Chapter Nine.
"Well Yami, it's time for yet another Duel Monsters Battle to determine the fate of Humanity. Are you up for it?" Yugi asked the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle.
"I am." Yami replied. "The question is are you?"
"I don't know." Yugi replied. "I don't think that this will be as easy as Kaiba thinks it will be. I'm sure that these Aliens have some sort of trap set for us or something. I don't know, maybe I'm just being paranoid."
"No, it's good that you don't fully trust them, and that's because they have not given us reason to. They're playing games with the fate of an entire race and wagering money on us. I wouldn't call them evil, but they are not what I would a benevolent people." Yami said to his young partner. "I've been around for thousands of years Yugi, I know that things seem hard right now. Even I could not foresee the destruction of our entire planet but I could always foresee that you would be there to guard our people against wrong doing."
"Our people?" Yugi asked.
"Yes, Yugi, our people. As Pharaoh we have a duty to lead our people to the new world and see that humanity gets off to good, new start."
"You're right, Yami. Let's go. YUGIOH!" They merged and Yugioh left his quarters aboard the Pegasus to join the rest of his team aboard the Blue Eyes Two. "Are we ready?" He asked when stepped onto the bridge of the ship.
"We are." Kaiba replied. "Let's go, the Blue Eyes One is fueled up and ready to go. The rest of us will have to wait here and watch the tournament from the view screen though. We have precious little room aboard the Blue Eyes One and that's reserved for our team members."
"And don't forget our Coach." Said Pegasus as he joined them. I'm coming down with you all to see that this Tournament gets off to a good start. After all, someone has to keep an eye on the rules and make sure that everything is done by the book."
"You think that those aliens guys will try to cheat us?" Mokuba asked.
"I don't know, but if they do, I'll be there." Pegasus told them all. "Oh, Rebecca, come here."
"Me?" She walked up to Pegasus and he handed her the cards.
"Take these cards, you'll need them. And that reminds me, here you go Yugi, here are your cards back." He handed Yugioh his cards back and then watched as the two young duelists shuffled their decks for the match.
"Now that all the sentimental crap is over with, lets' go." Kaiba said then lead the team down to the main hatch where the Blue Eyes one was docked. The ship soared down from space and landed in a field outside the Coliseum. There Kaiba, Yugioh, Mokuba, Rebecca, Ryou, Joey, and Mai disembarked for the long walk to the Arena. They trekked across the field for about half a mile then when they reached the Coliseum they were ushered by two armed guards to the Arena where they found opponents waiting for them.
"According to the rules we must give you our names before we begin." Said the First One of the Council. "I am Zelif the Peace Maker." He said in his deep voice.
"I am Zeanif the Star Gazer." Said the Second One.
"I am Zerif the Great Enforcer." Said the Third One.
"I am Zonif the Overseer." Said the Fourth One.
"And I am Zealifo the Destroyer of Armies." Said the Fifth One.
"Let us begin by drawing lots from the numerator." Said Zelif as a great machine rose up from the floor of the Arena. From it several numbers came out into a bowel and each member of the Zorg Council took one. Their numbers were all odd from 1to5. That meant that Yugioh and the other's would be even from 2 to 10.
"Well, I suppose it's our turn." Mokuba said as he went forward. He reached into the bowel and took a number, His was number 2.
"You and I shall face of against one another young one." Said Zeanif. Kaiba went next and drew an 8, then Yogioh who drew a 4, then Ryou who drew 6, then Rebecca who drew 10.
"Excellent, we each have drawn the opponent we have hoped for." Said Zelif. I have draw the corresponding number with yours little Yugi."
"Interesting luck wouldn't you say?" Yugioh asked.
"There was no luck involved, we programmed the numerator to dispense the numbers according to chance." Replied Zeanif. "Come now, on to our game." Zeanif towered over Mokuba as they extended their hands to shake. Zeanif's enormous hand engulfed Mokuba's. Then they went to their respective sides of the arena. "If you don't mind," Zeanif said, "I'll start things off with one card face down in defense mode, and a Magic card, called Hinotoma, which decreases your life points by 500." Mokuba's life point counter went down 500 points as the fire balls appeared and pummeled the ground around him.
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"So, explain to me somethin', how can they summon card with out a Duel Disk?" Joey asked from the sidelines.
"It's really quite simple," Rebecca replied, "Their mental abilities are so far advanced that they can literally conjure up images from their mind; making the Duel Monsters and others as real as you or I."
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"I play Destroyer Golem and lay one card face down," Mokuba said as the huge rock creature appeared. As the Golem's feet stomped on the ground, the arena shook as if the very ground beneath it was about to give way.
"Impressive, child," Zeanif said, "But now it is my turn, and I draw one card." The card flew from the deck to his hand. He glanced at it, then declared, "I will lay this one face down and play another Magic card. Ookazi, which takes 800 of your life points." A ring of fire erupted around Mokuba, and the boy covered his mouth to keep form inhaling smoke. When the flames died down, it was Mokuba's turn. His life point counter was 800 points shorter.
"This will get the job done," Mokuba said, "I sacrifice Destroyer Golem to call Enraged Muka Muka." The disgusting smoldering creature replaced the Golem immediately.
"You sacrifice a strong monster for a weaker one?" Zeanif asked.
"It's stronger than you think," Mokuba said, "Because My Muka Muka gets 400 points per card in my hand. Now I play Jar of greed, making my monster stronger still." Muka Muka's points increased to 2400 as Mokuba drew his card. Then the boy smiled, and said, "Now, I'll attack your face down card!" Muka Muka's belly enlarged, glowing red, then, the creature open it's jaws, and spewed molten lava at Zeanif's card.
"You've activated my trap," Zeanif said calmly- very differently from the shouts and yells most other duelists ever made- then he said, "As well as the effect of my face down card. I discard the two cards in my hand to the graveyard to inflict 800 points direct damage to you. And next, my trap card, will inflict 500 points direct damage to you for the Fire monster you destroyed. And it will continue to do so for every one of my Fire monsters you destroy."
Mokuba was hit with a barrage of fire and smoke as his life points plummeted.
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"Oh no!" cried Rebecca, "Mokuba's down to 1400! Come on, sweety! You can beat him!"
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"Mokuba wiped the soot off of his blushing face, and drew a card. "I lay a card facedown, and atack your life points with Muka Muka!" the boy declared. The monster's belly swelled and shot out lava again, this time covering Zeanif from head to toe. Everyone gasped, but then suddenly the lava hardened and broke apart. Zeanif emerged, his skin burned, and his life points dropped until it was almost equal with Mokuba's.
"My turn, child," Zeanif said, drawing a card. He laid a card face down, but before he ended his turn, Mokuba unveiled his trap.
"I play the Trap card, Gift of the Mystical Elf!" Suddenly, the beautiful Mystical Elf appeared before them, and she began to murmur an ancient tongue. Then, a whirlwind of magic swirled around Mokuba, and his life went up. "I get 300 life points per monster on the field. Now, it's my turn." Mokuba drew a card, and said, "Now, I remove Destoyer Golem from play to summon Gigantes in attack mode!" Immediately a creature with a horn on it's brow and blood red skin appeared, and it roared with great fury. "I attack your face down monster with Muka, and your life points with Gigantes. Go guys!" Mokuba commanded. Muka spewed more lava over the facedown card, but even as Mokuba's life points dropped 500, Gigantes ran forward, and using the trunk of a tree, it hurled Zeanif back against the wall. His life points dropped to zero, and Mokuba's friends all cheered.
"I won!" Mokuba cheered. "I actually won!"
"Oh Mokuba, I'm so proud!" Rebecca cried as she threw her arms around him.
"Pretty good there, squirt," Joey said, patting Mokuba on the back.
"Have you forgotten?" Zeanif croaked as he struggled to rise. "You have not won the full challenge yet. There are still four more of my fellow counsel men to face. I may not have been a fitting adversary for you, but that does not mean that they are any easier to defeat."
"Yeah, yeah, keep talkin' buddy," Joey said. "Mokuba cleaned your clock."
"Well, to be fair, guys, they are just beginners." Mokuba said.
"Which means the others don't stand a chance against Yugi or your brother," Rebecca said.
"Boast while you can," Zeanif said, "It will be your undoing."
"Yeah right, my little brother is the least experienced of us and he beat you. We're ready for anything that the five of you throw at us." Kaiba boasted.
"Then on to the next match." Said Zelif. "I believe I drew the number 3 and the one called Yugi drew the number 4."
"I did." Yugioh replied. "Let us begin." He and Zelif walked out to the center of the Arena and shook hands then as one of the guards helped Zeanif away to the side likes, they took up their stations on opposite sides of the field. "Because our team won the last round, you can go first."
"Excellent." Zelif drew five cards and looked at his hand. Not bad, he thought, he'd drawn several of the cards he would need but he would have to wait to use them. "I'll play Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness in attack mode and play one more card face down to support it. Now I also play Umi, which increases the attack of my monster by 200 points, and end my turn."
"Fine." Yugioh looked at the hands he had drawn. The heart of the cards was guiding him again and he could feel the power in his deck. "I play Celtic Guardian in attack mode, and now I play one card face down. I end my turn."
"Predictable." Zelif said. "You think to trick me into not attacking. Your face down card may indeed be a trap but I doubt that it will hurt me. You think on multiple levels Yugi, and therefore brilliant but I too think on multiple levels and I researched you deck before I came to this Arena. I wanted to face you and find out for myself just how good you really are. Now I see, you are as I hoped you would be. But as I said, you are still being too predictable. Playing a lesser monster against a superior one can only mean you wish me to attack but I would think better and therefore not. That would have been logical. I will, however, attack your monster and trigger your trap. Go my Sea Serpent, attack his Celtic Guardian!"
The monsters moved to battle one another but in the end, the Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness proved the stronger monster and Yugi's trap was activated.
"Solemn wishes is activated." Yugioh said. "Now when I draw a card my life points will increase. And though I loose 600 points from your attack, I will gain 500 back on my turn."
"Clever move, but it will not save you, and I can see this card's effect is doubled by two cards in your deck. Can you draw them though?" Zelif asked.
"We shall see." Yugioh replied as he drew a card. His life points went back up five hundred points and then he saw his opportunity. "I play Graceful Charity and draw three cards from my deck." What luck Yugioh thought as he beheld the cards he'd just drawn. He'd drawn Pot of Greed and his Egyptian God Card, Slifer The Sky Dragon. "Now I must discard two cards from my hand." He said. "And I play Pot of greed." His life points had already gone up 1500 points before now they went up another 1000 as he drew two more cards from his deck. "Now I will removed Mystical Elf and Feral Imp from play to summon the Chaos Sorcerer!"The black clad sorcerer appeared and with 2300 attack points he was more than a match for Zelif's Sea Serpent who only had 2000.
"Very interesting move." Zelif said as his monster was dispatched with. "But you have activated my face down card. Torrential Tribute! This card destroys all face up monsters on the field." A tidal wave overwhelmed Yugioh's Chaos Sorcerer and destroyed him. "And now it is my turn." Zelif drew his card. He was presenting a more formidable opposition than either Yugi or Yami, or any of them had expected. Yugioh had to keep both of his minds focused though. He would wait while Zelif made his move. "I play the Giant Red Sea Snake in Attack mode and strike your life points with 2000 points of attack!" He declared.
Yugioh's life points plummeted down to 4400. Neither of them had gone down below the 4000 mark and it looked that this would be a longer and more drawn out duel indeed. Unless of course he could use the cards in his hand to summon his Egyptian God Card.
"Interesting move wouldn't you say, now I play one more card face down." Now Zelif was being boastful.
"My turn." Yugioh said as he drew a card his life points went up. "Ameba , no help there, the controller of this card loses life points. I can however summon this monster." Yugioh said as laid down a magic card called Premature Burial. "Feral Imp returns to my side of the field and all it costs me is 800 life points.. Now I also play Monster Reborn to bring back your Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness. He's my monster now." Yugioh said as the two monsters appeared. "Now one more magic card and I'll have all the monsters I need. The Shallow Grave Card allows both of us to summon a monster from our graveyards, but since I've already summoned your only monster from your graveyard…"
"Yes I know, I don't have any to summon. Very nicely done." Zelif said.
"I have three monsters on the field and now I can sacrifice them all." Yugioh said. "I play my Egyptian God Card. Slifer the Sky Dragon!" The ground rumbled and the planet shook as lightning appeared in the sky above. From the clouds descended a great monster. The Sky Dragon of the gods. Slifer had been summoned to the field and he had 2000 attack points, the same as Zelif's monster.
"I am impressed." Zelif told Yugioh. "But as I said before, predictable." "What?" Yugioh exclaimed.
"Yes, I have a card face down on the field which should handle your monster. It's a quick play magic card called Big Wave Small Wave. What that does is it allows me to destroy both our monsters on the field and then I can summon one monster from my hand." Yugioh gasped as two waves covered the field and took both Slifer and the Red Sea Snake away and in their place was new creature clad in Armor made entirely of Ice appeared. "Meet Mobius the Frost Monarch, and he has 2400 attack points plus Umi, which makes for a total of 2600 attack points which on my turn, you'll feel the wrath of." Yugioh had not choice, he had to end his turn.
"It's your turn now Zelif, but I am not so easily defeated."
"As I've seen from the date collected from your past duels. I certainly hope so because to tell you the truth Yugi, I would love to be able to help your people. I would hope that you could win this duel and the tournament so that we can work together to save your people. That is why I am called the Peace Maker."
"I see, then you bare me no ill will." Yugioh observed.
"No, I do not, but I do expect an honorable duel from you. It's my turn and I draw one card. I equip Mobius with The Power of Kaishin." A silver trident appeared in the monster's icy palm and he gripped tightly as his attack points rose to 2900. "Now Yugi, I will attack you." Mobius went forth, gliding on a sheet of ice towards Yugioh and attacked him directly. His life points when down to 1200 and Mobius retreated to the other side of the field. "I end my turn." Zelif said then.
"I draw." Yugioh said, panting. His life points rose to 1700 but with nothing to protect his life points he would loose on the turn after this. "I have to play this card face down in defense mode or I'll loose." He said. "And this card face down."
"If that is your turn, then so be it." Zelif said and drew his next card. "Mystical Space Typhoon, this could win me the duel right now, but do I really want that?" He asked himself. "No, I must give Yugi another chance." He decided. "I will attack you head on!" Zelif declared. "Mobius, attack his face down monster!"
"Not so fast!" Yugioh cried. "Reveal face down card, Magical Hats!" Over his monster appeared a single hat which then multiplied into four hats. "Now you must guess under which hat my creature lays."
"Now this is interesting. I've actually been hoping that you would use this strategy. Which hat do I choose?" Zelif looked at them all and wondered. "The one of the far left." He said. "Mobius, attack!" The Frost Monarch went forwards again and struck at the hat on the far left which in the end turned out to be empty. "You're safe for now." He said. Yugioh sighed a great sigh of relief. Magical hats had saved him again.
"Now it is my turn again." Yugioh said then drew. His life points went up from 1700 to 2200, that was encouraging. Black Luster Ritual was the card he drew and so he ended his turn. Zelif drew a card then took his next turn. Again the hat he chose was empty. Yugioh's turn again.
"Yami, this is probably the hardest duel we've ever fought." Yugi said to the Spirit in his mind.
"Yes, but we can win, if we let the heart of the cards guide us." Yami replied. "I think we can win though, we've just drawn Buster Blader. He is exactly the card we need to summon one of our strongest monsters."
"Yes, but can we do it?" Yugi asked.
"We can." Yami replied. "I place one card down on the field and end my turn." Said Yugioh.
"What are you planning my young friend?" Zelif asked as he drew his card. "I think that I shall start by increasing my monster's defense." He said and placed another equip magic card on the field. "Rod of Silence. And now I attack the hat on the right." Again he was wrong and it was Yugioh's turn." He gained another 500 life points with this drawing of a card from his deck and then he had what he needed. He just had to wait to summon it.
"I'll spring my trap now!" Yugioh declared. "Or rather I should say my magic card. Mystic Box!" The box appeared around the last hat and then another box appeared on Zelif's side of the field, around Mobius.
"I see, so you destroy my monster but give me control of the one you had. Is that correct?" He asked.
"That is true, Zelif, you get control over Ameba!" The small single celled organism appeared larger than life on Zelif's side of the field and when it was flipped face up, as per Ameba's special ability, Zelif lost 2000 life points.
"Very well played." He said to Yugioh. "And now finish me." He threw his cards aside and opened his arms wide to receive Yugioh's next move.
"I play Black Luster Ritual and sacrifice from my hand Buster Blader, to summon forth the Black Luster Soldier in attack mode to destroy Ameba and the rest of your life points!" Black Luster Soldier appeared from the darkness and with his curved blade he went forth and sliced through Ameba straight through to Zelif's life points which dropped down to 0. Zelif laughed heartily and thought of how he could have won if only he'd played one card.
"Never mind though," He said to himself. "Yugi, you played an excellent game. I believe that someone has won a great deal of currency off of you."
"You were the one who placed the bet on me?" Yugioh asked.
"I was." Zelif said. "I am proud to say that I did."
"Then did you…"
"Never you mind what I did. I played a good game and learned a lot from watching you play. You never gave up and never lost hope. That is the mark of a true sportsman." Zelif walked over to Yugioh's side of the field and extended his hand one more time. "I'm proud to have dueled against you."
"Thank you." Yugioh replied and they shook hands as friends.
---------Author's Note-----------
This might be the last chapter for a few weeks, so review while you can!
"Well Yami, it's time for yet another Duel Monsters Battle to determine the fate of Humanity. Are you up for it?" Yugi asked the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle.
"I am." Yami replied. "The question is are you?"
"I don't know." Yugi replied. "I don't think that this will be as easy as Kaiba thinks it will be. I'm sure that these Aliens have some sort of trap set for us or something. I don't know, maybe I'm just being paranoid."
"No, it's good that you don't fully trust them, and that's because they have not given us reason to. They're playing games with the fate of an entire race and wagering money on us. I wouldn't call them evil, but they are not what I would a benevolent people." Yami said to his young partner. "I've been around for thousands of years Yugi, I know that things seem hard right now. Even I could not foresee the destruction of our entire planet but I could always foresee that you would be there to guard our people against wrong doing."
"Our people?" Yugi asked.
"Yes, Yugi, our people. As Pharaoh we have a duty to lead our people to the new world and see that humanity gets off to good, new start."
"You're right, Yami. Let's go. YUGIOH!" They merged and Yugioh left his quarters aboard the Pegasus to join the rest of his team aboard the Blue Eyes Two. "Are we ready?" He asked when stepped onto the bridge of the ship.
"We are." Kaiba replied. "Let's go, the Blue Eyes One is fueled up and ready to go. The rest of us will have to wait here and watch the tournament from the view screen though. We have precious little room aboard the Blue Eyes One and that's reserved for our team members."
"And don't forget our Coach." Said Pegasus as he joined them. I'm coming down with you all to see that this Tournament gets off to a good start. After all, someone has to keep an eye on the rules and make sure that everything is done by the book."
"You think that those aliens guys will try to cheat us?" Mokuba asked.
"I don't know, but if they do, I'll be there." Pegasus told them all. "Oh, Rebecca, come here."
"Me?" She walked up to Pegasus and he handed her the cards.
"Take these cards, you'll need them. And that reminds me, here you go Yugi, here are your cards back." He handed Yugioh his cards back and then watched as the two young duelists shuffled their decks for the match.
"Now that all the sentimental crap is over with, lets' go." Kaiba said then lead the team down to the main hatch where the Blue Eyes one was docked. The ship soared down from space and landed in a field outside the Coliseum. There Kaiba, Yugioh, Mokuba, Rebecca, Ryou, Joey, and Mai disembarked for the long walk to the Arena. They trekked across the field for about half a mile then when they reached the Coliseum they were ushered by two armed guards to the Arena where they found opponents waiting for them.
"According to the rules we must give you our names before we begin." Said the First One of the Council. "I am Zelif the Peace Maker." He said in his deep voice.
"I am Zeanif the Star Gazer." Said the Second One.
"I am Zerif the Great Enforcer." Said the Third One.
"I am Zonif the Overseer." Said the Fourth One.
"And I am Zealifo the Destroyer of Armies." Said the Fifth One.
"Let us begin by drawing lots from the numerator." Said Zelif as a great machine rose up from the floor of the Arena. From it several numbers came out into a bowel and each member of the Zorg Council took one. Their numbers were all odd from 1to5. That meant that Yugioh and the other's would be even from 2 to 10.
"Well, I suppose it's our turn." Mokuba said as he went forward. He reached into the bowel and took a number, His was number 2.
"You and I shall face of against one another young one." Said Zeanif. Kaiba went next and drew an 8, then Yogioh who drew a 4, then Ryou who drew 6, then Rebecca who drew 10.
"Excellent, we each have drawn the opponent we have hoped for." Said Zelif. I have draw the corresponding number with yours little Yugi."
"Interesting luck wouldn't you say?" Yugioh asked.
"There was no luck involved, we programmed the numerator to dispense the numbers according to chance." Replied Zeanif. "Come now, on to our game." Zeanif towered over Mokuba as they extended their hands to shake. Zeanif's enormous hand engulfed Mokuba's. Then they went to their respective sides of the arena. "If you don't mind," Zeanif said, "I'll start things off with one card face down in defense mode, and a Magic card, called Hinotoma, which decreases your life points by 500." Mokuba's life point counter went down 500 points as the fire balls appeared and pummeled the ground around him.
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"So, explain to me somethin', how can they summon card with out a Duel Disk?" Joey asked from the sidelines.
"It's really quite simple," Rebecca replied, "Their mental abilities are so far advanced that they can literally conjure up images from their mind; making the Duel Monsters and others as real as you or I."
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"I play Destroyer Golem and lay one card face down," Mokuba said as the huge rock creature appeared. As the Golem's feet stomped on the ground, the arena shook as if the very ground beneath it was about to give way.
"Impressive, child," Zeanif said, "But now it is my turn, and I draw one card." The card flew from the deck to his hand. He glanced at it, then declared, "I will lay this one face down and play another Magic card. Ookazi, which takes 800 of your life points." A ring of fire erupted around Mokuba, and the boy covered his mouth to keep form inhaling smoke. When the flames died down, it was Mokuba's turn. His life point counter was 800 points shorter.
"This will get the job done," Mokuba said, "I sacrifice Destroyer Golem to call Enraged Muka Muka." The disgusting smoldering creature replaced the Golem immediately.
"You sacrifice a strong monster for a weaker one?" Zeanif asked.
"It's stronger than you think," Mokuba said, "Because My Muka Muka gets 400 points per card in my hand. Now I play Jar of greed, making my monster stronger still." Muka Muka's points increased to 2400 as Mokuba drew his card. Then the boy smiled, and said, "Now, I'll attack your face down card!" Muka Muka's belly enlarged, glowing red, then, the creature open it's jaws, and spewed molten lava at Zeanif's card.
"You've activated my trap," Zeanif said calmly- very differently from the shouts and yells most other duelists ever made- then he said, "As well as the effect of my face down card. I discard the two cards in my hand to the graveyard to inflict 800 points direct damage to you. And next, my trap card, will inflict 500 points direct damage to you for the Fire monster you destroyed. And it will continue to do so for every one of my Fire monsters you destroy."
Mokuba was hit with a barrage of fire and smoke as his life points plummeted.
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"Oh no!" cried Rebecca, "Mokuba's down to 1400! Come on, sweety! You can beat him!"
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"Mokuba wiped the soot off of his blushing face, and drew a card. "I lay a card facedown, and atack your life points with Muka Muka!" the boy declared. The monster's belly swelled and shot out lava again, this time covering Zeanif from head to toe. Everyone gasped, but then suddenly the lava hardened and broke apart. Zeanif emerged, his skin burned, and his life points dropped until it was almost equal with Mokuba's.
"My turn, child," Zeanif said, drawing a card. He laid a card face down, but before he ended his turn, Mokuba unveiled his trap.
"I play the Trap card, Gift of the Mystical Elf!" Suddenly, the beautiful Mystical Elf appeared before them, and she began to murmur an ancient tongue. Then, a whirlwind of magic swirled around Mokuba, and his life went up. "I get 300 life points per monster on the field. Now, it's my turn." Mokuba drew a card, and said, "Now, I remove Destoyer Golem from play to summon Gigantes in attack mode!" Immediately a creature with a horn on it's brow and blood red skin appeared, and it roared with great fury. "I attack your face down monster with Muka, and your life points with Gigantes. Go guys!" Mokuba commanded. Muka spewed more lava over the facedown card, but even as Mokuba's life points dropped 500, Gigantes ran forward, and using the trunk of a tree, it hurled Zeanif back against the wall. His life points dropped to zero, and Mokuba's friends all cheered.
"I won!" Mokuba cheered. "I actually won!"
"Oh Mokuba, I'm so proud!" Rebecca cried as she threw her arms around him.
"Pretty good there, squirt," Joey said, patting Mokuba on the back.
"Have you forgotten?" Zeanif croaked as he struggled to rise. "You have not won the full challenge yet. There are still four more of my fellow counsel men to face. I may not have been a fitting adversary for you, but that does not mean that they are any easier to defeat."
"Yeah, yeah, keep talkin' buddy," Joey said. "Mokuba cleaned your clock."
"Well, to be fair, guys, they are just beginners." Mokuba said.
"Which means the others don't stand a chance against Yugi or your brother," Rebecca said.
"Boast while you can," Zeanif said, "It will be your undoing."
"Yeah right, my little brother is the least experienced of us and he beat you. We're ready for anything that the five of you throw at us." Kaiba boasted.
"Then on to the next match." Said Zelif. "I believe I drew the number 3 and the one called Yugi drew the number 4."
"I did." Yugioh replied. "Let us begin." He and Zelif walked out to the center of the Arena and shook hands then as one of the guards helped Zeanif away to the side likes, they took up their stations on opposite sides of the field. "Because our team won the last round, you can go first."
"Excellent." Zelif drew five cards and looked at his hand. Not bad, he thought, he'd drawn several of the cards he would need but he would have to wait to use them. "I'll play Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness in attack mode and play one more card face down to support it. Now I also play Umi, which increases the attack of my monster by 200 points, and end my turn."
"Fine." Yugioh looked at the hands he had drawn. The heart of the cards was guiding him again and he could feel the power in his deck. "I play Celtic Guardian in attack mode, and now I play one card face down. I end my turn."
"Predictable." Zelif said. "You think to trick me into not attacking. Your face down card may indeed be a trap but I doubt that it will hurt me. You think on multiple levels Yugi, and therefore brilliant but I too think on multiple levels and I researched you deck before I came to this Arena. I wanted to face you and find out for myself just how good you really are. Now I see, you are as I hoped you would be. But as I said, you are still being too predictable. Playing a lesser monster against a superior one can only mean you wish me to attack but I would think better and therefore not. That would have been logical. I will, however, attack your monster and trigger your trap. Go my Sea Serpent, attack his Celtic Guardian!"
The monsters moved to battle one another but in the end, the Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness proved the stronger monster and Yugi's trap was activated.
"Solemn wishes is activated." Yugioh said. "Now when I draw a card my life points will increase. And though I loose 600 points from your attack, I will gain 500 back on my turn."
"Clever move, but it will not save you, and I can see this card's effect is doubled by two cards in your deck. Can you draw them though?" Zelif asked.
"We shall see." Yugioh replied as he drew a card. His life points went back up five hundred points and then he saw his opportunity. "I play Graceful Charity and draw three cards from my deck." What luck Yugioh thought as he beheld the cards he'd just drawn. He'd drawn Pot of Greed and his Egyptian God Card, Slifer The Sky Dragon. "Now I must discard two cards from my hand." He said. "And I play Pot of greed." His life points had already gone up 1500 points before now they went up another 1000 as he drew two more cards from his deck. "Now I will removed Mystical Elf and Feral Imp from play to summon the Chaos Sorcerer!"The black clad sorcerer appeared and with 2300 attack points he was more than a match for Zelif's Sea Serpent who only had 2000.
"Very interesting move." Zelif said as his monster was dispatched with. "But you have activated my face down card. Torrential Tribute! This card destroys all face up monsters on the field." A tidal wave overwhelmed Yugioh's Chaos Sorcerer and destroyed him. "And now it is my turn." Zelif drew his card. He was presenting a more formidable opposition than either Yugi or Yami, or any of them had expected. Yugioh had to keep both of his minds focused though. He would wait while Zelif made his move. "I play the Giant Red Sea Snake in Attack mode and strike your life points with 2000 points of attack!" He declared.
Yugioh's life points plummeted down to 4400. Neither of them had gone down below the 4000 mark and it looked that this would be a longer and more drawn out duel indeed. Unless of course he could use the cards in his hand to summon his Egyptian God Card.
"Interesting move wouldn't you say, now I play one more card face down." Now Zelif was being boastful.
"My turn." Yugioh said as he drew a card his life points went up. "Ameba , no help there, the controller of this card loses life points. I can however summon this monster." Yugioh said as laid down a magic card called Premature Burial. "Feral Imp returns to my side of the field and all it costs me is 800 life points.. Now I also play Monster Reborn to bring back your Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness. He's my monster now." Yugioh said as the two monsters appeared. "Now one more magic card and I'll have all the monsters I need. The Shallow Grave Card allows both of us to summon a monster from our graveyards, but since I've already summoned your only monster from your graveyard…"
"Yes I know, I don't have any to summon. Very nicely done." Zelif said.
"I have three monsters on the field and now I can sacrifice them all." Yugioh said. "I play my Egyptian God Card. Slifer the Sky Dragon!" The ground rumbled and the planet shook as lightning appeared in the sky above. From the clouds descended a great monster. The Sky Dragon of the gods. Slifer had been summoned to the field and he had 2000 attack points, the same as Zelif's monster.
"I am impressed." Zelif told Yugioh. "But as I said before, predictable." "What?" Yugioh exclaimed.
"Yes, I have a card face down on the field which should handle your monster. It's a quick play magic card called Big Wave Small Wave. What that does is it allows me to destroy both our monsters on the field and then I can summon one monster from my hand." Yugioh gasped as two waves covered the field and took both Slifer and the Red Sea Snake away and in their place was new creature clad in Armor made entirely of Ice appeared. "Meet Mobius the Frost Monarch, and he has 2400 attack points plus Umi, which makes for a total of 2600 attack points which on my turn, you'll feel the wrath of." Yugioh had not choice, he had to end his turn.
"It's your turn now Zelif, but I am not so easily defeated."
"As I've seen from the date collected from your past duels. I certainly hope so because to tell you the truth Yugi, I would love to be able to help your people. I would hope that you could win this duel and the tournament so that we can work together to save your people. That is why I am called the Peace Maker."
"I see, then you bare me no ill will." Yugioh observed.
"No, I do not, but I do expect an honorable duel from you. It's my turn and I draw one card. I equip Mobius with The Power of Kaishin." A silver trident appeared in the monster's icy palm and he gripped tightly as his attack points rose to 2900. "Now Yugi, I will attack you." Mobius went forth, gliding on a sheet of ice towards Yugioh and attacked him directly. His life points when down to 1200 and Mobius retreated to the other side of the field. "I end my turn." Zelif said then.
"I draw." Yugioh said, panting. His life points rose to 1700 but with nothing to protect his life points he would loose on the turn after this. "I have to play this card face down in defense mode or I'll loose." He said. "And this card face down."
"If that is your turn, then so be it." Zelif said and drew his next card. "Mystical Space Typhoon, this could win me the duel right now, but do I really want that?" He asked himself. "No, I must give Yugi another chance." He decided. "I will attack you head on!" Zelif declared. "Mobius, attack his face down monster!"
"Not so fast!" Yugioh cried. "Reveal face down card, Magical Hats!" Over his monster appeared a single hat which then multiplied into four hats. "Now you must guess under which hat my creature lays."
"Now this is interesting. I've actually been hoping that you would use this strategy. Which hat do I choose?" Zelif looked at them all and wondered. "The one of the far left." He said. "Mobius, attack!" The Frost Monarch went forwards again and struck at the hat on the far left which in the end turned out to be empty. "You're safe for now." He said. Yugioh sighed a great sigh of relief. Magical hats had saved him again.
"Now it is my turn again." Yugioh said then drew. His life points went up from 1700 to 2200, that was encouraging. Black Luster Ritual was the card he drew and so he ended his turn. Zelif drew a card then took his next turn. Again the hat he chose was empty. Yugioh's turn again.
"Yami, this is probably the hardest duel we've ever fought." Yugi said to the Spirit in his mind.
"Yes, but we can win, if we let the heart of the cards guide us." Yami replied. "I think we can win though, we've just drawn Buster Blader. He is exactly the card we need to summon one of our strongest monsters."
"Yes, but can we do it?" Yugi asked.
"We can." Yami replied. "I place one card down on the field and end my turn." Said Yugioh.
"What are you planning my young friend?" Zelif asked as he drew his card. "I think that I shall start by increasing my monster's defense." He said and placed another equip magic card on the field. "Rod of Silence. And now I attack the hat on the right." Again he was wrong and it was Yugioh's turn." He gained another 500 life points with this drawing of a card from his deck and then he had what he needed. He just had to wait to summon it.
"I'll spring my trap now!" Yugioh declared. "Or rather I should say my magic card. Mystic Box!" The box appeared around the last hat and then another box appeared on Zelif's side of the field, around Mobius.
"I see, so you destroy my monster but give me control of the one you had. Is that correct?" He asked.
"That is true, Zelif, you get control over Ameba!" The small single celled organism appeared larger than life on Zelif's side of the field and when it was flipped face up, as per Ameba's special ability, Zelif lost 2000 life points.
"Very well played." He said to Yugioh. "And now finish me." He threw his cards aside and opened his arms wide to receive Yugioh's next move.
"I play Black Luster Ritual and sacrifice from my hand Buster Blader, to summon forth the Black Luster Soldier in attack mode to destroy Ameba and the rest of your life points!" Black Luster Soldier appeared from the darkness and with his curved blade he went forth and sliced through Ameba straight through to Zelif's life points which dropped down to 0. Zelif laughed heartily and thought of how he could have won if only he'd played one card.
"Never mind though," He said to himself. "Yugi, you played an excellent game. I believe that someone has won a great deal of currency off of you."
"You were the one who placed the bet on me?" Yugioh asked.
"I was." Zelif said. "I am proud to say that I did."
"Then did you…"
"Never you mind what I did. I played a good game and learned a lot from watching you play. You never gave up and never lost hope. That is the mark of a true sportsman." Zelif walked over to Yugioh's side of the field and extended his hand one more time. "I'm proud to have dueled against you."
"Thank you." Yugioh replied and they shook hands as friends.
---------Author's Note-----------
This might be the last chapter for a few weeks, so review while you can!