Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Bloodlines of the Magician

Chapter 5: Saint Sage of the Golden Cross

Yasashiku pointed at his Paladin. "I sacrifice this monster to summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck!" (3000/2500) The Paladin exploded into dust and was replaced by another of the giant dragons.

Vera turned white. "Another dragon?"

"That's right, another dragon!" Yasashiku pointed at her. "End turn. And I suggest you stop talking about my monsters like they are fake and trash. They are as real as you and me. End turn."

Vera gulped and drew. "I set a monster face-down. End turn."

Yasashiku drew. ("At the moment I now have my Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the field. However…I may need a new method of attack in case it fails.") "I activate Coins from Heaven. Now we must both draw until we are holding six cards in our hand."

Vera did so, and her eyes widened. ("Sword Saint Magician…but how can I summon it without any tributes on the field?") She had her three set magic/trap cards, but at the moment they were useless to her until she managed to get a higher level spellcaster to the field.

Yasashiku looked his hand over and then his blue eyes wandered up across Vera's field. ("She set those cards to power Mage Power…so therefore they are not threats to me. Most likely magic cards…but still…") He looked down at his hand once more. "Vera…you are impressive, but not a match for the power of my deck. These Blue-Eyes White Dragons saved my life…they protected me from losing my soul to the darkness."

"Protected you from losing your soul to the darkness?" Vera rolled her eyes. "How overly dramatic…"

"You know nothing of the strife my life has brought to my mother and the strife she has brought to me, so silence yourself!" Yasashiku snapped up a card. "First I play Wingbeat of Giant Dragon! This card will return Blue-Eyes White Dragon to my hand and destroy all of your set cards!" The giant dragon disappeared, but all of Vera's set cards exploded into dust.

Vera clenched her fist as her possible methods of fighting back were destroyed. And the cards in her hand were useless at the moment. "What does your mother have to do with this?"

"Everything…because thanks to her I was born with spirit of these dragons in me. They are my other halves…anger, strength, rage…all of these things…" His memories flashed before his eyes.

Yasashiku- 1000

Shadow Corporation Emissary- 700

The Emissary sneered at the panting boy coldly. "I suppose you just aren't cut out for a darkness game boy. If you simply give me what I have come for then I'll let you go."

Yasashiku cried out in pain and clutched at his chest. "What are you talking about? What is a darkness game?" At the moment he only had two cards in his hand and no cards on the field.

The Emissary rolled his eyes. On his field was a Kaiser Dragon (2300/2000) and that was it. But it was all he needed. "Your skill is horrible…boy, you will die here. End turn."

Yasashiku felt it. White hot rage burned in his chest…

The Emissary blinked in surprise as blue-white fire sprang up around the boy's body. "What's this?"

Yasashiku's eyes, which were a light blue, turned a much deeper shade of the color. "Draw!" Looking at the drawn card, he sneered coldly. "I'll swallow your soul whole, human. I activate Monster Reborn and Premature Burial from my hand! Revive my two lost monsters so I can sacrifice them!" Two shadows appeared on his field and then disappeared. "Awaken your mighty strength, my mighty beast! Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" (3000/2500) The dragon took shape and roared, energy building within its jaw. "Disappear forever, you weak puppet! Horrible Burst Stream!" As his creature unleashed its attack his eyes softened… ("What am I doing? I'm not normally this angry…")

The Emissary screamed as the darkness game backlashed in on him, tearing his soul apart.

-----------

"But now I will not let them control me! I will fight…I will conquer these monsters! Do you hear me?" He clenched his fist tightly and growled. "I will not be controlled! I will not!" Grabbing a card from his hand ferociously, he roared out, "By discarding one card from my hand I can activate Monster Reincarnation! This card will let me recover my Blue-Eyes White Dragon from the graveyard!" Now he had five cards in his hand, and two of them were Blue-Eyes White Dragons. "Finally, I'll silence you with Polymerization!"

"Polymerization?" Vera blinked. "What could you plan on…" Her words trailed off as she realized what he was going to create.

"That's right…the power of a true Blue-Eyes White monster!" Two Blue-Eyes White Dragons appeared on the field above him, and then another appeared above them. "Fuse these three dragons together…and summon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" (4500/3800) The three dragons were sucked into a vortex, which collapsed in on itself and disappeared.

"Where did it go?" Vera started to blink, but then screamed as an explosion of wind swept across the auditorium.

Because the dragon had appeared out of thin air, with an explosion signaling its summoning. It looked like the three dragons welded together, their heads side by side on the same immense body.

Yasashiku smiled coldly. "Vera Rast, this duel is over!"

Vera narrowed her eyes, the black eye-liner highlighting this action. "You're completely wrong. My monster is in defense mode, so even if you do attack then it won't win the duel for you!"

"That's where you are wrong. You see, I activate this magic card from my hand." Yasashiku's card started to glow. "Latent Trap Activation activates when I discard a trap to pay for an effect. That trap activates now! And to power Monster Reincarnation I discarded Dragon's Rage!" The card appeared in front of him in holographic card representation form. "This continuous trap card activates its effect whenever one of my dragon monsters battles with a defense mode on your field. All overflowing damage is dealt to your life points as battle damage. Therefore…you lose! Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, clear away her lift points with the power of your Ultimate Burst!" All three heads opened their jaws, energy building within them. "My…final…attack!" Three separate beams of blue-white energy turned into one that slammed into Vera's set card and blew it to pieces. "This duel is mine!"

Vera braced herself against the extraordinary backlash, nearly thrown to the back wall of the auditorium. "My monster's special ability…negates the damage when attacked if face-down!" (200/1900) "Shield Magician protects itself from the attack!" The blast was ended instantly, revealing a robed spellcaster with a light golden shield in front of it.

Yasashiku growled, and his dragon roared in frustration. "Very well, take your turn!"

Vera looked down at her deck. ("Do I possess the skill to defeat something as powerful as this? Even in my day dreams I never imagined facing something so mighty…but if I don't fight, then what's the point? I must try.") Her hand rested on the top of her deck. "Draw!" Snapping the card up in front of her, her lips rose slightly. "You're amazing Yasashiku…to be able to summon the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. The ultimate monster of light's wrath...however…"

"However?" Yasashiku frowned. "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's attack power is indisputable. Nothing has been printed, at least to my knowledge, that matches that kind of attack power."

Vera looked at the drawn card and smiled. "Until now." She snapped the card around. "Monster Reborn will revive Sword Saint Apprentice (2000/1700) and therefore its effect of attack increase is off-line for now!" The female spellcaster appeared on the field, snapping her wooden swords up defensively. "Also, I play the magic card Teacher's Bonds! This card activates when I have a spellcaster in play. I can special summon a spellcaster that is one level higher than the chosen spellcaster from my hand to the field! Go Sword Saint Magician!" (2500/2100) The light green-robed twin sword-wielding spellcaster appeared on the field alongside its apprentice. "Now these two monsters will be your downfall!"

"How will a pair of weakling magicians be a threat to my mighty dragon?"

"Simple…" Vera pointed at her two magicians and they disappeared. "I sacrifice Sword Saint Apprentice and Sword Saint Magician to summon Golden Cross Magician!" (3400/2000) A magician in golden robes with a golden cross strapped across its back appeared on the field. "This monster's special ability forces me to sacrifice two level five or higher magicians to summon it, but in return its great magical powers are mine to command. When this card is summoned I can take one magic card from my deck and add it to my hand!" A card appeared in her hand alongside her remaining three. "Also, Golden Cross Magician allows me to return one magic card from my graveyard to my hand for every level seven or higher spellcaster sacrificed to summon it!"

"A magician to recover magic cards?" Yasashiku snarled. "Damn you, what are you doing?"

"I'm preparing for my counterattack!" Vera caught a card that was spat from her graveyard slot. "And with this magic card I'll take you out right now! Now I play Return of Tribute! This magic card lets me discard one card from my hand to special summon one monster that was sacrificed for a tribute summon this turn!" Sword Saint Magician appeared on the field. "Now I'll play the magic card you were so intent on destroying with Wingbeat of Giant Dragon! Dance of Golden Arts! This card can only be activated when Sword Saint Magician is in play." Sword Saint Magician snapped up its two fencing swords. "This card allows me to draw one card for every magician with Sword in its title that is in play!" She drew once.

"What are you doing all of this for? If Dance of Golden Arts was that important, then you have a long way to go…"

"Shut up. I just needed a magic card to sacrifice for my next effect." Two cards were held up into the air, one disappearing in a flash of light. "Double Magic lets me activate one magic card from your graveyard!"

"What card could you possibly make use of?" Yasashiku looked down at his graveyard slot and blinked in surprise as Polymerization popped out. "That card?"

"That's right!" A holographic representation of the fusion card appeared on her field. "However, when Polymerization attempts to activate I negate it with my next card! The quickplay magic card Magical Fusion! This card allows me to combine these two powerful magicians, who have both mastered their respective arts, together!" Golden Cross Magician and Sword Saint Magician disappeared, and a golden glow fell over the field.

Yasashiku stared in amazement as a golden and green robed form lowered onto the field. In each hand it held a fencing rapier with a cross-hilt that actually looked like a cross. The hood of its robes went up and the top was pointed sharply, like a sword's edge. Vera smirked from behind her monster. "Come forth, Saint Sage of the Golden Cross!" (3500/3200) The magician opened its eyes slowly.

Yasashiku ground his teeth. "You're 1000 attack points short…"

Vera pointed at her graveyard. "When this monster is fusion summoned through the effect of Magical Fusion I can take back five magic cards from my graveyard! I must number them one through five and cannot use them until an appropriate number of turns have passed according to the number I have assigned that magic card!" Five cards appeared in her hand.

"That means for this turn you can't use those cards at all!"

"Oh, but I can!" Vera snapped up Magical Fusion and it shimmered out of existence. "By sacrificing one magic card from my hand I can increase the attack of Saint Sage of the Golden Cross by 2000! This effect can only be used once per turn!" (5500/3200)

"5500 attack points? This can't be!" Yasashiku looked up his mighty fusion dragon. And his eyes closed. "I'm sorry…"

"I'm not! Saint Sage of the Golden Cross attacks with the power of GoldenRosario Impale!" The spellcaster slid across the field and disappeared. Four versions of itself were seen for a moment, three slashing through one of the dragon's necks, and the fourth stabbing its swords right into the monster's chest. And then just like that the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon was blown apart.

Yasashiku- 1800

Vera- 1300

Vera smirked at the vacant expression on Yasashiku's face. "Where's all of your smart-aleck talk now big man? Saint Sage of the Golden Cross has you beaten. I'll set one card face-down. And just so you know what it is, it's one of the magic cards I recovered through the effect of my monster. End turn."

Yasashiku barely heard her. It felt like a piece of his soul had been cut right out. ("What's wrong with me? Why do I feel so…cold…") His arms started to tremble rapidly. "It's…my….t…t….turn…" The card slowly left his deck, but there was no strength behind his draw.

Vera rolled her eyes. "Stop dramatizing and let's see what you drew." Not that it mattered to her. The card she had recovered and set face-down was Magister's Retribution. If a level seven or higher spellcaster was on her field when she activated this quickplay magic card she could deal life point damage to her opponent equal to the total levels of the three strongest spellcaster monsters in her graveyard times one hundred. That would become 2100 points of damage. But she wondered if he had the card needed to pull this off.

Yasashiku looked at the card weakly, and a smile crossed his features. "This is the end…for you. I activate…"

"No you don't. Reveal Magister's Retribution!" Vera's set card flipped up. "This game ends now!" The card spat out a ball of magical energy that hurtled towards the boy.

Yasashiku stumbled. "You…just killed yourself. I drew Curse of Pain." Holding the card up weakly, it appeared on his field. "Effect….damage that….would be…dealt to me…is dealt to you…." The ball was stopped by the holographic card.

"No…way…" Vera stared at the stopped ball, realizing she was about to eat it. ("I shot myself in the foot…")

Yasashiku tried to point at her…but his vision swam and he started to fall. "Acti…" As he fell Curse of Pain disappeared and the ball picked up speed, slamming into his chest and throwing him against the back wall of the auditorium with a loud crack noise.

Yasashiku- 0

Vera- 1300

It was strange. Vera felt victory in her heart, but that victory was bitter because of the fact that her opponent was laying face-first on the floor of the auditorium, bleeding at the mouth. Time had slowed to a crawl…and she couldn't understand why she couldn't move. Yasashiku's long white hair slowly fell around him in a wreath, time nearly frozen at the moment. His face was eternally peaceful…like death…

And then time decided to go normal speed.

Everyone gasped in surprise, while Yukio nearly killed himself shoving through the stands to get to the fallen boy.

Vera stood there, eyes wide. "W…what's wrong…with him?"

Yukio slid to a stop in front of the fallen Yasashiku, grabbing his wrist and checking for a pulse. "Faint, but alive…barely…"

Vera took another step back. "What's wrong…with him?"

Yukio closed his eyes. "Yasashiku…was born with a condition. Not many doctors could explain what it was, but they knew its symptoms. He is very fragile...physically…"

She stumbled back, her eyes wide. "B…b…b…but why would he duel then?"

"Because when he duels and summons those dragons his physical health seems to improve." Yukio blinked in surprise. "It's…because of the dragons. Taking down that Ultimate Dragon…was like attacking his body with a sledgehammer." Even as he spoke everyone in the crowd started to move, understanding exactly what was going on.

Vera was on her knees, eyes staring at the ground. ("W….w….what? He'd duel…at the risk of his own life…and I'm the one who did this to him…") Suddenly memories flashed in her head. ("Father…no don't make me…no please father! FATHER!")

Yukio looked up just in time to watch Vera pass out. "Great…just great…"

To be continued…

Hey there, Yukio here. And so Vera confuses me even more. No one is blaming her for what happened to Yasashiku. Then again she's still out cold, so I guess she doesn't care that much. Hey, where'd Sarah go?

EEEK! Keep away from me your perverted jerk! Huh? Hey, who are you? And why are you trying to help me?

Next Episode: Jikeidan; The punk hero of Humotoru High School

To G.O.T. Nick: That is the complete literal translation of the Blue-Eyes White Dragons attack. So I use it because I'm weird.