Yu-Gi-Oh!
Key of Light

Well, here we have chapter four, coming out a lot later than I intended for it to. I started it, then ran into the little problem of having no idea how Raphael's deck worked, so I had to snag some episodes to watch... and then the worst thing happened. Computer trouble: namely, my graphics card died because it was never compatible with Windows XP, and the OS overclocked it until it finally burned out. Most of my card is dead; thanks to a patch, I'm able to use it's most minimal functions, enough to operate this computer, but not enough for some of the other things I do: like watching videos on anything outside of Windows Media Player Classic and making video games. Tomorrow (Friday, 29th) I'll be able to pick up a graphics card from work and replace it. I just hope that it will work.

Anyway, few things of note about this chapter: because Raphael uses a guardian deck, I figured he would use all of the guardians, and not just the ones you see him use in the series. Also, you'll notice some shades of the DOMA arc in this chapter. Please keep in mind that DOMA does not occur in the storyline I have set for this series. In fact, most of the past of the Yuugiou crew is more based on the manga version, with the exception of Noah of course.

Enough talk from me; as always, read, enjoy, and then review.


CHAPTER FOUR – ROUND THREE! GUARDIANS AND A DUEL IN HARRY'S DEFENSE

On the way to the main area, Harry caught sight of Jounouchi trudging his way from the park. He ran over to him immediately, worried about the way he was sulking. A few moments of talking proved why: he had lost his duel against his last opponent.

"Man, Harry…" Jou began. "Raphael… that guy powerful."

"Powerful?" Harry asked, blinking. "You mean he's skilled?"

"Yeah, whooped my ass," he replied. "There three duelists left counting you. That mean pretty good chance you'll duel him. Be careful."

Harry bit his lip as they started off to the main area together, worried still. First there was Amelda, who might or might not have been a Death Eater, but was definitely working for them. Who knew how many other Death Eaters had been in the tournament? Now there was a powerful obstacle in the way of him winning the tournament. He had wanted to come to this thing to win and get his mind off of Voldemort; now the first option was looking rather grim, and the second already got shot to hell.

They arrived back at the main arena of Kaiba Land, and Jounouchi went off to an area that had been reserved for the duelists that had lost so far. Jou flashed Harry two thumbs up as he settled beside Otogi, watching him as he walked up to the platform where the bulky Raphael and the buxom Mai were already waiting for him. Harry gulped softly, looking up at the two of them, feeling rather… dwarfed, in more ways than one.

"And now," the announcer suddenly exclaimed, making Harry jump, "we're in the last two rounds of the first Kaiba Land – London Tournament!"

The crowd burst into ecstatic applause, some even standing up in their seats as they cheered. Three people did not, however, and Harry could see his aunt and uncle sitting next to a still pouting Dudley. He scratched the side of his cheek in embarrassment, wondering briefly how much trouble he was going to be in when the tournament was over.

"Now, to decide the next battle of the tourna—"

"Don't bother," Mai suddenly said, bringing the announcer to a stuttering stop. She turned her back to him, waving a dismissive hand. "The men can go first. I'll duel against the winner."

She looked over her shoulder at Harry, tossing him a wink and a kiss that made the young wizard blush, before she went over to wait for her turn.

"Uh… um… well…" the announcer stammered, looking helplessly between the two of them. "Erm… is that okay with you?"

"Uh… sure," Harry replied, glancing at Mai, noticing that she had not even brought her duel disk to this leg of the tournament, as Raphael nodded.

The announcer shook his head, before raising his arm to get attention (as if he did not have it already). "Ladies and gentlemen! For the semifinals! Raphael versus Harry Potter!"

The crowd went insane with cheers and applause, though it was hard to imagine that some of those people were cheering for Harry. Granted, he was used to getting attention from other wizards, but from Muggles it was a little… awkward. Raphael remained rather stoic through it all, while Harry shifted uncomfortably on his feet. The announcer had them shuffle each other's decks while the crowd was settling down, and Harry gave the body-builder wannabe a brave smile.

"May… the best man win?" he said, sounding like he was not so sure about that.

Raphael looked down at him, his expression so serious that Harry almost stopped shuffling the cards. "You know what has come here," he said softly.

The young wizard blinked, before what he meant by that struck him. "The Death Eaters…" he said softly.

Raphael inclined his head ever so slightly. "You have no hope of destroying their darkness if you cannot best the darkness in your own heart. That is why I'm here."

Harry's eyes widened at that, but he did not get a chance to ask what he meant. Raphael offered Harry his deck back, taking his before walking to the other side of the area, where a booth was awaiting him. The young wizard hesitated a moment, indecision making his stomach turn, before he walked quickly toward his own dueling booth.

Stepping foot inside the small booth revealed a bit of a surprise. Seto had told him about the old duel rings that were now rarely used outside of big tournaments like this one. He never thought he would have the opportunity to duel in one, and was rather excited about it. Setting his deck down in the proper space on the field before him (which looked more like the mundane duel mats then an electronic reader), Harry just barely managed to hold on as his booth started to rise up into the air.

"Kaiba Land Tournament Semifinal!" the announcer exclaimed. "Game start!"

"DUEL!"

Raphael: 4000

Harry Potter: 4000

-.oOOo.-

In a dark service area of the Kaiba Land park, two figures were hovering near an open panel, unnoticed as most attention was drawn to the semifinals inside. One was sitting on the ground, a computer open on their lap, with wires connecting into the service panel. The other was hovering over him, tapping his foot in impatience.

"Hurry up, hurry up!" Varon hissed in annoyance. "If he gets a turn in, it's gonna look suspicious!"

"I'm typing as fast as I can," Amelda grumbled in annoyance. "Don't worry… I'll have it so his monsters won't be able to show up. No monsters; he automatically looses."

"Yeah, but can you type faster?" Varon growled, leaning back against the opposite wall. "I want to grab that runt and make off already."

"Oh, yes," Amelda replied, typing away. "I'm sure your ego has suffered enough damage after loosing to a mutt."

Varon growled under his breath at the memory; though he admitted, Jounouchi had been a worthy opponent, despite his oppressive streak of luck. It was not so terrible to loose to him.

He was about to snap at Amelda again, when someone tapped at his shoulder. Grumbling, he turned to see who it was… only to have a fist implant itself in his face. He landed on the ground hard, as Amelda half turned to see what happened… and good thing too, because he just missed having his face shaved off by a sword that came out of nowhere, spinning before he stabbed into his laptop. He let out a curse as the computer started to spark, pushing it away from him and getting to his feet.

"Well, well, well…" came a voice. "And just what are you rats doing here?"

The two of them sat up or turned, looking to where two people were standing at the entrance of the dark area, nothing more than silhouettes with the sun at their backs. They both had spiky hair, though one boy was taller than the other, with his hair resembling devil horns, and both had Duel Disks on their arms…

"I think they're trying to do something bad, onii-chan," the shorter one said, flexing the hand that had slugged Varon.

The taller boy sweatdropped. "Onii-san," he stressed, shaking his head. "I swear, Ryou; quit making me sound like I'm fucking gay."

"But, 'Kura!" Ryou exclaimed, sticking a teasing tongue out at his other half. "It's cute!"

Bakura, five thousand year old tomb robber and the king of thieves, glared daggers at his younger companion.

"Cute and me don't fit into the same sentence," he pointed out darkly.

Meanwhile, as the two of them bickered, Varon and Amelda exchanged embarrassed looks. They started to try and leave… only to have a dagger thrown by Bakura nearly embed itself in Amelda's crotch.

"Who said you could leave?"

Ryou sweatdropped, scratching the side of his face. "Kazama-chan, you need to chill out."

"I don't like it when someone fucks around with my friends," Bakura growled dangerously, eyes glinting… before he sweatdropped, turning toward Ryou. "And I'm gonna tell Susan you're starting to float in the pharaoh's waters."

Ryou stopped, turning bright red. "You wouldn't dare…"

"Try me."

Varon was starting to get frustrated at this point. He lunged for Ryou, temporarily forgetting he had been the one to slug him in the face. Ryou was more than happy to remind him, sidestepping his attack and raising his leg up so his knee met with Varon's gut, subsequently knocking the wind out of him. Varon doubled back, holding his stomach in pain as Amelda grimaced.

"What do you two want?" he demanded.

"You two out of this park," Ryou replied. "Preferably in handcuffs."

"Tch…" Amelda growled, holding up his Duel Disk as he brought a card out from his back pocket. "We're not going anywhere, brat."

The card back was facing Bakura and Ryou, so they could not see it. Varon could, however, and his eyes grew wide.

"Whoa! Amelda, waitta sec!" he exclaimed. "That's still experimental, we're not supposed to—"

"I know what we're supposed to do," Amelda snapped. "We're supposed to bring in that Potter brat. You know what he'll do if we fail."

"Yeah, but—"

"No more complaints!" Amelda snapped, letting the field magic card slot slip open so he could insert the card.

As soon as the small compartment slid closed, the Duel Disk began to spark, forcing Amelda to hold it away from his body. Dark smoke pored out from it a moment later… and Bakura winced, a sharp pain suddenly hitting him in the chest. Something about this… this was not a normal holographic reaction…

"'Kura, are you okay…?" Ryou asked, alarmed.

"It's… it's a game," Bakura said through teeth gritted in pain. "H-he's called on the Shadows."

-.oOOo.-

Harry bit his lip, staring at his opponent across the way. A twenty-two hundred point defense monster… such an intimidating monster was out already, and none of his starting cards could break through Support Defender's massive defense. He shook his head, forcing himself to focus as he drew a card at the start of his turn, grimacing down at the other cards in hand. Just how was he going to do this…?

"I place one monster face down," he announced, an indicator light blinking on the field below to show where the monster was. "And I set one card face down. End turn."

Raphael regarded his move carefully, and even though they were quite a distance away from each other, Harry could feel his skin crawl from his gaze. Just who was this man, anyway? Was he a muggle, and if he was, how did he know about Death Eaters?

How was he going to survive in a duel against him?

"My turn," he announced finally, drawing a card, inspecting it, before announcing, "I discard a card from hand to activate Wicked Flamberge."

A large, dark sword surrounded in shadows suddenly appeared above the field, before it thunked to the ground before the Support Defender. It must have been an equip magic card, because the Defender took it in its hand right away, increasing its attack by five hundred. Raphael was not done, however, as he held up another card.

"Through the Flamberge's effect, I can summon Guardian Baou to the field."

A swirling pool of darkness appeared on the field, before a dark-skinned warrior with wispy white hair rose from the ground. A moment later, the Support Defender handed off the sword to Baou, apparently through its effect. It also raised the monster's attack, bringing it from eight hundred to thirteen hundred and leaving Harry a bit confused. Strong defense, but weak fighters…?

Raphael ordered Baou to attack, and Harry privately cheered. The monster he had face down was Cyber Jar; he would not have to worry about either monster pretty soon…

Baou struck, and Cyber Jar appeared momentarily before being sent to the graveyard… and nothing.

"Wh-what…?" Harry began, perplexed.

"Guardian Baou prevents the effects of monsters from taking place when they are destroyed," Raphael provided. Harry gave him a dull look; nice of him to say so after the fact.

Raphael set two cards face down on the field before ending his turn. Harry drew, eyeing his hand with a bit of trepidation. Did all of his opponent's monsters have effects…? Most likely; and that meant he could get pummeled even if he did nothing. He had to finish this as quickly as he could…

"Thunder Nyan Nyan, in attack!" Harry announced, the cat girl appearing with a purr a moment later. On his command, she leapt forward, drumsticks sparking and making Raphael's life points the first to drop. What Raphael did next surprised him though; he activated one of the cards he had placed down, revealing a magic card called Self Sacrifice.

"At the cost of a thousand of my life points, I can revive Guardian Baou from the dead," he announced as the dark swordsman reappeared. Harry held back a grimace; what was he doing…?

Raphael: 2400

Harry Potter: 4000

The young wizard ended his turn, and Raphael drew, inspecting his hand for a moment before placing a monster on the field. Something called "Guardian Airtos" read on Harry's view of his opponent's field, but it did not appear on the field… right away. All of a sudden, it was like heavenly light shown from above, and an angel dressed in Native American garb descended gracefully to the field below. Harry could not help but stare in awe; how beautiful…

He was so enraptured with the card that had appeared, that he did not even notice Raphael was still going… that was, until she picked up a sword that raised her already high attack points by nine hundred.

"Sacred Sword of Goddess raises Airtos' power by the attack points of every monster in the grave," Raphael announced, making Harry gulp. Well… that explained the nine hundred point boost…

A moment later, Airtos was attacking Harry's only monster on the field, the brilliant sword she was holding slicing through Thunder Nyan Nyan with ease. His life points dropped, and Airtos' attack power rose to an intimidating fifty-three hundred points as soon as the cat girl was sent to the graveyard.

Raphael: 2400

Harry Potter: 2500

Harry gulped softly. Oh bloody hell…

-.oOOo.-

Bakura felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest and like the rest of his body was being rearranged into some demented Picasso painting. He had to have Ryou hold him up as the unnatural darkness swallowed all four of them; Varon was freaking out, looking like he was going to try busting through the darkness any minute, while Amelda… Amelda looked possessed, an evil glint in his eyes.

"Varon…" he said, his voice deeper than normal. "Come; it's time to play a game with these fools…"

Varon stared at him like he grew another head. "No fucking way!"

Amelda turned to snap at him, but Ryou spoke up quickly. "No, it's okay! Bakura's in no shape to duel anyway; I'll just fight you."

The tomb robber sweatdropped as Amelda sneered at the two of them, nodding in acceptance. Ryou turned to set his other half down, even though he was giving him a sour pout.

"I can still duel," he grumbled in annoyance, wincing as pain shot through him again.

"You can't even stand on your own!" Ryou protested, plopping him down on the ground.

"So I'll sit," Bakura replied tersely. "I don't want to see you get creamed with that… that… starter deck noob thing of yours."

Ryou had been experimenting with different decks as of late, but despite all his knowledge of the card game, he was settling on a deck that the majority of which was from a starter set. It irked Bakura to no end, mostly because Ryou could be given any set of cards and was able pull a strategy out of his ass for them in no time.

"Don't worry so much, 'Kura," Ryou said with a grin. "I beat you with this 'starter deck noob thing', remember?"

Bakura sweatdropped; that was another thing that annoyed him to no end. The damn deck was so simple, it was easy to under or overestimate what it could do. Thus, leading to Ryou kicking his ass with it time and again.

Ryou stood up straight, unfolding his duel disk before sliding his cards into the deck slot.

"Duel!"

Ryou Bakura: 4000

Amelda: 4000

"I'll take the first turn!" Ryou announced, drawing his card. A moment passed as he shuffled his hand cards about, pondering, before settling on two cards. "I summon Regenerating Mummy, in attack and set one card face down."

A face down card appeared, followed by the decaying and decrepit mummy, surrounded by a wispy mist, that he had called to the field. Bakura smirked slightly; bringing out a monster with eighteen hundred attack was a strong start.

"End turn!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth, did Ryou feel something clamp around his ankles. He moved to see what it was, when pain shot up through him, like his life was being drained away… and in a sense it was, as the sound of his life points dropping came a moment later.

Ryou Bakura: 3900

Amelda: 4000

Amelda let out an inhuman laugh. "For every turn you end, the darkness will take a bit of your life, depending on how many monsters you've used."

Ryou grimaced, looking at his life point counter. His strategy depended on sending monsters to the grave and summoning them to the field through card effects. If he lost a hundred points for every monster… he was going to have to re-think his strategy.

Quickly.