Disclaimer: I own neither Magic: The Gathering nor Yu-Gi-Oh! However, I do own this fic!
OK, there's been a big argument about Yu-Gi-Oh! coming before Magic, so I'm gonna settle this once and for all.
Yu-Gi-Oh was created in 1996 as a manga in Shonen Jump. The anime started in 1998. Magic: The Gathering was created in 1993. Therefore, it is easy to see that Magic did come before the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, and thus, before the card game.
(Source: Wikipedia)
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"I'll go first," said the Rare Hunter "And summon Giant Soldier of Stone (1300/2000). Your turn."
"I summon Zombie Boa (1500/1500)," said Arrathir "Your turn."
"I set one monster face-down. Your move."
"I summon Aphetto Vulture (1500/1000). When this card is put into a graveyard from play, I can search my deck of a zombie card and put it on top of my deck. Your move."
"I summon Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200). Next I flip my facedown monster, Penguin Soldier (750/500). When this card is flipped, I can return two monster cards to their owner's hand."
Damn! Now I have to discard two cards. I'll discard Festering Goblin and Dross Prowler.
"Now I attack with all my monsters," said the Rare Hunter.
With nothing to defend him, Arrathir had to take the full force of the attack.
ARRATHIR: 6850
RARE HUNTER: 10,000
"Hum," said Yami Marik "This battle seems to be going very fast. I though he was capable of more. I'll have to wait and see."
"I summon Undead Warchief (1500/1000). This card raises my zombies' attack by 1000 and their defence by 500! Your move."
"I set one monster face-down and attack with Giant Soldier of Stone and Witch of the Black Forest!"
Crap. If I block, I loose my Warchief and he'll just keep picking off my creatures.
"I take the damage."
ARRATHIR: 4450
RARE HUNTER: 10,000
If I don't draw something big soon, I'm going to be in trouble.
"I sacrifice my Undead Warchief to summon my Zombie Brute (2500/2000). I reveal four zombie cards from my hand, making him a 4500/4000! Your move."
The Rare Hunter frowned at Arrathir's new defence, but he remained undaunted.
"I summon Sangan (1000/600) and I attack with Witch of the Black Forest."
What? There's got to be a catch. However, I can't really afford to loose more lifepoints now.
"I block with Zombie Brute," said Arrathir as his zombie reduced the witch to a bloody pulp.
"As per my creature's effect, when it goes into the graveyard, I move one monster with a defence of 1500 or less from my deck to my hand. Then, before the end of my turn, I flip my face-down card,
Skelengal (900/400), allowing me to draw one card from my deck. Your move."
Arrathir smiled at his next card, "I summon Zombie Boa (1500/1500) and I play Zombify, returning one card from my graveyard to play. I choose to revive my Undead Warchief. Now I attack with my Zombie Brute, who, thanks to my Warchief, is a 5500/4500!"
"I block with Giant Solider of Stone, Sangan, and Penguin Soldier. When Sangan goes to the graveyard, I move one monster with an attack of 1500 or less from my deck to my hand."
ARRATHIR: 4450
RARE HUNTER: 7600
Now this is more like it!
"My turn," said the Rare Hunter "I play one monster face-down and I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards, next I play Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards and discard two cards. Finally, I set one card. Your move."
"YEAH!" said Arrathir drawing his next card, "I summon Soulless One 4000/3000! Attack with Soulless One and Zombie Brute!"
"I activate my trap card!" said the Rare Hunter "Mirror Force! It destroys all your monsters!"
Shit. Oh well, I still have Betrayal of Flesh to save my ass.
"At the end of my turn, I play Betrayal of Flesh. This card return one card from any graveyard to play under my control. I return my Soulless One (3000/3000) to play. Your move."
"This is disappointing," said Yami Marik "I want to see this boy's true power."
"I summon Left Leg of the Forbidden One (200/300)."
Forbidden One? Shit! Is he summoning Exodia? Yugi told me about this card! If a player has all five pieces (Left/Right Leg, Left/Right Arm, and Head,) he can summon Exodia the Forbidden One, which almost guarantees him the win!
"Next," continued the Rare Hunter "I flip my face-down card, Big Eye (1200/1000), allowing me to look at the top five cards of my library and arranging them in any desired order before putting them back on top of my deck. Your move."
I've got to stop him from summoning Exodia!
Arrathir drew his next card, praying for a Terror or some other destruction card. Instead, he drew Noxious Ghoul.
That'll do!
"I summon Noxious Ghoul (1500/1500). When it comes into play, all non-zombie monsters get –500/-500 until end of turn! Say good-bye to Exodia!"
"Fool," said the Rare Hunter as Left Leg of the Forbidden One and Skelengal vanished from the field, "Did you really expect me to have only one copy of each Exodia part in my deck? I've got three of each!" (A/N The max. number of one kind of card in a deck for Yu-Gi-Oh! is three)
Well, as long as I keep destroying his Exodia parts, I'm OK.
"I attack with Soulless One, who's now a 3500/3500!"
"I block with Big Eye," said the Rare Hunter.
ARRATHIR: 4450
RARE HUNTER: 4600
"I summon Canon Soldier (1400/1300) and play Swords of Revealing Light! Your monsters don't attack for three turns, by which I'll have summoned Exodia!"
"My turn then," said Arrathir "I summon Balthor the Defiled (1000/1000). Next, I play Lethal Vapors. This continuous trap card destroys any monster summoned. Your turn."
That way he can't build up his defences.
"I end my turn," said the Rare Hunter, having done nothing.
"I summon Carrion Feeder (500/500)," said Arrathir. As the zombie appeared, it fell to the ground, choking as the poisonous fumes invaded its lungs.
"What was the point of that?"
"Duh!" said Arrathir "My Soulless One's attack and defence depends on the number of zombie in play and in graveyards. I just powered him up! Your move."
"Heh, heh," laughed the Rare Hunter "This victory will be sooner than I expected. I play Harpie's Feather Duster, destroying all your magic and trap cards. Now I can play one card face down, flipping it to reveal Magician of Faith (300/400). When this card is flipped, I return one magic card from my graveyard to my hand. I return and play Pot of Greed, drawing two cards. Your move."
"Only one turn until Swords of Revealing Light wear off. I'll be ready by then," said Arrathir "I summon Gravespawn Sovereign (1500/1500) and I set one card. Your move."
"Ha, ha! Too bad!" yelled the Rare Hunter "You won't have to worry about Swords of Revealing light after my turn! I play Dark Hole! All monsters are destroyed!"
A black vortex appeared in the centre of the field and all monsters were inexorably drawn into the black void.
"Now," said the Rare Hunter "I have the five pieces of Exodia in my hand! I summon Exodia!"
A giant brown creature appeared. From its manacled wrists and ankles hung broken chains. On its chest was an ankh, the Egyptian symbol of life. A terrible power radiated from the beast.
"EXODIA!" screamed the Rare Hunter "OBLITERATE!"
Exodia began charging up a powerful energy attack when it suddenly exploded in a million digital pixels.
"Activate face-down card, Terror!" said Arrathir calmly "Destroys any non-black, non-zombie card."
The Rare Hunter was speechless. The impossible had happened. The great Exodia had been destroyed.
"My turn," said Arrathir "I play my magic card, Necromancy. It allows me to return one card from my graveyard to play. I return Balthor the Defiled (1000/1000)."
"So?" said the Rare Hunter, recovering "I still have enough pieces left in my deck to summon Exodia again!"
"Well, just wait until you hear Balthor's effect. If I remove him from the game, all players can return five black or red cards from their graveyard to play. I return Soulless One, Undead Warchief, Zombie Brute, Zombie Boa, and Noxious Ghoul to play."
The Rare Hunter watched, horrified, as Arrathir's creatures rose from the ground to battle once more.
"Attack."
ARRATHIR: 4450
RARE HUNTER: 0
"Noooooooo!" screamed the Rare Hunter, falling to his knees "Master, forgive me!"
Who's he talking to?
Suddenly, the Rare Hunter went limp and hung lifelessly in mid-air. The Eye of Horus appeared on his forehead.
"Congratulations," he said, in a monotone voice, "You have defeated one of my followers."
"Who are you?"
"We've met," said the Rare Hunter "I am Yami Marik. This body is nothing more than a puppet." To illustrate this point, Yami Marik made the Rare Hunter dance grotesquely in mid-air. "I will defeat the pharaoh and take his God cards. Once I have all four God cards, I will rule the world! Maybe if you are lucky, I will take you on as one of my followers."
"Bite me!"
"We will meet again," said Yami Marik "I look forward to duelling you."
Yami Marik relinquished his hold on the Rare Hunter's body, which collapsed in a heap.
Arrathir crossed over to the Rare Hunter to claim his locator cards. As he thumbed through the Rare Hunter's cards, he noticed something rubbing off on his fingers.
Hey! These cards were marked! He cheated through this entire duel!
Arrathir's hand suddenly became full of black flames. Without hesitating, he flung the deck into the air, released the handful of raw mana at the deck, destroying the cards, and walked away.
Now I've got five cards! Three more until I'm in the finals!
To be continued….
Author's note: A short, but sweet chapter. With the Christmas holidays coming up, I'm going to be able to write a lot more than usual. I want to try and get to the finals by Christmas! Keep reviews coming, but make them constructive. I mean, "This is cool!" is flattering, but doesn't really help improve the story. Be brutally honest with me: What do you think could be better about this story?