Mya could only cry out as the power of the God Soldier Obelisk smashed
through her Divine Harpy with no effort, shattering the winged lady into an
explosion of pixels and energy. Not only had the attack destroyed her only
monster on the field but it drained away the last remains of her Life
Points and with them, her last hope for victory.
"Do you see how outclassed you were now?" Discord asked her. "You believed that your mediocre dueling skills would be able to help you, but I am not in the same class as the worthless opponent's you've faced before today. I am in a class far beyond even you, and now that I've won, Obelisk is mine and my shadows will finish enveloping you in their dark grasp, trapping you forever!"
As Discord gloated the shadows once again began to move and twist up Mya's body. She struggled to break away, to run, but she couldn't move, she was trapped. She began to scream but her voice was cut off as the shadows crawled up her skin the rest of the way, over her body and arms and face, encasing her in a shadowy prison, where she stood, immobile as a statue.
"Hmpf," said Discord as she picked up her deck, and her new God card and turned to lower herself from the arena platform. before the platform could lower itself to the ground a sharp light radiated from behind her. She turned back to where the girl stood trapped and saw two figures step out of the shadows, a golden aura of energy surrounding them.
"Going somewhere?" Evo asked.
"Who do you think you are?" Discord shouted at him.
"I bet you feel good about yourself, don't you?" he continued, ignoring her. "Defeating a teenage girl like that, hardly an impressive test of your supposed limitless power." As he talked the Millennium Ring around his neck and Millennium Necklace around Jaina's glowed even brighter, and in a flash the dark shadows that covered the entire factory were gone. Mya was free from her shadowy prison but was unconscious. Jaina caught her as she fell.
"You," Discord said with a tone of sudden realization.
"Oh," replied Evo, pausing. "You know me."
"I know of you," she answered. "I've never had the pleasure of meeting the Industrial Illusions president myself. I only know what I've read, and what Sin has told me."
"I assumed that you were associated with Sin; it explains why I mistook you for him when you first arrived. You give off the same aura."
"What do you want?" asked Discord. "I have places to be."
"I'm sure you do. But you're not going to leave yet. Not with Obelisk at least. If you had over the card now I'll let you go on your way to attend your...business."
"You'll forgive me if I don't leap at the chance to hand over the God Soldier, but you see I earned the card the rightful way, so you have no claim over it."
"I will when I defeat you."
Discord laughed. "You? You couldn't defeat Sin, what makes you think that you can defeat me?"
Evo gestured to Mya's body in Jaina's arms. "I've already broken your hold over this girl."
"You needed the help of that one," Discord responded, pointing at Jaina. "You can't beat me."
"Then you have nothing to lose by accepting my challenge."
"And nothing to gain. I'm afraid I'm going to have to deny you your challenge." She turned to leave. The platform did not move. She whipped around and glared at Evo. "You dare to try and hold me here?"
Evo smiled. "If you are as powerful as you say then you should be able to leave anytime. But maybe, just maybe, you're not as strong as you claim."
"I'm going to enjoy wiping that arrogant smile off your face. When I defeat you I'm going to relieve your broken body of that worthless trinket." She finished pointing at the Millennium Ring. "How shall we do this then?"
"The stage is already set," Evo said, gesturing down at the playing field.
"Then let's begin."
"Agreed."
Evo: 2000, Discord: 2000.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Jaina asked Evo.
"You tell me," he replied. "You're the one with the visions."
"The outcome of this match I have already told you, but my visions concerning this individual and her power are clouded. Be careful."
"My dear Jaina, I have no desire to be anything but."
"Stop talking," shouted Discord. "Let's duel."
"Ladies first."
"Fine." Discord drew her opening hand. "I'll play this card in defense mode. And this card face down with it." Two images came to life on the field. "Your turn."
Evo drew and examined his hand with disappointment. With no monsters in his hand, he wasn't off to a good start. He would have to trust in the vison that Jaina had seen with her necklace. "I'll lay these two cards face down, and end my turn."
"No monster?" Discord laughed. "You're going to make this easier than I thought. I'll summon the Shadow Spirit of Bear (2100/1600) to the field!" A blocky, wooden bear appeared on the field and roared as it stretched its claws out. "You've left yourself completely open to my attack. Shadow Spirit of Bear attack him directly!"
"Activate trap card!" Evo shouted. "Gates of Banishment!"
"What does that do?" asked Discord.
"It allows me to search my deck for a zombie and place that card in my cemetery."
"What good is that going to do?"
"It's going to help me by letting me activate my other trap card, Call of the Haunted, which I activate to bring the monster to the field. Go Zombie King of Lancaster (2200/2200)!" The floor of the field cracked open and a decaying hand shot up and pulled the rest of its body out of the earth to lord over the field. Discord had no time to call back her monster's attack and with a cleave of its giant scepter the Zombie King destroyed the wooden bear.
Evo: 2000, Discord: 1900
"Done your turn?" Evo asked, folding his arms across his chest.
"Hardly," she retorted. "I'll lay this card face down and then I will end my turn."
"Fine." He drew his card. It wasn't a monster card either, but it was something just as valuable. "I activate the magic card Heavy Storm, to clear the field of your two face down cards."
"A wasted effort. I'll just activate both of the cards. First I activate the trap card Ebony Duplicate, to create an Ebon token that becomes a copy of your Zombie King of Lancaster. Then I'll activate my other card Thrust from the Grave, which allows me to return my Shadow Spirit of Bear from the graveyard to my hand."
"Hoping your duplicate will protect you for the turn? Now you're the one with the wasted effort. First I'll activate my Zombie King's special ability. By discarding a card from my hand I can special summon a Zombie monster from my deck, and I'll summon the Royal Keeper (1600/1700) in defense mode." The new Zombie crawled to life in hte smae fashion as the last mosnter and flanked the Zombie King. "Next I'll equip the Zombie King with the magic card Necronomicon - Book of the Dead, which not only increases his attack power by 500 but the attack power of every other Zombie on my side of the field by 200. Zombie King, attack her Ebony Token!"
Evo: 2000, Discord: 1400.
"Your move Discord."
"A nice play old thief," she conceeded. "But not a great one." She drew her card. "I lay this card face down, then I summon the Shadow Spirit of Raven (1500/1700) in atatck mode."
"You Raven doesn't look strong enough to challenge my Royal Keeper, let alone my Zombie King."
"Looks can be decieving," she warned. "And my Raven doesn't need to challenge any of your monsters. It's special ability allows it to attack your Life Points directly when you have no Wind monsters on your field. Shadow Spirit of Raven attack!"
Evo: 500, Discord: 1400.
Evo drew his card from the top of the deck and looked at it. He then looked at Discord's field. She had left her weak Raven open to attack. He could attack it with his Zombie King, but if her face down card was a trpa then he'd be losing his strongest mosnter on the field. "I change my Zombie King to defense mode," he declared and his monster on the field changed its posture to match the change in modes it had just gone through. "And I attack your Raven with the Royal Keeper!"
"I activate my trap card, Evil Barrier - Wicked Force! I may lose my Raven, but it destroys any monster that you have in defense mode, namely your Zombie King!" The barrier flashed to life just as the Royal Keeper attacked and bounced the attack right back at the Zombie King, destroying it instantly.
Evo: 500, Discord: 1300.
Evo had lost his monster just like he hadn't wanted, and just like Jaina had seen. She said that at the height of his power in the duel he would lose his strongest card. Now all he had on the field was his weak Royal Keeper, and since he knew she had the Shadow Spirit of Bear in her hand, he knew that she could wip him out with a single attack, and there we no cards in his hand he could use to stop her. He looked over his shoulder at Jaina. She closed her eyes and nodded. Looking back at the field he said, "Your move." The rest of the duel would be up to Jaina's vision, and it would start with Discord's draw. Any card but one that she drew now would mean his defeat.
There was no hiding her emotions as Discord drew her next card. She began to laugh out loud. "You're through now. There's nothing you can do to stop me. You wanted Obelisk so much I'll let you have the honor of being destroyed by it, come forth God Soldier!" once more the powerful form of Obelisk appeared on the field, looming over everything. Evo looked up at the awesomness of the God mosnter. "God Soldier Obelisk, attack!" she shouted out.
Obelisk didn't move.
"What's wrong!" Discrod cried out. "Obelisk attack!" The light blue tint of Obelisk's aromor began to fade, the luster leaving the aror as it slowly faded to gray. As the armor became darker, it began to crack and tear away, falling to the ground. Lightning began to shoot out of the cracks in the armor, tearing the facotry to pieces. "No! it can't be! What's happening?"
"Don't you get it Discord?" Evo shouted over the crashing sounds of discharging lightning and explosions.. "Obelisk isn't like any other card or mosnter you've ever seen. The power of the God cards comes from the very spirits of the monsters. Those spirits choose their controllers, not the otherway around. Obelisk doesn't find you fit to weild his power!"
"But it was mine! I used it to defeat the girl!"
"A means to an end Discord. Obelisk was never meant to be under under Mya's control for the upcoming battles, she was only its keeper. That's why she lost it. Just as it was not meant to be yours. I am the one who is going to control the power of the God Soldier. Royal Keeper attack!" The Royal Keeper rushed forward and struck Obelisk with its spear and causing the God Soldier to explode in a flurry of energy. Discord was struck in the chest by a huge discharge of it sending her flying backwards off the arena platform, skidding across the harsh concrete floor of the factory and into a wall. Evo lowered himself from his platform and approached Discord's, picking up Obelisk from amongst her other cards.
"Do we bring the girl with us?" Jaina asked.
"We'd better. There's nothing for her here. And I wouldn't want to leave her with Discord." Evo turned and headed towards the exit to the building. "I have what I came for. I think it's time we had a little reunion."
"Do you see how outclassed you were now?" Discord asked her. "You believed that your mediocre dueling skills would be able to help you, but I am not in the same class as the worthless opponent's you've faced before today. I am in a class far beyond even you, and now that I've won, Obelisk is mine and my shadows will finish enveloping you in their dark grasp, trapping you forever!"
As Discord gloated the shadows once again began to move and twist up Mya's body. She struggled to break away, to run, but she couldn't move, she was trapped. She began to scream but her voice was cut off as the shadows crawled up her skin the rest of the way, over her body and arms and face, encasing her in a shadowy prison, where she stood, immobile as a statue.
"Hmpf," said Discord as she picked up her deck, and her new God card and turned to lower herself from the arena platform. before the platform could lower itself to the ground a sharp light radiated from behind her. She turned back to where the girl stood trapped and saw two figures step out of the shadows, a golden aura of energy surrounding them.
"Going somewhere?" Evo asked.
"Who do you think you are?" Discord shouted at him.
"I bet you feel good about yourself, don't you?" he continued, ignoring her. "Defeating a teenage girl like that, hardly an impressive test of your supposed limitless power." As he talked the Millennium Ring around his neck and Millennium Necklace around Jaina's glowed even brighter, and in a flash the dark shadows that covered the entire factory were gone. Mya was free from her shadowy prison but was unconscious. Jaina caught her as she fell.
"You," Discord said with a tone of sudden realization.
"Oh," replied Evo, pausing. "You know me."
"I know of you," she answered. "I've never had the pleasure of meeting the Industrial Illusions president myself. I only know what I've read, and what Sin has told me."
"I assumed that you were associated with Sin; it explains why I mistook you for him when you first arrived. You give off the same aura."
"What do you want?" asked Discord. "I have places to be."
"I'm sure you do. But you're not going to leave yet. Not with Obelisk at least. If you had over the card now I'll let you go on your way to attend your...business."
"You'll forgive me if I don't leap at the chance to hand over the God Soldier, but you see I earned the card the rightful way, so you have no claim over it."
"I will when I defeat you."
Discord laughed. "You? You couldn't defeat Sin, what makes you think that you can defeat me?"
Evo gestured to Mya's body in Jaina's arms. "I've already broken your hold over this girl."
"You needed the help of that one," Discord responded, pointing at Jaina. "You can't beat me."
"Then you have nothing to lose by accepting my challenge."
"And nothing to gain. I'm afraid I'm going to have to deny you your challenge." She turned to leave. The platform did not move. She whipped around and glared at Evo. "You dare to try and hold me here?"
Evo smiled. "If you are as powerful as you say then you should be able to leave anytime. But maybe, just maybe, you're not as strong as you claim."
"I'm going to enjoy wiping that arrogant smile off your face. When I defeat you I'm going to relieve your broken body of that worthless trinket." She finished pointing at the Millennium Ring. "How shall we do this then?"
"The stage is already set," Evo said, gesturing down at the playing field.
"Then let's begin."
"Agreed."
Evo: 2000, Discord: 2000.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Jaina asked Evo.
"You tell me," he replied. "You're the one with the visions."
"The outcome of this match I have already told you, but my visions concerning this individual and her power are clouded. Be careful."
"My dear Jaina, I have no desire to be anything but."
"Stop talking," shouted Discord. "Let's duel."
"Ladies first."
"Fine." Discord drew her opening hand. "I'll play this card in defense mode. And this card face down with it." Two images came to life on the field. "Your turn."
Evo drew and examined his hand with disappointment. With no monsters in his hand, he wasn't off to a good start. He would have to trust in the vison that Jaina had seen with her necklace. "I'll lay these two cards face down, and end my turn."
"No monster?" Discord laughed. "You're going to make this easier than I thought. I'll summon the Shadow Spirit of Bear (2100/1600) to the field!" A blocky, wooden bear appeared on the field and roared as it stretched its claws out. "You've left yourself completely open to my attack. Shadow Spirit of Bear attack him directly!"
"Activate trap card!" Evo shouted. "Gates of Banishment!"
"What does that do?" asked Discord.
"It allows me to search my deck for a zombie and place that card in my cemetery."
"What good is that going to do?"
"It's going to help me by letting me activate my other trap card, Call of the Haunted, which I activate to bring the monster to the field. Go Zombie King of Lancaster (2200/2200)!" The floor of the field cracked open and a decaying hand shot up and pulled the rest of its body out of the earth to lord over the field. Discord had no time to call back her monster's attack and with a cleave of its giant scepter the Zombie King destroyed the wooden bear.
Evo: 2000, Discord: 1900
"Done your turn?" Evo asked, folding his arms across his chest.
"Hardly," she retorted. "I'll lay this card face down and then I will end my turn."
"Fine." He drew his card. It wasn't a monster card either, but it was something just as valuable. "I activate the magic card Heavy Storm, to clear the field of your two face down cards."
"A wasted effort. I'll just activate both of the cards. First I activate the trap card Ebony Duplicate, to create an Ebon token that becomes a copy of your Zombie King of Lancaster. Then I'll activate my other card Thrust from the Grave, which allows me to return my Shadow Spirit of Bear from the graveyard to my hand."
"Hoping your duplicate will protect you for the turn? Now you're the one with the wasted effort. First I'll activate my Zombie King's special ability. By discarding a card from my hand I can special summon a Zombie monster from my deck, and I'll summon the Royal Keeper (1600/1700) in defense mode." The new Zombie crawled to life in hte smae fashion as the last mosnter and flanked the Zombie King. "Next I'll equip the Zombie King with the magic card Necronomicon - Book of the Dead, which not only increases his attack power by 500 but the attack power of every other Zombie on my side of the field by 200. Zombie King, attack her Ebony Token!"
Evo: 2000, Discord: 1400.
"Your move Discord."
"A nice play old thief," she conceeded. "But not a great one." She drew her card. "I lay this card face down, then I summon the Shadow Spirit of Raven (1500/1700) in atatck mode."
"You Raven doesn't look strong enough to challenge my Royal Keeper, let alone my Zombie King."
"Looks can be decieving," she warned. "And my Raven doesn't need to challenge any of your monsters. It's special ability allows it to attack your Life Points directly when you have no Wind monsters on your field. Shadow Spirit of Raven attack!"
Evo: 500, Discord: 1400.
Evo drew his card from the top of the deck and looked at it. He then looked at Discord's field. She had left her weak Raven open to attack. He could attack it with his Zombie King, but if her face down card was a trpa then he'd be losing his strongest mosnter on the field. "I change my Zombie King to defense mode," he declared and his monster on the field changed its posture to match the change in modes it had just gone through. "And I attack your Raven with the Royal Keeper!"
"I activate my trap card, Evil Barrier - Wicked Force! I may lose my Raven, but it destroys any monster that you have in defense mode, namely your Zombie King!" The barrier flashed to life just as the Royal Keeper attacked and bounced the attack right back at the Zombie King, destroying it instantly.
Evo: 500, Discord: 1300.
Evo had lost his monster just like he hadn't wanted, and just like Jaina had seen. She said that at the height of his power in the duel he would lose his strongest card. Now all he had on the field was his weak Royal Keeper, and since he knew she had the Shadow Spirit of Bear in her hand, he knew that she could wip him out with a single attack, and there we no cards in his hand he could use to stop her. He looked over his shoulder at Jaina. She closed her eyes and nodded. Looking back at the field he said, "Your move." The rest of the duel would be up to Jaina's vision, and it would start with Discord's draw. Any card but one that she drew now would mean his defeat.
There was no hiding her emotions as Discord drew her next card. She began to laugh out loud. "You're through now. There's nothing you can do to stop me. You wanted Obelisk so much I'll let you have the honor of being destroyed by it, come forth God Soldier!" once more the powerful form of Obelisk appeared on the field, looming over everything. Evo looked up at the awesomness of the God mosnter. "God Soldier Obelisk, attack!" she shouted out.
Obelisk didn't move.
"What's wrong!" Discrod cried out. "Obelisk attack!" The light blue tint of Obelisk's aromor began to fade, the luster leaving the aror as it slowly faded to gray. As the armor became darker, it began to crack and tear away, falling to the ground. Lightning began to shoot out of the cracks in the armor, tearing the facotry to pieces. "No! it can't be! What's happening?"
"Don't you get it Discord?" Evo shouted over the crashing sounds of discharging lightning and explosions.. "Obelisk isn't like any other card or mosnter you've ever seen. The power of the God cards comes from the very spirits of the monsters. Those spirits choose their controllers, not the otherway around. Obelisk doesn't find you fit to weild his power!"
"But it was mine! I used it to defeat the girl!"
"A means to an end Discord. Obelisk was never meant to be under under Mya's control for the upcoming battles, she was only its keeper. That's why she lost it. Just as it was not meant to be yours. I am the one who is going to control the power of the God Soldier. Royal Keeper attack!" The Royal Keeper rushed forward and struck Obelisk with its spear and causing the God Soldier to explode in a flurry of energy. Discord was struck in the chest by a huge discharge of it sending her flying backwards off the arena platform, skidding across the harsh concrete floor of the factory and into a wall. Evo lowered himself from his platform and approached Discord's, picking up Obelisk from amongst her other cards.
"Do we bring the girl with us?" Jaina asked.
"We'd better. There's nothing for her here. And I wouldn't want to leave her with Discord." Evo turned and headed towards the exit to the building. "I have what I came for. I think it's time we had a little reunion."