I don't own Yugioh……can I stop saying that now? ::sighs::
Note: My Spanish is horrible…I apologize for whatever grammatical errors I've made with the Spanish part. ^^;;
Chapter 18
"We're here," Seto stated, pulling the plane to the designated area and cutting the engines. They had to stop off at an island a few hundred miles from Peru because they were running out of fuel.
"Wow!" Anzu sighed as they got out…
And got blasted by hot and humid air.
"Shit it's hot!" Jou groaned.
Seto walked over to the native guy in charge of refueling the ships. The group took their bags and followed.
"Um…," Seto cleared his throat.
The guy looked up, "Ah, si?"
"Um…hola," Seto stammered.
"Hola, amigo!" the man smiled, "Donde estas?"
Seto stared at him.
"What'd he say?" Anzu asked Jou.
Jou shook his head, frowning.
Yugi blinked, looking up at Yami who was equally as puzzled.
"Wha…?" Seto blinked. "No…um…no…espanol…um…"
"Tu hablo espanol, si?" the man smiled.
"No…no speak espanol…," Seto pointed to himself.
"Tu hablo espanol! Si!" the man nodded.
Seto ran a hand through his hair, "This…isn't working…"
Yugi walked up to the man, "Um…excuse me, sir?"
The man glanced down at him.
Yugi smiled up nervously, "C-can you help us?"
The man smiled, "Oh! You speak English! Why didn't you say so?"
Seto, Anzu, Jou, and Yami facefaulted.
"I feel stupid…and that doesn't happen often…," Seto mumbled as he brushed himself off.
"What do you guys need?" the man asked.
"We need the ship refueled," Seto handed him the money.
"Okay," the man nodded, "We should have it done by this afternoon."
Seto looked at his watch, "Okay…shit, I didn't adjust for the time zones…"
"Time zones?" Jou blinked.
"Well, we'll just have to walk around for a couple of hours," Seto shrugged.
"And hope we don't run into anymore of the Bakemono brothers," Yami stated solemnly.
Yugi reached up and took his hand.
"What a bizarre…bazaar…," Anzu blinked.
They were walking through the streets of the town, looking at the booths while they waited for the plane to be refueled.
Yugi glanced around suddenly, then shook his head.
//Aibou, that's the seventh time you've done that. Care to explain…?//
/I just…thought I felt someone watching us. Call it a hunch, I don't know. It's like I can feel someone watching…/
Yami shook his head. //I'm sure it's nothing.//
/I hope so…/
They were still walking for another hour, and was just passing by a street out of the bazaar.
"Check it out!" Jou pointed to a booth set up by an alley, "They even play Duel Monsters here!"
"Except the cards are all in Spanish!" Anzu exclaimed.
The thin, tanned man behind the counter wearing gray robes looked up, "Ah…so you play Duel Monsters, do you?"
Yugi felt his body freeze up in fear. There was something about this man that was…wrong.
"You sell cards?" Jou was looking at them, "I ain't never seen cards like these before…they new?"
"Oh, most definitely," the man smirked.
Yugi felt as if a thousand needles went through his body when the man spoke in his gravelly voice. His entire body went numb, and he sunk to his knees.
"Yugi!?" Yami bent down next to him, "What's wrong?"
"M-my body…is n-numb…," Yugi winced.
The man laughed, "Looks like I've caught a little bird."
Jou pulled back, raising his fists, "Who the hell are ya?! Start explaining!"
Yugi shakily stood up as he started to get used to the feeling. His breath came out short and quick, however.
Yami's eyes narrowed, "I feel…you have the power of the Shadow Realm. Just like Warumono."
"So you've figured it out, hmm?" the man grinned, "That I am really Tejina Bakemono! The middle Bakemono brother!"
They gasped.
Tejina snapped his fingers, and they were transported to a barren field, filled with rocks and gravel and dirt. In the center was a rock big enough for a game of cards.
Tejina was already sitting at the table, "Gather around. Welcome to my arena."
They went over, not seeing any other choice.
Tejina smirked and started to chant in a strange language. Suddenly, everyone except for Yugi cried out.
"I can't move!" Jou grunted.
"It feels like I've been frozen!" Anzu whimpered.
"What the hell…?!" Seto exclaimed.
Yami's third eye glowed.
"Oh, no," Tejina growled, "I've taken measures to prevent you from using the power of the Shadow Realm. You see, this spell is from the Shadow Realm. And, you aren't powerful enough as a magician to break it. The only one who can break it would be your father, or holy power. In other words…," he glanced at Yugi, "…the little one has to beat me in a duel. If he wins, you all go free. If he loses…then all of your souls will be mine."
"Bastard!" Yami spat.
"Don't do it, Yug!" Jou shouted.
Yugi squeezed his eyes shut, tears running down, "I don't have a choice!" He wiped his eyes, glancing up. This guy, Tejina, cut my mental link with Yami. I'm really scared. But I can't be afraid. I have to fight for them! Yugi sat down at the rock, "I accept your challenge!" He pulled his deck out and shuffled it.
Tejina did the same.
"Yugi!" Jou shouted.
"We start with 8000 Life points," Tejina reminded him. With a snap of his fingers, numbers hovered above their heads.
"This is like a duel in the Shadow Realm!" Yami realized.
"It gets better," Tejina laughed, "There are…other little surprises waiting. Some I will let you find out on your own. However, one thing I will tell you. Unless you can tap into your holy power, Tenko, you can not play any creature or spell."
"What?!" Yugi exclaimed, placing his deck down.
"To play Duel Monsters in the Shadow Realm," Tejina grinned, "Is to summon them!"
"Oh, no!" Yami exclaimed.
"What's he talking about?" Seto demanded.
"Remember back at Midway Island?" Yami spoke again, "When Anzu said she saw the Silver Fang? That's because Yugi summoned it. Well, he has to do that for every monster here in order to play it. And each monster draws its strength from the summoner. In other words, if the creature is large, it requires a lot of magical power to bring it onto the field. And if it took all of Yugi's energy just to summon the Silver Fang last time…"
"…then he can't play any of his tougher creatures!" Jou realized, "Not without runn'n out of energy!"
Tejina grinned, "And, if you run out of energy, you will be unable to play anything. In which case, I win."
"That ain't fair!" Jou shouted.
"It's perfectly fair. And, we're in the Shadow Realm, let me remind you," Tejina looked at the boy across from him, "So…still want to duel? There are other surprises waiting for you."
Yami growled. Last time he played a game in the Shadow Realm, it was relying on me. But this time, he has to do it on his own.
Yugi nodded. "Let's duel!"
"You go first," Tejina stated, drawing five cards.
Yugi drew five, then an extra one. He looked at his cards. "I place a creature in defense move!" He put the card on the table, and it glowed slightly. He felt no different, though. Yugi looked up, "End of my turn."
Tejina drew a card, "And I play…the Soul Exchange card!"
"Oh, no…!" Yugi gasped.
"Guess which creature of yours I'm destroying? Whatever that one was!" Tejina pointed.
Yugi growled and placed the Silver Fang in the graveyard. Suddenly, as soon as the card was touched down to the surface of the grave, he felt a jolt of pain sear through him. He gasped, leaning over a bit.
"Yugi!?" Anzu shouted.
"Looks like you've found one of the little traps in this place," Tejina smirked, "Whenever a creature of yours is put into the graveyard, you get a little shock. Now…I play the Sadistic Magician. It has an attack of 2100 and a defense of 1200." When he placed the card down, it glowed, and what looked to be a black magician appeared above the card. "Unfortunately, I have to skip my battle phase. However, I lay down two trap cards. End of my turn." Tejina grinned.
Yugi gulped and drew a card, shaking off the jolt. "And I play…the Lady Sorceress in attack mode."
"Idiot," Tejina grinned as the creature that resembled the Mystical Elf came onto the table.
Yugi felt the drain of his energy, and hoped he could survive the duel. He shakily placed another card down, "A-and I play a trap card, too." He flipped it over, "Reinforcements! It gives the attacking creature an additional 500 points to its attack power, boosting the Lady Sorceress's attack to 2500!"
"Excellent play, Yugi!" Yami congratulated him.
"Go get 'em!" Jou cheered.
Tejina laughed, "You think that's enough?"
Yugi blinked, "What…?"
Tejina turned over a card.
"No!" Yugi exclaimed.
"Remove Trap!" Tejina stated, "This card allows me to destroy one face-up trap card on the field. I choose the Reinforcements card!"
Yugi gritted his teeth as he placed it in the graveyard. He was relieved when the jolt didn't sear through him. He glanced at the Lady Sorceress, who was standing on the table. Sweat ran down his forehead. I can't changed her to defense mode…and even so, she only has a defense of 800. He can destroy her next turn… Yugi squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, "Go."
Tejina grinned, drawing a card. He placed it down, "I set another trap card."
"Again with da traps?!" Jou shouted, "Play fair!"
"I am playing fair," Tejina laughed, "Duel Monsters is about using Magic and Trap cards correctly! Not just brute force! Now, then…" He pulled out a card and placed it on the magic/trap card area, "I play a Book of Secret Arts on my Sadistic Magician! That boosts its attack and defense by 300 points, bringing it up to an attack power of 2400!"
They stared in shock as the Sadistic Magician seemed to get more ugly looking and stronger.
"And," Tejina grinned, "Battle phase. I turn over a trap card. Reinforcements! You know what this card does, Tenko! That boosts its power an additional 500 points, bringing its attack to a total of 2900!"
"Masaka…!" Yugi's eyes widened.
"Now…Sadistic Magician! Attack the Lady Sorceress!" Tejina pointed.
The Sadistic Magician held up his staff, and a blast of powerful, dark energy tore through the other creature, destroying it. The card went into the graveyard, shocking Yugi.
"It's not done," Tejina grinned.
The blast continued and hit Yugi head-on.
Yugi screamed in pain, clutching his chest where he was hit as the numbers above him went down from 8000 to 7100.
"Yugi?!" Anzu, Jou, Yami, and Seto shouted.
Yugi gasped for breath, then picked up the cards he had dropped, "I'm…okay…"
"Found the next trap?" Tejina grinned, "Every time you take direct damage, you feel the hit actually going into you! And, therefore, when your life points reach zero, you die."
"Yugi!!" Yami shouted.
Yugi winced, rubbing his chest while trying to ease the burning sensation from the attack.
"Be lucky that the Sadistic Magician uses magic attacks," Tejina grinned, "Imagine the pain if he was a swordsman. By the way, I'm done."
Yugi winced and drew a card. He felt weak already.
Yami gasped when he noticed the life points above Yugi's head drop 100 points.
"What gives?!" Yami shouted.
The others looked at it.
"He is weakening," Tejina shrugged like it was obvious, "You said it yourself. Summoning those creatures takes a lot of energy. As his energy is drained, so is his life shortened. It's your move, Tenko."
Yugi shakily took a card from his hand and placed it down, "I play a magic card. Swords of Revealing Light!"
"Ha! You just activated my trap card!" Tejina laughed, flipping one over, "Magic Guard! You know what it does. I discard a card from my hand to counter your magic card."
Yugi gritted his teeth as Tejina placed a creature from his hand into the graveyard. Yugi wiped sweat off his forehead, then put his magic card in the graveyard.
"Then…," Yugi shakily pulled another creature out, "I set a creature in defense mode. End of my turn."
Tejina drew a card, then smiled, "Perfect. First, I play a magic card. Stop Defense!"
Yugi winced. His eye twitched a bit. He placed the card in attack mode, and the Mystical Elf was on the field. He winced, feeling his energy drain more as the creature appeared. His life points dropped to 6900.
"No…," Jou whispered, "…he's runn'n outta energy…"
"Then," Tejina grinned, "I play another magic card. Reborn the Monster! I choose the card I had discarded from my hand due to the effect of the Magic Guard. The Death Warrior of the Flame! In attack mode! It has an attack of 2200 normally, but when brought back from the graveyard directly into play, it gets a bonus of 300 points. That increases its attack to 2500! Now, I first attack your Mystical Elf with the Sadistic Magician!"
Yugi winced as he was paralyzed from the jolt as the magic attack sent the Mystical Elf to the graveyard. He then screamed, gripping his chest by his heart and squeezing his eyes shut from the intense pain as his life points dropped to 5300. Yugi dropped his cards, slumping a bit.
Tejina didn't give him any time to recover, "And, now I attack directly with the Death Warrior of Flame!"
Yugi screamed, tears running down his face as the monster actually attacked him. He placed a hand over the wound running down his chest from his shoulder to his waist, already oozing blood.
"YUGI!!!" Yami shouted.
"Stop! It's so cruel!" Anzu cried.
Yugi was on the ground, crying. The pain was so intense, it brought him to tears. He just wanted to pass out as his life points dropped to 2800. Then, it dropped an additional 100 points, putting him at 2700.
"It dropped again," Seto growled, "He's getting too exhausted. He's taking too much hits."
"Believe in the cards, Yugi!" Yami shouted, "You can do it!"
Tejina sneered, "No he can't. You're all dead, and he knows it. Next turn, I can kill him. And there's nothing he can do."
Yugi's life points dropped once again. This time, they kept on going down.
Yugi curled up into a ball on the ground, just wanting to go home. It's all a bad dream. I'll wake up, and I'll be back in the plane with my friends……this pain and weakness…it hurts so bad. I just want it to stop…I've already let my friends down. He's right. His next attack will finish me off. I can't stand it. I let everyone down. Yami, Anzu, Jou, Seto, jiichan…and…myself. I can't do it.
Yami gritted his teeth, "Yugi!" He watched as Yugi's Life points was dropping to 1950.
"YUGI!" Anzu shouted, "Listen to me! Concentrate on my voice! It's all in your head!"
Yugi's eyes snapped open, and he glanced weakly back at her, blood running down from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes wide.
"The only thing keeping you from winning is your own doubt!" Anzu shouted, "Yugi, remember what allowed you to win against Warumono?! It was your courage and your belief in the cards! The cards believe in you! I can see it! I can see the power emanating from them! Can't you feel it?! The power!? You have the power to do it, Yugi! I know you can do it! Now, sit up! Draw your next card! See it through! We all believe in you, and we're rooting for you! You have something that he doesn't have, that will allow you to win. A heart. I know it hurts, but you have to get up. You have to keep on going! I know you can do it!"
Yugi blinked, his life points stopping from going down, staying at 1900. He slowly and painfully pushed himself back up, a determined look crossing his pale features.
Tejina raised an eyebrow, "Even if you do use the 'heart of the cards', it can't save you. Nothing can. Not only that, but face it…you don't have enough energy to continue. You're so weak you can barely keep yourself up!"
Yugi narrowed his eyes, taking a shuddering breath, "I see what you're doing! You've been psyching me out since the moment we started to play, causing myself to injure my own being! Because I stopped believing in myself! And, all you've been doing since the beginning is playing small creatures and strengthening them with magic cards. But there's a flaw to that strategy. A couple major ones." Yugi closed his eyes, then drew a card. He smiled, "I play…Reigeki!"
"No!" Tejina gasped. "I have no more trap cards to defend against it…!"
"Reigeki destroys all of the opponent's cards on the field," Yugi stated, "Including the magic cards and your creatures! And, you already used the Reborn the Monster, so you can't bring any of them back."
Tejina swore.
"Plus," Yugi pulled another card from his hand, "I play the Pot of Greed. It allows me to draw an additional two cards." He drew them. Then, he nodded, "Right." Thank you, deck. "Now, I play Reborn the Monster to bring back my Mystical Elf."
"Waste," Tejina grinned.
"No," Yugi shook his head, "I haven't played a creature this turn, yet. And, now I can play a creature at level five or six. So, I sacrifice my Mystical Elf to play the Curse of Dragon in attack mode!"
Yugi winced as a jolt was sent through him when the Mystical Elf went into the graveyard, but it wasn't as powerful as when a creature was destroyed. He felt a huge drain on his energy, and his life points dropped to 1200 from bringing out the Curse of Dragon.
"Now, I attack!" Yugi pointed, "Go, Curse of Dragon!"
The Dragon roared, and sent a blast into Tejina, who winced as his life points dropped from 8000 to 6000.
Yugi pulled another card out of his hand, "And, I put down a trap card. End of my turn."
"Way to go, Yugi!" Jou shouted.
"Keep it up!" Yami cheered.
"You can do it!" Seto stated.
"We believe in you," Yami added.
Yugi nodded. Thanks, minna. He looked at the cards in his hand. Hopefully, I'll draw the Polymerization card. That's the only thing I need now.
Tejina played a creature, "I set a creature in defense mode. End my turn."
Yugi closed his eyes, feeling the energy of the deck. He opened his eyes and drew a card, then looked at it. The Polymerization card. He smiled. "First, I play the Change of Heart card, and I take your creature!" He took it to his side, not bothering to change it to attack mode.
Tejina growled.
"Then," Yugi stated, "I sacrifice your creature to play the Fierce Knight of Gaia." He placed the card down. He felt more energy drain from him as the knight appeared. He winced, his life points dropping to 500. He wiped sweat off his forehead, then covered his mouth and coughed up blood. When it passed, he panted, but shakily pulled out another card. He put it on the table. "Now, I use a Polymerization card to merge Curse of Dragon and the Fierce Knight of Gaia into the Dragon Champion of Gaia! Its attack power is 2600, and its defense is 2100."
"Yes!" Jou cheered.
"I attack!" Yugi pointed, "Go, Dragon Champion of Gaia!"
The guy on the dragon sliced in with his sword.
Tejina winced, and his life points dropped to 3400.
"End of my turn," Yugi gasped, then coughed up more blood. He looked at his hand while his opponent drew and considered what to do. He saw the blood. Not good. I really don't have much energy left. It feels like…my entire body took a beating. My chest is hurting…and my head is pounding. My lungs feel like they're on fire…just trying to breathe and get in oxygen is painful. I hope this ends soon, because I really don't know how much longer I can physically last. My body's going to go out before my mind does.
"I set a creature in defense mode," Tejina placed it down, "And, a trap card. Go."
Yugi winced, then drew a card. He looked at it, blinking a few times. He placed it down in the magic/trap area, face down. "I place a trap card. And, I also place my Celtic Guardian in attack mode! And, I attack with it!" The Celtic Guardian appeared on the field.
Yugi winced, and bent his head down, coughing up more blood. He panted for breath. Luckily, his life points didn't go down, but he was really feeling the summoning.
Tejina turned over the creature card. It was a Mean Fiend, with a defense of 1000.
"But," Tejina grinned, turning over the trap card, "Castle Walls! It raises the defense power of a monster by 500 points! That would bring its defense up to 1500, beating out the attack power of your Celtic Guardian by 100 points! Meaning, you take 100 points of damage…!"
"Not so fast," Yugi turned over his trap card, "Remove Trap!"
"No…!" Tejina blinked, then growled, placing it in the graveyard.
Yugi, too, put his Remove Trap card in the graveyard. "And, your Mean Fiend is destroyed, too. Now, I attack with the Dragon Champion of Gaia!"
Tejina growled, wincing as his life points dropped to 800.
The others watched carefully.
"Are you done?" Tejina growled.
"No," Yugi shook his head, "I was saving this, and I'm glad I did. Oozaki!"
"Masaka!!" Tejina shouted, "That hits the opponent's life points directly, inflicting 800 points of damage!"
"Just enough to defeat you," Yugi stated.
Tejina's life points dropped to zero.
Final score:
Yugi: 500
Tejina: 0
Tejina shouted in agony, and fell over. His body started to dissolve.
Yugi was already too weak to do anything, and collapsed to the ground, all his energy spent on the game.
The others found they could move.
"He's creating a void!" Anzu threw her hands up as the winds increased around them, and in the center, was the disappearing Tejina.
"I'll get us out of here!" Yami stated. The third eye on his forehead glowed, and he was surrounded by dark power. "Everyone, grab on!" he put Yugi's deck in his pocket, and grabbed onto the boy. Everyone else took hold of Yami as well. They soon were transported out of the wasteland just as it was all sucked up into the void leading to the Shadow Realm, where Tejina's soul would wander with his brother's for the rest of eternity.
They opened their eyes and found themselves in the alley.
Jou rubbed his head, "Man…do I got a major headache…"
"That was scary…," Anzu wiped her eyes, sitting up.
Seto wordlessly sat up as well, a hand to his head, then dropped it. He turned to Yami, who was cradling Yugi, "Is he alright, Yami?"
Jou and Anzu immediately went over.
Yami nodded, "Barely. Any more, and he really would have died. He's going to need a lot of rest."
"Damn…and we can't stay here…," Jou swore.
"Don't worry," Seto stood up, "It's only an hour's flight to Peru. We'll book a room at a hotel there, and rest up."
Yami nodded, "Good. Because Yugi needs a lot of rest now. I just wish it was over…"
TO BE CONTINUED…