Here is, of course, episode eight to my sequel. Please read and review, no flames if you can help it.
Episode 8: Victory Achieved - Return of a Friend
"Pharaoh, I'm not done yet, so observe as I summon Gravekeeper's Assailant (1500/1500) in attack mode!" Amune-ra declared as he placed his card on his Duel Disk.
Another Gravekeeper appeared where the chief once stood. It's long black tunic came down to its ankles and a dark red veil coveredthe lower half of its face while a black hood covered the rest above his eyes. A crooked dagger resting in the monster's grip gleamed in the setting sunlight of the Necrovalley. "My monster gains the usual power bonus, so now I'll use Gravekeeper's Assailant (2000/2000) to attack the Dark Magician Girl. And I'll use his special effect."
The monster charged at the female spellcaster, who suddenly shifted her position. The Assailant's blade tore through her and destroyed the blonde mage. "Before you decide to ask a stupid question, my Assailant's ability allows it to change the battle position of any monster on your side of the field before it attacks. Count yourself lucky that she was in defense mode and you lost no life points," Amune-ra declared.
"No, I didn't lose any life points, but instead, I've gained life points, for you've activated my Tome's second effect, which boosts my life points by one thousand when it leaves the field," Yami explained. Yami knew that with his Dark Magician Girl gone, he had few options left, but the one thousand life points he gained were a good start, despite his lack of protection.
(Yami: 6500) (Amune-ra: 6800)
Amune-ra crossed his arms and chuckled to himself. "Those life points matter not, for now, I'll attack you directly with Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier!" The soldier charged forward and thrust its spear into Yami's chest, knocking him to the ground. "Before I end my turn, I must pay nine hundred life points for my Eternal Spell trap card to keep it on the field, which I shall do now."
(Yami: 3500) (Amune-ra: 5900)
Yami got to his feet and drew. He had drawn a way to get around Amune-ra's ever-growing army of Gravekeepers, but silently prayed in his mind that it would work. "I'll place one monster in defense mode and a card face down, then, end my turn."
"It would seem that you are cowering, pharaoh," Amune-ra declared with a smirk. "Well, I'll make this quick. I'll sacrifice my Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier to summon another Chief in attack mode!" The monster disappeared and the robed leader of the Gravekeepers appeared in its place. "I'll use my Chief's effect to bring back the Spear Soldier I sacrificed in attack mode!" The spear wielding Gravekeeper reappeared on the field in a flash of light that contrasted against the artificial sunlight.
"I thought that you said Necrovalley negated any cards that revive other cards from the graveyard," Yami declared, surprise lacing every word.
"My Chief also has the ability to negate the effect of Necrovalley for my side of the field, so I can bring back whatever I please. And speaking of which, I'll activate another Rite of Spirit, and I'll use it to revive Gravekeeper's Curse (800/500) in defense mode!" The short Gravekeeper appeared again and received the same glow as the others. Amune-ra grinned as he gave the command. "And I'll activate the effect you seem so fond of. Gravekeeper's Curse, direct damage!"
The Curse struck Yami again with another blast of mystic energy, causing the spiky haired duelist to grasp at his chest from the shock.
(Yami: 4000) (Amune-ra: 6100)
"Now, my Spear Soldier, attack his defense monster!" Amune-ra bellowed before Yami could recover.
The monster rushed at the face down hologram and thrust its spear out at the monster. Yami held his hand out over a trap card, then, raised it high above his head. "Reveal Holy Barrier - Mirror Force! This card cancels out your attack and destroys all your attack position monsters!"
A large, reflective barrier appeared in front of the Spear Soldier, who slammed into the wall, causing it to shatter into pieces. The glowing holographic shards of glass flew at the other Gravekeepers. Amune-ra quickly hit the activation button on one of his traps.
"I'll activate my trap card, Curse of Anubis! It forces all effect monsters on the field into defense mode, canceling out your Mirror Force's effect of destroying my monsters." The shards of holographic glass passed through the Gravekeepers as they all switched to a kneeling position. "I've got a few tricks left as well. I'll pay another nine hundred and end my turn."
(Yami: 4000) (Amune-ra: 5000)
Yami drew with as much ferocity as he could muster. He knew that he had to get rid of Necrovalley somehow, and this was the turn to do it. He looked at the card he drew and grinned at Amune-ra. Not only could he get rid of Necrovalley, but he also had the perfect setup to claim victory.
"Alright. This is where the duel ends. Your Eternal Spell card has two flaws. The first is the payment, and the second is the effect itself. The effect only stops spell and trap cards from destroying other spell and trap cards, but it doesn't stop monsters. With that, allow me to introduce you to Breaker, the Magical Warrior (1600+300/1000)!"
Yami placed the card on the Duel Disk and a tall pale skinned knight in red armor with gold trim and a pointed helmet that covered the top half of his face rose from the darkness. His long red cloak fluttered slightly behind him as a jewel on his sword glowed. "My monster's special ability gives it a spell counter which raises its attack power by three hundred points."
Amune-ra looked at Yami's monster and laughed out loud. He knew that his vengeance was close at hand, but did not expect it to be this close. "Nineteen hundred attack points won't get you anywhere, pharaoh, especially not against my Gravekeeper army!"
"That's not why I summoned him. I summoned him in order to get rid of the counter, because that's what will bring you down. When Breaker loses his counter, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field. And since it's a monster's effect, your Eternal Spell can't do anything to stop me." Amune-ra's confidence dropped like a stone in a river as he frantically looked over Eternal Spell's effect and, then, at the cards in his hand. He had nothing to stop Yami. "Now, Breaker. Remove your counter and destroy the Necrovalley!"
Spheres on Breaker's body glowed brightly, and enveloped the warrior in a brilliant light, which spread throughout the entire area, and engulfed everything in a white light. Amune-ra shielded his eyes from the light. When he looked back up, the sands of the desert Necrovalley had been replaced with the cold darkness of the Shadow Realm. His Gravekeepers lost their glow and their power.
"Now, I'll activate Monster Reborn, and revive the Dark Magician Girl!" The female mage reappeared with her usual effervescence. "Next, I'll play Sage's Stone, which can only be activated when Dark Magician Girl is on the field." The female mage pointed to herself in a 'who, me?' fashion as Yami continued. "This card allows me to automatically summon the Dark Magician from my hand or Deck. So come forth, my Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"
The Dark Magician Girl's green eyes lit up with excitement as the Sage's Stone appeared on the field and out of it leapt a tall mage clad in purple armor and a wizard's cap similar to Dark Magician Girl's. Amune-ra's concern grew slightly as Yami continued to summon more powerful monsters. "And now, for my next trick. I'll sacrifice Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl to summon the Sorcerer of Dark Magic (3200/2800)!"
The two spellcasters vanished in a blaze of magical energy that seemed to split the shadows themselves. A tall, bronze-skinned mage materialized on the field. His staff crackled with sparks of energy and the long cloak that hung from his deep black armor fluttered in the force of his power. The resurrected spirit breathed a sigh of relief. "Even with all the power of your new monster, you still can't take me down. I've got four defense monsters on the field and you've only got two face up monsters to attack with," Amune-ra spoke confidently.
"That's where this next card comes in," Yami retorted with a smirk. "I play Spiritual Transfer Stone! This spell card allows me to switch the effects of two monsters on the field. And I'll switch your Spear Soldier with my Sorcerer of Dark Magic."
The two monsters glowed brightly, and an energy sphere leapt from both of their bodies and into the other one. "So what? You get to do a little bit of damage to me. I'll still win in the end," Amune-ra declared as he folded his arms in a smug manner. "Do you see now that my vengeance is the greater power?"
"I'm not done yet. This final card is what will ensure my victory," Yami said as he placed the final card in the Duel Disk. "I play Diffusion Wave Motion!"
The Sorcerer of Dark Magic's staff vibrated with energy as the spell card surged throughout him, giving him new power.
(Yami: 3000) (Amune-ra: 5000)
"This card allows one of my level seven or higher spellcasters to attack every monster on your side of the field, at the cost of one thousand life points. And since all your monsters are in defense mode, my Sorcerer will do damage to you for all the monsters. So go, Sorcerer of Dark Magic, destroy all of his monsters and wipe out the rest of his life points!" Yami yelled. Amune-ra screamed out as Yami's monster raised its staff and unleashed waves of dark energy that sliced through each of his Gravekeepers.
(Yami: 3000) (Amune-ra: 0)
"I don't understand it. How did I lose?" the dark spirit asked.
"Do the math. My monster gained your Spear Soldier's ability to do damage to your life points when there are defense monsters on the field. Since all your monsters were in defense mode, and they no longer had the boost from Necrovalley, my monster's superior attack points were enough to finish the job." Amune-ra looked down at the ground, just in time to see the shadows creeping up on him, preparing to swallow him whole. "Wait a minute! Answer me! Who are you and who is your master?" Yami yelled, trying to get the man to talk.
Amune-ra looked up at Yami and simply laughed as the shadows engulfed him, then, disappeared; leaving Yami gazing at the man, limp on the ground.
What was that all about? Yugi asked from inside the Puzzle.
'I don't know. But something tells me that whoever his master is, he is the one behind the missing Millennium Items.' Yami stuck his hands in his pockets and walked back towards the city, unaware that he and Yugi were not traveling alone.
The spirit looked around at his surroundings. Doors were all over the place at the ends of staircases that ran up, down, diagonally, and upside down. He had made it out of that wretched place and was finally ready to plot his revenge.
"Well, that wasn't easy, but I'm finally free. Now, I just need to find the pharaoh."
The spirit walked out into the halls of the Puzzle and looked around. He was definitely lost, but knew where he was going. "All I need to do is find his soul room. And then…then I can warn him about Seti Bakura. That freak is going to pay for trapping me in the Shadow Realm," Jason said.
He was lucky to have found his way to that place; otherwise he never would've seen Yugi duel that weird guy and make his way into the Puzzle. That kind of thing is easy when you're a disembodied spirit. He started to walk towards a door when a young man blocked his path. The man's long purple hair came down to his shoulders and his eyes were almost the same color as Yugi's deep shade of amethyst. He was dressed in an ancient Egyptian robe that came down to his knees.
"Excuse me, but you're in my way," Jason said calmly.
"And you're trespassing," the man said sternly.
Jason looked into the man's face and raised his fists, preparing to fight him. 'I don't know why, but I feel as if though I've met this guy somewhere before,' Jason thought as he clenched his fists tighter.
The man raised his hand and a long green staff flashed to life at his fingertips. His clothing glowed and changed into a long purple tunic under thick purple armor, and Jason immediately recognized him as the Dark Magician. He pointed the staff at Jason and fired a beam of energy, which the young duelist barely escaped.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Jason yelled as he got up and ran. "Doesn't this guy have anything on his mind other than Duel Monsters!"
The mage chased after Jason, who was running as fast as he could, while dodging energy shots from the Dark Magician's staff. He quickly found out that the laws of gravity were not an issue as he found himself running on one of those upside down flights of stairs. He turned a corner and ran into a young girl, who was dressed the same as Dark Magician was at first.
"Hey, I'm sorry, but I've really got to run. I'm being chased by a Duel Monster, as crazy as that sounds." The girl stood up and brushed a strand of blonde hair out of her face. She glared at Jason through narrowed green eyes before she, too, glowed like the Dark Magician. "No, no, no. There is just no freaking way," Jason exclaimed as he stood face to face with a clearly upset Dark Magician Girl.
She raised her staff and fired at Jason who managed to get away, save for a few hairs caught in the blast. He ran down the long hallway and towards a door…that he found locked. Jason turned around and saw the two mages, advancing on him with their staffs glowing with energy. He backed up against the door and breathed in ragged puffs; whether from fear or exhaustion remained a mystery as the blonde duelist stared down the two mages.
"This is just not how I wanted to die," Jason said as he shrank back against the door.
Suddenly, the door swung open and Jason fell in the room. He quickly got up and shut the door, just before the blasts fired. Jason leaned up against the wall and breathed a sigh of relief, letting his heartbeat return to normal.
"That was far too close for comfort. Now to find a safe way out of here."
Before he could think, an incredible force threw him up against a back wall and strangled him. Jason could feel his life force draining from his body as he struggled to breathe.
'Now how am I going to get out of this one?' Jason thought as his vision turned blurry.
He hung on the wall, thinking that this was it for him. He would die in the Puzzle.
And that's episode eight. The next one should be up soon, so be on the lookout for it.