From Darkness To Light: Secrets Revealed Part 3: Time to Fight.
By Asher Tye
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, I wish I did 'cause then I'd be rich. Since I'm not, suing me would be pointless. Thanks bunches for all the reviews. I can't wait to see the reviews for this chapter.
Summary: Mokuba and Raven challenge Yugi and Yami to a game of Monster Chess. And with the Millennium Eye now at their command they just might be able to beat the dueling duo.
Author's Note: Before anyone goes on about me not using the right version of Capumon Chess, I couldn't find anything on it (Thanks anyway Mystical Sand). So, I've come up with a version of my own. Hope you like it.
*_* - Personal Thoughts
/_/ - Yugi to Yami
\_\ - Yami to Yugi
(_) - Raven to Mokuba
[_] - Mokuba to Raven
_ Telepathic communication
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Zeboim sat on his throne, his eyes closed and a look of extreme concentration on his bony face as the few torches that lit the room cast eerie shadows over him.
*That one-eyed runt offered a huge reward for the capture of Mokuba Kaiba. He even countermanded the orders given to the Trinity by Lord Zoa,* the Summoned Skull thought darkly. *Why would the little one be so important that Retall would take such a risk?* Zeboim's thought were interrupted by a high pitched squeal as a furry green shape landed in the fiend's lap.
"Master back, Master back!" came the happy cries of the Feral Imp as the small fiend bounced in the dark general's lap. A small smile spread across Zeboim's face as he gazed down at his small ward. The green furred demon looked up at his master's face, his fangs glistening in the torchlight, his face the very picture of loving devotion.
"Yes little one, I have returned."
"Something wrong?"
"Dark thoughts move through my mind, little one, but they are no concern for your young mind." At those words, a confused look spread over the Feral Imp's face as he failed to comprehend the big words. "You don't have to worry abo...."
"But I wanna help!" Feral Imp said, already sensing that he was being left out of something good. "I can help. I been practicing." So saying the green demon-child tapped into his powers, utilizing the ambient shadow's of Zeboim's home to disappear. This actually surprised the Summoned Skull, who had not realized his ward HAD been developing ANY skills in his absence.
"How long can you hold that?"
"I don't know, but I've been like this for a long time."
"And you're sure you want to help. It might be a bit dangerous," Zeboim said. The Feral Imp shook his head happily, pleased he was finally going to go on a mission for his master. A sphere of light appeared in Zeboim's clawed hands, an image of the Kiz Retall, the Dark-Eyes Illusionist on it's surface. "Do you see this monster? I want you to keep watch on him. Do nothing to attract attention to yourself, and if you feel in danger, return to me. Watch him for any signs of treachery. Gather as much information for me as you can. Do you understand?"
"I'm on my way."
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Joey could only watch in astonishment as the Overdrive monster card came to life, stopping only long enough for Mokuba Kaiba to toss Tea inside before driving off, breaking the walls as crashed it's way out of the school.
"What the HELL is going on?!" Yelled Domino High School's principal, Mr. Masai. "WHEELER!! KAIBA!! What is this?!"
"It was a little kid," one of the girls said. "He was hiding in the locker room. When we pulled him down, he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out three red balls with these silver leg thingies on them. He threw them all over the room and yelled something..."
"It was 'Blast Sphere,'" another of the girls said.
"Yeah that was it. Then they all exploded. We were lucky to get out of there, but the little creep grabbed Tea Gardner and then just drove off."
"He made it to the parking lot?"
"No, there was one waiting for him, here in the hallway. That's what ripped up the walls," a third girl said.
"And where were you two screw-ups when this happened?" Masai demanded from Seto and Joey, only to be quite surprised to find both had disappeared.
****************************
Joey ran through the halls of Domino High School, trying to remember what class Yugi had this period. Finally, he found the boy with the tri-colored hair sitting in arithmetic, frantically trying to keep up with his teacher notes. Quickly Joey took a moment to compose himself, thinking up a plausible story to use. Now prepared, the blonde walked into the class.
"May I help you young man?" the teacher asked.
"Yeah, Yugi Motou there's needed at the Principal's office."
"Joey, what's the matter?"
"Yes, why would the Principal want Mr. Motou here?" Joey thought quickly, going over the story he had prepared.
"His Grandpa's here, says it's some sort of family emergency. Gotta come NOW Yug," Joey said careful so as not to sound hostile to the teacher.
"Very well, Mr. Motou, you are excused. Make sure you get the notes from today from a classmate."
"Yes Sir," Yugi said, grabbing his backpack as he followed his blonde friend out of the room. Soon the two were almost racing down the hall. It was when Joey forced Yugi to take a left turn that the smaller boy opted to question his friend about his strange actions. "Joey, what's going on? The Principal's office is the other way."
"I lied, right now it's probably best we avoid Masai right now, Yugi," Joey said. "And I suggest you pay attention to this too Yami." A slight glimmer came to Yugi's eyes, indicating that the ancient Pharaoh was indeed listening in the back of Yugi's mind. "Dat spirit's back."
"In Seto?"
"Right family, wrong Kaiba, it's still in Mokuba. He attacked the girl's locker room and kidnapped Tea."
"WHAT!?" Yugi said in a voice that sounded as much like Yami's as it did his own.
"Yeah, he just blew up the locker room with a couple uh Blast Spheres. And that's not all," Joey grabbed Yugi's shoulders. "Yugi, he's got the Millennium Eye." At those words, Yugi's eyes opened wide. Joey could see the face of Yami within Yugi's eyes, and the ancient Pharaoh also looked upset at this news.
\How could Mokuba have gotten his hands on that? His soul was still in Pegasus's thrall when it was stolen.\
"Yami wants to know how he got the eye?"
"He didn't really say, he was pretty busy kidnapping Tea," Joey said, pushing his smaller friend down the hall before both took off running. As soon as they got outside, both duelists were surprised to see the road was in ruin, as if a big vehicle had crashed into everything. The road itself had tire tracks burned into it. "Well at least he makin' it easy for us ta find him."
"Yeah, which makes me wonder why," Yugi said in Yami's voice, taking over his lighter side's body. "Did he say anything else?"
"Yeah, he was willing to trade back Tea for your Exodia cards."
"Which are back at the game shop... Damn, I wish I knew why this spirit is so fixated on those cards."
"Don't worry, I'll figure out where the rugrat got to, you just pick up them two cards," Joey said, taking off as he followed the tracks. Yami took off in the opposite direction, hoping he would not be too late.
*********************************************
Solomon Motou watched as the electrician he'd hired worked to replace the destroyed wiring of his store. The elder gamesman was happy the repairs were going so quickly, especially since every day his store was closed, he and his grandson were loosing money. Fortunately, only a little of the actual merchandise had not been destroyed, which would allow him to open even quicker.
*Perhaps we can have a Survived the Egyptian Gods sale,* Solomon chuckled to himself. Suddenly, he heard the back door of the shop open and slam shut. His eyes caught the flash of his grandson as he leapt over the electrician, racing up the stairs to his room.
"Yugi, what's wrong?" Solomon asked, moving up the stairs as well, curious as to why his grandson was not in school as he should have been. "Yugi?!" The elderly man was quite surprised to find, not Yugi, but Yami literally tearing up the bedroom, searching for something.
"Yugi, you've got to remember where you put those cards!" Yami yelled out as he yanked several drawers out of the dresser and dumping their contents on the bed.
"Yami, what are you looking for?" Solomon asked.
"The last two Exodia cards, Yugi says he can't remember where he put them after Mokuba attacked."
"Is that all, I found them Saturday among the debris." The gameshop owner reached into his back pants pocket, pulling forth the object of the ancient king's search. "Now what's going on? Why aren't you in school?"
"Long story short, that spirit is back," Yami said, grabbing the cards out of his "Grandpa's" hands as he took off out of the shop. Quickly Yami moved out of the store, already feeling winded despite the relatively short distance between the school and the store. Still he could not give up, too much was at stake for him to surrender to fatigue. Within fifteen minutes, the boy king had made it back to school, just in time to see Joey come racing up as well.
"Did you find where Mokuba took Tea?" Yami asked.
"Not quite. Da tracks stopped about twelve blocks from here, around a buncha big buildings. I couldn't tell if Overdrive went into any of them or just disappeared. Sorry."
"Blast," Yami said. "Now what are we supposed to do?"
"Perhaps I can be of some help," said a hard voice. Yami and Joey turned to see a very familiar white-haired teen standing behind him, the millennium item around his neck glowing slightly.
"Ryou? No, you're Bakura!" Yami said, his body tensing in anticipation of some attack.
"What're you doin' here ya dusty old grave robber?"
"A jeep nearly runs me over inside a building and you question why I'm here? You really are a clueless human," Bakura said, waving the tall blonde off. "But imagine my surprise to find out that the source of this little attack was Seto Kaiba's bratty little brother Mokuba. And that he possesses the Millennium Eye." At the tomb robber's words, Yami's eyes closed, clearly not liking the fact that white haired spirit possessed that particular bit of information.
"And your point would be?"
"You want to rescue your friend, but you can't find out where she is. Of course you know what I want, I just lack the raw power to take the eye. So I propose a deal, a temporary alliance as it were. I'll use my Millennium Ring to track your friend via the Millennium Eye. Then, once you pound the twerp into the ground, I take possession of the item, and we part ways in peace."
"You seem rather confident that I'll be able to beat him."
"If there is one thing I've learned about you Pharaoh, it is that you have a knack for overcoming long odds. Now, do we have a deal?" Bakura asked, offering his hand to the spiky haired youth.
/Can we trust him Yami?/
\I trust in the fact that he will betray us the first chance he can get, but more to the point I trust that his greedy and short-sighted nature will force him to help us for as long as he believes it to be in his best interest. But there is another problem.\
/Yeah, if Bakura gets his hands on another millennium item, he'll become an even bigger threat than he is now."
\More importantly, item and holder are linked together. Pegasus died when the Millennium Eye was taken from him. Now that the eye rests in Mokuba's socket... I'm sure you can guess the rest.\
/It'll kill Mokuba?! We can't let that happen!/
\Of course not, but the fact remains that we need to find him before he does anything to Tea.\ Yami reached out and grabbed Bakura's hand.
"Very well Bakura, I agree to your terms... but only for now. If anything happens to my friends, the deal's off."
"Fine," Bakura said. Then he closed his eyes, grasping his ring as he concentrated. Each of the five pointers immediately rose, pointing straight into the air before beginning to twirl around. Soon they came to a stop, pointing in the direction that the tire tracks had indicated. "I've got a lock, follow me." With those words, Bakura began walking, Joey and Yami Yugi in tow.
***
Back at the school, Kaiba watched the three duelists with great interest.
*So, Yugi knows where Mokuba went off to,* Kaiba thought to himself. He had been forced to listen to that fool Masai yelling at him, demanding to know what had happened to his school. And, since Joey had so conveniently left the elder Kaiba to fend for himself, Masai had been even angrier. Now, though, it appeared as though the blonde twit had actually been doing useful. Seto reached into his coat pocket, pulling out his cell phone.
"Ms. Clark? Cancel my appointments for today. I'm taking the day off."
***
The tracks had stopped almost five blocks ago, and now the trio were relying solely on Bakura's ring to guide them. Yami had been keeping a very close eye on their surroundings, a string of dilapidated warehouses, but the boy-king could feel the slight tinge of shadow magic in the area. It was not enough to lock onto anything specific, in fact had he not been actively looking for it, he probably wouldn't have noticed it. Soon, Bakura came to a stop in front of one of the buildings, the pointers on his ring pointing directly at the structure's door.
"This is the place, 'Your Highness,'" the white-haired Tomb Robber said. "Just remember your part of the deal. You get your friend back, I get the Millennium Eye."
"Hey, don't go getting all paranoid, corpse-boy, unlike you, Yami's never broken his word," Joey said. The tall blonde then walked over to the door of the warehouse, turning the knob. "Hey, the door's unlocked."
"Of, course, I've been expecting company," Raven's grainy voice said, floating out of the now open door. "Come in if you want Tea back, Yugi." Without a moment's hesitation, Yami walked into the warehouse, followed closely by Bakura and Joey. Inside, the building was completely dark, and the feeling of shadow magic became more intense. That was when both Yami and Bakura were overcome with a sensation of power, doubling over as their bodies were invaded by massive amounts of dark energy. Joey became more than a little afraid as he watched both his friends begin to glow purple. Suddenly, the two boys became four as light separated from dark.
"Yugi? Ryou? What are you doing here?" Joey said, not really meaning the question to sound as stupid as it did.
"I... I don't know. One moment I felt a sort of pulling sensation from inside the Millennium Puzzle, the next thing I knew I was out here," Yugi said, rubbing his head.
"The same happened to me," Ryou said.
"Someone's flooded this place with a massive amount of shadow magic. No doubt our millennium items simply reacted."
"Yes, but now there's no need for you to be out here," Bakura said, pointing at Ryou. "Get back inside the Millennium Ring, now."
"Hey, who do you think you are, bossin' him around like that," Joey said.
"Don't worry Joey it's no big deal," Ryou said as he began to fade away.
"It's rude to leave a party right after being invited," Mokuba said, walking straight up the now five duelists, the Millennium Eye flashing in his socket.
"Where's Tea!?" Yugi demanded, Yami standing behind him backing the smaller boy up.
"She's right here," Mokuba said, reaching into his vest as he pulled out a small dancing ballerina music box. Yugi took a closer look at the toy and was quite surprised to discover the figurine had Tea's face. "Beautiful isn't it. Unfortunately, in this form, she cannot breathe. She can't take in air, don't you know."
"At least until we start up the statue," Raven said, splitting from Mokuba and winding the key to the music box. Soon, a sad melody was heard as the figurine began to twirl around. "There, now she's getting plenty of air." With an audible crack, Raven broke the music box's key off. "Oops."
"What'd you do that for?!" Yugi said, realizing what the absence of the key meant for his friend when the music stopped.
"Call it incentive," Raven said. "A nice limit on how long you can take to save the girl."
"And what's ta stop us from just moppin' the floor with you and makin' ya change her back?" Joey said, charging forward with his fists balled ready to strike.
"MIRROR FORCE!" Raven called as a shield of transparent energy rose up directly between the two. The moment Joey struck the shield, he bounced off it, flying back into a wall with a force that cracked two of his ribs.
"Amazing! I've never seen anyone summon a card that powerful to the real world," Bakura said.
"No, look again," Yami called. "There was no card Mokuba's hands. What you saw was not merely a summoning, it was a complete re-creation."
"I don't care how he did it, I just wanna save Tea before that blasted song ends!!" Yugi yelled at Mokuba and Raven.
"You're right, time is of the essence here," Raven said, picking up Tea as he turned. "Follow me and please, no more attacks. I don't want to have to hurt any more of you." Joey, Yugi, Yami, Bakura, and Ryou followed the raven-haired Kaibas deeper into the warehouse. They were led to a room filled with stuffed animals, with a floor done in a checkered style. As Mokuba and Raven got the other side of the room, the sound of gears could be heard as the floor rose. Simultaneously, two podiums rose from the ground, revealing the entire room to be...
"A dueling arena!"
"Close but not quite Wheeler, this arena has been specially modified for the latest version of Capumon Chess, which is exactly what you'll have to compete in if you want me to reverse the spell on Tea."
"Fine, I'll play you and win," Yugi said, climbing the stairs to the command console on his side of the board. "Let's go."
"My aren't we in a hurry, but I want you and Yami too," came Mokuba's voice.
"What?" Yami's puzzled voice asked.
"Yeah, we gotta make this fair. I have Raven on my side, so it's only right you and Yugi work together."
"And what about that blasted Millennium Eye. It offers you too much of an advantage in such a strategy intensive game as this," Ryou said.
"The Millennium Eye is currently occupied making sure those three annoying gods don't interrupt us this time. Now I suggest we begin, unless you think that song is going to last much longer," Raven said, pulling out his deck. "Take out your dueling deck and separate the monsters from the magic and trap cards." Yugi did as he was told while his dark half made his way up the podium. Mokuba's own deck had already been separated. "Now we simply draw monsters, with each monster coming to represent the pieces we'll use."
"Dat's no fair. If you two are usin' Seto's deck, what's ta stop you from pulling a Blue Eyes to play as a pawn?"
"The fact that only level four or lower cards can be used for pawns, nit-wit. Plus I'm not using Seto's deck, I'm using Mokuba's," Raven said. With those words, Mokuba drew his first card. "And for my first card, and working as my king, is Exodia, the Forbidden One." At those words, both Yugi and Yami jumped, not quite believing what the younger Kaiba had said.
"You have Exodia cards?" Yugi asked. "Then... why are you after mine. You can't use more than one set, you know."
"Our reasons are our own and none of your concern," both Mokuba and Raven said in unison, and almost in one breath. Yami looked carefully at the black-haired boy, a hard look on his face as though he was trying to see something that wasn't quite there.
"Of course, with such low attack and defense, Exodia really won't be able to stop strong monsters from capturing him. Still, with the right cards... we'll just see," Raven said. "Now, draw your king." Yugi drew his card, and smiled as he saw what he had taken.
"It looks like my king will be more than able to defend himself against you, Mokuba. My king is the Dark Magician." So saying, Yugi slapped his card down on the console, and the Dark Magician appeared in the spot designated for the king. Mokuba did the same with his own, and Exodia appeared opposite the purple-clad spellcaster.
"Now for my knights I draw... the Right and Left Hands of the Forbidden One?" In the sections designated for the two knights, each hand appeared.
"You drew two cards at once?"
"Yeah, two weak cards. Of course, your perfectly welcome to do the same, but if I were to have drawn some of my stronger cards, I guarantee I would have just let it take up both spaces by itself."
"But how did you...?"
"Aren't you on a time budget? I wouldn't waste so much time with stupid questions if I were you. Now draw." Yugi obeyed Raven's command, and for his knights, was rewarded with Gaia, the Fierce Knight. The moment he set the card, two fierce knights appeared on the board. And so the selection went, with Yugi drawing his Summoned Skull to represent his two bishops, the Giant Soldier of Stone as his rooks, and the Celtic Guardian as all eight of his pawns. Meanwhile, both the Left and Right Legs of the Forbidden One predictably made their appearance as Mokuba's Bishops. The Rooks, on the other hand, were none other than the Millennium Shield itself, while the eight pawns were chosen to be Krokodilus.
*Interesting,* Yami thought to himself. *It's obvious he had some control over what monster he drew, and there are certainly monsters stronger than my Celtic Guardians he could have used for pawns... With so many of his top pieces so weak, why would he have summoned a weak monster like Krokodilus to be his pawns?*
"It seems to be time to choose our Queens, the strongest piece in the game," Mokuba said, smiling his sneakiest smile. "You draw first, okay?" This time, it was Yami who pulled the card, using his powers to alter the order of his deck.
*There are too many unknowns to what this spirit is doing... And there's too much at stake for me to let him get away with altering his deck without doing something myself.* Silently, Yami drew the card he'd been waiting for, the perfect compliment to his Dark Magician king, the Dark Magician Girl. The ancient Pharaoh laid the card upon the panel, but it was not the female spellcaster that appeared. Instead, Tea's ballerina music box was what rose from the panel, her tutu replaced by the garb of the Dark Magician Girl.
"What a great queen you pulled Yami, I never would have predicted you'd pull your own captive friend as your most powerful piece," Raven said before his eyes narrowed as he smiled slyly. "Am I sensing something of a subconscious slip of the tongue here?"
"Shut up!" Yugi yelled, obviously getting worried about his friend, and also not liking just what Mokuba's spiritual partner was implying.
"Oh, getting angry Yugi? All right, I'll leave you alone." As Raven/Mokuba drew their card, Yugi could plainly see the younger boy making a kissey face at him, something the duelist cared for not at all.
"HEY!"
"AHA! Prepare to meet my queen, and your destruction," Raven said, slamming the drawn card down. Yami's eyes widened as he recognized the monster that rose from the queen's position of the board. It was a woman wearing a huge headdress that covered the top of her face, while a flowing gold and blue robe that sparkled like the stars of the sky. The same could be said for the woman's long black hair. Her regal stance made it easy to for all to see why this woman was the monarch of the stars and the ruler of galaxies.
"The Cosmo Queen!" Yugi said.
"A difficult task has just grown more difficult," Yami said, staring at the powerful spellcaster.
"You better believe it," Raven said smiling. "Of course, the game would be no fun if all that was all there was to it. That's why I had you take out all your magic and trap cards. You can draw one of those cards per turn. You can choose to use it or save it to pair with another card. If you manage to get one of your pawns to the other side of the board, you'll be able to summon another high level monster, but don't count on that happening any time soon. And you can sacrifice two magic/trap cards to put a new pawn on the field in front of your King." It was at that point that Mokuba took over.
"Now if we're all clear on the rules, I suggest we duel, especially since it sounds like Tea's dance is coming to an end." Yugi looked down to see that Tea was indeed slowing down.
"All right, then since you got home field advantage, I'll go first. And I'll start by moving my Queen's Knight's Pawn forward two spaces," Yugi said as he drew a card from his magic and traps deck. At his command the Celtic Guardian he had indicated drew his sword and carefully walked two spaces forward, it's elven eyes never leaving the reptile man kneeling across from him.
"My aren't we in a hur..."
"NO STALLING!" Yugi yelled, clearly worried that his friend would not survive if they didn't hurry.
"Yugi, you must calm down," Yami said, grabbing his younger partner by the shoulders. "If you don't get yourself under control, there is no way we can win this match, and then Tea really will be lost."
"Good point your highness," Raven said. "Now if you two are done with this oh-so touching moment, I'd like to make my move. And it's a doozy. King's Knight to Queen's Bishop three."
"How is that a doozy of a move?"
"Don't worry, you'll see."
*The Right Hand of the Forbidden One is too weak to capture anything else on the board. So why would he remove it from it's defenses. Obviously he has something in mind... but what?* Yami thought to himself. *Nothing to do but play along.*
"Queen's Knight's Pawn forward one space," Yami said. *Best to just test his defenses for now.*
"Cute move Yami," Mokuba said. "Queen to King three." Cosmo Queen rose into the air and floated over to Mokuba's desired spot, a fact that seemed to make the Celtic Guardian very nervous.
"You may take my pawn, but not before I take your Knight! Queen's Knight's Pawn to Queen's Bishop six."
"Not so fast Yugi, you've activated my Shift trap, which make my knight and the pawn behind it switch places."
"Big deal, Celtic Guardian is still stronger than Krokodilus, so you still loose a piece."
"Look again," Raven said, his eyes flashing red. Before Yugi's eyes, Krokodilus grew to three times his normal size, something that was accompanied by his attack and defense points. The Celtic Guardian's sword shattered in the lizardman's jaws as he was ripped into by the fearsome beast-warrior's claws.
"That's not fair!"
"I told you before, the servant gains tremendous power from being near his master, even if it's only a part of his master. And since you've just used your turn, it's mine again, so let's see how you handle this, Queen to King's Rook seven." The Cosmo Queen moved with the speed of light towards the helpless Celtic Guardian. A crash and an explosion later, and all that stood in the spot was the Queen of the Stars. "And the best part is, unlike in normal chess, your Rook is too weak to take out my queen. You have two turns and then I win."
*No, I have to do something or his queen will just walk over my Dark Magician.* Yugi looked through his cards, hoping to find a way to stop the starry queen. *Bah, nothing... I have to stall.. Maybe...*
"King's Knight to King's Bishop three."
"Trying to save your Fierce Knight, Yugi? I didn't realize you had such a sentimentality about you. Queen to Queen's Bishop eight." The Summoned Skull put up a valiant fight, but ultimately was no match for the Cosmo Queen's attack. "One turn left Yugi."
"Yugi, let me do this," Yami said.
"No, I have an idea," Yugi said, looking at the new card he'd drawn. "King's Knight to King's Knight one!" At the boy's words, Gaia the Fierce Knight rode back to his original spot, ready to defend the Dark Magician from Cosmo Queen's assault.
"If you think moving that rusty old knight is gonna stop my queen, you're crazier than Pegasus was. Queen to Queen's Knight eight."
"Not so fast. You're move activates my trap."
"Trap?"
"Yes. You've heard of the trap card Defense Paralysis. Well this is it's counterpart, Attack Paralysis. It not only blocks you Queen's movement, but robs her of three hundred of her attack points as well."
"That doesn't matter, at twenty-six hundred, she's still stronger than any other monster you have."
"Not so, because now it's my turn, and I intend to finally remove that blasted Queen from play." Raven smiled, not believing a single word coming form Yugi's mouth.
"I somehow doubt that's possible, especially considering that your strongest monster on that side of the field is still three hundred less than my Cosmo Queen."
"You're forgetting that I can revive any monster from the graveyard, and it will return to it's original position on the board. And your precious queen is occupying one such position. Now... Monster Reborn, revive the Summoned Skull."
"You fool, you've just wasted your card and your turn. Zeboim is still too weak to beat the Cosmo Queen. Cosmo Queen... return that demon to the graveyard!"
"You're the fool, Raven was it. Nice to finally know the name of the guy I'm battling. At full power I didn't possess any cards that could sufficiently power up my Skull to beat your Cosmo Queen, but now that her royal highness has been brought down from her lofty position a bit, this Dark Energy card will be more than enough to send your queen back to the stars. Summoned Skull... GO!!" With a roar of thunder and an explosion of electricity, Cosmo Queen was destroyed, replaced by a super-charged Summoned Skull.
"What?! That... That's impossible. There's no way..."
"Oh there was a way, you just didn't see it before I did," Yami said defiantly. "I guess without your tricks, your just not as good as you've led us to believe."
"And here I thought I was supposed to be the kid around here," Mokuba said, suddenly deciding to speak up. "All right enough of these kid gloves. No offense Raven, but while Duel Monsters is a game of raw power, this calls for strategy and strategy is something I've got tons of."
"Oh really," Yami said. "And just what do you plan to do?"
"This Pharaoh," Mokuba said. "Take a powder Rav... Watch the master at work." So saying, Mokuba drew a new card. "Now I'm going to take out your Summoned Skulls by playing the magical field card, Umi, flooding the board."
"I don't get it," Joey said as the board filled with water. "Won't all that water just power up da Summoned Skull's electric attack and make him stronger?"
"Idiot, Summoned Skull is now the strongest monster on the field," Bakura said. "If Yugi uses that blasted demon, it's attack will run wild and kill everything on the field. Since Mokuba still has more pieces than Yugi, that means he'll win."
"So now I can't use my bishops to attack."
"More importantly, it I attack with a weaker monster, the backlash will be the same as if you HAD attacked." And so the contest continued, with Yugi and Yami matching their best moves against the strategies of Mokuba and Raven. As the match continued, Yugi found it increasingly difficult to mount any sort of offense against the younger Kaiba's continuous onslaught of powered up pawns. Every time he thought he had one of the scaly lizards, either a knight or a bishop would speed to the piece's side, and somehow the Krokodilus's attack power would triple. Likewise, going after one of Exodia's pieces proved futile, as they moved quickly out of the way of most of Yugi's assaults. Still, the boys with the tri-colored hair were able to defend themselves to an extent, though each victory came at the cost of a few more squares.
"You damned idiot! You're doing this on purpose!!" Bakura yelled. "Anyone and his mother you beat but the one time I actually need you to win you can't stop screwing up!"
"Be quiet ya nutty thief," Joey said, hitting the hysterical tomb robber in the head.
"You've improved Mokuba. You've yet to make any of the arrogant mistakes that often marr your game."
"I'll take that as a compliment, but don't think I'm gonna go easy on you. I want those cards and you're running out of time. So for now, I'm gonna take advantage of two a trap you made famous in tournaments."
"What?"
"I'm going to use these two Mystical Box cards to switch my two bishops with your two rooks. With them there, and my knights in my own corners protected by my super pawns, all I need to do is get my king to the center of the board and I win by default."
"I thought as much," Yami said. In reaction to his words, both Mokuba and Raven fell over in disbelief.
"IS THERE ANYTHING YOU DON'T CLAIM TO HAVE THOUGHT OF FIRST!!" The two "children" yelled back, putting Yami into a sweat-drop reaction.
"There is only one reason anyone... ANYONE... would put the Exodia series into play, Mokuba, even with the fantastic power bonus it seems to be giving some of it's cards," Yami said evenly. "I know it, you know it, and your friend there knows it. What other reason is there for Exodia to be in any deck but to win?"
"Okay, okay, you've made your point," Raven said. "That still doesn't change the fact that my king will soon win me the game."
"Don't be so sure... First I sacrifice two of my stored magic cards for the right to place a new monster on the field, the mighty Silver Fang." At his words, the silver wolf appeared in the pawn position directly in front of the Dark Magician.
"I don't see how that's supposed to help, especially considering Silver Fang can only move as a pawn." Yugi ignored Mokuba and moved Silver Fang up a space.
"And as to how it will help... If you think it's no threat than please, continue your plan to move Exodia into final position."
"Fine I will." So saying, Exodia the Forbidden One moved closer to the center of the board. Once more, Yugi moved Silver Fang forward, smiling his sweetest smile as he let his opponents know he was done. Without a word, Mokuba moved one of his Krokodilus pawns next to his King, and it's power immediately tripled. In response, Yugi moved, not his wolf, but one of his knights to the side.
"Stupid move, now my King can move one step closer to victory, only one more space, and I win," Mokuba said. The only response this got form Yugi was for him to move Silver Fang a final space, into the dead center of the board.
"Now you'll have to oust Silver Fang if you want to obtain victory, and your King isn't strong enough to do it."
"Not a problem when you see the Krokodilus coming up behind him, who is now right beside Exodia." So saying the aforementioned lizardman moved up next to his master. Again, Yugi moved his knight once more closer to the side.
"How unlike you Yugi, typically you're better at protecting your weaker monsters. Guess your just realizing how hopeless this game is for you, huh?" Mokuba had his pawn move to take the Silver Fang. "Two more turns and you loose."
"Not really. You've been so focused on getting Exodia to the center of the board, you failed to notice my Gaia the Fierce Knight has moved into striking position of your Left Leg of the Forbidden One. And without that arm, it doesn't matter where your King is. Now, Gaia the Fierce Knight, blow away the Left Leg of the Forbidden One!" With those words, the knight made it's final move and destroyed the arm-turned-bishop.
"NO!!" Mokuba cried, watching as Yugi saved himself from defeat. A dark look came over Mokuba's face as he removed the defeated card. "I strove to prevent this Yugi, just know that whatever happens now is on your head." So saying Mokuba drew a card from his monster deck. "You're about to be one of the very few people to see this very rare card, the most powerful monster in my entire deck."
"I've faced powerful monster before," Yami said.
"This is a monster unlike anything you've ever faced before, it is a dragon like no other. The problem is, it's a level eight monster, so I need to sacrifice two pieces to bring him out. Since you've killed my chances of winning with my Exodia cards, I'll just sacrifice one of my knights and my last bishop." At his words, both the Right Leg and the Left Arm began to shimmer before disappearing. "Now face my strongest card and the greatest chess piece to ever exist. Arise; TYRANT DRAGON!" Flying high above the space in front of Exodia, a giant bronze dragon materialized, black smoke billowing from it's snout. Suddenly, the sound of laughter could be heard as Joey and Bakura fell over, unable to control their laughter.
"Dat's your best move?!" Joey said. "Dat flyin' salamander' a fire element."
"Did you forget all the water you so courteously dumped on the field twerp," Bakura said. "Even a twenty-nine hundred attack points, it'll have to take a severe power cut the moment it lands. Yugi, put this novice out of his misery." Despite the comments being made by Joey and Bakura, a smile remained on Mokuba face as he looked at his majestic dragon.
"You know they're right Mokuba. I don't know what this Raven spirit's been telling you, but that fire dragon won't be much of a challenge."
"That's what everyone thinks when they first see this beauty," Mokuba said. "But trust me, my Tyrant Dragon is gonna eat you alive..."
*********************************************
Don't you hate it when they say...
To Be Continued.
By Asher Tye
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, I wish I did 'cause then I'd be rich. Since I'm not, suing me would be pointless. Thanks bunches for all the reviews. I can't wait to see the reviews for this chapter.
Summary: Mokuba and Raven challenge Yugi and Yami to a game of Monster Chess. And with the Millennium Eye now at their command they just might be able to beat the dueling duo.
Author's Note: Before anyone goes on about me not using the right version of Capumon Chess, I couldn't find anything on it (Thanks anyway Mystical Sand). So, I've come up with a version of my own. Hope you like it.
*_* - Personal Thoughts
/_/ - Yugi to Yami
\_\ - Yami to Yugi
(_) - Raven to Mokuba
[_] - Mokuba to Raven
_ Telepathic communication
***************************************************************************
Zeboim sat on his throne, his eyes closed and a look of extreme concentration on his bony face as the few torches that lit the room cast eerie shadows over him.
*That one-eyed runt offered a huge reward for the capture of Mokuba Kaiba. He even countermanded the orders given to the Trinity by Lord Zoa,* the Summoned Skull thought darkly. *Why would the little one be so important that Retall would take such a risk?* Zeboim's thought were interrupted by a high pitched squeal as a furry green shape landed in the fiend's lap.
"Master back, Master back!" came the happy cries of the Feral Imp as the small fiend bounced in the dark general's lap. A small smile spread across Zeboim's face as he gazed down at his small ward. The green furred demon looked up at his master's face, his fangs glistening in the torchlight, his face the very picture of loving devotion.
"Yes little one, I have returned."
"Something wrong?"
"Dark thoughts move through my mind, little one, but they are no concern for your young mind." At those words, a confused look spread over the Feral Imp's face as he failed to comprehend the big words. "You don't have to worry abo...."
"But I wanna help!" Feral Imp said, already sensing that he was being left out of something good. "I can help. I been practicing." So saying the green demon-child tapped into his powers, utilizing the ambient shadow's of Zeboim's home to disappear. This actually surprised the Summoned Skull, who had not realized his ward HAD been developing ANY skills in his absence.
"How long can you hold that?"
"I don't know, but I've been like this for a long time."
"And you're sure you want to help. It might be a bit dangerous," Zeboim said. The Feral Imp shook his head happily, pleased he was finally going to go on a mission for his master. A sphere of light appeared in Zeboim's clawed hands, an image of the Kiz Retall, the Dark-Eyes Illusionist on it's surface. "Do you see this monster? I want you to keep watch on him. Do nothing to attract attention to yourself, and if you feel in danger, return to me. Watch him for any signs of treachery. Gather as much information for me as you can. Do you understand?"
"I'm on my way."
***************************************************************************
Joey could only watch in astonishment as the Overdrive monster card came to life, stopping only long enough for Mokuba Kaiba to toss Tea inside before driving off, breaking the walls as crashed it's way out of the school.
"What the HELL is going on?!" Yelled Domino High School's principal, Mr. Masai. "WHEELER!! KAIBA!! What is this?!"
"It was a little kid," one of the girls said. "He was hiding in the locker room. When we pulled him down, he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out three red balls with these silver leg thingies on them. He threw them all over the room and yelled something..."
"It was 'Blast Sphere,'" another of the girls said.
"Yeah that was it. Then they all exploded. We were lucky to get out of there, but the little creep grabbed Tea Gardner and then just drove off."
"He made it to the parking lot?"
"No, there was one waiting for him, here in the hallway. That's what ripped up the walls," a third girl said.
"And where were you two screw-ups when this happened?" Masai demanded from Seto and Joey, only to be quite surprised to find both had disappeared.
****************************
Joey ran through the halls of Domino High School, trying to remember what class Yugi had this period. Finally, he found the boy with the tri-colored hair sitting in arithmetic, frantically trying to keep up with his teacher notes. Quickly Joey took a moment to compose himself, thinking up a plausible story to use. Now prepared, the blonde walked into the class.
"May I help you young man?" the teacher asked.
"Yeah, Yugi Motou there's needed at the Principal's office."
"Joey, what's the matter?"
"Yes, why would the Principal want Mr. Motou here?" Joey thought quickly, going over the story he had prepared.
"His Grandpa's here, says it's some sort of family emergency. Gotta come NOW Yug," Joey said careful so as not to sound hostile to the teacher.
"Very well, Mr. Motou, you are excused. Make sure you get the notes from today from a classmate."
"Yes Sir," Yugi said, grabbing his backpack as he followed his blonde friend out of the room. Soon the two were almost racing down the hall. It was when Joey forced Yugi to take a left turn that the smaller boy opted to question his friend about his strange actions. "Joey, what's going on? The Principal's office is the other way."
"I lied, right now it's probably best we avoid Masai right now, Yugi," Joey said. "And I suggest you pay attention to this too Yami." A slight glimmer came to Yugi's eyes, indicating that the ancient Pharaoh was indeed listening in the back of Yugi's mind. "Dat spirit's back."
"In Seto?"
"Right family, wrong Kaiba, it's still in Mokuba. He attacked the girl's locker room and kidnapped Tea."
"WHAT!?" Yugi said in a voice that sounded as much like Yami's as it did his own.
"Yeah, he just blew up the locker room with a couple uh Blast Spheres. And that's not all," Joey grabbed Yugi's shoulders. "Yugi, he's got the Millennium Eye." At those words, Yugi's eyes opened wide. Joey could see the face of Yami within Yugi's eyes, and the ancient Pharaoh also looked upset at this news.
\How could Mokuba have gotten his hands on that? His soul was still in Pegasus's thrall when it was stolen.\
"Yami wants to know how he got the eye?"
"He didn't really say, he was pretty busy kidnapping Tea," Joey said, pushing his smaller friend down the hall before both took off running. As soon as they got outside, both duelists were surprised to see the road was in ruin, as if a big vehicle had crashed into everything. The road itself had tire tracks burned into it. "Well at least he makin' it easy for us ta find him."
"Yeah, which makes me wonder why," Yugi said in Yami's voice, taking over his lighter side's body. "Did he say anything else?"
"Yeah, he was willing to trade back Tea for your Exodia cards."
"Which are back at the game shop... Damn, I wish I knew why this spirit is so fixated on those cards."
"Don't worry, I'll figure out where the rugrat got to, you just pick up them two cards," Joey said, taking off as he followed the tracks. Yami took off in the opposite direction, hoping he would not be too late.
*********************************************
Solomon Motou watched as the electrician he'd hired worked to replace the destroyed wiring of his store. The elder gamesman was happy the repairs were going so quickly, especially since every day his store was closed, he and his grandson were loosing money. Fortunately, only a little of the actual merchandise had not been destroyed, which would allow him to open even quicker.
*Perhaps we can have a Survived the Egyptian Gods sale,* Solomon chuckled to himself. Suddenly, he heard the back door of the shop open and slam shut. His eyes caught the flash of his grandson as he leapt over the electrician, racing up the stairs to his room.
"Yugi, what's wrong?" Solomon asked, moving up the stairs as well, curious as to why his grandson was not in school as he should have been. "Yugi?!" The elderly man was quite surprised to find, not Yugi, but Yami literally tearing up the bedroom, searching for something.
"Yugi, you've got to remember where you put those cards!" Yami yelled out as he yanked several drawers out of the dresser and dumping their contents on the bed.
"Yami, what are you looking for?" Solomon asked.
"The last two Exodia cards, Yugi says he can't remember where he put them after Mokuba attacked."
"Is that all, I found them Saturday among the debris." The gameshop owner reached into his back pants pocket, pulling forth the object of the ancient king's search. "Now what's going on? Why aren't you in school?"
"Long story short, that spirit is back," Yami said, grabbing the cards out of his "Grandpa's" hands as he took off out of the shop. Quickly Yami moved out of the store, already feeling winded despite the relatively short distance between the school and the store. Still he could not give up, too much was at stake for him to surrender to fatigue. Within fifteen minutes, the boy king had made it back to school, just in time to see Joey come racing up as well.
"Did you find where Mokuba took Tea?" Yami asked.
"Not quite. Da tracks stopped about twelve blocks from here, around a buncha big buildings. I couldn't tell if Overdrive went into any of them or just disappeared. Sorry."
"Blast," Yami said. "Now what are we supposed to do?"
"Perhaps I can be of some help," said a hard voice. Yami and Joey turned to see a very familiar white-haired teen standing behind him, the millennium item around his neck glowing slightly.
"Ryou? No, you're Bakura!" Yami said, his body tensing in anticipation of some attack.
"What're you doin' here ya dusty old grave robber?"
"A jeep nearly runs me over inside a building and you question why I'm here? You really are a clueless human," Bakura said, waving the tall blonde off. "But imagine my surprise to find out that the source of this little attack was Seto Kaiba's bratty little brother Mokuba. And that he possesses the Millennium Eye." At the tomb robber's words, Yami's eyes closed, clearly not liking the fact that white haired spirit possessed that particular bit of information.
"And your point would be?"
"You want to rescue your friend, but you can't find out where she is. Of course you know what I want, I just lack the raw power to take the eye. So I propose a deal, a temporary alliance as it were. I'll use my Millennium Ring to track your friend via the Millennium Eye. Then, once you pound the twerp into the ground, I take possession of the item, and we part ways in peace."
"You seem rather confident that I'll be able to beat him."
"If there is one thing I've learned about you Pharaoh, it is that you have a knack for overcoming long odds. Now, do we have a deal?" Bakura asked, offering his hand to the spiky haired youth.
/Can we trust him Yami?/
\I trust in the fact that he will betray us the first chance he can get, but more to the point I trust that his greedy and short-sighted nature will force him to help us for as long as he believes it to be in his best interest. But there is another problem.\
/Yeah, if Bakura gets his hands on another millennium item, he'll become an even bigger threat than he is now."
\More importantly, item and holder are linked together. Pegasus died when the Millennium Eye was taken from him. Now that the eye rests in Mokuba's socket... I'm sure you can guess the rest.\
/It'll kill Mokuba?! We can't let that happen!/
\Of course not, but the fact remains that we need to find him before he does anything to Tea.\ Yami reached out and grabbed Bakura's hand.
"Very well Bakura, I agree to your terms... but only for now. If anything happens to my friends, the deal's off."
"Fine," Bakura said. Then he closed his eyes, grasping his ring as he concentrated. Each of the five pointers immediately rose, pointing straight into the air before beginning to twirl around. Soon they came to a stop, pointing in the direction that the tire tracks had indicated. "I've got a lock, follow me." With those words, Bakura began walking, Joey and Yami Yugi in tow.
***
Back at the school, Kaiba watched the three duelists with great interest.
*So, Yugi knows where Mokuba went off to,* Kaiba thought to himself. He had been forced to listen to that fool Masai yelling at him, demanding to know what had happened to his school. And, since Joey had so conveniently left the elder Kaiba to fend for himself, Masai had been even angrier. Now, though, it appeared as though the blonde twit had actually been doing useful. Seto reached into his coat pocket, pulling out his cell phone.
"Ms. Clark? Cancel my appointments for today. I'm taking the day off."
***
The tracks had stopped almost five blocks ago, and now the trio were relying solely on Bakura's ring to guide them. Yami had been keeping a very close eye on their surroundings, a string of dilapidated warehouses, but the boy-king could feel the slight tinge of shadow magic in the area. It was not enough to lock onto anything specific, in fact had he not been actively looking for it, he probably wouldn't have noticed it. Soon, Bakura came to a stop in front of one of the buildings, the pointers on his ring pointing directly at the structure's door.
"This is the place, 'Your Highness,'" the white-haired Tomb Robber said. "Just remember your part of the deal. You get your friend back, I get the Millennium Eye."
"Hey, don't go getting all paranoid, corpse-boy, unlike you, Yami's never broken his word," Joey said. The tall blonde then walked over to the door of the warehouse, turning the knob. "Hey, the door's unlocked."
"Of, course, I've been expecting company," Raven's grainy voice said, floating out of the now open door. "Come in if you want Tea back, Yugi." Without a moment's hesitation, Yami walked into the warehouse, followed closely by Bakura and Joey. Inside, the building was completely dark, and the feeling of shadow magic became more intense. That was when both Yami and Bakura were overcome with a sensation of power, doubling over as their bodies were invaded by massive amounts of dark energy. Joey became more than a little afraid as he watched both his friends begin to glow purple. Suddenly, the two boys became four as light separated from dark.
"Yugi? Ryou? What are you doing here?" Joey said, not really meaning the question to sound as stupid as it did.
"I... I don't know. One moment I felt a sort of pulling sensation from inside the Millennium Puzzle, the next thing I knew I was out here," Yugi said, rubbing his head.
"The same happened to me," Ryou said.
"Someone's flooded this place with a massive amount of shadow magic. No doubt our millennium items simply reacted."
"Yes, but now there's no need for you to be out here," Bakura said, pointing at Ryou. "Get back inside the Millennium Ring, now."
"Hey, who do you think you are, bossin' him around like that," Joey said.
"Don't worry Joey it's no big deal," Ryou said as he began to fade away.
"It's rude to leave a party right after being invited," Mokuba said, walking straight up the now five duelists, the Millennium Eye flashing in his socket.
"Where's Tea!?" Yugi demanded, Yami standing behind him backing the smaller boy up.
"She's right here," Mokuba said, reaching into his vest as he pulled out a small dancing ballerina music box. Yugi took a closer look at the toy and was quite surprised to discover the figurine had Tea's face. "Beautiful isn't it. Unfortunately, in this form, she cannot breathe. She can't take in air, don't you know."
"At least until we start up the statue," Raven said, splitting from Mokuba and winding the key to the music box. Soon, a sad melody was heard as the figurine began to twirl around. "There, now she's getting plenty of air." With an audible crack, Raven broke the music box's key off. "Oops."
"What'd you do that for?!" Yugi said, realizing what the absence of the key meant for his friend when the music stopped.
"Call it incentive," Raven said. "A nice limit on how long you can take to save the girl."
"And what's ta stop us from just moppin' the floor with you and makin' ya change her back?" Joey said, charging forward with his fists balled ready to strike.
"MIRROR FORCE!" Raven called as a shield of transparent energy rose up directly between the two. The moment Joey struck the shield, he bounced off it, flying back into a wall with a force that cracked two of his ribs.
"Amazing! I've never seen anyone summon a card that powerful to the real world," Bakura said.
"No, look again," Yami called. "There was no card Mokuba's hands. What you saw was not merely a summoning, it was a complete re-creation."
"I don't care how he did it, I just wanna save Tea before that blasted song ends!!" Yugi yelled at Mokuba and Raven.
"You're right, time is of the essence here," Raven said, picking up Tea as he turned. "Follow me and please, no more attacks. I don't want to have to hurt any more of you." Joey, Yugi, Yami, Bakura, and Ryou followed the raven-haired Kaibas deeper into the warehouse. They were led to a room filled with stuffed animals, with a floor done in a checkered style. As Mokuba and Raven got the other side of the room, the sound of gears could be heard as the floor rose. Simultaneously, two podiums rose from the ground, revealing the entire room to be...
"A dueling arena!"
"Close but not quite Wheeler, this arena has been specially modified for the latest version of Capumon Chess, which is exactly what you'll have to compete in if you want me to reverse the spell on Tea."
"Fine, I'll play you and win," Yugi said, climbing the stairs to the command console on his side of the board. "Let's go."
"My aren't we in a hurry, but I want you and Yami too," came Mokuba's voice.
"What?" Yami's puzzled voice asked.
"Yeah, we gotta make this fair. I have Raven on my side, so it's only right you and Yugi work together."
"And what about that blasted Millennium Eye. It offers you too much of an advantage in such a strategy intensive game as this," Ryou said.
"The Millennium Eye is currently occupied making sure those three annoying gods don't interrupt us this time. Now I suggest we begin, unless you think that song is going to last much longer," Raven said, pulling out his deck. "Take out your dueling deck and separate the monsters from the magic and trap cards." Yugi did as he was told while his dark half made his way up the podium. Mokuba's own deck had already been separated. "Now we simply draw monsters, with each monster coming to represent the pieces we'll use."
"Dat's no fair. If you two are usin' Seto's deck, what's ta stop you from pulling a Blue Eyes to play as a pawn?"
"The fact that only level four or lower cards can be used for pawns, nit-wit. Plus I'm not using Seto's deck, I'm using Mokuba's," Raven said. With those words, Mokuba drew his first card. "And for my first card, and working as my king, is Exodia, the Forbidden One." At those words, both Yugi and Yami jumped, not quite believing what the younger Kaiba had said.
"You have Exodia cards?" Yugi asked. "Then... why are you after mine. You can't use more than one set, you know."
"Our reasons are our own and none of your concern," both Mokuba and Raven said in unison, and almost in one breath. Yami looked carefully at the black-haired boy, a hard look on his face as though he was trying to see something that wasn't quite there.
"Of course, with such low attack and defense, Exodia really won't be able to stop strong monsters from capturing him. Still, with the right cards... we'll just see," Raven said. "Now, draw your king." Yugi drew his card, and smiled as he saw what he had taken.
"It looks like my king will be more than able to defend himself against you, Mokuba. My king is the Dark Magician." So saying, Yugi slapped his card down on the console, and the Dark Magician appeared in the spot designated for the king. Mokuba did the same with his own, and Exodia appeared opposite the purple-clad spellcaster.
"Now for my knights I draw... the Right and Left Hands of the Forbidden One?" In the sections designated for the two knights, each hand appeared.
"You drew two cards at once?"
"Yeah, two weak cards. Of course, your perfectly welcome to do the same, but if I were to have drawn some of my stronger cards, I guarantee I would have just let it take up both spaces by itself."
"But how did you...?"
"Aren't you on a time budget? I wouldn't waste so much time with stupid questions if I were you. Now draw." Yugi obeyed Raven's command, and for his knights, was rewarded with Gaia, the Fierce Knight. The moment he set the card, two fierce knights appeared on the board. And so the selection went, with Yugi drawing his Summoned Skull to represent his two bishops, the Giant Soldier of Stone as his rooks, and the Celtic Guardian as all eight of his pawns. Meanwhile, both the Left and Right Legs of the Forbidden One predictably made their appearance as Mokuba's Bishops. The Rooks, on the other hand, were none other than the Millennium Shield itself, while the eight pawns were chosen to be Krokodilus.
*Interesting,* Yami thought to himself. *It's obvious he had some control over what monster he drew, and there are certainly monsters stronger than my Celtic Guardians he could have used for pawns... With so many of his top pieces so weak, why would he have summoned a weak monster like Krokodilus to be his pawns?*
"It seems to be time to choose our Queens, the strongest piece in the game," Mokuba said, smiling his sneakiest smile. "You draw first, okay?" This time, it was Yami who pulled the card, using his powers to alter the order of his deck.
*There are too many unknowns to what this spirit is doing... And there's too much at stake for me to let him get away with altering his deck without doing something myself.* Silently, Yami drew the card he'd been waiting for, the perfect compliment to his Dark Magician king, the Dark Magician Girl. The ancient Pharaoh laid the card upon the panel, but it was not the female spellcaster that appeared. Instead, Tea's ballerina music box was what rose from the panel, her tutu replaced by the garb of the Dark Magician Girl.
"What a great queen you pulled Yami, I never would have predicted you'd pull your own captive friend as your most powerful piece," Raven said before his eyes narrowed as he smiled slyly. "Am I sensing something of a subconscious slip of the tongue here?"
"Shut up!" Yugi yelled, obviously getting worried about his friend, and also not liking just what Mokuba's spiritual partner was implying.
"Oh, getting angry Yugi? All right, I'll leave you alone." As Raven/Mokuba drew their card, Yugi could plainly see the younger boy making a kissey face at him, something the duelist cared for not at all.
"HEY!"
"AHA! Prepare to meet my queen, and your destruction," Raven said, slamming the drawn card down. Yami's eyes widened as he recognized the monster that rose from the queen's position of the board. It was a woman wearing a huge headdress that covered the top of her face, while a flowing gold and blue robe that sparkled like the stars of the sky. The same could be said for the woman's long black hair. Her regal stance made it easy to for all to see why this woman was the monarch of the stars and the ruler of galaxies.
"The Cosmo Queen!" Yugi said.
"A difficult task has just grown more difficult," Yami said, staring at the powerful spellcaster.
"You better believe it," Raven said smiling. "Of course, the game would be no fun if all that was all there was to it. That's why I had you take out all your magic and trap cards. You can draw one of those cards per turn. You can choose to use it or save it to pair with another card. If you manage to get one of your pawns to the other side of the board, you'll be able to summon another high level monster, but don't count on that happening any time soon. And you can sacrifice two magic/trap cards to put a new pawn on the field in front of your King." It was at that point that Mokuba took over.
"Now if we're all clear on the rules, I suggest we duel, especially since it sounds like Tea's dance is coming to an end." Yugi looked down to see that Tea was indeed slowing down.
"All right, then since you got home field advantage, I'll go first. And I'll start by moving my Queen's Knight's Pawn forward two spaces," Yugi said as he drew a card from his magic and traps deck. At his command the Celtic Guardian he had indicated drew his sword and carefully walked two spaces forward, it's elven eyes never leaving the reptile man kneeling across from him.
"My aren't we in a hur..."
"NO STALLING!" Yugi yelled, clearly worried that his friend would not survive if they didn't hurry.
"Yugi, you must calm down," Yami said, grabbing his younger partner by the shoulders. "If you don't get yourself under control, there is no way we can win this match, and then Tea really will be lost."
"Good point your highness," Raven said. "Now if you two are done with this oh-so touching moment, I'd like to make my move. And it's a doozy. King's Knight to Queen's Bishop three."
"How is that a doozy of a move?"
"Don't worry, you'll see."
*The Right Hand of the Forbidden One is too weak to capture anything else on the board. So why would he remove it from it's defenses. Obviously he has something in mind... but what?* Yami thought to himself. *Nothing to do but play along.*
"Queen's Knight's Pawn forward one space," Yami said. *Best to just test his defenses for now.*
"Cute move Yami," Mokuba said. "Queen to King three." Cosmo Queen rose into the air and floated over to Mokuba's desired spot, a fact that seemed to make the Celtic Guardian very nervous.
"You may take my pawn, but not before I take your Knight! Queen's Knight's Pawn to Queen's Bishop six."
"Not so fast Yugi, you've activated my Shift trap, which make my knight and the pawn behind it switch places."
"Big deal, Celtic Guardian is still stronger than Krokodilus, so you still loose a piece."
"Look again," Raven said, his eyes flashing red. Before Yugi's eyes, Krokodilus grew to three times his normal size, something that was accompanied by his attack and defense points. The Celtic Guardian's sword shattered in the lizardman's jaws as he was ripped into by the fearsome beast-warrior's claws.
"That's not fair!"
"I told you before, the servant gains tremendous power from being near his master, even if it's only a part of his master. And since you've just used your turn, it's mine again, so let's see how you handle this, Queen to King's Rook seven." The Cosmo Queen moved with the speed of light towards the helpless Celtic Guardian. A crash and an explosion later, and all that stood in the spot was the Queen of the Stars. "And the best part is, unlike in normal chess, your Rook is too weak to take out my queen. You have two turns and then I win."
*No, I have to do something or his queen will just walk over my Dark Magician.* Yugi looked through his cards, hoping to find a way to stop the starry queen. *Bah, nothing... I have to stall.. Maybe...*
"King's Knight to King's Bishop three."
"Trying to save your Fierce Knight, Yugi? I didn't realize you had such a sentimentality about you. Queen to Queen's Bishop eight." The Summoned Skull put up a valiant fight, but ultimately was no match for the Cosmo Queen's attack. "One turn left Yugi."
"Yugi, let me do this," Yami said.
"No, I have an idea," Yugi said, looking at the new card he'd drawn. "King's Knight to King's Knight one!" At the boy's words, Gaia the Fierce Knight rode back to his original spot, ready to defend the Dark Magician from Cosmo Queen's assault.
"If you think moving that rusty old knight is gonna stop my queen, you're crazier than Pegasus was. Queen to Queen's Knight eight."
"Not so fast. You're move activates my trap."
"Trap?"
"Yes. You've heard of the trap card Defense Paralysis. Well this is it's counterpart, Attack Paralysis. It not only blocks you Queen's movement, but robs her of three hundred of her attack points as well."
"That doesn't matter, at twenty-six hundred, she's still stronger than any other monster you have."
"Not so, because now it's my turn, and I intend to finally remove that blasted Queen from play." Raven smiled, not believing a single word coming form Yugi's mouth.
"I somehow doubt that's possible, especially considering that your strongest monster on that side of the field is still three hundred less than my Cosmo Queen."
"You're forgetting that I can revive any monster from the graveyard, and it will return to it's original position on the board. And your precious queen is occupying one such position. Now... Monster Reborn, revive the Summoned Skull."
"You fool, you've just wasted your card and your turn. Zeboim is still too weak to beat the Cosmo Queen. Cosmo Queen... return that demon to the graveyard!"
"You're the fool, Raven was it. Nice to finally know the name of the guy I'm battling. At full power I didn't possess any cards that could sufficiently power up my Skull to beat your Cosmo Queen, but now that her royal highness has been brought down from her lofty position a bit, this Dark Energy card will be more than enough to send your queen back to the stars. Summoned Skull... GO!!" With a roar of thunder and an explosion of electricity, Cosmo Queen was destroyed, replaced by a super-charged Summoned Skull.
"What?! That... That's impossible. There's no way..."
"Oh there was a way, you just didn't see it before I did," Yami said defiantly. "I guess without your tricks, your just not as good as you've led us to believe."
"And here I thought I was supposed to be the kid around here," Mokuba said, suddenly deciding to speak up. "All right enough of these kid gloves. No offense Raven, but while Duel Monsters is a game of raw power, this calls for strategy and strategy is something I've got tons of."
"Oh really," Yami said. "And just what do you plan to do?"
"This Pharaoh," Mokuba said. "Take a powder Rav... Watch the master at work." So saying, Mokuba drew a new card. "Now I'm going to take out your Summoned Skulls by playing the magical field card, Umi, flooding the board."
"I don't get it," Joey said as the board filled with water. "Won't all that water just power up da Summoned Skull's electric attack and make him stronger?"
"Idiot, Summoned Skull is now the strongest monster on the field," Bakura said. "If Yugi uses that blasted demon, it's attack will run wild and kill everything on the field. Since Mokuba still has more pieces than Yugi, that means he'll win."
"So now I can't use my bishops to attack."
"More importantly, it I attack with a weaker monster, the backlash will be the same as if you HAD attacked." And so the contest continued, with Yugi and Yami matching their best moves against the strategies of Mokuba and Raven. As the match continued, Yugi found it increasingly difficult to mount any sort of offense against the younger Kaiba's continuous onslaught of powered up pawns. Every time he thought he had one of the scaly lizards, either a knight or a bishop would speed to the piece's side, and somehow the Krokodilus's attack power would triple. Likewise, going after one of Exodia's pieces proved futile, as they moved quickly out of the way of most of Yugi's assaults. Still, the boys with the tri-colored hair were able to defend themselves to an extent, though each victory came at the cost of a few more squares.
"You damned idiot! You're doing this on purpose!!" Bakura yelled. "Anyone and his mother you beat but the one time I actually need you to win you can't stop screwing up!"
"Be quiet ya nutty thief," Joey said, hitting the hysterical tomb robber in the head.
"You've improved Mokuba. You've yet to make any of the arrogant mistakes that often marr your game."
"I'll take that as a compliment, but don't think I'm gonna go easy on you. I want those cards and you're running out of time. So for now, I'm gonna take advantage of two a trap you made famous in tournaments."
"What?"
"I'm going to use these two Mystical Box cards to switch my two bishops with your two rooks. With them there, and my knights in my own corners protected by my super pawns, all I need to do is get my king to the center of the board and I win by default."
"I thought as much," Yami said. In reaction to his words, both Mokuba and Raven fell over in disbelief.
"IS THERE ANYTHING YOU DON'T CLAIM TO HAVE THOUGHT OF FIRST!!" The two "children" yelled back, putting Yami into a sweat-drop reaction.
"There is only one reason anyone... ANYONE... would put the Exodia series into play, Mokuba, even with the fantastic power bonus it seems to be giving some of it's cards," Yami said evenly. "I know it, you know it, and your friend there knows it. What other reason is there for Exodia to be in any deck but to win?"
"Okay, okay, you've made your point," Raven said. "That still doesn't change the fact that my king will soon win me the game."
"Don't be so sure... First I sacrifice two of my stored magic cards for the right to place a new monster on the field, the mighty Silver Fang." At his words, the silver wolf appeared in the pawn position directly in front of the Dark Magician.
"I don't see how that's supposed to help, especially considering Silver Fang can only move as a pawn." Yugi ignored Mokuba and moved Silver Fang up a space.
"And as to how it will help... If you think it's no threat than please, continue your plan to move Exodia into final position."
"Fine I will." So saying, Exodia the Forbidden One moved closer to the center of the board. Once more, Yugi moved Silver Fang forward, smiling his sweetest smile as he let his opponents know he was done. Without a word, Mokuba moved one of his Krokodilus pawns next to his King, and it's power immediately tripled. In response, Yugi moved, not his wolf, but one of his knights to the side.
"Stupid move, now my King can move one step closer to victory, only one more space, and I win," Mokuba said. The only response this got form Yugi was for him to move Silver Fang a final space, into the dead center of the board.
"Now you'll have to oust Silver Fang if you want to obtain victory, and your King isn't strong enough to do it."
"Not a problem when you see the Krokodilus coming up behind him, who is now right beside Exodia." So saying the aforementioned lizardman moved up next to his master. Again, Yugi moved his knight once more closer to the side.
"How unlike you Yugi, typically you're better at protecting your weaker monsters. Guess your just realizing how hopeless this game is for you, huh?" Mokuba had his pawn move to take the Silver Fang. "Two more turns and you loose."
"Not really. You've been so focused on getting Exodia to the center of the board, you failed to notice my Gaia the Fierce Knight has moved into striking position of your Left Leg of the Forbidden One. And without that arm, it doesn't matter where your King is. Now, Gaia the Fierce Knight, blow away the Left Leg of the Forbidden One!" With those words, the knight made it's final move and destroyed the arm-turned-bishop.
"NO!!" Mokuba cried, watching as Yugi saved himself from defeat. A dark look came over Mokuba's face as he removed the defeated card. "I strove to prevent this Yugi, just know that whatever happens now is on your head." So saying Mokuba drew a card from his monster deck. "You're about to be one of the very few people to see this very rare card, the most powerful monster in my entire deck."
"I've faced powerful monster before," Yami said.
"This is a monster unlike anything you've ever faced before, it is a dragon like no other. The problem is, it's a level eight monster, so I need to sacrifice two pieces to bring him out. Since you've killed my chances of winning with my Exodia cards, I'll just sacrifice one of my knights and my last bishop." At his words, both the Right Leg and the Left Arm began to shimmer before disappearing. "Now face my strongest card and the greatest chess piece to ever exist. Arise; TYRANT DRAGON!" Flying high above the space in front of Exodia, a giant bronze dragon materialized, black smoke billowing from it's snout. Suddenly, the sound of laughter could be heard as Joey and Bakura fell over, unable to control their laughter.
"Dat's your best move?!" Joey said. "Dat flyin' salamander' a fire element."
"Did you forget all the water you so courteously dumped on the field twerp," Bakura said. "Even a twenty-nine hundred attack points, it'll have to take a severe power cut the moment it lands. Yugi, put this novice out of his misery." Despite the comments being made by Joey and Bakura, a smile remained on Mokuba face as he looked at his majestic dragon.
"You know they're right Mokuba. I don't know what this Raven spirit's been telling you, but that fire dragon won't be much of a challenge."
"That's what everyone thinks when they first see this beauty," Mokuba said. "But trust me, my Tyrant Dragon is gonna eat you alive..."
*********************************************
Don't you hate it when they say...
To Be Continued.