Disclaimer: I own neither Magic: The Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh.
Faced with the tidal wave of reviews and decklists clogging up my e-mail, I have dusted off my thinking cap and present you with the next instalment of this fic.
To all those who sent in decklists, I was impressed at how closely you followed my guidelines.
Khell, sorry if I took a liberty and slipped a Krosan Cloudscraper in your deck, but it's such a cool card! I'd like to credit and thank HinaGuy749 for that excellent idea.
Oh, and for those who still can't figure out the subliminal message in chapter 12, here it is: ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US. Just look at the first letter of the first word in each paragraph.
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Kitsu watched in horror as the Krosan Cloudscraper materialized on the field. He had the upper hand for most of the duel, using his Mind Burst spells to force Khell to discard most of his hand and his Millstone to add more cards to Khell's graveyard. Then, since Khell had no black creatures, he used his Guilt Feeders (when it attacked and did not block, it dealt 1 damage to Khell for each card in his graveyard) to take a hefty chunk out of Khell's lifepoints. Khell had responded by summoning some powerful wurms to crush Kitsu's creatures. Eventually, Kitsu managed to keep Khell from summoning more creatures by continuously hitting him with more card-removing spells like Hymn to Tourach and Mind Twist as well as using a few Chainer's Edicts to make Khell sacrifice creatures. Just as he was about to summon his second Mindstab Thrull, Khell managed to pull the Krosan Cloudscraper from his deck and now it loomed over his creatures. As if this wasn't enough, Khell had managed to enchant it with Dragon Fangs, giving it 1/1 and trample.
"Well," said Khell "It seems this duel has just started going my way. Would you like to concede now, or shall you feel the wrath of my Cloudscraper?"
"Ha," said Kistu "I have more than enough creatures to block and destroy your beast!"
"That would be true, except I summon a useful artifact, the Fireshrieker!"
As Khell spoke, his mana moulded into a long staff with a ball at one end. The ball hollowed out one end and shaped itself into an open mouth with rows of sharp teeth. The Krosan Cloudscraper picked up the artifact, which grew to accommodate the over-sized hands that held it.
"You know what it does," taunted Khell "Now my Cloudscraper has doublestrike! Even if you block it, it will deal first strike damage, killing most of your creatures. What will be left will be unable to stop my onslaught! Your move."
Arrathir raced through Domino, the tails of his overcoat floating behind him like the wings of some great bird, haphazardly dodging duellists as he ran towards the colossal form of the Krosan Cloudscraper. He wasn't the only one to have noticed the creature either; many people were staring in awe. Arrathir heard people saying "…a new God card…".
Just by the size of that thing, they're not far off.
Somebody else had noticed the creature: Yami Marik. He had been stalking the streets, hunting down duellists, careful not to run into Yugi, when he saw the creature. His eyes immediately lit up and he dashed like the madman he was back to the Rare Hunter's hideout. He had to get his hands on that card. It might be the only chance he had of defeating the Pharaoh, now that the latter had two God cards. For once he was hoping one of his useless servants was lazing around instead of stealing…er, winning cards from duellists.
As it turned out, Umbra and Lumis had decided to keep a low profile during this Battle City. Getting creamed by Kaiba and Yugi once was enough for them. Still, Umbra was nervous.
"Lumis," he said "What if Master Marik catches us here? You know he ordered all Rare Hunters out for the day."
"Relax," said his partner in crime (literally) "We'll just go out, duel a few people, bring back their rares, and tell him it's all we could collect."
"Yes, but you know he does not tolerate failure. Remember our duel against Yugi and Kaiba?"
Umbra shuddered as he remembered their joint attempt at defeating Yugi and Kaiba in a double duel. They duelled on top of a glass building, on top of a fifty-story light shaft that reached to the ground, the catch being when someone's lifepoints dropped to zero, an explosive would shatter the glass under them, and the looser would fall to their death. (A/N I know in the US version they are sent to the Shadow Realm when the glass breaks, but the Japanese version makes more sense.) Marik (at the time he had not become possessed by his dark side and was only seeking to take Yugi's puzzle and become the next pharaoh), had not been happy with their failure.
At that moment, the two Rare Hunters had the shock of their lives as Yami Marik crashed into the door, the hinges breaking off on impact.
"You two!" said Yami Marik "What are you doing here?"
"M-Master M-Marik," stammered Lumis "It was Umbra! He said this was a lost cause and we should not waste our time collecting rare cards. I tried to talk him out of it, but he refused to listen!"
"You liar!" screamed Umbra "It was you who did not want to go out!"
Yami Marik usually enjoyed watching the pitiful mortals squabbling, passing the buck to each other, but he was growing weary of this. There was a God card to claim!
"Enough!" he growled, "A God card has been summoned. I want you to find who owns it and win it from them, and this time," he narrowed his eyes, "I want no slip-ups!"
Umbra and Lumis gulped nervously and left as quickly as possible, slotting their decks into their Duel Disks as they left.
"And now," said Khell "Krosan Cloudscraper, attack!"
Arrathir skidded around the corner and crashed into the opposing wall. Gingerly, he got up and saw the giant fist raising a hefty-looking mace above its head and come crashing down on a Mindstab Thrull. A giant could of dust rose as the attack connected. When the dust cleared, Arrathir saw Khell, standing victorious while Kitsu watched his lifepoints crash down to zero.
"You fought well," said Khell, crossing over to his distraught opponent.
"Thanks," said Kitsu "I have to give you these now," he handed him his two locator cards (A/N: I know I didn't mention how many they wagered, but let's say it was two) and one of his Mindstab Thrulls.
"Keep it," said Khell "I cannot use it."
"Very well, I will be waiting when you are to seal the portal." Kitsu bowed to Khell and vanished into thin air.
"Hey, Khell! Good duel!"
Khell turned to see Arrathir heading towards him.
"Thanks. How many locator cards do you have?"
"Three," said Arrathir proudly displaying his cards.
"Better get at it," said Khell "I've got six."
"SIX? You're practically in the finals!"
"Nothing is certain yet," said Khell "I may loose cards."
Arrathir chuckled at this; "The only way you'll loose cards is when I beat you in the finals."
Khell just smiled.
"So what's going on?" asked Arrathir "Why was that mage here?"
"Apparently," said Khell "When I entered your world, it created a portal between Dominaria and your world. So some mages were brought here."
"So these people are going to keep coming through into this world?"
"No," said Khell "The spell that caused the portal should wear off, leaving only the portal in this world. Once I find it, we'll have to round up everyone who came through and we can bring them back. Once I am in Dominaria, I will sever the mana ties and the portal will finish closing."
Arrathir fell silent. He knew Khell would leave eventually, but he hoped it wasn't soon. Khell had been the closest thing he had ever had to a father. His father had left before he was born and his mother couldn't care less for him. It was as if she blamed him for his father leaving. She would either outright ignore him, or yell at him constantly. Arrathir had grown up a loner, not having many friends, save his Magic buddies. Khell had been like a ray of hope in his dull life. The knowledge the mage had passed on to him was making him a different person. Summoning was the best thing that had ever happened to him. As they walked along, he reflected how his mother would react when he finally did come home. She probably wouldn't even notice he'd been gone.
As they rounded the corner, Arrathir caught sight of a familiar tri-coloured hairdo in the crowd ahead.
Yugi!
Arrathir ran towards his friend who was among a large crowd that surrounded a duel.
"Hey Yugi! What's going on?"
"Joey's duelling a guy who's using the same kind of card you use!" said Yugi excitedly, "They just started."
Arrathir looked on the field and saw Joey squaring off against a young man dressed in long flowing blue robes. He was carrying a staff and had a solemn look on his face. Arrathir could feel the blue mana glowing from him.
That's an Aphetto wizard.
Currently, the lifepoints stood untouched and the wizard had two facedown cards, one that Arrathir suspected to be a morph card, and the other was probably a trap card.
"Awright!" said Joey "I summon Hitotsu-Me Giant (1200/1100)." A giant Cyclops appeared on the field, flexing its muscles. "Then I play one card facedown. Your move."
"I summon Crafty Pathmage (1000/1000)," said the wizard. A woman with blue hair, wearing a blue top and blue pants, along with a, you guessed it, blue cloak appeared on the field. "If I tap my Pathmage, a target creature with an attack of 1000 or less is unblockable until end of turn."
"Unblockable?" asked Joey "What's that mean?"
"Just what it sounds like, you can't block it with any of your creatures. Next, I play Spy Network." A huge telescope appeared before the wizard, revealing an x-ray image of Joey's hand. "This card allows me to look at your hand, the top card of your library, and allows me to rearrange the top four cards of my library in any order I want, but first, I'll play one card facedown. Your move."
Joey was a bit pissed that his opponent got to see his hand and arrange his draws for the next four turns.
"I summon Blackland Fire Dragon (1500/800)," said Joey as a green dragon burst to life from the card, stretching its wings "Blackland Fire Dragon, attack!"
The dragon flew at the wizard, its mouth open as it gathered energy for its attack.
"I block with my facedown card!" The dragon's attack hit the facedown card, revealing for a fleeting moment the image of a bearded man with long hair who shot a spell at the dragon before exploding in a shower of pixels. Joey's dragon was stricken with the same fate.
JOEY: 10,000
CARNEGY (The wizard): 9500
"I summon Raven Guild Master (500/500)." Carnegy now had a small army of facedown cards. Arrathir knew blue mana well enough to know that most of them would be counterspells.
"Ha!" said Joey "I summon Dragon Zombie." A withered dragon appeared on the field, but immediately disappeared. "Hey," said Joey "What happened?"
"I activated my trap card, Discombobulate. It counters a card being played and allows me to re-arrange the top four cards of my library in any order I want. Finished?"
"Yeah," said Joey.
"Good," said Carnegy "I summon Escape Artists (500/500). Anyone can discard a card from my hand to return it to my hand. Now, I'll tap my Crafty Pathmage to make my Raven Guild Master unblockable." The Crafty Pathmage waved her hand and the Raven Guild Master became translucent. "Raven Guild Master, attack!"
The wizard leapt forward and passed through Joey's creature as if it was a ghost. Joey winced as the creature hit him with a point-blank spell.
JOEY: 9500
CARNEGY: 9500
"Oh yes," said Carnegy, as if an afterthought "When my Raven Guild Master deals damage to you, the top ten cards of your library are removed from the game."
Joey eyes bugged out as he saw his Tiger Axe, Magic-Arm Shield, Graceful Charity, Axe Raider, Torike, Pot of Greed, Alligator's Sword, Swamp Battleguard, Hero of the East, and, the heartbreaker, Summoned Skull get removed from the game.
"Joey's in real trouble now!" said Yugi "If his opponent keeps using that combo, Joy will deck himself in three turns!" (A/N Yu-Gi-Oh decks usually contain about 40 cards)
"I summon Baby Dragon (1200/700)," said Joey "Next, I play Raigeki, destroying all your monsters."
"Reveal facedown card! Rewind! It counters the effect of your card."
Carnegy was stunned to see that his counter spell had no effect as a lightning bolt incinerated his creatures.
"You aren't the only one who can counter effects," said Joey "I discarded a card from my hand to activate my trap card, Magic Jammer! Now, Hitotsu-Me Giant, attack!"
The Cyclops trudged forward and delivered a crushing blow to Carnegy.
JOEY: 9500
CARNEGY: 8300
"A minor setback," said Carnegy "I play my Riptide Replicator!" A strange looking contraption appeared on the field. "This allows me to create one wizard token (500/500) per turn." A blue silhouette of a wizard appeared on the field. "Your move."
"I'll attack with Baby Dragon and Hitotsu-Me Giant!"
"I block your Baby Dragon with my wizard token."
JOEY: 9500
CARNEGY: 6900
"Well," said Carnegy "It seems you have the upper hand, but not for long. I summon Puppeteer (1000/500). I can tap it to tap any creature. Then I also get a wizard token from my Riptide Replicator. Oh, and my wizard tokens don't apply to the 5-on the field rule, so I can have as many as I want. Your move."
"I sacrifice Hitotsu-Me Giant to summon Lava Battleguard (1550/1800)," said Joey. "Then I set one card. Your move."
"Another wizard token for me," said Carnegy as another wizards appeared on the field "I play Sunken Field. If I discard a card from my hand, I can counter one of your cards. The only way for you to prevent this is to discard a card from your hand. Your move."
"I summon Mystic Horsemen."
"I'm afraid I'll have to counter that," said Carnegy as Joey's creature disappeared. "With Ixidor's Will. Done?" Joey nodded. "Good. My turn then. I summon Nameless One (/). Nameless One's power and toughness are equal to the number of wizards in play, which makes it a 1500/1500. Your move."
As he keeps getting more wizards with Riptide Replicator, that thing's gonna get huge!
"I attack with Lava Battleguard!"
"Nope. I tap Puppeteer to tap it."
"Arrgh!" said Joey "Your turn."
"I summon Merchant of Secrets (500/500), allowing me to draw a card," said Carnegy "Then I attack with my Nameless One, which is now a 2500/2500."
JOEY: 7000
CARNEGY: 6900
"I summon Koumori Dragon (1500/1200)," said Joey, but Carnegy discarded a card, stopping the summon.
"Very well," said Carnegy "I summon Covert Operative (1500/1000). It is unblockable. Nameless One, attack!"
"I block with Lava Battleguard!"
"I don't think so. I tap Puppeteer to tap it."
JOEY: 3500
CARNEGY: 6900
"I play Demon's Die," said Joey. A giant six-sided die appeared on the field. It tumbled over until it stopped on a 5. "Yeah! All your creatures loose 500 attack and defence points! Say good-bye to you tokens!"
All of Carnegy's wizard tokens, along with Puppeteer, and Merchant of Secrets disappeared.
"Next, I summon Battle Warrior (700/1000) and sacrifice it along with Lava Battleguard to summon my Red-Eyes Black Dragon (2800/2400)!" A black dragon with blood-red eyes appeared on the field. "Red-Eyes, attack!"
"I block with Covert Operative and Nameless One!"
"Activate trap card, Angel's Die." Another die appeared and stopped on a 3. "All my creatures gain 300 attack and defence points! All your monsters are destroyed!"
JOEY: 3500
CARNEGY: 6300
"I summon Gempalm Sorcerer (1000/1000). Your move."
"I summon my Time Wizard (500/400)!" A monster looking like an alarm clock, except it had pictures instead of numbers on its face, appeared on the field. "Time Wizard, Time Roulette!" ordered Joey.
The hand on the clock's face began to spin rapidly. As it did, Joey whispered, "Not the skull, not the skull…" he whooped as the hand stopped on a vortex. "Time Machine!" A vortex appeared, sucking in all the creatures. "All creatures age a thousand years! Look!"
Carnegy's creatures were withered skeletons that crumbled to dust.
"Dragons can live for thousands of years," said Joey "My Red-Eyes was unaffected while my Baby Dragon aged into the Thousand Dragon (2400/2000). Red-Eyes, Thousand Dragon, attack!"
JOEY: 3500
CARNEGY: 1100
"I summon Barrin, Master Wizard (500/500). Next, I sacrifice my wizard token and Sunken Field to return your two dragons to your hand. Your move."
Joey was annoyed now. His two best creatures had been returned to his hand, one of which he could no longer summon, having lost his Baby Dragon.
"I summon Panther Warrior (2000/1600). This monster cannot attack unless I tribute a creature. Your move."
"I summon Rummaging Wizard (1000/1000). Next, I sacrifice my wizard token to return you Panther Warrior to your hand. Barrin, attack!"
JOEY: 3000
CARNEGY: 1100
"I summon Panther Warrior," said Joey Your move."
"I summon my second Nameless One (1500/1500). I sacrifice my wizard token to return your Panther Warrior to your hand. Now my Nameless one is a 1500/1500. Nameless One, attack!"
JOEY: 1500
CARNEGY: 1100
"I summon Panther Warrior and set one card. Your move."
"I summon Cephalid Pathmage (500/1000)," said Carnegy "Sacrificing it to make my Nameless One unblockable until end of turn. Nameless One, attack!
"Activate trap card, Mirror Force," said Joey with a grin on his face "The attack is cancelled and all your creatures are destroyed! Let's finish this! I play Monster Reborn to revive my Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Red-Eyes, attack!"
JOEY: 3000
CARNEGY: 0
To be continued…
Author's note: Well, it's been awhile since the last update, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank-you to everyone who sent in decklists, but unfortunately, I received way too many, so not everybody will get to be in the story. For those who missed the note, I'm cutting off decklist submissions. I'm sorry to do this, but if I have too many decklists, It will ber harder to choose who to include. I'll keep the decklists that I don't use so that in case I ever need more, I can use them. Thank-you for your enthusiasm! Don't forget to review!