Apparently I lost some fans of this story in the time I didn't update. I didn't get nearly as many reviews on Chapter 18 as on Chapter 17. Man, that stinks. Ah well. I'm continuing this story, so keep reading! Oh, I made some changes on Chapter 18, since there were several errors in the duel.
King of Games
Chapter 19
Yugi: 0
Yugi stared wide-eyed as his Life Points went to 0. "I've been beaten?" he asked himself. "No...I failed...I'm sorry, Ishizu..." His platform rose to the top of the cage and his monsters were sent to the graveyard.
"Yugi!" cried Sakura.
"No! We can't do this without you!" shouted TK.
"Yugi lost?" whispered Madison.
"No way," said Ken. "He's the best there is. If he couldn't..."
"TK and Sakura are finished," muttered Tai. "Damn you, Yugi! You just cost us the Digital World and Kari!"
"Calm down, Tai," assured Li. "TK and Sakura are still there! They'll pull through!"
"Yugi was only trying to help," Téa told him.
"Well he didn't help enough," muttered Matt.
"We can't put all the blame on Yugi," said Joey. "The game is still on. TK has some powerful monsters on the field! It'll give them an edge. Trust me."
"For your sake, Joey, I hope you're right," Izzy told him. "Tai and Matt will kill you if Kari and TK aren't home safely by the end of the day."'Yugi's out of the match, and it's all my fault!' TK thought angrily. 'Without Yugi to help us out, we're through! I've just lost out chances to beat the Game Card and get Kari back!' He slammed his fist against the dueling platform and began sobbing. 'Why am I such a failure! Why! I lost to Sakura in Kaiba Land and I took out one of my own teammates! I'm worthless! I'll never be able to get Kari back and I'll have failed the Digital World too!'
"TK?" Sakura whispered. "TK? Come on, TK! TK!"
"If you do not attack, we'll skip your turn," said Kari. TK just kept staring at the field with a blank look in his eyes.
"Very well then. We're skipping your turn," The Dark Magician told him.
Kari drew her next card. "I'll pay the 1300 Life Points for my two Archfiend monsters first," said Kari.
Kari: 1300
"I'll now use Infernalqueen Archfiend's Ability to increase her own attack points by 1000!"
Infernalqueen Archfiend - ATK: 1900/DEF: 1100
"Next, I'll set a monster in defense mode. I'll now use the Magic Card Red Medicine to increase my Life Points by 500!"
Kari: 1800
"Now, I won't die once I pay the Life Points next turn. I'll play two cards face down and attack Hoshiningen with Infernalqueen Archfiend!" The female demon flung her cape at the small star and sliced it in two pieces.
TK: 3100
"Your monsters are now weaker because Hoshiningen increased their ability! And my monsters are now at their full strength!"
Terrorking Archfiend -- ATK: 3500/DEF: 1100
Wingweaver -- ATK: 2750/DEF: 2400
Maha Vailo -- ATK: 2450/DEF: 1400
"That will end my turn," said Kari. It was Sakura's move. After drawing her card, she smiled.
"Well, it looks like the Program's luck has run out!" chuckled Sakura. "I sacrifice Lady Panther and Fire Princess to summon my own Dark Magician!"
Dark Magician -- ATK: 3000/DEF: 1700
"Go Dark Magician! Destroy Mystic Tomato!" The black Dark Magician just stared blankly as his Mystic Tomato and his Life Points were gone.
DM: 0
"Nice work, Sakura!" Yugi called from above. Just then, Kero and Patamon woke up in their cages.
"What's going on?" asked Patamon. He looked down. "A duel? Kari! What's Kari doing there!"
"She's under the Game Card's control," Kero answered. "The only way for them to get her back is to duel her and win."
"Sakura just defeated the evil Dark Magician," Yugi told them. "Now its TK and Sakura battling Kari, but seeing how she dueled before this, it will still be a challenge to take her down."
"I'll end my turn," sighed Sakura. "TK, your move."
TK looked up at his final opponent and drew his card. "I'll play Pot of Greed to draw two cards. I'll now place one card face-down and equip Wingweaver with Silver Bow and Arrow to end my turn."
Wingweaver -- ATK: 3050/DEF: 2700
'He still refuses to attack her,' thought Sakura. 'Damn it. She has another chance to recuperate.'
"I'll start by paying the 1300 Life Points for my Archfiends," said Kari after drawing.
Kari: 500
"I'll use this turn to increase my Terrorking Archfiend's attack points by another 1000, thanks to his Queen's ability."
Terrorking Archfiend -- ATK: 4500/DEF: 1100
"I would attack you, Sakura, but I want that to wait for another turn or two. Your move."
'Why would she spare me?' wondered Sakura as she drew her next card.
"I now sacrifice Aqua Spirit to summon my Chaos Command Magician!"
Chaos Command Magician -- ATK: 2400/DEF: 1900
"This is the Dark Magician's light counterpart! I'll now use my Dark Magician to destroy your Infernalqueen Archfiend and the rest of your Lifepoints!" The Dark Magician fired a ball of dark energy at Kari.
"Activate Draining Shield," said Kari. A barrier formed around her and absorbed the attack. "This shield not only negates the attack of your monster but also absorbs its power into my own life points!"
Kari: 3500
'Shit, that wasn't supposed to happen,' thought Sakura. 'I was supposed to end the duel here and now so TK wouldn't have to attack Kari! Looks like all I can do is destroy that Queen now.'
"Chaos Command Magician! Destroy that Queen with Chaos Ray Attack!" Chaos Command Magician readied his staff and fired at the demon, but not before Kari activated her second trap.
"Negate Attack! Your Battle Phase ends now!"
"I couldn't even beat her then," muttered Sakura. "I guess I'll just have to hope TK can end this. Your move, TK."
TK looked at Kari and sighed. 'I have to attack her. If I want to save her, then attacking is my only option.' He drew his card. "Wingweaver! Attack Infernalqueen Archfiend with your Silver Bow and Arrow! Arrow of Light attack!" Wingweaver pulled back on the bow and the arrow lit up, similar to Angewomon's Celestial Arrow attack. She fired it into the heart of the queen and the demon exploded. What TK saw after the dust cleared, however, made him lose all courage of attacking again. He saw a gash on Kari's arm, presumably from the arrow, and he looked into Kari's eyes, and saw that they were her own.
TK almost fell off his platform. 'No...' he thought. 'No! I hurt her! I hurt Kari!'
"TK..." Kari whispered, before her eyes became empty again. "Your attack hurt your friend, Child of Hope. I believe that you don't want to continue this turn?" TK stared at her and shook his head.
"Your move..."
Kari: 2350
Kari drew her next card with her wounded arm. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards," she told him. "I now play Mystical Space Typhoon to undo the Spellbinding Circle holding my Terrorking in place. Now, after setting a card face-down on the field, I attack Dark Magician with Terrorking Archfiend!" The Archfiend swung his sword and destroyed Sakura's Dark Magician.
Sakura: 4500
"That will end my turn," said Kari.
'That Archfiend is way too powerful for any of our monsters!' Sakura thought worriedly. She knew that the only way to win would be to get past Kari's Archfiend, but there was no way a monster that powerful could be beaten without strategy. Sakura drew her next card and sighed. It wasn't a helpful one.
"I'll switch Dark Magician and Chaos Command Magician to Defense mode," said Sakura. "I'll end my turn there."
TK drew his next card. "Shit," he muttered. "I'll switch Maha Vailo and Wingweaver into Defense Mode to end my turn."
"Judging by how you two are playing I'd say you've run out of useful cards," said Kari as she drew her next card. "But thanks to the Game Card, my deck is never out of strategy! First I pay the 800 Life Points for my Terrorking Archfiend."
Kari: 1550
"Next, I play Card of Sanctity, to draw until all of us have six cards in our hands." TK and Sakura drew their cards, hoping that they could get some strategy as to how to defeat Terrorking Archfiend. "I now play Dark Bishop Archfiend in Attack Mode!"
Darkbishop Archfiend -- ATK: 300/DEF: 1400
"Now, I equip Terrorking Archfiend with Axe of Despair, raising his attack to an unstoppable 5500!"
Terrorking Archfiend -- ATK: 5500/DEF: 1100
"Finally, to complete my strategy, I play the magic card Checkmate!"
"Checkmate?" gasped TK. "I've heard of that card!"
"It allows my Terrorking Archfiend to attack directly this turn, at a cost of one Archfiend. My Darkbishop is the piece that is sacrificed to lead the king to victory." Sakura could only stare at the hulking figure of Terrorking Archfiend as it made its way over to her side of the field. Kari smirked. "Checkmate, Sakura." The demon king swung his sword at Sakura, depleting the rest of her life points.
"Now, I use my face-down card, Sebek's Blessing, to increase my Life Points by the amount you were just dealt. Good-bye, Sakura."
Kari: 6050
Sakura: 0
"Sakura! No!" cried TK. He watched as his friend's monsters were sent to the Graveyard and her platform rose to trap her in the cages about the field. "No! Yugi, Sakura! Please! I can't do this without you!" TK fell to his knees. "No...I can't do this without you..." TK slowly got up and looked at Kari and the mark on her arm from his earlier attack. "I can't fight her..."
To be continued...