Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh. Nor do I own the characters in this story.
Author's Notes:
Having read several Yu-gi-oh stories on this site, I am a bit apprehensive about this chapter. I've tried my best to make the duel as exciting and easy to follow as possible.
I also have a more understanding view of why authors take so long to publish chapters. My favorite fanfics have been really slow as of late, like once a month, and it was really starting to tick me off. Now I understand more of how much work it takes to put these things together. So to all of you that I ever silently grumbled at, I am sorry.
Oh, and for whomever it was that commented on the last chapter's title, it wasn't talking about Yami and Tiffany.
P.S. I've retyped this chapter twice to fix the bugs and show the duel like I've been doing in other chapters.
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Chapter 7: Power Unleashed
The tournament progressed quickly. Tiffany won the next four duels with very little help from me. I was starting to feel very good about our situation.
So was Tiffany. The duels had cheered her up tremendously. She had almost forgotten about Maximus and his henchman that was in the tournament.
After she had defeated her final opponent, Tiffany began looking around for people she might know. She saw a couple of boys from her school, but she didn't know them very well. There was no one from Snake Eyes except her.
I was afraid Tiffany was going to start feeling lonely, but her spirits stayed high. She found Bakura playing a game against a boy with a Water-Theme deck and cheered for him. Bakura won the match, much to Tiffany's delight.
Shortly after she had finished congratulating him, a man in a black suit and tie began speaking in a megaphone. He was holding a clipboard in his other hand so that he could read it while he held the megaphone. I recognized him as one of the officiators for the tournament.
"Alright everyone, listen up," said the official. "There are eight people left in the tournament. I'll call out the first pairs, so pay attention to who you'll be dueling. The first pair is Tiffany and Chase. Please proceed to Table One."
Tiffany and her opponent sat down on opposite ends of the table. "Would you like to go first?" she asked.
Chase shook his head. "I've been winning the tournaments here for the last couple of months. You go ahead."
Tiffany shrugged. "If you say so."
She drew her first card and considered her opening move. "For my first move, I will simply set a monster in defense mode. Then I will place one card facedown and end my turn."
Chase shrugged and drew a card. "I also play one monster in facedown defense and one card behind it. Your turn."
Tiffany drew another card. "I sacrifice my facedown monster, Mystic Elf, for the Summoned Skull. I also play Yami on the field, to boost his attack power to 2700. He will attack your facedown monster."
Yami
Field Spell Card
Increase the attack and defense of all Spell Casters and Fiends on the field by 200.
Summoned Skull
Fiend 6 Stars
A: 2500
D: 1200
Chase revealed his facedown card. "Witch of the Black Forest," he said with a grin. "That puts one monster from my deck into my hand."
Witch of the Black Forest
Spell Caster 4 Stars
A: 1100
D: 1200
Effect: When this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, take one monster with a defense of 1500 or less from your deck and add it to your hand.
"I wonder what he'll choose," Tiffany wondered. She ended her turn.
"I draw a card. Then I play Painful Choice." Chase announced with a big smile. "Now I choose these five cards from my deck. You pick one for me to keep, but the rest go to the card graveyard."
Painful Choice
Spell Card
Choose 5 cards from your deck and show them to your opponent, who must chose one of them. Place the chosen card in your hand and discard the other 4.
Tiffany gasped as she saw the cards. They were Left Leg of the Forbidden One, Left Arm of the Forbidden One, Labyrinth Wall, Right Leg of the Forbidden One, and Graceful Charity.
"He has an Exodia deck," I realized. "That means he has some way of getting those pieces out of the grave."
"I choose Graceful Charity," Tiffany announced. Chase put the card in his hand and sent the rest to the graveyard.
Graceful Charity
Spell Card
Draw 3 cards, then discard two cards.
"Now I activate my trap card," Chase said with a smile. "Backup Soldiers, which allows me to return the 3 pieces of Exodia back to my hand."
Backup Soldiers
Trap Card
If there are at least 5 monsters in your grave choose 3 non-effect monsters with an attack of 1500 or less and add them to your hand.
"Oh no!" Tiffany gasped. "He has to have another piece since I destroyed his Witch of the Black Forest. That means he only has one left to draw."
"That's right," Chase said with a huge grin. "Now I'll play that Graceful Charity you let me get."
Chase drew 3 cards, but he didn't get his last Exodia piece. He discarded 2 of the cards he had drawn and activated a third one.
"I use Premature Burial," he announced. "For 800 LP, I return my Witch of the Black Forest to the field. I will then have her attack your Summoned Skull."
Premature Burial
Equip Spell Card
Pay 800 life points. Special summon a monster from your grave and equip it with this card.
I realized what he was doing, and it infuriated me. It wasn't because Tiffany was about to lose the duel. It was the way he was treating his monster card.
"...Wendy," I thought silently. Tiffany did not hear the voice. She was distracted by the sudden rush of power she felt surging through her body
Light flashed around Tiffany as I joined my spirit to hers. Chase gasped, and so did several others in the room that were watching the duels. Purple haired and fire-eyed, we flipped Tiffany's Trap Card.
"Magic Cylinders," I stated with Tiffany's voice. "That sends your attack back to you, bringing your LP down to 6000."
Magic Cylinders
Trap Card
Negate the attack of your opponent's monster and reduce his/her LP by the negated monster's attack power.
Tiffany LP: 8000
Chris LP: 6000
Chase was all googly-eyed. "Wha... what did you do?"
"Your misuse of that card has set off my temper," I growled dangerously. "Reviving your witch, only to send her in a suicidal attack for your Exodia piece? You should be ashamed."
"It's just a card game girl," Chase protested. "She's not real."
"Oh no?" I didn't really think about what I was doing. Tiffany was sure to discover my presence now, but I was so caught up in my emotions that I couldn't think strait anymore.
The puzzle flashed brightly. Suddenly a dark purple smoke began to rise up out of both our monster cards.
The smoke took shape and color, transforming into the monsters of the cards down below. Tiffany's Summoned Skull stood tall and menacingly with its sun-bleached boney body and large bat-like wings. Cowering below him was Chase's Witch of the Black Forest. Her normally purple hair was streaked with grey, and her long black robe was covered in dirt because of the effects of premature burial.
"Whoa, rad!" said a voice from the audience. "Dude's got virtual reality going on at this table."
Soon everyone that wasn't involved in a duel ran over to our table to watch. Chase wasn't sure what was going on exactly, but he got a hold on himself and looked me in the eye.
"I don't know how you're doing this, but its not going to intimidate me," he said with resolve. "I'm going to win. There's nothing you can do to stop me at this point."
I smiled dangerously with Tiffany's face. "We will see. I take it your turn is over?"
He place 3 cards face-down and nodded, still making an effort to retain control over himself.
"This is it," I heard Tiffany say in my mind. "This is the power of my Millennium Puzzle. I can unleash powers from the Shadow Realm. I can even understand the monsters' thoughts and feelings."
In my heart, I smiled. She didn't know that our spirits were joined, and I was grateful for that.
"Now then," we said aloud, "Its time to cripple your Exodia."
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So what did you think? I probably shouldn't have left it there at a cliffhanger, but I'm already late in getting this chapter up. So why is Yami so upset by Chase's actions? Why is he so dead set on not revealing himself to Tiffany? And why did it take me so long to get this chapter up?
Well, the answer to those first two questions has been hinted at in previous chapters (very obvious hints if you ask me). What about the answer to the third question? Well, there are a lot of reasons. The only good one is the fact that I have been working on a flashback chapter where Yami recalls how he was banished to the Shadow Realm and some of the events that took place while he was there. It's already long enough that I might just post it as a separate fanfic, but I'm not sure yet.
Next time, the duel finishes up. We'll also find out who Maximus sent to duel Tiffany.
Please R&R!