Yu-Gi-Oh!
Duel for the Souls RAPTOR'S RAGE II:
Valentine vs. Raptor
Last Time:
Yugi and Joey have both decided to enter the Battle City II tournament. After the beginning ceremony, Yugi meets up with Mai Valentine, who is challenged by Rex Raptor to a duel of dire consequences.
"So, Mai, if I win, not only do I knock you out of the tournament, but I get a kiss for it!" the gruff dino-duelist Rex Raptor said gloatingly. His brown hair and white forelock were barely visible under his red stocking cap, but the grin on his face was like a beacon.
"That's what you think. When I win, you'll never so much as think of me again," Mai Valentine retorted. She was a tall blonde woman—then again, compared to Yugi Muto, just about anyone was tall.
"We'll see about that. For my first move, I'll summon Twin-Headed King Rex, in attack mode." A giant purple behemoth materialized in front of Rex—like all of the holograms created by the KaibaCorp Technologies, Inc. Duel Disk virtual dueling system, it was extremely lifelike, from the texture of the skin to the smell and personality. It roared, and then settled back on its haunches.
"My move," Mai sighed. "I'll summon Birdface, in defense mode."
"What a weakling monster! It'll be a piece of cake to smash it!"
"I'll also set two cards face-down."
"Good. So, for my turn, I can summon Mad Sword Beast in attack mode. This dinosaur has a very special ability—it still deals direct battle damage to your life points even if the target monster is in defense mode. So, when it attacks, your monster still takes direct damage."
"But Birdface has 1600 points in both attack and defense points—200 more than Mad Sword Beast's attack."
"But what happens when I play two magic cards: Wasteland and Raise Body Heat." Rex smiled broadly. "That raises my dino-destroyer's attack power 500 points!"
"And that means that it's more powerful than my Birdface!"
"That's right. Mad Sword Beast, destroy Birdface!"
Mai grunted, and watched as the life point meter on the top of her duel disk showed the drop from 8000 to 7700. Unlike in previous tournaments, this one was based on the 8000-life point base, with tributes and having some cards take a huge life point sacrifice to activate. Examples of this were the attack cost of a Toon monster and the activation cost of Graverobber.
Also, the prize system of this tournament was very odd. Each duelist, in his invitation or at the registration, was given one clear plastic "locator card" with piece of a map on it. Only when a duelist collected ten other such cards would it activate a special hologram generator, showing the location of the finals.
"Actually, Rex, I was hoping you'd take out my Birdface—it lets me activate its special ability."
"Special ability?"
"You bet, Dino-brain. When Birdface is destroyed by a monster attack, I can special summon a Harpy Lady. But I won't summon just any Harpy Lady. Say hello—to Cyber Harpy!"
"What's a Cyber Harpy?"
"You know of Cyber Shield, the accessory card that covers a Harpy Lady in special armor and boosts her attack and defense by 500 points. Only this Harpy has that armor built in to her. And, when I play Rose Whip, I'll bring her attack up to 2300. Now, Harpy, Rose Whip attack!" The gold-plated avian woman snapped her whip, hitting the rhinoceros-like shelled beast on the horn. In a shower of petals, it shattered, delivering 400 of damage to Raptor.
So far, so good, Mai, Yugi Muto thought to himself. You have a lead right now, and a good monster to defend with. Hopefully you can keep your lead, and beat this guy. Rex won't stand a chance if you believe in your cards.
"Anything else?" Rex groaned.
"I'll set another card face-down."
"Good. For my turn, I'll sacrifice Twin-Headed King Rex for Cyber-tech Alligator, a powerful machine monster of great power. Attack!"
"Activate Mirror Wall trap and Solomon's Lawbook!"
"What?"
"Mirror Wall blocks your monster's attack and cuts its power in half. And, since it requires a 2000 life point sacrifice to keep in play, Solomon's Lawbook skips the phase to pay those life points, so that it stays in play for another turn, for free."
"But—what about my Cyber-tech Gator?"
"Your mechanized lizard now only has 1250 attack points. So, Cyber Harpy, Rose Whip attack!" Rex fell to one knee as his life points dropped to 6550.
"I play Monster Reborn to revive Twin-headed Rex, then sacrifice it to summon Total Defense Shogun."
"And I play another Solomon's Lawbook."
"What else could go wrong?"
"Why don't we find out during my turn?"
"What do you mean?"
"I summon Amazon Archer!"
"What does she do?"
"You'll find out, after I play Elegant Egotist, to summon another Harpy Lady to the field. And, by sacrificing both of my Harpies, I can launch a direct attack on your life points!"
"What do you mean, direct attack? Oh—oh, no! No!" Rex cried out in pain as the scantily clad huntress fired an arrow right at him. His life points fell to 5350.
"And that's just the beginning," Mai said. "Each time I get two monsters on the field, I'll do it again. Soon, You'll run out of life points!"
"Not before you run out of monsters! It will take ten more monster cards to do that!"
"Not if Amazon Archer is one of the sacrifices. Oh, well, that's just the way I'd do it in a perfect world. But, for now, I'll wait."
"Now I will summon the Dragon who Dwells in the Cave, and play the magic card Shield and Sword, swapping his 1100 attack points for his 2000 defense points. Now, Cave-Dwelling Dragon, attack!" A giant lizard shot out of the cave.
"What about my Mirror Wall?" Mai asked mock-sweetly.
"Oh, no! My monster's attack has been cut in half. I—I'll set a card to end my turn."
"You know, you say that as if it were a bad thing." Mai shrugged. If this is really how you want to go, then I'll have Amazon Archer attack." Pushing a lock of brown hair to the side, the huntress aimed with her bow and released the arrow.
"Hah, you predictable fool! I activate Reverse Trap, so that now my monster has double the attack power. Your Amazon Archer only has 1400 attack points, but Cave-Dwelling Dragon has 4000. You lose 2600 life points, Mai, bringing you down to 5100. I'm back in the lead, and one step closer to having you!"
"Dream on, lame brain. Destroying one monster doesn't do anything for you—especially if she isn't really gone for good. By activating Call of the Haunted, I'll bring back, not Amazon Archer, but Cyber Harpy with Rose Whip."
"Oh, no!"
"But I can't attack yet, since your Reverse Trap wears off at the end of the turn."
"Good. For my move, I'll—wait a second! Did you sacrifice 2000 life points during your standby phase?"
"No. Why?"
"Then Mirror Wall is gone!"
"Oh, no, he's right!" Mai cried out. "Oh, no! This could cost me the entire duel!"
Not really, but it will keep Rex off-guard. Mai is bluffing to make him think he's got an advantage over her now.
"Now I play Wall of Illusions in defense mode, equipped with the Ring of Magnetism. I'll also set one card face-down."
"My turn. I summon Harpies Brother!"
"Wow, cool card."
"That's right. Now, Harpies Brother, attack the weakened—wait! I think I'll play this first: Harpie's Feather Duster, to clear away all of those magic and trap cards."
"No! My Ring! My Dark Mirror Force!"
"Now, Cyber Harpy, take out that weakened dragon!" Rex lost 1300 life points, leaving him at 4050.
"My turn. I play Swords of Revealing Light, and summon Kaiser Seahorse!"
"What is that? What does it do?"
"You'll see in a few moments. In the mean time, I'll sacrifice 800 life points to bring back Cyber-Tech Alligator with Premature Burial, and have it attack your Harpies Brother, bringing your life point count down to 4400."
She's running out of tricks. If she doesn't think of something fast, then she won't last very long. She needs to trust in the Heart of the cards—but, after Battle City's finals, she needs to trust in herself, too. If she doesn't put her heart in this duel, then, soon, she'll crack and end up losing.
For good.
"Man, I wonder where everybody went. Five minutes ago, there were a hundred duelists here. Now, there aren't any," Joey Wheeler complained to nobody in particular. He continued on his journey, scanning the crowds for people wearing Duel Disks. "I wonder who my first opponent will be?"
Then he saw a large crowd, gathered in a tight circle. He could see flashes of holograms and Duel Monsters over the people's heads, but not much. One looked like a Harpy of some sort, and the other was a giant winged machine, with some reptilian features.
It was a duel!
Joey rushed over there, pushing through the crowd. "Excuse me! Pardon me! Duelist coming through!" He reached the center, and looked around. On one side was Rex Raptor with a Cyber-Tech Alligator, and on the other—Joey's heart skipped a beat—Mai Valentine with a super-powered Harpy Lady. Standing behind Mai, sizing up Raptor's strategy, was Yugi.
Ah, man, I was hoping to stay away from him for a while before getting thrown into this. Oh, well, I'll sit back and watch the duel.
"Master, we have Joey Wheeler in our sights. The duelist called Bonz is making a move on him—he's working for us." Panik grinned. He knew of Bonz from the Duelist Kingdom tournament. Panik had been one of Pegasus' hired lackeys, one of the "duelist eliminators" charged with culling the weak duelists from the herd.
Yugi Muto put a stop to that, when he challenged Panik to a duel to win back a friend's star chips—the old-fashioned, Duelist Kingdom equivalent of the locator card. He defeated Panik, even failing to flinch from streams of fire that were launched at him by Panik's custom-made arena.
Since then, Panik perfected his skills, even temporarily joining up with the Rare Hunters. Since facing Yugi, his deck and strategies had improved. He now had a Masked Beast, Des Guardius, Zoa, and other powerful fiends, along with mighty zombies and "Gravekeeper's" cards.
As far as fiend deck players went, he was virtually unstoppable.
He hadn't given up on his intimidation tactics, either. When he could, he'd lure his targets into an abandoned warehouse with a special dueling arena, shrouded in darkness with saws and jagged metal suspended in the air or hanging on walls. Also, the arena had the Duelist Kingdom "field power boost" setting on, so the darkness gave any of his Dark monsters an instant 20 attack and defense boost.
Now, he'd have to lure Joey Wheeler into his trap, using a trio of duelists—the ex-Rare Hunter and former magician Arkana and the ever-skittish zombie duelist Bonz. When it happened, they'd overpower him, and remove him from the tournament.
What his new employer wanted by removing the Battle City semifinalist and Duelist Kingdom Runner-up, Panik didn't know or care. All he knew was that there was a significant pay-raise in store for him, plus a chance to strike back at Yugi—by taking down his best friend.
"Good work, Panik. But wait. Keep tabs on him for now—wait until tomorrow before striking."
"As you wish, Boss." It was painful, to have to wait for this. But, he was patient; he could stalk his new prey for days. In the meantime, he'd go and increase the number of locator cards he had. The boss, after all, had only given him four to start out with. He expected five times as many by the end of the week.
He saw one particularly weak duelist—a small redheaded boy who looked as though he was ten. Easy prey, but prey nonetheless. Panik would enjoy collecting his locator card.
At first, Mai thought this duel would be easy. She hadn't even bothered to pull the fake psychic act. It wouldn't work twice on Rex—especially since Joey had seen through it. And, at first, it had been a piece of cake.
Then he brought out that Cyber-tech thing, and it was stronger than anything she had to offer. Not even her Harpie's Pet Dragon was strong enough to contend with it—and it was the card that almost beat Yugi. It seemed as though it was the end of the line for Mai. Unless . . .
Unless I take out that Premature Burial. That is the only card standing in the way of his life points. I need some sort of magic-destroyer, or I'm through.
Before drawing her card, Mai looked at her hand. Harpie's Pet Dragon, Soul Exchange, Harpy Lady, and Magician of Faith. Mai drew an Unfriendly Amazon.
"For my turn, I switch my Harpy to defense mode, and set a monster in defense mode." He'll attack the facedown card—my Magician. When it flips, I'll get my Feather Duster back, and clear away his monsters.
"Good. For my turn, I'll play Raigeki, and clear away all of your monsters. And, I'll sacrifice both of my monsters, to summon Serpent Knight Dragon!"
Yugi, standing behind Mai, spoke up. "But you lost that card to Espa Roba in your first Battle City duel. And, that's a Regional Championship exclusive; they have a new card every year!"
"In case you forgot, genius, Weevil Underwood was also in that Regional. He uses insect monsters, so he gave me his."
"Oh. Okay."
"Enough. Serpent Night Dragon, attack!" Mai almost screamed as sonic waves sliced through the air, impacting against her arms, face, and chest. Her life points fell drastically, to 2550.
"Come on, Mai, you can still beat him!" Yugi shouted over the din. Mai opened her eyes. She was on the ground, arms wrapped around her. "You just have to believe in yourself."
"What?" she asked. It came out as "Ungh."
"Get up! You have to beat Rex!"
Mai managed to get to her feet. She looked at her hand. She still had a way to beat Raptor. She just needed one more card from her deck.
"Get anything good?" Rex taunted.
"Yup. I just drew the one card that will seal your fate. First, I'll play Monster Reborn, reviving Cyber Harpy. Then, I'll offer her as a sacrifice for Harpie's Pet Dragon."
"You can't! That monster takes two sacrifices!"
"Oh, yes. I forgot to mention I'm also sacrificing your Serpent Night Dragon."
"How?"
Mai sighed in exasperation. "With this Soul Exchange, I can."
"This isn't good," Rex stated lamely.
"You bet it isn't. Here's my revenge for that attack. Harpie's Pet Dragon, avenge your master!" The giant orange dragon released a stream of flame, and Rex was swallowed by the holographic blaze. He was now only at 1250 life points, so one more attack like that one would finish him off.
"This duel isn't over yet, Mai," Rex groaned. Obviously, the blow had been hard emotionally as well as physically.
"It will be soon."
"But for who? I don't think you can win—especially with what I'm about to do next. I'll activate another magic card called the Shallow Grave. Each of us gets to revive one card in face-down defensive mode."
"So what? I'll revive my Cyber Harpy, to give her pet dragon an extra 300 points of power."
"And I'll revive Kaiser Seahorse. You know, that Serpent Knight wasn't the most powerful card in my deck. But, for this turn, I'll only play a magic card called Nightmare's Steelcage, and set another monster."
"Good. Then I'll only play another Harpy Lady card, and activate the field card Mountain."
"That raises the power of dragons and your Harpies."
"Right. I think you're through."
"Is that so? Well, for this turn, I'll set two cards."
"And I'll play another Elegant Egotist, summoning a third Harpy, giving the Pet Dragon a total of 3200 attack points."
"It won't matter. Your move."
"I'll attack your Kaiser with Harpie's Pet Dragon!"
"And I'll play Shift, changing your attack to target none other than the Magician of Faith!"
"Oh, no!"
"Right. I get my Raigeki card back. Any more foolish attacks?"
"Cyber Harpy, destroy it quickly!"
"Negate Attack blocks that attack. My turn?"
"Yes."
"Good. It's the last turn of this duel!"
"What do you mean?" What can he do that will—oh, no! He got back that Raigeki, and I don't have a way to counter it! He's going to attack my life points—no, wait. His Kaiser Seahorse isn't strong enough to take me out in one shot. And, by next turn, I'll have enough monsters to take him down. My Unfriendly Amazon is more than a match for his monster.
"I play Raigeki!"
"Rex, you realize that your Kaiser Seahorse can't take me out in one hit? So, don't waste your time."
"Who said I'd attack with my Kaiser Seahorse?"
"What? You're going to sacrifice it? But no level five or six monster can take out my life points in one shot. There aren't any that could—"
"But Mai, Cyber-tech Alligator could, because of the Mountain field card you played."
"You're going to summon another of those flying machines?"
"No, Mai. I'm going to sacrifice Kaiser Seahorse for the strongest monster in my deck: the mighty dragon Seiyaryu!"
"That's got too high a level for a one-monster sacrifice!" Yugi called out. Mai had heard that Bandit Keith used one of these against Yugi, so he was the expert here.
"Don't you remember Mai's little trick with the Soul Exchange? Level restrictions are meant to be broken. And I have my Kaiser Seahorse to thank for that."
"What do you mean? Does it have a special effect?"
"Yugi, for the best Duel Monsters player in the world, you sure are clueless. Kaiser Seahorse counts as a double offering for Light monsters, like Blue-eyes White Dragon—and Seiyaryu.
"And it gets the 300 point power boost from the Mountain terrain!"
I have no more monsters; no more traps. Rex has won, and there's no way I can stop him!
Joey watched the match, his emotional state going all over the place like a roller coaster. He'd been angry when Rex attacked Mai directly with that Serpent Night Dragon. He didn't know how Rex had gotten another—he was too far away from the duel to hear the conversation.
He was overjoyed when Mai countered with a direct attack from that Harpie's Pet Dragon. That card almost brought Yugi to defeat, so it would easily overcome Rex Raptor's puny beat-down deck.
Now, he felt horrified, as Rex's rainbow-winged monster roared and prepared to fire its Holy Flame attack.
He wanted to jump out and block the blow, but he couldn't. He stood there, transfixed on the duel. His eyes were glued to the raging fireball in the large beak of the dragon. He gazed on that fireball, as it leapt from the beak of the many-colored dragon, flying past the holographic mountain ranges, and striking Mai Valentine right in the chest.
He could do nothing as she fell to the ground, listened as Rex Raptor gave a triumphant laugh. He was paralyzed, as the entire crowd was. But Joey was paralyzed for a different reason than the spectators. They were just waiting for the conclusion of a duel. To them, Mai's loss meant nothing.
To Joey, it was everything.
How had it happened? He asked himself. How is it that she lost?
Was it that mumbo-jumbo psychic act that gave her the winning edge in her last duel against Rex?
No; it couldn't have been. Mai made it to the Battle City finals! She went head-to-head with Marik Ishtar himself, and only lost because of the Winged Dragon of Ra—a God card. Losing to one of them was as inevitable as death itself. And Mai had almost won that, anyway.
Have to do something, he thought, as Rex moved closer to Mai. All Joey could do was shuffle closer, through the crowd. Rex stood a few feet away from Mai, looking triumphant.
Then Joey saw him pucker his lips, and knew what it was that he had just won.
Oh, no you don't! he thought, leaping out of the crowd in between Rex and Mai, arms spread wide.
"Wheeler? What is the meaning of this?"
"I know what you're after, lame-brain, and you ain't getting it!"
"Get out of my way!" Rex snarled.
"Joey, do it," Mai said from behind him. "A deal's a deal."
Joey turned, not managing to restrain the shock he felt. "But, Mai—"
"I made a bet, and I lost. Here's my locator card," she said, tossing it to Rex, who deftly slipped it into one of his pockets.
"Hey, Rex. How about I take that locator back from you in a duel?"
"What, face you again? Why bother. I beat Mai; I have nothing else to prove."
"How about, if Joey loses, I have to go out on a date with you?"
"What?" Rex's eyes snapped wide open. "You will?"
Both Joey and Yugi stared open-mouthed at her. "You'll agree to that?"
"Yes, I will. But, if he wins, you have to leave me alone, and never so much as talk to me ever again. And our other bet will be called off."
"Fine by me. I'll not only have three locator cards, but I'll have a girlfriend, and have crushed the only duelist to beat me in a fair fight!"
"You think that you can beat me, Rex? Dream on. Espa Roba was a cheater, but he's also a very good duelist. And I wiped the floor with both of you!"
"That's right!" Yugi said. Apparently, he was not all that angry with Joey. But Joey still didn't want to trust the spirit of his Millennium Puzzle. Not yet, at any rate. "You can beat him again!"
"But my record for beating the people who beat me is one and zero. Whereas you've never beaten Yugi or Kaiba."
"I beat Yugi, once," Joey said indignantly.
"Yeah, while you were a brain-washed zombie." Rex laughed. "You don't stand a chance against me!"
"Is that so? I didn't see you at the Battle City finals."
"Mai was there, and I creamed her!"
"But I'm not Mai, am I? She barely lost that one, and would have won, if you didn't have that cheap Kaiser Seahorse card."
"Cheap?"
"Yeah, cheap. I bet you couldn't summon that Seiyaryu without it!"
"I'll show you! Fine, I'll remove it from my deck, and summon Seiyaryu the right way."
Good work! I maneuvered him into removing the one card that could mess this up for me.
"So, why are you boys just standing around?" Mai asked. "Come on, hurry it up. We don't have all day."
"Right," Joey said. And I'm going to win this!
"So, the tournament has begun," the spirit said to his most trusted follower.
"Yes, master. All is going according to plan, so far." Ken was a perfect lackey. He never back-talked; only spoke when he was spoken to, or when he thought his master needed something. Not only was he the perfect worker in his attitudes and tendencies. He also looked very much the part.
Like all of the spirit's followers, he was tall, muscular, wearing a black suit, ray-bans, and a radio headset. They were loyal, easy to control or manipulate with the Millennium Rod, and obedient even without the Item's magic influences. None of them were very bright, but they were wise and independent enough to do their jobs with some ingenuity.
"Really? Who has participated in the first round, as far as our targets go? What about Yugi?"
"Yugi Muto has not participated in any duels as of this time. He appears to be watching a match between Rex Raptor and Mai Valentine—wait! Our watchers say the duel has just ended. Raptor is the winner, and another target—Joey Wheeler—is challenging him."
"What about the others?"
"The Paradox Brothers have challenged a pair of duelists, of unknown names. We have people shadowing them. Weevil Underwood is facing another duelist, and is winning. Seto Kaiba just beat the oldest of Espa Roba's brothers. Mako Tsunami is over at the docks, fishing."
"He learned that the aquarium is not the best place to catch his lunch, did he?" the spirit mused.
"What, master?"
"Nothing, Ken. Keep going."
"Kaiba is challenging another duelist—Espa Roba—at this time."
The spirit nodded. "Good. Send someone to Weevil Underwood. I want to convince him to face his old nemesis Yugi."
"I'll see to it personally, master."
"Keep up the good work, Ken. You know what happens to those who displease me." He pointed to a giant shadow box on the wall. Inside were several blank Duel Monsters cards. A few of them had pictures. One was a girl with shoulder-length brown hair. Another was a boy with his hair combed up in a spike. Tea Gardner and Tristan Taylor, Yugi's friends. The other was a fat, bald man, who used to have Ken's job. They were soul cards—pieces of paper that were the physical embodiments of the souls of those who the spirit had captured with the Millennium Eye's magic.
With a gulp, he uttered one last "Yes, master," and scampered out the door.
The spirit laughed to himself. It felt so good to once again rule over others. He had not felt that feeling for five thousand years. It was once he escaped from Marik Ishtar—taking the man's Millennium Rod with him—that he had the power to assemble a following. But it wasn't enough for him. He needed more power.
And soon he would have it. Soon, he would take the Millennium Puzzle from Yugi Muto and claim all the powers of Yami. He would have all that he desired soon after, when he claimed the remaining three Millennium Items from Ishizu Ishtar and Shadi. And he would do what he failed to do five thousand years ago.
He would rule over this world and the Shadow Realm, for all eternity.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .