Hikaru: We're back with another chapter!
Yami: Now what are you two scheming?
Hikaru: Your downfall if you don't quit it.
Yami: (Glare)
Witty: (Snatches the M. Puzzle from his neck) Hikaru! Catch!
Hikaru: (Catches it) Haha! Keep away!
Yami: GIVE THAT BACK!
Witty: Nope!
Hikaru: (Throws the Puzzle to Witty) We don't own YGO, but anything original is ours! And now, on with the fic!
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Chapter 8: A Bitter Duel
Hikaru smirked as she looked at her friend, drew a card, then looked down at the cards in her hand. "I'll start things off," she said in that dark, eerie voice that wasn't her own. She pulled two cards from her hand and put them on her duel disk in their respective spots. "I summon Fire Princess in attack mode and I'll put one card face down to end my turn!"
"Hikaru, snap out of it!" No response. Witty drew a card and added it to her hand. "Fine, I'll put one card in defense mode and two cards face down. Your turn." There's got to be someway to get her to break free from that spell! Maybe it's somewhere in my deck. Now I just have to find it before this gets even more out of hand than it already has.
Hikaru drew another card from her deck. "I'll just play this magic card: Goblin Thief! It inflicts 500 points of damage to your life points and adds 500 to mine. Plus I'll activate my Fire Princess' special ability. She'll inflict 500 more points of damage to your life points, then I'll sacrifice her to summon an even more powerful monster! Come forth, Dark Magician Girl!" The Dark Magician Girl appeared on the field in place of Hikaru's Fire Princess. "Attack her face-down monster with your Dark Burning Attack!" Hikaru commanded.
Witty's eyes went a little wide as her face-down Ancient Elf was destroyed and sent to the graveyard. "Hikaru, you have to stop this madness! Whoever is behind this has you under a spell! They're trying to control your mind!"
Hikaru chuckled darkly. "Hikaru? Hikaru is no longer here. Your friend is gone."
"I won't believe that. Whoever you are, let go of your hold on her mind! Show yourself, you coward son of a dark necrofereiass!" Witty shouted.
Hikaru laughed, but it wasn't her normal laugh. This was dark and full of insanity. "Insult me all you like, foolish girl. You'll never free your friend. She belongs to me now!"
"Not likely! Hikaru, listen to me! You have to remember! It's me, Witty!"
Witty, I'm sorry. I can't break the spell. I'm trying......I don't want to hurt you.
/Silence, girl!/
"Hikaru! You have to remember! You promised to help me find my Master's killer! You hid me from the palace guards when we first met!" She got no response from her friend and growled softly, drawing a card from her deck and placing it face down on the field. I've got to find a way to send her Dark Magician Girl to the graveyard, and figure out a way to bring her back to her senses. There has to be a way, but if I don't find it soon, one or both of us going to be in deep trouble. "I'll place one more card face down and then I'll activate Just Desserts!" Forgive me, Hikaru. "And to finish off my turn, I'll place one card in defense mode."
Hikaru yelped as the attack from her friend's trap card hit, then her eyes narrowed as she drew a card from her deck. "I'll activate my face-down card! Reveal Sage's Stone! This magic card lets me summon my Dark Magician from either my hand or my deck as long as I have a face-up Dark Magician Girl on my side of the field. And I just so happen to have one in my---" she trailed off, her eyes glazing over for a moment.
No! I won't hurt my friend!
/You have no say in the matter! Now do it! Play that card, now, and use it to attack her life points directly!/
"Hikaru...?" Witty said quietly, looking at her friend in confusion. Is she starting to come out of it?
"I told you, Hikaru is no longer here! I control her mind now! Now, to finish what I started, I'll use my Sage's Stone magic card to summon my Dark Magician to the field! Dark Magician, destroy her face-down monster! Use your Dark Magic attack!" Dark Magician easily destroyed Witty's face-down monster, which turned out to be Mask of Darkness. "I'll add the magic card Yami to increase both of my spellcasters' attack and defense points by 200, then I'll end my turn."
Why didn't she attack me directly with her Dark Magician Girl? "By destroying my Mask of Darkness, you've activated its effect, which lets me bring back one trap card from my graveyard, and since the only one I have in there is Just Desserts, I'll take it. Then I'll use it to attack your life points directly, bringing yours down to 3500!" She drew a card and added it to her hand. "And then I'll put a card in defense mode and end my turn."
"Hm, a loss that hardly even phases me." She drew a card and for a moment her eyes went wide when she saw what it was, and it seemed as though her hands started to shake.
No! The Seal of Oricalchos! I can't use this against her!
/Obey me and play that card to destroy your friend!/
No! I can't! I won't take Witty's soul!
/Do it now!/
"No! I won't!"
"Hikaru!" Witty called.
Hikaru didn't answer. She slipped the card into her hand and turned back to Witty. "I'll place one card face-down. Dark Magician, take out her face-down monster, and Dark Magician Girl, attack her life points directly!"
Witty yelped as the attack hit and her Sangan was destroyed. She looked down at her duel disk, alarmed when she saw that her life points had gone down to 800 now from the direct attack. "You've activated my Sangan's special ability, which lets me take one card from my deck with an attack of 1500 or less and add it to my hand." She pulled her deck from the slot on the duel disk and started flipping through it until one in particular caught her eye, and a grin crossed her face. This is perfect! This should do the trick. If this doesn't work, I have nothing else in my deck that will. Well, here goes nothing. Please, let this work. "I'll play the magic card Dian Keto the Cure Master to raise my lifepoints by 1,000!"
Hikaru shrugged. "That will do you no good," Hikaru said coldly.
She pulled a card from her hand, and Witty noticed the way her friend's two-tone eyes seemed to cloud over with horror and the way her hand started to shake again, and just before she placed the card on her duel disk, Witty's voice stopped her.
"Not so fast, Hikaru. My turn hasn't ended yet. I'll play one more card, one that will knock you back to your senses! I play Witty Phantom, in attack mode!"
That.....that's the card I gave her!
Hikaru gasped as the Witty Phantom appeared on the field, images flashing in her mind like a flood. She dropped the card in her hand and it fell in slow motion to the dock, revealing itself to be the Seal of Oricalchos. Hikaru's eyes started to go back to normal for just a brief second, and she fell to her knees, clutching her head as if someone had struck her. She let out a blood curdling scream that startled Witty.
"NO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Hikaru shrieked.
"That's it, Hikaru! Fight it! Break free from his control!" Witty called out.
Hikaru fell forward slightly, her hands flat beneath her to brace herself, and she looked up at her friend, her eyes pleading. "Witty......help me....." she started, then screamed again as whoever was controlling her brought her back under his spell again.
/Get up and finish her off, now!/
No! I won't! I won't hurt her! Get out of my head! Leave me alone!
Witty watched her friend in horror. Hikaru finally staggered to her feet and her voice growled, "End your turn so I can finish you!"
Witty slapped one more card face down. "I place one card face down and end my turn!" Hikaru looked down at her hand and then at the ground.
/Pick up that card!/ The voice commanded her.
NO! Hikaru fought to stand. "No," she said in her own voice. "I can't—I won't!"
/Pick it up and play it!/
Hikaru shook her head. She quickly drew a card and then cried out, "I end my turn!"
/Foolish girl! You shall pay for that!/
"That's it, Hikaru! Keep fighting!" She drew another card and then activated a magic card. "I play Change of Heart on your Dark Magician Girl!" Hikaru watched with a heavy heart as Dark Magician Girl flew to the side of the Witty Phantom.
Witty closed her eyes. "Please forgive me," she whispered. "Now," she called louder, "I sacrifice Dark Magician Girl in order to summon Teva to the field!" A warrior appeared on the field in place of Dark Magician Girl. He was dressed in flowing scarves and Asian clothing, perhaps what a mythical genie would wear. His white hair flowed down his shoulders.
"When he's Tribute Summoned successfully, you cannot declare an attack during your next turn!" Witty nodded. "I end my turn for now."
Hikaru looked at the field. She saw Witty Phantom on one side, and Teva on the other. Witty still had one card face down. I cannot attack for now, she thought in a different voice. Not this turn, anyway. She drew a card and then looked down at her hand. She placed one card face down on the field. "I play one card face down and I'll end my turn!"
Witty drew a card and added it to her hand. She glanced down at her face down card. She looked up at her monsters and her eyes fixed upon the Witty Phantom.
The monster hologram, as if by magic, looked over his shoulder, tipped his hat, and then winked at her.
Witty frowned in question. She looked down at her hand and gasped when she saw Monster Reborn. Please work, she thought as she placed it face down. "I place one card face down. And now…" She bit her lip.
Hikaru glared at her. "Hurry up, fool."
Witty clenched her fists. "And now I…I end my turn."
Hikaru thought in her own voice, She didn't attack......why?
Hikaru drew a card and added it to her hand. "And now I attack your Teva with my Dark Magician! Attack with dark magic!"
Witty flipped her trap card face-up. "Not so fast! I play Sakuretsu Armor!" Hikaru gasped as Dark Magician flew toward her and pointed his tall emerald staff at her. Suddenly, a monstrous beast with dark armor sprang up in front of Witty, and destroyed the Dark Magician!
Once the field was clear, Witty nodded. "I could only activate Sakuretsu Armor when you declared an attack. And now your magician is gone!"
Hikaru growled as her turn ended. "My turn may be over, but I'm far from done with you and your friend!"
Witty drew a card and then flipped her magic card. "I play Monster Reborn to bring back Dark Magician Girl to the field! And because there's a Dark Magician in the graveyard, she receives 300 extra attack points!"
Dark Magician Girl sprang up on Witty's side of the field and winked at Hikaru.
"Hikaru," Witty called. "You've got to remember your favorite card—your spirit guardians! They saved our butts from Raphael and Alistair!" She called out to whoever controlled her friend: "You can't hold her forever—she'll break free of you!"
Hikaru stared at her Dark Magician Girl. Spirit guardians…
The voice growled. /You have no guardians, girl! You're alone, and you're mine now!/
No....never yours, Hikaru protested, becoming desperate to break free from Marik's spell. I.....I don't belong to anyone. I won't hurt my friend!
/You are mine! I own you! You have no mind of your own! Say it/
No. I won't.....Witty, stop me, I'm going to hurt you if you don't.....I can't break his spell.
Witty watched as Hikaru fell to her knees once again. She wanted to go to her, but unfortunately for Witty, her captor still stood behind her, keeping her at bay. She cast a quick glance over at the hologram of the Witty Phantom, then turned back to Hikaru.
"Keep fighting! You have to break the spell, Hikaru! You have to remember!" she called out.
Hikaru looked up at Witty when she heard the other girl call out to her, and for just a brief second, it seemed as though her eyes were back to normal. But then Marik strengthened his hold on her again and she let out another heart-wrenching scream. She didn't move, though, instead staying where she was, trembling wildly. A few stray tears slipped down her face, though it was concealed behind the veil of her sky-colored hair that had draped down over her face when she had fallen to her knees.
"Please.......leave me alone....." she whimpered softly, her voice a barely audible whisper that was meant for no one except her captor to hear.
Witty winced inwardly, having heard it anyway, and her heart broke at the almost broken, defeated tone in her friend's voice. I have to find a way to end this now before either one of us ends up getting hurt.....but how? She seemed to snap out of it for a moment when I played Witty Phantom and brought back her Dark Magician Girl, but it doesn't seem to be enough to break the spell completely. She glanced towards Raphael and Alastair, who had been watching the entire duel, and her eyes darkened, anger clearly evident in them. But she turned her attention back to Hikaru when she heard her friend let out another scream.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Hikaru shouted.
"Hikaru! Fight it!" Witty called to her.
/Stop struggling! You'll never free yourself, girl! Now pick up that card and destroy your friend!/
No....I won't do it. My spirit guardians.....I....I remember. Please, give me the strength to break his hold on me!
/You have no guardians!/
Stop it! I'm not a puppet to be controlled.....!
She struggled against him, giving it all she had to break free of Marik's hold on her mind. She felt his grip weakening, and hope surged through her. She fought with her whole spirit, and with a final cry of defiance, broke free from his spell at last, banishing the puppet master from her mind completely. Still on her knees, she looked up at Witty, her mismatched eyes back to normal again.
"Witty.....I did it.....I broke free from him...." she said softly.
Witty grinned. "I knew you would! Come on, we can run for it!"
Hikaru smiled tiredly up at her friend and started to stagger to her feet. But a cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows behind her, a dagger gleaming in his hand as he approached the girl. Witty tried to warn her friend, but the one behind her grabbed her and clamped a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. The one behind Hikaru raised the dagger into the air and brought it down on her. The girl screamed as the blade pierced her shoulder and she fell to her knees again, blood staining the fabric of the white dress she wore. She put her hand over the wound, tears sliding down her face from the pain.
"Hikaru!" Witty cried out in horror as she saw her friend fall.
Witty finally broke free from her captor's grip on her and ran to her friend, kneeling down beside her. "Are you all right?"
Hikaru nodded weakly. Witty tore some fabric from the bottom of her shirt and wrapped it around Hikaru's wound as a make-shift bandage, then turned to Marik, her eyes flashing dangerously.
"You bastard!" Witty screamed, lunging at Marik with her own dagger.
Marik dodged out of the way, backing up a little, trying to lure Witty away from Hikaru, who at this point was close to collapsing from the wound. Witty hissed, then spotted a strange crystal around his neck, recognizing it as Hikaru's. Witty attacked him again, this time catching him off guard and knocking him to the ground. She snatched the crystal, pulling it loose easily, and then held the tip of her dagger to Marik's throat after knocking his away.
"You move and I swear I'll kill you," she growled.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," came a voice behind her. Witty glanced over her shoulder, staring in horror when she saw the other blonde holding a struggling Hikaru against him tightly, Marik's discarded dagger in his hand and being held against Hikaru's neck threateningly. "Back off of him, or your friend here dies!"
"Witty....." Hikaru said softly, then yelped when Malik tightened his grip on her painfully, bringing the blade just a little closer to her neck.
"Shut up, girl," he snapped, glaring down at her. Then he turned his gaze back to Witty, a smirk crossing his tanned face. "So what will it be? You know I have the means to back up my threat, and I won't hesitate to kill her unless you do as I say," Malik said, his voice deadly quiet.
"Let her go!" Witty yelled, getting off of Marik very reluctantly, keeping a wary eye on him as she did so.
"Drop the dagger."
Witty hesitated, looking at both blondes as if gauging them and her chances of getting both herself and Hikaru out of this mess alive. There's got to be a way. Maybe if I use just the right spell to catch these two idiots off guard, then I can get Hikaru away from him and we can get out of here. She looked down at the crystal in her hand. This thing seems to have magic, maybe it can heal Hikaru's wound. I think I saw our motorcycles parked by the pier somewhere when I was dragged out here.
But before she could make another move, the Dark Magician Girl, who still lingered on the other side of the pier, seemed to become far more real than she had been just moments before and intervened. There was a bright blast of magic, blinding the two blondes, and Witty took the opening granted to her. Malik had stumbled back from Hikaru, letting the girl fall to the ground. Witty ran over to her, helping her to her feet and the two girls raced towards their motorcycles. Witty used a hotwiring spell of her own and they drove off, Witty keeping a close eye on her friend.
They finally stopped when they were far enough away, and not a moment too soon. Witty got off her motorcycle and let Hikaru lean on her for support as they wandered into an alleyway. She lowered Hikaru to the ground, kneeling beside her friend and looking at her in concern. The other girl was half-unconscious by now, as everything had finally started to take its toll on her, and it seemed as though too much had been taken from her.
"Hikaru? Come on, you have to stay with me, okay?" Witty said. It was then that she remembered the crystal that she had taken from Marik was still clasped in her hand. She looked down at it, then fastened it around her friend's neck. "I really hope this works....." This thing almost seems to be the source of Hikaru's power, so maybe......
A moment later, Witty started chanting a spell in a language she didn't recall ever having heard before. The crystal started to glow brightly with an intense, radiant green light. It surrounded Hikaru, enveloping her in its light and lifting her from the ground, actually seeming to crawl over her, healing her. Witty watched, wide-eyed. The glow finally faded, though, and Hikaru was lowered to the ground again. Her mismatched eyes opened a minute or two later and she sat up, looking over at Witty, confusion clouding her gaze.
"Wha....what just happened?" Hikaru asked, shaking her head to clear it.
Witty looked at her. She doesn't remember? "Don't you remember, Hikaru?" she asked.
Hikaru shook her head again. "No, all I remember is waking up in a strange room, and then it was like I was caught in a dream or something......I don't know, it's just really fuzzy to me right now."
"That psycho back there took over your mind, and forced us to duel each other. You finally broke his spell and he attacked you......" Here she gestured at the make-shift bandage on Hikaru's arm that was still stained with dried blood, and the other girl paled slightly.
"Raphael and Alastair.....they're the ones behind this......" Hikaru muttered.
Witty nodded. "Yes, but why?"
Hikaru just shrugged, using the wall behind her for support as she stood up, albeit a bit shakily. "I don't know, but I wish I did....." she said.
"Well, we'll worry about them later. Come on, let's get out of here. Oh, I got your crystal back for you, that guy who was controlling your mind had it around his neck earlier."
Hikaru glanced down, lightly touching her crystal as if to reassure herself that it was really there, and then smiled a little. "Thank you, my friend."
"You're welcome. Oh, here, this is yours too." Witty handed her the Dark Magician Girl card, and Hikaru placed it back in her own deck, blinking for a moment when she saw the duel disk on her arm, but then she shrugged it off.
With that, both girls took off on their motorcycles as the sun started to slip below the horizon, painting the sky above them the color of pure fire. Hikaru took no notice of it, though, as she was too caught up in her own thoughts to really pay any attention to it.
Raphael, Alastair, I swear by the Great Leviathan, you'll pay for all that you've done. I don't know how yet, but someway, somehow, you will. You almost made me betray my friend and almost got us both killed. I don't know what you're scheming, but I'll find a way to stop you. Dark Magician Girl, Change of Heart, please, give me the strength to do this, and protect us both.....
A tear of frustration slid down her cheek, but she reached up and wiped it away before Witty noticed it. I have the feeling things are about to get so much more complicated. I just hope we make it out of this mess alive. We'll have to head for San Francisco in the morning, I don't have the energy to teleport us that far right now. I just hope we can find the Pharaoh before things get too complicated. Witty, I'm sorry I dragged you into this. This is all my fault. You're in this because of me. But I won't let anything happen to you. I owe you a lot, you totally saved my butt back there. Please, forgive me, my friend.
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To Be Continued. Well, there you have it, the face-off. Quite dramatic, ne? And things are only going to get more heated for these two. How long will Hikaru be able to keep her secret hidden from Witty? And if she finds out Hikaru is the daughter of the man she thinks killed her master, will it destroy their bond of friendship? And what of the Pharaoh and the others? You'll just have to come back and find out when I have the new part up. Mwah hahaha!!! Please R&R. NO FLAMES. I mean it. (Smiles cheerily) Well, ja ne, all! Happy New Year!!
--Hikaru Shinatoru, Daughter of Shaadi and Dartz--