Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh.
My Notes: I think I let Bakura play Sekhmet too early. It's one thing to have a magical item help you win duels. It's another to have a 'supposedly' unbeatable card in your deck. I'm hoping I don't have to write another duel again for a long time, like a few weeks, because it's really hard to keep them interesting. I mean, there's only so many ways you can say: play this in attack mode, play this face down, reveal my trap card…etc. Did I mention I hate writing duels? Course it would be better if I were better at the card game. In other news, a friend let me borrow Xenogears so I might be MIA for some days. I was arguing with myself whether I could slide writing just so I could play it, but then it wouldn't be fair to you my readers. Anyways we'll probably be going back to Ancient Egypt, just so I can do more character development for Kisara. Despite all the hype and referencing I've given her, we don't know enough about her to really care what happens to her, and that is vital to this story. And hopefully this chapter is typo free.
Defying Odds
"I summon this, Building-Block Soldier in attack mode (1500/1650)," Joey called out. A composite red, green, and white bulky combatant appeared on the field; small blocks of itself falling onto the street. It highly resembled the construction a young child would make, the creature possessing limbs too short or long.
"Looks like Wheeler misses his childhood," Kaiba proclaimed to everyone.
Yami Bakura was not impressed. "That's the card you kept me waiting for? That thing will not stand against the might of Sekhmet. Attack now with Destined Blade Assault." The mighty giant gave a loud roar from her lion mouth, as she clutched her one remaining dagger in the grip of her two hands, and ran over and sliced the constructed warrior with a downward swipe. The white-haired duelist smiled, but it didn't last for long. "What?!"
Three smaller Building-Block Soldiers were upon the field, each 1/3 the size of the original. The grin on Joey's face was wide. "I guess you never played with blocks when you were a kid. Don't you know, you can always make more things, as long as you got enough pieces. That's the special effect of Building-Block Soldier; if it's attacked by a monster with over 2500 attack points it can divide itself into three smaller versions and I don't lose any life-points."
"Alright man! Nice move!" Tristan applauded.
Kaiba, of course, only grunted. "Don't congratulate him just yet. Those smaller soldiers each have an attack of 500 points and they're still in attack mode. Bakura's definitely got plenty of monsters stronger than that."
Right on cue, Yami Bakura summoned a second monster to the field. "Meet my Shambling Corpses! (1500/1500)" A small group of recent undead, as evident from their tattered clothing and still mostly intact bodies, appeared on the field. The troop seemed composed of a family, evident by the small child. This new monster clearly unnerved everyone present, save for the albino. "Attack my undead!"
"Not so fast!" Joey announced. "I activate this, Fairy Box!" One of his two face-down cards appeared, showing a crude whack-a-mole game found at most arcades.
"More of his childhood," Tristan said, agreeing with Kaiba.
"I'm not surprised," Yami Bakura stated, his Millennium Eye glinting in the street light.
Joey was even more than giddy. "Then you should know what it does. Whenever a monster attacks, Fairy Box make a random coin-toss to see whether my monsters are even there for you to attack." An old children's song hummed from the box, ending on a favorable note. "Alright! My monsters are safe, while your Shambling Corpses attack points go down to zero."
The group of living dead was immediately destroyed by one small Mini Building-Block Soldier. Yami Bakura's life-point counter rolled back to 2500. A small growl emerged from his throat. "Don't think you're little ploy will work on Sekhmet. She's of divine origin," he announced as he ended his turn.
"Way to go! Now Joey has taken the lead," Tristan exclaimed.
"There's only 400 points separating them," Seto said. "That's nothing to get excited over."
While Joey drew his next card, Ishizu was carefully attending to the paralyzed red-haired girl. Her investigations provided much of what had gone on. My Millennium Necklace would be able to break this shadow spell cast upon her, Ishizu thought, but then I risk using its powers when they haven't worked for me in so long. Do I dare chance it? The sight of the sleeping upright girl did give her pause. I'll have to. I cannot but help those in evil's grasp. She closed her eyes, and quietly hummed an Egyptian prayer. So unknown to her was the Millennium Necklace's golden light.
...my spirit protect you. Ishizu's mind was bombarded by a slight from the ancient past. The ancient High Priest stood there with a body in his arms. He stood before a stone tablet, displaying the one of the greatest duel monster, the Blue Eyes White Dragon. The same sight that had distressed her earlier in the evening still did. Seto Kaiba, despite his form, simply did not cry.
But the vision quickly changed. Ishizu found herself in the middle of the royal palace. And there, she found herself?
"He is becoming a rouge threat," Isis-Nefer informed the Pharaoh. "It is dangerous to trust him."
"That is my concern alone," the unnamed Pharaoh told her; he seated upon his royal throne flanked by loyal soldiers. "It is not so much that I don't trust him, but he has brought me information that cannot be obtained anywhere else."
"Still, I must object!" Isis-Nefer protested.
This apparently angered the Pharaoh. "You are out of line. What I do with the Millennium Items is no concern of a mere Prophetess."
The face on Isis-Nefer was priceless. "But…"
"Especially a false prophetess…"
Before Ishizu could soak in all the available information that was coming at her, her mind played one more scene from the ancient past, for her to accept and process without question.
The High Priest Sethos sat in the same throne that she had seen before. "So you see Isis-Nefer, I had little choice but to remove our petty ruler. It was in Egypt's best interests to have a competent ruler."
"But you, yourself, admit that this is only a temporary measure," Ishizu's ancient counterpart voiced. "Sooner of later, you're going to have to face him."
"Later is a better time than now." The High Priest straightened in the royal throne. "Besides, my plan entails me to reawaken first in the far future. I highly doubt that the Millennium Puzzle will ever leave Egypt's sands, and with that certainty I can afford certain indulgence." The High Priest Sethos gave Isis-Nefer that same smirk, filled with untold dangers. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a country to run."
The visions ended, and while a momentarily stunned Ishizu was reeling. She almost didn't have enough time to catch a falling Nadia, who was now free from Yami Bakura's shadow spell. The girl still lay unconscious in the older woman's arms, but it seemed little concern. My visions, Ishizu thought to herself.
I've got a big decision to make. If I switch my monsters to defense mode, Joey mused, then I'll be able to protect myself from Sekhmet. But if I leave them in attack mode, then they'll still be in a position to destroy Bakura's monsters, if they fail the Fairy Box test. The blonde duelist stood his ground well, despite the slight breeze of warmth that was coming from Sekhmet. I'll have to play it safe. Fairy Box isn't a reliable failsafe. Five hundred life-points were deducted from Joey's total, the price for Joey to keep that trap card on the field. "I switch all my monsters to defense mode." I'd play this magic card, except I don't have a place to play it. Joey's hand consisted of four cards.
"My move," Yami Bakura announced. "I set one monster on the field then let Sekhmet attack one of your puny defensive monsters." The goddess/demon struck with her dagger and destroyed one of the block constructed warriors. The fool doesn't know, the black-jacket duelist thought, that by placing the Millennium Ring around his neck, he is temporarily blocking my efforts to read his mind. Of course I won't tell him that little detail. Two cards remained in his hand as Yami Bakura ended his turn.
What am I going to do? Joey thought as he drew his next card. Nothing I have is capable of tackling an Egyptian Demon. "I play this card, Mystic Space Typhoon and remove my other face down card."A bolt of lightning struck the back of the card, and a small whirlpool emerged, sucking it down, freeing one slot on his magic/trap zone. "And now I play Swords of Revealing Light." Massive cross-like swords of white light littered Bakura's side of the field. The swords also reversed Bakura's one face-down monster.
A strange pale purple worm monster appeared, its mid-section composed of ribbed sections, with two weak arms that seemed to function as front legs. Its face was composed of two distinct features: one of a stretched features; the other a feminine face that extended itself out to the creature's hair. "Nuvia the Wicked (2000/800)," Yami Bakura announced. "It unfortunately loses 200 attack points for every monster on your side on the field. Thus it only has 1600. But I will soon remedy that."
"I'll end my turn," Joey said, feeling very discouraged. This duel will never end.
"Man, Joey's in a tough pickle," Tristan commented.
"Agreed," Kaiba said. "There's no monster in his deck that can rival the Egyptian Demon. No magic or trap cards affect it, or even if they do, their effects last for only one turn only. And with Fairy Box on the field, he will constantly be losing life-points every turn." He turned to look at the white-haired duelist. "I don't doubt that Bakura can easily end this. I think he's waiting for Joey to admit defeat."
"But Joey doesn't bow down to any kind of pressure," the pointed-hair one said.
"I know," Seto Kaiba admitted. "Which is why this duel is going to be dragged on to the bitter end."
"I draw," the possessed duelist announced. "I play this, Lightning Boltecks. By discarding one card from my hand, I can destroy all your face-up monsters on the field." By sliding one card into the graveyard, a series of bright light sparks shot across the field and turned the remaining Building-Block Soldiers to nothing more than melted plastic. "Now there is nothing more to protect you from the wrath of Sekhmet!" Yami Bakura laughed. "Are you prepared to meet a divinity, or will you be reasonable and concede the match?"
But I made a promise to Nadia! Joey's eyes turned back to the now safely resting young woman, who was being attended to by Ishizu. I can't break a promise. But it seems so hopeless. His mind briefly recalled the image of his sister jumping into the black helicopter. At least Serenity's not here to see this. He sighed, weary from the duel. "This has gone far enough," he said quietly.
Yami Bakura's eyes lit up. "Remove the Millennium Ring from around your neck and hand it over." All the monsters on the field disappeared from view.
"Wheeler," Kaiba said, his tone trying in his fashion to soothe the blonde duelist and also show that this defeat isn't a critical loss.
Joey didn't realize the subtle message. "It's alright Kaiba. Yugi will be around to do some major butt-kicking," he voiced as he held the ring before it was snatched away by a greedy hand.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Yami Bakura taunted. "I have a feeling that he is quite indisposed at the moment." That phrasing garnered a mean glance from Seto Kaiba, which the white-haired duelist shot back. "Interesting times are ahead, are they not? The careful planning of the ancient past will hopefully come to fruition." He shook the ring, and was pleased when all the pointers darted in the directions of all the Millennium items present. "With a bit of luck, the scales of balance will remain in a state of perfect equilibrium." He draped the Millennium Ring around his neck, which shimmered a golden light. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have great business ahead of me that I must take care of." And with that and a well placed laugh, Yami Bakura departed from everyone's sight, despite the glow of the moonlight.
"Well what do we do now?" Tristan asked as Joey joined them.
"We regroup and prepare," Kaiba announced as he took out his cell phone.
Meanwhile,
Serenity's small delicate hand gripped the base of the Millennium Scales tightly, as if she was afraid that letting go would bring about the end of the world. The balance seemed steady, despite the vigorous trembling Serenity was unconsciously doing. "I promise to honor my pledge," she said quietly. "The pledge of my life to serve you, now and forever." Tears began to form, which were highly unusual on the young girl's face. "Now let us see your justice be done."
Also meanwhile,
Under the careful and guarded watch of KaibaCorp's finest surveillance video cameras, the young guest, known as Teá Gardner, who was staying in one of guest rooms at the Kaiba compound tossed and turned in her induced sleep. Beads of perspiration formed on her forehead, her face a veil of frustration. The staff monitoring this troubling rest heard her say two important words: "Pharaoh Yugi."