Disclaimer: I do not own Magic: The Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh, they are the property of their respective owners.
Thanks to all who pointed out that Kaiba's Raigeki would not have destroyed my artifacts because of Darksteel Forge. The point of using Second Sunrise was to bring back my Megatog.
Also, forget what I said earlier on. This story takes place after Battle City. Yugi gave Obelisk back to Kaiba for some obscure reason that has to do with their past.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I-I lost," said Kaiba "That's, impossible! I analyzed your decks! I figured out the probability of you drawing any of your cards! I was prepared for anything!"
"Face it, Kaiba, my deck kicked your ass," said Arrathir.
Kaiba snarled and marched away.
"Congratulations!" said Yugi.
Arrathir turned around and saw Yugi with his yami in spirit form beside him.
"Thanks," said Arrathir "I was worried when he summoned his God card, but I drew the right cards."
"Your Megatog combo was impressive," said Yami.
"You should see it when I use Second Sunrise," said Arrathir "I've gotten him over 20,000 attack and defence!"
"Your Megatog serves you well," said Yugi "You should be proud of having such a great card in your deck."
"Now that we have seen the power of your zombie and artifacts," said Yami "I would like to see how your elf deck succeeds in a duel."
"Well, my elf deck is basically a life-gaining deck that also boosts the power of my elves. I just try and get out my best cards."
"Well, you must be tired after your duel. Let's go home."
As they walked through the streets of Domino, Arrathir relived the high points of the day: His duel against Kaiba was still vivid in his memory. Ever since he'd begun playing Magic, he'd always wondered what it would be like if the creatures were real. Now, he felt even more attached to his decks after seeing his creatures in action. No longer were his cards images on pieces of cardboard, they felt like living creatures, as if he was a wizard with dozens of spells at his disposition; his fantasy army at his command.
We serve to please you, master
Arrathir jumped. He had heard the voice, but it was in his head. The voice was deep and guttural, it was something he'd never heard before.
"Yugi, did you hear that?"
"What?"
"That voice," said Arrathir "Just now. I heard it, in my head."
"Sorry, I heard nothing," said Yugi.
Arrathir was perplexed. The voice had called him 'master'; but why?
As they walked down the street, night was falling. There were still some people walking up and down the street, but the thick crowd he had noticed earlier on was thinning. From behind him, Arrathir heard the sound of approaching footsteps, coming in fast. A second later, three men bumped past Yugi and him. As they passed them, without knowing why, Arrathir reached behind him and grabbed one man's wrist, flipping him over onto his back.
"Thief!" he said, not knowing why he'd flipped the man "Give it back!"
Clutched in the thief's hand was Arrathir's Soulless One. Arrathir pried his precious card from his hand and placed it back into his deck.
Yami took over Yugi's body and grabbed the bandit by the collar.
"Who sent you?" he roared "Speak, or feel my wrath!"
"M-master Marik," stammered the man.
Yami dropped him and growled, "Marik. So, he's started his little card-stealing game again, has he?"
"Who's Marik?"
"Marik Ishtar possessed the Millennium Rod," said Yami "His family were the keepers of the Rod and the Millennium Tauk, or necklace if you prefer. Malik felt a great hatred for his father. From his hate, Yami Marik was born. Yami Marik killed Marik's father and made his believe I ordered him killed. Marik set out to collect all three God cards and overthrow me to become the next pharaoh. He formed a group of duellists called the Rare Hunters to duel other competitors for their rare cards during the Battle City tournament. Of course, there was foul play, and the cards they couldn't win, they would steal. Yami Marik, however, had other plans. He wanted to acquire the God cards to establish a totalitarian rule over the world. He nearly succeeded. In the end, Marik overcame his yami and banished him to the Shadow Realm. It seemed Marik was done with his past life, but now it seems like he's gone back to his evil ways."
"But why would he want my Soulless One?" asked Arrathir "It's not a Duel Monsters card and it's not even a rare card!"
"In Duel Monsters, it's not always the strength of the monster that matters," said Yugi "Your card can be very powerful if used properly. Marik must have been watching your duels and spotted your best cards. I'm sure he could have found a way to unleash your card's power. But if Marik's back, that must mean Yami Marik has taken over him again."
"It would have been hard for him to escape from the Shadow Realm, but not impossible," said Yami "Ryou did it."
"Ryou?" said Arrathir.
"Ryou Bakura, keeper of the Millennium Ring," said Yami "His yami, Bakura, was a tomb robber whose spirit was sealed in the ring. The Millennium Ring acts as a Millennium Item finder. When Bakura was awakened, he set out to collect the seven Millennium Items to unleash the Shadow Games back into the world. After Duellist Kingdom, he managed to steal the Millennium Eye from Maximillion Pegasus. During Battle City, he and Yami Marik formed an alliance to achieve their goals. Yami Marik got the better of him and banished him to the Shadow Realm, from which Ryou escaped with great difficulty. Ryou still has the Millennium Ring. Even thought he knows the Ring is evil, he can't separate from it. It is unknown whether or not Bakura also escaped the Shadow Realm."
"I wouldn't put it past him," said Yugi.
They walked on as Arrathir tried to assimilate all this information. Some psychotic Egyptian was after his cards, and he didn't even know why! As they walked on, Arrathir felt a presence nearby. His feelings were confirmed when four thugs stepped out of a nearby alleyway. They were tall, from side to side, and a few of them were cracking their knuckles ominously.
"OK," said one of the thugs, with a thick British accent "You chaps hand over your rare cards and nobody gets hurt. You refuse; we not only take your cards, but also beat the shit out of you. Do I make myself clear?"
"If you want our cards," said Yami "You'll have to win them. How about a little game? That is, if you've got the guts. You win; we give you our cards. You loose; you'll have to play a penalty game."
"You aren't one to make bargains, shorty," said another thug.
"The game is simple," said Yami "Do any of you guys have a knife?" One of the thugs produced a switchblade "Good. Now here are the rules: The two players stand in front of each other, barefooted, feet apart. The first player drops the knife between his feet and moves his left foot to whatever spot the knife lands. Then the next player goes. The game goes until a player chickens out or drops the knife on his foot."
"So why should we play your game?" asked another thug "It'd be simpler to just beat you guys to a pulp."
"What's the matter?" asked Yami "Chicken?"
The thugs conferred for a few seconds, then the first thug stepped forward.
"You've got a deal," he said "But if we win, not only do we get your rare cards, we also get your decks and that golden pyramid thingy shorty's got."
Arrathir grabbed Yami.
"Yami, are you nuts? Even if these guys loose, they'll still beat us up and take our cards! Not only that, but if we loose, we'll loose our decks, and Yugi will loose his puzzle!"
"Relax," said Yami "I've never lost a Shadow Game before."
Yami and the thug took their shoes and socks off and stood in front of each other. The thug took the knife and dropped it. The point stuck into the sandy soil of the alleyway, 3 inches from the thug's left foot. The thug moved his left foot to where the knife was, plucked the knife out of the ground and handed it to Yami. The spirit dropped the knife. It landed right in the middle of his spread feet. Not disturbed at all, Yami moved his left foot over and handed the knife to the thug.
Shit, Yami's already loosing, and this guy looks pretty good at this game!
The thug dropped the knife again, the point landing very close to his left foot. The thug laughed and handed the knife to Yami who dropped it right between his feet, again. Now Yami's bare feet were only five inches apart!
"It's over, shorty," laughed the thug "Next turn you'll probably stab yourself. You might was well and over our prizes now and save yourself the pain."
The thug took the knife from Yami and dropped it. As he did, a violent gust of wind swept through the alley. The knife fell into the thug's foot, the blade sinking into the skin. The thug howled with pain and wrenched the blade out.
"You see," said Yami "Your overconfidence cost you the game. Had you not tried to land the blade as close as possible to your left foot, you wouldn't have stabbed yourself."
"GET THOSE GUYS!" the thug yelled.
The thugs pulled out a variety of weapons: iron knuckles, an iron pipe, a baseball bat, and a handgun.
Oh shit!
The thug with the handgun pulled the trigger, and everything went into slow motion for Arrathir. He saw the bullet coming out of the barrel; saw it flying through the air towards him, leaving spiral ripples in the air. Arrathir tried to move, but he was also moving in slow motion, as if he was under water. He dove, and saw the bullet snaking closer to his thigh. He managed to twist in mid-air and dodge the bullet, but already, another bullet was headed for him, directly for his chest. He threw his chest back, arching his back as the bullet skinned his chin. He landed with a hard thud on the ground. He felt invigorated, as if his double near-death had made his stronger. He looked over at Yami who was brandishing his puzzle.
"MIND CRUSH!" yelled the spirit, and a bright yellow beam shot from the eye on the puzzle, catching the gunman in the stomach, and making him disappear.
Arrathir got up and saw another thug heading for him, brandishing his pipe. Arrathir had never been much of a fighter, but he suddenly started to dodge and block the man's wild swings. He realized that if he focused a certain way, time seemed to slow down again, and he had time to see the pipe flying for his chin. Before it could connect, he leaned backwards and kicked out at the pipe, sending it flying. Turning away from his attacker, he ran towards the wall and jumped, twisting around as he flew though the air. He pushed off the wall with his right foot and his left foot connected solidly with the thug's jaw, knocking him out cold.
Two down.
Yami was grappling with the thug wearing the iron knuckles, dancing around him as the man threw punch after punch, hitting nothing but air. Arrathir looked around, but he didn't see the last thug who snuck up behind him and hit him over the head. As Arrathir dropped, the thug grabbed his deck and ran off. Groggily, Arrathir followed him through the alley. Just as the thug was getting out of his sight, a figure, clad in a cloak, dropped down from an overhead balcony. The thug stopped, puzzled by this newcomer. From the light of a nearby streetlamp, Arrathir caught a glimpse of the character. He was tall, about 6'1 with spiky, flamboyant red hair. He wore a dark blue cloak, and had a staff in his hand, which he pointed toward the thug in challenge.
The thug grinned and pulled out his bat. The two began fighting, the thug swinging his bat, the figure using his staff as a Bo stick, parrying the blows. After being on the defensive for a while, the figure switched back to offence, using the longer reach the staff gave him to his advantage. He swiped at the thug's feet, trying to throw him off-balance. The thug retreated backwards and came charging back. The figure met his attack with a few well-timed blows and whacked the thug's wrist, making him cry out in pain and drop the bat, which the figure kicked away. The thug grinned and pulled out a handgun. Immediately, the figure retreated back into the shadows, melting into the night. The thug fired a few uncertain shots, but missed. As the thug paused to reload his gun, the figure flew from the darkness and cracked his staff over the thug's head. The thug hit the ground like a ton of bricks.
The figure kicked the body over and pulled Arrathir's deck from the prone thug's pocket.
"I believe this belong to you," he said to Arrathir.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Arrathir.
"My name," said the figure, stepping into the light "Is Khell Dracos. I am an Avatar from Dominia."
To be continued…
Author's note: Who is this mystery character? Why is he in Domino? Will I ever stop with these cliffhanger endings? Review and wait to find out!