*** Tournament of the Millennium! ***
Chapter 11: Spirit of a Duelist
Ryou shook slightly as he dragged himself out of his café chair. His Yami had just begged him for forgiveness, and he had refused it. He was not shaking because he was scared of the repercussions, but because of the adrenaline pumping through his bloodstream. He smiled slightly as he left the café and headed back into the busy streets of Sydney.
As Ryou walked along the crowded street he heard a large cheer from an assemblage of people on all sides of two duelists. It seemed one had just declared victory over the other. Ryou nudged through the crowd until he was at the front. From his excellent vantage point Ryou could observe everything within the dueling field's confines. A young lady, presumably the loser, was sobbing loudly and shaking slightly as she handed her rarest card over to her opponent. She was young, maybe 21 at the most, and very pretty. She had long auburn hair, which fell to her waist, before curling slightly at the ends, a slim but lusciously curved body and large, sky-blue eyes. Overall, a very alluring woman.
Nevertheless, Ryou did not really notice. His attention was totally on the victor. Gareki. The Spirit Master. Gareki was the number one Spirit duelist in the entire world. He was Ryou's idol and role model. Ryou studied him in awe. He had never seen Gareki in the flesh before. Gareki looked to be about thirty years old, with a shining, shaven head and a carefully cultivated, pencil-thin moustache. He was chunky, and his thickset body was wrapped in a black robe, which fell to the knee. Below that were the lower legs of a black gi and designer leather boots. His face was bright and roly-poly, with a kind of boyish charm about it.
Ryou watched, slightly awestruck, as Gareki strode towards him. Ryou stepped aside to make a path for Gareki as he strode forward and Gareki swept past. Just as he left the crowd he paused and spun around. Looking around the crowd, Gareki's eyes lit up when he saw Ryou. He rushed up to Ryou and pulled him out onto the dueling space so everyone could see them.
"Why, you're Ryou Bakura! I saw your duel on the private dueling channel this DuelDisks have," stated Gareki casually as he held up his DuelDisk to accentuate his point.
"You have an excellent Spirit deck my young friend. In fact, I feel it is so good that I want to challenge you to a duel. Say, half an hour to prepare, and one Exodia piece up for grabs?"
Ryou nodded dumbly. He was being asked for a duel by who was currently his greatest influence in the Duel Monsters world. In half an hour, he would be having possibly the greatest duel of his life!
Gareki smiled warmly and swung around to face the crowds.
"Well, you heard him! I am to duel again in half an hour, right here, so don't go away!"
Gareki wandered off to a bench to sit down and re-organize his deck. Ryou sat down where he was and pulled his side deck out. Since he was going to be dueling another spirit duelist he would have to prepare accordingly.
***
Gareki snapped his deck into his DuelDisk and stood up. 32 minutes had passed since Ryou agreed to duel him. Now was the time for them to duel.
He walked back to the dueling area, a large concreted car park. There were dozens of people milling around, waiting for the duel to begin. And Ryou, standing ready in the center of the field.
Crouched on its haunches behind Ryou was a small white rabbit. It was the Inaba White Rabbit, the same DeckMaster he had used the last time. Just behind Gareki was a floating, high-tech machine. Ryou recognized it as a Matter Conversion Machine, a staple in any Spirit deck if you could get it. Ryou had yet to acquire one.
Both duelists walked to the centre and shook hands, Ryou's hair bobbing slightly as they did. As they separated Ryou bent in towards Gareki.
"I believe you challenged me. That means I begin." He raised his eyebrows at Gareki.
"Indeed. So let's get this started."
Ryou strode back to his position and turned to face Gareki. Quickly, he snapped six cards from the top of his deck. He looked at his hand and smiled faintly. He had Thieving Goblin, Dust Chute, Great Long Nose, Spring of Rebirth, Inaba White Rabbit and Hellish Flame Fist. Examining his hand carefully, Ryou slipped two of them out.
"I'll set two cards face-down (Thieving Goblin/Dust Chute) and summon Inaba White Rabbit in attack mode!" called Ryou as his second rabbit bounded out and bounced around two cards that appeared. He then took one of his other cards and slid it into his DuelDisk.
"I'm also activating the Magic card Spring of Rebirth. It'll give me 500 Life Points when a Spirit returns to my hand."
The concrete split open and clear, sparkling water began to gush out. Ryou clicked a button to end his turn and pulled his Inaba White Rabbit card back into his hand. His Life Points rolled up to 8500 as the spring's effect activated.
Gareki smirked as he drew his card.
"A good opening move my friend, and with two cards on the field you may well be safe from my monster. Therefore, I will play Awakening of Spirit. It's a Continuous Magic card which increases the attack of my Spirit monsters by 300," stated Gareki calmly.
He picked another card from his hand and placed it in the DuelDisk.
"With Awakening of Spirit on the field I'm free to activate Mystical Cosmos Typhoon. It allows me to destroy 1 of my Magic cards, namely Awakening of Spirit, to destroy your two traps."
As the cyclone twisted towards Ryou he pressed two buttons on his DuelDisk.
"I'm chaining your card by activating both of my Trap Cards. One of them, Thieving Goblin, takes 500 of your Life Points and adds it to mine," Ryou's Life Points increased again to 9000, "while the other, Dust Chute, lets me shuffle 1 monster in your hand into your deck."
Four giant cards appeared around Gareki. Otohime, Afterlife, Sebak's Blessing and Asura Priest.
Ryou knew the choice was obvious.
"I'll send Asura Priest back into your deck, which must be shuffled again. I suppose that ends your turn?"
Gareki shook his head.
"No. I shall summon Otohime (0/100) in face-down Defense Mode and end my turn."
Ryou drew his next card and set it on the field.
"Now I shall summon Inaba White Rabbit (700/500) and equip it with Hellish Flame Fist, to power it up to 900. And now I can attack you directly."
Ryou's rabbit cocked back its fist and dived forward, it's clenched paw igniting as it sped towards Gareki. It knocked him back onto his rear and Gareki's Life Points dropped to 6600. Ryou's increased by 500 up to 9500.
"Oh yes, that's right. Hellish Flame Fist gives my 500 Life Points when the equipped monster does Life Points of damage," mumbled Ryou. His rabbit was pulled back into his hand, so Ryou took back the card and the Equipped Magic card to use again. Ryou's Life Points jumped again to 10000.
Gareki smirked as he pulled himself back up. He drew his card and placed it on the field.
"You've fought well so far, but now I play Matter Transferal. It allows me to flip a coin. If it is heads I can draw 4 new cards."
A holographic coin spun in the air and stopped to reveal that it was heads. Gareki drew his four new cards and smiled.
"Excellent. Now I can play this! Prohibition. It allows me to prohibit Inaba White Rabbit, so you cannot play it again. Moreover, I can also use Graceful Charity to draw three new cards. Then I discard these 2," stated Gareki as he slotted two cards into the graveyard.
"Finally, I tribute Otohime to summon Great Long Nose, and then attack you directly."
The Great Long Nose (1900/1700) lunged forward and smashed into Ryou. But strangely, instead of dropping, his Life Points increased by 100.
"What? What happened?" asked Gareki quickly.
Ryou's facedown card flipped up and sprawling vines burst everywhere.
"My Poison Hiribi no Hades gives me 2000 Life Points before you attack. And since your Long Nose had only 1900 ATK I ended up with 100 more Life Points than before."
Gareki growled as he placed another card on the field.
"Now, normally, Great Long Nose would return to my hand, but I can reduce the attack of my DeckMaster, Matter Conversion Machine, by 100 to keep it on the field until my next turn."
Ryou drew another card and smiled.
"Chishiki will allow me to acquire three more cards. Then, I set 3 cards face-down and activate Afterlife to Normal Summon my own Level 5 monster, but I'll summon it in face-down Defense Mode."
Ryou looked at his field. He was now standing behind a constantly bubbling brook, with three more cards facedown in front of him and a mysterious facedown monster.
Gareki smirked as he drew and summoned another Monster, an Asura Priest (1700/1200).
"I see you've been forced onto the defense. Ah, well. Now, Asura Priest, attack!"
The fairy-like creature flew forward and slammed into Ryou's monster, which revealed itself to be another Great Long Nose. The Asura Priest grappled with the Great Long Nose briefly, before it was surrounded with flames and exploded. Gareki's Life Points fell to 6400.
"What happened? Asura Priest has an ATK power equal to Great Long Nose's DEF. Neither should have been destroyed!"
Ryou smiled slightly as two of his cards swung up.
"I activated Hellish Flame Fist to give Great Long Nose 200 more DEF. Then I activated Counter Punch. If a monster attacks another with lower ATK than the defending monster's DEF, it is destroyed."
Gareki clenched his teeth and ended his turn. Both of the Long Noses returned to their hands and Ryou's Life Points climbed up to 10600.
Ryou grinned at Gareki as he drew his new card.
"I'm surprised Gareki. I expected a greater challenge from my idol and role model. It is really disappointing. I suppose I'll summon the Century Thief (1000/1000) and attack you directly."
A cunning, unkempt man appeared on the field and rushed forward to stick a dagger in Gareki's chest. Gareki winced a little, but the Damage Setting was only 20%, so it did not hurt that much.
"Now I get to name a card and if it's in your hand you have to discard it. Therefore, I choose Great Long Nose! And I get to see your hand."
Gareki's hand rose up once again to reveal Great Long Nose, Sebak's Blessing, Rebirth of Spirits and Yata Garasu. The Great Long Nose disintegrated into powder and the other three disappeared.
Gareki drew his card and smirked confidently at Ryou. When he spoke, his voice was calm and concentrated.
"You've played well so far. But now I will turn this match around. I will set both of my Magic/Trap cards and set Yata Garasu (200/100) facedown. And now I activate Sanctuary! It allows us both to draw until we have six cards in our hand."
Gareki extracted six cards from his deck, Ryou, only 3. Gareki looked at his hand and smiled slightly.
"I'll set 2 cards face-down and play Spirit Redemption. It allows me to send one Spirit Monster in my hand to the Graveyard to place one from my Graveyard into my hand. So I'll take back Great Long Nose and end my turn."
Gareki watched Ryou confidently as a large stone tablet appeared. It had a giant, muscular man with huge wings on its back and a serpent's tail as the lower half of its body carved into it. As quickly as it appear it shattered and a large demonic figure soared towards Gareki, before being pulled into its card.
Ryou looked at the four cards facedown on Gareki's side of the field. He knew two of them were Sebak's Blessing and Rebirth of Spirit, but he had no idea what the other two may be.
Ryou drew his card and looked at it. He decided to use it.
"I'll equip Century Thief with Demotion, which reduces its level by 2, down to 1. In addition, that allows me to activate my DeckMaster's effect. Inaba White Rabbit lets monsters of Level 2 or lower attack directly. So, Century Thief, attack his Life Points!"
The man leaped around the facedown Yata Garasu and yet again shoved his dagger into Gareki, but this time, into his leg. Gareki's Life Points dropped to 4600.
"I know you sent Great Long Nose back into your hand, so that is the card I shall choose Gareki. You have to discard it again," stated Ryou softly.
For the third time in the duel Gareki's hand appeared for all to see.
"It seems you guessed right. I have Great Long Nose, Shadow Utensil and Fountain of Illusions. So my Great Long Nose is destroyed."
Gareki slotted the card into his graveyard and drew another to mark the beginning of his turn.
"Hmm, I shall activate my Rebirth of Spirit! It allows me to destroy one Spirit Monster I have on the field to Normal Summon another from my Graveyard. So I think I'll call back my greatest Spirit Monster, one I put in the Graveyard especially to revive."
Gareki sneered at Ryou as Yata Garasu vanished and the stone tablet reappeared.
"Behold, Diabound!" roared Gareki ferociously.
Diabound (2200/1900) burst out of the tablet and shards of stone sprayed everywhere. It lifted its head and loosed a cry of primal fury, which echoed throughout the street. The watching crowd fell silent at the sight of the truly raging beast.
"Diabound is my greatest possession. A beast that can only get stronger as it kills. In addition, as it kills it becomes more experienced and learns more and more abilities, until it is unstoppable!"
Gareki roared triumphantly as his beast swung its vicious talons. Inside of Ryou's mind, his Yami snapped his attention towards the beast, his eyes wide and disbelieving.
It cannot be! Diabound, my very soul beast! The greatest soul beast ever to exist! It is so powerful that it has killed gods!
Ryou decided to get some inside information and tentatively started up a conversation.
That doesn't sound promising for me. I hope you are exaggerating out of pride here.
I am not. Though I do not know its exact abilities, if the card is anything like my beast you must be ready for anything. And I mean anything. It can phase, shroud itself in darkness, emulate techniques, and shield itself with lost souls, just about anything.
Very, very bad then.
Nevertheless, what a chance! If you can get that I can make a truly spectacular deck, plus it will make a fine addition to your Spirit collection. I must have it!
It occurred to neither Ryou, nor his yami, that they were discussing this in a way that could be considered friendly, or at worst, courteous.
Ryou was snapped out of his thought by Gareki's next move.
"I shall now activate my set Channel of Soul, which will double Diabound's Attack power! Therefore, he will have 4400 ATK! And now, my ferocious beast shall tear your puny thief limb from limb!" chuckled Gareki.
Diabound began to glow as a stone appeared around his neck, which strengthened his connection to the physical realm. He lunged forward and the bottom half, which was a long, deadly serpent, swept forward and bit the Century Thief in the neck. The Century Thief began to writhe as the quick-acting venom took effect and soon died. Ryou watched his Life Points drop to 7200 as Gareki's climbed to 9000.
"I activate Sebak's Blessing, so I gain 4400 Life Points after Diabound's attack. Now, since I have two spaces in my Magic/Trap zones, I will set two of my remaining three cards and end my turn. But since I don't want Diabound to return to my hand and lose Channel of Soul, I'll activate my DeckMaster Effect, which will keep it there to protect and serve me."
Diabound roared and flexed its wings as its ATK rose to 4600. Ryou gasped in surprise.
"Remember what I said. Diabound gets stronger with every kill, and learns new tricks as well. As for what he has learnt to do, well, you'll just have to find out yourself.
Ryou gulped as he drew his next card. Looking at it, he had a sudden flash of inspiration. He stared Gareki in the eyes, his own steady and calm.
"I can defeat your beast. It is strong, but I don't need to attack it. I have a card which can get rid of it completely."
Gareki snorted slightly at this.
"I hardly believe you drew a card which can destroy it. Any card which destroys an opponent's monster without too great a down side is a rare card."
Ryou smiled mysteriously.
"I think I'll play Big Bang Shoot. I'll equip it to Diabound. It increases Diabound's ATK by 400, and it gives him a Trample ability, so he can damage Life Points even if he attacks a Defense-mode monster," stated Ryou as a large cannon constructed itself around Diabound's left arm.
"And how, pray tell, will that help you in any way?" leered Gareki.
Ryou chose another card from his hand.
"With Typhoon Spirit. It allows me to destroy one of my Magic/Trap cards to destroy two of yours. So I'll summon it in face up Defense Mode (0/1000). And the handy thing is, if Big Bang Shoot is destroyed the monster it is equipped to is removed from the game. So if I destroy my Big Bang Shoot, not only do I get rid of two of your M/T cards, I also vanquish Diabound."
Gareki smirked as the Typhoon Spirit began to gust wind around the place.
"Too bad Ryou. Time to see Diabound's first ability. Invisibility. It'll cause Typhoon Spirit's effect to become negated, since Diabound is no longer visible. All I have to do is discard one card."
Before Ryou's very eyes Diabound faded into its own shadow and vanished. The Typhoon Spirit's gale swept harmlessly past.
Ryou looked around and Diabound slowly materialized back into reality. Ryou snapped his hand together and ended his turn.
Gareki drew his new card and glanced at it. It didn't really matter what it was, as long as he kept one card in his hand for use with Diabound's Invisibility technique. The card he had discarded last turn had been Fountain of Illusions.
"Diabound, attack the Typhoon Spirit! With its new power and the Trample effect, I can deal 4000 Life Points of damage to you! So prepare to feel some pain!" laughed Gareki feverishly.
Ryou watched the great monster target him with the cannon and fire a ball of plasma at him. Quickly, he activated one of his trap cards and it raised up to reveal a picture of a green vortex.
"Activate Drain Shield! It negates the attack and I gain 5000 Life Points, since that is Diabound's current Attack Power!" shouted Ryou triumphantly. The ball of plasma crackled into the vortex and disappeared. Ryou's Life Points shot up to 12200.
Gareki studied both sides of the field and scrutinized Ryou's hand, before ending his turn.
When Ryou drew he heaved a sigh of relief. Something to hold the monster down.
"I'll activate Swords of Revealing Light! Diabound can't attack for three turns now!"
Gareki threw back his head and laughed.
"Fool! I worry not about your measly wall. It will fade in time."
As Gareki ended his turn Ryou heard his Yami start to whisper to him.
Ryou, let me help. I've ruled this monster before, I know its weaknesses. Just let me take over until the end of the duel. After all, that is a great treasure out there. I want it.
I don't know. I'm not sure I can trust you.
In Ryou's soul room Yami Bakura paused and rubbed his chin. The mental projection of Ryou looked perplexed.
I know. I'll make a Shadow Oath. Not to attempt to maim, permanently or temporarily debilitate, or kill while in your body without your permission. If you agree and I break it a Game Penalty will be inflicted upon me. A particularly nasty one.
Alright then, I agree to your Shadow Oath. I'll give you control of my body, but only until the end of the duel. We'll discuss this later.
The Millennium Ring glowed brightly and Ryou's features twisted and became sharper. He tossed his head back as the spirit's soul flowed through the body to replace his own. When he snapped his head back, Yami Bakura was in full control.
Bakura smirked and slid the top card of his deck into his hand. As he looked at it he analyzed his own side of the field and his hand. He had Spring of Rebirth, Big Bang Shoot, and Swords of Revealing Light on the field, and Inaba White Rabbit, Great Long Nose, Hellish Flame Fist, Shadow Utensil, Reckless Greed and Spiritualism in his hand.
"I'll activate Spiritualism to return Big Bang Shoot to my hand until I am ready to deploy it again. I shall set two cards and that shall end my turn."
The glowing brown cards (Reckless Greed/Shadow Utensil) appeared facedown and Bakura leered at Gareki. He swung his fist out towards Gareki and slowly unfurled his palm to reveal his Left Arm of Exodia and Right Leg of Exodia tournament card. Gareki looked bewildered as to how they could have fit inside Bakura's palm without becoming damaged. Bakura's leer only grew wider.
"You don't understand. Such a simple trick; yet still you do not comprehend. You do not think outside of the box. All you see is that there are two perfect cards where none could possibly be. It is the same with your beast. You utilize it only for power. Never do you try to comprehend its true potential. Never do you bother to learn about it. To utilize anything to great effect, you must first know and understand it. Find out its nuances, idiosyncrasies, talents, potential and history. I believe you know nothing of what I have mentioned of Diabound," stated Bakura coldly.
Gareki smiled slightly.
"Are you saying you bother to learn about the history of the things depicted in your cards? How, in any way, shape, or form, can that assist you in battle? And how it is possible for a card to have habits?" asked Gareki, in an attempt to make Bakura look foolish.
"In answer to your first question, I do actually. Since most of the cards I use are of occult themes, and I am already well versed in the occult, I have to do little research, but I am very thorough. In fact, I even know all about that card you have. Let me tell you about it."
Bakura's eyes became deep and reflective as he sank into his thoughts. His voice, when he spoke, was harder than before, but not really focused.
"Back in Ancient Egypt a game was played using beasts from the shadows. They were locked in stone tablets, and could be summoned to assist at whim, if you were strong enough. But each person had his or her own unique monster. Their Ka, one half of their soul, which could be manipulated by that person almost exclusively, unless it too was sealed in a tablet.
"During this time many tried to survive on stolen goods, treasure from temples and tombs. Among these was a man who called himself the Thief King. He was a master at his trade, although to him it was more than that, it was a craft. An art form, even. Never caught, except once. The man who tried to stop him perished.
"At some point, he decided to confront the pharaoh and his high priests and priestesses. He boldly strolled into the palace carrying the mummy of the pharaoh's entombed father, whose temple he had just plundered. Not wanting him to reach the pharaoh, the priests moved out to stop him. They attempted to seal the Ka of the Thief King into a tablet with powerful magic, but it burst free and revealed itself. It was Diabound.
"One of the priests tried to stop Diabound, but it had a unique ability to destroy tablets, thus also defeating the Ka that resided within it. Eventually all six priests had to join in. All were defeated. When the Thief King faced the Pharaoh however, he was defeated, but managed to escape, using another of Diabound's abilities to pass through walls.
"One of the priests decided to lay a trap for the Thief King and sealed him in a tomb to fight it out, without worry of injury to others. He was obliterated. Later, the Pharaoh confronted the Thief King in a temple. The Pharaoh had a powerful sorcerer as his Ka, which today is known as the Dark Magician. He almost defeated the Thief King using it, until Diabound's third ability was revealed. It swamped the room in darkness, making it invisible and impossible to hit. Even where there was light it was invisible. It began to overwhelm the Pharaoh, until his priests came to help. Then the tables were turned on the Thief King and Diabound once again.
"The Pharaoh was just about to destroy Diabound when it used another of its abilities. The Dark Spirit Shield protected it using the malevolent spirits of 99 slaughtered criminals. The Pharaoh called upon a being of great light to illuminate and unmask the beast, and they fought ferociously.
"The Pharaoh called upon a god who manipulated thunder and used it to weaken Diabound. It was then that Diabound revealed its last and possibly greatest ability. It could absorb the techniques of other Ka beasts. It used the god's own Thunder Force against it and destroyed it. Diabound was strong enough to slay a god. After that, the Pharaoh called upon the greatest god in Egyptian religion, Ra, and slew Diabound. Nobody knows what happened to the thief."
Bakura snickered slightly as he wrapped up his history lesson. Gareki looked stunned at his knowledge of the formidable beast.
"Now, getting back to the trick which started all this, I am willing to offer you both of my cards if you can defeat me, such is my confidence in this deck, poor as it is. In return, if I am to win, you are to revoke the title of number one Spirit Duelist in the world and award it to me," offered Bakura in a dangerous tone of voice.
"With Diabound pumped up and able to negate any abilities which target him, I have nothing to worry about," stated Gareki calmly. Bakura's eyes glinted and he grinned slightly. "I agree to your terms," granted Gareki. "Now it is my turn."
Gareki obtained another card from his deck and looked at it for a moment, before his eyes flicked over to the field. He had Channel of Soul on the field, along with a facedown Shadow Utensil and Power Balance. Gareki placed a monster card onto his DuelDisk.
"I shall summon my Dark Spirit Kuu Yami (1000/1500) in Attack mode and play De-Spell! That will destroy your Swords of Revealing Light, then my beasts will attack! Diabound, attack the Typhoon Spirit so Dark Spirit Kuu Yami can attack directly!" commanded Gareki.
The swords holding Diabound down faded away and a black mist swirled together to form a misty, not-quite-clear humanoid shape. Free of his radiant bindings, Diabound hurdled towards the little cloud puff that was the Typhoon Spirit and diced it. Diabound's ATK rose to 4800. The humanoid shape swirled around and poured forwards into Bakura's lungs. It felt like smoke and Bakura began to cough and sputter until the attack receded. Then he looked up and wiped his eyes, before smirking evilly.
"You've used up all the cards in your hand. That means you cannot use Diabound's Invisibility ability." Bakura smiled toothily and looked like a tiger about to pounce.
Gareki shook his head and drew a card from his deck. Bakura looked surprised at this.
"If Dark Spirit Kuu Yami does Life Point damage I can draw a card," he informed Bakura.
Gareki: 9000 LP Ryou/Bakura: 11200 LP
Before Bakura drew his card his Trap card, Reckless Greed, flipped up and a broken Pot of Greed appeared on the field. Two holographic cards fell out. Bakura grabbed two cards as he explained.
"Reckless Greed lets me draw 2 cards, but I skip my next two Draw Phases. So I didn't draw for this turn, and I can't next turn either." As Bakura looked at the two cards he made a quick mental analysis of Ryou's deck.
One thing I can say, this deck has a lot of draw power. It would make a good Exodia deck.
"I shall now play Graceful Charity to draw 3 more cards. And after discarding 2 cards I will activate Rewards of Heaven and Hell. It forces us each to roll two dice and draw a number of cards equal to the number we roll. I then pay Life Points equal to half the number you drew times a thousand."
Are you sure about this? It could just give him a big advantage.
Shut up and watch.
A powerful demon appeared above Bakura and threw his dice. They totaled up to five, so he slipped the top 5 cards off his deck.
A great angel appeared above Gareki and tossed his dice. They rolled around for a bit and finished on twelve. Gareki chortled happily as he drew a dozen cards and Bakura's Life Points dropped to 5200. Bakura began to snicker also.
"Hah! According to my calculations, you have only three cards left in your deck, plus most of those cards you have will be discarded after my turn," taunted Bakura cruelly. Gareki stared at his deck in shock.
"Ah! It's true. I have only three turns to defeat you. But it shall be adequate."
Bakura looked through his hand, which now consisted of ten cards. He looked at his hand and grinned.
"I'll play Séance, which lets me Normal Summon 1 Spirit from my deck. So I'll summon Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi in Attack Mode (2800/2900) and destroy your Dark Spirit Kuu Yami. You lose 1800 Life Points, plus you must discard your hand during your next turn." Bakura watched contentedly as Gareki's Life Points fell to 7200.
Gareki looked at his hand. He had good cards he didn't want to lose. But there was 1 card still in his deck which would be handy. He just hoped it was the next.
"I shall also play Pyro Clock of Destiny, so you go through to the next turn, forcing you to discard your hand, and back to mine," declared Bakura as Gareki threw his hand away in disgust.
Bakura then slipped two cards from his hand and revealed them to the entire crowd.
"I'll play Stolen Spirit and Exorcism. Stolen Spirit lets me wipe out one of your magic or trap cards if I have a Spirit on the field, which I do. I'll use it to destroy your Shadow Utensil so you cannot recover Diabound after I destroy him. Then Exorcism destroys all Spirits on the field. Since you have no cards in your hand, you may not activate Invisibility. Therefore, Diabound is destroyed." Bakura crossed his arms and shot a smug look at Gareki.
Gareki watched Exorcism destroy the Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi and move on to Diabound. Then he slapped his hand down on his card. Diabound jumped into the air and dove straight through the ground. Bakura cried out in surprise and fury.
"What the hell just happened? You have no cards to activate Invisibility!" shouted Bakura.
Gareki nodded in agreement, as he placed Diabound into his hand.
"It's true, I couldn't. I used the ability he gained after destroying the Typhoon Spirit. It's Phasing, the ability to go through walls. If Diabound is to be destroyed I can pay half my Life Points to return him to my hand."
Bakura swore and looked through his hand. He snapped it closed and motioned Gareki to make his move.
Gareki drew his card and smiled. Just the one.
"I'll play Pot of Greed to draw my last two cards. Now I will set one of them and activate the other, Spiritual Enlightenment. If I only have one card in my hand and it is a Spirit I can summon it free of Tribute, so now Diabound reemerges, still with 2400 ATK."
Diabound's tablet appeared and shattered as it burst free. The vicious being roared and raked its claws through the air.
"Now I will activate Rapid Regeneration. It shuffles my Graveyard back into my deck, so I now have thirty-seven cards in my deck. No fear of deck-out anymore. Finally, I activate Power Balance! Since I have no cards in my hand, you must discard three, and I am allowed to draw three of my own. I'll play Frenzied Dust Spirit (0/0), which can be summoned on the same turn as another monster. It randomly destroys one magic card on the field and disappears. I aim to destroy your facedown card." Gareki looked confident as he turned the tide of the battle.
The little dust devil tore forward and mixed with the Spring of Rebirth, turning the water muddy, before drying it up completely. Gareki didn't seem perturbed.
"Fine. I shall activate another of Diabound's abilities, Dark Parody. As you pointed out, one of Diabound's most handy abilities are those of its opponents. Diabound has absorbed the hand-discarding effect of Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi, and when I attack you it'll activate and destroy your hand," mocked Gareki.
Diabound lunged towards Bakura, but Bakura was too fast.
"I activate Shadow Utensil to summon Gareki Kana (400/300) in Defense Mode!" called Bakura straight away.
Diabound tore through the poor little silvery fish that had appeared and roared as it gained another 100 ATK. As it did smoky, depraved green spirits of howling faces began to circle around it.
"After slaughtering three monsters Diabound can call upon the dark spirits to protect him, an ability known as Dark Aura Shield. The Dark Spirits have a combined ATK and DEF power of 3000 each and Diabound can't be touched as long as it exists. I have to say, your history of Diabound seems to be spot on. You've named pretty much all of the effects the card possesses." Gareki looked confident of his monster's abilities and the fact that he was going to win.
"To end my turn I will activate my DeckMaster's effect, so it now has 1000 ATK left, so Diabound will remain on the field."
Gareki: 3600 Life Points Ryou/Bakura: 5200 Life Points
Bakura looked at his hand. He had three cards. He couldn't draw this turn either, due to the downside of Reckless Greed, but he had everything he needed right in his hand. He threw his hand out towards Gareki and, in a deep and imposing voice, bellowed his declaration of victory.
"Gareki! This match is mine! Now I will show you just how knowing a card helps. I said before that Diabound was the Ka of the Thief King. What I didn't mention was that Diabound was completely loyal to his master and would not betray him. Now, let me tell you something. I am the Thief King's descendant, it is my beast and I will command it!"
Gareki scoffed at Bakura's announcement.
"Is that so? Well, go on then, tell it to obey you. It won't, you know."
Bakura snorted.
"First I must prepare accordingly. Two cards facedown and then… Hand Disruption! We both discard our entire hand! Next, I shall activate Hellish Flame Fist to power Diabound up to 2700! Finally, to gain control of it. All I have to do is prove I am its master by revealing the Thief King's greatest treasure. Behold, the Millennium Ring!" roared Bakura mightily.
Bakura's ring glowed brightly as the card flipped up to reveal the Duel Monsters version of it. Bakura's hair rippled with energy as the light flowed through him. He felt exhilarated. He hadn't felt this powerful in months! When he next spoke, his voice held a quality that made one feel overwhelmed with awe.
"My Millennium Ring is the greatest treasure the Thief King owned. Now, watch as Diabound proves his loyalty!"
Diabound began to struggle as the ring manifested around its neck. With a howl of fury Diabound bounded towards Bakura and spun around to face Gareki.
"No! My greatest monster! How could you?!" despaired Gareki.
Bakura gazed down at Gareki over crossed arms, the faintest hint of a smirk crossing his features.
"The Millennium Ring increases his ATK by 500, up to 3200. Now, if I attacked, you would have 400 Life Points left. So I activate Dark Parody! As you know, Diabound can imitate abilities. So I will imitate the effect of Gareki Kana, whom I revived just so Diabound could steal its ability."
Bakura pulled the Gareki Kana monster card out of his Graveyard and tossed it to Gareki to read.
"Gareki Kana can have its ATK increased by 500 by paying 1000 Life Points. Diabound has absorbed that ability, so I can pay 5000 Life Points to power Diabound up to an unstoppable 5700 Attack Power! Diabound, finish this for your real master!" cackled Bakura.
Diabound swung his clawed hand through Gareki and faded away as Gareki collapsed to the ground, his Life Points reduced to zero.
***
Ryou slid Gareki's rarest card, Diabound, into his deck. He wasn't too thrilled about it, but there was no denying it was a good card.
He looked around for a moment and walked away, Bakura's non-existent form following him, arms crossed in defiant victory. As Ryou walked his phone rang. He fumbled around for it and finally got it open.
"Hello?"
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SPIRIT MASTER GAREKI'S SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT DECK
YAMATA DRAGON
HINO – KAGU - TSUCHI
DIABOUNDGREAT LONG NOSE
MAHARAGI
MAHARAGI
SUSA SOLDIER
ASURA PRIEST
ASURA PRIEST
ASURA PRIEST
FUSHI NO TORI
FUSHI NO TORI
DARK SPIRIT KUU YAMI
DARK SPIRIT KUU YAMI
DARK SPIRIT KUU YAMI
MOON DIVINER
MATTER CONVERSION MACHINEOTOHIME
YATA GARASU
INABA WHITE RABBIT
FRENZIED DUST SPIRIT
FRENZIED DUST SPIRIT
NEMU EH
HELLISH FLAME FIST
SPIRIT FIXATION EQUIPMENT
AFTERLIFESEBAK'S BLESSING
MATTER TRANSFERAL
AWAKENING OF SPIRIT
MYSTICAL COSMOS TYPHOON
PROHIBITION
GRACEFUL CHARITY
SPIRIT REDEMPTION
CHANNEL OF SOUL
DE-SPELL
POT OF GREED
SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT
RAPID REGENERATION
SPIRIT'S INVITATION
SHADOW UTENSILREBIRTH OF SPIRITS
FOUNTAIN OF ILLUSIONS
POWER BALANCE