Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh!
Author's Notes: Lets get started right from the kicker, here comes the second part of the duel against Ihachi. Who will replace Atem? Can they possibly win against her devastating Goddesses? Is Ihachi invincible? Find out now....probably.
Quote of the Chapter: "Evil will always triumph, because Good is dumb." -Dark Helmet, Spaceballs
Advert of the Chapter: Today I'm advertising the Hive of Darkness Trilogy by The Helldragon. I already advertised Fanfiction for Dummies, and he requested an advert for Web of the Mantis, his current piece, the second in the trilogy, the first being Insect Queen. This story is unusually dark for The Helldragon, but as he is the HELLdragon, I suppose it makes sense. I won't give too much away, but suffice it to say that this story will have you at the edge of your seat. Its got sword battles, duels(or at least one), pissing contests(not literally), insult matches(common in any fic with Joey and Kaiba in it), and it has the most irritating and annoying bastard you could ever meet in it. No, I'm not talking about Weevil(though he's there too), I'm talking about Matt Willard, the Helldragon's original character who totally changes the angle of any story he's in. Matt might just be the most scathingly sarcastic and bloody annoying person ever to exist in writing, and I give props to The Helldragon for creating him. Read this story and cringe in horror, groan in delight(or agony, you pick), and shake your head numerous times at the idiocy of Matt Willard and occassionally others. ROCK THE CASBA!
Chapter Thirty-Three: The Invincible Goddess
"Oh bloody hell. The idiot Pharaoh dies and everybody starts being all weepy and going 'oh gods there's no chance for victory!' How fucking pathetic!" Several sets of eyes turned to look at the speaker, even though they knew who it was after the first words out of his mouth. They sighed, having expected something like this from him.
Yami Bakura, or simply Bakura, stood with his arms folded across his chest in smug satisfaction. The Pharaoh finished off? How perfect. He'd just step in and take the Pharaoh's place and show them all what he could do, once he had won it'd be the perfect revenge for the time the Pharaoh had beaten him. "I'll replace that idiot in this duel."
He stepped up and placed his duel disk on his arm, activating it and simply drew a card, starting off where Atem would have had he still been with them. Of course now it was his deck, and he had full life points. Unfortunately it also meant his first card was his only card, his hand was empty other then that. (BLP: 8000)
"I'll set one card face down and end my turn. Go ahead and make your move Kai, and don't hold me back. Use that nifty little deck master of yours to get rid of her goddess. So she can't take any of our other monsters." With that said he ended his turn, receiving a death glare from Kai.
Kai knew perfectly well he should get rid of Goddess of Mentality, but he should also get rid of Buster Blader. If Bakura didn't want the blader being destroyed he either assumed that once the goddess was gone it'd move under his control, or he had a trap that was best for the blader. "I discard a card to destroy Goddess of Mentality!"
The fearful look on the goddess' face as the energy rushed towards her was enough to force her spellbound slave into action. To Kai and Bakura's shock the mind controlled Buster Blader hurled himself in the way of the energy blasts, ending up with himself shattered into tiny little pieces. There was now no more Buster Blader. "Fools. She's a goddess with a willing servant. Any true servant of a goddess will give his or her life to protect the goddess, so Buster Blader sacrificed his life to protect Goddess of Mentality."
With no other cards left to play Kai finished off his turn, casting a glance a the ever confident Bakura. He just had to hope that the white haired thief had a plan in mind, because otherwise they were totally defenseless. He was at least, and he wasn't certain whether Bakura would willingly protect him from any attack.
Ihachi drew another card and then clapped gleefully, undoing yet another lace, making it even easier to see what she had to offer. By now Kai was absolutely certain she was do it on purpose, and since Bakura was leering at her it seemed to be working quite well. "I summon Valkyrie Dritt(1000/1600) who gains one hundred points for each monster removed from the game."
The smaller valkyrie was summoned, riding a dapple gray horse with minimal armor. Dritt got a sudden boost of four hundred points, bumping her up to fourteen hundred attack strength. It wasn't much, but since neither of them had much to help out, it was enough. "I attack with Valkyrie Dritt!"
It charged in, sword at the ready, and easily ran right into Bakura's trap. "I reveal Appetite for Destruction. This destroys your attacking monster and revives it under my own control." Dritt shattered into pieces, and then reformed facing Ihachi. But despite Bakura's grin of success, it appeared that Ihachi found something about the situation funny.
She waggled the card in her hand, and then casually slid it into her cemetery. "Don't be silly. Goddess of Mentality lets me command your monster when summoned by discarding a card. Pity she's limited in other ways. But oh well, she still attacks you directly." The blade caught Bakura across the shoulder and he grimaced as a red brand of flame cut through his nerve endings. He nearly lost control of the arm, but he held it in using sheering will power. (BLP: 6600)
Once again it was Bakura's turn to draw, and he did so gladly. As soon as he saw the card he had drawn he started to laugh, turning from a chuckle to a full belly laugh very quickly. "This card has a certain sense of irony considering I'm the one using it. But it matters not, for I play Card of Sanctity!" Each of the three of them drew their six cards, looking over their hands for potential uses.
Bakura grinned as he selected the cards he wanted to use. The Pharaoh had been first in this duel to use a fusion, but he would soon be the second. His fusion was not quite as strong, but its effect was highly useful. "I set two cards face down, and activate Polymerization to fuse Ghost Duke and Headless Knight into Ghost Baron(2000/1700)!"
A nasty looking elitist zombie now stood before him, a nearly invincible zombie in fact. He grinned, as he had realized one of the flaws of Goddess of Mentality. It could only control one monster at a time, and now it was controlling Dritt. "You've focused your attentions on commanding your Valkyrie, leaving your goddess vulnerable by an attack from my Ghost Baron!"
Ihachi let out a laugh and discarded a card from her hand, shocking Bakura. Ghost Baron slid over to her side of the field, as dazed and confused as Dritt and Buster Blader had been. That slid his attention to Dritt, who no longer had a dazed looked on. "I released my control over Dritt already, and since she was originally my monster anyways she just stayed with me. So thank you for the monster, it was thoughtful of you."
Bakura scowled and gestured rudely to Kai, showing that he had nothing more he could do this turn. Kai added another card to his hand, giving him seven, and looked over what he had. With these cards he could quickly get rid of Goddess of Mentality. "I discard two cards to destroy Goddess of Mentality. The first will obviously be taken by the baron, but after that she'll be dead!"
Bakura groaned, unable to stop his partner from making a big mistake. The cannons of the XYZ monster blazed, colliding with Ghost Baron once, and then twice. Both times nothing happened. Snarling, Bakura turned to his partner. "Idiot! Ghost Baron can't be destroyed in any way!" Kai groaned, and then decided on his next course to take.
He slipped the Pot of Greed card into his duel disk, activating it. Once he had his two new cards he quickly chose the card he was going to part with, and shoved it into the cemetery. "This time I'm not going after the goddess, I"ll destroy Valkyrie Dritt!" The barrels of his deck master all unleashed their devastating fire upon the valkryie, destroying her easily.
"Now I set three cards face down and summon Blade Knight(2000/1200) who has gained four hundred attack points since I've only got one card in my hand. Blade Knight will attack Goddess of Mentality!" He had to hope he was right, it was the only way. Blade Knight got close, he really did, but Ghost Baron slid in the way and slashed him across the ribs with its rapier. Blade Knight collapsed in a heap, and to Kai's surprise it didn't go over to Ihachi's side of the field. She wasn't using her deck master anymore, just like she had said.
He had hoped that Goddess of Mentality wouldn't be defended from an attack, but apparently it was. It had been a foolish hope, but he had felt it was necessary to test it out. It hadn't ended well, but he could defend himself, so it wasn't a huge problem. "End turn."
Ihachi looked over her hand and smiled faintly before selecting the cards she wanted to use. To his surprise he saw her life points deplete. "I pay the five hundred life points to maintain Ghost Baron as per its effect." So that was the price for having an invincible monster, an upkeep cost. Oh well, it was pretty meager. (ILP: 5800)
"I set two cards face down and sacrifice Ghost Baron for Valkyrie Sigdrifa(2300/2300) who for this turn gains half the attack points of the monster I sacrificed, boosting her to 3300. Sigdrifa will attack Bakura directly!" The heavily armored valkyrie rode across the field, slicing at Bakura with her blade. He was not defenseless however.
"I activate Ghost Shield, removing Ghost Duke from my graveyard to negate the attack." The attack pulsated against the shield but was unable to get through, allowing Bakura to survive the attack. Ihachi shrugged her shoulders and waved it off, passing the turn over to Bakura who gladly drew a card.
Unable to do much else the thief slammed a monster onto his field. It appeared in defense mode, and then he motioned for Kai to start his own turn. He had gotten lucky, he had guessed right. Goddess of Mentality couldn't take control of a monster that wasn't face up, so his set monster was safe.
Kai grinned as soon as he saw exactly what had happened. With that being the case, Goddess of Mentality had no monster under its control at all, leaving it perfectly defenseless. He had three cards to protect himself, so it was time to clear away the threat of Ihachi's monsters. "I discard my hand of two cards to destroy both of your monsters!"
Twin blasts of power exploded from his deck master. Each blast collided with a different monster, and the two creatures were burned away, almost as if they had never been there at all. With that out of the way he was certain that there was nothing Ihachi could do now. Her two face down cards would go as soon as he got another turn. "End!"
Ihachi casually drew a card and then placed it on the field, adding a third card to her array of face down cards. She now had equally as many placed cards as Kai did, making it a hard guess to know who had better cards. Perhaps soon they would find out, but for the moment they had to wait. "I too will end my turn, sending it back to the ugly little thief."
Bakura snarled wordlessly and plucked another card free. He viciously slammed it onto his duel disk, picking up and tossing aside his set monster into his graveyard. "I summon Dark Ruler Hades(2450/1600)!" The blue skinned hellish ruler was summoned, a far cry from anything else that had been played during this entire duel. Its power would not go amiss, and if it succeeded in a direct attack it would be fantastic.
"Dark Ruler Hades, attack directly!" The hellion launched a streak of blue flame at the supposedly defenseless Ihachi, but she was ready, and she activated two of her placed cards, one a simple card that was easily recognizable, the other neither recognized. It had an image of a woman with a halo floating down from a cloud.
"I activate Solemn Wishes and Call of the Goddess! I'm sure you know what Solemn Wishes does, so I'll just explain the other. Call of the Goddess allows me to special summon a monster with 'goddess' in its name. So I will bring out a more powerful one, Goddess of Reflection(700/700)!" The newest goddess was gorgeous, and definitely nude. However she lounged behind a giant fancy mirror, making it impossible to see anything at all.
The blue flame bounced right off of the mirror and started streaking past Dark Ruler Hades and towards Bakura. The attack had been reflected! Kai took that moment to use his own trap, perfect for such a moment. "I activate Magic Cylinder!" The blue flame entered and shot out again, right back at Ihachi.
"I activate Trap Discplacement!" Again the attack shifted directions, headed back towards Bakura. Kai was highly reminded of his double duel against the Union Riders where he, Drake, and the Union Riders had done this sort of thing more then once. In fact, Magic Cylinder had been involved. Finally the attack collided with Bakura, dealing heavy damage to him and nearly burning his shirt off. (BLP: 4150)
Kai added another card to his hand, but instead of discarding he knew exactly what he could do. "I summon Z-Metal Tank(1500/1600)!" The purplish tank appeared, the duplicate of the bottom portion of XYZ Dragon Cannon. Its attack wasn't all that impressive, and with Goddess of Reflection on the field it would do him worse to use it, but that wasn't what he had in mind.
"Reveal Matching Destruction! And since Goddess of Reflection is of a lower level, your Goddess is toast!" A rumble built up as flames surrounded the goddess, but suddenly those flames were sucked into the mirror and shot out, searing through the air to collide with Dark Ruler Hades and destroy it instead of the goddess.
Ihachi made a tutting sound and shook her finger at him, chuckling as she did so. "She's not just called the Goddess of Reflection because she can reflect attacks. By discarding a card from my hand I can reflect effects as well, so Hades is the one who gets burnt instead of my goddess." She let out another peal of laughter, and Kai could only end his turn, ignoring Bakura's curses at him.
She drew another card and then played it onto the field, her life points also took an upwards climb thanks to the effect of Solem Wishes. Next she selected another of her cards and activated it. "I play Treasure of Nibelung. Not only does this let me draw five cards, but it also equips Nibelung Ring onto Z-Metal Tank!" A giant ring circled Kai's tank, and Ihachi got to pump her hand up to seven cards, granting her yet another dose of life points. (ILP: 6800)
"I play Mystical Space Tyhpoon on Ghost Shield, and then Goddess of Guardian Kaeyest to reuse Mystical Space Typhoon on Kai's face down card." Twin bolts of lightning lanced out, spearing through their cards. The shield was pricked like a bubble, and Kai lost one of his better traps, never getting a chance to use it.
"Now I set one card and summon Valkyrie Hildr(1900/1700). I attack Bakura with it and my Goddess!" The two monsters charged forwards, heedless of any obstruction. Kai tried to order Z-Metal Tank to block the goddess and thereby destroy it, but his tank wouldn't respond to his command. The attacks collided, bowling Bakura over. (BLP: 1550)
"That was dumb Kai. You see, the monster equipped with Nibelung Ring no longer responds to your commands. And while its equipped you draw two cards in the standby phase. If you get a monster you've got to discard it, but if you get two monsters you get to choose which monster is discarded. Isn't that just fun?" She smirked evilly and declared the end of her turn, showing just how much worse things could get. They were in trouble, that was for certain.
Bakura started off his turn, drawing his card. At this moment Ihachi's focus was all on her opponents, leaving the way clear for the others to take action. Dalin was going to do something that he felt was necessary, something that might advance their position. It was the right thing to do.
He slowly moved towards the throne, moving quietly and carefully so he didn't attract Ihachi's attention. Despite his power, in this place or even in the normal world he wouldn't be able to match her. Her normal strength was what Drake had displayed when using Obelisk for the first time, and he hadn't stood a chance. Here in her own realm her power was infinitely greater.
His gaze slid up to the figures chained to the columns, wishing he could do something to help them. Unfortunately he felt no souls there, what he saw were merely shells, false images that were there to amuse Ihachi and impress anyone who entered her temple.
His target was not those chained above, but rather the one who was chained below. His feet took him casually up the steps towards the altar, striding over to the crouching Kirani. She looked up at him with fear in her eyes, the look of one who has experienced a great deal of pain in a short amount of time. "Shh....I'm going to help free you."
She blinked, slowly coming to recognize him. Her eyes widened and she responded in a hush, her voice still plainly showing her shock at seeing him. "Dalin? Then Drake is...." She let it lie there, because he was already shaking his head. He didn't want to tell her that Drake wasn't with them, but it was what had to be done.
"He did what he could to rescue you. He even defeated Taichi, but then we were all sent here. He lost in a duel in a strange manner, and I'm certain I now know what he had intended when doing so. He needed to learn something, and I just hope he managed to find what he was looking for." She nodded, her eyes once again downcast as he weaved minor flows of magic instinctively into the chains that bound her.
The magic sealing the chains was complex, but luckily for him Ihachi hadn't considered that anyone might actually get close enough to examine it. He could unlock it and free Kirani, but it would take a little bit more time since he couldn't use full strength. She hadn't used her full power to seal it, so he'd be capable of breaking it, lucky for him and lucky for her.
"Ihachi....she's dueling?" Dalin nodded again, and as he worked he was aware of the eyes staring over his shoulder, staring at the duel that was continuing as he worked. He didn't need to watch the duel at the moment, he could simply trust that the two duelists were doing what they could to defeat Ihachi, despite worsening conditions.
Bakura grinned wickedly as he viewed his card, knowing that he had a method to use to win this duel. His face down card and the card he had drawn were all that he needed, and with it he would achieve victory! "I activate my set trap card, Destiny Board! At the end of each of your turns it will add a letter, and when it finishes spelling out the needed word then you'll be finished!" The fiery blue D burned above his head as the looking glass moved over the letter.
"But that's not all! I'll activate the magic card Summoning of D-E-A-T-H! For every five hundred life points I pay, I can put a letter of the Destiny Board into my hand. Of course I shall pay fifteen hundred life points, giving me three cards with which to bring you to your end!" His deck ejected the necessary cards as the power of his magic card drained most of his life points away, leaving him with a spare amount that wouldn't prevent him from being defeated. (BLP: 50)
"Though Destiny Board pulls the letters into play at the end of your turns, I can use the letters in my turn if I hold them. So I play Spirit Message E, Spirit Message A, and Spirit Message T!" The glass moved steadily over the Ouija board, spelling out the necessary letters. The corresponding fiery letters appeared above him, giving him a full four letters of the message. At the end of Ihachi's turn, she would lose!
"So the message is Death? Oh dear, how dreadful. I suppose I'll just have to kill you before the end of my next turn shan't I?" She smiled brightly, sending shivers down Bakura's spine. It made no sense for her to be so confident despite the position. Then again, she must think that he couldn't defend himself without using up a needed space.
"Think I'm defenseless prey? Hardly. I use the magic card Defense Seal, which will keep me from being attacked directly for three turns! I don't need those three turns, as one is all I need to end you once and for all! MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" A glowing green barrier sprung up around him, a barrier that would protect him from any direct attacks. He was no safe, and there was no way for Ihachi to win, because as soon as her next turn ended, the Spirit Message H would be played from his deck, finishing her off.
Kai started off his turn, drawing two cards due to the effect of Nibelung Ring. He looked at his cards, grimacing at the sight of a Polymerization and a Mirage Magician. Because he had drawn a monster he was going to have to discard it, and Polymerization was of no use to him. "I discard a monster into the cemetery."
He started to go to discard his fusion card in order to destroy one of Ihachi's cards, but realized quickly that if he did that, Ihachi would just discard a card and reflect the destruction at Destiny Board, unraveling Bakura's strategy. He would just have to leave this duel to Bakura to win, at least for the moment. "That will end my turn."
Meanwhile Dalin was still busy with his work of undoing the chains that wrapped around Kirani's leg. He was still intent on doing this, even though he had heard Bakura's strategy. It was certainly effective, and perhaps it would work, but there was no room for maybe in this sort of game, so he'd have to have a back up plan.
Dalin himself was a back-up, he knew that he had the potential to defeat Ihachi, in fact he knew for certain that he could defeat her. He could do it on his own even, however stepping up after one was defeated in this sort of duel, starting with only a single card or perhaps none was foolish. There was more then that though.....he had a strange feeling deep in his gut that told him Ihachi was not his enemy to defeat.
Ihachi drew free another card, reactivating the effect of Solemn Wishes. A blue glow surrounded her, and she basked in its warmth, soaking up the healing waves of energy that came from her permanent trap card. As long as she had it, she'd forever be gaining life points. Of course if she didn't defeat Bakura in this turn, then it wouldn't matter at all. (ILP: 7300)
She glanced down at her card and sighed, knowing that what she had drawn was not going to help defeat Bakura. She couldn't attack him directly with her monsters, so he was unbeatable in that manner for three turns. She had to beat him here and now....and she had a method to do so.
"You know, you two were amusing for a while, but now I'm just bored with you both. It's a pity, but right about now I'm going to have to end your time in this duel." She sighed as if reluctant to perform whatever move she was going to make. Kai and Bakura glanced at each other, both now uncertain about what was going to happen. They watched her as she picked one of her cards and used it.
"I'll finish you both off with this single card. It's known as Chaos Cannon. It's a nifty little magic card that deals two hundred damage to my opponent for each monster removed from the game. Funnily enough that happens to be four monsters, so that'll give me a total of eight hundred damage to spread. How many life points do you both have total again?" The two duelists gulped, realizing that their efforts were about to come crashing down.
Kai stood currently at seven hundred life points, making him an easy target. Bakura only had fifty life points thanks to the use of his Summoning D-E-A-T-H card that he had used in his previous turn. Total they only had seven hundred and fifty life points, fifty two points less then what would be needed for the two of them to survive this next strike.
"Oh that's right, you've got fifty less then the damage I can do. So I guess I'll finish you both off right now. Go and join the Pharaoh in whatever lands of the dead he roams, and know that your corpses will adorn my temple just as all these others do. Suffer and die!" With that she activated her magic card, and the cannon appeared in front of them.
It was dead black. It was not the kind of black that people normally think of when they say the word black. It was instead the essences of blackness, absorbing in all the light around it, bending light so that it was not touched. The air shimmered and a dangerous hum could be heard as they wicked looking dead black cannon powered up. "Chaos Cannon, FIRE!"
They could have said that the attacks the cannon fired were dead black. They could also have said that they were like streams of negative energy. They could have said plenty of things except there was one problem. The air rippled, it burned and seethed, agony erupted in their bodies as the attacks collided with them. The attacks were not visible, they were energy in its purest state. (KLP: 0, BLP: 0)
There was a click, there was motion, and then there was a strong and clear feminine voice ringing out. "I'll take you on Ihachi, I will be your next opponent!" Ihachi's gaze turned up, and she found herself looking into the once more confident eyes of Kirani, who flashed a determined smile before leaping down the steps, a duel disk attached to her arm. It was the duel disk that belonged to Kirani's spirit form, Ihachi had set it aside. (KLP: 8000)
Another clear feminine voice picked up the call, and Ihachi's gaze once again turned, now coming to rest on the speaker, the brunette slim figure that was Serenity Wheeler. "I'll join her on the dueling field, and I'll make you pay for the things that you've done. Now let's duel!" Serenity's duel disk activated, and now there were two more opponents for Ihachi to face. It was now girl on girl action, only in a different way then most people think when hearing those words. It was a girl on girl duel action. (SLP: 8000)
Since Serenity now stood where Bakura had stood it was clear that she taking his place. Also, since he hadn't had any cards in hand when he was defeated she would have to count on drawing a card to get her something good. So she drew confidently, knowing that her brother and Drake were both with her in spirit, guiding her hand with theirs. "I've drawn Nia the Magical Swordswoman(1300/1400) who now gains eight hundred attack points!"
The blonde haired woman brushed her hair out of her eyes, and then smiling she turned and made a whistling sound. Serenity's deck started glowing and she grabbed the card that shot out, slapping it down onto one of her monster zones as quickly as she could. "Since she's been summoned I special summon Neo the Magical Swordsman(1700/1000)!" The armored blonde haired man joined his female counterpart, and that was all that Serenity could do for her turn.
Due to the effect of Nibelung Ring, which was still Kirani's as she was taking over for Kai, she had to draw two cards. She drew the two cards, and then casually shoved one of them into her cemetery slot. As soon as it was in she started grinning, and twisted her other card around to face Ihachi. "Monster Reborn."
A blaze of light erupted from the ground, a sphere of light that ascended and hovered in front of her. Slowly it dissipated, revealing a muscular man in bluish armor with a mighty sword on his back. He drew the blade and slashed it through the air, making streaks of lightning strike out from it. "Gilford the Lightning(2800/1400) rises to the field!"
She knew the effect of Goddess of Reflection just as well as the others did, and like Serenity before her she knew that despite having a superior monster on the field she couldn't afford to attack, because it would just end up hurting her. "That's all for me."
Ihachi smiled slightly as she viewed the card she had drawn. Either that or she was just smiling because of the blue healing light that was covering her, restoring her life points to nearly the starting point. One more draw and she'd have more life points then she had started with. (ILP: 7800)
"I sacrifice Hildr and Goddess of Reflection to summon another Brunhilde! I'll attack Neo with her!" Brunhilde charged across the field, shield at the ready. However at the last moment Kirani threw her Gilford in the way, intent on having Brunhilde run into it. With Gilford's greater power it would easily stop the attack and heavily damage Ihachi.
"Not so fast. I activate Dark Vortex, making your Gilford an untouchable for a few turns. It can't attack or defend at all, I can even attack through it!" Kirani and Serenity grimaced as Gilford turned transparent, allowing Brunhilde's blade to pass straight through and gut Neo, cutting it down and dealing damage to Serenity. Damage that didn't quite make sense to Serenity...it must just deal extra damage when it destroyed a monster. (SLP: 7600)
Now it was Serenity's turn again. She drew a card and then glanced at her field. She still had the Destiny Board and three of its letters, but that was a problem. She had no pieces of the message in her deck, so it didn't help at all. They were taking up space, and now she'd just have to fill up the last spot. "I set one card face down."
She raised one arm, leather jacket flaring out behind her, and declared her attack, ready to use Nia to obliterate Brunhilde. Nia gathered mystic energies into her blade, making it glow green, and then slashed it through the air, sending razor sharp petals at Brunhilde. "I'll reveal my trap card, Wandering Flame! According to its effect, as long as its in play you can't attack with monsters whose attack is greater then two thousand!"
The petals were absorbed by the flame, and the attack remained uncompleted. Now, with nothing else left for her in this turn, it was time for her to finish up and give Kirani a chance to come up with something. She just had to hope it was good. "I can't do anything else so I end my turn now."
Kirani added another two cards to her hand, and casually discarded one of her two cards. She had drawn two monsters, meaning she got the choice of what to discard. Of course, because she had discarded she had more options actually. "I...what the heck?" Her sudden surprise was directed at her Gilford, who though he was slightly more visible, was now losing muscle mass and becoming weaker.
Ihachi threw back her head and laughed, explaining it as soon as she was able. "The effect of Dark Vortex will end after your second standby phase, but during each of your turns otherwise it loses two hundred points. So by the time it can attack it will be four hundred points weaker." She chuckled further, her happiness evident as Gilford became a slightly weaker monster of twenty-six hundred points.
"Either way it doesn't matter Ihachi, because I'm getting rid of the Nibelung Ring right here and now! I tribute Z Metal Tank for Kaiser Glider(2400/2200)!" The purplish tank was replaced by a mighty golden dragon, whose appearance just made Ihachi smile even more then before. Kirani didn't know what she was grinning about, but it didn't matter. She now had two strong monsters and no debilitating equip card on one of her monsters.
Ihachi drew another card, yet again gaining life points from Solem Wishes. She could only grin and laugh as she selected a single card from her hand to use and placed on the field. It appeared in brown-backed form, giving her more to go on. "I just set that single card before ending my turn." (ILP: 8300)
Serenity drew a card, and suddenly a bright smile blossomed on her features. Now was a moment where she could make things better for them! She had drawn the perfect card for the situation, a monster that was less then two thousand points and yet still stronger then Brunhilde! "I summon Sapphire Dragon(1900/1600)!"
The beautiful blue dragon appeared on the field, letting out a roar before lowering its head. Serenity reached out and stroked its head, laughing with delight as it practically purred under her touch. "You beautiful creature....I want you to attack and destroy Brunhilde over there, okay?" The dragon gave her a nod and rose up to its full height, wings extended for flight.
It hurled itself across the field, intent on rending the valkyrie with its claws and teeth to please its master. This little woman that was its enemy was no match for its might, or so it thought. Brunhilde reached out and grabbed hold of Sapphire Dragon's wings, and then crushed them together. A quick stroke of the sword and the dragon fell dead to the ground, vanishing moments later. (SLP: 6800)
"Confused are we? I suppose now is the moment to explain that for each warrior and dragon on the field my Brunhilde gains three hundred attack points. So you attacked a monster of twenty-seven hundred points with a weak nineteen hundred attack power monster. Kinda stupid huh?" Again she threw back her head and laughed, and unlike some previous times she lost no laces in the process. Apparently teasing the girls was a different manner entirely. That wasn't to say it wasn't fun, but it was different.
Serenity quailed inside, knowing that if this had been a duel with Drake he would be berating her right now with one of his various lessons. It was something he had taught her, and yet she had forgotten. He had told her 'Never assume the effect of a card. Make sure you know exactly what the effect is before acting, otherwise you're bound to make a serious mistake.' Here she was and already she had made such a mistake!
Despite this mistake she had to go on, she knew that Drake wouldn't give up if he made a mistake, and neither would her brother. They would keep fighting until they found a way to win. That was the power she had to find within herself, that was the power she needed if she was going to defeat Ihachi. "End turn!"
Kirani started quickly, recognizing her card easily. With this card she could turn the tides, but she wasn't sure just how well it would work. She could clear the field for Serenity, but she couldn't necessarily save herself. She just had to hope things would work out, after all, she had plenty of life points to work with.
"I play Remove Trap on Wandering Flame, getting it out of here!" The effect of her magic card let her destroy a trap card on the field, or turn up a card that was face down and destroy it if it was a trap. Its effect went into action, blasting the Wandering Flame trap card into oblivion, allowing each of her monsters to attack once again.
"Because you destroyed Wandering Flame I can now summon a deadly monster, the twin to Brunhilde. I summon Valkyrie Fridwulfa(1800/2000), and she gains more attack points!" The new monster was wearing silver armor which matched the flowing silver hair that reached her back. Her massive blade was easily powerful enough to remove a man's head from his shoulders in a single swing.
"It doesn't matter. My intent wasn't victory anyways, not in this turn at least. I'll settle on trashing Fridwulfa!" Gilford slashed straight through the shield, blasting it into little pieces as Fridwulfa's defense was reduced down to zero. The effect of Fridwulfa granted it attack points for each spellcaster of angel that was on the field or in the cemetery, giving it twenty-four hundred attack points total.
"Now I attack it again with Kaiser Glider!" Her dragon rushed fowards, only to be slashed down and destroyed. However because of the effect of her monster, when it was destroyed she could remove one monster from the game that was on the field other then the one that destroyed it. So she gladly removed Brunhilde from the game. (KLP: 7800)
Satisfied with her work she brushed her hands off and gave a thumbs up to Serenity, who grinned in return. Dalin on the other hand was not exactly thrilled. It wasn't the best strategy, but had it come to the next turn Ihachi would have had more monsters if she had taken a different route. "I'll leave it at that, and give you the turn Ihachi. Let's see what you can do with it."
Ihachi burst out laughing, even before she drew a card. It was like she knew the horror that she was about to unleash, which was true because she did in fact know the kind of horror she was about to unleash. "Prepare yourself to witness the true power of my valkyries. I use the magic card, Walkuren Ritt!" (ILP: 8800)
A storm of roses swirled around as the card's effect started, and Ihachi grabbed three cards from her hand and slapped them onto the field, watching with contentment as each monster appeared on the field. "The effect of Walkuren Ritt lets me special summon all the valkryies in my hand. When they destroy monsters this turn, those monsters are removed from the game. At the end of my turn my valkryies will be shuffled into my deck, but that doesn't matter at all!"
Three very familiar valkyries appeared, followed by a valkyrie with green hair and black armor wielding a short sword and a simple shield. Her stats were identical with the other two's stats, making things far more even. "I've summon two Valkryie Altests, Fridwulfa, and one Valkyrie Shaun(1600/1600)! When Shaun is summoned I can destroy one magic or trap on the field, and I destroy Serenity's face down card!" A blast of power ripped Serenity's card away, and things seemed less even.
"Fridwulfa will destroy Nia!" The two blade wielding woman started exchanging sword play, but it was quickly revealed that things were not even. The magic using sword wielder was very good, however she was no match in blade work for the heavenly woman, and a tricky maneuver was enough to throw her off guard and get her killed. (SLP: 6500)
"My first Altest will remove Gilford from the grave and attack Kirani directly!" The first Altest's power shot up, giving it a superior edge over the other monsters. It rushed forwards and cut Kirani's shoulder swiftly, making her cringe in pain and grab her shoulder to stave off blood flow. It faded quickly, but it was still pretty bad. (KLP: 5000)
"The second Altest will remove Kaiser Glider from the game and continue with a second direct attack!" Another identical monster attacked, cutting Kirani across the other shoulder. She gasped, sucking in air as a tidal wive of pain dropped upon her, and she fell to her knees, struggling to regain control of her body and her pain. (KLP: 2600)
"Shaun will attack Serenity directly!" The simplistic Valkryie rushed across the field, stabbing lightly into Serenity's thigh. The auburn haired girl cried out, grabbing her leg as blood rushed out. It wasn't serious, but she had never been stabbed before, so it hurt more then she had possibly thought anything could hurt. (SLP: 4900)
"Brunhilde will attack you again!" The valkryie with the winged armor rode down and stabbed her lightly in the other thigh, dropping her to the ground in even greater pain. Head held high Brunhilde stalked across the field, quite happy with herself for doing her bit in causing pain and anguish to the two of them. (SLP: 3100)
"Now I activate Reginleif, allowing me to draw one card for each valkyrie I've got on the field! So I get to draw five more cards!" She added five new cards to her hand and examined them, suddenly she burst out laughing as her eyes lit upon one of the cards she had drawn. With this card she would finish them off, simple as that. It was simply too easy. These people were no challenge to her! (ILP: 9300)
"I play Mischief of Goddesses Time! By getting rid of my next battle phase I can jump phases, giving my monsters a second battle phase! And I'll start off by having Fridwulfa attack Serenity!" The silver haired valkryie brought the flat of her blade down upon Serenity's shoulder, slamming her backwards into a column and making her let out a cry of pain as her bones fractured. (SLP: 700)
"I remove Sapphire Dragon from the cemetery and attack Kirani directly with Altest the first!" The same Altest that had originally attacked her rode forwards once again, stirking her with the handle of the sword in the stomach, pounding the air right out of her. She folded up like a sheet and grabbed at her middle, gasping for air. (KLP: 1900)
"Hmmm...I could easily defeat you both with one attack by one monster each. But which monster will I use, and which of you shall I crush first? What do you have to say?" The two girls were unable to say anything, they were both wrapped up in their pain. Dalin looked at the two of them, and then looked to Kevin. It was only the two of them remaining, so perhaps he had been wrong. This was an enemy he was supposed to face. It was a pity he hadn't realized that before. He had never wanted the girls to suffer.
"You won't be crushing anyone. I had hoped to avoid this, but it seems like it was always inevitable. Your duel, your fight, is not with them. It's with me." Several pairs of eyes turned to stare at the entrance to the temple where a figure stood, light shining in from the outside, obscuring the image.
Slowly the figure approached, walking out of the sunlight. When the figure was revealed, they couldn't help but be surprised, and Ihachi actually snarled in rage. Dalin could understand why, he knew exactly how she felt about this man, but he didn't know why. "Like the time long ago, the battle always rests between us siblings. Let us finish the battle we started more then three millennia ago!"
Drake Ihachi stood at the doorway, duel disk at the ready, black leather jacket flaring out behind him. A radiant glow filled the air with its power as he drew on all the feelings of those in the room. The power that he radiated was greater then anything Dalin could have thought of, at least until he met Drake and Ihachi.
Ihachi also radiated power, her body taking in desperate energies as she grew angrier with the moment. The energies stopped gathering and the two stood staring at each other, the air rippling and distorting around them from the sheer force of their power.
The thing that was most notable, the thing that caught Dalin's attention and held it, making him understand that there was something deeper to this confrontation then he knew. That thing was that their magical signatures were nearly identical, and their power was completely and totally evenly matched. "The duel of the twin gods will now come to an end."
(End)
Author's Notes: Next time, watch and learn as the explosive confrontation between these two titans begins!
Original Cards
Ihachi: Valkyrie Fridwulfa, Valkyrie Shaun, Wandering Flame, Dark Vortex, Call of Goddess, Goddess of Reflection, Goddess of Guardian Kaeyest, Chaos Cannon
Kai: Matching Destruction
Bakura: Appetite for Destruction, Summoning D-E-A-T-H, Defense Seal
Serenity: Nia the Magical Swordswoman
Original Cards Not Belonging to Me
Ihachi: Valkyrie Hildr(created by Time Mage), Reginleif(by Time Mage), Valkyrie Sigdrifa(by Time mage)
Kai: Mirage Magician(only mentioned, but still by Time Mage
Anime Original Cards: Valkyrie Dritt(KC Grand Prix), Ghost Baron(Egyptian Arc), Ghost Shield(Egypt), Trap Displacement(DK), Treasure of Nibelung(KC), Nibelung Ring(KC), Walkuren Ritt(KC), Valkyrie Brunhilde(KC), Valkyrie Altest(KC), Mischief of Goddesses Time(KC)
Author's Notes: Lets get started right from the kicker, here comes the second part of the duel against Ihachi. Who will replace Atem? Can they possibly win against her devastating Goddesses? Is Ihachi invincible? Find out now....probably.
Quote of the Chapter: "Evil will always triumph, because Good is dumb." -Dark Helmet, Spaceballs
Advert of the Chapter: Today I'm advertising the Hive of Darkness Trilogy by The Helldragon. I already advertised Fanfiction for Dummies, and he requested an advert for Web of the Mantis, his current piece, the second in the trilogy, the first being Insect Queen. This story is unusually dark for The Helldragon, but as he is the HELLdragon, I suppose it makes sense. I won't give too much away, but suffice it to say that this story will have you at the edge of your seat. Its got sword battles, duels(or at least one), pissing contests(not literally), insult matches(common in any fic with Joey and Kaiba in it), and it has the most irritating and annoying bastard you could ever meet in it. No, I'm not talking about Weevil(though he's there too), I'm talking about Matt Willard, the Helldragon's original character who totally changes the angle of any story he's in. Matt might just be the most scathingly sarcastic and bloody annoying person ever to exist in writing, and I give props to The Helldragon for creating him. Read this story and cringe in horror, groan in delight(or agony, you pick), and shake your head numerous times at the idiocy of Matt Willard and occassionally others. ROCK THE CASBA!
Chapter Thirty-Three: The Invincible Goddess
"Oh bloody hell. The idiot Pharaoh dies and everybody starts being all weepy and going 'oh gods there's no chance for victory!' How fucking pathetic!" Several sets of eyes turned to look at the speaker, even though they knew who it was after the first words out of his mouth. They sighed, having expected something like this from him.
Yami Bakura, or simply Bakura, stood with his arms folded across his chest in smug satisfaction. The Pharaoh finished off? How perfect. He'd just step in and take the Pharaoh's place and show them all what he could do, once he had won it'd be the perfect revenge for the time the Pharaoh had beaten him. "I'll replace that idiot in this duel."
He stepped up and placed his duel disk on his arm, activating it and simply drew a card, starting off where Atem would have had he still been with them. Of course now it was his deck, and he had full life points. Unfortunately it also meant his first card was his only card, his hand was empty other then that. (BLP: 8000)
"I'll set one card face down and end my turn. Go ahead and make your move Kai, and don't hold me back. Use that nifty little deck master of yours to get rid of her goddess. So she can't take any of our other monsters." With that said he ended his turn, receiving a death glare from Kai.
Kai knew perfectly well he should get rid of Goddess of Mentality, but he should also get rid of Buster Blader. If Bakura didn't want the blader being destroyed he either assumed that once the goddess was gone it'd move under his control, or he had a trap that was best for the blader. "I discard a card to destroy Goddess of Mentality!"
The fearful look on the goddess' face as the energy rushed towards her was enough to force her spellbound slave into action. To Kai and Bakura's shock the mind controlled Buster Blader hurled himself in the way of the energy blasts, ending up with himself shattered into tiny little pieces. There was now no more Buster Blader. "Fools. She's a goddess with a willing servant. Any true servant of a goddess will give his or her life to protect the goddess, so Buster Blader sacrificed his life to protect Goddess of Mentality."
With no other cards left to play Kai finished off his turn, casting a glance a the ever confident Bakura. He just had to hope that the white haired thief had a plan in mind, because otherwise they were totally defenseless. He was at least, and he wasn't certain whether Bakura would willingly protect him from any attack.
Ihachi drew another card and then clapped gleefully, undoing yet another lace, making it even easier to see what she had to offer. By now Kai was absolutely certain she was do it on purpose, and since Bakura was leering at her it seemed to be working quite well. "I summon Valkyrie Dritt(1000/1600) who gains one hundred points for each monster removed from the game."
The smaller valkyrie was summoned, riding a dapple gray horse with minimal armor. Dritt got a sudden boost of four hundred points, bumping her up to fourteen hundred attack strength. It wasn't much, but since neither of them had much to help out, it was enough. "I attack with Valkyrie Dritt!"
It charged in, sword at the ready, and easily ran right into Bakura's trap. "I reveal Appetite for Destruction. This destroys your attacking monster and revives it under my own control." Dritt shattered into pieces, and then reformed facing Ihachi. But despite Bakura's grin of success, it appeared that Ihachi found something about the situation funny.
She waggled the card in her hand, and then casually slid it into her cemetery. "Don't be silly. Goddess of Mentality lets me command your monster when summoned by discarding a card. Pity she's limited in other ways. But oh well, she still attacks you directly." The blade caught Bakura across the shoulder and he grimaced as a red brand of flame cut through his nerve endings. He nearly lost control of the arm, but he held it in using sheering will power. (BLP: 6600)
Once again it was Bakura's turn to draw, and he did so gladly. As soon as he saw the card he had drawn he started to laugh, turning from a chuckle to a full belly laugh very quickly. "This card has a certain sense of irony considering I'm the one using it. But it matters not, for I play Card of Sanctity!" Each of the three of them drew their six cards, looking over their hands for potential uses.
Bakura grinned as he selected the cards he wanted to use. The Pharaoh had been first in this duel to use a fusion, but he would soon be the second. His fusion was not quite as strong, but its effect was highly useful. "I set two cards face down, and activate Polymerization to fuse Ghost Duke and Headless Knight into Ghost Baron(2000/1700)!"
A nasty looking elitist zombie now stood before him, a nearly invincible zombie in fact. He grinned, as he had realized one of the flaws of Goddess of Mentality. It could only control one monster at a time, and now it was controlling Dritt. "You've focused your attentions on commanding your Valkyrie, leaving your goddess vulnerable by an attack from my Ghost Baron!"
Ihachi let out a laugh and discarded a card from her hand, shocking Bakura. Ghost Baron slid over to her side of the field, as dazed and confused as Dritt and Buster Blader had been. That slid his attention to Dritt, who no longer had a dazed looked on. "I released my control over Dritt already, and since she was originally my monster anyways she just stayed with me. So thank you for the monster, it was thoughtful of you."
Bakura scowled and gestured rudely to Kai, showing that he had nothing more he could do this turn. Kai added another card to his hand, giving him seven, and looked over what he had. With these cards he could quickly get rid of Goddess of Mentality. "I discard two cards to destroy Goddess of Mentality. The first will obviously be taken by the baron, but after that she'll be dead!"
Bakura groaned, unable to stop his partner from making a big mistake. The cannons of the XYZ monster blazed, colliding with Ghost Baron once, and then twice. Both times nothing happened. Snarling, Bakura turned to his partner. "Idiot! Ghost Baron can't be destroyed in any way!" Kai groaned, and then decided on his next course to take.
He slipped the Pot of Greed card into his duel disk, activating it. Once he had his two new cards he quickly chose the card he was going to part with, and shoved it into the cemetery. "This time I'm not going after the goddess, I"ll destroy Valkyrie Dritt!" The barrels of his deck master all unleashed their devastating fire upon the valkryie, destroying her easily.
"Now I set three cards face down and summon Blade Knight(2000/1200) who has gained four hundred attack points since I've only got one card in my hand. Blade Knight will attack Goddess of Mentality!" He had to hope he was right, it was the only way. Blade Knight got close, he really did, but Ghost Baron slid in the way and slashed him across the ribs with its rapier. Blade Knight collapsed in a heap, and to Kai's surprise it didn't go over to Ihachi's side of the field. She wasn't using her deck master anymore, just like she had said.
He had hoped that Goddess of Mentality wouldn't be defended from an attack, but apparently it was. It had been a foolish hope, but he had felt it was necessary to test it out. It hadn't ended well, but he could defend himself, so it wasn't a huge problem. "End turn."
Ihachi looked over her hand and smiled faintly before selecting the cards she wanted to use. To his surprise he saw her life points deplete. "I pay the five hundred life points to maintain Ghost Baron as per its effect." So that was the price for having an invincible monster, an upkeep cost. Oh well, it was pretty meager. (ILP: 5800)
"I set two cards face down and sacrifice Ghost Baron for Valkyrie Sigdrifa(2300/2300) who for this turn gains half the attack points of the monster I sacrificed, boosting her to 3300. Sigdrifa will attack Bakura directly!" The heavily armored valkyrie rode across the field, slicing at Bakura with her blade. He was not defenseless however.
"I activate Ghost Shield, removing Ghost Duke from my graveyard to negate the attack." The attack pulsated against the shield but was unable to get through, allowing Bakura to survive the attack. Ihachi shrugged her shoulders and waved it off, passing the turn over to Bakura who gladly drew a card.
Unable to do much else the thief slammed a monster onto his field. It appeared in defense mode, and then he motioned for Kai to start his own turn. He had gotten lucky, he had guessed right. Goddess of Mentality couldn't take control of a monster that wasn't face up, so his set monster was safe.
Kai grinned as soon as he saw exactly what had happened. With that being the case, Goddess of Mentality had no monster under its control at all, leaving it perfectly defenseless. He had three cards to protect himself, so it was time to clear away the threat of Ihachi's monsters. "I discard my hand of two cards to destroy both of your monsters!"
Twin blasts of power exploded from his deck master. Each blast collided with a different monster, and the two creatures were burned away, almost as if they had never been there at all. With that out of the way he was certain that there was nothing Ihachi could do now. Her two face down cards would go as soon as he got another turn. "End!"
Ihachi casually drew a card and then placed it on the field, adding a third card to her array of face down cards. She now had equally as many placed cards as Kai did, making it a hard guess to know who had better cards. Perhaps soon they would find out, but for the moment they had to wait. "I too will end my turn, sending it back to the ugly little thief."
Bakura snarled wordlessly and plucked another card free. He viciously slammed it onto his duel disk, picking up and tossing aside his set monster into his graveyard. "I summon Dark Ruler Hades(2450/1600)!" The blue skinned hellish ruler was summoned, a far cry from anything else that had been played during this entire duel. Its power would not go amiss, and if it succeeded in a direct attack it would be fantastic.
"Dark Ruler Hades, attack directly!" The hellion launched a streak of blue flame at the supposedly defenseless Ihachi, but she was ready, and she activated two of her placed cards, one a simple card that was easily recognizable, the other neither recognized. It had an image of a woman with a halo floating down from a cloud.
"I activate Solemn Wishes and Call of the Goddess! I'm sure you know what Solemn Wishes does, so I'll just explain the other. Call of the Goddess allows me to special summon a monster with 'goddess' in its name. So I will bring out a more powerful one, Goddess of Reflection(700/700)!" The newest goddess was gorgeous, and definitely nude. However she lounged behind a giant fancy mirror, making it impossible to see anything at all.
The blue flame bounced right off of the mirror and started streaking past Dark Ruler Hades and towards Bakura. The attack had been reflected! Kai took that moment to use his own trap, perfect for such a moment. "I activate Magic Cylinder!" The blue flame entered and shot out again, right back at Ihachi.
"I activate Trap Discplacement!" Again the attack shifted directions, headed back towards Bakura. Kai was highly reminded of his double duel against the Union Riders where he, Drake, and the Union Riders had done this sort of thing more then once. In fact, Magic Cylinder had been involved. Finally the attack collided with Bakura, dealing heavy damage to him and nearly burning his shirt off. (BLP: 4150)
Kai added another card to his hand, but instead of discarding he knew exactly what he could do. "I summon Z-Metal Tank(1500/1600)!" The purplish tank appeared, the duplicate of the bottom portion of XYZ Dragon Cannon. Its attack wasn't all that impressive, and with Goddess of Reflection on the field it would do him worse to use it, but that wasn't what he had in mind.
"Reveal Matching Destruction! And since Goddess of Reflection is of a lower level, your Goddess is toast!" A rumble built up as flames surrounded the goddess, but suddenly those flames were sucked into the mirror and shot out, searing through the air to collide with Dark Ruler Hades and destroy it instead of the goddess.
Ihachi made a tutting sound and shook her finger at him, chuckling as she did so. "She's not just called the Goddess of Reflection because she can reflect attacks. By discarding a card from my hand I can reflect effects as well, so Hades is the one who gets burnt instead of my goddess." She let out another peal of laughter, and Kai could only end his turn, ignoring Bakura's curses at him.
She drew another card and then played it onto the field, her life points also took an upwards climb thanks to the effect of Solem Wishes. Next she selected another of her cards and activated it. "I play Treasure of Nibelung. Not only does this let me draw five cards, but it also equips Nibelung Ring onto Z-Metal Tank!" A giant ring circled Kai's tank, and Ihachi got to pump her hand up to seven cards, granting her yet another dose of life points. (ILP: 6800)
"I play Mystical Space Tyhpoon on Ghost Shield, and then Goddess of Guardian Kaeyest to reuse Mystical Space Typhoon on Kai's face down card." Twin bolts of lightning lanced out, spearing through their cards. The shield was pricked like a bubble, and Kai lost one of his better traps, never getting a chance to use it.
"Now I set one card and summon Valkyrie Hildr(1900/1700). I attack Bakura with it and my Goddess!" The two monsters charged forwards, heedless of any obstruction. Kai tried to order Z-Metal Tank to block the goddess and thereby destroy it, but his tank wouldn't respond to his command. The attacks collided, bowling Bakura over. (BLP: 1550)
"That was dumb Kai. You see, the monster equipped with Nibelung Ring no longer responds to your commands. And while its equipped you draw two cards in the standby phase. If you get a monster you've got to discard it, but if you get two monsters you get to choose which monster is discarded. Isn't that just fun?" She smirked evilly and declared the end of her turn, showing just how much worse things could get. They were in trouble, that was for certain.
Bakura started off his turn, drawing his card. At this moment Ihachi's focus was all on her opponents, leaving the way clear for the others to take action. Dalin was going to do something that he felt was necessary, something that might advance their position. It was the right thing to do.
He slowly moved towards the throne, moving quietly and carefully so he didn't attract Ihachi's attention. Despite his power, in this place or even in the normal world he wouldn't be able to match her. Her normal strength was what Drake had displayed when using Obelisk for the first time, and he hadn't stood a chance. Here in her own realm her power was infinitely greater.
His gaze slid up to the figures chained to the columns, wishing he could do something to help them. Unfortunately he felt no souls there, what he saw were merely shells, false images that were there to amuse Ihachi and impress anyone who entered her temple.
His target was not those chained above, but rather the one who was chained below. His feet took him casually up the steps towards the altar, striding over to the crouching Kirani. She looked up at him with fear in her eyes, the look of one who has experienced a great deal of pain in a short amount of time. "Shh....I'm going to help free you."
She blinked, slowly coming to recognize him. Her eyes widened and she responded in a hush, her voice still plainly showing her shock at seeing him. "Dalin? Then Drake is...." She let it lie there, because he was already shaking his head. He didn't want to tell her that Drake wasn't with them, but it was what had to be done.
"He did what he could to rescue you. He even defeated Taichi, but then we were all sent here. He lost in a duel in a strange manner, and I'm certain I now know what he had intended when doing so. He needed to learn something, and I just hope he managed to find what he was looking for." She nodded, her eyes once again downcast as he weaved minor flows of magic instinctively into the chains that bound her.
The magic sealing the chains was complex, but luckily for him Ihachi hadn't considered that anyone might actually get close enough to examine it. He could unlock it and free Kirani, but it would take a little bit more time since he couldn't use full strength. She hadn't used her full power to seal it, so he'd be capable of breaking it, lucky for him and lucky for her.
"Ihachi....she's dueling?" Dalin nodded again, and as he worked he was aware of the eyes staring over his shoulder, staring at the duel that was continuing as he worked. He didn't need to watch the duel at the moment, he could simply trust that the two duelists were doing what they could to defeat Ihachi, despite worsening conditions.
Bakura grinned wickedly as he viewed his card, knowing that he had a method to use to win this duel. His face down card and the card he had drawn were all that he needed, and with it he would achieve victory! "I activate my set trap card, Destiny Board! At the end of each of your turns it will add a letter, and when it finishes spelling out the needed word then you'll be finished!" The fiery blue D burned above his head as the looking glass moved over the letter.
"But that's not all! I'll activate the magic card Summoning of D-E-A-T-H! For every five hundred life points I pay, I can put a letter of the Destiny Board into my hand. Of course I shall pay fifteen hundred life points, giving me three cards with which to bring you to your end!" His deck ejected the necessary cards as the power of his magic card drained most of his life points away, leaving him with a spare amount that wouldn't prevent him from being defeated. (BLP: 50)
"Though Destiny Board pulls the letters into play at the end of your turns, I can use the letters in my turn if I hold them. So I play Spirit Message E, Spirit Message A, and Spirit Message T!" The glass moved steadily over the Ouija board, spelling out the necessary letters. The corresponding fiery letters appeared above him, giving him a full four letters of the message. At the end of Ihachi's turn, she would lose!
"So the message is Death? Oh dear, how dreadful. I suppose I'll just have to kill you before the end of my next turn shan't I?" She smiled brightly, sending shivers down Bakura's spine. It made no sense for her to be so confident despite the position. Then again, she must think that he couldn't defend himself without using up a needed space.
"Think I'm defenseless prey? Hardly. I use the magic card Defense Seal, which will keep me from being attacked directly for three turns! I don't need those three turns, as one is all I need to end you once and for all! MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" A glowing green barrier sprung up around him, a barrier that would protect him from any direct attacks. He was no safe, and there was no way for Ihachi to win, because as soon as her next turn ended, the Spirit Message H would be played from his deck, finishing her off.
Kai started off his turn, drawing two cards due to the effect of Nibelung Ring. He looked at his cards, grimacing at the sight of a Polymerization and a Mirage Magician. Because he had drawn a monster he was going to have to discard it, and Polymerization was of no use to him. "I discard a monster into the cemetery."
He started to go to discard his fusion card in order to destroy one of Ihachi's cards, but realized quickly that if he did that, Ihachi would just discard a card and reflect the destruction at Destiny Board, unraveling Bakura's strategy. He would just have to leave this duel to Bakura to win, at least for the moment. "That will end my turn."
Meanwhile Dalin was still busy with his work of undoing the chains that wrapped around Kirani's leg. He was still intent on doing this, even though he had heard Bakura's strategy. It was certainly effective, and perhaps it would work, but there was no room for maybe in this sort of game, so he'd have to have a back up plan.
Dalin himself was a back-up, he knew that he had the potential to defeat Ihachi, in fact he knew for certain that he could defeat her. He could do it on his own even, however stepping up after one was defeated in this sort of duel, starting with only a single card or perhaps none was foolish. There was more then that though.....he had a strange feeling deep in his gut that told him Ihachi was not his enemy to defeat.
Ihachi drew free another card, reactivating the effect of Solemn Wishes. A blue glow surrounded her, and she basked in its warmth, soaking up the healing waves of energy that came from her permanent trap card. As long as she had it, she'd forever be gaining life points. Of course if she didn't defeat Bakura in this turn, then it wouldn't matter at all. (ILP: 7300)
She glanced down at her card and sighed, knowing that what she had drawn was not going to help defeat Bakura. She couldn't attack him directly with her monsters, so he was unbeatable in that manner for three turns. She had to beat him here and now....and she had a method to do so.
"You know, you two were amusing for a while, but now I'm just bored with you both. It's a pity, but right about now I'm going to have to end your time in this duel." She sighed as if reluctant to perform whatever move she was going to make. Kai and Bakura glanced at each other, both now uncertain about what was going to happen. They watched her as she picked one of her cards and used it.
"I'll finish you both off with this single card. It's known as Chaos Cannon. It's a nifty little magic card that deals two hundred damage to my opponent for each monster removed from the game. Funnily enough that happens to be four monsters, so that'll give me a total of eight hundred damage to spread. How many life points do you both have total again?" The two duelists gulped, realizing that their efforts were about to come crashing down.
Kai stood currently at seven hundred life points, making him an easy target. Bakura only had fifty life points thanks to the use of his Summoning D-E-A-T-H card that he had used in his previous turn. Total they only had seven hundred and fifty life points, fifty two points less then what would be needed for the two of them to survive this next strike.
"Oh that's right, you've got fifty less then the damage I can do. So I guess I'll finish you both off right now. Go and join the Pharaoh in whatever lands of the dead he roams, and know that your corpses will adorn my temple just as all these others do. Suffer and die!" With that she activated her magic card, and the cannon appeared in front of them.
It was dead black. It was not the kind of black that people normally think of when they say the word black. It was instead the essences of blackness, absorbing in all the light around it, bending light so that it was not touched. The air shimmered and a dangerous hum could be heard as they wicked looking dead black cannon powered up. "Chaos Cannon, FIRE!"
They could have said that the attacks the cannon fired were dead black. They could also have said that they were like streams of negative energy. They could have said plenty of things except there was one problem. The air rippled, it burned and seethed, agony erupted in their bodies as the attacks collided with them. The attacks were not visible, they were energy in its purest state. (KLP: 0, BLP: 0)
There was a click, there was motion, and then there was a strong and clear feminine voice ringing out. "I'll take you on Ihachi, I will be your next opponent!" Ihachi's gaze turned up, and she found herself looking into the once more confident eyes of Kirani, who flashed a determined smile before leaping down the steps, a duel disk attached to her arm. It was the duel disk that belonged to Kirani's spirit form, Ihachi had set it aside. (KLP: 8000)
Another clear feminine voice picked up the call, and Ihachi's gaze once again turned, now coming to rest on the speaker, the brunette slim figure that was Serenity Wheeler. "I'll join her on the dueling field, and I'll make you pay for the things that you've done. Now let's duel!" Serenity's duel disk activated, and now there were two more opponents for Ihachi to face. It was now girl on girl action, only in a different way then most people think when hearing those words. It was a girl on girl duel action. (SLP: 8000)
Since Serenity now stood where Bakura had stood it was clear that she taking his place. Also, since he hadn't had any cards in hand when he was defeated she would have to count on drawing a card to get her something good. So she drew confidently, knowing that her brother and Drake were both with her in spirit, guiding her hand with theirs. "I've drawn Nia the Magical Swordswoman(1300/1400) who now gains eight hundred attack points!"
The blonde haired woman brushed her hair out of her eyes, and then smiling she turned and made a whistling sound. Serenity's deck started glowing and she grabbed the card that shot out, slapping it down onto one of her monster zones as quickly as she could. "Since she's been summoned I special summon Neo the Magical Swordsman(1700/1000)!" The armored blonde haired man joined his female counterpart, and that was all that Serenity could do for her turn.
Due to the effect of Nibelung Ring, which was still Kirani's as she was taking over for Kai, she had to draw two cards. She drew the two cards, and then casually shoved one of them into her cemetery slot. As soon as it was in she started grinning, and twisted her other card around to face Ihachi. "Monster Reborn."
A blaze of light erupted from the ground, a sphere of light that ascended and hovered in front of her. Slowly it dissipated, revealing a muscular man in bluish armor with a mighty sword on his back. He drew the blade and slashed it through the air, making streaks of lightning strike out from it. "Gilford the Lightning(2800/1400) rises to the field!"
She knew the effect of Goddess of Reflection just as well as the others did, and like Serenity before her she knew that despite having a superior monster on the field she couldn't afford to attack, because it would just end up hurting her. "That's all for me."
Ihachi smiled slightly as she viewed the card she had drawn. Either that or she was just smiling because of the blue healing light that was covering her, restoring her life points to nearly the starting point. One more draw and she'd have more life points then she had started with. (ILP: 7800)
"I sacrifice Hildr and Goddess of Reflection to summon another Brunhilde! I'll attack Neo with her!" Brunhilde charged across the field, shield at the ready. However at the last moment Kirani threw her Gilford in the way, intent on having Brunhilde run into it. With Gilford's greater power it would easily stop the attack and heavily damage Ihachi.
"Not so fast. I activate Dark Vortex, making your Gilford an untouchable for a few turns. It can't attack or defend at all, I can even attack through it!" Kirani and Serenity grimaced as Gilford turned transparent, allowing Brunhilde's blade to pass straight through and gut Neo, cutting it down and dealing damage to Serenity. Damage that didn't quite make sense to Serenity...it must just deal extra damage when it destroyed a monster. (SLP: 7600)
Now it was Serenity's turn again. She drew a card and then glanced at her field. She still had the Destiny Board and three of its letters, but that was a problem. She had no pieces of the message in her deck, so it didn't help at all. They were taking up space, and now she'd just have to fill up the last spot. "I set one card face down."
She raised one arm, leather jacket flaring out behind her, and declared her attack, ready to use Nia to obliterate Brunhilde. Nia gathered mystic energies into her blade, making it glow green, and then slashed it through the air, sending razor sharp petals at Brunhilde. "I'll reveal my trap card, Wandering Flame! According to its effect, as long as its in play you can't attack with monsters whose attack is greater then two thousand!"
The petals were absorbed by the flame, and the attack remained uncompleted. Now, with nothing else left for her in this turn, it was time for her to finish up and give Kirani a chance to come up with something. She just had to hope it was good. "I can't do anything else so I end my turn now."
Kirani added another two cards to her hand, and casually discarded one of her two cards. She had drawn two monsters, meaning she got the choice of what to discard. Of course, because she had discarded she had more options actually. "I...what the heck?" Her sudden surprise was directed at her Gilford, who though he was slightly more visible, was now losing muscle mass and becoming weaker.
Ihachi threw back her head and laughed, explaining it as soon as she was able. "The effect of Dark Vortex will end after your second standby phase, but during each of your turns otherwise it loses two hundred points. So by the time it can attack it will be four hundred points weaker." She chuckled further, her happiness evident as Gilford became a slightly weaker monster of twenty-six hundred points.
"Either way it doesn't matter Ihachi, because I'm getting rid of the Nibelung Ring right here and now! I tribute Z Metal Tank for Kaiser Glider(2400/2200)!" The purplish tank was replaced by a mighty golden dragon, whose appearance just made Ihachi smile even more then before. Kirani didn't know what she was grinning about, but it didn't matter. She now had two strong monsters and no debilitating equip card on one of her monsters.
Ihachi drew another card, yet again gaining life points from Solem Wishes. She could only grin and laugh as she selected a single card from her hand to use and placed on the field. It appeared in brown-backed form, giving her more to go on. "I just set that single card before ending my turn." (ILP: 8300)
Serenity drew a card, and suddenly a bright smile blossomed on her features. Now was a moment where she could make things better for them! She had drawn the perfect card for the situation, a monster that was less then two thousand points and yet still stronger then Brunhilde! "I summon Sapphire Dragon(1900/1600)!"
The beautiful blue dragon appeared on the field, letting out a roar before lowering its head. Serenity reached out and stroked its head, laughing with delight as it practically purred under her touch. "You beautiful creature....I want you to attack and destroy Brunhilde over there, okay?" The dragon gave her a nod and rose up to its full height, wings extended for flight.
It hurled itself across the field, intent on rending the valkyrie with its claws and teeth to please its master. This little woman that was its enemy was no match for its might, or so it thought. Brunhilde reached out and grabbed hold of Sapphire Dragon's wings, and then crushed them together. A quick stroke of the sword and the dragon fell dead to the ground, vanishing moments later. (SLP: 6800)
"Confused are we? I suppose now is the moment to explain that for each warrior and dragon on the field my Brunhilde gains three hundred attack points. So you attacked a monster of twenty-seven hundred points with a weak nineteen hundred attack power monster. Kinda stupid huh?" Again she threw back her head and laughed, and unlike some previous times she lost no laces in the process. Apparently teasing the girls was a different manner entirely. That wasn't to say it wasn't fun, but it was different.
Serenity quailed inside, knowing that if this had been a duel with Drake he would be berating her right now with one of his various lessons. It was something he had taught her, and yet she had forgotten. He had told her 'Never assume the effect of a card. Make sure you know exactly what the effect is before acting, otherwise you're bound to make a serious mistake.' Here she was and already she had made such a mistake!
Despite this mistake she had to go on, she knew that Drake wouldn't give up if he made a mistake, and neither would her brother. They would keep fighting until they found a way to win. That was the power she had to find within herself, that was the power she needed if she was going to defeat Ihachi. "End turn!"
Kirani started quickly, recognizing her card easily. With this card she could turn the tides, but she wasn't sure just how well it would work. She could clear the field for Serenity, but she couldn't necessarily save herself. She just had to hope things would work out, after all, she had plenty of life points to work with.
"I play Remove Trap on Wandering Flame, getting it out of here!" The effect of her magic card let her destroy a trap card on the field, or turn up a card that was face down and destroy it if it was a trap. Its effect went into action, blasting the Wandering Flame trap card into oblivion, allowing each of her monsters to attack once again.
"Because you destroyed Wandering Flame I can now summon a deadly monster, the twin to Brunhilde. I summon Valkyrie Fridwulfa(1800/2000), and she gains more attack points!" The new monster was wearing silver armor which matched the flowing silver hair that reached her back. Her massive blade was easily powerful enough to remove a man's head from his shoulders in a single swing.
"It doesn't matter. My intent wasn't victory anyways, not in this turn at least. I'll settle on trashing Fridwulfa!" Gilford slashed straight through the shield, blasting it into little pieces as Fridwulfa's defense was reduced down to zero. The effect of Fridwulfa granted it attack points for each spellcaster of angel that was on the field or in the cemetery, giving it twenty-four hundred attack points total.
"Now I attack it again with Kaiser Glider!" Her dragon rushed fowards, only to be slashed down and destroyed. However because of the effect of her monster, when it was destroyed she could remove one monster from the game that was on the field other then the one that destroyed it. So she gladly removed Brunhilde from the game. (KLP: 7800)
Satisfied with her work she brushed her hands off and gave a thumbs up to Serenity, who grinned in return. Dalin on the other hand was not exactly thrilled. It wasn't the best strategy, but had it come to the next turn Ihachi would have had more monsters if she had taken a different route. "I'll leave it at that, and give you the turn Ihachi. Let's see what you can do with it."
Ihachi burst out laughing, even before she drew a card. It was like she knew the horror that she was about to unleash, which was true because she did in fact know the kind of horror she was about to unleash. "Prepare yourself to witness the true power of my valkyries. I use the magic card, Walkuren Ritt!" (ILP: 8800)
A storm of roses swirled around as the card's effect started, and Ihachi grabbed three cards from her hand and slapped them onto the field, watching with contentment as each monster appeared on the field. "The effect of Walkuren Ritt lets me special summon all the valkryies in my hand. When they destroy monsters this turn, those monsters are removed from the game. At the end of my turn my valkryies will be shuffled into my deck, but that doesn't matter at all!"
Three very familiar valkyries appeared, followed by a valkyrie with green hair and black armor wielding a short sword and a simple shield. Her stats were identical with the other two's stats, making things far more even. "I've summon two Valkryie Altests, Fridwulfa, and one Valkyrie Shaun(1600/1600)! When Shaun is summoned I can destroy one magic or trap on the field, and I destroy Serenity's face down card!" A blast of power ripped Serenity's card away, and things seemed less even.
"Fridwulfa will destroy Nia!" The two blade wielding woman started exchanging sword play, but it was quickly revealed that things were not even. The magic using sword wielder was very good, however she was no match in blade work for the heavenly woman, and a tricky maneuver was enough to throw her off guard and get her killed. (SLP: 6500)
"My first Altest will remove Gilford from the grave and attack Kirani directly!" The first Altest's power shot up, giving it a superior edge over the other monsters. It rushed forwards and cut Kirani's shoulder swiftly, making her cringe in pain and grab her shoulder to stave off blood flow. It faded quickly, but it was still pretty bad. (KLP: 5000)
"The second Altest will remove Kaiser Glider from the game and continue with a second direct attack!" Another identical monster attacked, cutting Kirani across the other shoulder. She gasped, sucking in air as a tidal wive of pain dropped upon her, and she fell to her knees, struggling to regain control of her body and her pain. (KLP: 2600)
"Shaun will attack Serenity directly!" The simplistic Valkryie rushed across the field, stabbing lightly into Serenity's thigh. The auburn haired girl cried out, grabbing her leg as blood rushed out. It wasn't serious, but she had never been stabbed before, so it hurt more then she had possibly thought anything could hurt. (SLP: 4900)
"Brunhilde will attack you again!" The valkryie with the winged armor rode down and stabbed her lightly in the other thigh, dropping her to the ground in even greater pain. Head held high Brunhilde stalked across the field, quite happy with herself for doing her bit in causing pain and anguish to the two of them. (SLP: 3100)
"Now I activate Reginleif, allowing me to draw one card for each valkyrie I've got on the field! So I get to draw five more cards!" She added five new cards to her hand and examined them, suddenly she burst out laughing as her eyes lit upon one of the cards she had drawn. With this card she would finish them off, simple as that. It was simply too easy. These people were no challenge to her! (ILP: 9300)
"I play Mischief of Goddesses Time! By getting rid of my next battle phase I can jump phases, giving my monsters a second battle phase! And I'll start off by having Fridwulfa attack Serenity!" The silver haired valkryie brought the flat of her blade down upon Serenity's shoulder, slamming her backwards into a column and making her let out a cry of pain as her bones fractured. (SLP: 700)
"I remove Sapphire Dragon from the cemetery and attack Kirani directly with Altest the first!" The same Altest that had originally attacked her rode forwards once again, stirking her with the handle of the sword in the stomach, pounding the air right out of her. She folded up like a sheet and grabbed at her middle, gasping for air. (KLP: 1900)
"Hmmm...I could easily defeat you both with one attack by one monster each. But which monster will I use, and which of you shall I crush first? What do you have to say?" The two girls were unable to say anything, they were both wrapped up in their pain. Dalin looked at the two of them, and then looked to Kevin. It was only the two of them remaining, so perhaps he had been wrong. This was an enemy he was supposed to face. It was a pity he hadn't realized that before. He had never wanted the girls to suffer.
"You won't be crushing anyone. I had hoped to avoid this, but it seems like it was always inevitable. Your duel, your fight, is not with them. It's with me." Several pairs of eyes turned to stare at the entrance to the temple where a figure stood, light shining in from the outside, obscuring the image.
Slowly the figure approached, walking out of the sunlight. When the figure was revealed, they couldn't help but be surprised, and Ihachi actually snarled in rage. Dalin could understand why, he knew exactly how she felt about this man, but he didn't know why. "Like the time long ago, the battle always rests between us siblings. Let us finish the battle we started more then three millennia ago!"
Drake Ihachi stood at the doorway, duel disk at the ready, black leather jacket flaring out behind him. A radiant glow filled the air with its power as he drew on all the feelings of those in the room. The power that he radiated was greater then anything Dalin could have thought of, at least until he met Drake and Ihachi.
Ihachi also radiated power, her body taking in desperate energies as she grew angrier with the moment. The energies stopped gathering and the two stood staring at each other, the air rippling and distorting around them from the sheer force of their power.
The thing that was most notable, the thing that caught Dalin's attention and held it, making him understand that there was something deeper to this confrontation then he knew. That thing was that their magical signatures were nearly identical, and their power was completely and totally evenly matched. "The duel of the twin gods will now come to an end."
(End)
Author's Notes: Next time, watch and learn as the explosive confrontation between these two titans begins!
Original Cards
Ihachi: Valkyrie Fridwulfa, Valkyrie Shaun, Wandering Flame, Dark Vortex, Call of Goddess, Goddess of Reflection, Goddess of Guardian Kaeyest, Chaos Cannon
Kai: Matching Destruction
Bakura: Appetite for Destruction, Summoning D-E-A-T-H, Defense Seal
Serenity: Nia the Magical Swordswoman
Original Cards Not Belonging to Me
Ihachi: Valkyrie Hildr(created by Time Mage), Reginleif(by Time Mage), Valkyrie Sigdrifa(by Time mage)
Kai: Mirage Magician(only mentioned, but still by Time Mage
Anime Original Cards: Valkyrie Dritt(KC Grand Prix), Ghost Baron(Egyptian Arc), Ghost Shield(Egypt), Trap Displacement(DK), Treasure of Nibelung(KC), Nibelung Ring(KC), Walkuren Ritt(KC), Valkyrie Brunhilde(KC), Valkyrie Altest(KC), Mischief of Goddesses Time(KC)