishizu spoke of."
'And according to Ishizu, these are the ancient versions of ourselves.' Yugi looked on as well in awe.
'This whole thing must be another one of Marik's hocus-pocus mind tricks.' Kaiba thought otherwise.
"I'm afraid you don't stand a chance, Pharaoh." The Sorcerer exclaimed with his Dragon to back him up. In the Duelists' visionary, the ancient tablet depicting their battle rose to meet and match the event.
'It's the ancient tablet.' Yugi thought in the back of his mind.
'Now I know this isn't real.' Kaiba thought in disbelief.
'Kaiba and I were destined to battle.'
'I've seen enough!' Kaiba wanted the dream to end. The Millennium Puzzle on the tablet shined in light and returned him and Yami back through the vortex.
The light dimmed after seconds of intensity, even in the Shadow Realm. My Millennium Sword weakened, but the feeling was new. Throughout that light I saw what looked like Miran's past memories. I saw she was in a small room with Yami and Shadi, and how their souls were obtained into the Millennium Items. But a day afterwards, Yami seemed to recover while it took longer for Miran's body to recover, but she did except her emerald eyes were glazed in silver irises.
"Well, are we going to get started or what? Can't you see I have God Cards to capture?" Yami Marik snapped Miran and Kevin out of it. "Our Life Points are set to 8000."
"If I win, you break from Miranda's body now and forever." Kevin stated.
"Quite demanding for someone who you only knew for a day. However, if I win you lose your mind to the Darkness. As well as Mirandragon and Raikoukou'' imprisonment to the Shadow Realm." Yami Marik set his stakes. Again I was pushed aside for someone else to fight.
"I'll take the chance." Kevin agreed.
"But before we begin, there's something that needs taken care of." Yami Marik held suspense until familiar shackles clamped my wrist and ankles and dragged me up.
"Hey, what gives?" I asked with more expectation from the tricloptic maniac.
"Sorry, I can't have you helping your spirit. Consider what she hasn't done for you."
"Liar!" Miran barked with her sword unsheathed.
"I suggest you keep your tongue, Mirandragon. My skills as an assassin have yet to be tarnished." He answered and then turned to Kevin. "Now then, I'll let you make the first move." Yami Marik insisted as Kevin drew his six cards. The ultimate grin stretched his face.
"I'll have this Duel over before it even begins. I play Kaiser Sea Horse in attack mode and one card faced down!" He stated and pulled two cards from his hand into his Duel Disc. In front of him stood the aquatic warrior whose base weapon is a pike-cleaver. "Your move, psycho."
"As you wish." Yami Marik drew his hand. Instantly I knew what deck he was playing. "I'll play Troop Dragon in defense mode and place two cards faced down. That will end my turn."
"Now really, you should have attacked." Kevin cocked, "Now I'll activate Kaiser Sea Horse's special ability, by sacrificing it to summon my Blue- Eyes White Dragon." Kevin declared as his Kaiser Sea Horse evaporated and transformed into the familiar White Dragon. "Alright Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack his Troop Dragon with White Lightning!" He commanded. The White Dragon charged and fired onto Yami Marik's defense without a counter revealing Troop Dragon.
"Well, you ought to know what happens. I can play another Troop Dragon on the field now." Yami Marik countered with another small Dragon making an appearance on the field.
"What can you do with that? My Blue-Eyes White Dragon will still keep attack so you can't summon any powerful monsters." Kevin questioned. "Never mind, I'll place another card faced down and end my turn."
"You have no idea what you're dealing with." Yami Marik drew an instantly played his card, "I'll activate the Constellation Draco magic card, giving me the chance to revive the Troop Dragon you destroyed earlier." He announced as the Troop Dragon reappeared. "Now I'll sacrifice them both to summon Submaragon in attack mode!" He announced as both Troop Dragons were decimated and an aquamarine Dragon took their place with pairs of fins lining to its tail, a set of flightless wings on its back, and a gold helmet with blade extended from the snout hiding its face and a white mane behind it. In data, it only held an attack of 2900.
"What in the world?"
'Submaragon, the elemental Dragon of Water.' Miran thought.
"Submaragon boasts a special ability. You see, Submaragon has the power to block those who are unfit for battle."
"That Dragon is unfit for battle against my Blue-Eyes White Dragon! It only has 2900 attack points." Kevin pointed out as his White Dragon was compared in strengths.
"I don't think you understand. Submaragon can destroy your White Dragon without a single attack."
"What?"
"All I have to do is set the limits." Yami Marik looked to the serpentine Dragon. "Submaragon, in this Duel monsters of the Light attribute are restricted. Blue-Eyes White Dragon is a Light attribute, destroy it!" He stated. Submaragon rose up in its body and opened its mouth. "Do it, Ice Shatter Attack!" Submaragon fired a blast of icy breath to Kevin's Blue- Eyes White Dragon. The Dragon was coated in ice and was smashed to pieces by one swing of its tail.
"No, my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Kevin cried.
"Now Submaragon, attack his Life Points directly!" Yami Marik finally began to make his measures as Submaragon's blades lit up and fired in beams of flying boomerangs aimed towards him. The three light blades cut through him like a harsh wind and dropped his Life Points to 5100.
"Kevin!" I cried from the shackles of Holding Arms and Holding Legs. Raikoukou got behind him and brought him up for support with its head.
"I'll also activate Yin-Yang of the Zodiac!" Yami Marik taxed on with his other face-down card, the trap card used in sequence to summon Yin-Yang the Eternal Dragon.
"You've got to be kidding me!" I jumped in shock. The light ring appeared in front of Yami Marik and was ready in four turns to play the monster. "Kevin, you have to stop him from summoning Yin-Yang!"
"I know. But how?" Kevin recovered and drew his next card. "I've got it!" He smiled cleanly. "First I summon my Skilled Dark Magician in attack mode!" He said as his new monster appeared, a magician draping with dark cloaks and a staff to match.
"Is that the best you can do?" Yami Marik cocked.
"Trust me, this is only the beginning." Kevin answered back and went to thought, 'And with Miranda playing a Dragon Deck, she'll help me greatly.' "Now I activate Emblem of Dragon Destroyer: this magic card gives me my Buster Blader from my deck and adds it to my hand. But that also gives me a spell counter on my Skilled Dark Magician."
"You plan to come at me with a monster that require two sacrifices?" Yami Marik questioned sarcastically. In opposition of thought, I knew what he was doing.
"Pretty close for someone with three eyes." Kevin cocked, "But now I'll play Fusion Sage, which gives me another magic card added to my hand and Spell Counter Number 2." He continued as his Duel Disc spat out another card automatically.
'He'll summon the Dark Paladin.' I thought with a ray of hope.
Kevin resumed a look at his hand. 'Crud, I don't have another magic card I can play right now.' He thought as he saw Magic Cylinder, Buster Blader, Polymerization, Skilled White Magician, and Spear Dragon in his hand. "To finish, I'll place one trap card faced-down." He finished his turn.
"And that brings the first of my Tri Cards, Tri of Earth." Yami Marik announced as the green triangle outlined itself on the ring.
"But that also give me my final spell counter to add to my Skilled Dark Magician, you just lost." Kevin cocked.
"It's quite early in the Duel, Hunter. Now to show you some skill of my own. I'll pay 1000 of my Life Points to summon Fault-Line to the field." Yami Marik promoted his move as the earthbound Dragon revealed its head. "Now I return Submaragon to my hand in exchange to summon another monster, courtesy of Fault-Line. So I summon Helpoemer in attack mode."
"I don't have that monster in my deck!" I cried and got Yami Marik to look at me from below.
"Needn't worry, my dear. I just needed to improve your deck to how I suit it." Yami Marik replied and returned to the Duel.
'Why'd he play a monster like that?' Kevin wondered.
"Fault-Line, attack his Skilled Dark Magician!" He declared and the earthen Dragon threw boulders.
"Activate Magic Cylinder!" Kevin countered as two cylinders appeared, one absorbed the attack and the other shot the boulder like a cannon ball right back at Yami Marik, crippling his Life Points to 4800. He was thrown off his feet, but recovered just as easily as he was knocked down.
"So, you managed to block one attack, however I won't let you take away my freedom again. I end my turn." Yami Marik finished.
"You give yourself freedom by enslaving someone else. Not cool, psycho- boy." Kevin drew his card. "Now the fun begins. First I'll sacrifice my Skilled Dark Magician with his three spell counters, and from my Deck I summon the Dark Magician!" He declared as the familiar magician appeared in front of him.
"You're in for it now, Third Eye Blind." I mumbled.
"Next I play Polymerization to fuse Dark Magician and Buster Blader in my hand to summon the Ultimate Magical Swordsman, Dark Paladin!" He announced as one of his more powerful monsters appeared, the supped up Dark Magician in aqua armor and cloak and carrying what looked more like a cleave blade than a sword. "And it's worst than that, it gains 500 attack points for each Dragon you ever played, so its attack is increased to 3400!" He added on.
"And that's critical when it lands on one of your monsters!" Miran backed him up.
"Dark Paladin, attack his Helpoemer and put a nice big dent in his Life Points!" Kevin commanded.
"Bad move! Bad move!" I warned but it was too late, the fiend that was tacked on the stone plate was destroyed and decreased Yami Marik's Life Points further by a solid 2400, now redeeming only 2400 left.
"What was bad about it? One more attack and you're safe, Miranda. Don't worry." Kevin tried to assure me.
"Actually, you should have attacked Fault-Line rather than Helpoemer." Yami Marik agreed, "because now when Helpoemer is in the Graveyard, you lose one card from your hand at random. So say 'goodbye' to a card from your hand." He announced. A ghostly hand sprang from Kevin's Graveyard and selected a card in his hand, Skilled White Magician.
"Fine then, I end my turn here." Kevin finished.
"Good because here comes another Tri Card, Tri of Fire." Yami Marik stated as the red triangle was completed on the Zodiac.
'No, if I do it now, he'll have another option to go by.' Kevin refused to trigger Dark Paladin's effect. 'I need to catch him to where summoning Yin- Yang is his only option, but I only have two turns to pull it off.'
"Now it's my turn." Yami Marik drew an unfamiliar card. It looked like a woman in a red and white kimono and held a staff. 'This will work in a bit.' He thought, "I'll only switch Fault-Line to defense mode and end my turn."
"That all?" Kevin drew his next card, "then I'll place a trap face down and end my turn as well."
"Which reveals Tri of Wind," Yami Marik announced the third Tri Card.
'Now!' Kevin said to himself and discarded one card from his hand. Dark Paladin launched a blast of dark magic and pierced through the magic card, breaking its effect.
"What?! No!" Yami Marik feared as the Zodiac shattered in front of him like glass and faded in light. "How...how could you destroy the Zodiac?!"
"It's Dark Paladin's effect. I discard one card from my hand to negate the effect of one of your magic cards." Kevin answered.
'And if one of the Tri Cards are destroyed, so are the rest of the cards.' Raikoukou concluded.
"Very well, then you leave me with no option." Yami Marik began his turn. "I sacrifice Fault-Line to summon a creature that can match your Paladin's ability as a magician." I saw Yami Marik begin to pull the unfamiliar card from his hand. "This next card will rejuvenate the Zodiac Cards back into my Deck. I summon the Revived Priestess!" I felt a soul be dragged into the card before Yami Marik played it on his Duel Disc.
Before him, Fault-Line was replaced with a solid crystal prism big enough to trap a human. Indefinitely a dark silhouette was frozen inside with blue triangles representing the Tri of Water.
"What kind of monster is it?" Miran watched on behind Kevin. I was curious myself. The three blue triangles vanished and the prism prison began to crack and fall apart, revealing the embodiment piece by piece. The prisoner was in a white-top-red-bottom kimono outfit, but the white was splattered with rose red color. Her hair was long, black, and tied back into a ponytail. Her weapons were wields paper talismans and a staff of great importance. The resemblance startled both Miran and Raikoukou while Kevin stood dauntless of Yami Marik's new servant.
"Dark Paladin, get ready." Kevin leered the newcomer until Miran took a step ahead of him, same for Raikoukou. Both of them suddenly jumped with shock.
"Mother?" Miran questioned.
'Master Tsunami?' Raikoukou followed.
To be continued...
New cards played
Constellation Draco: Equip Magic Card. Select one Dragon-Type monster from your Graveyard. Special Summon it and equip it with this card. If this card is destroyed, the equipped monster is also destroyed.
Submaragon: Dragon/Water. Monster/Effect, 8/2900/2200. Select one Attribute. As long as this card is face-up on the field, monsters of the selected Attribute on your Opponent's side of the field are destroyed at the End Phase of the turn they were Summoned (including Flip Summon and Special Summon).
Yin-Yang of the Zodiac: Continuous Trap. At the end of each of your opponent's turns, place 1 Tri card from your hand or your Deck face-up to the field. If it is from your Deck, then shuffle your Deck. If Tri cards Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water are all on the field in their proper order, Special Summon "Yin-Yang the Eternal Dragon" from your hand or your Deck. If any of the cards are destroyed or removed from the field while constructing the message, they are all sent to your Graveyard immediately.
Tri of Earth: Continuous Magic. This card can only be placed on the field when "Yin-Yang of the Zodiac" is active. If you pay 1000 of your Life Points, Special Summon one "Fault-Line" from your deck, hand, or Graveyard in face-up attack position. When this card is destroyed, "Fault-Line" is also destroyed and vice-versa. When "Yin-Yang of the Zodiac" is removed from the field this card is also destroyed.
Fault-Line: Dragon/Earth. Monster/Effect, 7/2200/3000. While this card is face up on the field, you may send one monster on your side of the field to the respective owner's hand to Special Summon one monster whose Star Levels are 5 or higher in face-up attack or defense position. Monsters that are Set or Summoned (including Flip Summoned and Special Summoned) are excluded.
Tri of Fire: Continuous Magic. This card can only be placed on the field when "Yin-Yang of the Zodiac" is active. If you pay 1000 of your Life Points, Special Summon one "Firo" from your deck, hand, or Graveyard in face-up attack position. When this card is destroyed, "Firo" is also destroyed and vice-versa. When "Yin-Yang of the Zodiac" is removed from the field this card is also destroyed.
Tri of Wind: Continuous Magic. This card can only be placed on the field when "Yin-Yang of the Zodiac" is active. If you pay 1000 of your Life Points, Special Summon one "Hurricane" from your deck, hand, or Graveyard in face-up attack position. When this card is destroyed, "Hurricane" is also destroyed and vice-versa. When "Yin-Yang of the Zodiac" is removed from the field this card is also destroyed.
Revived Priestess – Tsunami: Spellcaster/Light. Monster/Effect, 5/0/0. This monster cannot be destroyed as a result of battle and damage calculations when your opponent's monsters attack this monster are reduced to 0. When this monster is summoned (including flip summoned and special summoned), you may do one or both of the following: - Select one of your opponent's face-up monsters. The selected monster cannot attack while this card is face-up. Also this card copies half of the selected monster's ATK points as its own. You may discard one card from your hand to let this card attack your Opponent's Life Points directly. – If "Yin-Yang of the Zodiac" or any of the Tri Cards exist in your Graveyard. Replace them to your deck. The deck is then shuffled.
The light of the first attack faded as the five of them on the craft wait for any response at all, Raikoukou being the most alert of the group. In attempt to distract his impatience, Kevin peered over the arm of the chair where on the table was the Samurai's sword and Duel Disc. He took the sword, sheath and all, and examined the dragon stitching on the side, resembling much of Yin-Yang when he first saw the Dragon.
The handle was tough with gold and an old fabric wrapped the grip. On one side of it was the same Eye of Horus as on the other Millennium Items. "Odd sword," he murmured and popped the blade from the lip of the holster. He saw his reflection on the gold sheen, as well as a different image, much to match the owner but older. "Miranda, this psycho shows up again, and I thought the first time I'd meet him would be my last. I thought he was gone for good." He continued rambling to himself as he recalled the Duel he was involved in to save her. "But now he's back? Now it'll be my turn to make a stand, whatever it takes."
'Kevin?' A faint voice echoed in his mind.
"What the?" He mumbled louder, but not enough to make attention.
'Kevin, listen to me.' The voice was louder, but still in a whisper as if struggling for life, 'Miranda is losing this battle.' Raikoukou caught attention and tried to act casual as the fox wandered its way to Kevin's side. Still, Kevin was edgy about the fox but tried to keep from gaining attention from the others. 'I have had my chance to save her, but I have failed. My emotions ruled my heart and I lost the Duel to save Miranda.'
Kevin seemed to recognize the voice. 'You're the spirit of the Millennium Sword?' He wondered and examined the sword seeing not only his image in the blade but also a faint image of Miran next to him.
'Roughly, yes. But I lost to Yami Marik and as agreed I have to remain in the Sword, he now has full control over Miranda again.' Miran admitted.
'Master Mirandragon...' Raikoukou sighed.
'Raikoukou, I'm sorry. But I couldn't help it, my fear ruled that Duel and submitted Miranda to the Darkness.' Miran resumed blaming herself for her host's downfall.
'Isn't there something we can do? Miranda still has the Final Round to Duel.' Kevin joined the conversation. 'I know it's only been a day, but I just can't help it. Miranda feels like the first real friend I've had in who knows how long. Maybe even...'
"Kevin?" Mai interrupted his thoughts as she just now noticed him with the Millennium Sword in his possession and Raikoukou at his side. "What's Rai doing with you? I thought you were scared of the nine-tailed fox."
"Well, uh..." Kevin tried to think of the explanation, "I'm...I'm comforting Fox in its depression for its Master's fall." He would cross his fingers and hope that Mai bought it. Kevin even tried to make it convincing by rest a hand just below Raikoukou's head.
"Well, OK. You do seem to know how to calm someone, or something." Mai agreed to his answer as Raikoukou played along and rested its head on Kevin's knees. Kevin's focus was now back on Raikoukou's Master.
'Man, now I wish there was something I could do.' He returned thought back to the two spirits.
'Perhaps...' Miran began with Kevin eyeing her expectantly.
'Please, tell me how I can help Miranda!' Kevin urged.
'It'll be risky, I don't want anyone else to get hurt.'
'And I don't want anyone else to remain in comatose by a psycho-ghost! Tell me!' Kevin now demanded while trying to keep a straight face. 'I don't care the risks, I want Miranda back. She never deserved this, she never deserved any of it.' Kevin clenched the Sword tightly. 'No wandering soul should steal or control the life of anyone.'
'Defeat him. Just once and he'll relinquish control.' Miran finally answered. Raikoukou added a comment, believing to be the answer.
'That demon came back because he wasn't actually defeated.' Raikoukou stated in summary.
'What?' Kevin and Miran asked the fox.
'In that Duel between the real Marik and Master Miranda, that demon was on Master's side, and she was ensured victory after she regained dominant control.' Raikoukou continued, 'He was on the victorious side at that Duel, he was still free to come and go from Master Miranda's body. But he'll stop at nothing to claim the Egyptian God Cards and Yin-Yang, no matter whose body he resides in.'
'Raikoukou's right, you have to defeat him in a Duel.' Miran agreed.
'But what would happen to Miranda? Surely she'd get tipped in on the consequences as well.' Kevin tried to get the ground level.
'When you first saw Miranda, that body snatcher made her a second body; I had her original body.' Miran answered, 'Now Yami Marik resides in Miranda's body rather than have control of her soul, he'll be near powerless if the Shadow Realm doesn't take effect on her.'
'And we'll be here. Just as you, we are also concerned of Master Miranda's safety.' Raikoukou added, 'When Master Miranda awakes, call him out and free my Master. Please.'
'I will Fox, count on it.' Kevin agreed and kept his eyes on the Samurai, still out of it.
Was the Shadow Realm supposed to be as silent as death? It was long seconds since either one of us spoke after Yami Marik pulled me out of the Shadow Realm as result of their Duel. Though I would laugh at awkward silence, this wasn't a good time.
"Well, out of all that's happened," Yami Marik broke silence, "can you agree Miran is nothing to you?" I was hesitant to answer his question and changed subject instead.
"Can I get out of here before I forfeit the Final match and you lose your chance of a God Card?" I asked, suddenly reminding Yami Marik.
Raikoukou perked its ears and lifted its head toward me. My right hand twitched and I forced myself to wake up. Kevin put the Sword back on the table and got to his feet. "I think Miranda's waking up." Kevin pointed out and got everyone's attention. I found Kevin's voice clearly and followed right out. I threw myself back to consciousness lifted myself from the bed.
"Miranda, you're all right." Marik smiled, but hid suspicion.
"Yeah, I am." I answered while trying to wake up, still the necklace in my hand. "Is the semifinal match over yet?"
"No, they're still going at each other's throats." Mai commented while looking outside. Kevin was soon to approach with my items, but with a depressed look of the sort. Same with Ashley, both of them were out of sync compared to Mai and Marik.
"Ashley, what's wrong?" I asked her first but she turned away from me just as fast. Though I did catch the Millennium Ring around her neck and just had a smaller version of a true Item on her left wrist.
"Cuz, I'm sorry." Ashley said after her turnaround.
"For what?"
"That psycho ghost, he's back in your body. And it's my fault." She admitted with a fist trembling.
"I know that much, but it's not your fault." I answered as I clicked the Duel Disc on my left arm, leaving Kevin to hold the Millennium Sword at its full extent while I had dominant control.
"Just say it is." Ashley began to fume, "I should have thrown that Duel, so you wouldn't be in this."
"Ash, for once stop feeling sorry for yourself." I got serious fast as I tied the Millennium Sword holster around my waist. "That's all you ever do, feel so overconfident then crash like a computer. Do us all a favor and get a hold of yourself before you wind up like everyone else in the family." Ashley, as everyone else, caught me in another one of my moments. I just paused and took my leave out. "I'll be waiting for a winner." I said before I exited the room.
I just came into the hallway and was making my way to the elevator when I was stopped again. "Miranda, hold up." Kevin got my attention again from my room of the hallway.
"What?" I asked without turning my head. Yami Marik rose on my senses and looked for himself with a disappointed look.
"Yami Marik's the ghost, right? I'm calling him out." Kevin stated as a faint image of Miran backed him up as well as Raikoukou growling with its hair bristled and sending sparks.
Yami Marik took brief control for the moment and translated his voice through mine as much as possible. "You're supposed to be within the Millennium Sword, Mirandragon. Might I remind you that you've lost our Duel?"
"Let's say I can do ventriloquism and throw my image. But you never told me I couldn't ask for help in defeating you." Miran answered.
"Well, there's two loopholes so far. You need to make your terms more clearly before a Duel." I cocked, "The first one was when you fought my mom's spirit and mentioned that if she lost, neither of my parents could help again. But you didn't say anything about Raikoukou."
Yami Marik appeared to ignore me and he continued facing the opposition. "So now you're staking his soul in a Shadow Game? Do you not realize the power I hold now that this girl's deck contains The Winged Dragon of Ra as well as Yin-Yang the Eternal Dragon?"
"I thought you two don't see eye to eye." I continued mocking Yami Marik, somewhat of a bad move.
"Miranda, if you don't stop," Yami Marik finally turned around towards me as my body just stood motionless like a doll. But our argument was audible to the others.
'You have nothing against Master Miranda now that you hide within her like a shelter for your own.' Raikoukou stomped down on a paw and began to flood the carpeting with static, 'You rely on her for your existence. And that necklace around her wrist, the Beads of Sacred Sky, prevents you from escaping her body. You have no choice but to accept our challenge.'
"Though you have." Yami Marik said, "Al'right, I'll take on your Duel, but in this case, it shall be a Shadow Game." The Millennium Sword began to react with a brilliant glow and coveted the hallway in Darkness. No longer were the walls limiting space. As soon as the Shadow Realm took full effect, the images of Yami Marik and Miran became clear.
Again Kaiba was countered. It appeared that every time Kaiba could do anything, Murphy's Law-anything that can happen will-sent him back to Square One. Now he was angered because this time he was stopped by one of the weakest monsters in the game. Even his eye twitched in hint of his rage. "You just got lucky. I'll place another card down and end my turn." He said with much resistance to explode.
"I draw," Yami exclaimed as Slifer's attack climbed to 6000 again, easily overpowering Obelisk. "Now to end it. Slifer, attack Obelisk!" He commanded as Slifer wrapped coils on Obelisk like an anaconda.
Mokuba just arrived at the top of the Duel Tower and saw Obelisk getting strangled by Slifer. "No, Seto!" Mokuba cried. Kathy, after her freak-out, peeked through the hologram and saw Slifer about to destroy Obelisk.
"Kaiba!" She shrilled.
"I play the trap card, Power Balance." Kaiba instantly countered, "This card forces you to discard half of your hand, though it also allows me to draw how many you've discarded." He briefed, startling Yami as he drew three cards.
'Now Slifer loses attack power!' Yugi panicked.
"Obelisk, counterattack!" Kaiba commanded as Obelisk gripped Slifer's coils and struggled to break away. Yami quickly pulled another card from his hand, just passing the borderline of Slifer's demise.
"Go Necromancy!" Yami played another magic card, "This card, randomly summons four monsters from your Graveyard to the field." Yami explained as Blade Knight, X-Dragon Head, Sword of Soul, and Kaiser Sea Horse were summoned.
"You're summoning my monsters?!" Kaiba questioned in the crossfire.
"That's not all, Kaiba. Slifer's second ability comes into play." Yami continued, "Slifer, destroy Kaiba's monsters!" Yami commanded as Slifer loosened one coil and fired from its top set of jaws on Kaiba's line of monsters. "And by destroying your monsters, Obelisk will lose 600 attack points for each monster destroyed, that will weaken Obelisk to 1600 attack points." Slifer constricted Obelisk again, tighter than before.
"You forget, since you've destroyed my Sword of Soul, one of my monsters will gain 1000 attack points, so Obelisk's attack is increased to 2600, stronger than Slifer." Kaiba made another counter measure as Obelisk again pushed its way out of Slifer's coils. One hand free, Obelisk slams a fist into Slifer's face. Slifer released its constriction and returned on Yami's field. "What? Slifer should have been destroyed."
"When you played your Power Balance trap card, one of the cards I discarded was Electromagnetic Turtle; by discarding it from my hand activated its ability to give Slifer a small electrode. The electrode was set off when Obelisk was free to attack. Before any destruction was made, Slifer used the electrode to end the battle at will."
Kaiba growled with hatred, 'Again he saves himself.'
"I'll place one card faced down and end my turn." Yami finished and dropped Slifer's attack to a small 1000.
Rex continues to watch the Duel while messing with his own cards. "That Duel could take all day. If those are God Cards, then I doubt they'll be destroyed." He said, "But with damaging blows like that and considering how weak Yugi's God Card is, Kaiba has to attack, I know I would."
On another side of Domino at the water-park, Mako sat on the railing of a tank with a killer whale swimming inside it. He saw the tower off on the horizon flashing with light on occasions. "I've sailed all the seas and never have I seen beasts of this strength." Mako poetically stated as he saw the struggle between Obelisk and Slifer. "Go on, Yugi, fight!"
'What is he up to?' Kaiba puzzled himself and made his turn. Obelisk's power returned to 4000 while Yami left himself wide open with Slifer of 1000 attack points. "Yugi, you're even more foolish than I thought. Obelisk will put you down easily. Now attack and annihilate Slifer the Sky Dragon once and for all!" Kaiba commanded yet another attack simultaneous to the start of his turn.
"Yugi!" Joey called out and everyone watched intensely.
"I play Spell Textbook!" Yami declared another face-down card he had.
"Spell Textbook?" Kaiba questioned.
"It's a risk for Yugi, I doubt he'll have a chance." Kathy nodded.
'It is a risk. I have to discard my entire hand and draw one card. If it's a magic card, I can activate it.' Yugi briefed Yami, 'But what if we don't draw the right card, we'll lose the Duel for sure.'
'I know, but as long as we have our Heart in the cards, we can manage.' Yami replied and discarded the one card in his hand. It all faith in one card, Yami draws with his breath held.
Cards of Sanctity.
"I activate Cards of Sanctity!" Yami announced with Kaiba in another shocker.
"You what?!"
"By playing Cards of Sanctity, we each draw until we have six cards in our hands." Yami briefed and drew.
"Yeah, now Yugi has six cards in his hand!" Tristan cheered.
"And that brings Slifer attack to 6000!" Duke added.
"It's over Kaiba! Slifer, attack now!" Yami commanded and Slifer took another lunge at Obelisk.
"Now I activate Life Shaver, I set this card down two turns ago, so that forces you to discard two cards from your hand." Kaiba countered and flipped his trap card, the one he got from Yami in the Exchange.
"Whoa, now both of their monsters have 4000 attack points." Joey pointed out. Obelisk and Slifer again ram each other in the midst of battle. Suddenly a burst of light streams from the stalemate and takes in everything it shined.
"What's going on?! Kaiba Corp. holograms aren't supposed to do this!" Kaiba jumped as the light blinded him.
"Our Gods are equal, but neither one of them will give up!" Yami's Millennium Puzzle began to shine was well as the symbol imbedded on his forehead. "The light, it's too strong!" He answered as he could before the light took him as well.
The light of the stalemate threw everything out of proportion even on the craft. Just as Yugi's Millennium Puzzle dazzled with light, so did Marik's Millennium Rod and Ashley's Shield and Ring. "What's happening?!" He cried before the light reached the room.
"I can't see a thing!" Ashley shrieked as well as the Millennium Items powers appear to have no limits.
Kevin was taking his chances against Yami Marik. Their Duel was near ready before my Sword went off in a show of lights and seemed to swallow us with the Shadow Realm.
A vortex of aurora spun below them as Yami and Kaiba fell through endlessly, only guided by where the Millennium Puzzle was taking them. "Where are we going?!" Kaiba demanded answers just before they escaped the vortex.
Their sights now set on a gloomy blacken wasteland with ruins from horizon to horizon. "It looks like an ancient city." Yami looked over the lonesome land. From the dull rocks that seemed to mark something, it wasn't just recently they were destroyed.
"It's completely destroyed." Kaiba looked in shock as they floated at a height about a quarter mile up from the surface with their only light guided from Yami.
"I don't know." Yami answered with the same shock as Kaiba, "Could this be what the God Cards are showing us?" He mumbled as they both floated over the landscape, what was left of it. Soon some of the structures were becoming familiar; pyramids poked through but with shades of gray rather than their usual vibrant gold of the desert sands.
"Yugi, this looks like...Egypt. But it doesn't make any sense! We're at the Duel Tower!" Kaiba exploded.
"Kaiba, we've been transported to another place. Maybe another time." Yami continued to scan the dark grounds, obviously these lands have been overrun by the dark magic of the Shadow Realm. Both of their eyes suddenly reached at the same point. Standing above the rubble were two large statues, of the God monsters Slifer and Obelisk. They were also in the midst of battle before the calamity struck. "Those statues, they look like Obelisk the Tormentor and Slifer the Sky Dragon."
"They are. The detail is incredible, they do look like Slifer and Obelisk."
"Maybe because they are. They've been turned to statues, but how?" Yami looked in awe as Kaiba. They left the God statues and looked further into the city.
"Look at this dump. I'm guessing no one has lived here for ages." Kaiba critique the city.
"And it's shrouded in dark clouds." Yami agreed but not as harshly. With another turn, Yami thought he found the source. "Kaiba, the darkness appears to be coming from that castle, but what lies within?" He pointed out. Again they were transported to a different point.
Now below them was a wide room with few people on opposition of each other wearing clothes of the Egyptians. Two appeared as the ones fighting each other, one in resemblance to Yami, the other matched both likeness and the overconfident personality of Kaiba. Both standing on an elevated stone platform surrounded by ten other tablets carved with monsters.
"Hahahahahaaa! Look at the almighty Pharaoh now!" The Sorcerer whom took into the mirror image of Kaiba spoke, "It appears your most prosperous kingdom has crumbled under your feet and is now in the merciless grip of the Dark One." What surprised Yami was the fact that he wielded the Millennium Rod. "How does it feel to be virtually powerless?"
"Kaiba, these are the two ancient figures we saw on the stone carving." Yami pointed out the obvious.
"Don't be ridiculous." Kaiba answered. Yami gazed further onto the Pharaoh figure.
"Look Kaiba, it's my Puzzle!"
"Why have you chosen his side over mine?" The Pharaoh asked and pointed to the Sorcerer accusingly.
"That's where you're wrong, my Pharaoh." The Sorcerer answered, "My minions and I have no allegiance to the Dark One, but we have no allegiance to you either. I am here to finish our battle and prove no one can overpower my Millennium Rod." He boasted, startling Kaiba to confusion.
"The Millennium Rod?" Kaiba questioned.
"Even in my darkest hour I shall defeat you." The Pharaoh made declaration of a battle.
"Then let our Duel begin, Pharaoh." Challenged the Sorcerer. "The moment I've been waiting for is here! I will finally take you down!" The Pharaoh stood ground as the Sorcerer began to glow in a blue aura.
"Really?" The Pharaoh responded with a magenta aura himself.
"Yes. I shall forever be remembered as 'He who defeated the Pharaoh.' Now, prepare yourself, for it's time to meet my ultimate beast." The Sorcerer proclaimed as one of the tablets began to move and lift itself in response to his mastery of magic. "It will show you no mercy."
"Let's Duel!" They claimed at once. The Pharaoh had a tablet of his own left to his whim.
"Behold, my Dragon!" The Sorcerer made his move first. The tablet lit up brilliantly and unveiled Kaiba's most prized monster.
"Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" He leaped up in astonishment.
"Now you shall meet my loyal servant. Show yourself!" The Pharaoh made his move after him as his tablet lit up to release a monster, coincidence to Yugi's favorite monster.
"That's the Dark Magician!" Yami cried in the same factor as his rival, "This is the ancient conflict that Ishizu spoke of."
'And according to Ishizu, these are the ancient versions of ourselves.' Yugi looked on as well in awe.
'This whole thing must be another one of Marik's hocus-pocus mind tricks.' Kaiba thought otherwise.
"I'm afraid you don't stand a chance, Pharaoh." The Sorcerer exclaimed with his Dragon to back him up. In the Duelists' visionary, the ancient tablet depicting their battle rose to meet and match the event.
'It's the ancient tablet.' Yugi thought in the back of his mind.
'Now I know this isn't real.' Kaiba thought in disbelief.
'Kaiba and I were destined to battle.'
'I've seen enough!' Kaiba wanted the dream to end. The Millennium Puzzle on the tablet shined in light and returned him and Yami back through the vortex.
The light dimmed after seconds of intensity, even in the Shadow Realm. My Millennium Sword weakened, but the feeling was new. Throughout that light I saw what looked like Miran's past memories. I saw she was in a small room with Yami and Shadi, and how their souls were obtained into the Millennium Items. But a day afterwards, Yami seemed to recover while it took longer for Miran's body to recover, but she did except her emerald eyes were glazed in silver irises.
"Well, are we going to get started or what? Can't you see I have God Cards to capture?" Yami Marik snapped Miran and Kevin out of it. "Our Life Points are set to 8000."
"If I win, you break from Miranda's body now and forever." Kevin stated.
"Quite demanding for someone who you only knew for a day. However, if I win you lose your mind to the Darkness. As well as Mirandragon and Raikoukou'' imprisonment to the Shadow Realm." Yami Marik set his stakes. Again I was pushed aside for someone else to fight.
"I'll take the chance." Kevin agreed.
"But before we begin, there's something that needs taken care of." Yami Marik held suspense until familiar shackles clamped my wrist and ankles and dragged me up.
"Hey, what gives?" I asked with more expectation from the tricloptic maniac.
"Sorry, I can't have you helping your spirit. Consider what she hasn't done for you."
"Liar!" Miran barked with her sword unsheathed.
"I suggest you keep your tongue, Mirandragon. My skills as an assassin have yet to be tarnished." He answered and then turned to Kevin. "Now then, I'll let you make the first move." Yami Marik insisted as Kevin drew his six cards. The ultimate grin stretched his face.
"I'll have this Duel over before it even begins. I play Kaiser Sea Horse in attack mode and one card faced down!" He stated and pulled two cards from his hand into his Duel Disc. In front of him stood the aquatic warrior whose base weapon is a pike-cleaver. "Your move, psycho."
"As you wish." Yami Marik drew his hand. Instantly I knew what deck he was playing. "I'll play Troop Dragon in defense mode and place two cards faced down. That will end my turn."
"Now really, you should have attacked." Kevin cocked, "Now I'll activate Kaiser Sea Horse's special ability, by sacrificing it to summon my Blue- Eyes White Dragon." Kevin declared as his Kaiser Sea Horse evaporated and transformed into the familiar White Dragon. "Alright Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack his Troop Dragon with White Lightning!" He commanded. The White Dragon charged and fired onto Yami Marik's defense without a counter revealing Troop Dragon.
"Well, you ought to know what happens. I can play another Troop Dragon on the field now." Yami Marik countered with another small Dragon making an appearance on the field.
"What can you do with that? My Blue-Eyes White Dragon will still keep attack so you can't summon any powerful monsters." Kevin questioned. "Never mind, I'll place another card faced down and end my turn."
"You have no idea what you're dealing with." Yami Marik drew an instantly played his card, "I'll activate the Constellation Draco magic card, giving me the chance to revive the Troop Dragon you destroyed earlier." He announced as the Troop Dragon reappeared. "Now I'll sacrifice them both to summon Submaragon in attack mode!" He announced as both Troop Dragons were decimated and an aquamarine Dragon took their place with pairs of fins lining to its tail, a set of flightless wings on its back, and a gold helmet with blade extended from the snout hiding its face and a white mane behind it. In data, it only held an attack of 2900.
"What in the world?"
'Submaragon, the elemental Dragon of Water.' Miran thought.
"Submaragon boasts a special ability. You see, Submaragon has the power to block those who are unfit for battle."
"That Dragon is unfit for battle against my Blue-Eyes White Dragon! It only has 2900 attack points." Kevin pointed out as his White Dragon was compared in strengths.
"I don't think you understand. Submaragon can destroy your White Dragon without a single attack."
"What?"
"All I have to do is set the limits." Yami Marik looked to the serpentine Dragon. "Submaragon, in this Duel monsters of the Light attribute are restricted. Blue-Eyes White Dragon is a Light attribute, destroy it!" He stated. Submaragon rose up in its body and opened its mouth. "Do it, Ice Shatter Attack!" Submaragon fired a blast of icy breath to Kevin's Blue- Eyes White Dragon. The Dragon was coated in ice and was smashed to pieces by one swing of its tail.
"No, my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Kevin cried.
"Now Submaragon, attack his Life Points directly!" Yami Marik finally began to make his measures as Submaragon's blades lit up and fired in beams of flying boomerangs aimed towards him. The three light blades cut through him like a harsh wind and dropped his Life Points to 5100.
"Kevin!" I cried from the shackles of Holding Arms and Holding Legs. Raikoukou got behind him and brought him up for support with its head.
"I'll also activate Yin-Yang of the Zodiac!" Yami Marik taxed on with his other face-down card, the trap card used in sequence to summon Yin-Yang the Eternal Dragon.
"You've got to be kidding me!" I jumped in shock. The light ring appeared in front of Yami Marik and was ready in four turns to play the monster. "Kevin, you have to stop him from summoning Yin-Yang!"
"I know. But how?" Kevin recovered and drew his next card. "I've got it!" He smiled cleanly. "First I summon my Skilled Dark Magician in attack mode!" He said as his new monster appeared, a magician draping with dark cloaks and a staff to match.
"Is that the best you can do?" Yami Marik cocked.
"Trust me, this is only the beginning." Kevin answered back and went to thought, 'And with Miranda playing a Dragon Deck, she'll help me greatly.' "Now I activate Emblem of Dragon Destroyer: this magic card gives me my Buster Blader from my deck and adds it to my hand. But that also gives me a spell counter on my Skilled Dark Magician."
"You plan to come at me with a monster that require two sacrifices?" Yami Marik questioned sarcastically. In opposition of thought, I knew what he was doing.
"Pretty close for someone with three eyes." Kevin cocked, "But now I'll play Fusion Sage, which gives me another magic card added to my hand and Spell Counter Number 2." He continued as his Duel Disc spat out another card automatically.
'He'll summon the Dark Paladin.' I thought with a ray of hope.
Kevin resumed a look at his hand. 'Crud, I don't have another magic card I can play right now.' He thought as he saw Magic Cylinder, Buster Blader, Polymerization, Skilled White Magician, and Spear Dragon in his hand. "To finish, I'll place one trap card faced-down." He finished his turn.
"And that brings the first of my Tri Cards, Tri of Earth." Yami Marik announced as the green triangle outlined itself on the ring.
"But that also give me my final spell counter to add to my Skilled Dark Magician, you just lost." Kevin cocked.
"It's quite early in the Duel, Hunter. Now to show you some skill of my own. I'll pay 1000 of my Life Points to summon Fault-Line to the field." Yami Marik promoted his move as the earthbound Dragon revealed its head. "Now I return Submaragon to my hand in exchange to summon another monster, courtesy of Fault-Line. So I summon Helpoemer in attack mode."
"I don't have that monster in my deck!" I cried and got Yami Marik to look at me from below.
"Needn't worry, my dear. I just needed to improve your deck to how I suit it." Yami Marik replied and returned to the Duel.
'Why'd he play a monster like that?' Kevin wondered.
"Fault-Line, attack his Skilled Dark Magician!" He declared and the earthen Dragon threw boulders.
"Activate Magic Cylinder!" Kevin countered as two cylinders appeared, one absorbed the attack and the other shot the boulder like a cannon ball right back at Yami Marik, crippling his Life Points to 4800. He was thrown off his feet, but recovered just as easily as he was knocked down.
"So, you managed to block one attack, however I won't let you take away my freedom again. I end my turn." Yami Marik finished.
"You give yourself freedom by enslaving someone else. Not cool, psycho- boy." Kevin drew his card. "Now the fun begins. First I'll sacrifice my Skilled Dark Magician with his three spell counters, and from my Deck I summon the Dark Magician!" He declared as the familiar magician appeared in front of him.
"You're in for it now, Third Eye Blind." I mumbled.
"Next I play Polymerization to fuse Dark Magician and Buster Blader in my hand to summon the Ultimate Magical Swordsman, Dark Paladin!" He announced as one of his more powerful monsters appeared, the supped up Dark Magician in aqua armor and cloak and carrying what looked more like a cleave blade than a sword. "And it's worst than that, it gains 500 attack points for each Dragon you ever played, so its attack is increased to 3400!" He added on.
"And that's critical when it lands on one of your monsters!" Miran backed him up.
"Dark Paladin, attack his Helpoemer and put a nice big dent in his Life Points!" Kevin commanded.
"Bad move! Bad move!" I warned but it was too late, the fiend that was tacked on the stone plate was destroyed and decreased Yami Marik's Life Points further by a solid 2400, now redeeming only 2400 left.
"What was bad about it? One more attack and you're safe, Miranda. Don't worry." Kevin tried to assure me.
"Actually, you should have attacked Fault-Line rather than Helpoemer." Yami Marik agreed, "because now when Helpoemer is in the Graveyard, you lose one card from your hand at random. So say 'goodbye' to a card from your hand." He announced. A ghostly hand sprang from Kevin's Graveyard and selected a card in his hand, Skilled White Magician.
"Fine then, I end my turn here." Kevin finished.
"Good because here comes another Tri Card, Tri of Fire." Yami Marik stated as the red triangle was completed on the Zodiac.
'No, if I do it now, he'll have another option to go by.' Kevin refused to trigger Dark Paladin's effect. 'I need to catch him to where summoning Yin- Yang is his only option, but I only have two turns to pull it off.'
"Now it's my turn." Yami Marik drew an unfamiliar card. It looked like a woman in a red and white kimono and held a staff. 'This will work in a bit.' He thought, "I'll only switch Fault-Line to defense mode and end my turn."
"That all?" Kevin drew his next card, "then I'll place a trap face down and end my turn as well."
"Which reveals Tri of Wind," Yami Marik announced the third Tri Card.
'Now!' Kevin said to himself and discarded one card from his hand. Dark Paladin launched a blast of dark magic and pierced through the magic card, breaking its effect.
"What?! No!" Yami Marik feared as the Zodiac shattered in front of him like glass and faded in light. "How...how could you destroy the Zodiac?!"
"It's Dark Paladin's effect. I discard one card from my hand to negate the effect of one of your magic cards." Kevin answered.
'And if one of the Tri Cards are destroyed, so are the rest of the cards.' Raikoukou concluded.
"Very well, then you leave me with no option." Yami Marik began his turn. "I sacrifice Fault-Line to summon a creature that can match your Paladin's ability as a magician." I saw Yami Marik begin to pull the unfamiliar card from his hand. "This next card will rejuvenate the Zodiac Cards back into my Deck. I summon the Revived Priestess!" I felt a soul be dragged into the card before Yami Marik played it on his Duel Disc.
Before him, Fault-Line was replaced with a solid crystal prism big enough to trap a human. Indefinitely a dark silhouette was frozen inside with blue triangles representing the Tri of Water.
"What kind of monster is it?" Miran watched on behind Kevin. I was curious myself. The three blue triangles vanished and the prism prison began to crack and fall apart, revealing the embodiment piece by piece. The prisoner was in a white-top-red-bottom kimono outfit, but the white was splattered with rose red color. Her hair was long, black, and tied back into a ponytail. Her weapons were wields paper talismans and a staff of great importance. The resemblance startled both Miran and Raikoukou while Kevin stood dauntless of Yami Marik's new servant.
"Dark Paladin, get ready." Kevin leered the newcomer until Miran took a step ahead of him, same for Raikoukou. Both of them suddenly jumped with shock.
"Mother?" Miran questioned.
'Master Tsunami?' Raikoukou followed.
To be continued...
New cards played
Constellation Draco: Equip Magic Card. Select one Dragon-Type monster from your Graveyard. Special Summon it and equip it with this card. If this card is destroyed, the equipped monster is also destroyed.
Submaragon: Dragon/Water. Monster/Effect, 8/2900/2200. Select one Attribute. As long as this card is face-up on the field, monsters of the selected Attribute on your Opponent's side of the field are destroyed at the End Phase of the turn they were Summoned (including Flip Summon and Special Summon).
Yin-Yang of the Zodiac: Continuous Trap. At the end of each of your opponent's turns, place 1 Tri card from your hand or your Deck face-up to the field. If it is from your Deck, then shuffle your Deck. If Tri cards Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water are all on the field in their proper order, Special Summon "Yin-Yang the Eternal Dragon" from your hand or your Deck. If any of the cards are destroyed or removed from the field while constructing the message, they are all sent to your Graveyard immediately.
Tri of Earth: Continuous Magic. This card can only be placed on the field when "Yin-Yang of the Zodiac" is active. If you pay 1000 of your Life Points, Special Summon one "Fault-Line" from your deck, hand, or Graveyard in face-up attack position. When this card is destroyed, "Fault-Line" is also destroyed and vice-versa. When "Yin-Yang of the Zodiac" is removed from the field this card is also destroyed.
Fault-Line: Dragon/Earth. Monster/Effect, 7/2200/3000. While this card is face up on the field, you may send one monster on your side of the field to the respective owner's hand to Special Summon one monster whose Star Levels are 5 or higher in face-up attack or defense position. Monsters that are Set or Summoned (including Flip Summoned and Special Summoned) are excluded.
Tri of Fire: Continuous Magic. This card can only be placed on the field when "Yin-Yang of the Zodiac" is active. If you pay 1000 of your Life Points, Special Summon one "Firo" from your deck, hand, or Graveyard in face-up attack position. When this card is destroyed, "Firo" is also destroyed and vice-versa. When "Yin-Yang of the Zodiac" is removed from the field this card is also destroyed.
Tri of Wind: Continuous Magic. This card can only be placed on the field when "Yin-Yang of the Zodiac" is active. If you pay 1000 of your Life Points, Special Summon one "Hurricane" from your deck, hand, or Graveyard in face-up attack position. When this card is destroyed, "Hurricane" is also destroyed and vice-versa. When "Yin-Yang of the Zodiac" is removed from the field this card is also destroyed.
Revived Priestess – Tsunami: Spellcaster/Light. Monster/Effect, 5/0/0. This monster cannot be destroyed as a result of battle and damage calculations when your opponent's monsters attack this monster are reduced to 0. When this monster is summoned (including flip summoned and special summoned), you may do one or both of the following: - Select one of your opponent's face-up monsters. The selected monster cannot attack while this card is face-up. Also this card copies half of the selected monster's ATK points as its own. You may discard one card from your hand to let this card attack your Opponent's Life Points directly. – If "Yin-Yang of the Zodiac" or any of the Tri Cards exist in your Graveyard. Replace them to your deck. The deck is then shuffled.