Chapter Twelve.
"So this is how it will all end, in the shadows, and now I know what it is to be mortal." Said Zealifo to Zonif.
"It's so cold here." Zonif replied. "How are we supposed to battle in such a place?"
"It's easy for those of us with strong wills." Kaiba said. "Here in the Shadow Realm you must mentally conger you monsters, magics, and traps. The shadows amplify the mental and spiritual energies of each player but it also drains them. If there isn't a clear winner in thirty minutes, or so, then the shadows will consume us all." Everyone with them were horrified.
"Kaiba, we can't do duel this way, it's too dangerous!" Said Yugioh.
"I don't care what you think, Yugi, this duel is my revenge for my losses to you and to these aliens." Kaiba told him. "I plan to make things as difficult for the three of you as possible."
"And what about Mokuba?" Yugioh asked.
"He'll be fine so long as he has his duel disk." Kaiba replied.
"No, I won't." Mokuba said as he removed his duel disk from his arm and kicked out of sight.
"Mokuba what are you doing?" Kaiba demanded.
"Seto, if they're all dueling without Duel disks then so am I." Mokuba replied. He took his deck and laid it on the ground. "This duel is going to be fair."
"If that's what you want, I can't stop you." Kaiba said then hung his head. "So who's first?"
"I'll go first." Said Mokuba. "I'll take Zonif. Yugi, Zealifo's all yours."
"Very well." Replied Yugioh. "But be careful, these two are a powerful team, it might be better if we dueled the two of them together."
"No, I want it this way, one on one." Mokuba told him. "I won't rely on anyone to carry my weight anymore. It's time that I grew up Yugi. I've been a little kid for too long."
"Hmm." Was all that Yugioh could manage. He was proud to be Mokuba's friend just then. He was showing real courage and spirit in the face of insurmountable odds. Zealifo and Zonif seemed unbeatable since they had both already defeated two of the best Duelists in the universe. Ryou, Kaiba, and now it might be that they would defeat The two very best Duelists in all of existence. There was only one way to find out and that was to duel their hardest and have faith in The Heart of The Cards.
-------Scene Break-------
"What does this mean?" Rebecca asked Pegasus on the sidelines.
"It means that Mokuba wants to fight his own battles just as he did before. Don't worry, he can hold his own." Pegasus told her.
-------Scene Break--------
"Let this Shadow Game begin then." Yugioh said. "Mokuba VS Zonif."
"Let's go." Mokuba said and took the field. He drew five cards from the top of his deck and looked at his hand. "I'll start this game off, I play a card face down in defense mode with two cards face down to support it."
"Fine then, now it's my turn." Said Zonif as he drew a card. "I play Grave Keeper's Curse and when he is summoned to the field…well, you know what happens."
"Activate face down card!" Mokuba declared "Trap of Board Eraser, whenever the effect causing me to loose life points is activated, my opponent looses life points instead. And it's a continuous trap so you can't play anymore of your favorite monsters unless you want to loose life points."
"Blast." Said Zonif, "Now I can't use any of my best cards. I still have one card up my sleeve, so to speak. I play the field magic card Necrovalley. This card boosts my Grave Keepers by 500 points so now my Grave Keeper's Curse is 1300 points strong. I attack your face down card."
"Activate Mask of Weakness!" Cried Mokuba and a dark mask automatically attached itself to Zonif's monster. "This card drains 700 points off of your monster's attack points so now he'll be destroyed." Zonif couldn't believe it, this child was thwarting his every move.
"I have no choice but to end my turn." He said as his monster vanished.
"Alright then, now it's my turn, and I play the burning land card. We each take 500 points of direct damage to our life points and your Necrovalley card is destroyed." Mokuba said as he set the card then suddenly he slumped down. "Seto, this is getting harder and harder to do." He told his brother.
"Hang in there Mokuba, you've got him, just keep going on a few more minutes." Kaiba shouted to him.
"It is becoming increasingly harder to breath in this place." Said Zonif. "Zealifo, we don't need air to live, but I can't breath enough, what's happening?"
"We're mortal here in the Shadow Realm." Said Zealifo. "The magic powers of Kaiba's Rod has made this place into a different dimension. We'll all die here unless we finish these games soon." He said, feeling his own neck tightening.
"My turn now." Said Zonif. "I play Tribute To The Doomed which destroys one monster card on the field for the price of one card from my hand." He said and discarded. Mokuba's Masked Dragon was destroyed. "Now I set one card face down on the field and end my turn. Neither of us have monster cards so it's all up to our traps and magics now."
"Fine, but you'd better back up." Mokuba said. "Cause when you destroyed my Masked Dragon you activated his special ability which allowed me to summon this card face up on the field." Suddenly from just behind Mokuba stepped two large Dragon like soldiers. "Go Troop Dragons! Attack his life points."
"Yeah you've got it Mokuba!" Rebecca shouted from the sidelines.
"No he doesn't, not exactly." Said Zonif. "Reveal face down card, Rite of Spirit! I now summon back from the graveyard my Grave Keeper's Chief and he's 1900 points against your pitiful Dragons which are only 700 points." Troop Dragons were destroyed but then two more appeared in face up defense mode as per their special ability.
"Remember Zonif that Mokuba's Troop Dragons have two special abilities, they can summon more of their own kind to the field after they are destroyed and they can be used in summoning monsters which require more than one sacrifice." Zealifo reminded his friend. The Data they had received concerning the cards and their abilities was quite useful when applied.
"That's right." Said Mokuba, "Because these were both special summons from my deck I can use them now to summon a monster from my hand so now I sacrifice my Troop Dragons to summon Luster Dragon #2 with 2400 attack points. But because my Troop Dragons were sent to the Graveyard, I get another set, but these are my last two so I and end my turn."
"I draw." Said Zonif. "Just what I needed." He glared across the field at Mokuba. "I set one card face down and then I equip my Grave Keeper's Chief with The Sword of Dark Destruction. This gives Brings my Grave Keeper up to 2400 points, just like your Dragon and I attack."
"What!" Mokuba couldn't believe it. "You'd sacrifice your own monster to destroy mine?"
"That's right, so you don't loose any life points this round, but just wait until next round." Both Monsters disappeared and then Troop Dragons were all that was left.
"Well, I can at least still attack with these. I should wait though, until I know for sure what that face down card is. NO, I have something better in mind, if I can draw the card I need." Mokuba said to himself. He drew and wonder of wonders he'd drawn the card he needed. "I play Cost down and sacrifice my two Troop Dragons to summon to the field my Serpent Night Dragon." The great creature appeared and then he ordered it to attack.
"Rite of Spirit!" Zonif activated another trap of the same name. He must have more than one in his deck, Mokuba thought as the Grave Keeper's Chief reappeared for a split second on the field. It wasn't on there for long but it was on their long enough to save some of Zonif's life points. He was down to just 1650, another attack from Mokuba's dragon would finish him.
"I have nothing left." Said Zonif to Zealifo. "I have tried to do my best but with that Trap of Board Eraser on the field, I can't do anything to his life points with the cards I have in my deck. I'm afraid that I must forfeit the duel." No one was expecting this of Zonif, not even Zealifo.
"You must do what you think best." Zealifo replied. "My friend is there nothing else you can do?"
"Nothing. I have been bested by this brave young one." Zonif laid his hand over his deck and that was the end of that duel.
"Gosh." Said Mokuba when everyone ran out to congratulate him. "I didn't want a victory so hollow. I wanted to fight an honorable duel." He was very disappointed.
"You were wonderful Mokuba, you gave him no other choice but to give up. You're unstoppable!" Rebecca cheered.
"She's right, you've become a great Duelist in such a short time." Yugioh said to him.
"He's my brother, of course he has." Said Kaiba proudly.
"Now it's time for you and I to duel Yugi." Said Zealifo from across the field. "I hope that you are ready?" He asked.
"I am." Yugioh replied.
"Yami, let's do this." Yugi said.
"Yes." replied Yami and they took the field.
"It's my turn first." Said Zealifo. "Since my team lost the last time around. I Summon the Marauding Captain in attack mode and play two cards face down. Now as per my Captain's special ability I can summon another monster of a level 4 or lower from my hand and I play Getsu Fuhma in attack mode and end my turn."
"Careful Yugi, he's doing you just like he did Kaiba, by playing more than one monster at a time on the field on his first turn!" Pegasus yelled to him.
"Don't worry, I'll handle it." Yugioh assured him. "I just have to have faith in The Heart of The Cards." He drew a card and immediately placed it on the field. "I play one card face down in defense mode and two cards face down to support it."
"Good move, bolstering your defenses, for nothing you do can stand up to the awesome power of my deck." Said Zealifo. "My turn, I draw, and now play Restructer Revolution which inflicts 200 points of damage to your life points for each card in your hand. I count 3 cards in your hand Yugi, so say goodbye to 600 of your life points." Yugioh felt himself weakening as his life points were drained and now he felt that he had to win this duel quickly if they were all going to make it out of there alive. Indeed even Zealifo was feeling the drain on his life force whenever he mentally congerd a card to the field.
"What now?" Yugioh asked.
"I will end my turn. For at the moment nothing I have is powerful enough to attack your Mystical Elf. Is that not the card you have face down on the field?" Zealifo asked.
"How did…?" Yugioh gasped.
"How did I know? I know your deck as well as you know it, Yugi, because I've researched your past duels and I know that whatever you have in your deck, I have something just as powerful." Zealifo said. "I know every card in your deck and I won't let you win like Zelif did."
"It's my move and I draw." Said Yugioh calmly. He'd better think of something fast, he only had a few more minutes to beat Zealifo before the shadows would consume them all. "I play the magic card Graceful Charity and draw three more cards." He said Excellent, he'd drawn his Egyptian God Card again but he could summon it to the field just yet. He would need to sacrifice three monsters, or would he? If he sent Slifer to the graveyard then he could easily summon him back for one turn. "I send two cards to the graveyard and now I play the magic card Monster Reborn!" Yugioh proclaimed, "To summon back to the field Slifer the Sky Dragon!" The great god of the Sky appeared before them with 3000 attack points strong and roared with a terrible sound like unto an earth shattering cry.
"So this is it, my chance to tangle with the gods themselves." Said Zealifo. "I am not worthy of such an honor but I will stand the test." He stood with his monsters and seemed unafraid.
"Go Slifer, attack his weakest monster. Destroy the Marauding Captain!" Yugioh commanded. Slifer roared again and then opened it's mouth wide to blast the 1200 point monster with a ball of energy so massive that when it struck, it destroyed both of Zealifo's monsters and took his life points down to 900. "My turn has ended, so now Slifer goes back to the grave yard, but he'll be back." Yugioh told the Alien.
"Now it's your turn, make your move Zealifo, and make it a good one." Zonif and Zerif cried from the sidelines.
"Is there anything that I can do against the power of the gods?" Zealifo asked himself. "I hadn't counted on him being able to summon Slifer from the grave yard or that he would do so soon. I had assumed that Yugi would want to summon him the usual way by sacrificing three monsters. That, I could have prevented simply by destroying his monsters before he could get three of them on the field. Now I have to find some way of keeping him from being able to summon Slifer from the graveyard." Zealifo thought for a moment. "I draw, and play the continuous magic card, Banner of Courage. This increases the attack of monster on my side of the field by 200 points. Now I summon Freed the Brave Wanderer with 1900 attack points now, thanks to my Banner of Courage."
"I see, then my monster is still stronger than yours, in defense mode, that is." Observed Yugioh.
"For now, but I also equip my monster with the Legendary Sword, which raises his attack point even higher to 2200 points. Now I will attack your Mystical Elf and open you up for an attack to your life points later…" Zealifo began to shake a little and then he collapsed to one knee. "What's happening to me?" He asked, as his body began to fade in and out that reality. "I can hardly manage to stand."
"Kaiba!" Yugioh yelled. "You're killing him! Get us out of here now before it's too late!"
"No." Kaiba refused to budge an inch. "Not until the duel is over." Yugioh gritted his teeth and then turned back to his opponent.
"Are you alright?" He asked Zealifo.
"I am fine." The Alien said as he regained his composure and stood upright again, using all of his strength. "It is hard for me, being that I exist as pure thought, in this place of all places to withstand the shadows. I can manage it though." He lied. He was dieing even as they spoke. "It's still my move and I will attack now." Zealifo's monster drew his sword and charged across the field. It was poised to take Yugioh's monster down but then flipped a trap card face up.
"Mirror Force!" Yugioh shouted and instead of attacking the Mystical Elf, Freed the Brave Wanderer attacked a mirror image of himself. Both were destroyed, leaving Yugioh's Mystical Elf alive and well on the field.
"Blast it!" Cried Zonif from the sidelines. "He's going to loose this turn for sure."
"I draw." Said Yugioh and "I play Jar of Greed. Now I draw two more cards and this one is just the one I need. I play Premature Burial and summon back to the field my ultimate monster, Slifer the Sky Dragon!" Slifer appeared again
"I have no monsters to defend myself with." Said Zealifo. "End this quickly." He pleaded, gasping for air. He was loosing his strength with each passing minute. Yugioh too, for now he was using all his combined mental strength to conger Slifer back to the field.
"I… attack…Slifer, go" He managed. Slifer flew up and over them, then with both his mouths wide open, he roared a great and terrible burst of power. The energy from Slifer's roar knocked Zealifo backwards onto the ground and destroyed the last of his life points." Slowly the shadows began to dissipate and everything returned to normal. "It is finished." Yugioh said then he too collapsed. As Yugioh's friends gathered around him to see if he was alright, the Zorg Council gathered around Zealifo who was also fading from his participation in the shadow game they had just played. Death was upon him and as he lay prostrate on the ground, they wept for him, and indeed all of Zorg was weeping for their fallen leader at that moment as the monitors all around the planet closed in on the arena.
"Yugi." Mokuba begged, "Wake up." And across the field, also, Zealifo's friends pleaded with him not to leave them.
"Fear not my friends." Said he, "I go to a better place than this one. I am not dead, I am simply not here with you any longer. I have fought a good fight and have done my best to keep our honor alive. Zonif, it's up to you now to be the protector of this planet, and to be the voice of caution in the Council."
"I will." Zonif said with tears streaming down his face. "Goodbye my friend." So they all said and then Zealifo's body disappeared, as it was only a creation of his mind to begin with, and the light that was Zealifo rose up into the sky and burst into a brighter light than could be described. It was magnificent and terrible all at once. Then Zealifo faded into a star which shown brightly above the planet as if always to watch over it.
------------Epilogue-------------
"Yugi." Said Zelif as he walked with Yugioh down the corridors of the Pegasus. "Somehow this has all gone wrong."
"Yes." Replied Yugioh. He'd been in the sickbay since the duel and he was quite tired.
"We have honored our word to repair and refuel your ships. There is a planet not far from here, maybe another week away at light speed. It was once very pleasant place to live until it became overgrown and the people became outnumbered by the other creatures who lived there. If you wish that world is yours. There is not left there but empty dwellings and lush forests. I warn you though it is dangerous." Zelif told him.
"I understand. We will not have an easy time claiming it for our own but we will do our best. Tell me though, what animals could live there that would threaten us?" Yugi asked as he came onto the bridge.
"Only great insects which live off of the abundant plant life there. All the flesh eating creatures died out soon after the planet's original populace did." Zelif told him.
"I see." Replied Yugioh. Pegasus looked curiously at Zelif and then got up from his chair to say goodbye to him.
"I thank you for all your help. I hope that the loss of your friend, Zeanifo is not too much of a burden for you. You don't know how sorry I am that Kiaba did this."
"There is nothing to be sad about. We of the Zorg council are immortal. Zeanifo has not died, but gone on to be with the rest of our kind in the stars above us. I will go there someday and so shall there be none of my race left in this plane of existence. That is the way of things." He and Yugioh and Pegasus all shook hands and then Tea came to stand beside Yugioh as he became simple little Yugi Mouto again.
"Goodbye." Zelif turned into an orb of light again and then transported himself through the walls of the ship and back down to the planet where the rest of the Zorg Council and the people they governed were waiting for him. The Zorg Military gave Pegasus and Kaiba's fleets a send off with escort out of the solar system and everything. It was a solemn time for some of them. They still grieved for the death of a good being such as Zeanifo and they would grieve more and more for the hardships that would later befall them as they journey through the stars to another world.
"So this is how it will all end, in the shadows, and now I know what it is to be mortal." Said Zealifo to Zonif.
"It's so cold here." Zonif replied. "How are we supposed to battle in such a place?"
"It's easy for those of us with strong wills." Kaiba said. "Here in the Shadow Realm you must mentally conger you monsters, magics, and traps. The shadows amplify the mental and spiritual energies of each player but it also drains them. If there isn't a clear winner in thirty minutes, or so, then the shadows will consume us all." Everyone with them were horrified.
"Kaiba, we can't do duel this way, it's too dangerous!" Said Yugioh.
"I don't care what you think, Yugi, this duel is my revenge for my losses to you and to these aliens." Kaiba told him. "I plan to make things as difficult for the three of you as possible."
"And what about Mokuba?" Yugioh asked.
"He'll be fine so long as he has his duel disk." Kaiba replied.
"No, I won't." Mokuba said as he removed his duel disk from his arm and kicked out of sight.
"Mokuba what are you doing?" Kaiba demanded.
"Seto, if they're all dueling without Duel disks then so am I." Mokuba replied. He took his deck and laid it on the ground. "This duel is going to be fair."
"If that's what you want, I can't stop you." Kaiba said then hung his head. "So who's first?"
"I'll go first." Said Mokuba. "I'll take Zonif. Yugi, Zealifo's all yours."
"Very well." Replied Yugioh. "But be careful, these two are a powerful team, it might be better if we dueled the two of them together."
"No, I want it this way, one on one." Mokuba told him. "I won't rely on anyone to carry my weight anymore. It's time that I grew up Yugi. I've been a little kid for too long."
"Hmm." Was all that Yugioh could manage. He was proud to be Mokuba's friend just then. He was showing real courage and spirit in the face of insurmountable odds. Zealifo and Zonif seemed unbeatable since they had both already defeated two of the best Duelists in the universe. Ryou, Kaiba, and now it might be that they would defeat The two very best Duelists in all of existence. There was only one way to find out and that was to duel their hardest and have faith in The Heart of The Cards.
-------Scene Break-------
"What does this mean?" Rebecca asked Pegasus on the sidelines.
"It means that Mokuba wants to fight his own battles just as he did before. Don't worry, he can hold his own." Pegasus told her.
-------Scene Break--------
"Let this Shadow Game begin then." Yugioh said. "Mokuba VS Zonif."
"Let's go." Mokuba said and took the field. He drew five cards from the top of his deck and looked at his hand. "I'll start this game off, I play a card face down in defense mode with two cards face down to support it."
"Fine then, now it's my turn." Said Zonif as he drew a card. "I play Grave Keeper's Curse and when he is summoned to the field…well, you know what happens."
"Activate face down card!" Mokuba declared "Trap of Board Eraser, whenever the effect causing me to loose life points is activated, my opponent looses life points instead. And it's a continuous trap so you can't play anymore of your favorite monsters unless you want to loose life points."
"Blast." Said Zonif, "Now I can't use any of my best cards. I still have one card up my sleeve, so to speak. I play the field magic card Necrovalley. This card boosts my Grave Keepers by 500 points so now my Grave Keeper's Curse is 1300 points strong. I attack your face down card."
"Activate Mask of Weakness!" Cried Mokuba and a dark mask automatically attached itself to Zonif's monster. "This card drains 700 points off of your monster's attack points so now he'll be destroyed." Zonif couldn't believe it, this child was thwarting his every move.
"I have no choice but to end my turn." He said as his monster vanished.
"Alright then, now it's my turn, and I play the burning land card. We each take 500 points of direct damage to our life points and your Necrovalley card is destroyed." Mokuba said as he set the card then suddenly he slumped down. "Seto, this is getting harder and harder to do." He told his brother.
"Hang in there Mokuba, you've got him, just keep going on a few more minutes." Kaiba shouted to him.
"It is becoming increasingly harder to breath in this place." Said Zonif. "Zealifo, we don't need air to live, but I can't breath enough, what's happening?"
"We're mortal here in the Shadow Realm." Said Zealifo. "The magic powers of Kaiba's Rod has made this place into a different dimension. We'll all die here unless we finish these games soon." He said, feeling his own neck tightening.
"My turn now." Said Zonif. "I play Tribute To The Doomed which destroys one monster card on the field for the price of one card from my hand." He said and discarded. Mokuba's Masked Dragon was destroyed. "Now I set one card face down on the field and end my turn. Neither of us have monster cards so it's all up to our traps and magics now."
"Fine, but you'd better back up." Mokuba said. "Cause when you destroyed my Masked Dragon you activated his special ability which allowed me to summon this card face up on the field." Suddenly from just behind Mokuba stepped two large Dragon like soldiers. "Go Troop Dragons! Attack his life points."
"Yeah you've got it Mokuba!" Rebecca shouted from the sidelines.
"No he doesn't, not exactly." Said Zonif. "Reveal face down card, Rite of Spirit! I now summon back from the graveyard my Grave Keeper's Chief and he's 1900 points against your pitiful Dragons which are only 700 points." Troop Dragons were destroyed but then two more appeared in face up defense mode as per their special ability.
"Remember Zonif that Mokuba's Troop Dragons have two special abilities, they can summon more of their own kind to the field after they are destroyed and they can be used in summoning monsters which require more than one sacrifice." Zealifo reminded his friend. The Data they had received concerning the cards and their abilities was quite useful when applied.
"That's right." Said Mokuba, "Because these were both special summons from my deck I can use them now to summon a monster from my hand so now I sacrifice my Troop Dragons to summon Luster Dragon #2 with 2400 attack points. But because my Troop Dragons were sent to the Graveyard, I get another set, but these are my last two so I and end my turn."
"I draw." Said Zonif. "Just what I needed." He glared across the field at Mokuba. "I set one card face down and then I equip my Grave Keeper's Chief with The Sword of Dark Destruction. This gives Brings my Grave Keeper up to 2400 points, just like your Dragon and I attack."
"What!" Mokuba couldn't believe it. "You'd sacrifice your own monster to destroy mine?"
"That's right, so you don't loose any life points this round, but just wait until next round." Both Monsters disappeared and then Troop Dragons were all that was left.
"Well, I can at least still attack with these. I should wait though, until I know for sure what that face down card is. NO, I have something better in mind, if I can draw the card I need." Mokuba said to himself. He drew and wonder of wonders he'd drawn the card he needed. "I play Cost down and sacrifice my two Troop Dragons to summon to the field my Serpent Night Dragon." The great creature appeared and then he ordered it to attack.
"Rite of Spirit!" Zonif activated another trap of the same name. He must have more than one in his deck, Mokuba thought as the Grave Keeper's Chief reappeared for a split second on the field. It wasn't on there for long but it was on their long enough to save some of Zonif's life points. He was down to just 1650, another attack from Mokuba's dragon would finish him.
"I have nothing left." Said Zonif to Zealifo. "I have tried to do my best but with that Trap of Board Eraser on the field, I can't do anything to his life points with the cards I have in my deck. I'm afraid that I must forfeit the duel." No one was expecting this of Zonif, not even Zealifo.
"You must do what you think best." Zealifo replied. "My friend is there nothing else you can do?"
"Nothing. I have been bested by this brave young one." Zonif laid his hand over his deck and that was the end of that duel.
"Gosh." Said Mokuba when everyone ran out to congratulate him. "I didn't want a victory so hollow. I wanted to fight an honorable duel." He was very disappointed.
"You were wonderful Mokuba, you gave him no other choice but to give up. You're unstoppable!" Rebecca cheered.
"She's right, you've become a great Duelist in such a short time." Yugioh said to him.
"He's my brother, of course he has." Said Kaiba proudly.
"Now it's time for you and I to duel Yugi." Said Zealifo from across the field. "I hope that you are ready?" He asked.
"I am." Yugioh replied.
"Yami, let's do this." Yugi said.
"Yes." replied Yami and they took the field.
"It's my turn first." Said Zealifo. "Since my team lost the last time around. I Summon the Marauding Captain in attack mode and play two cards face down. Now as per my Captain's special ability I can summon another monster of a level 4 or lower from my hand and I play Getsu Fuhma in attack mode and end my turn."
"Careful Yugi, he's doing you just like he did Kaiba, by playing more than one monster at a time on the field on his first turn!" Pegasus yelled to him.
"Don't worry, I'll handle it." Yugioh assured him. "I just have to have faith in The Heart of The Cards." He drew a card and immediately placed it on the field. "I play one card face down in defense mode and two cards face down to support it."
"Good move, bolstering your defenses, for nothing you do can stand up to the awesome power of my deck." Said Zealifo. "My turn, I draw, and now play Restructer Revolution which inflicts 200 points of damage to your life points for each card in your hand. I count 3 cards in your hand Yugi, so say goodbye to 600 of your life points." Yugioh felt himself weakening as his life points were drained and now he felt that he had to win this duel quickly if they were all going to make it out of there alive. Indeed even Zealifo was feeling the drain on his life force whenever he mentally congerd a card to the field.
"What now?" Yugioh asked.
"I will end my turn. For at the moment nothing I have is powerful enough to attack your Mystical Elf. Is that not the card you have face down on the field?" Zealifo asked.
"How did…?" Yugioh gasped.
"How did I know? I know your deck as well as you know it, Yugi, because I've researched your past duels and I know that whatever you have in your deck, I have something just as powerful." Zealifo said. "I know every card in your deck and I won't let you win like Zelif did."
"It's my move and I draw." Said Yugioh calmly. He'd better think of something fast, he only had a few more minutes to beat Zealifo before the shadows would consume them all. "I play the magic card Graceful Charity and draw three more cards." He said Excellent, he'd drawn his Egyptian God Card again but he could summon it to the field just yet. He would need to sacrifice three monsters, or would he? If he sent Slifer to the graveyard then he could easily summon him back for one turn. "I send two cards to the graveyard and now I play the magic card Monster Reborn!" Yugioh proclaimed, "To summon back to the field Slifer the Sky Dragon!" The great god of the Sky appeared before them with 3000 attack points strong and roared with a terrible sound like unto an earth shattering cry.
"So this is it, my chance to tangle with the gods themselves." Said Zealifo. "I am not worthy of such an honor but I will stand the test." He stood with his monsters and seemed unafraid.
"Go Slifer, attack his weakest monster. Destroy the Marauding Captain!" Yugioh commanded. Slifer roared again and then opened it's mouth wide to blast the 1200 point monster with a ball of energy so massive that when it struck, it destroyed both of Zealifo's monsters and took his life points down to 900. "My turn has ended, so now Slifer goes back to the grave yard, but he'll be back." Yugioh told the Alien.
"Now it's your turn, make your move Zealifo, and make it a good one." Zonif and Zerif cried from the sidelines.
"Is there anything that I can do against the power of the gods?" Zealifo asked himself. "I hadn't counted on him being able to summon Slifer from the grave yard or that he would do so soon. I had assumed that Yugi would want to summon him the usual way by sacrificing three monsters. That, I could have prevented simply by destroying his monsters before he could get three of them on the field. Now I have to find some way of keeping him from being able to summon Slifer from the graveyard." Zealifo thought for a moment. "I draw, and play the continuous magic card, Banner of Courage. This increases the attack of monster on my side of the field by 200 points. Now I summon Freed the Brave Wanderer with 1900 attack points now, thanks to my Banner of Courage."
"I see, then my monster is still stronger than yours, in defense mode, that is." Observed Yugioh.
"For now, but I also equip my monster with the Legendary Sword, which raises his attack point even higher to 2200 points. Now I will attack your Mystical Elf and open you up for an attack to your life points later…" Zealifo began to shake a little and then he collapsed to one knee. "What's happening to me?" He asked, as his body began to fade in and out that reality. "I can hardly manage to stand."
"Kaiba!" Yugioh yelled. "You're killing him! Get us out of here now before it's too late!"
"No." Kaiba refused to budge an inch. "Not until the duel is over." Yugioh gritted his teeth and then turned back to his opponent.
"Are you alright?" He asked Zealifo.
"I am fine." The Alien said as he regained his composure and stood upright again, using all of his strength. "It is hard for me, being that I exist as pure thought, in this place of all places to withstand the shadows. I can manage it though." He lied. He was dieing even as they spoke. "It's still my move and I will attack now." Zealifo's monster drew his sword and charged across the field. It was poised to take Yugioh's monster down but then flipped a trap card face up.
"Mirror Force!" Yugioh shouted and instead of attacking the Mystical Elf, Freed the Brave Wanderer attacked a mirror image of himself. Both were destroyed, leaving Yugioh's Mystical Elf alive and well on the field.
"Blast it!" Cried Zonif from the sidelines. "He's going to loose this turn for sure."
"I draw." Said Yugioh and "I play Jar of Greed. Now I draw two more cards and this one is just the one I need. I play Premature Burial and summon back to the field my ultimate monster, Slifer the Sky Dragon!" Slifer appeared again
"I have no monsters to defend myself with." Said Zealifo. "End this quickly." He pleaded, gasping for air. He was loosing his strength with each passing minute. Yugioh too, for now he was using all his combined mental strength to conger Slifer back to the field.
"I… attack…Slifer, go" He managed. Slifer flew up and over them, then with both his mouths wide open, he roared a great and terrible burst of power. The energy from Slifer's roar knocked Zealifo backwards onto the ground and destroyed the last of his life points." Slowly the shadows began to dissipate and everything returned to normal. "It is finished." Yugioh said then he too collapsed. As Yugioh's friends gathered around him to see if he was alright, the Zorg Council gathered around Zealifo who was also fading from his participation in the shadow game they had just played. Death was upon him and as he lay prostrate on the ground, they wept for him, and indeed all of Zorg was weeping for their fallen leader at that moment as the monitors all around the planet closed in on the arena.
"Yugi." Mokuba begged, "Wake up." And across the field, also, Zealifo's friends pleaded with him not to leave them.
"Fear not my friends." Said he, "I go to a better place than this one. I am not dead, I am simply not here with you any longer. I have fought a good fight and have done my best to keep our honor alive. Zonif, it's up to you now to be the protector of this planet, and to be the voice of caution in the Council."
"I will." Zonif said with tears streaming down his face. "Goodbye my friend." So they all said and then Zealifo's body disappeared, as it was only a creation of his mind to begin with, and the light that was Zealifo rose up into the sky and burst into a brighter light than could be described. It was magnificent and terrible all at once. Then Zealifo faded into a star which shown brightly above the planet as if always to watch over it.
------------Epilogue-------------
"Yugi." Said Zelif as he walked with Yugioh down the corridors of the Pegasus. "Somehow this has all gone wrong."
"Yes." Replied Yugioh. He'd been in the sickbay since the duel and he was quite tired.
"We have honored our word to repair and refuel your ships. There is a planet not far from here, maybe another week away at light speed. It was once very pleasant place to live until it became overgrown and the people became outnumbered by the other creatures who lived there. If you wish that world is yours. There is not left there but empty dwellings and lush forests. I warn you though it is dangerous." Zelif told him.
"I understand. We will not have an easy time claiming it for our own but we will do our best. Tell me though, what animals could live there that would threaten us?" Yugi asked as he came onto the bridge.
"Only great insects which live off of the abundant plant life there. All the flesh eating creatures died out soon after the planet's original populace did." Zelif told him.
"I see." Replied Yugioh. Pegasus looked curiously at Zelif and then got up from his chair to say goodbye to him.
"I thank you for all your help. I hope that the loss of your friend, Zeanifo is not too much of a burden for you. You don't know how sorry I am that Kiaba did this."
"There is nothing to be sad about. We of the Zorg council are immortal. Zeanifo has not died, but gone on to be with the rest of our kind in the stars above us. I will go there someday and so shall there be none of my race left in this plane of existence. That is the way of things." He and Yugioh and Pegasus all shook hands and then Tea came to stand beside Yugioh as he became simple little Yugi Mouto again.
"Goodbye." Zelif turned into an orb of light again and then transported himself through the walls of the ship and back down to the planet where the rest of the Zorg Council and the people they governed were waiting for him. The Zorg Military gave Pegasus and Kaiba's fleets a send off with escort out of the solar system and everything. It was a solemn time for some of them. They still grieved for the death of a good being such as Zeanifo and they would grieve more and more for the hardships that would later befall them as they journey through the stars to another world.