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Fanfic Chapter 37: Final Duel of Souls Pt 4: Sacrifice
Episode Basis: Match of the Millennium Pt 4
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Yami Bakura unleashed some real Duel Monsters on Pegasus' guards. But a mysterious newcomer destroyed them and got rid of the guards. Yami Bakura was ready to unleash the full power of his Millennium Ring but Tristan got to him first, knocked Bakura out, and threw away the Millennium Ring. Meanwhile, Yugi and the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle devised a dangerous strategy to counter Pegasus' mind-reading abilities. They would switch minds to confuse Pegasus. And it worked, because of the Mind Shuffle, Yugi and his dark half were able to destroy Toon World and all its monsters. Pegasus, however, wasn't ready to back down just yet; he drew Yugi into the Shadow Realm where they would finish their duel. This can't be good.
"Tristan! Tristan, are you awake? Come on, man, this isn't the time for a nap." Tristan opened his eyes. Somebody was standing over him. At first, Tristan thought it was the guy who dispatched Pegasus' guards, but as his eyes came into focus, he realized that it was only Harold.
"Harold, how'd you find us?"
"I was looking for you and Bakura when several of the castle guards ran by screaming about a living card. It wasn't hard to figure it out after that. But what happened to you? When I came up here, the two of you were knocked out."
"The Millennium Ring took possession of Bakura again."
"Huh, again?"
"The same night as Yugi's duel with Panik, Bakura showed up, but it wasn't Bakura, it was the ring taking control of him." Harold looked at him wide-eyed. "Never mind, I'll explain later. What are you doing here, why aren't you with Yugi?"
"I came looking for you guys. Yugi's in big trouble with Pegasus, he's going to need our help and support."
"Then let's go!"
"I will defeat you in one realm or another, Yugi," Pegasus declared as a black shroud engulfed the two Duelists. Little-Yugi quickly realized that it was just like last time, surrounding them in another dimension, cutting him off from Joey and Tea.
"This is spooky," Joey commented. "I can't see them at all!"
"How can we help Yugi when we can't even see them?" Tea asked.
"I don't know, Tea."
"Anybody ordered a pizza?"
"Yeah, I did…" Joey began then saw who asked the question. "Harold! Tristan! Well, you two certainly took your sweet time."
"Give me a break," Tristan said. "I had an adventure and a half today."
"Yeah, sleeping on the job," Harold joked. He was cradling Mokuba while Tristan had Bakura slung over his shoulder like a stack of potatoes.
"What happened to those two?" Tea asked referring to Mokuba and Bakura.
The others told their tales of what happened to them. Joey and Tea gave a play-by-play update of Yugi's duel with Pegasus and Tristan and Harold told them about Mokuba and Bakura. He ended with, "What's with the indoor thunderstorm?"
"I don't know," Harold said. "But we should check it out!"
"Yeah," Tristan agreed. He turned to Mokuba and Bakura, "those two should be fine, let's go see what happened to Yugi." The remaining four ran off.
"Pegasus started ranting about something called a Shadow Game," Joey said as they reached the edge of the black dome. "Then this thing came out of nowhere!"
"I hope Yugi's all right," Harold said.
Yugi looked around. This place gives me the creeps. Whenever Pegasus starts talking about the Shadow Realm, it could mean only one thing…
"A Shadow Game," both Yugi and the Spirit said.
"You'll find that your experience in the Shadow Realm this time around a lot harder than your last," Pegasus explained. "The strain of retaining your Mind Shuffle will make it difficult for you to conjure up your monsters."
He's right, Yugi realized as he panted heavily. I feel weak, it's like I can barely focus my thoughts.
"I'll take over, Yugi," the Spirit said as he switched. "I think I'm strong enough to handle it. So let's finish our duel now!" He drew a card. "You'll be safe if you stay inside the puzzle for now, Yugi. I can survive in this realm easier than you."
"But we can't abandon our strategy," Little-Yugi protested. "It's the only thing keeping him from reading our minds!"
"I know, and it's the only reason why we have our slight lead."
(Y: 900)
(P: 600)
Pegasus drew a card. "For my next move, I think I'll summon my Dark-Eyes Illusionist (1) in attack mode!" Pegasus' body flared with dark energy as a strange monster appeared. The body was T-shaped and striped yellow and black. It had no legs and two long blue arms. Its head, its most prominent feature, had two cones on both sides, and a large eye that looked similar to Pegasus' Millennium Eye. Pegasus reminded Yugi that in this realm, it was as real as they are which meant that its attacks could hurt just as much as a punch or a kick would.
Yugi then noticed that it had 0 attack points.
"I know he looks formidable, but what challenge could it pose to you?" Pegasus asked. "It has 0 attack points. But since it's a monster you haven't seen before, you have no way of knowing what secrets it holds! And I've been known to keep a few tricks up my sleeve from time to time, eh, Yugi-boy?"
"I'm not sure what secrets your Dark-Eyes Illusionist holds, but I'm sure it's not as harmless as you would like me to believe. I'm sure it's quite dangerous!"
"Yugi, you're so suspicious," Pegasus chided.
"I'll lay my Curse of Dragon on the field. Dragon, come forth!" The air behind Dark Yugi swirled and the dragon appeared through it. It took a place next to the Dark Magician.
"We've got to keep Pegasus off balance," Little-Yugi said. "We've got to keep switching our minds!"
"All right," Spirit said as they switched.
I think Little-Yugi overestimates his mental prowess and underestimates the burden of fighting a duel in the Shadow Realm. "I don't think you have it in you, Yugi-boy, you now have two monsters to maintain: your Dark Magician and your Curse of Dragon."
The strain was bearing down on Little-Yugi. His vision was slowly distorting.
"Yugi, if this is too much for you, let me take over," the Spirit offered.
"Give me a minute; I just want to try to last out the turn."
He's too young and inexperienced to cope with the stress and communicating with the other spirit splits his concentration even more, his mental and magical energies will soon be exhausted!
On the outside, Tea suddenly felt a stab of pain at her heart. From the looks on their faces, the guys did too.
"I have the strangest feeling that something bad has happened to Yugi," Tea said.
"Me too, I think our little buddy's in big trouble," Joey commented.
"But how can we all be feeling this at the same time?" Harold wondered.
"I guess, since we've all become so close," Tristan figured. "It's like we developed some strange link with him."
"But if we're feeling this out here, then it must be really bad for Yugi in there."
"I think it's worse than that," Harold said harshly. The others looked at him as he stepped forward. "It's strange, but from the moment I saw that overgrown snow globe, it was like I could feel three sparks coming from it: Yugi's, Pegasus's and a spark that I can only assume is the Millennium Puzzle spirit that Tea told us about. But now, it feels like one of them is waning, and it's NOT Pegasus!"
"But what can we do?" Tea asked.
"I'm not sure, Tea," Joey said. "I'm just not sure."
"You're looking a little pale, Yugi," Pegasus noted as he laid a card face-down. "Why don't you give up your Mind Shuffle strategy for a while, you know, take a breather. I can send you back to your world, any time you're willing to surrender."
Yugi's grip on his cards loosened and almost fell out of his hand.
"Yugi, for once Pegasus is telling the truth," the Spirit said. "Your mind just can't handle the stress of maintaining our monsters."
"Okay, take over for now," Little-Yugi said as they Mind Shuffled.
"I'll use my turn to attack with Curse of Dragon!" The Curse of Dragon dove for the Dark-Eyes Illusionist.
An impulsive attack, Pegasus critiqued. Precipitated, no doubt by his concern for Little-Yugi; but in his rush, he's made a fatal mistake! Pegasus' Millennium Eye started to glow as the orb-shaped eye rotated a full three-sixty degrees. "Your attack activates Dark-Eyes Illusionist's special ability: Mesmerizing Magic!" The Curse of Dragon froze in mid-dive and just hovered there. An eye symbol appeared on Curse of Dragon's stomach. "To make up for Dark-Eyes Illusionist's non-existent attack points, I endowed him with a special ability! Dark-Eyes Illusionist can use his mesmeric eye to stop attacking monsters in their tracks!" The monster rotated its head/eye a few more times. "With such a superb monster at my disposal, what could my next brilliant move be?"
"Just play it," Dark Yugi snapped.
"As you wish," Pegasus said as he turned his face-down card over. "Believe it or not, I'll use the Black Illusion Ritual card to sacrifice my incredible Dark-Eyes. 'Has he gone insane,' you might ask, 'sacrificing a creature that can paralyze any monster in play?'" An urn container with flames on either side appeared. "No, I'm merely using this magic card to create an even better monster!" Dark-Eyes Illusionist was sucked up into the jar. "I hereby sacrifice my Dark-Eyes Illusionist to summon another spellcaster monster: the incredible, unbelievable, unforgettable Relinquished (2)!" Relinquished bore a similar design to Dark-Eyes Illusionist, but it was much bigger. A large hole was in its center and two large organic panels were on its shoulders. "Quite a looker, isn't he?"
"What kind of monster is this?" Dark Yugi wondered. "I've never seen anything like it."
"I'll show you," Pegasus said as Relinquished's eye started to glow. "By activating its special power!" A vortex appeared in the hole in Relinquished's stomach and sucked up the Curse of Dragon.
"No, my Curse of Dragon!" Dark Yugi cried.
"Gone, but not forgotten. Care to try again?"
"You bet I will! Dark Magician, attack Relinquish now! Dark Magic Attack!"
"Relinquished, activate your defense shield!" The panels on Relinquished's shoulders folded up around its body. An image of the Curse of Dragon appeared before the Dark Magician's attack struck destroying the image.
"The Dark Magician eliminates Curse of Dragon from the game," Pegasus announced. "But since he was your creature, you lose the life points!"
(Y: 400)
(P: 600)
"By absorbing the attacking monster, Relinquished can use it them and their attack and defense points, to defend himself against any opposing attack. Relinquished remains unharmed while the opponent suffers the damage!" The shield was raised back to its original position. "As long as I have Relinquished in play, you're your own worst enemy!"
"This duel isn't over yet!"
"It might as well be. Watch, I activate Relinquished's mesmeric attraction!" Try as he might, the Dark Magician couldn't resist and he was absorbed into Relinquished's body. The shield came down and the image of the Dark Magician appeared integrated into the shield. "I've done it! And this time I've gotten one of your most powerful monsters to use against you, not to mention your personal favorite. But in an attack, he'll take your life points all the same. Guess you're not his favorite any more, huh?"
How can I win? Dark Yugi wondered. Any monster I throw will just get used against me.
"We can't give up," Little-Yugi protested. "We have to Mind Shuffle long enough for me to play a card and retreat back before Pegasus can read our mind! It worked before, it can work again."
"Are you sure you're up to this? We don't know how much longer you can last in the Shadow Realm."
"I don't have to last long, just long enough to play one last card."
"But if your endurance is maxed out, your soul could be shredded forever, scattered to the very corners of the Shadow Realm!"
"Whatever the risk, I have to take it, for Grandpa's sake!" Yugi and the spirit switched places. Yugi steadied himself using the podium. I have to move fast, he thought as he shakily reached for a card.
Little-Yugi's back, I guess some people will never learn.
I have to put all my faith into the Heart of the Cards, because the next card I draw might be my last! His vision was already blurring. Please, let it be a card that can defeat Pegasus! He drew a card. Okay, this could work, but it'll be up to the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle to make it go through. "Pegasus… I play one card face-down… and… for my last move… I throw the Feral Imp in defense mode!" At least now there's one card that Pegasus doesn't know about. Now maybe we stand a chance.
If I try to read Little-Yugi's mind, they'll just switch again, so instead I'll overtax it! "Relinquished, prepare to attack!" The Dark Magician gasped in pain as its energy was sucked into Relinquished. "Relinquished, use the Dark Magician's power, Pilfered Power Attack, destroy the Feral Imp!" Before Yugi could switch with the Spirit, his Feral Imp was destroyed.
"Yugi, switch now," the Spirit instructed.
"Spirit… you've got… to beat… Pegasus," Yugi stammered.
"Yugi? Yugi!"
"…"
"Yugi, speak to me!" But it was no use, as Little-Yugi collapsed.
On the outside, his friends all gasped.
"Something just happened to Yugi!" Tea said.
"I know, but what?" Joey wondered.
"The worst," Harold said. The others turned to look at him. "Remember when I said earlier about feeling three sparks, and that one of the sparks was waning? Well, it… it…" Harold wiped his eyes.
"It what?" Tristan asked.
"Spill it, man!" Joey edged.
"I… I can't feel the waning spark any more, and I know… I know it's not Pegasus! It… it must be Yugi!"
"Oh no, he's hurt, or… or worst!" Tea cried and started to run into the bubble.
"Tea, don't," Joey called out grabbing her arm. "There's nothing you can do!"
"No, it can't be! Yugi! YUGI!"
In the recesses of the soul, the Spirit of the Puzzle tried calling for Yugi but it was no use. I can no longer sense his spirit! No, NO, he can't be gone, please, don't let it be true! YUGI!
"Forget him," Pegasus said dismissively. He was using his Millennium Eye to spy on him again. "He was too weak. It takes a strong mind to cope with the Shadow Realm."
Pegasus was right, Yugi… wasn't strong enough.
"I still can't believe that Yugi's gone," Joey said. "It's like he vanished."
"Not just vanished, Joey, it was like he was never there at all. I hate to say it, guys," Harold said. "But… it's possible that Yugi is gone forever!"
"No… NO, he can't be gone!" Tea, in a surprising showmanship of almost unnatural strength, pulled away from Joey and ran into the bubble.
And ran promptly back out.
"Tea, what happened?" Harold asked.
"I don't know," Tea said. She turned to face the bubble and stuck her arm through it.
Her arm was reaching back at her from the bubble.
"Well that worked," Harold said sarcastically.
"So now what?" Joey asked.
"Stand back," Tristan said and charged through the bubble.
He came out on the other side.
"Tristan, where are you?" Joey's voice called out.
"Yell if you can hear us," Tea added.
"Somehow I just passed through it," Tristan said as he went through back to where the others were. "Whatever this thing is, it's designed to keep Yugi in and us out."
"I just can't believe the situation our buddy's in and to make matters more horrible, there's nothing we can do about it."
"Nothing; except hope that we somehow all will be able to pull through this."
Tea visibly trembled.
The Spirit took control again. "Your underhanded tactics had destroyed Yugi's mind! That, I will not forgive!"
"So I take it from this emotional outburst that you're having a difficult time accepting the fact that you failed in your self-appointed duty to protect your little dueling protégé. Whoever you are, perhaps Yugi would've been better off without your meddling interference."
"Be silent!" The Spirit snapped. "Until my heart breaks, I will not rest until I see you pay for the underhanded act you have done!"
"Then let the game continue," Pegasus bid as the Spirit drew a card. "You no longer have your Mind Shuffling partner, so once again your mind is an open book to me!" Pegasus' Millennium Eye scanned the card that Yugi just drew. "The card you just drew was Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress, a weak monster."
Pegasus read my mind, so now he knows all the cards I have. The only one he doesn't know… the Spirit eyed the face-down card. Is the one Yugi sacrificed himself upon. But I have no way of knowing if it's a card that can tip the duel in my favor. "I play Winged Dragon #1 in defense mode!"
"Destroying your defense monster won't affect your life points, but I'll do it just for fun. Relinquished, Pilfered Power Attack!" No sooner had Yugi's monster landed then it was destroyed by Relinquished. Pegasus sighed happily, "That was fun. Now, your time has run out, this is the card that will do you in. I play Jigen Bakudan (3) in attack mode!" A multi-colored monster with a clock on its face appeared.
"No, not the infamous time bomb," the Spirit growled.
"Yes, Jigen Bakudan is a self-destructing monster so it's immune to attacks. In just two turns it will explode and destroyed my beloved Relinquished! But more importantly, it will also destroy the monsters Relinquished has absorbed, including your Dark Magician! And Relinquished… his attack power is 0!"
The Spirit immediately understood what it meant. "Meaning your life points won't be affected at all!"
"That's right, while I'll only lose 200 life points from Jigen-Bakudan exploding, the explosion will wipe out your Dark Magician, taking its attack points away from your life points ending the game!"
And that'll destroy any hope I have of freeing Yugi's Grandpa, Kaiba, and Mokuba!
"Face it, the clock is ticking down on your demise and there's nothing you can do to stop it! Face it, there's no card in your hand that can help you. Trust me, I know."
Yugi looked at his hand: Makiu, Multiply, Burning Land, Kuriboh, and Monster Recovery.
What am I going to do? Even if I draw a new card, Pegasus will know it immediately!
"That's right, as long as I can read your mind, you can do nothing against me. You've lost, the game is over!"
He's right, as much as I hate to admit it, I failed! I failed Yugi, and I failed his friends. Nothing I draw can help me now. Yugi's sacrifice was in vain. His Grandpa, and the Kaiba Brothers are doomed!
To Be Continued
Monster Glossary
(1)
Name: Dark-Eyes Illusionist
Level: 1
Type: Spellcaster/Effect
Attritbute: Dark
ATK: 0
DEF: 1400
A/N: Not a lot of people know this, but in the actual cartoon, Pegasus says that Dark-Eyes Illusionist has 0 attack AND defense points. But if you look closely at the card, you can see that it does indeed have defense points, though not enough to be effective.
(2)
Name: Relinquished
Level: 1
Type: Spellcaster/Ritual/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 0
DEF: 0
(3)
Name: Jigen Bakudan
Level: 2
Type: Pyro/Effect
Attribute: Fire
ATK: 200
DEF: 1000
