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Fanfic Chapter 21: Rematch Pt. 1: Showdown at the Castle
Episode Basis: Face-Off Pt. 1
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Yugi and Joey combined Summoned Skull and Red-Eyes Black Dragon to form the Black Skull Dragon in an attempt to destroy the Gate Guardian. Thanks to a little assistance from Joey's Copycat card and Yugi's Monster Replace Card, they were able to do that. But they weren't out of the woods yet. They still needed to figure out which door leads to the castle and which one leads to an endless maze. Yugi discovered that no matter what their choice was, it would be wrong so he pulled a fast one by tricking them into thinking he chose the wrong one then getting them to reveal it and then revealing that it was what he has chosen. Confused? Don't worry, the important thing is that the trick worked and the gang was home free. Meanwhile, Kaiba finally arrived at Mokuba's cell and tried to free him. But Pegasus intervened and captured Mokuba's soul. Pegasus gave Kaiba an ultimatum: either beat Yugi in a duel and earn the right to challenge Pegasus himself, or Mokuba's soul remains imprisoned in a card forever.
"So what will it be, Seto Kaiba? Do you care enough about your brother's life to save his soul, not that you really have much of a choice; Mokuba's soul belongs to me." Pegasus held up the card that (as far as Kaiba could guess) contained Mokuba Kaiba's soul. "So life-like, don't you think? But you probably prefer the real thing."
"You're not human!"
"Quite human actually, just very gifted." He threw five star chips to the ground in front of Kaiba. "You'll need these for your duel with Yugi. Ten star chips prove you have what it takes to enter my castle and challenge me."
"Why are you doing this?"
"My reasons are not of your concern," Pegasus said removing the string that served as his bow tie. "Maybe I just enjoy watching the tug-of-war between you and Yugi-boy. Or maybe I want something you're incapable of comprehending. Something that you'll deliver to me…" He re-tied it. "All tied up in a bow."
Kaiba still didn't get it. True, he wanted a rematch with Yugi, but it was only suppose to be after he saved his brother and his company. "Talk straight, what do you want?"
"I want to see if you're capable of beating Little-Yugi in a duel. And only if you successfully crush him in a humiliating defeat will you get the opportunity to duel me. Then if you beat me, I promise to restore your brother's soul."
"For now, I have no choice but to play your game." Kaiba side-glanced at Mokuba's fallen body. "But rest assured, as soon as I defeat Yugi, I'll be back, and you better make good on your promise to restore my brother because if you don't, I'll take great pleasure in separating your soul from your body in my own way!"
Pegasus just chuckled.
"All right, fresh air at last!" Joey cried as the group emerged above ground from a hidden stairway.
"Finally," Yugi agreed. "I thought we would never get out of those tunnels."
Bakura studied his Millennium Ring. One of the spikes was pointing straight up. "Why is my Millennium Ring pointing straight up?" Bakura wondered.
"That's why," Harold said pointing to the large castle up on a cliff. "It's Pegasus' castle."
"Exactly where we're heading," Joey said. "Because Yugi and I have enough star chips to get in the castle." Yugi nodded.
"Finally," he said.
It all paid off for Yugi, Tea thought staring at him. Sometimes he seems so gentle; you wouldn't think he would ever challenge another Duelist. But when he duels, it's like he's someone else entirely more confident and determined than the Yugi I know. It's almost like there are two Yugis: my friend whom I've known for years, and a more mysterious guy who shows up whenever Yugi's in over his head. Tea gasped as a thought occurred to her. Wait, maybe there ARE two Yugis. I remember... a duel in the Shadow Realm. And there was a bigger, more serious Yugi playing, but Little-Yugi was in the game with the rest of us.
"Listen closely, Yugi, use the power of the Dark Magician! Send him to the Graveyard now!"
"You got it. Dark Magic Attack!"
It was like the older Yugi was coaching our Yugi!
"Is something wrong?" Tea realized that Yugi was staring at her just as she was staring at him.
Tea shook her head. "I was just wondering if you…"
"Hey Lois and Clark," Harold called. "Hurry up or we're entering without you!"
"You know, since none of us are suppose to be here, maybe we should wait for them," Bakura suggested.
"Nah," Harold said cockily. "I'll just tell them you're my pit crew."
"Pit crew?" Tristan asked.
"Yeah, someone has to keep the Watcher's whistle in prime condition."
"Man, I don't know who's more demented, you or Joey."
"Hey, leave me out of this."
"Grandpa, here I come," Yugi said and turned to run for the stairs…
But he tripped on a rock and fell on his face.
"Well that was graceful," Harold said sarcastically.
"Is that how you're going to rescue your Grandfather?" Tea jokingly asked.
Yugi turned his eyes on her and said, "I saved you, didn't I?"
Oh yeah, I forgot about that…
5 weeks ago.
"It's this really cool place called Burger World," Joey was telling Yugi. "They make all kinds of burgers, hot dogs, it's a fat kid's dream come true!"
"Well, you convinced me," Yugi said. "Let's go!" Joey knew that Yugi's favorite food was cheeseburgers so he had a feeling Yugi would jump at the chance.
As Joey and Yugi walked in, a familiar voice called, "Welcome to Burger World, how may I…" There were gasps all around as Yugi and Joey recognized the voice to be Tea's, wearing the Burger World uniform of a small blue sleeveless shirt and a short pink skirt!
Oh no, what are they doing here? You're suppose to be 18 to work here, if they find out I'm still in school, I could be fired.
"Gee, Yug, who would've thought one of your best friends worked at Burger World?"
"Well if there's one person I know who's a hard worker than anyone, it's Tea. I mean she's very calm and polite and…"
A tray of burgers was slammed onto their table.
"Are you guys trying to get me fired," Tea asked acidly. "Thanks a lot, here, have some ketchup." Apparently, she squeezed the ketchup bottle a little too hard because she ended up drowning the boys' food and their faces in the red stuff.
"Is everything all right, here?" A manager, judging by his shirt and tie, walked up to them.
Oh no, it's Mister Mazaki, the manager! I'm dead now! Tea braced for the worst.
"Is she giving you two a hard time?" Mazaki asked Yugi and Joey.
"Not at all," Yugi denied shocking Tea.
"Yeah, although I think you should sue your ketchup bottle manufacturer," Joey cracked grabbing a napkin to wipe the ketchup off. "Darn thing's defective."
"Are you sure she's being respective towards you."
"We know her, she's never been irrespective before," Yugi vouched.
"Oh, okay then, well enjoy." And the manager walked away. Tea hated herself for what she just did.
"We're sorry, Tea," Yugi apologized.
"Yeah, we didn't know you worked here."
"Well it's not like I want to do this forever."
"So what DO you want to do with the rest of your life? Yugi graduated.
Tea took a deep breath and said, "I want to... go to New York and become a professional dancer."
Silence answered her. Tea looked down at them; they had bewildered expressions but were not doing what she thought they would do if they found out. "You're not laughing?"
"Nah, why would we?" Joey asked. "If that's what you want to be, who are we to try to stop you?"
"That's right," Yugi agreed. "If that's your dream, then we can only say go for it." Joey nodded in agreement.
Tea really appreciated Yugi for what he said, and for what he did. One day, after school, Tea received a note from someone. It told her to go to the gym after school or everyone finds out she worked at Burger World. The proof was on the back, or rather the front. The note was on back of a photograph of her in her Burger World uniform. Apparently, the camera was on the ground so it had a good view of up her skirt.
Tea followed the note's instructions. When she got to the gym, she found nobody there.
Nobody in front of her anyway.
"I'm glad to see you got my note," the guy with the video camera said. "I heard you want to make it in show biz, ever thought of getting into movies, you definitely have the body for it." Apparently, this guy was at Burger World when Tea revealed her dream to Yugi and Joey. Now he was wanted something from her and Tea had a feeling it wasn't a free meal.
"TEA!" Yugi charged into the equipment shed and tackled the guy.
"Get off me, you midget!" The pervert snapped throwing Yugi against the horse vaults.
"Yugi!" Tea ran to the pervert and bit him on the arm making him drop the camera, breaking it into pieces. The pervert screamed a few derogatory terms at Tea before slamming her against the wall, knocking her out.
"Looks like I'll get my way with you one way or another," were the last words Tea heard. The pervert stalked towards her unaware of a strange glow coming from the large upside down pyramid around the boy's neck.
"You act big dealing with people weaker than you, but inside, I bet you're just a tiny little man." The pervert turned and saw that not only had the kid he knocked out woke up, but his voice had gotten deeper and something else had changed about him.
"You got a lot of talk for a shrimp," the man insulted.
"If you're big than prove it," Yugi said. "In a game."
"A game?"
"Yes, a game, a game that would be easy even for a little man like you." Yugi held up a deck of cards. "High-Card Draw, we each draw one card and the card with the highest number wins. If you win, I walk away seeing and saying nothing. But if I win, I will decide your fate!"
"You're crazy, kid. Fine, I'll play your game." Yugi split the deck into halves. The pervert took a card. It was Curse of Dragon. "Oh yeah, it's a high one."
The Curse of Dragon had 2000 and 1500 stats. Yugi had to admit it was a high card. He drew his card and smirked. "And I drew this card, it's called the Dark Magician and it has the highest numbers of all the cards in the deck."
"You stupid fool!" The pervert took out a knife. "Now it's time to play one of my games. It's called Win, Lose, and Die! It's also simple, I win, you lose, and you die!" The man charged forward with the knife.
"I don't think so," Yugi said, the symbol of his Millennium Puzzle glowing on his forehead. "PENALTY GAME: MIND CRUSH!" Yugi sent a shockwave through the man's body and he fell back.
Tea struggled to open her eyes. She could hear someone talking.
"Don't worry, Tea, he won't bother you ever again."
Tea wondered if that was Yugi? It couldn't have been, it didn't sound like Yugi but it did look like him. What, or who...
"Tea, Tea!" Yugi was calling her again. "I asked you if you remember."
"I do, but…" Tea scrunched down to face Yugi. "Yugi, what did you do to that guy that day?"
"I don't remember," Yugi admitted. "When I came to, that guy was already on the ground. I don't remember anything that happened between the time I entered the room and then."
"You're a mysterious guy, Yugi," Tea said pleasantly. "Did you ever feel like something weird is going on? I mean sometimes you just see like you're a completely different person? Is what I am saying making any sense?"
"I understand what you're saying," Yugi admitted. "Sometimes I feel like there's someone inside of me. Am I going crazy?"
Tea gave him a reassuring smile. "Well, no matter who's doing the dueling, Yugi is Yugi and I think you're both great guys."
"Thanks, Tea," Yugi said proudly.
"Hey lovebirds," Harold called. The others were already half-way up the stairs. "Move it or lose it! Come on, we're on a tight schedule here!"
"Ready to go?" Tea asked offering her hand to help him up.
"Yeah," Yugi replied taking it.
"You'd think someone as rich as Pegasus would put in an elevator," Joey complained.
"Oh come on, Joey, when was the last time you…" Harold suddenly stopped. Yugi and Bakura bumped into him. "Uh-oh, guys, look who's here."
Seto Kaiba was standing in front of the doors.
"Kaiba!"
"What's he doing here?" Tristan wondered.
"I can't let you pass, Yugi," Kaiba said.
"I won ten star chips, so stand aside!" Yugi ordered.
"You may have earned ten star chips to qualify for the Duelist Kingdom Playoffs, Yugi, but I can't let you face Pegasus, he's mine. You and I are going to have one final duel, you will lose and I will win."
"Kaiba seems definite about that," Harold commented.
"The winds of change are blowing, Yugi Moto." As if to emphasize Kaiba's point, a slight wind picked up.
Looks like a storm's brewing, Harold thought.
Pegasus may be forcing me to duel Yugi, but it's a rematch that I've wanted all along. I wanted to wait until my brother and company was safe before challenging Yugi again, but Pegasus really didn't give me much of a chance.
"Step aside, Kaiba!" Yugi ordered again.
"Not until you agree to duel me."
"I'm not dueling you, I don't have to."
"So, no longer confident that your so-called "heart of the cards" can help you win, or are you afraid you can't beat me without Exodia."
"Man, is there anyone around here who doesn't know that?" Harold asked rhetorically.
"Back off, sleaze ball!" Tea snapped. "He doesn't have to prove anything, especially not to a low-life like you!"
"You want to duel someone, duel me, tough guy," Joey said.
Kaiba eyed the ten star chips on Joey's dueling glove. "Well, what do you know; I guess competition isn't as fierce as it used to be. It must be because of my absence."
"Why you little…"
"Don't worry, I'd take no pride in defeating you, Wheeler, but there's one person I would like to duel, the only person who's ever defeated me: Yugi. But how he did it still eludes me.
"Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack with White Lightning!" The dragon launched a powerful white energy blast at Gaia. The knight was completely engulfed in it.
I was clearly winning the battle; my Blue-Eyes White Dragon was devastating his forces. Nothing he had could stand up to its attack, and then…
"So how can you handle two?"
I drew my second Blue-Eyes and I was invincible!
Yugi drew a card. I can attack with the Dark Magician, Yugi planned. But he won't stand a chance once Kaiba's Blue-Eyes are free of my spell. I'll have to take a chance. Yugi laid the card on the field. A human wearing purple robes with equally purple hair rose from the field. It carried a long staff with a jewel set inside a cornucopia shell-shaped cover. "Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack" The Dark Magician held out his hand and the Judge Man turned black and white like a picture negative before breaking apart.
Yugi thought the attack strength of his Dark Magician would be enough to stand against me but even he couldn't have imagined that I'd draw my third Blue-Eyes, which blew his Magician away, but then…
"Draw your last pathetic card!" Kaiba said forcefully.
"My Grandpa's deck has no pathetic cards, Kaiba. But it does contain..." He held up a card that looked like a giant head. It matched the other four cards in his hand. "Exodia, the Forbidden One!"
Just as he was on the verge of defeat, Yugi somehow achieved the unachievable: he has done what no other Duelist in this lifetime has done: summon all five pieces of Exodia the Forbidden One.
"It's not possible!" Kaiba gasped. "Nobody has been able to summon him!"
But somehow, he did.
"Exodia... GOD FLAME!" Exodia unleashed a gigantic energy blast that destroyed all three of Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragons at once. The shockwave almost knocked Kaiba off the platform.
"Yugi, you said you won by tapping into the heart of the cards, and for a while, I didn't know what that meant, but now I do. And it took Pegasus to show me." Kaiba took out his pendant and opened it to reveal the picture of his little brother, years ago. "He gave me a reason to put my heart in the cards."
"Help me, Big Brother!"
I will help you, Little Brother, there's not a power on Earth that can stop me, not Pegasus, not even Yugi! "For the first time, Yugi, I can duel with fire and passion in my heart!"
"I can feel it," Yugi muttered. It was true, Kaiba did have a fire inside him, a passion that burned brighter than any flame. Kaiba has changed! He's fighting for more than himself this time. There's a new belief… in the heart of the cards!
"Yugi, you can't accept this duel!" Bakura protested.
"You already earned ten star chips," Tea added.
"Kaiba isn't even a Duelist Kingdom contestant, he dropped out, remember?" Harold pointed out.
"I've changed! I deserve a rematch; give me a chance to duel you… for the right reasons."
After all that Grandpa has taught me, how can I say no? How can I deny the heart of the cards? A small wind started to blow as the Millennium Puzzle activated and Yugi switched into dueling mode.
It's happened again! Tea realized seeing the change in Yugi's eyes. Yugi suddenly seems different.
"Kaiba, I accept your challenge!" Yugi responded. "We'll see what you have really learned. You just name the place."
For the first time since they saw him, Kaiba let out a little smile. "Our dueling field has been prepared, follow me."
The dueling field was on top of one of the castle's precipices. Yugi and Kaiba stood on either end; with Tea and the others in the middle. "All right, Kaiba, it's time to duel!"
"I'm here for the Duelist Kingdom playoffs," Bandit Keith said as he met Kimo at the front door. "I need ten star chips, right?" He showed Kimo his dueling glove.
"You qualify," Kimo confirmed. "But the real fun's on the annex roof. You gotta check it out."
"Some action on the roof, huh, thanks, dude, I think I will." Bandit Keith headed for one of the towers wondering what was going on. Was Pegasus dueling already?
"Yugi, here's the deal," Kaiba said showing Yugi the star chips Pegasus gave him. "We each wager five star chips and the winner moves on into Pegasus' castle."
"Done, five chips it is." Yugi and Kaiba each threw their five star chips into the center.
"We'll use my Duel Disk system," Kaiba said throwing one of the devices to Yugi. "Insert your shuffled deck into the card recognition slot. Our life points will be displayed on top of the card holder.
"You can do it, Yugi," Joey called. "You did it before, you can do it again!"
"Yeah," Tristan agreed.
"That's right," Tea threw in after a pause.
Bandit Keith arrived on the roof. "Looks like it'll take some time for the other players to catch up playing by the rules, might as well kill some time by watching this duel and… huh?" Bandit Keith got a good look at the scene. "It's those punks I trapped underground! How did they get out, I thought I trapped them in that underground cave forever!" He then noticed that one of the kids wasn't with them when Bonz dueled Joey. "Who's that?" He gasped. "Is that… Seto Kaiba? Well, if Kaiba and Yugi are doing a rematch, this I got to see." Bandit Keith headed for one of the towers where he was sure he would get a better view, plus not be seen by the others.
Harold went to the center and picked up the star chips, deciding to keep them safe until they could be handed to the winner. "Might as well make this official," Harold muttered. "This Duel Monsters match puts Seto Kaiba against Yugi Moto with ten star chips on the line. The winner of this duel shall face-off against Pegasus in the Duelist Kingdom finals!"
"This is it, Yugi, whoever wins shall face Pegasus and the loser… well… you'll be left a broken man!"
"We'll see who's a broken man, Kaiba, I will defeat you once and for all!"
"Duelists, begin!" Harold commanded.
"Let's duel!"
(Y: 2000)
(K: 2000)
"Stand back and prepare for battle," Kaiba announced throwing his Duel Disk on the ground. It started to glow and a pink gargoyle-like creature formed.
"I summon Ryu-Kishin Powered (1) in attack mode!"
Four human-size cards appeared. "The cards, they're holograms just like the monsters!" Joey realized.
"Prepare your self, Kaiba," Yugi warned. "I play Curse of Dragon in attack mode!" Yugi's skeletal dragon appeared along with four cards.
"Well done, Yugi, a formidable card and a play I would expect from a Duelist of your caliber," Kaiba complimented.
"Don't patronize me!"
"Yugi, I know you're a talented Duelist but you're just not as good as I am."
Even if it was true that Kaiba is a more skilled Duelist than me, Yugi thought. Pegasus' can really see his opponent's cards with his Millennium Eye. Kaiba may be more familiar with his devices, but no matter what he does, there's no way he can stop Pegasus from reading his mind with his Millennium Eye.
"Listen up, only one person is going to challenge Pegasus and defeat him… and that's me!"
"Wrong, Kaiba!"
"Then attack me and find out. What's wrong, Yugi, no faith in your monsters?"
"You'll see; he's mightier than yours. Go, Curse of Dragon, attack Ryu-Kishin with Dragon Flame!" The fire destroyed Ryu-Kishin. "There, Ryu-Kishin is no more!"
(Y: 2000)
(K: 1600)
Kaiba retracted his Duel Disk. "You're good, but oh so predictable. Don't you think I wouldn't have expected the attack? Once again, you played right into my hands, Yugi."
"He's bluffing; you already have him on the ropes!" Joey protested.
"It's not a bluff, as you will soon see." He drew a card and smiled at it. He placed it at the center of his duel disk and threw it. "I summon Swordstalker (2)!" A muscle-bound purple creature with glowing yellow eyes and carrying a large sword appeared. "The Swordstalker gathers the energy of a fallen ally raising his own attack power by 20 percent!"
(SS: 2000-2400)
So that's why Kaiba allowed his Ryu-Kishin to be destroyed so easily, it's so he could use its energy to create an even stronger monster! And now that he did it, his Swordstalker is at an even greater attack strength than my Curse of Dragon!
"Swordstalker, attack Curse of Dragon with Vengeance Strike!" But as the Swordstalker moved in to attack, the Curse of Dragon disappeared. "Huh? The Curse of Dragon disappeared!"
"That's because I laid a Monster Replace magic card on the field," Yugi explained as he motioned for the holographic version of the card to turn to face Kaiba. "This monster switches the monster on the field with the monster in my hand with the highest attack power! And you know what that means: the creature with the highest attack power in my hand is…" Yugi's favorite monster appeared in front of the cards. "The Dark Magician! Dark Magic Attack!" The Swordstalker's colors inverted before his body broke apart. "The Dark Magician vanquishes your Swordstalker!"
(Y: 2000)
(K: 1500)
"Hey Kaiba, looks like Yugi put the moves on you again," Joey said.
Kaiba just smirked behind his cards. "Clueless, if they only knew what I had in store…"
"Now I can replay Curse of Dragon!" Yugi's dragon reappeared.
Kaiba retracted his Duel Disk. "I'll conquer your magic with a magician of my own: I summon La Jinn, the Mystical Genie of the Lamp (3)!" A green skinned man with no lower body appeared. "My wish is at his command!" The cards reappeared.
"Dark Magician, attack La Jinn!"
"Your attack triggers my trap: The Ancient Lamp!" The scene looked like it was straight out of Aladdin. "First, it protects my genie by drawing it into the lamp." The genie disappeared. The Dark Magician's attack struck the lamp. "Then it deflects your attack, redirecting it back at your monster!" The Dark Magician's energy was used to destroy Curse of Dragon which lowered Yugi's life points to equal Kaiba's.
(Y: 1500)
(K: 1500)
"Reflect upon the incredible defensive powers of my ancient lamp!"
Yugi simply placed a new card on the disk and replayed the Dark Magician. "Kaiba, for all your bragging, the score is tied, we're evenly matched!"
Yugi doesn't suspect that so far, my maneuvers, clever as they are, is just ploys to distract him from my real plan… Kaiba cast his eyes on the Blue-Eyes White Dragon to his right of the Ancient Lamp. To assemble all three Blue-Eyes in my deck to create a monster more powerful than he's ever seen! For combined, they create an ultimate monster with unstoppable power! Yugi better kiss his star chips good-bye, because his defeat at this ultimate Blue-Eyes is at hand!
To Be Continued.
Monster Glossary
(1)
Name: Ryu-Kishin Powered
Level: 4
Type: Fiend
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1600
DEF: 1200
(2)
Name: Swordstalker
Level: 6
Type: Warrior
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 2000
DEF: 1600
Note: The real Swordstalker playing card doesn't have the ability to raise its attack points by the attack points of a destroyed monster. There probably is a card that does that but it hasn't been shown in the series yet.
(3)
Name: La Jinn, the Mystical Genie of the Lamp
Level: 4
Type: Fiend
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1800
DEF: 1000
Note: Kaiba calls it a magician but it's actually a fiend monster. What's with these guys?
