Disclaimer: I do not own Magic: The Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh, they are the property of their respective owners.
Wow, chapter11. I never thought this fic would get so far. A huge thanks to Lu Chao who provided me with the plot for the next few chapters.
Also, I recently found out in my research that Bakura was not banished to the Shadow realm, so he still lives with Ryou in this story.
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Arrathir sat in Yugi's room, his Magic cards fanned out about him as he selected the cards for his new deck. His deck theme would be Myrs. He had thrown in all of his mana-producing Myrs so he could continue using the deck when he played Magic. The idea would be to summon a lot of creatures very quickly, since Myrs were cheap, and to swarm the enemy. He added Myr Matrix to help boost his weak Myrs' stats. Since his defence would not be very strong, he added four Leonin Elders to help him gain life. To produce a lot of creatures, he added a few Genesis Chambers to help produce a large amount of Myr tokens. Since the Myr tokens wouldn't bee much help, he also slipped in a Day of the Dragons. He couldn't wait to see the look on Kaiba's face. Let him summon his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons! He would be getting an army of dragons! To top it off, he added a few equipment cards, like Whispersilk Cloak and Slagwurm Armour.
As he was sifting through the sea of cards before him, a certain card caught his eye. He picked it up, and his breath caught in his throat. He didn't know he had this card. It must have been stuck with another card in a booster he'd bought. With such a powerful card, his Myr deck could be unstoppable. For it to really work, though, he needed another card. He quickly looked through his cards. Yes! There it was, Mycosynth Lattice. He slipped his two cards in his new deck. Now it was complete. He pulled out his prize card again and looked at it.
"What have you got there?" asked Khell.
Arrathir jumped and shoved the card back in his deck.
"Nothing," he lied "I was looking through these cards." He didn't want to show Khell the card. This creature had done much damage in Khell's world, and he was sure Khell would not appreciate him being able to summon it.
"Khell," Arrathir asked, "How did you get a Plated Slagwurm? I thought they were native of Mirrodin."
"Well, I travelled to Mirrodin, actually," said Khell "Nice place, except for the fact that all life is permeated by metal."
It's because of the Mycosynth Lattice, but I doubt he travelled to Mirrodin's core.
"Arrathir," said Khell "Now that you have learned to summon creatures, you have become a link between Dominaria and your world. It is a rare trait you have. Humans from your world generally do not have the capacity to tap mana and summon creatures. You have a great power; use it wisely. With great power comes great responsibility."
Did he just quote that line from Spider-Man?
"I'll be glad when I can actually control the creatures I summon," Arrathir laughed.
Gathering his thoughts, he started to focus, out of habit. Before he knew it, he had tapped a swamp and was summoning a creature. Another Myr formed, only it was larger then the Myr Mindservant. It was about as tall as Arrathir and it bore many rust marks.
Alpha Myr.
"Now, how do I control it?" asked Arrathir.
"Same way you play the card game, vocal instruction."
"Can you summon something weak so I can practice combat?"
"Sure," said Khell.
From the ground around Khell, grass grew, trees sprouted, and soon, he was standing in a patch of forest. Khell channelled his forest mana to summon Taunting Elf.
"Alpha Myr," Arrathir commanded, "Attack Khell."
The Myr jumped forward, waving its clawed hands. Khell signalled his elf to block the oncoming creature. The two met and began to battle. The elf, having no attack, dodges the Myr's slashing claws as the artifact creature chased it. The Myr finally caught the elf. Holding onto the creature's head with one of its clawed hands, the Myr slashed downward with its other hand, inflicting a deep gouge across the Elf's chest. The elf screamed in pain and exploded in a showed of green mana.
"Very good," said Khell "Now let's see how you fare against something stronger."
Khell gathered his mana and summoned a Copperhoof Vorrac.
If I remember correctly, Copperhoof Vorrac gets 1/1 for each untapped permanent I control. Since I just attacked with my Myr, he's still a 1/1.
"Your move," said Khell.
Arrathir quickly went over his creatures in his mind. What could he summon to stand against Khell's creature?
Lodestone Myr! It's perfect because I can tap artifacts to power it up, at the same time, down powering his Vorrac. Let's see, one mana for Alpha Myr, so I need three more mana to summon Lodestone Myr.
Concentrating, Arrathir gathered his mana and cast his spell. Another creature began to form. It was taller than the Alpha Myr and it was much bulkier. When the Myr appeared, it had brown skin and seemed to be made of plate metal. Arrathir knew that despite its low stats, it had trample and could be a formidable opponent.
"I end my turn," said Arrathir, a little tried from drawing his mana.
Khell smirked and his creature glowed bright green for a few moments.
"Copperhoof Vorrac, attack!"
The Vorrac came charging at Arrathir, snarling.
Arrathir quickly ordered his Alpha Myr to tap. The Myr lay down and as it did, his Lodestone Myr grew larger as its ability kicked in. Arrathir told his Enforcer to block the Vorrac.
The Vorrac is a 2/2, but since I have one untapped permanent, he's a 3/3 and so is my Myr. They'll both be killed.
Arrathir was astonished to see the Vorrac open its mouth, displaying a row of disproportionate fangs. It sank its fangs into the Myr, tearing the artifact creature's metal flesh. The Myr vanished in a shower of colourless mana and the Vorrac leapt at Arrathir, knocking him down, before returning to its master.
"Dragon Fangs," said Khell "Gives enchanted creature 1/1 and trample."
Arrathir gritted his teeth and stood up. The Vorrac hadn't hurt him too much. He tried to draw on his mana, but he came up blank. He tried again, and this time, managed to secure a plane. He now had five mana at his disposal. He took his unique white mana and called forth a Leonin Elder. The cat-like cleric appeared on the field. Next, Arrathir tapped two of his four swamps to create a Genesis Chamber. When the artifact appeared, the Leonin began chanting and a white light collected in his paws. He turned to Arrathir and shot the light at him. Arrathir instantly felt better, and his bruises from the Vorrac healed. With his two remaining mana, he summoned a Gold Myr. As the Myr appeared, the Genesis Chamber began to glow and hum. When the glow faded, a small Myr leapt out of the artifact and placed itself next to Arrathir. Now he had four creatures at his disposal. Unfortunately, this also meant Khell's Vorrac was much bigger.
I have five untapped permanents so that means…Shit! He's an 8/8!
"Go."
"Until now, I've gone easy on you," said Khell "Now you will suffer my wrath, but do not worry, I won't let you get hurt too badly."
Khell drew on his mana and summoned a dragon. As soon as the creature was summoned, it flew off the ground and hovered by Khell. Suddenly, the Genesis Chamber started up again and produced another Myr. This time, the Myr crossed over and stood by Khell's side.
"Like it?" asked Khell "Rorix Bladewing, and it has haste so, Bladewing, attack!"
The dragon flew at Arrathir who ducked, but the dragon raked his claws across his back. Arrathir screamed as he felt the razor-sharp talons of the dragon ripping his shirt and digging through his skin, leaving eight red tears in his back. He felt his back and brought his hand back covered in blood.
"Are you alright?" asked Khell "Do you want to stop?"
"No," winced Arrathir "I'll manage."
He found an island and, with seven mana (counting his Myr) at his disposal, he summoned a Myr Enforcer for three mana, since it had affinity for artifacts, and an Omega Myr. He now had four 1/1 Myrs from his Genesis Chamber, his Alpha Myr, Omega Myr, Gold Myr, Myr Enforcer, and his Leonin Elder. From all his artifacts, his Elder had healed the scars on his back.
"All right, your turn."
Khell wasted no time, he summoned no creatures, but instead attacked Arrathir with his Bladewing again. Arrathir had been waiting for this. Using his remaining white mana, he commanded, "Leonin Elder, Awe Strike!"
The leonin jumped in front of the attacking dragon, which immediately stopped his attack and retreated to Khell's side.
"Not bad," said Khell "Watch this, Thunderclap!"
A bolt of lightning sprung from the spellcaster's hands and struck Arrathir in the chest. He doubled over in pain, his chest burning.
"Give up?' asked Khell.
Arrathir didn't answer. Instead, he found another swamp and summoned a Silver Myr, gaining another 1/1 Myr from the Genesis Chamber.
"Go."
"Let us see how well you fare against my Avatar of Might!" As Khell spoke, the Avatar appeared on the field.
Arrathir understood he had lost. There was no way he was surviving against an 8/8 with trample!
"I surrender," he said.
All the creatures in play vanished and returned to mana.
"You didn't do too bad for a beginner," said Khell.
"Thanks," said Arrathir "But next time we battle, I will beat you!"
The spellcaster smiled and said, "We will see."
They went downstairs and found Yugi walking out the door.
"Hey, Yugi, where are you going?" asked Arrathir.
"To duel Yami Marik," said Yami, taking over Yugi's body.
"Why?"
"It is my destiny. I must vanquish the evil he represents to protect the world. With the Millennium Rod, Yami Marik could summon an army of darkness and take over the world. Only I can stop him. I will reclaim the Rod and banish him to the Shadow Realm."
"How are you going to find him?"
"Ryou."
Puzzled, Khell and Arrathir followed Yami out the door and through the streets until they reached a house in a quiet suburb. Yami knocked on the door, and an albino teen with wild hair answered the door.
"What do you want, pharaoh?" he snarled.
"I need to talk to your hiraki, tomb robber," said Yami.
"Yeah, sure," said the teen "HEY! RYOU! THE BAKA PHAROAH WANTS TO TALK TO YOU!" he screamed in the house.
Yami frowned at the derogatory term, but said nothing. Soon, another teen looking exactly like the first one, but shorter, appeared in the doorway.
"Bakura," he said with a British accent "I told you: Call the pharaoh a baka again, and I'm cutting off your caffeine privileges."
"Aww, geeze, he knows I'm just kidding, right pharaoh? You're not really gonna cut off my caffeine, are you, hiraki?"
"Consider it done," said Ryou.
At these words, Bakura went ballistic and stormed into the house, cursing loudly in ancient Egyptian. The cursing was accompanied by the sound of crashing furniture. It seemed the spirit of the Millennium Ring was extremely peeved at loosing his caffeine.
"Sorry about that," said Ryou "What was it you wanted Yami?"
"I need to locate Yami Marik," said Yami "I need your ring to find his Millennium item."
"He's back?" asked Ryou; surprised "What is he up to now, the usual take over the world plot?"
"I don't know," said Yami "Without the God cards he can't do much. However, I want to stop him before anything happens."
"Who are your friends?" asked Ryou, noticing Arrathir and Khell.
"Oh," said Yami "This is Arrathir and Khell. They are duellists, but they play a different kind of game."
Ryou nodded and invited them in. "Tea?" he asked.
Yami refused, but Arrathir said, "I'll have some." Khell said nothing.
Ryou excused himself to the kitchen, from which he shooed an extremely furious Bakura who had been loading up on instant coffee in view of his punishment. Ryou returned a few minutes later with a teapot, two cups, cream and sugar. Arrathir helped himself to some tea and drank it while Ryou pulled out his Millennium Ring.
The Millennium item was a circle of wood from which dangled four arrow-shaped pieces. In the circle was a triangle, the centre of which was occupied by the Eye of Horus. Two of the arrows of the ring were vibrating and pointing at Yami's puzzle, while the other two were pointing at the front door.
"Well, let's follow the arrows," Ryou joked.
They left the house, Ryou dragging Bakura along because he didn't trust him to not steal all the coffee he could find while they were gone. The arrows pointed them to the direction of The Millennium Rod. They eventually reached Kaiba Land.
"Why would Marik be at Kaiba Land?" Ryou and Yami asked at the same time.
They entered the building and found it deserted. The usually crowded duelling arenas were empty. Even Kaiba's suited henchmen seemed to have vanished. The group decided to find Kaiba, who was probably in his office. They took the elevator up to the top level and got off. The door to Kaiba's office was slightly open. Yami snaked up and looked through the crack. He looked startled, and burst into the room. The others followed and saw Seto Kaiba sprawled on the floor, Yami Marik standing over him, holding a long dagger. He paid no attention to the entrance of the five people as he talked away to Kaiba.
"You are the cause of this, Seto Kaiba," he said "Your Battle City tournament was my downfall. Now that I am back, it is time for me to take what is mine, your God card!"
"Leave Kaiba out of this!" said Yami "Your quarrel is with me, tomb keeper!"
Yami Marik turned and saw Yami. "Ah, the pharaoh's come to save you, Kaiba. How thoughtful. Well, pharaoh, how about a little game? Kaiba's life for your two God cards?"
Yami nodded.
The duellists powered up their duel disks, shuffled their decks and their life meters clocked up to 4000.
"Duel!"
To be continued…
Author's note: Wow, long chapter. Did you like the idea of having creatures perform some of the instant spells? It was just something I was trying out. Anyways, now there's going to be a lot more action in the next few chapters, so stay tuned! If anyone send me a personal e-mail, be sure to mark the subject as something like "Magic vs. YuGiOh" in big capital letters. Since my junk mail filter is set on high, it will help me spot it when I check my junk mail. Oh yeah, and review. That helps me get motivated enough to write.