- Tournament of the Millennium! -
Weevil glanced furtively around, and pulled his baseball cap lower, to cover his face. Sneaking another quick peek, he scurried towards the BattleDome under the cover of darkness. As he crossed the parking lot, Weevil shot a look at his watch. 9:58. He'd better hurry. Two minutes to go.
Reaching the BattleDome, he pressed himself up against the wall and slid towards the entrance. In the darkness, he could see a silhouetted shadow looming near the door. It must be the person who told him to come here. Rushing forward, Weevil began to make out the features of the person standing by the door. He was hunched slightly, as if in great pain. Weevil stifled a scream as the man's face came into view.
It was horribly burned and scarred, with one eye peering from raw pink flesh, the other sealed forever under a large mound of dead scar tissue. He mouth was distorted and stretched at one side, as if his face had had a lot of its flesh on that side removed. His hair, or what was left of it, stood in small, forlorn spikes, ravaged forever by his horrific injuries.
"Mrgh? Is… that you, Legion?" the man groaned as he turned to face Weevil, his voice deep and rasping, like the man had swallowed metal shavings, or even lumps of glass. He drew in a choking breath with a deep rattle, which sounded to Weevil like he has trying to suck a drink out of an empty cup. Weevil skidded to a halt and made a quaking reply.
"N-no. I was told to come here to meet Legion. Who are you?"
The man chuckled hoarsely and started to cough and splutter.
"Panik. I used to be an eliminator for Pegasus."
"Ah, good to see that you two are already introduced. It shall be vital, as you two are to work as a team." A third voice cut into their conversation. Weevil and Panik looked around sharply, but no one seemed to be there.
"You cannot see me. But I can see you. And I am pleased by what I see. For from now on, you two shall be my eyes and my ears."
Weevil's face grew red at this, and Panik seemed to take offence as well.
"Who're you to say what we have to do?"
The voice chuckled and the world around them faded to darkness. Weevil squeaked in surprise and shuffled closer to Panik. In front of them, a warrior emerged. He wore armour so black that the pitch-blackness around him seemed to be little more than a gray colour in comparison. The man was huge, at least twelve feet high, and the armour he wore was studded with spikes and sharp edges. A large and very vicious helmet covered his head, with two great horns on top. He reminded Weevil overall of Sauron, from the Lord of the Rings movies.
"Thank you for coming. I have an offer for you two. You two duel me as a test of your abilities. I will duel alone against you. If you two defeat me, then you are awarded instant qualification to the finals, the both of you. However, if you lose to me, I have a task for you."
Weevil looked suspicious. It sounded too good to be true.
"What's the catch?"
Legion inclined his head towards him.
"You are to duel against a certain somebody that I wish to test. That is all. Do you agree to my terms?"
"Fine then. I'll accept," growled Panikin his rasping voice. Weevil quickly agreed.
"Very well. Now, you two may begin. One of you is to move first, then the other, then it is my turn."
Panik snorted and shuffled sideways a bit, then activated his DuelDisk. Weevil did likewise.
Panik drew his five-card hand, and then drew another to signify that he would start. His face twisted into a leer as he glared at the card he had. He slotted it into his DuelDisk with some difficulty and activated it.
"I'll play Blitzkrieg. By paying 4000 Life Points, all monsters can attack on their first turn from now on, and may attack twice per turn."
Panik laughed gruffly and pulled two other cards from his hand.
"I'll summon Castle of Dark Illusions (930/1920) in Defense Mode and then activate Throne of Dark Ruler. By sacrificing a Fiend on my field," at this the hovering castle shattered and crumbled, "I can Special Summon a Dark Ruler Ha Des (2450/1600) in Attack Mode from my deck."
In front of Panik, flames shot out of the ground, causing Panik to step back in horror and wrap his arms around himself protectively.
"Don't… like… fire."
Out of the flames a large regal demon emerged, roaring fiercely, and it stomped over to Legion, eying him suspiciously. Panik managed to stand back up and pulled another card from his hand. All the time he was staring at the demon with his one eye. It was incredible how real it seemed!
"I'll activate Black Pendant to power up my Dark Ruler Ha Des to 2950, and then it'll attack twice, due to Blitzkrieg."
The demon leapt forward and swung its claws at Legion. However, Legion raised a shield attached to his left arm to intercept the attack. It glowed slightly as Ha Des followed up its attack, reducing Legion's Life Points to 2100.
Taking his cue, Weevil drew his cards and stared at them. He pulled some cards from his hand and played them.
"I'll summon Basic Insect in Attack Mode (500/700) and equip him with Laser Cannon Armour. That increases his attack to 800."
In front of Weevil, a mantis burst from the ground, rubbing its front legs together to make a shrill chirping noise. Beams of light launched from Weevil's DuelDisk and melded into large cannons on the insect's shoulders. Weevil gasped at how real it seemed in the dark of the night. He would have sworn he could hear the cannons humming as they built up energy, and feel the warmth radiating from them. Shakily, Weevil pulled another card from his hand.
"Activate Forest. That powers up my Basic Insect to 1000. Now I'll attack directly twice, leaving you, Legion, with a meager 100 Life points. I'll set my remaining three cards and end my turn."
Weevil snickered. The cards he'd set were Moth-Drawing Light, Great Swarm of Bugs, and Leeches. Great Swarm of Bugs would create 4 Bug Tokens with 800 attack by sacrificing his Basic Insect, then Moth-Drawing Light would force them to Legion's side of the field, and by activating Leeches, Legion would be sapped of 400 Life Points. Then he would lose.
Legion drew his six cards and smirked within his helmet. The fools. The game was his.
"Activate Temple of Kings. . Do you chain?"
Weevil smirked and flipped up one of his cards.
"I'll activate Great Swarm of Bugs."
"Activate DeckMaster Effect. Mariokutai. Sacrifice half my Life Points to negate one Spell card. So I am left with 50 Life Points."
Legion pulled another card from his hand and activated it with cold indifference.
"Now is the end of you. Activate Pot of Greed, followed by Graceful Charity. Now, discard 2 cards." Legion declared everything he did in a calm, icy manner.
"Activate Reckless Greed to draw 2 cards. Activate 2 more Reckless Greed to draw 4."
Legion pulled 6 cards from his deck. Then he picked one of the cards in his hand and activated it.
"Treasure of Nibelung. Draw 5. Activate Chishiki to draw 3, then Blood Transfusion to draw 3 at a cost of half my Life Points." Legion's Life Points fell to 25.
"Treasure of Guardian Goddess. Discard 5, draw 2. Next, activate Devil's Blood Drops. Draw 5. At the end of the turn, I lose the duel. Activate Vase of Greed."
Weevil gasped as Legion drew the last card in his deck. That was insane! He'd just gone through 40 cards in a single turn. What did he plan to do?
Legion pulled 5 cards from his hand and placed them in the monster slots of his DuelDisk. The ground began to rumble and Weevil crouched down tentatively. Whatever was about to happen, it was sure to be bad.
Legion began to laugh manically as the ground below him split open and a huge beast started to drag itself out of the fissure.
"Face the wrath of the Unstoppable Exodia! Exodia, Obliterate!" yelled Legion in a hoarse voice as the great warrior pulled its manacled hands together and fired a blast of light towards the two hapless victims. Weevil and Panik were engulfed whole. The Shadow Realm around them began to evaporate, as did Legion, unable to maintain a corporeal state in the physical realm. However, as he disappeared, beams of light shot from the bodies of Panik and Weevil, who fell limply to the floor, and were absorbed by Legion's amulet. As he faded, Weevil and Panik hauled themselves from the ground, dazed and confused, and with a glazed look in their eyes. Legion's voice echoed through their minds.
My puppets, you are to duel a potential accomplice to me, a one Ryou Bakura. He is nearing the BattleDome now. You are to bet your only pieces of Exodia and your rarest cards, whatever they may be.
Panik and Weevil turned their glazed eyes towards a rustling bush, from which a scowling Bakura emerged. His Ring was glowing brightly. When he spotted them standing in the doorway, he growled.
"What's the meaning of this? I'm here to see Legion."
"To see Legion, you must first defeat us."
"Yes, we are his disciples. Only through our defeat can you pass."
"We are to wager one piece of Exodia each. This is to be a two-on-one duel. I, Panik, shall start, my associate Weevil will follow, and then you will make your move. That is how it will operate. You have no choice in the matter."
Bakura studied them closely. Panik's voice, though rasping and terrible to hear, was droning and lifeless, a sure sign that Legion had done something to them. Bakura guessed they were under mind control.
"Fine, I accept your terms. So, let's go. Choose your deckmasters!"
"I select King of Yamimakai." Panik pushed his DeckMaster into his Disk.
"I choose Pinch Hopper."
Bakura flicked through his deck and pulled a card from it. He examined it for a while, then deemed it suitable.
"I shall use the fearsome Dark Necrofear as my DeckMaster. So we begin."
The three duelists stood in a triangle formation outside the darkened arch of the BattleDome entrance. Panik drew his cards and lifelessly chose one to activate.
"I'll start by playing Pot of Greed to draw 2 cards. Then I will set two cards and end my turn."
Bakura smirked as the two cards appeared in front of Panik.
"Oh. Horrors."
Weevil drew his cards and took one to use.
"I summon Flying Kamakiri #1 (1400-900) in Attack Mode. Then I set one card. End turn."
Bakura laughed as he drew his card. This duel didn't look like it would present much of a challenge. As he drew, however, Panik activated one of his face-down cards.
"Activate Clown's Game. This can only be activated if I have 5 Spell or Trap cards in my hand, so I must reveal my hand."
Panik handed his hand to Bakura to examine. Bakura looked at it. The cards were Menace of Yamimakai, Grave Swap, Struggle of Chaos, Circus of Horrors and Eye of Illusion. Bakura handed them back to Panik.
"Now, you must discard 2 at random from my hand."
Bakura glared at the cards. Eventually he picked the two left-most cards.
"Doesn't matter what they are. All your cards are useless."
"You discarded Grave Swap and Menace of Yamimakai. Now, I shuffle my hand and you choose a card at random. You must then guess which card it is."
Panik slowly shuffled his hand and held them out, facedown, to Bakura. Bakura tapped the middle one thoughtfully and guessed, "Struggle of Chaos."
Panik flipped the card up.
"Eye of Illusion. You lose 2000 Life Points."
Bakura cursed as his Life Points fell to 6000. Growling softly, he took two cards from his hand.
"I'll summon Headless Knight (1450-1700) in Attack Mode and play Kill the Dead Treasure. During each player's End Phase, they must discard cards from their deck equal to the number of monsters they control, but only if they have any cards in their Graveyard. Then I'll set one card facedown. Now, Headless Knight, destroy the Flying Kamakiri #1!" commanded Bakura.
As the knight charged towards Weevil, he activated his Trap card.
"Activate Carrier. Exchange Flying Kamakiri #1 for Cocoon of Evolution (0-2000) in Defense Mode."
The hovering stick insect vanished in a flash of light, and was replaced by a huge cocoon. Bakura's knight ran headlong into it, and Bakura's Life Points fell by 550. B LP: 5450
Panik drew his card and stared at it. Eventually, he placed it on the field.
"Activate Field Spell, Yamimakai. Now the field is cloaked in darkness."
A great black cloud swelled out from Panik's DuelDisk, obscuring him completely from Bakura's sight.
"Activate facedown card, Slave to the Dark. Summon one Level 4 or lower Fiend from my deck. Select Mobiko the Dark Clown." Panik pulled a card from his deck and placed it on the field. Bakura heard the familiar sound of a summon, but couldn't see the monster.
"Yamimakai reduces the Level of Fiends in my deck by 1. So Peten is only Level 4. Now, activate Spell card, Circus of Horror. Special Summon up to 4 cards with 'Clown' in their name. Summon 2 Mobiko the Dark Clown, Clown of Yamimakai and Trapeze Artist, Aeroba the Clown."
Bakura couldn't see what was happening, but he knew that couldn't be good news.
"Set one card facedown, then Mobiko the Dark Clown and Aeroba the Clown attack directly."
Bakura swore viciously as three murderous clowns and a cart-wheeling clown passed by his Headless Spirit and smacked him up. Bakura gasped, surprised, as his Life Points fell to 50. Now he was worried. All Weevil had to do was attack him with a monster with 1500 or more attack and the duel was over.
"Activate effect of Aeroba the Clown. When it inflicts Life Points of Damage, a card must be discarded at random from the opponent's hand."
"Ah, to hell with you! Fine, discard Dark Necrofear." As Bakura thought about Panik's play, he began to find the ingenuity in it. By attacking directly, he left the Headless Knight on Bakura's field, to force Bakura to discard a card due to Kill the Dead Treasure. But because it required a card in the Graveyard to use, Panik had used a card that discarded from his hand in order to kick its effect off. Thinking of that reminded Bakura of something.
"Ha. Now you must discard 7 cards from your deck, due to the effects of Kill the Dead Treasure."
Panik carelessly pulled 7 cards from his deck and placed them in his Graveyard.
"My turn. Draw card," Weevil stated. As he drew, a blast of dark lightning shot out of the darkness surrounding Panik and shocked Weevil's cocoon.
"What the hell was that?!" snapped Bakura.
"During a player's Standby Phase any of their monsters that are not Fiends or Spellcasters lose 1 level. If their Level reaches 0, it is destroyed."
Weevil did not look troubled by this. He really didn't look much at all. Just kind of stared.
"Summon Flying Kamakiri # 1 (1400-900). Attack Headless Knight."
Weevil's insect zoomed towards the decapitated warrior, who responded with a swift upward slice of his sword, cleaving the insect in half. As it fell to the ground, another insect formed, its mandibles snapping hungrily.
"Summon Flying Kamakiri # 2 (1500-800), using the effect of Flying Kamakiri # 1. Then activate DeckMaster Effect. When my Insects die in Battle, I may call another of equal or lower level from hand. Summon Poison Caterpillar (800-500) in Defense Mode. Now, Flying Kamakiri # 2 attack Headless Knight."
As the insect rushed towards Bakura, ready to destroy his remaining Life Points, Bakura revealed his facedown card.
"Activate Dark Sanctuary! Use Resentment Spirit Counterattack!" called Bakura. The insect stopped in the air and a fiery spirit burst from it's back. It slammed into Weevil, reducing his Life Points to 7200. Bakura then gained the 800 Life Points Weevil had just lost.
Bakura laughed as the darkness around Panik faded, revealing him again. Panik didn't react, but his monsters were all revealed.
"Ha, your Field Spell is destroyed. So, let's see… Mobiko the Dark Clown… 3 of them, each with 1600 Attack, each able to attack directly. All Level 5 as well, so you used Circus of Horror to avoid the tribute. Aeroba the Clown, with 600 Atk, and Clown of Yamimakai, with 2450 Attack. Moderately impressive."
"End turn. Discard 9 cards due to Kill the Dead Treasure."
Bakura drew his card and smirked as he glanced at it. It would just about solve some of the problems he faced.
"I'll tribute Headless Knight to sustain Dark Sanctuary and then play Dark Hell Portal! All monsters on the field are destroyed, and each player loses 500 Life Points for each monster under their control destroyed! So Weevil, you take 1500 Life Points of Damage, while you take 2500 Life Points of Damage Panik!"
Panik and Weevil's Life Points adjusted according to Bakura's calculations.
B LP: 850. P LP: 5500. W LP: 5700.
"Now I'll play Payment for the Dead. I may draw cards for every monster destroyed this turn. That's eight."
Bakura pulled his cards and smirked as he observed his cards.
"Excellent. Activate Monster Reborn! Now, I'll Special Summon one of your Mobiko the Dark Clown cards. I think their Direct Attack ability will prove handy."
In front of Bakura, the manic clown appeared. Bakura pulled another card from his hand.
"Activate Spiritualistic Medium. By discarding the remaining 7 cards in my hand, I can power up Mobiko the Dark Clown by 3500 Atk, bringing him to 5100."
Bakura glanced at the two duelists in front of him. Which should he attack?
"Mmm, well, both of you are so pathetically weak, I can't decide who to attack. How about…Weevil. Mobiko, attack Weevil directly!"
The black-clothed clown leapt forward and slapped Weevil firmly, dropping his Life Points to 600. Bakura then ended his turn.
Panik drew and placed his card onto the field.
"Summon Pennywise the Clown (1350-950). Using his effect, I can Special Summon Ringmaster, Harlequin the Clown (0-0)."
Two clowns appeared in front of Panik, one large one wearing a shiny silver suit with orange pompoms (anyone here seen Stephen King's IT?) while the other wore baggy blue pants with large colourful patches on them.
"Now, activate The Misery Clown. This Spell changes one clown to Defense Mode. Now Mobiko the Clown is changed to defense mode, with only 900 Defense. Now Pennywise the Clown attacks and destroys it."
Bakura sneered as he tapped a button on his DuelDisk.
"Dark Sanctuary Resentment Spirit Counterattack!" called Bakura confidently.
Pennywise froze halfway through pulling a custard pie out of his pocket, and the fiery wraith of the Dark Sanctuary burst from his back, zooming towards Panik. It slammed into him, reducing his Life Points to 4825. Panik coughed slightly, his deep, warped voice resonating in his chest. Then he directed Harlequin to attack.
"That's pointless! Harlequin has 0 Attack Strength!" called Bakura with some surprise.
"Pay 2000 Life Points, increase Harlequin's Attack to 4000 for this attack!"
Bakura's look of surprise turned to shock as Harlequin cut through Mobiko with the crack of a bullwhip. Now he had no defense! And he had only 1475 Life Points.
Weevil drew his card and looked at it. Then he placed it on the field.
"Summon Arsenal Bug in Attack Mode (2000-2000). Then Special Summon Pinch Hopper in Attack Mode from Deckmaster Position. Fuse Pinch Hopper with the Flying Kamakiri # 2 in my hand to create Flying Kamakiri # 3 (2000-1900)."
Bakura cursed as he realized what Weevil was attempting. With two monsters, he could attack twice and Bakura could only prevent one attack. However, it left Weevil with a 50% chance of losing, if he picked the possessed monster. If he guessed right though, that was the end of Bakura.
"Flying Kamakiri # 3, attack directly!"
Bakura crowed with triumph.
"Yes! Ha ha ha! Activate Resentment Spirit Counterattack!" called Bakura maliciously. The vicious armoured bug halted its assault, and Bakura's Life Points rose to 2475. Weevil's Life Points dropped to 0, but, just before his holograms faded, he activated a final card from his hand.
"Activate Quickplay Spell, Desperate Times! Revive Clown of Yamimakai to Panik's field, then end duel."
Weevil's body began to shake and writhe, jittering about. Suddenly it slumped to the ground, and a beam of yellow light flew from his body into the BattleDome. Bakura realized what had happened. Legion had claimed his soul.
"Seems it's just us now Panik. Getting scared?" Bakura taunted. Panik stared blankly at him. Bakura sighed. He drew his card and glanced at it. He activated it casually.
"Pot of Greed. Draw 2 cards. Oh excellent. Now I'll summon Archfiend Soldier (1900-1500)! Now, destroy Harlequin the Clown!"
The vicious fiend hefted up his unholy blade and charged towards Harlequin, the clown with the baggy blue pants. Panik tapped the huge scaly beast beside him, his DeckMaster, King of Yamimakai.
"Pay 1500 Life Points to activate DeckMaster Effect, Shadow Reclamation. The attack is negated," declared Panik, as his Life Points fell to 3325.
Bakura glanced at his other card and decided to play it.
"Activate Spirit Replication. Using this card, I can multiply Harlequin the Clown into 10. Since all are from that one monster, by picking it with Dark Sanctuary, I would select all as viable targets for it's counterattack. Just as a friendly warning. Now, I'll sacrifice Archfiend Soldier to retain Dark Sanctuary, and then I'll end my turn, discarding 11 cards in the process."
Panik's glazed eyes turned towards his deck as he pulled another card from his deck. He couldn't attack with Harlequin, but then again, he didn't need to.
"Special Summon King of Yamimakai (2000-1530) in Attack mode from DeckMaster Position. Now, attack directly with Clown of Yamimakai. You are left with 25 Life Points."
Bakura narrowed his eyes as the attack went through. He'd picked Harlequin as his target, in order to prevent it from wiping out his life points, so Dark Sanctuary would not be able to prevent the attack of King of Yamimakai. He had only one option.
"Special Summon Dark Necrofear from my DeckMaster Position by removing Headless Knight, Archfiend Soldier and Dark Necrofear! While Dark Sanctuary fades, you can't attack me because of how strong my Dark Necrofear is. And I'll kill it next turn, leaving you with no deckmaster and no soul. How do you like that, Panik?" threatened Bakura furiously. These two pathetic wimps had tested his skills far more greatly than he'd imagined they would.
"End turn. Discard 12 cards." Panik now had about 15 cards left in his deck. Bakura, who ran a small deck in order to establish his strategies, had only 7.
"Draw and activate Painful Choice! Now, do you let me keep Smithfiend, Smithfiend, Smithfiend, Tomb of Poor Quality or Dark Recoup?"
Panik studied the cards with only mild interest.
"Smithfiend. All others are discarded."
Bakura smirked. Well, now he had Panik. There was to be no escape for him.
"I'll summon Smithfiend (1850-750). And his effect lets me take an Equipment Spell from my deck when I summon him. So now I'll take my last card, Sword of Hell's Flame, and equip it to Smithfiend! It increases his Atk to 2350!"
Bakura smirked. Now all he had to do was attack the King of Yamimakai and it was over.
"Smithfiend, attack the King of Yamimakai!"
"Activate Shadow Reclamation. The attack is negated." Panik activated the DeckMaster effect as Bakura's demon, clad in chain mail and with a sword of white flames, charged towards his beast. Shadows leapt from the ground, forming an impenetrable black wall around the king. Reluctantly, Bakura's fiend loped away.
"Alright then, Dark Necrofear, attack!"
"Again, activate Shadow Reclamation." Panik's Life Points fell to 325.
"Yes, now I've got you! I wasn't sure if your deckmaster effect would be able to prevent what I'm about to do, so I had to force you to use all your Life Points defending your Deckmaster!"
Bakura swung his hand out towards his Smithfiend.
"Now I'll activate the effect of Sword of Hell's Flame! By removing it and its equipped monster from the game, I can do Life Points of damage to you based on what's in our graveyards. 250 Life Points of damage for each Dark monster or Fiend in either graveyard. Those monsters are removed from our graveyards to do a grand total of…"
Bakura watched as dark spirits poured from both DuelDisks, into the glowing white blade. As the last one entered it, it gave an unearthly scream and Bakura chuckled.
"Ah, excellent. 9750 Life Points of Damage. Goodnight Panik."
Bakura laughed hysterically as white flames blasted from the blade and enveloped Panik, causing him to scream and shriek madly. It seemed not even Legion's mind control could hold back Panik's fear of fire.
As the holograms faded, Bakura felt himself being sucked into darkness. When his sight returned, he was in a darkened room, with a huge black knight towering over him.
"Greetings Ryou Bakura. You have done well. You have passed my test. Here are your two pieces of Exodia, along with your Prize cards. You are now qualified for the finals."
Bakura snatched the cards from Legion and turned towards the door of the room. As he placed his hand on the doorknob, however, he was halted by Legion's icy laugh.
"Going somewhere? But we haven't even talked about what I wanted to tell you."
Bakura snarled. This didn't feel right.
"I don't give a damn about you and your schemes, whoever you are!"
Legion inclined his head slightly. Of course, how rude of him not to introduce himself.
"I am Thomas Harris, founder of this tournament. And you are Ryou Bakura. Or so it may seem."
Bakura froze at this. What did that loony know?
"You are in fact, not Ryou Bakura, but pretend to be him to keep people guessing. You are in fact, an evil and malevolent spirit, the world's greatest thief."
Bakura turned back to him and growled. Then he pointed his finger at Legion and yelled.
"I'm not like that anymore, but if you're going to push it, for the love of Ra, I will gladly make an exception to my new lifestyle!"
"Oh dear, touchy touchy." Legion smirked. Now, it was time to rope him in.
"You really should learn to control your temper, Ba-Khu-Ra Aten-Suht."
"Gahhh!" Bakura fell to the ground in pain as his mind's door swung open, flooding him with all the evil intentions he'd once had. Legion had found the key to releasing bakura's evil again. As Bakura writhed on the floor, Legion bent down and examined him.
"Oh yes, you will make a fine comrade. When you finally come round, you will do everything I ask of you, simply because you're so damn evil!"
Legion began to laugh again, his voice booming in the echoing room. He was pleased. Bakura began to smirk widely. He was pleased as well.