Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh. Nor do I own the characters in this story.
Author's Notes:
As I was working on the short story I mentioned in the previous chapter, I happened to pause and read my reviews for this story. Lo and behold, I found my very first death threat. I'm so happy. Now I really am a true author.
(Click of a Shotgun in the background)
Oh yeah. Anyway, I'm putting off writing about Yami's past until a more opportune time in the story. Basically, when Tiffany finds out about it, you'll find out about it.
And now, back to the duel with Exodia.
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Chapter 8: One Step Closer
"This is a combo one of my friends used on me," I explained. "First, I will use Giant Trunade to send all magic and trap cards back to their owner's hands. Then, I play Card Destruction."
Giant Trunade
Spell Card
Return all Spell and Trap cards on the field to their original owner.
Card Destruction
Spell Card
Both players discard their hand and draw enough cards to replace each one they discarded.
"No!" Chase moaned. He was forced to discard 10 cards, 4 of which were Exodia pieces.
I discarded 4 and replaced them with 4 new cards. "Now I summon Dark Blade to attack your Witch of the Black Forest. Go ahead and draw your final Exodia piece. It won't do you any good."
Dark Blade
Warrior 4 Stars
A: 1800
D: 1500
Tiffany LP: 8000
Chase LP: 5200
Chase smirked. "Exodia isn't finished yet. I've got other ways of turning this duel around." He flipped through his deck till he found the card he wanted. "Are you finished yet?"
"Hardly," I replied. "With no cards on the field, you're wide open for an attack. Summoned Skull, attack his Life points directly."
"Yeow!" Chase yelped as Summoned Skull's lightning attack struck him. "That really smarts."
"You only have 2700 LP left Chase," I warned him. "What are you going to do now?"
Tiffany LP: 8000
Chase LP: 2700
Chase drew a card. "With 11 cards in my hand, I have a lot of options, but I still need my Exodia back." He examined each of his cards, then he grinned.
"Here's a little combo of my own. First, I play Dark Hole to destroy your monsters. Then I use Soul Release to remove 5 cards from your grave out of play."
Dark Hole
Spell Card
Destroy all monsters on the field.
Soul Release
Spell Card
Remove up to 5 cards from either graveyard from play.
A huge vortex appeared, swallowing Tiffany's two monsters. The crowd around us drew back, afraid the Dark Hole might swallow them as well.
Chase chose Summoned Skull, Magic Cylinders, Giant Trunade, Dark Blade, and Card Destruction for Soul Release's effect. The cards floated up out of reach. Only Tiffany's Mystic Elf remained.
"Finally, I play one monster in facedown defense." Chase discarded two cards so that he only had 6 in his hand. "Now it's your turn."
"What's he up to?" Tiffany wondered. "Sure he got rid of my monsters for good, but I have others. There's got to be more to it then just defending his Life points."
I drew a card, still pondering Chase's strategy. I was certain that his facedown monster was the key, but I had no way of getting rid of it.
"I play Magic Lamp in attack mode," I announced, summoning the tiny lamp. "This card has a very low attack, but it can attack you directly even when you have a monster on the field."
Magic Lamp
Spell Caster 1 Star
A: 400
D: 300
A blast of smoke and sparks shot out of the lamp and struck Chase, dropping him to 2300 attack points.
Tiffany LP: 8000
Chase LP: 2300
"That's a weak attack," Chase said irritably. "I guess you were just afraid of attacking my monster."
"He may not be very powerful, but it won't take him long to destroy the few Life points you have left," I replied.
"And if you bring out a monster to attack it, I'll have another window to attack your Life points without touching your facedown monster," Tiffany thought excitedly.
"Now I lay one card facedown and end my turn," I announced.
"Little good it will do you," Chase smiled. "I flip my monster and activate his effect. Go, my Fiber Jar!"
"Fiber Jar?" Tiffany gasped. "What does that do?"
I had never seen that monster before, but I was familiar enough with the jar monsters to know I wouldn't like it.
There was a large whirlwind, and I had to shield our eyes from it. When the wind died down, I saw that all the cards on the field had disappeared.
Fiber Jar
Plant 3 Stars
A: 500
D: 500
Effect: Return all cards on the field, in the graveyard, and in each player's hand to their respective decks. Each player draws 5 new cards.
"What happened to my cards?" I asked worriedly.
Chase laughed. "They've been put back in your deck, just like mine. Now we each draw five new cards."
"Why would you send all the cards on the field back into their decks?" I asked. "That doesn't help your situation with Exodia."
Stephen shook his head. "Fiber Jar affects more then just the cards on the field. Each player's hand and grave is added to their deck as well."
"So your Exodia pieces are in your deck now," I realized. "Now you have a chance to redraw them."
"But I can still get back Card Destruction and destroy Exodia again," Tiffany thought as I drew five cards.
"The best part is, now I won't have to worry about your Card Destruction card," Chase smirked as if in response to Tiffany's thoughts.
"Why not?" I asked. "If it was returned to my deck, I should have a chance to get it again."
Chase pointed up. "I removed it from play, remember? Fiber Jar couldn't restore it to your deck. Just like your Summoned Skull, Magic Cylinders, Dark Blade, and Giant Trunade, it's still out of reach."
I looked to where he was pointing. Sure enough, the five cards were still floating up there.
"Oh no," Tiffany said worriedly. "Now how am I going to stop Exodia?"
I looked at Chase's confident smirk. Then I looked down at his Life points, which were floating in smoky numbers beside him.
I looked back at him with a smile of my own. "At least I still have one huge advantage over you. Your LP weren't reset with Fiber Jar's effect. You still only have 2200, so I have a chance to take you out before you summon Exodia."
"We'll see about that," he smirked. "It is still my turn, so I will summon Gazelle the Mythical King of Beasts in Attack mode. I'll also equip him with Horn of the Unicorn to raise his attack power to 2200. He will then attack your LP directly."
Gazelle the Mythical King of Beasts
Beast 4 Stars
A: 1500
Horn of the Unicorn
Equip Spell Card
Increase the attack and defense of the equipped monster by 700. If this card is sent to the graveyard, place it on top of your deck.
I reached down to activate my trap card, then remembered that Fiber Jar had gotten rid of that card as well. With no way to block, I took a direct hit of electric energy from the horn on Gazelle's head.
Tiffany: 5800
Chase: 2300
"Ouch," I commented, not to letting anything show. "I didn't think you would go on the offensive."
Chase shrugged. "Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. I have no other cards to play, so I end my turn."
I looked at my hand. There were no monsters that I could summon. I drew a card, hoping for a monster.
"Oh wow," Tiffany said when she saw the card I had drawn. "That's even better then a monster."
"I activate Change of Heart," I announced, laying down the magic card. "Now your monster will be on my side for one turn."
Chase looked alarmed. "But with his supped-up attack power, that almost makes him strong enough to finish off my Life points."
"You read my mind," I smiled. "Gazelle, take him down with your Lightning Horn Blast!"
The bolt of electricity lashed out at Chase, but suddenly a Kuriboh appeared and took the attack.
"I have discarded my Kuriboh to cancel out the damage from the attack," Chase announced. "Now, give me back my monster."
Kuriboh
Fiend 1 Star
A: 300
D: 200
Effect: You may discard this monster to negate damage done to your LP from 1 attack.
I shook my head. "I will use him as a sacrifice to bring out my Dark Magician Girl."
The Dark Magician Girl appeared, receiving applause from the audience. She blushed and did a little bow for them.
Dark Magician Girl
Spell Caster 6 Stars
A: 2000
D: 1500
Effect: Receives 500 attack points for each Dark Magician or Black Magician of Chaos in either player's graveyard.
"That girl won't save you," Chase scolded. "I draw a card and place one monster on the field. Then I play one card behind it to end my turn."
I drew a card and set it behind Tiffany's Dark Magician Girl. She looked back at me questioningly.
"Yes, you can attack his monster," I replied to her unasked question, causing her to smile.
Inside my head, Tiffany seemed delighted as well. "It's been so long since I've been able to use my Dark Magician Girl."
The monster turned out to be a Giant Soldier of Stone. Since his defense was 2000, equal with Dark Magician Girl's attack, no one was hurt.
Giant Soldier of Stone
Rock 3 Stars
A: 1300
D: 2000
"Now it's my turn," Chase said, drawing a card. "Oh good. I play Pot of Greed to draw 2 cards. Then I play Graceful Charity to get 3 more cards."
Pot of Greed
Spell Card
Draw 2 cards.
"He must be getting close to collecting all 5 pieces of Exodia by now," Tiffany thought. "I'll have to end this next turn, or it may be too late."
"Now I summon Sangan in attack mode," Chase announced with a huge grin. "He will attack your Dark Magician Girl!"
Sangan
Fiend 3 Stars
A: 1000
Effect: When this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, take one monster with an attack of 1500 or less from your deck and add it to your hand.
Sangan looked sad, but he obeyed charging into Dark Magician Girl and destroying himself.
Tiffany LP: 5800
Chase LP: 1300
Flaming light swirled around Tiffany and me. "You still haven't learned your lesson, have you?" I said with a dangerous tone.
Chase stared back at me with resolve. "I don't care if you approve of my tactics or not. I'm still going to win this. I play Monster Reborn to revive my Sangan in defense mode. Now I end my turn."
Monster Reborn
Spell Card
Special summon 1 monster from either graveyard.
I drew a card. With his own suicidal move, Chase had brought his Life points down to 1300. The Dark Magician Girl tensed, ready to attack, but I shook my head. "I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of attacking his Sangan again. I play one monster facedown and end my turn."
Chase drew a card and smiled. "My fourth Exodia piece," he grinned. "Looks like I'm going to win with my tactics after all. I switch Sangan to attack mode and send him at your Dark Magician Girl once again."
Sangan charged forward, sacrificing his life so his master could win the game, but I didn't give him the chance.
"I activate Spellbinding Circle, preventing your Sangan from attacking," I announced.
Spellbinding Circle
Permanent Trap Card
Equip this card to one of your opponent's monsters. That monster cannot attack or change positions.
The magical circle trapped Sangan, but he didn't look very upset. In fact, he looked relieved.
Chase shrugged. "Okay, so he can't attack. I can still sacrifice him once I get a high level monster. That will still activate his effect."
"You won't get a chance," I smiled, drawing my card. "I flip my hidden monster: Penguin Soldier. He sends two monsters on the field back to their owner's hand."
Penguin Soldier
Aqua 2 Stars
A: 750
D: 500
Flip Effect: Return 2 monsters on the field to their original owners.
The Penguin took a deep breath and blew with all his might. Chase's Sangan and Giant Soldier of Stone were sent back to his hand.
"Oh no!" he cried. "My defenses are gone."
"This time, you have no Kuriboh to save you," I smiled. "Now, Dark Magician Girl, finish off his life points with your attack!"
She eagerly complied, blasting him right out of his chair. The duel was over, and we had won.
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That's one big win for Yami and Tiffany, but there are still two more matches before the tournament is over. Of course, I won't end the story with this tournament. My plans are to have at least one encounter with each Millennium Item. The big match will be with Maximus (the psyco guy that thinks he's Pegasus).
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'm rather proud of it.
Please R&R!