Okay, this should be a good chapter! I worked really hard on it, so I hope you like it. On a side note, this is the first time we get to see Mokuba duel properly. And, since I didn't design his deck, I must give the credit to Alan Wilkinson (besides a couple of cards I added for story purposes) Yay Alan!
Disclaimer: Don't own YGO.
Mokuba wandered down a city street idly, clicking his translator every now and then to read something. Behind him a cute light blue dragon bobbed along in the air, just barely kept aloft by it's tiny wings. He sighed. He hadn't been able to find a duel yet, and it had already been half an hour. He bet Yugi already had 3 or 4 pieces, unless his brother had managed to stop him.
As he paused to stare into a window he saw a man with a DuelDisk emerge from a shop nearby. Spinning around quickly, Mokuba saw that he also had a translator. So that confirmed it. He was a competitor. Mokuba ran up to him and stopped for a short breath. The guy, clad in black pants, a black t-shirt and mirrored shades, stared down at him, his head tilted slightly, as if to convey confusion. Once Mokuba got his breath back, he spoke.
"I... I challenge you to a... a duel!" panted Mokuba heavily.
The guy grinned. The kid was speaking Japanese, but his translator allowed him to understand everything clearly. And since he was just a kid, he should be easy to eliminate. That would give the duellist a second piece of Exodia. So he accepted.
"Alright kid, I'll duel you. But know this. Now that I have accepted your challenge you shall proceed no further, for I, Terrance, and my mighty dark warriors will annihilate you most completely!"
The man's DeckMaster, Dark Ruler Ha Des, stepped forward from the shadows of the shop entrance and glared coldly at Mokuba. Mokuba simply stuck his tongue out and ran to the other side of the street, his own DeckMaster floating beside him, leaving an appreciable clearing between the two duellists.
Terrance smiled and drew his starting hand. And it was a good one too.
"Hah! I'll summon the Baron of the Fiend Sword (1550/800) in Attack Mode! And I'll set 1 card face-down too."
Mokuba grinned widely as he studied his hand. He believed the monster for the job this time was...
"I'll summon Injection Fairy Lily in Attack Mode and use it's effect to power it up to 3400!" shouted Mokuba.
As Mokuba's Life Points dropped to 6000 the fairy swooped down upon the evil baron and she injected him. He keeled over and died.
Terrance's Life Points dropped to 6150 and he growled in frustration. But as he whipped his next card off the pile he grinned evilly.
"Oh yeah! I'll play Zombrya the Dark (2100/500) in Attack Mode! Next, I'll activate my face-down card, Axe of Despair, to increase Zombrya's ATK to 3100. And finally, I will equip it with Sword of Dark Destruction, to increase it's ATK to 3500. So now, even if you power Lily up she won't survive!"
The dark warrior appeared, with a vicious axe in one hand and a wicked sword in the other. Leaping forward, he sliced Lily cleanly in two as Mokuba's Life Points dropped again, first to 4000, then to 3900.
Mokuba stared at Zombrya the Dark. As he drew his card Mokuba smiled. He had a plan.
"I'll summon Light Magician Girl (1400/1500) in Attack Mode. And I will also set two cards. Then I'll end my turn." Mokuba scowled determinedly at Terrance. His monster, a beautiful young black-skinned girl with raven hair, a dangerously short green dress and an impressive chest appeared on the field in a shower of sparks.
'For you Seto. This is for you. All for you.' Mokuba repeated this silently as Terrance took his turn.
Terrance picked his card carefully and laid it on the field.
"Hah! I activate Raigeki to destroy your monster." Terrance flashed his teeth in a grin of triumph.
As the lightning bolt tore towards Mokuba he flipped up the card he had set.
"My Solemn Judgement allows me to pay half my Life Points to negate the effect of Raigeki. So Light Magician Girl is okay!" Mokuba bounced up and down happily. Seto's lessons had paid off. (Mokuba's LP: 1900)
"Fine then. I'll summon Red-Moon Baby (700/1000) in Attack Mode and have Zombrya the Dark attack your Light Magician Girl." Terrance looked pleased. This attack would nearly finish the shrimp off.
Mokuba sighed. Terrance had no idea of strategy. Only power.
"I'll activate Magic Cylinders!" A purple tube appeared in front of the Light Magician Girl and absorbed the attack. It then appeared in front of Red-Moon Baby. Mokuba smiled softly.
"My cylinder absorbs Zombrya's ATK at 3500. But now..." The Light Magician Girl raised her staff and the entire field, along with the players and their DeckMasters, began to glow softly. Terrance watched in alarm as Zombrya's ATK fell to 2450, while the Light Magician Girl's ATK rose to 1820.
"What in the hell just happened?" Terrance cried out in a whiney voice. Mokuba's grin widened until it stretched across his face.
"My Light Magician Girl generates a field magic of her own. Hikari. It decreases the ATK of Dark Monsters by 30% and increases the ATK of Light monsters by an equal amount."
Terrance looked in horror as the attack Zombrya had made flew out at the Red-Moon Baby, which was left with 490 ATK with Hikari active. As the Red-Moon Baby was torn apart Terrance's Life Points dropped to 3040.
Mokuba drew his next card and smiled. He could win, right here.
"I'll summon a second Light Magician Girl in Attack Mode, set 2 cards and activate Card Destruction." Mokuba discarded his hand and drew a new card, as did Terrance. But Mokuba wasn't interested in his new cards. He had all he needed to win.
"I'll play Monster Reborn to revive my final Light Magician Girl in Attack Mode!" Mokuba smiled. He now had a full complement of beautiful teenagers. Ah, but if only they were real. He couldn't wait for Seto to either develop "true-life holograph projectors" or to update his Virtual Reality game. Mokuba would definately test his deck out. For research purposes of course.
"And now I will activate my Deckmasters ability, Dual Strike, allowing my original Light Magician Girl to attack twice this turn."
"So what. None of them are strong enough to destroy Zombrya." Terrance sounded unsure. He wasn't sure what to expect.
"Guess what? I'm activating United We Stand to increase my original Light Magician Girl's ATK by 800 for every monster I have on the field. And, funnily enough, that raises it to 4220. Which is 1770 ATK greater than Zombrya. Bad luck."
The Light Magician Girl levelled her staff and beams of white energy surrounded Zombrya and he dissolved in a cloud of particles.
After Zombrya had disappeared all three Light Magician Girls targeted their staves on Terrance and the Attack Counter flashed 7860. Unfortunately for Terrance, he only had 1270 Life Points left.
All three attacks slammed into Terrance at once and threw him backwards, such was the force of the magic. His Life Point counter fell to 0.
Mokuba smiled as Terrance handed over his Dark Ruler Ha Des. Terrance was looking very troubled. Mokuba started to walk away.
"Who are you anyway?" Terrance suddenly burst out.
Mokuba paused and turned around.
"Mokuba Kaiba."
Terrance looked greatly surprised.
"As in Seto Kaiba? Man, I had no chance at all!"
Arkana drew his card. It wasn't strong enough to beat Joey's Skull Guardian, which now had 2500 ATK and 2050 DEF, but he could still use it.
"I'll activate my Magical Scriptures, allowing me to look at your next three cards!" Arkana smiled as they appeared in front of them, while Joey tilted his head and leaned forward to try and get a glimpse of the cards.
Arkana smiled. Joey's next three cards were Different Dimension Capsule, Graceful Dice and Question. Just the sort of reason for him to set one of the cards in his hand.
"I'll lay 1 monster face-down and set 1 other card. And that shall end my turn."
Joey smirked. All Arkana had done was lay a monster face-down. Nothing to be afraid of.
"Hmm. I think I'll summon Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600) in Attack Mode and have him attack your face-down monster! Go Gearfried!"
The futuristic-looking black knight lunged forward and sliced through the monster card. It flipped up to reveal Hiro's Shadow Scout. Arkana cackled evilly.
"Now you have to draw three cards Joseph! My monster's effect says so!"
"And that's bad why?" Joey was confused.
"Because any magic cards you draw have to be discarded. And all three of them are magic cards!"
Joey groaned when he saw them. They were good ones. Sadly, he slotted them into his graveyard.
"And that's not all. By attacking you allow me to activate Infernal Calamity! This trap card destroys all monsters on the field and in either hand and puts them in my graveyard!"
Arkana walked over to Joey, who handed him Gearfried the Iron Knight, Skull Guardian, Knight of Aquasky and Jinzo. Arkana saw that the only card Joey had left was Gaia Power. Arkana revealed his own hand. There were no monsters. Only Magician's Tome, Crucifix of Nightmares and Monster Reborn.
Since Joey was unable to do anything else Arkana drew his card. He summoned it happily.
"Ha! My Man with Wdjat (1600/1600) will be able to attack you directly. And when I play Monster Reborn to revive my Dark Magician, you will lose 4100 Life Points! Hah hah hah!"
As the monsters attacked Joey's Life Points dropped to 2300. He was starting to get worried. One more attack would finish him off. Joey reached to draw his next card.
Come on Heart of the Cards. Don't let me down.
"Okay! I'll activate Pot of Greed. That allows me to draw 2 new cards. Oh yeah!" Joey smirked as he saw his two new cards. "I'll play Dark Hole! Now all your monsters are gone. And I'll play this card face-down."
Arkana frowned. Joey had destroyed his Dark Magician twice now. His Dark Magic Apprentice didn't protect against non-targeted destruction effects. And he had no monsters he could play.
Joey drew again, but it was a useless card at the moment. Maybe later it would be handy, but not yet. Still, he had his other card.
"Guess what Arkana? I got a surprise for you. And it's thanks to you that I can play it!" Joey smirked at Arkana smugly. "I activate Grave Robber to revive my Jinzo!"
The Graverobber pulled Jinzo from the Graveyard and the black-clad cyborg rose ominously from the ground. It aimed it's hands at Arkana and launched a wave of psychic energy at him. Arkana was thrown back and his Life Points dropped to 5300.
Arkana drew a gloved hand across his lip. It was bleeding slightly. Arkana didn't like these new holograms. Angrily, he turned to his DeckMaster.
"Can't you help me? I need some help!" he shouted angrily. The Dark Magic Apprentice flinched.
"No can do boss. Not within my powers. Sorry." He looked miserably at the ground.
"Fine. I can win this myself. I draw...Coins From Heaven! Excellent." Arkana inserted it into his DuelDisk. "Now we both draw 3 new cards to add to our hands." Browsing his hand, Arkana paused to contemplate a strategy. Finally, his face lit up as he saw a combo.
"Excellent! This is perfect! I will play Viral Contamination! It allows me to name something. And any card in either deck with that one word in it is discarded. For each of your cards that is discarded I must pay 1000 Life Points. And my word is... Magician."
Joey looked bewildered.
"Wha? Magician! But I don't have any cards with Magician in their name! That was pointless!"
Arkana merely chose 4 cards from his deck and placed them into his Graveyard.
"Was it? Or was it so I could do THIS?!" Arkana snapped a Monster Reborn into his reader and a monster began to form on his field.
"Ah man! Not another Dark Magician!"
"You're partly right, but mostly misinformed, to put it as your friend Yugi so aptly did. I'm summoning my Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!" Arkana snapped his fingers and the Dark Magician Girl stepped forward. "And since my Viral Contamination was so kind as to destroy the remainder of my Dark Magicians and my Magician of Black Chaos, my Dark Magician Girl's attack is increased to 3200!" Arkana placed another card in the DuelDisk.
"And to finish it off, I'll equip her with my Magician's Tome, to put her attack at an unbeatable 3900!"
The Dark Magician Girl bombarded Joey's Jinzo with a shower of pink sparks and it exploded, reducing Joey's Life Points to a mere 800.
"Damn it! Come on, come on, gimme a good card!" Joey hoped fervently as he drew. "Alright. Hope this works. I play Die of Fate!"
A large, 20-sided die was dropped from the sky and began to roll on the ground. It finally stopped on a 7.
"Alright! 7! That reduces your Dark Magician Girl to 0 ATK power! Now for my monster!" Joey summoned a monster that looked identical to Arkana's Dark Magician Girl.
"I summon Copycat in Attack Mode and copy your Dark Magician Girl. And since it copies her, it gains her base ATK power and effect, raising it's ATK power to 3200! Destroy that bimbo!"
Joey's clone Magician Girl blew away the real one and Arkana's Life Points dropped to 3100. Joey looked confused.
"Hey! Your Life Points are meant to be at 2100. Why've ya got a thousand more?" He waited suspiciously for an answer.
"When Magician's Tome is discarded I gain 1000 Life Points. Is that all?" Grumpily, Arkana drew his card.
"Ah, perfect. I shall play Shallow Grave!"
Just as the Shallow Grave's effect was about to begin, Joey's DuelDisk flashed. His DeckMaster ability was unlocked!
"Hold the phone Arkana! First, I'm activating my Baby Dragon's DeckMaster effect. It allows me to discard 1 card," Joey did so, ", and then I get 1000 Life Points back! And I'll revive the monster I discarded, Gilford the Lightning! In Defense Mode it's only got 1400 points, but since your monster can't change it's position this turn, it should be fine."
Arkana grit his teeth. Joey seemed to be a better duellist than he had believed. But no matter. He couldn't win now.
"Fine. I'll summon my Dark Magician using Shallow Grave. And now-" Pausing for effect, Arkana activated one of the 2 cards in his hand. "- I activate Dark Magic Illusion! I pay 1000 Life Points to create 5 Dark Magicians! With this wall of mages and numerous cards in my deck that will eliminate Gilford, victory shall soon be mine!" He cackled evilly.
"So what Arkana, I got a hundred ways to beat you. And I'll start by destroying 1 of your Dark Magicians. Gilford, shift to Attack Mode (2800 ATK) and destroy the left-most Dark Magician. Then I set this card face-down."
Arkana smiled as he drew his new card. He placed it in the field magic slot.
"Ha! All Dark Magicians, into Attack Mode! I activate Hall of Mirrors! It will halve Gilford's power if he attacks, and it exists as long as I have at least 1 Dark Magician. Unfortunately, I pay 1000 Life Points to activate it. But no matter. It is now definite that you will not be able to defeat me."
Arkana ended his turn by setting 1 other card.
As Joey drew his new card Arkana activated his face-down card.
"Hah ha Joey! My Crucifix of Nightmares will remove Gilford from the game, just in case you want to try anything."
Joey calmly flipped his own trap card.
"Sorry Arkana. My Seven Tools of the Bandit will negate it. Aaand, it lowers my Life Points to 800, meaning I can activate this! Last Battle! It destroys all your Dark Magicians, so Hall of Mirrors is gone. Then you get to summon one monster from your deck and the two monsters fight. Whoever wins is the victor of the duel."
Arkana looked worried as he searched through his deck.
"And by my guessing, your Viral Contamination destroyed your most powerful monsters. You can't win, can ya?" Joey asked confidently. Arkana sighed. He knew when he was beaten.
"No. I don't."
Joey broke out into a wide grin.
"Don't worry 'bout it. Ya played well. One of my toughest duels yet."
Kaiba walked with Yugi to the edge of the park and stepped into the empty car park. He turned to Yugi and, before Yugi could ask what Kaiba wanted to talk about, began to talk sternly and coldly.
"Yugi. I challenge you to a duel. My only piece of Exodia and one of my Blue-Eyes for one of your pieces and Obelisk. Unless, of course, you're too much of a coward." Seto sneered snidely.
Yugi's body glowed and Yami surfaced, a determined look on his face.
"Do I ever turn down a challenge?"
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Well, how was that? I think it turned out fairly well. Anyway, here's Arkana's deck, just for interest. By the way, cards in bold either haven't been released or are unlikely to be.
ARKANA'S DARK MAGIC DECK
1. Dark Magician
2. Dark Magician
3. Dark Magician
4. Dark Magician Girl
5. Magician of Black Chaos
6. Zombrya the Dark
7. Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
8. Masked Sorceror
9. Dark Magic Apperentice
10. Sorcerer of the Doomed
11. The Man with Wdjat
12. Exclusivity Virus
13. Dark Elf
14. Flash Assailant
15. Hiro's Shadow Scout
16. Newdoria
17. Nuvia the Wicked
18. Souls of the Forgotten
19. Wall of Illusion
20. Gemini Elf
21. Breaker the Mage Knight
22. The Illusionary Gentleman
23. Skilled Black Mage
24. Apprentice Magician
25. Rouge Doll
26. Dark Eyes Illusionist
27. Black Magic Curtain
28. Ectoplasm
29. Magician's Tome
30. Magic Scripture
31. Monster Reborn
32. Monster Reborn
33. Shallow Grave
34. De-Spell
35. Remove Trap
36. Anti-Magic Arrows
37. Waboku
38. Infernal Calamity
39. Dark Magic Illusion
40. Hall of Mirrors
41. Thousand Knives
42. Coins From Heaven
43. Crucifix of Nightmares
44. Shadow Balance
45. Black Magic Coffin
46. Black Magic Ritual
47. Trap Hole
48. Reasoning
49. Mystical Space Typhoon
50. Viral Contamination