The Soul of the Game

by cronosphere

This story was inspired by a duel with a rival. Its about a duelist that feels alone in the world, and a boy that becomes her Yami. Together they face an evil power that threatens to destroy our world.

24. Chapter 24: The New Cards

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh.

Author's Notes:

Well, I just couldn't resist. I felt the undying need to write a duel chapter, so I stayed up all night to do it. I added the finishing touches (card descriptions) this morning in Study Hall. Just don't ever expect me to pull an all-nighter again.

Oh, just so it's not too confusing in the duels, Yami does all the talking and Tiffany does the out loud thinking. That's the way they usually do it in Yu-gi-oh when Yami and Yugi merge, so that's how I'm doing it here.

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Chapter 24: The New Cards

When I woke up inside the Millennium Puzzle, the world seemed back to normal. Tiffany was visiting with a group of girls she had just met. They were all about her age, varying in appearance. I got the impression from their various accents that they were all from different countries. All of them were still in the tournament, and they were trading cards back and forth.

"Did you get anything good?" I asked sleepily.

"Oh, good morning Yami," Tiffany thought to me cheerfully. "You must have been very tired. You slept through lunch."

"Yes, and it felt wonderful," I replied with a little cheer myself. "I don't remember any of my dreams."

"I didn't get any from you either," Tiffany thought aloud, "although I did have a really weird one about running around in my pajamas."

"What's that new card in your hand?" I asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Oh Heavy Storm?" she commented. "I traded Metal Morph for it. It's a lot better then my Mystical Space Typhoon, I think."

Heavy Storm
Spell Card
Destroy all Trap and Spell cards on the field.

"I suppose it could be," I thought as I read the card's effect to myself. Before I had much time to dwell on it, however, Tiffany's duel watch started beeping.

"Oh wow!" Tiffany exclaimed. "We can get this one over quick, and I'll have the rest of the day free!"

The number on the watch said 17, so she ran up the staircase and down the hall of the third floor until she reached room 17.

I merged my spirit with hers again, flooding my spirit with her senses. Today she was wearing a red T-shirt and black pants. Her shoes were black tennis shoes. A black belt with a silver buckle was fastened around her waist. On the back of the shirt was the Japanese kanji for victory.

"This is much better then those purple slip pajamas from last night," I thought to myself.
"Did you say something Yami?" Tiffany asked with her mind.

"Just talking to myself," I replied briskly. I pushed open the door and stepped into the dueling arena.

Our opponent was nowhere in sight. "Oh good," Tiffany thought. "This will be my first chance to go first."

We walked over to the console next to the door and scanned her watch on the little device. It beeped once and then waited. I assumed we would just have to wait on our opponent, so I walked to the other end of the room and sat down to wait.

It wasn't a minute later that our opponent arrived. She was a girl about Tiffany's age with strawberry blonde hair and green eyes. She was, in fact, one of the girls that Tiffany had been talking with just moments ago. She was dressed in a green shirt and skirt to match her eyes. Her high heels were a darker green and didn't quite seem to go with the rest of her outfit. I guessed from her accent that she was from Ireland.

"Jennet?" Tiffany gasped, pulling complete control of her body for a moment. "I didn't know you were going to be the one dueling me?"

Jennet smiled and blushed a little. "My watch beeped as soon as yours did. Is that what you always look like when you duel?"

"This is my Yami form, yes," she replied. "I guess you know that Heavy Storm is in my deck now."

"And you know that your Metal Morph is in my deck," Jennet replied. "I guess that makes us even."

She scanned her watch in. The scanner replied with the familiar beep, and the lights in the room brightened. Then a hologram of the prize card appeared before us.

It was a spell card called Offering to the Dark Moon. The picture on the card showed the head and shoulders of a huge monster hiding in shadows on the bottom. Above the shadowed monster were two other monsters, a Kuriboh and a Sangan. Both of these monsters had X's for eyes and were engulfed in a bright yellow glow. I assumed that the glow was the spirits of the two monsters being offered.

"What card is that?" Tiffany asked. "I've never heard of it before."

The card hologram had no words written on it, and it soon vanished. My thoughts went to the monster on the card picture that had mostly been hidden from view. The shape seemed familiar to me, especially the glowing eyes, but for the life of me I could not remember what monster it was.

Two dueling tables rose up from the ground, one for each of us. Then the very room around us shifted to a dueling field. This time it was a meadow of tall green grass. A wind blew over the field, causing the grass to sway like a sea of green.

"I hope this field doesn't have any surprises like the last one did," Tiffany hoped. Silently, I agreed.

"Since I got here, I'll be going first," I announced. I drew six cards for my opening hand. "I'll place one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

There was a rustling of grass right in front of me, but nothing else about the field hinted that I had played a monster. I filed that thought away for future reference.

"My turn," Jennet said with a smile as she drew her card. "I'll place these two cards facedown and summon Harpy's Brother in attack mode."

With a screech, the Harpy's Brother dove out of nowhere and onto the field. The grass would have come up to his waist, but he chose to hover above the grass with his large wings. To me, the brown and red monster looked much more human then the Harpy Ladies Mai always used in the cartoon series, but that's just a matter of opinion. Behind him, the two facedown cards rested on top of the grass.

Harpy's Brother
Winged Beast 4 Stars
A: 1800
"I'll end my turn without attacking," Jennet announced.

"She must think my facedown monster is a trap," Tiffany thought. "Otherwise she would have attacked me."

"My turn then," I said as I drew my card. "First, I'll play this spell card. I'm sure you remember it, since you're the one who gave it to me."

"You're playing your Heavy Storm already?" Jennet gasped.

"Now seems to be the perfect time, since you have two facedown cards on the field, and I don't have any," I replied as I activated the spell card.

A mighty wind suddenly blasted through the field. It swirled around faster and faster, throwing seeds and grass all around the field. I had to raise Tiffany's arm up to shield her eyes from the onslaught.

Jennet's two facedown cards were sucked into the twisting wind, and they soon shattered into piece. When they did, the wind stopped, and the field was left as it had been before.

"I can't believe you wasted that card so early in the game," Jennet said with a grin. "Now I can set up my favorite combo without having to worry about it."

I smiled back. "There will be plenty of other things for you to worry about besides that one card," I assured her. "For example, I'll show you a monster that is going to give your Harpy's Brother a really hard time. I summon the Skilled Dark Magician in attack mode."

My spell caster appeared in a flash of purple light. He was dressed similarly to Yugi's Dark Magician. The only noticeable difference was the hat he wore. Instead of being tall and pointed, it was a flat headpiece that shadowed his eyes from view.

Skilled Dark Magician
Spell Caster 4 Stars
A: 1900
D: 1700
Effect: Each time someone plays a Spell Card, place a spell counter on this card (max 3). Offer this monster with 3 spell counters as tribute to special summon a Dark Magician.

"So that's why you wanted rid of my trap cards," Jennet realized. "You wanted to be able to safely summon your monster."

"That's right!" I grinned. "I could have played him first and received a spell counter from Heavy Storm, but this card is too important to my strategy to risk losing to your traps."

"Um, Yami?" Tiffany thought to me. "Should we really be telling her our strategy?"

"Don't worry," I replied silently. "It's all part of the plan."

I then placed a spell card in the field zone. "I play the Field card Yami to give my Skilled Dark Magician a spell counter as well as 200 additional attack points."

The grassy meadow vanished as darkness swirled around us. Tiffany's Skilled Dark Magician began to glow a faint purple to indicate the power boost. Aside from the faint glow of the duel tables, he was the only source of light in the room.

Yami
Field Spell Card
Increase the attack and defense of all Spell Casters and Fiends on the field by 200.
Harpy's Brother was still hovering in front of us, but his eyes twitched nervously. He kept looking back and forth between my spell caster and the thick purple bundle of fog next to him.

"That cloud must represent our hidden monster from the first turn," Tiffany decided. "I hope the darkness doesn't have a bad affect on it."

"What are you waiting for?" Jennet asked. "My monster is weaker then yours and I have no other cards left to protect him."

"As you wish," I declared. "Skilled Dark Magician, destroy her monster with your Dark Magical Attack!"

The Skilled Dark Magician twirled his staff twice. Then he pointed it at the Harpy's Brother. The staff blasted the winged beast away with a beam of black energy. It barely had time to screech in defeat before it was gone.

Tiffany: 8000
Jennet: 7700

"I'll set one card facedown and end my turn," I announced. The dim outline of a card appeared behind the Skilled Dark Magician, hovering just above the supposed ground he was standing on.

"Looks like it's my turn for the offensive." Jennet drew her card. "Your field card gives me the creeps, so I'll destroy it with Mystical Space Typhoon."

Once again, a twisting wind struck the field. It wasn't as strong as the one from Heavy Storm, but I brought Tiffany's arm up to shield her eyes just incase. A bolt of lightning struck the space between us, and the darkness shattered around us. The field was once again a meadow of tall grass.

Mystical Space Typhoon
Quick Play Spell Card
Destroy 1 spell or trap card on the field.

"Now I'll set one card facedown and end my turn," Jennet said. The facedown card rested atop the tall grass. I noticed that my two facedown cards were doing the same.

"Looks like you're leaving yourself wide open for another attack," I commented as I drew my card, "unless of course you plan on using your facedown card to save you."

"I guess there's only one way for you to find out," Jennet replied. "You'll have to attack me."

I looked at the card I'd drawn and smiled. "There's always another way. I play De-Spell on your facedown card."

A large golden key appeared on the field. At the same time, a lock of gold and green fastened its self on her facedown card.

De-Spell
Spell Card
Destroy 1 spell card on the field. If the target card is facedown, flip it over without activating it. If it is not a spell card, return it to its original position.

"Even if her card isn't a spell card, I'll be able to see what it is," Tiffany thought confidently. "That will make countering it much easier."

The card flipped over to reveal Scapegoats. The key floated into the lock and turned its self. There was a click, and the spell card was destroyed.

"So that leaves me wide open for your Skilled Dark Magician to attack," Jennet surmised.

"Yes it does," I replied, "but first, he has some leveling up to do. I activate his special ability and trade the 3 spell counters he received (Yami, Mystical Space Typhoon, De-Spell) to transform into Dark Magician."

A thick purple cloud swirled around the Skilled Dark Magician on the field. I looked through Tiffany's deck and pulled out the red Dark Magician to exchange for the Skilled Dark Magician. When the cloud lifted, my new monster was on the field in his place. His face was completely Egyptian, reminding me of the Marik I'd seen on the train.

Dark Magician
Spell Caster 7 Stars
A: 2500
D: 2100
(Red)

"Alright Dark Magician, strike her life points," I commanded. "Dark Magical Attack!"

The Dark Magician raised his hand. There was a flash of strange light. Everything changed colors to their negative, giving a very impressive effect. Jennet let out a little shriek as the force of the attack almost knocked her off her feet.

Tiffany: 8000
Jennet: 5200

"Ugh," Jennet said as she steadied herself. "That felt worse then throwing up."

"These battles are getting more and more realistic," Tiffany thought to herself. "I wonder if Pegasus is planning a shadow duel for the end of the tournament."

"I'll set one more monster in defense mode and end my turn," I announced. Again, there was a rustling of grass in front of me, but the exact location of my set monster was a mystery.

Jennet drew a card. "Finally," she sighed. "I place one monster in facedown defense and end my turn."

There was a faint rustle in the grass in front of her to signify that her hidden monster was on the field.

"I wonder if my Dark Magician is going to have to find her monster," Tiffany thought.

"I draw," I announced. My new card was the green-skinned Dark Magician. "I sacrifice my two facedown monsters to summon my second Dark Magician!"

Two orbs of light rose out of the grass on my side of the field. They merged together and, with a flash of light, created my second Dark Magician."

Dark Magician
Spell Caster 7 Stars
A: 2500
D: 2100
(Green)

"Two Dark Magicians on the field," Jennet muttered to herself. "That can't be good."

"First off, my red Dark Magician will attempt to destroy your hidden monster," I announced.

The Dark Magician raised his hand once again and unleashed his negative energy attack. There was a squeal, and a Giant Rat with white fur and red beady jumped out of the grass on Jennet's side. After one more squeal, it disappeared.

Giant Rat
Beast 4 Stars (Earth)
A: 1400
D: 1450
Effect: When this card is destroyed as a result of battle, special summon an earth-type monster with an attack of 1500 or less to the field in attack position.

"You may have destroyed my monster, but I can use his effect to bring another Giant Rat onto the field," she said with a smile. Sure enough, another rat appeared on the field, though only its head could be seen above the grass.
"At least this one is easier to see," I said with a shrug. "Plus, I still have another Dark Magician to wipe out your monster."

The green Dark Magician raised his staff and pointed it at the rat. There was a blast of black energy almost identical to the Skilled Dark Magician's earlier attack. The Giant Rat was destroyed, and Jennet lost 1100 life points.

Tiffany: 8000
Jennet: 4100

"I will use my Giant Rat's special ability to special summon my Giant Soldier of Stone in attack mode," Jennet announced. The large rock giant burst out of the ground gripping its two stone swords, one in each hand. It was twice as tall as either Dark Magician, but it was much weaker.

Giant Soldier of Stone
Rock 3 Stars (Earth)
A: 1300
D: 2000

"I guess I'll end my turn and see what you do," I announced.

Jennet drew her card. "This is where things take a turn for the better," Jennet announced. "First, I play a second Harpy's Brother in attack mode!"

With a screech, the red and brown human-bird swooped down onto the field. He came to rest on the shoulder of the Giant Soldier of Stone.

"Next, I will play this spell card to take control of one of your Dark Magicians," she declared. "Change of Heart!"

A half angel half demon swooped down and absorbed its self into my red Dark Magician's body. Suddenly he was standing on her side of the field. The only changes to his appearance were the wings sticking out of his back. One was made of white feathers. The other looked like a large bat wing.

Change of Heart
Spell Card
Choose one of your opponent's monsters to control as your own monster until the end of your turn.

"Now that your Dark Magician is on my side," Jennet grinned, "I'll have him battle the one on your side of the field. Then when they've both been destroyed, your life points will be easy pickings."

"As if," I smiled. "Even when his heart is being controlled, the Dark Magician would never attack his best friend."

"We'll see about that!" Jennet replied. "Go Dark Magician! Attack with your dark magical energies!"

The red Dark Magician raised his hand and unleashed his negative energies. At first, they flooded the entire field. Then there was a flash of light, and the negative energy was sucked into a magical cylinder.

Magic Cylinders
Trap Card
Negate the attack of a monster and damage your opponent's LP equal to the negated monster's attack power.

"A trap card?" Jennet gasped.

"Of course," I replied, "I've had two facedown cards sitting here for a long time. You didn't think I was being all talk a while ago, did you?"

Once the magic cylinder had completely absorbed the attack, another cylinder appeared in front of Jennet. It released the energies directly at her, blasting away 2500 life points.

Tiffany: 8000
Jennet: 1600

"This is not good," Jennet muttered to herself. "She gets her Dark Magician back at the end of this turn. None of my other monsters are strong enough to attack the one he still has on the field."

"I wonder what she's going to do," Tiffany thought to herself.

Jennet looked back and forth between the cards in her hand and the monsters on the field. Finally she placed a card facedown on the field and switched her Giant Soldier of Stone to defense mode. It sheathed its two swords and sat down with its arms crossed in front of him.

"That ends my turn," Jennet announced.

The wings faded from the red Dark Magician's back, and he returned to my side of the field. I drew my card.

"That's the card that Rachel gave me the other day," Tiffany realized as she read the spell card.

"This may seem a bit unnecessary," I commented aloud, "but this is too good of an opportunity to pass up. I activate the spell card Curtain of Black Magic! Now, at the cost of 4000 life points, I can special summon a third Dark Magician."

Curtain of Black Magic
Spell Card
Pay half of your remaining life points to special summon a Dark Magician from your deck.

Tiffany: 4000
Jennet: 1600

"Why would you pay so many life points to get your Dark Magician out on the field?" Jennet asked.

I smiled back at her. "Now I have all three of my Dark Magicians on the field. Isn't that really cool?"

A weird skeleton with a long flowing black cape appeared on the field. He floated high above the grass with his arms crossed, hiding his entire lower body within the cape. After a cackle, he threw his cape open and faded away. Beneath the cape was the purple Dark Magician. He floated down to the grass below, landing gently between the other two Dark Magicians.

Dark Magician
Spell Caster 7 Stars
A: 2500
D: 2100
(Purple)

"This is it," I said boldly. "Unless you have a Mirror Force or a Waboku hidden behind your monsters, this game is over. Go, by Dark Magicians. Destroy her and her monsters with your Triple Black Magical Attack!"

The three Dark Magicians raised their staffs together. A huge ball of black energy formed above them. Then in unison, they each snapped their staffs forward, sending their attack into the midst of Jennet's field.

Summary of Attack:
Red DM------- Giant Soldier of Stone (0 damage)
Green DM----- Harpy's Brother (700 damage)
Purple DM---- Direct attack (2500 damage)

Tiffany: 4000
Jennet: 0

With that attack, Jennets life points dropped to zero. We had won the match.

"What was your facedown card, by the way?" I asked.

Jennet raised it off the table to show me. "Metal Morph. I had set Waboku and Negate Attack down on the first turn, but your Heavy Storm destroyed them."

"You played really well," I told her. "I just got really lucky with the cards I drew."

Jennet shook her head. "No, you deserved to win that match. Still, I'm glad I got to meet you."

She gathered her things and left. I could tell she was upset about losing, but she didn't seem to want to bare any grudges against Tiffany.

As I gathered up Tiffany's cards, the prize card popped out of a slot on my dueling table.

"I almost forgot about you," I said as I picked it up. "Now let's find out what this mystery card does."

Offering to the Dark Moon
Spell Card
You may only activate this card during your Main Phase One when Shadow of Obelisk is on the field. Offer two monsters from your side of the field to destroy all cards on your opponent's side of the field and inflict 4000 points of damage to your opponent's life points. Shadow of Obelisk may not attack the same turn this card is activated.

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Call me a hopeless fool, but I just can't write a Yu-gi-oh fanfic without bringing the Egyptian God Cards into it. I know other people have used ritual versions of them in the past, but I wanted to be a little more original.

Next chapter, Tiffany and Rachel compare notes on these new shadow versions of the Egyptian God Cards. Then you'll understand the card they won at the end a little bit better.

(I can't believe I have to resort to using little periods for divider lines. sigh)

Please R&R