Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh.
Author's Notes:
I read online that a new company in Japan is taking over making Yu-gi-oh episodes. Apparently, the brother of Pegasus is out for revenge on Yugi.
I still don't understand why Pegasus never used the god cards. I mean, he had a Millennium Item, so he could have right?
Speaking of the Egyptian God Cards, let's continue the story
âââââââââââââââââââââââââ.
Chapter 25: Shadows of Gods
Tiffany left the dueling arena without a word. I think she could sense my dark mood at this turn of events and wanted to let me think on my own. It was a kind gesture, but my thinking wasn't coming up with any answers. I needed to talk to Ishizu.
It didn't take us long to reach the room that Tiffany and Rachel were sharing. She unlocked the door with her key and stepped inside.
Rachel was already there. She was sitting on her bed and staring at a card in her hands. She looked very deep in thought.
Tiffany sat down beside her and looked at the card. It was a Quick-Play spell card entitled Guardian Spirit of the Dark Stars. I guessed that she had just won it in the tournament.
The picture showed one side of a green duel table. The monster slots were outlined on the table surface in white. Four of the slots had monsters standing in them: Dark Magician Girl, Celtic Guardian, Beta the Magnet Warrior, and Gazelle the Mythical King of Beasts.
In front of the monsters was one of the Egyptian God Monsters: Slypher the Sky Dragon. This picture of him was actually black except for the teeth and eyes. His long snake-like body was stretched out in front of the other monsters, shielding them from a blast of fire that was coming at them from a source beyond the card picture. I looked below and read the card's effect.
Guardian Spirit of the
Dark Stars
Quick-Play Spell
You may only activate this card
when an opponent's card effect targets more then one of your
monsters on the field. Shadow of Slypher must be in the graveyard to
use this card. Negate the effects of your opponent's card and
destroy it.
"So you got one of these weird god cards, too," Tiffany surmised. Rachel looked up at her questioningly, and she showed her friend the card she had just won: Offering to the Dark Moon.
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.
When Rachel had finished reading the card, she gave a deep sigh. "Ishizu is really upset. She won't talk to me at all. I'm really worried."
"My Yami hasn't said anything about the cards either," Tiffany said, "but I get the feeling that he wants to talk to her."
The Millennium Necklace began to glow, startling both Tiffany and Rachel. "I guess she heard you," Rachel said.
The soft sandy-colored light from the necklace spread all over Rachel's body. Then the light erupted in a flash, which caused Tiffany to shut her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, Rachel had transformed into Ishizu. She looked just like the character from the TV series, dressed in a white single-piece dress with a golden sash and a large golden headband. The Millennium Necklace ceased its glowing around her neck.
"My Pharaoh," she said at once, "we must speak of this!"
"I've never seen her merge with Rachel," Tiffany thought to herself. "I wonder if Rachel can still see and hear like I can when Yami merges with me."
My thoughts were a bit different. "I can't let her show me up in transformation. I guess I'll have to add a little extra flare this time."
The lights in the room dimmed. Tiffany's shadow shifted in shape and size until it resembled a tall Yami Yugi from the TV series. Then it stood up behind her, as if it were a real person.
The shadow opened its blank white eyes. As it did, the Eye of Anubis appeared on its forehead with a golden glow. The eye on the Millennium Puzzle flashed with power, and a blast of dark purple smoke snaked around Tiffany's body until it hid her from view. Once that happened, I merged my spirit with Tiffany's.
A wind came and blew the smoke apart, revealing Tiffany's body with purple hair. Satisfied with my work, I returned the lights to normal.
"Tell me Ishizu, has Maximus truly tapped into the powers of the Egyptian God Monsters?" I asked her.
"That is not possible," Ishizu replied with confidence. But as she did so, I noticed a flicker of doubt behind her eyes. Whether it was her doubt or Rachel's, I was uncertain of. "The Egyptian God Monsters cannot be controlled, not even by the likes of him. The only way to wield their power is for them to offer it freely to you."
I nodded in response. "That is what I thought, and judging by the things I learned in the Shadow Realm, it would take something extraordinary to win their favor."
A flash of memory crossed through my mind: the time I had fought the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. I had decided to go and see the Egyptian God Monsters in hopes that they would send me home, but I never made it past their guardian. In fact, I should have died. When I realized that Tiffany's mind was still linked to my own, shoved those thoughts aside before she could notice it.
"Yes," Ishizu said, oblivious to my thoughts. This time, I could hear a distinct strain in her voice. She was trying to present a calm and collected front, but it appeared that it was taking a great deal of effort for her to maintain it. "It would take something great to call them out of the Shadow Realm, but that great deed need not be a good one."
The way she phrased that statement puzzled me. "I do not understand."
"If a human does something that deems themselves worthy of the gods' powers and is in great need, then they will lend their strength to that human. That is one way to call their powers from the Shadow Realm," Ishizu continue. "However, if a human does a great wicked, one that affects the Shadow Realm its self, that human would call the wrath of the god cards upon themselves. This is the second way to summon the Egyptian God Monsters. I know that Pegasus is incapable of achieving the first, but I fear he could easily achieve the second."
"The wrath of the Egyptian God Cards?" Tiffany thought to herself. "Why would anyone want to do that to themselves?"
"I don't doubt that Maximus is capable of such a deed," I said slowly, "but if nothing he has done so far has called their wrath out, what would it take?"
"Take a close look at the card you just won Pharaoh," Ishizu instructed. "It contains one of the powers of Obelisk the Tormentor. Yet what is the name of the card that it works with?"
I read the card carefully. "It says 'Shadow of Obelisk', but I have never heard of such a monster."
"It doesn't exist," Ishizu agreed. "It would be impossible. The god cards would not allow anyone to imitate their powers. Do you remember what happened when Odeon tried to use a copy of Ra?"
I remembered the episode of Yu-gi-oh. Tiffany had watched it on TV not long before we had come to Italy. He had tried to use a fake god card, and the real one had attacked him.
"Maximus is tried to make the Egyptian God Cards, didn't he?" I surmised. "But the gods wouldn't allow him to use their powers. Now he's trying to make these shadow versions to replace them."
Ishizu nodded. "These new monsters will most likely have all the powers of the original god cards, even the ones that were not revealed in the television show. The only real limiter is that those abilities are sealed away inside separate cards."
"I'm surprised Maximus is scattering them out in such a way," I thought out loud. "I would think that he'd love to see someone use a god card to their full potential, though I would guess that he's keeping one of the god monsters for himself."
"That is not the case," Ishizu replied. "My brother Marik obtained a card called Phoenix of the Dark Sun. It contained an ability of the Shadow of Ra. That accounts for all three Egyptian God Monsters."
I looked at her with surprise. "Marik is in this tournament? I thought I had blasted him out of the train."
Ishizu gave a faint smile. "My brother can be very stubborn, especially when it comes to staying alive."
I sighed heavily. "I suppose somewhere in the finals, there will be duels between the different shadow god monsters. I'm sure Maximus would love to see it, the clash of two gods." It would be Battle City Finals in real life. I was sure that was his intention. "I can imagine how the real Egyptian God Monsters will feel when they find out about this."
Her expression cracked for a moment, and I could see the desperateness in her eyes. "Tell me my Pharaoh, I know that your memory still evades you, but even now you can recall things about the Egyptian God Monsters. What do you think their response will be?"
She held her breath, and in the back of my mind I could feel Tiffany's spirit doing the same thing. They both expected me to know the answers. I should have become angry with Ishizu. She was still putting on this charade, but she wanted an honest answer from me. Somehow, with the look in her eyes, I couldn't bring myself to get mad at her.
So I did what I had done so many times before. I mixed truth with sugar. "The Egyptian God Monsters are powerful, but they are not all powerful. They can open the way from the Shadow Realm to the real world from their side, but they can only do so for a short amount of time. I do not think that they will be able to retaliate by summoning armies of duel monsters to destroy us."
I paused for a moment, considering my own words. Then I continued. "If Maximus does succeed in creating these shadow versions of the God Monsters, I don't know if the true Egyptian God Monsters can retaliate, and even if they do, I don't see how they can unleash all the punishment they would want to. However, if their wrath is provoked, then they will unleash as much punishment as they possibly can."
I was satisfied with my answer when I had finished. It sounded like something a real Egyptian pharaoh would have said. I could see that my words had comforted Ishizu just a little, and I could feel the relief flowing from Tiffany's spirit as well.
The only one that didn't feel any better now was me
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Well, there you have it. What more can I say? Well, to be honest, I have quite a few more chapters' worth of things to say. However, I'm going to take this opportunity to pause in the story for a little while and fix some of my previous chapters. I figured that now was as good a time as any. Hopefully, it won't take too long.
When the next chapter does come up, Yami and Tiffany have their bond tested. Some familiar faces will pop up, and the fourth round of dueling kicks off. There will only be a couple more duels after that. Then the final rounds start, where things get really interesting (and we do away with the cheap imitation VR arenas).
Please R&R