"You're not doing to well Sin," Serena called out across the dueling field. "You've lost the edge you thought you had and you're behind in Life Points."
"A game isn't over until all the Life Points are gone girl," he barked back. "Your dear Fader should have taught you that. I'll set two cards face down and end my turn."
"Fine by me." Serena drew her card and looked at her field. She had to decide whether or not to pay for her Mirror Wall card. 2000 Life Points was a lot to ask, and she did have field advantage at this point. If this had been Duelist Kingdom rules she wouldn't have had to worry as most cards with Life Point costs in that format were ignored, but with the change of rules to the Battle City format came new effects. "I won't pay for my Mirror Wall," she said and the glass barrier between her and Sin vanished. "And I'll summon Amethyst Dragon (1600/1400) to the field in attack mode. Your Blood Vors is wide open to an attack Sin, as are your Life Points. Pearl Dragon attack!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself. I still have a face down card, the Regulation of Tribe. For this turn no dragon type monsters can attack, leaving both your monsters bound in place." Serena couldn't do a thing now that both her monsters were stuck, and conceded the rest of her turn to Sin. He drew a card and started his own turn. "I too will not pay the hefty cost of my trap card, and instead let the effects of my Regulation of Tribe disappear. But I will summon a monster, the Burglar of the Different Dimension (500/500)."
"And what's that little monster going to do for you?"
"Oh don't be fooled, he may be small, but he's more than a match for your Pearl Dragon, thanks to his special ability."
"What ability?"
"When summoned the Burglar allows me to search my deck for a card that has 'Different Dimension' or 'D.D.' in its name and add it to my hand."
"That still doesn't make it a match to my Pearl Dragon's power."
"It doesn't need to match its power. When I play this card, the Different Dimension Gate. It allows me to select one of your monsters and one of my own and remove both of them from play as long as this card remains on the field. And now that your strong monsters is gone from the field, and my Blood Vors is still in play I'll attack your remaining monster, the weak Amethyst Dragon!"
"The Amethyst Dragon may be weak but it too has a special ability." The Amethyst Dragon disappeared just as the Blood Vors was about to strike it, and in its place rose up a Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500). "By paying 1500 Life Points I can return my weak dragon to my hand and special summon any other dragon from my hand, like my Blue Eyes. And it's too late for you to call back your attack!"
"Maybe so, but it's not too late for this, the quickplay magic card Enemy Controller which will switch your monster into defense mode. I may still lose Life Points, but not the duel, and not my monster. And I can still set this card face down before ending my turn."
Serena: 1400, Sin: 150
"My turn again, and since your Enemy Controller only works for a single turn, I can manually change my dragon back to its attack position. Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack Blood Vors with White Lightning attack!" The Blue Eyes powered forward with its attack, intent on eradicating not only the monster but the remainder of Sin's Life Points, just as it attacked though, it began to grow smaller, until the once towering creature was no bigger than Serena herself. She could only stare in awe as the Blood Vors cleaved through the white dragon with its weapon. "What happened?" she exclaimed.
"Another of my quickplay cards," Sin replied holding up another magic card. "This one's name is Shrink, which drops the attack power of one monster on the field by half. I believe your grandfather was quite fond of it. Too bad his Blue Eye's don't share the sentiment."
"I'm not done yet. "I can still set this card onto the field and set a monster in defense mode."
Serena: 1000, Sin: 150
"That's right girl, hide in defense mode. There's no one here to rescue you now. Fader has been defeated and soon you shall share your lover's fate."
---------"You finally understand who and what you are."
Everything around Fader had gone black. One second he had been on a Duel Monsters field face to face with a Dark Magician that looked like Sin. And now he was in a starry expanse, standing on nothing, floating in the endless stretches of space and the imagination. He turned his gaze back and saw Yami, floating in the abyss with him.
"Who and what I am?" Fader asked.
"Thousands of years ago Duel monsters was fought by ancient priests and sorcerers with real dark magic in shadow games for power. The Pharaoh, that is I was the head of a group charged with protecting the Millennium Items, powerful objects meant to hold back the powers of darkness and protect the intentions of the good and righteous. Of those that served my reign was one named Mahado."
The name was familiar to Fader and he repeated it to himself, "Mahado."
"Mahado drew on the powers of a great spellcaster to wage his battles for him, the Illusionary Magician."
"What happened to him?"
"A great evil rose up in the kingdom, threatening to stretch its dark grasp across the entire planet. A spirit of greed and lust for power, born of the evils of mankind. The spirit force's name was Diabound. through a vessel that it used to control it in shadow games Diabound fought against the Priests of Light. Mahado stood against it with the powers of the Illusionary Magician, but could not withstand the assault. As the finals breaths escaped his lips he said that he would always be the servant to the Pharaoh and he merged his own magics with those of the Illusionary Magician to enhance the monster's power."
"The Dark Magician," Fader said. "Mahado's soul and the Illusionary Magician became the Dark Magician."
"Correct. But not just Mahado's soul, your soul Fader."
"What?"
"You are Mahado."
"That can't be possible."
"It is." Yami paused for a second, looking up into the expanse. "Souls do not simply exist and die, they are part of an ever replenishing life force. Even as a body perishes the soul re-integrates with the life force of all things ready to be born a new. When Mahado died he used his energy to disconnect himself from the life force of all things and instead to remain at my side. Through the ages he would be born not to a body, but to the spirit of the Dark Magician, re-awakened in a card when Duel Monsters was created by Pegasus over 100 years ago. In that form he, no you, served Yugi Moto and I as the Dark Magician, always being there to watch over and protect Yugi and aid him in times of hardship."
"But if my soul was integrated with the Dark Magician card, or spirit, then why do I exist as I am now? Why am I the one that holds the Millennium Puzzle, why isn't Yugi, or his soul reborn here to fight."
"Seventy-five years ago, an epic struggle was fought, The End. I still don't have memory of it but, during that event and the subsequent events that unfolded in its wake Yugi was trapped. His soul did not rejoin to the total force of life. He lost his connection."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that something happened to Yugi that was beyond even the reach of eternal rebirth, his soul is kept in a place beyond life and death, a place I did not even know existed."
"How do you know it exists now?"
"Because you are standing before me. Your soul has been reformed, extracted by your own oath to serve the Pharaoh and Yugi and given back a body so that you may continue on in the King of Games name. To take up arms against whatever darkness now threatens the planet since Yugi himself cannot fight the battle himself. As he once used the card of the Dark Magician to fight in duels for him, you are now an instrument to fight the greatest battle of all, the fight to save all humanity from slipping into the shadows forever."
---------
"My turn," Sin declared as he pulled the top card off his deck and added it to his hand. "And soon this will all be over. I'll set this card face down and then summon a second Blood Vors and will attack your face down monster."
"No, my Topaz Dragon (1800/1400)!"
"Is gone, and can't protect you anymore." Sin paused. "I really was hoping you'd put up more of a struggle than this. But maybe I was hoping that more of Fader had rubbed off on you than it obviously did, you just don't have what it takes to beat the best. Blood Vors finish this girl off!"
"My Blue Eyes would like to disagree with you Sin, and it's not finished with your Blood Vors yet. Soul Resurrection, return the Blue Eyes White Dragon to me!"
"Not this again. Fine have it your way. Take your turn."
"How generous of you Sin. Considering there was nothing you could do to stop me. And my Blue Eyes is now ready to finish what it started, namely taking away the rest of your Life Points!"
"You'd really think you'd learn from your past mistakes, or do you keep forgetting about my face-down cards? This time I'll use the trap that I stole from Evo before he foolishly sacrificed himself to save your love, the Draining Shield. Not only is your attack stopped. But I gain 3000 Life Points, equal to the attack of the Blue Eyes White Dragon, and sky-rocketing my Life Points over your own. Is there anything else you'd like to try and do?"
"Just set this card face down," Serena replied.
Serena: 1000, Sin: 3150
Sin drew his card. "I'll simply put these two cards face down and then switch both my monsters into defense mode."
"Who's hiding now Sin?"
"A temporary tactical decision. Until I find a way of eliminating your Blue Eyes from play."
"Then I'll take my turn."
"Not quite. I didn't say that I was ending my turn. I still have this card to activate, Reversal of Fortune."
"What does that do?"
"You may notice that I have only a single card left in my hand while you have four? Reversal of Fortune forces us to exchange our hand sizes. You are forced to discard three cards while I am allowed to draw three more to increase my options. The only trade off is that I must immediately end my turn now."
Serena selected and discarded three cards from her hand, and drew another for the start of her turn. She smiled. "You're not the only one with the ability to replenish their options Sin. I'll set one card face down and then activate this, Trade Your Left Hand, which allows me to draw until my hand has five cards in it, but five turns from now I must discard my entire hand."
"So ready to attack me with your Blue Eyes again?"
"Not this time Sin, I'm not falling for your tricks a third time, and so I'm moving my Blue Eyes to defense mode. But I will summon this, the Spear Dragon (1900/0) in attack mode. I have another plan for my Blue Eyes, the card I set face down at the start of my turn, Burst Stream of Destruction. My Blue Eyes White Dragon can use this card to destroy your monsters without having to attack and risk your traps. And my Spear Dragon is in the perfect position to play clean up and attack you directly for 1900 Life Points, unless of course you have some way of stopping me?"
Sin shook his head. "No, not this time. Your attack freely damages my Life Points."
"Good, and now I'll set a card face down and end my turn."
Serena: 1000, Sin: 1250"
Sin drew his card, and a frown permeated his lips. "I can only lay a card face down in defense and end my turn," he said shrugging his shoulders.
"Looks like you used up all your tricks against Fader," chided Serena. "You've got nothing left. I'll switch my Blue Eyes White Dragon back into attack mode. And my Spear Dragon will start by attacking your face down monster."
"Just the move I was waiting for!" Sin exclaimed. As the spear Dragon lashed out with a vicious wind attack its bombardment was blocked in mid-air and immediately shot back and hit both itself and the Blue Eyes White Dragon destroying both. "I waited to activate my Mirror Force card until you became over confident and left both your monsters open, and now they're both destroyed and you have no monsters left in play."
Serena hated herself. She made another amateur mistake. She was letting Sin play her like a fool, and she kept falling for his traps, walking her monsters straight into them. "I'll play a monster in defense and end my turn."
There was no mistaking Sin's face for disappointment as he drew his next card. He began to laugh out loud, "Oh this is too good. Not only did I defeat Fader with the Dark Magician, his own prized monster, but now I get to defeat his would be rescuer with her own precious beast. Monster Reborn, revive the Blue Eyes White Dragon and put it under my control!"
"No, you can't!"
"You don't have any say in the matter girl." Sin watched as Serena looked down at her hand. "Looking for options, a way out? I don't think I can let you do that my dear. Card Destruction should take card of any options you thought you had available to you in your hand. I can flip my face down Dimensional Warrior (1200/1000). When it attacks it will remove your monster and mine from the game without a fight. And now, Blue Eyes White Dragon attack her Life Points and end this pathetic excuse for a contest."
"Not going to happen. I can't stop you from taking away my monster or removing my defense from play but I can stop you from damaging my Life Points, with this," she explained as she held up a trap card. "The Holy Life Barrier, which will reduce any damage I take from you this turn to zero. Leaving my Life Points intact."
"You have a knack for staying alive girl I will give you that. But there isn't a card in your pathetic deck that you could draw right now that could ever hope to defeat me. Fader had Osiris, Evo had Obelisk and neither of them had the power to defeat me. Do you honestly think that any of your pitiable dragons could even stand a chance?"
"I. Will. Beat. You. Down." Serena bit back at him a fierce determination. As she spoke the Millennium Rod began to glow just as fiercely, blinding both Sin and Serena for a split second.
"Just draw your card."
Serena pulled a card from the top of her deck and looked at it. "What?" she exclaimed as she looked at it. "That can't be. How did..?" she was cut off as her eyes began to glow gold with the power of the Millennium Rod resonating in her hands.
"What's happening?" shouted Sin.
"It's over Sin."
"Impossible."
"Impossible is a word that I used far too often, but after meeting Fader I've learned that nothing is impossible. I activate my face down card the Dust Tornado and use it to eliminate your Different Dimension Gate, restoring my Pearl Dragon and your Burglar of the Different Dimension to the field."
"An interesting strategy. But if you think that you'll simply attack my Burglar with your Dragon and end this game think again. I still have a face down card of my own, Collected Power. I sacrifice my Burglar and add his attack to that of the Blue Eyes White Dragon, raising its power to 3500, much higher than your Pearl Dragon's."
"It doesn't matter. Watch as I activate the Pearl Dragon's special ability, allowing me to sacrifice it to summon up to three level four dragons from my graveyard, so I summon the Spear Dragon, Topaz Dragon and Amethyst Dragon back to the field."
"What are you trying to do? Trading one weak monster for three even weaker monsters is nothing to me. Just give up already. Your dragons are nothing to me."
"Wrong Sin. There's one dragon that you forgot about. Just watch!" Serena three dragons disappeared from the field and Sin watched as a glowing orb of gold rose out of the ground in their place.
"No!"
Serena closed her eyes as a golden aura of energy washed over her from the Millennium Rod she held in her hand. Sin listened as she spoke in a tongue that was not her own, possessed by forces neither could comprehend. "Great beast of the sky, please hear my cry, transform thyself from orb of light and bring me victory in this fight. Envelope the desert with your glow and cast your rage upon my foe. Unlock your powers deep within so that together we may win. Appear in this battle as I call your name...The Winged Dragon of Ra!" As she spoke the Orb began to open up as great golden wings spread out from their metal casing, unfolding into a mammoth beast. Bolts of golden energy spewed forth from the beast as it molded itself to its true form, that of the great sun god, in all its glory.
"Drawing on the powers of the monsters used to summon it the Winged Dragon of Ra boasts the attack power of 5300 Sin. Far greater than your stolen beast," Serena paused for a brief second. "Forgive me Blue Eyes. Winged Dragon of Ra attack with the power of the sun, Solar Beam Immolation!"
As the great winged god let loose the fury of light and solar energy unbridled and unrivaled by anything in all of Duel Monsters, Sin was thrown back crashing through the golden barrier that Serena had erected around the two of them as they began their struggle. Evo, Jaina, Shadi, Caecius, and Adora watched as Sin was thrown into a wall of the temple, and saw Ra as it faded from the field, the duel complete.
Before she collapsed two words came from Serena's lips, "I did it."