Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh. Nor do I own the characters in this
story.
Author's Notes:
I almost didn't make it with an update this week, but I managed to beg my way into some computer time. It's nice to be able to keep up with the weekly schedule, even if I do have to rush a bit.
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Chapter 9: Grave Dueling
The crowd around us was cheering very loudly as the monsters faded from view. Chase was the only one without a smile on his face. He stalked off muttering something about how it was all just a card game.
"I wonder if I went too far," Tiffany wondered. "I didn't mean to hurt his feelings or anything. I'll have to keep my powers in check from now on."
I thought about it as I shuffled my cards, and I realized that she was right. I didn't need to be that forceful on a duelist that didn't take the game as seriously as I did.
On the other hand, I still needed to battle whatever minion Maximus had sent my way, and I couldn't hold back for that duel.
There were only four people left in the tournament, and Tiffany was delighted to see that Stephen (Bakura) was still in the tournament. Secretly, she wanted to duel him next.
The judge had other plans, however. Stephen was set up to duel another girl, while our opponent was the exact opposite of Bakura.
"Nice dueling there, sweetie," he said with a toothy grin. He was a punk through and through, with his crossbones tattoo, leather jacket, shaved head, and broken nose ring. "I'm called Skull."
"I'm Tiffany," I said with Tiffany's voice. In my mind I felt a little odd saying that, but Tiffany didn't notice.
"That was a pretty neat trick you pulled with the monsters coming to life and all," he continued. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind doing it for our duel, too."
"Are you sure you want me to?" I asked. "You might get hurt."
He gave me another grin. "I doubt it sweet cakes."
Tiffany wanted to slap him, but I merely shrugged and drew my opening hand. "Why don't you go first then?"
Skull grinned and drew his card. "First, I will lay down the field card Necrovalley."
The lights actually dimmed to an eerie shade of red. The table between us became a barren wasteland. Black fog crept through it, causing a shiver when it touched you.
"Next, I play one monster facedown and end my turn."
"That field card gives 500 attack and defense to all Gravekeeper monsters," Tiffany thought as I drew my first card. "He probably has a strong defensive card down."
"I lay two cards facedown," I announced, placing the cards on the field. "Then I will also play a monster in defense mode."
"My turn," Skull grinned. "I flip my monster to attack mode. Behold Gravekeeper's Guard!"
The powerful Egyptian guard appeared and pointed his staff at my facedown monster. The card floated back to my hand.
"His flip effect must have done that," I growled silently. I had never faced a Gravekeeper's deck before, so I had no idea what his deck was capable of.
"Next, I'll summon Gravekeeper's Cannonholder to the field," Skull laughed. "Both my monsters will attack you directly, and with the field bonus, you lose 3400 LP."
Both their attacks hit me hard, but Skull wasn't finished. "Since you enjoy getting hurt so much, I'll use my Cannonholder's special effect. He will load Gravekeeper's Guard into his cannon and launch him right at you for an additional 700 points of damage."
The shot hit Tiffany square in the chest, knocking the breath out of us. In one turn, Skull had brought me down to 3900 LP.
"Let's see you top that," he grinned.
I took a deep breath and drew a card. "Come on deck," Tiffany pleaded. "I need a really good card."
I looked at the card. It was De-Spell. I flashed a smile back at Skull. "I'll use this De-Spell card to get rid of your Necrovalley card. Then I'll summon the Luster Dragon in attack mode."
"No," Skull moaned. "Without my field bonus, your monster is 500 points stronger then mine."
I nodded. "You know what's coming next. Luster Dragon attacks your Cannonholder and sends him to the grave."
Tiffany's dragon blasted the Cannonholder with all its might, but suddenly a gold Egyptian entombing case appeared and encased his Gravekeeper. "What's going on?" I asked.
"I can discard a Charm of Shabti from my hand to keep my Gravekeeper monsters from being destroyed," Skull explained with a grin. "Of course, I still lose 400 LP from your attack, but at least my monster is still on the field."
"Fine," I lamented. "Go ahead and take your turn."
Skull drew a card and slammed it onto the field. "I play the Change of Heart card to take control of your Luster Dragon."
"Only if you have another magic card to discard," I said, quickly flipping over one of my trap cards. "I activate Magic Drain."
Skull looked very upset, but he discarded a magic card. I looked to see that it was Reigeki and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Don't think you're out of the woods yet," Skull sneered. "I will attack you with both my monster and yours."
Tiffany tried to reach for the other trap card but I held back. "Not yet," I thought.
That attack brought us down to 600 LP, while Skull still had 7600. I wasn't sure if I'd done the right thing, but it was too late now. I motioned for Luster Dragon to return to my side of the field.
"I'm not done with him yet," Skull grinned. "I sacrifice both monsters to set one in defense mode. Now, you can take your turn."
I couldn't help but shudder at the card he had hidden from me. Something about the way shadows seemed to pour out of the facedown card made me very uneasy.
Fortunately, Tiffany's deck made it to where I didn't have to worry about it. "I play Dark Hole to send your monster to the grave. Then I'll summon Witch of the Black Forest to attack you directly."
Skull laughed, even after the witch slapped 1100 LP from his face. "That wimpy card is all you could use? No wonder Maximus doesn't have any faith in you."
We both gasped. "You work for that lunatic?" I asked.
Skull grinned. "Yep, and I've been taking it easy on you this whole time. I was hoping for some sort of a challenge, but now I see I'm doomed to be disappointed. So now I finish this."
He placed one card hidden on the field. Then he summoned his monster. "Go, Shadowknight Archfiend!"
An undead warrior appeared in front of us. One of his hands had been replaced with three metal claws; the other was a sword blade.
"Go, my monster. Destroy his Witch," Skull commanded.
The Shadowknight dove at my witch sword blade first, but a giant cylinder swallowed him up.
"I activate my Magic Cylinder to send his attack strait back at you," I announced. Another cylinder appeared in front of Skull and spewed out the Shadowknight Archfiend. The sword stabbed Skull, and even though it didn't seem to cut him, he screamed. His LP dropped 2000 points, leveling off at 4500
The crowd around us panicked, afraid that he was going to die. But in the end, he got control of himself. "That was a nice trick, but it won't save you."
"Oh no?" I asked with rising confidence as I drew a card. "I know enough about Archfiend monsters to realize that you lose LP when you keep them on the field."
There were no monsters in my hand to summon, so I played a magic card. "I use Dian Keto the Cure Master to raise my LP up to 1600," I announced. Then I switched the Witch of the Black Forest to defense mode and ended my turn.
"Not much happened there," Skull smirked. His LP dropped to 3600 because of Shadowknight Archfiend, but it barely seemed to affect him. "Where was that killer move I thought you were planning?"
I matched his gaze. "Wait and see."
"I think not," he laughed. "It's time to summon Terrorking Archfiend, one of the most powerful cards in my deck."
The Terrorking was a sight to behold, but his stats didn't seem that dangerous. "He has the same attack as your Shadowknight. What makes him so special?"
"I wish I could show you everything," Skull laughed, "but I doubt you'll be around long enough. For now, I'll just show you what happens when he attacks an effect monster. Terrorking, destroy his Witch of the Black Forest."
The evil king raised his wicked sword high and struck down Tiffany's witch. She barely had time to let out a wail before she was gone.
I started to reach for my deck to get a card for her effect, but the Terrorking's eyes flashed red, and an unseen force stopped my hand.
"You don't get to use a monster's effect when it is destroyed by my Terrorking," Skull boasted. "And now that you're wide open for an attack, my Shadowknight will finish you off."
"Oh no," Tiffany cried. "I was going to use my witch's effect to get a Kuriboh out. His attack power is 2000, and my LP is only 1600."
I had no way to stop the attack. As the Shadowknight stabbed me with its sword, all I could do was scream.
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This isn't really a cliff hanger. Tiffany is not going to find some miraculous way to save herself from this duel. She's going to lose her puzzle, and someday I'll start another fanfic.net story about the person that inherited the puzzle from her. Maybe I'll bring her into that story a little, but this story is over in the next chapter.
Why, you ask? After putting so much work into this story, I finally decided it wasn't worth my time. I mean, its okay for my first story and all, but I just don't think I can afford to lose any more sleep over this project. So I'm ending my story with the next chapter.
...just kidding. For those of you that actually believed any of my comments above, please don't hurt me. Yami and Tiffany aren't done yet. Can anyone guess why?
Please R&R!
Author's Notes:
I almost didn't make it with an update this week, but I managed to beg my way into some computer time. It's nice to be able to keep up with the weekly schedule, even if I do have to rush a bit.
------------------------------------
Chapter 9: Grave Dueling
The crowd around us was cheering very loudly as the monsters faded from view. Chase was the only one without a smile on his face. He stalked off muttering something about how it was all just a card game.
"I wonder if I went too far," Tiffany wondered. "I didn't mean to hurt his feelings or anything. I'll have to keep my powers in check from now on."
I thought about it as I shuffled my cards, and I realized that she was right. I didn't need to be that forceful on a duelist that didn't take the game as seriously as I did.
On the other hand, I still needed to battle whatever minion Maximus had sent my way, and I couldn't hold back for that duel.
There were only four people left in the tournament, and Tiffany was delighted to see that Stephen (Bakura) was still in the tournament. Secretly, she wanted to duel him next.
The judge had other plans, however. Stephen was set up to duel another girl, while our opponent was the exact opposite of Bakura.
"Nice dueling there, sweetie," he said with a toothy grin. He was a punk through and through, with his crossbones tattoo, leather jacket, shaved head, and broken nose ring. "I'm called Skull."
"I'm Tiffany," I said with Tiffany's voice. In my mind I felt a little odd saying that, but Tiffany didn't notice.
"That was a pretty neat trick you pulled with the monsters coming to life and all," he continued. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind doing it for our duel, too."
"Are you sure you want me to?" I asked. "You might get hurt."
He gave me another grin. "I doubt it sweet cakes."
Tiffany wanted to slap him, but I merely shrugged and drew my opening hand. "Why don't you go first then?"
Skull grinned and drew his card. "First, I will lay down the field card Necrovalley."
The lights actually dimmed to an eerie shade of red. The table between us became a barren wasteland. Black fog crept through it, causing a shiver when it touched you.
"Next, I play one monster facedown and end my turn."
"That field card gives 500 attack and defense to all Gravekeeper monsters," Tiffany thought as I drew my first card. "He probably has a strong defensive card down."
"I lay two cards facedown," I announced, placing the cards on the field. "Then I will also play a monster in defense mode."
"My turn," Skull grinned. "I flip my monster to attack mode. Behold Gravekeeper's Guard!"
The powerful Egyptian guard appeared and pointed his staff at my facedown monster. The card floated back to my hand.
"His flip effect must have done that," I growled silently. I had never faced a Gravekeeper's deck before, so I had no idea what his deck was capable of.
"Next, I'll summon Gravekeeper's Cannonholder to the field," Skull laughed. "Both my monsters will attack you directly, and with the field bonus, you lose 3400 LP."
Both their attacks hit me hard, but Skull wasn't finished. "Since you enjoy getting hurt so much, I'll use my Cannonholder's special effect. He will load Gravekeeper's Guard into his cannon and launch him right at you for an additional 700 points of damage."
The shot hit Tiffany square in the chest, knocking the breath out of us. In one turn, Skull had brought me down to 3900 LP.
"Let's see you top that," he grinned.
I took a deep breath and drew a card. "Come on deck," Tiffany pleaded. "I need a really good card."
I looked at the card. It was De-Spell. I flashed a smile back at Skull. "I'll use this De-Spell card to get rid of your Necrovalley card. Then I'll summon the Luster Dragon in attack mode."
"No," Skull moaned. "Without my field bonus, your monster is 500 points stronger then mine."
I nodded. "You know what's coming next. Luster Dragon attacks your Cannonholder and sends him to the grave."
Tiffany's dragon blasted the Cannonholder with all its might, but suddenly a gold Egyptian entombing case appeared and encased his Gravekeeper. "What's going on?" I asked.
"I can discard a Charm of Shabti from my hand to keep my Gravekeeper monsters from being destroyed," Skull explained with a grin. "Of course, I still lose 400 LP from your attack, but at least my monster is still on the field."
"Fine," I lamented. "Go ahead and take your turn."
Skull drew a card and slammed it onto the field. "I play the Change of Heart card to take control of your Luster Dragon."
"Only if you have another magic card to discard," I said, quickly flipping over one of my trap cards. "I activate Magic Drain."
Skull looked very upset, but he discarded a magic card. I looked to see that it was Reigeki and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Don't think you're out of the woods yet," Skull sneered. "I will attack you with both my monster and yours."
Tiffany tried to reach for the other trap card but I held back. "Not yet," I thought.
That attack brought us down to 600 LP, while Skull still had 7600. I wasn't sure if I'd done the right thing, but it was too late now. I motioned for Luster Dragon to return to my side of the field.
"I'm not done with him yet," Skull grinned. "I sacrifice both monsters to set one in defense mode. Now, you can take your turn."
I couldn't help but shudder at the card he had hidden from me. Something about the way shadows seemed to pour out of the facedown card made me very uneasy.
Fortunately, Tiffany's deck made it to where I didn't have to worry about it. "I play Dark Hole to send your monster to the grave. Then I'll summon Witch of the Black Forest to attack you directly."
Skull laughed, even after the witch slapped 1100 LP from his face. "That wimpy card is all you could use? No wonder Maximus doesn't have any faith in you."
We both gasped. "You work for that lunatic?" I asked.
Skull grinned. "Yep, and I've been taking it easy on you this whole time. I was hoping for some sort of a challenge, but now I see I'm doomed to be disappointed. So now I finish this."
He placed one card hidden on the field. Then he summoned his monster. "Go, Shadowknight Archfiend!"
An undead warrior appeared in front of us. One of his hands had been replaced with three metal claws; the other was a sword blade.
"Go, my monster. Destroy his Witch," Skull commanded.
The Shadowknight dove at my witch sword blade first, but a giant cylinder swallowed him up.
"I activate my Magic Cylinder to send his attack strait back at you," I announced. Another cylinder appeared in front of Skull and spewed out the Shadowknight Archfiend. The sword stabbed Skull, and even though it didn't seem to cut him, he screamed. His LP dropped 2000 points, leveling off at 4500
The crowd around us panicked, afraid that he was going to die. But in the end, he got control of himself. "That was a nice trick, but it won't save you."
"Oh no?" I asked with rising confidence as I drew a card. "I know enough about Archfiend monsters to realize that you lose LP when you keep them on the field."
There were no monsters in my hand to summon, so I played a magic card. "I use Dian Keto the Cure Master to raise my LP up to 1600," I announced. Then I switched the Witch of the Black Forest to defense mode and ended my turn.
"Not much happened there," Skull smirked. His LP dropped to 3600 because of Shadowknight Archfiend, but it barely seemed to affect him. "Where was that killer move I thought you were planning?"
I matched his gaze. "Wait and see."
"I think not," he laughed. "It's time to summon Terrorking Archfiend, one of the most powerful cards in my deck."
The Terrorking was a sight to behold, but his stats didn't seem that dangerous. "He has the same attack as your Shadowknight. What makes him so special?"
"I wish I could show you everything," Skull laughed, "but I doubt you'll be around long enough. For now, I'll just show you what happens when he attacks an effect monster. Terrorking, destroy his Witch of the Black Forest."
The evil king raised his wicked sword high and struck down Tiffany's witch. She barely had time to let out a wail before she was gone.
I started to reach for my deck to get a card for her effect, but the Terrorking's eyes flashed red, and an unseen force stopped my hand.
"You don't get to use a monster's effect when it is destroyed by my Terrorking," Skull boasted. "And now that you're wide open for an attack, my Shadowknight will finish you off."
"Oh no," Tiffany cried. "I was going to use my witch's effect to get a Kuriboh out. His attack power is 2000, and my LP is only 1600."
I had no way to stop the attack. As the Shadowknight stabbed me with its sword, all I could do was scream.
------------------------------------
This isn't really a cliff hanger. Tiffany is not going to find some miraculous way to save herself from this duel. She's going to lose her puzzle, and someday I'll start another fanfic.net story about the person that inherited the puzzle from her. Maybe I'll bring her into that story a little, but this story is over in the next chapter.
Why, you ask? After putting so much work into this story, I finally decided it wasn't worth my time. I mean, its okay for my first story and all, but I just don't think I can afford to lose any more sleep over this project. So I'm ending my story with the next chapter.
...just kidding. For those of you that actually believed any of my comments above, please don't hurt me. Yami and Tiffany aren't done yet. Can anyone guess why?
Please R&R!