Shuffle

written by Shaun Garin

Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters and Duel Monsters GX are owned by Kazuki Takahashi. JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.

Turn 02 : Revival

The phone rang and a small figure behind a desk picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Yugi-boy! How are things?"

Yugi allowed himself a small smile. "Pegasus. Quite well thank you."

"That's good to hear. I trust Industrial Illusions is running well under your leadership?"

"It could be better," Yugi admitted as he fiddled with the set of kinetic balls on the table. "Honestly Pegasus, couldn't you have said that you were retired instead of dead?"

A short laugh. "Yugi-boy, it's more intriguing if Pegasus J. Crawford died mysteriously. Where's your sense of dramatic vision?" There was a short laugh before Pegasus continued. "But onto business. Young Ryou and Malik dropped by today. They're faxing you information for a new set of cards. Quite frankly I'm surprised with the newest sets."

"They are quite a bit of work," said Yugi. "I never knew how tiresome your job was, between running the company and going out on travels to find new things."

"Yugi-boy why do you think that I gave up the job? It's flourishing under your care. I must applaud you. But as for the record, I will be making a short stop incognito."

Yugi blinked at the announcement. "Incognito? Whatever for?"

"Two reasons. One, everyone thinks I'm dead. Secondly, I need to strengthen the wards around Industrial Illusions. Too many magical break ins recently and quite frankly, I'm disappointed at your lack of strengthening it. Any fool with magic could waltz right in and steal the God Cards."

Yugi coughed. "That wasn't my fault, Pegasus. Malik dared Ryou to do it."

"And he DID do it despite the fact that he's not possessed by a soul stealing super thief," said Pegasus flippantly. "I'm only looking out for my successor. Call your grandfather. I'm sure he can strengthen the wards when I'm done as well."

Yugi sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "All right. When can I expect you?"

"In three hours," said Pegasus. "It's some time getting there and I'm relaxing the whole trip. Expect those two insanity mongers to arrive with me."

"I trust they're driving you insane?"

"Yugi-boy, I'm ALREADY insane. Later!"

Yugi shook his head as he placed the phone back onto it's cradle. "Pegasus, if you were going insane, NO ONE could tell the difference."

"How are the notes coming along?" asked Yugi as he walked along the head of the Research and Development group.

"Quite well sir," said Frasier, adjusting his glasses. "We have transcribed Mr. Ishtar's atrocious handwriting and came up with several cards. Displaying them now sir."

Yugi and the R and D head stopped before a large duel arena set up for singular projections. A smaller man with black hair turned on the machine and the first monster appeared on the field.

"Your standard nineteen hundred attack power monster," said Frasier, indicating the robes with golden trim across the front. "No effect but it has comparable stats."

"Defense?" asked Yugi.

"Four hundred actually. Apparently the model this monster is based off of are quite lacking in it," said Fraiser as he tapped a screen. "Ministry Auror is the name of the monster. We're planning on introducing it as a Super Rare. It also has a few specific magic cards that can be played with it."

Yugi nodded, clearly impressed. The monster before him carried a polished wooden stick in his hands that had a singular jewel imbedded within it. The monster itself was a black man with a determined expression on it's angular face. "Next?"

"Equipment cards based around the three card limit," said Fraiser. A magic card appeared on the field and equipped it to the Auror. His wand grew large and the end burst into crackling lightning. "Equipment Magic card, one of three in a set. Griffin Feather, Phoenix Feather and Threstral Feather. All three of them increase attack power by three hundred points."

"Just three hundred?" asked Yugi curiously. "Why not five hundred?"

The man grinned. "Watch this."

A Blood Volus appeared on the opposing field. Two more Ministry Aurors appeared on the other side of the field as their wands were equipped with magic cards. "If three Ministry Aurors are on the field at the same time with all three equipment cards..."

The Blood Volus was suddenly struck with a three pronged blast and exploded into pixels. A counter dropped nine hundred points from a total of four thousand. Yugi nodded. "So the combined attack strength is deducted from the Life Point Total."

"They also have Aurors Formation which protects an Auror monster when attacked. Trap card," said Fraiser.

"Good. Next?"

"Ah, some of the heavy hitters," chuckled Fraiser as his assistant activated more cards in the cycle. An elderly wizard with a long beard appeared on the field. He was dressed in a colorful robe and his eyes sparkled. "Bumblebee - Headmaster of the Light with an astonishing twenty eight fifty attack power. Effect monster which allows him to summon monsters with the name Phoenix in it. We have a few types of monsters for Phoenix summons."

Three monsters appeared on the field. The first one was a girl with multicolored hair. "Phoenix Metamorphmagus. Standing at fifteen hundred attack, she can take half the opponents attack power of the monster it is in battle with and add it to her own during the battle phase." Fraiser indicated the second one, a man with long black hair. "Phoenix Spy. A thousand attack, twenty one hundred defense power. When reverse summoned, it will bring a Phoenix monster to the hand."

"And the third?"

"Ah, yes, the fun one. Phoenix Werewolf. Seventeen hundred attack power with the effect of being able to switch an opponent's monster to defense position. And all of these monsters benefit from the effect of Wizarding School, a field magic card."

A huge castle erupted around the playing field and Yugi smiled. "This is very very good."

"We have more Phoenix cards mind you sir, but also we have the Dark Wizard expansion after this one. There is too much information for only one set."

Yugi nodded as he ran a hand over the realistic walls of the Wizarding School field card. "Impressive. When will the presses be ready for printing?"

"After some tweaks and a few adjustments here and there, we will be ready to ship within three weeks," said Fraiser.

"Good work. Take the rest of the day off, you and your team. You deserve it."

"Thank you sir!" exclaimed Fraiser as the rest of his team scuttled off to get some quality free time.

"Make it quick," said Vernon, pressing a crisp one hundred pound note into Harry's hand. He then quickly headed off towards the car to ignore Harry for the rest of the trip.

The door jangled as Harry pushed it open. An elderly gentlemen stood behind the counter. "Welcome," the man said. He was tall with graying black hair and moon-shaped glasses that reminded Harry of Dumbledore, although this man was dressed in a casual shirt and slacks and had no beard.

"Hello," greeted Harry in return. "Do you carry Magic and Wizards?"

The elderly man beamed. "I do actually. And we have the newest expansion out. Are you into magical things?"

Harry chuckled. "Yes, actually."

The man slid a box over to Harry and said, "Here is the newest expansion, taken directly from here in jolly old England. Wizards of the Isles."

Harry paid for the box and opened up the first pack. What he found made his face pale in shock.

"Quite the amazing set, isn't it?" asked the elderly man. "What is your rare card?"

Harry flipped through the cards until he found the one with gold lettering. He swallowed. "The Clay Maker - Phoenix of Light."

He found a picture of himself staring back at him, designed in a heroic outstretched pose. One hand held a bejeweled wand but the face was all his. How in the world did he end up on a muggle game?

The elderly man looked at the Clay Maker card and smiled. "He looks quite a lot like you. Right down to the scar."

"I got this scar in a car crash," said Harry absently, the lie rolling off his tongue. Flipping through the cards in the pack, he found several other prominent items from his Wizarding World. Phoenix Metamorphmagus was Tonks all over in what he supposed was a fair approximation of her real form. Equipment magic such as Firebolt and Nimbus 2000 were in the pack as well. "Sir, when did you get this set?"

"Just a little while ago," replied the man. "is something the matter?"

"No... nothing is the matter." Harry placed the contents of the pack back inside it's packaging and the man placed his box into the bag. "Thank you."

"Your very welcome. Feel free to visit me again."

Harry nodded and left the store.

Vernon had deemed not to speak of anything until he dropped Harry off at the Leaky Cauldron that day. As Harry pulled his things out of the car, Vernon leaned over and said, "You keep your business to yourself, you hear boy? Did you bring your Duel Disk?"

Harry blinked at the last part. "Yes, Uncle Vernon."

Vernon grunted. "Good. Petunia said to bring it. And I'm guessing she packed it into your case."

Harry had no time to comment on it before Vernon sped off. Looking at Hedwig who hooted back at him, Harry sighed and carried his things into the Leaky Cauldron.

The Cauldron was dank and dark as in it's wont. Tom, the old toothless man behind the counter smiled his grin. "Welcome Harry Potter," he greeted and many heads looked up. "Are you here to meet someone?"

"Yes actually," replied Harry. "I'll just set my things in the corner for now and take up a table."

"Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Butterbeer, thank you," said Harry as he sat down.

Pulling out the box of cards, Harry started opening packs until he had moved through all of the cards within the box. Setting the rare cards aside, he began to sort the deck.

Frowning at many of them, Harry wondered to himself where someone had gotten information for a muggle card game from the wizarding world. It would have taken someone of immense skill to get this much information out of the community without an official tracking them down and Obliviating them.

Sorting the cards around, he found that over ninety percent of the cards were direct translations of the original magic spells and items. Such as Pensieve, a continuous magic card. When a monster was destroyed with the name Phoenix in it, you may stack it onto this magic card. Then once per turn, you may summon a stacked monster to the field. If it requires sacrifice, fulfill the requirements.

Another intrigued him as it was a spell quite familiar. Patronus - Spirit Guardian. It was a instant magic card that repelled an attack once and cut the attack in half at the cost of a thousand life points. More magic cards followed such as Stupify and Winguardium Leviosa and the famous Avada Kedavra. Even the unforgivables were in the box and in ultra rare format.

Harry paused at the three Unforgivables in the deck. Avada Kedavra - Unforgivable. Destroy one monster on the field. Pay 1000 life points to negate a card that prevents the monster from this card. This card cannot affect The Clay Maker - Phoenix of Light. Harry chuckled under his breath. Even outside of the wizarding world, his legendary feat still was well known.

The second, Imperius - Unforgivable was similar to the magic card Change of Heart. Although it said you may take control of one opponents monster on the field, you could not sacrifice the monster under any circumstances. Crutacius - Unforgivable was a continuous magic card that lowered attack strength of a monster by half at the cost of 500 life points per turn.

Harry looked through the cards and then grinned to himself. If his mother and Aunt Petunia could make a deck, so could he.

Time passed and Harry gathered up his extra cards and placed them into the box. His new deck seemed to sparkle up at him, freshly minted and gleaming in the dim light. His tankard of Butterbeer had been diminished and none of the Order had come to pick him up just yet.

Shuffling the deck, a form dropped down in front of him with an exclamation of, "Hello Harry."

Harry looked up and smiled. "Hello Dean."

Dean looked at the deck and his face lit up. "You play Magic and Wizards? Excellent!"

"You do as well?" asked Harry. Most of the time, he heard things about Dean's art and his love for the West Ham Football team. But nothing of Magic and Wizards.

Dean nodded as he pulled out a deck from the inside of his jacket pocket. "Do you want a go? I also have a Duel Disk in my backpack, although I don't think you have one."

Harry grinned as he reached into his trunk and pulled out his Mark Two Disk. "I'm up for it. Out in front of the Leaky Cauldron?"

Dean looked at him and grinned widely as he reached into the backpack and pulled out a Mark Three Disk. "You're on!"

Most of the wizards looked up as the pair strapped on their disks and headed out the door. A few of them followed them out through watching the dirty glass pane windows.

"DUEL!"

"I'll take the first go!" exclaimed Dean, drawing his card. "I summon Death Kangaroo in attack position!"

A large kangaroo appeared on the field, boxing gloves at the ready. One of it's squinty eyes glared at Harry as it punched a couple of times. "Then I set one card face down. It's your turn, Harry."

"DRAW!" Harry drew with a flourish, attracting people who were crossing the way. "I set one card face down. And then I summon Phoenix Metamorphmagus in attack position!"

The woman appeared on the field, startling most of the wizards in range. The monster representation of Tonks grinned cheekily as she saluted with her wand. "Wotcher," she greeted, startling the pair.

Dean gaped. "What the heck? Where did you get that?"

"New set, Dean. Just arrived today," replied Harry with a wide grin. "And guess what, it's modeled after the wizarding world!"

Dean grinned widely. "All right! Show me what she can do!"

"Phoenix Metamorphmagus stands at fifteen hundred attack points. But then... ATTACK!"

Dean gaped before tapping his disk. "Activate face down card! Rush Recklessly! This card adds seven hundred attack points to Death Kangaroo, bringing it up to twenty two hundred!"

"Activate effect! Phoenix Metamorphmagus adds half your attack power to herself. It boosts her by eleven hundred attack points!"

Phoenix Metamorphmagus' hand formed into a punching glove as her points skyrocketed to twenty six hundred. Dean shielded himself as his monster exploded from the collision in the middle of the street. A shockwave blasted outwards and it exploded into pixels.

"Not bad," grinned Dean as he drew and his life points dropped to thirty six hundred. "But it takes more than a new expansion to beat me! I discard the monster The Marsh Guardian King from my hand to the graveyard in order to pull a Fusion magic card from my deck. Then, I play Monster Reborn to summon Death Kangaroo to the field!"

Death Kangaroo appeared and it punched the air a few times as Dean shuffled his deck. "Now I play Fusion! Fusing Death Kangaroo from the field and my Big Koala from my hand!"

A giant koala appeared on the field and the pair leapt together as Dean slapped a card from within his pocket onto the field. "Meet Master of OZ! Attack strength of fourty two hundred!"

The giant monster, a cross between the Big Koala and the Death Kangaroo, materialized on the field as it roared and landed with an earth shaking thud as it slammed it's boxing gloves together. Harry swallowed. "Bugger."

Dean pointed at Harry. "Attack his Phoenix Metamorphmagus!"

The Master of OZ stumped over and with a massive fist, drove the Phoenix Metamorphmagus into the ground. Harry panicked for a moment before jabbing the button on his card. "Activate instant magic card, Petrificus Totalus! This card shifts any monster into defense position and reduces all battle damage to zero!"

Phoenix Metamorphmagus had just enough time to shield herself before she was smashed into the ground. As the giant monster lumbered back to Dean's side of the field, it lay on the ground, eyes spinning madly but it was still alive.

"I almost had you there, Harry," said Dean as he set two cards face down. "It's your move."

By now, many of the wizards were crowding around the entrance, watching the pair in wonder. Suddenly, a form growled, "Make way!" and the wizards parted to allow Mad-Eye Moody out the door with Nymphadora Tonks behind him. "Potter!" he growled. "What in blazes are you doing?"

"Can't talk, dueling," shot back Harry.

Tonks looked at her monster self laying on the ground, looking dazed and confused. And then she looked at the towering form of Master of OZ and said, "What is going on here?"

Harry took a deep breath before drawing his card. "All right. I sacrifice Phoenix Metamorphmagus!"

The girl vanished into sparkles as he slapped down a card. "In order to summon Phoenix Guard in attack position with a strength of twenty six hundred!"

Wizards gasped and normal people applauded as a fair approximation, if not downright correct version of Mad Eye Moody appeared on the field, old and grizzled. His peg leg stumped as he let out a bellow.

Tonks giggled and Mad Eye snorted. "I'm better looking."

"Then I equip him with Magical Eye! It raises his attack strength by five hundred attack points, but at the same time, I get to choose a magic card in my graveyard and set it onto the field." Harry removed his Petrificus Totalus from the grave. "I'm placing it face down just as you know."

Dean yawned theatrically. "C'mon Harry, you can do better than that."

"That's right. Which is why Phoenix Guards' special ability kicks in. I summon Tabby Cat Professor from my deck!"

A little tabby cat appeared on the field and meowed. "Phoenix Guard allows me to special summon a Professor monster from my deck. Tabby Cat Professor then allows me to special summon three Student Tokens to the field in defense mode when it is normal summoned or special summoned!"

Three students appeared on the side of the field in representations of random students from various houses. The Draco Malfoy student snickered, the Luna twitched her hair and the Pavarti grinned cheekily.

Dean howled in laughter. "You DO realize I'm gonna have to stomp Malfoy just for the hell of it, right?"

Harry grinned. "That's right, I know you want it. Come and get me!"

"Fine then!" Dean drew and grinned. "All right! First I activate Ring of Destruction! It allows me to destroy one monster on the field! And I choose your Phoenix Guard!"

The mechanical ring appeared around Phoenix Guards neck and he looked at it quizzically before it detonated in a spectacular explosion.

Mad-Eye twitched. "That was underhanded and dirty. Especially doing it to ME of all people."

Tonks smirked. "At least you went out with a bang."

Mad-Eye gave her a Look as Harry's life points dropped from four thousand to a measly nine hundred while Dean's dropped to five hundred. Harry winced. "Nice shot."

"I'm just getting warmed up because I chained the activation of Ring of Destruction to Emergency Provisions!" Dean's life jumped from the previous 500 to 1500. "Now, Master of OZ, attack his Student Token!"

The Draco Malfoy look alike screamed as it was crushed into dust.

"Gods, that was satisfying," remarked Dean as he set another card. "Your move Harry."

Harry drew. "I play Pepper Up Potion! It increases my life points by five thousand! But as a result, next turn, I discard my hand."

His life shooting up to fifty nine hundred, Harry held up a card. "And now, the fun begins! I play the magic card Imperius - Unforgivable!"

Mad Eye startled and Tonks stared. The beam of light shot out from the card and the Master of OZ was dragged to Harry's side of the field. "Later Dean," said Harry. "Attack Master of OZ directly!"

"Activate Negate Attack!" yelled Dean as his card revealed itself. The monsters giant fist stopped short. "Nice one, Harry. But I get my monster back next turn."

Harry grimaced as he held up another card. "I sacrifice the two Student Tokens and Tabby Cat Professor on my side of the field to summon Steadfast Phoenix Guard in attack position."

Another Mad-Eye appeared but this one looked like it was decked out for war. It then knelt on the ground and removed a shield from it's back. "Steadfast Phoenix Guard has three thousand defense points but can add the defense strength of any monster I choose on the field to it's defense."

The monster glowed and its points rose from three thousand to sixty seven hundred. "I then set a card, and I will say go."

Dean shrugged. "Whatever. It ends now." He drew and grinned. "Later Harry. Activate magic card, Shield Crush! It destroys any monster in defense position!"

The Steadfast Phoenix Guard was blasted apart and Dean pointed. "Attack!"

"Activate trap card!" Shouted Harry and it revealed itself. "Brother Wands! This trap card can only be activated when a monster is destroyed on my side of the field due to a magic card effect. It then destroys one monster of my choosing and the full tally comes out of our life points."

Master of OZ exploded and both disks beeped. Dean looked up at his total. "A draw."

"Yeah, it's a draw," said Harry and people applauded.

Mad Eye was seething. "That.. boy... is in so much trouble."

"The newest expansion is a success," said Malik as he sipped on his coke. "There's just been a report from England where a new teenager made quite a splash against the regional champion."

Yugi smiled as he poured Pegasus a glass of red wine to help ease the drain of his spellcasting resources. "Any word on who this kid is?"

"Yep," said Ryou as he flicked on a screen. "Harry Potter, age sixteen. He just started dueling about a month ago and now has defeated Dean Thomas, the one time regional champion."

"They are quite familiar with each other," said Malik. "I'm sure they know each other from classes."

Yugi nodded as he turned to Pegasus. "Any thoughts?"

"He could do well in the Duelist Academy. Provided Kaiba-boy decides to open the academy to English students."

"Right. In the meantime, lets get to work on Serpents of the Isles."