Yami stood on the docks of the Domino pier. He ran home to grab his Duel Disk and his deck, then, came to the place where he was supposed to duel Amune-ra. 'I guess we're supposed to wait,' Yami thought as he looked around. Yami walked around the area for a few moments. Boats where anchored in the harbor and the smell of fish was all around. He turned towards the warehouse district and spotted Amune-ra, waiting on him in the shadows. Yami walked up to the man. "Alright, what is this all about?" the pharaoh demanded.
"5,000 years ago, you sentenced me to die in the most horrific and humiliating way conceived. I was merely a follower of the great Salazar Midus, but you couldn't handle that, could you pharaoh?" the dark man said with malice dripping from every word.
Yami gasped. The words the man spoke revived memories in Yami's mind. They brought back memories of his time as pharaoh. Yami looked into Amune-ra's eyes, but saw nothing that resembled any human emotion. "Who are you?" he asked.
Amune-ra stepped forward, into the light to face Yami. "I am a spirit, resurrected by my master, for the sole purpose of revenge against you. And now, I shall have that revenge. Prepare yourself for a fate worse than death!"
The man chanted an ancient incantation in and ancient Egyptian tongue and the shadows swept over him and Yami like a blanket. "A shadow game! I thought that only one with a Millennium Item could manipulate the shadows," Yami exclaimed as he looked around at the shadow dome.
"I was born of the very shadow magic that stems from the Millennium Items. Now, enough talk! It's time to duel!" Amune-ra said as he held up a Duel Disk-bearing arm.
(Yami: 8000) (Amune-ra: 8000)
"I'm just curious, since you are a 5,000 year-old spirit, how do you know of the game Duel Monsters?" Yami asked as he activated his Duel Disk.
"I know of the game in the very same way that you do," Amune-ra said as he drew five cards. "I simply inherited the memories of my host, ad they including this game. Now, since I issued the challenge, you decide who goes first."
"I'll be the one to go first," Yami said as he drew his six cards. "I'll set one card face down and a monster in defense mode. That ends my turn." The pharaoh decided to take it slow, since he was unsure of the strategy that the ancient spirit would employ.
Amune-ra snatched the top card from his deck and smirked as he looked at it. "You'll have to do much better than that, pharaoh. I'll place a monster in defense mode and two cards face down, and end my turn."
'He's hiding his strategy from me. I'll have to draw him out if I want to get anywhere in this duel.' Yami reached over and flipped his monster. "I'll flip my Retrained Celtic Guardian (1400/1200) into attack mode!" The face down hologram flipped up and a tall elf in an armored chest plate with a long cloak attached at the shoulders and a pointed green cap appeared on the field. His cloak fluttered slightly behind him as he stood in front of Yami. "Go, Retrained Celtic Guardian, attack his defense monster!"
The warrior unsheathed his long sword and charged forward, slashing at the face down hologram. The card flipped up and a tall woman, with the same dark complexion as Amune-ra, dressed in black robes, blocked the slash with a barrier of energy. "You attacked my Gravekeeper's Spy (1200/2000), which means you lose life points!"
(Yami: 7400) (Amune-ra: 8000)
"But that's not all, because when my Spy is flipped, I'm allowed to bring forth another monster from my deck with Gravekeeper's in its name with an attack of fifteen hundred or less. And I choose the Gravekeeper's Curse (800/500)!" Another monster appeared on the field, this time a shorter man dressed in similar robes and wielding a long hooked staff. "My Gravekeeper's Curse has a very special ability which allows it to do five hundred points of damage to my opponent when it is summoned. So go, Gravekeeper's Curse, activate your ability!"
The monster chanted an incantation and pointed his staff at Yami. A beam of energy launched at the duelist, striking him directly in the chest.
(Yami: 6900) (Amune-ra: 8000)
"So, pharaoh, tell me. Do you feel so high and mighty now?" Amune-ra taunted.
"That's enough. I will defeat you," Yami snapped as he recovered from the special ability of Amune-ra's monster.
"No, you won't," Amune-ra said as he drew. "Now I'll summon Gravekeeper's Cannonholder (1400/1200) in attack mode!" Another dark skinned, black robed monster materialized on the field. This one was kneeling and a large cannon sat atop its shoulder. "My new monster also has a special ability. I can sacrifice one of my Gravekeepers to do seven hundred points of damage to your life points. So go, Gravekeeper's Curse, become fodder for my Cannonholder so that he may unleash his power."
The shorter Curse glowed brightly with energy, until he became a glowing sphere. The sphere loaded itself into the Cannon and the Cannonholder fired the energy at Yami, knocking the duelist to the ground from the force.
(Yami: 6200) (Amune-ra: 8000)
Amune-ra smirked and folded his arms in front of his chest. "You're not off to a good start, pharaoh. I end my turn."
Yami recovered from the assault and drew. He looked at Amune-ra's side of the field. 'He left that weak monster in attack mode, which means that one of those face down cards is a trap to stop me from attacking it. I'd better play it safe.' "I'll switch Retrained Celtic Guardian to defense mode and end my turn." Yami watched as the elfin warrior kneeled down and crossed its sword over its chest.
"Fine. I'll sacrifice Gravekeeper's Spy to summon Gravekeeper's Chief (1900/1200) in attack mode," Amune-ra declared quickly after drawing. The Spy shattered and a tall dark skinned man appeared dressed in brilliant white and black robes, instead of just the black robes of his fellow monsters. He held a gold staff in his hand with a gold cobra at the end of it. "My chief, like all my other Gravekeeper's, has a very special ability. When he is summoned to the field, I can revive one Gravekeeper from my graveyard. And I choose Gravekeeper's Curse (800/500)!" The short, cloaked monster reappeared on the field. "And you know what that means. But in case you don't, Gravekeeper's Curse, remind him of your power!"
The Curse chanted and raised its staff again, firing a beam of energy that struck Yami directly and caused him to stumble back from the shock.
(Yami: 5700) (Amune-ra: 8000)
"Now, my Cannonholder, activate your…"
"Hold on!" Yami yelled, cutting Amune-ra off. He threw his hand out over a face down card and watched as it flipped up. "Reveal trap card, Shadow Balance!"
One of the card holograms flipped up and a large scale with a menacing face in the middle appeared on the field. Yami's Retrained Celtic Guardian appeared on one of the scale plates, and all of Amune-ra's monsters appeared on the other.
"What have you done?" the dark spirit bellowed as he looked at his monsters, stuck in the spiked scale plate.
"My Shadow Balance card makes the number of face up monsters on your side of the field equal to the number of face up monsters on my side of the field. And since I only have one, you can only have one. So choose."
"Fine. I choose my Gravekeeper's Chief." The Chief leaped down from the scale. The side of the scale with the Curse and Cannonholder became lower than the side with Retrained Celtic Guardian. The scale plate with Amune-ra's monsters folded in half, crushing the two into dust. "You'll pay for that. Go, Gravekeeper's Chief, attack the Retrained Celtic Guardian!" Amune-ra commanded. The monster pointed his staff at Yami's monster and fired a blast of energy. Yami smiled as the blast slammed into the elf and his monster remained unharmed. "What is going on? Are you trying to cheat me!" Amune-ra demanded in a fit of rage.
"I can assure you that this is not a cheat, but rather my monster's ability. Any monster with an attack of nineteen hundred or more can't destroy my Retrained Celtic Guardian. And since your Chief has nineteen hundred exactly, he won't be able to do it," Yami explained.
"That's fine. I have more than enough monsters in my deck that can handle that little problem. So I'll just place this card face down and end my turn."
Yami drew, then, smiled. "I'll activate Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two cards from my deck. Next, I'll sacrifice Retrained Celtic Guardian to summon my Gilfer Demon (2200/2500) in attack mode!" The elf disappeared in a blaze of flames and a large red and black demon rose out of the ground where it once stood, and spread its large, menacing wings. "Now, Gilfer Demon, attack the Gravekeeper's Chief with your mighty flame!"
The demon spat an intensely blazing fireball at the Chief, incinerating it with great ease and force.
(Yami: 5700) (Amune-ra: 7700)
"I'll end my turn," Atem said, reassured of victory. With his Gilfer Demon on the field, Yami knew that he had Amune-ra on the ropes.
Amune-ra snapped the top card off of his deck. The Gilfer Demon was powerful, but he was ready with some power of his own. "If you think that did something, you're sadly mistaken! For now I activate my face down card, Rite of Spirit! This card revives one monster with Gravekeeper's in its name from the card graveyard. And I choose the Gravekeeper's Chief!" Light chanting could be heard as Amune-ra's monster rose from a fissure in the ground. Yami looked on with interest. "Now I'll activate the spell card Terraforming! This card allows me to take one field spell card from my deck and add it to my hand."
Yami's interest turned to concern as Amune-ra went through his deck and added a card to his hand. His face twisted into a smile as he looked at the card, then, shoved it into the sliding field card tray at the side of his Duel Disk. "This is the card of your end. I play Necrovalley!"
Amune-ra placed the card in the hidden slot in the side of the Duel Disk and the entire scenery changed from the darkness of the Shadow Realm, to the burning sands of a desert valley. Pyramids in the background were turned into silhouettes by the ever-setting sun that seemed to hang in the sky. Amune-ra's Gravekeeper glowed with an eerie yellow color that seemed to match the color of the sky around the sun. "Now Gravekeeper's Chief, attack the Gilfer Demon!"
The monster raised its staff and fired another blast, shattering Gilfer, much to Yami's shock and confusion.
(Yami: 5500) (Amune-ra: 7700)
"Pharaoh, don't look so surprised. You should've known that Necrovalley carried with it a hidden power that only my Gravekeepers can access. As long as Necrovalley remains face up on the field, all my Gravekeepers gain five hundred attack and defense points. Plus, my card negates all cards that take any cards out of the graveyard, so whatever goes will stay gone."
"I will find a way to defeat you! I swear it!" Yami bellowed. He knew that the only way to defeat the dark spirit was to take out the Necrovalley, but he needed to find a card that could do the job.
Amune-ra chuckled with amusement at Yami's threat. "I doubt that. But let's see. My turn is over."
Yami drew and looked down at his Monster Reborn card, but realized that his draw was useless thanks to Necrovalley's effect. "I'll just place a monster in defense mode and end my turn."
Amune-ra's smirk grew wider as he drew. He had a surprise in store for Yami. "I thought so. I'll summon the Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier (1500/1500) in attack mode!" Another black robed monster appeared on the field. This one was carrying a long spear at his side, and glowed with the same yellow radiance as the Chief (2400/1700), boosting his attack points. "My Spear Soldier (2000/1500) can do life point damage to you, even if your monster is defense mode, so there's no defense for you. Now, Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier, attack his defense monster!"
The monster charged forward and thrust his spear at the face down hologram. A long-haired warrior appeared behind a massive shield and deflected the blow easily. "You attacked my Big Shield Guardna (100/2600), whose defense is much higher than your monster's attack. So you know what happens," Yami said.
(Yami: 5500) (Amune-ra: 7100)
"That doesn't matter because your pathetic defense can't save you from the power of my vengeance forever," Amune-ra said.
Yami chuckled, then, drew. "Vengeance means nothing without power or skill. Your deck's flaw is blaringly obvious so let me get it out of the way. I activate Mystical Space Typhoon! This card will destroy one spell or trap card on the field, and I choose Necrovalley!"
A powerful twister formed on Yami's side of the field, and picked up strength as it raged towards the center of the field.
"You're so very naïve, aren't you? Activate Eternal Spell! This continuous trap card negates the effects of spell and trap cards that destroy spell or trap cards on the field. So you've failed."
The raging twister died, much to Amune-ra's delight at the pharaoh's failure. "That doesn't matter to me, because I've still got a trick left up my sleeve. I sacrifice Big Shield Guardna to play Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700) in attack mode!"
The warrior disappeared and a young female mage dressed in a loose-fitting blue sleeveless top adorned with a mage's jewel bearing a yellow pentagram in the center, and a short pink skirt, appeared with a smile and a wink. She flipped her long blonde hair under her tall pointed wizard's cap and floated down next to Yami. Amune-ra laughed. "Ha, your pathetic little girlfriend can't compare to my Gravekeepers!"
"Next, I'll activate Magician's Tome! This card's ancient magic will raise my Dark Magician's Girl's attack power by seven hundred points," Yami continued, ignoring Amune-ra's comment. A large book appeared in front of the Dark Magician girl and she began reading it. As she read, her body became wrapped in a green glow. "Now, Dark Magician Girl (2700/1700), attack the Gravekeeper's chief with Dark Burning Attack!"
The mage raised her staff and blasted the Gravekeeper into dust with a wave of magical energy.
(Yami: 5500) (Amune-ra: 6800)
"I'll end my turn," Yami said with satisfaction. Once again, the pharaoh had gained the upper hand on his opponent, and he intended to keep it that way.
Amune-ra glared at the Dark Magician Girl, then, drew. "Pharaoh, this is not the end. I will have my revenge for disgracing my master and I. You will suffer, this I swear."
Amune-ra prepared to play his next card, unaware that a spirit of the shadows was watching him and Yami, and plotting its next move.