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Fanfic Chapter 97: Serapheem's Struggle Pt 1: The Wild Card Match
Episode Basis: A little bit based on The Dark Spirit Revealed: Yugi vs. Bakura Pt 1.
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! The gang arrived at the stadium where they found out who the other competitors were. In addition to them, there was Amara Penfield, a really rude American (like there's any other kind?). The other was Namu (who was really Marik), Odion, who was playing as Marik, and Bakura to everyone's shock. But the real shock came when it was discovered that the stadium wasn't the scene for the finals, but a huge air blimp. Once on board, they all made their selves at home until the announcement came that it was time for the finals. Now who will duel who?
"This blimp is a nice touch," Mai critiqued. "But I'm ready to stop schmoozing and start dueling."
"Yeah, well, good luck in the finals, Mai," Yami-Yugi said. "If we go up against each other, I hope it's an honorable match."
"So do I, just make sure you're paying attention this time." She gave him a wink. Yami-Yugi nodded in reply.
Nearby, Joey was piling his plate with food. "Man, Kaiba's going to regret making this an all-you-can-eat by the time I'm through." Joey then came across Odion who gave him the evil eye. Joey's expression darkened as he could recall his time under Marik's control and how horrible it felt. "I think I just lost my appetite," he said harshly and turned to leave, accidentally bumping Bakura in the process. "Oh, Bakura, sorry."
"It's all right, Joey," Bakura replied. "I guess I wasn't watching where I was going either."
"So how did you get six locator cards so fast?" Joey asked. "I mean last I saw you, you could barely stand."
"Oh, well I dueled Bonz and his gang at the cemetery. When I won, they gave up all the locator cards they had gathered."
Joey's jaw dropped, "No way! What kind of deck did you use?"
"Oh, I used an occult deck."
That's practically the same type of deck that Bonz used against me! Oh man, I really hope I don't get paired up with Bakura. Joey joined the non-Duelists at a table. "Hey Kaiba, when're we going to find out who gets to duel who?"
"That eager to lose?" Kaiba retorted but instead of accenting it with an insult, he touched his lapel radio. "Prepare the proceedings."
"Wait a second, Seto, two Duelists are still…"
"Sorry I'm late, everybody," Harold said running into the room. "I overslept and missed the announcement."
"Make that one Duelist is still missing," Mokuba amended.
"Then have the last Duelist brought here now!" Kaiba snapped his fingers and the lights dimmed and a high-tech bingo ball machine designed like a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon rose up on a dais.
"Great, all we're missing now is Yolanda Vega," Amara said sarcastically.
"Who?" Tristan asked.
"Never mind."
"Ladies and gentlemen," the man who Mokuba called Roland addressed. "The Duels will be chosen by lottery. Each of you was given a number based on the order of you signed in." That meant Kaiba was 1, Amara was 2, Joey was 3, Yugi was 4, Mai was 5, Harold was 6, Marik was 7, Bakura was 8, and Odion was 9.
"Um… excuse me," Amara called. "But does anybody besides me realize that there are only 9 Duelists here? It's an odd number!"
"There is a tenth Duelist here, sir," another Kaiba Corp. employee informed Kaiba. "But…"
"Fine, if the tenth Duelist isn't here, then he'll duel last. Just get on with it!"
"Yes, sir," Roland said. "The first match will be the Wild Card match. If a Duelist is unable to continue or is disqualified, the winner of the Wild Card match will take over his or her spot."
"Don't worry, Yugi," Harold whispered. "If you get the Wild Card slot, I'll give you my spot."
"Thanks, Harold," Yami-Yugi said.
"Of course you're going to have to win your duel first," Tristan pointed out making Harold wince.
The machine started. The ten balls bounced around inside before two balls were sucked into the Blue-Eyes' central mouth and one ball came out of a head on each side.
The numbers were 2 and 6.
"The participants of the Wild Card match will be Harold Kumara vs. Amara Penfield. The Duelists will proceed immediately to the Stratos Dueling Platform. Because this will be an official Battle City match, Battle City rules will apply with each Duelist anteing up their rarest card to the winner. Does everyone understand these rules?" The Battle City Duelists nodded. "Very well then, Amara and Harold please follow me."
"Everyone else follows me," Mokuba instructed. "I'll show you to the observing platform."
Roland brought Harold and Amara into an elevator and they began riding up.
"Listen, pretty boy, let's get one thing straight," Amara said raising her index finger to him. "Don't think you'll be going easy on me just because I'm a girl. I've eaten ego moochers like you for breakfast!"
"Well maybe you should switch your diet," Harold returned. "Because I'm not going easy on anybody." Yugi and Joey didn't go easy on me when I dueled them.
"Yeah, whatever," Amara said.
I never met this girl before, so I have no idea what kind of deck she uses. So I'll need to come up with my own strategy. And the only strategy I can think of right now is to come at her hard with my best monster: Serapheem.
They arrived on an elevated dueling platform. The others were down below watching.
"All right, listen up," Kaiba called attracting everyone's attention. "Kaiba Craft 3 is now cruising at an altitude of four thousand feet. The harsh winds and cold air will test your strength and stamina. If you can't take it, you don't belong here."
"Whoa, this is neat," Tristan observed and Duke agreed.
"Speak for your self," Joey grumbled. "You're not the ones dueling."
"Duelists, please shuffle your decks." Harold and Amara did so. "Now exchange your deck with your opponent's and shuffle it."
"Don't you dare try to take a peek at my deck," Amara warned.
"Have you ever thought about seeing a psychiatrist," Harold cracked as they returned each other's deck and stood on opposite sides of the field.
"Elevate the platform!" Roland commanded. The platform was raised ten feet from the surface of the air ship. "Now Duelists, activate your Duel Disks and let the duel begin!"
"Let's duel!" Harold and Amara shouted.
(H: 4000)
(A: 4000)
Marik kept casting his eyes in Yami-Yugi's direction. It would be so easy to just blast him to the Shadow Realm here, but then the Egyptian Gods would rain their wraith down on me. I'll have to be patient. "Odion."
"Yes, my Master."
"Remain hidden for now, I will summon you when the time is right."
"As you wish, My Master."
Harold smiled at seeing his hand. All right, I have everything I need to summon Serapheem right off the bat! "First I summon Neo the Magic Swordsman in attack mode! Next I'll activate Tribute Doll I offer one of my monsters on the field as a tribute to special summon Wingweaver!" Harold's favorite monster appeared. "Next I'll equip her with Horn of the Unicorn raising her attack points by 700!"
(WW: 2750-3450)
"For my next magic card I activate the ritual card Heavenly Light, sacrificing Wingweaver to summon… Serapheem!" A beam of light shined through the night as the angel appeared. "I end my turn."
"Now that's impressive," Serenity said.
Man, Serenity never complimented me when I dueled, Tristan complained. Then again, she's never seen me duel… come to think of it; I've never really dueled professionally in my life.
"A monster with over 3200 attack points," Amara grumbled. "Looks like I have some work to do. I summon Witch of the Black Forest in defense mode!"
Nice try, but I know what you're going to do with her. Well I'm not going to fall for your trap. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."
He didn't attack me, Amara thought. This lug is smarter than he looks. But it doesn't matter if he attacks me or not, because it's all part of my plan. "I'll also set a card face-down and summon Beautiful Headhuntress (1) in attack mode. I also switch my Witch to attack mode."
Harold drew a card, "I activate Serapheem's special ability: she can resurrect one light monster for a single turn. So now I call back Neo the Magic Swordsman. His warrior/spellcaster appeared. "Neo, attack her Headhuntress!" Neo's first strike knocked the scythe from the blue-haired woman's hand and the next strike finished her off.
(H: 4000)
(A: 3900)
"That ends my turn." Neo disappeared, returning to the Graveyard.
Amara drew a card and smiled. "I offer one of my monsters on the field as a tribute…"
Nuts, I should've attacked her when I had the chance, Harold realized.
"So I can summon Penumbral Soldier Lady (2) in attack mode!" A blonde woman wearing armor and carrying a sword appeared. "I also activate a field magic card called Mystic Plasma Zone which increases her attack power by 500 points!"
(PSL: 2100-2600)
"Penumbral Soldier Lady, attack Serapheem now!"
"Reveal face-down card: Waboku! This neutralizes all battle damage." Harold smiled, "I figured your monster must have some sort of secret power, so I'm not taking any chances, I activated my trap card which stops your monster cold!" And speaking of cold, Harold shivered as a gust of cold air flapped underneath his button-down shirt. "Now it's my turn," he announced as he drew a card. "Serapheem, attack her Soldier Lady with Ultra Luminosity!"
"Not so fast, I reveal my own face-down card, Shadow Spell which stops your monster from attacking and lowers its attack power by 700 points!"
(S: 3250-2550)
"Now, Soldier Lady, attack Serapheem!" The Soldier Lady raised her sword and charged the fairy. "You were right when you said that Prenumbral Soldier Lady had a special power. When she battles a light attribute monster, her attack points are raised by 1000!"
(PSL: 2600-3600)
The Soldier Lady sliced her sword across Serapheem's mid-section destroying her.
(H: 2950)
(A: 3900)
"Oh man, Harold walked right into that one," Mokuba said.
"Poor Harold," Serenity mourned. "His favorite monster was destroyed."
"I end my turn," Amara informed him.
She… she destroyed my best monster like it was nothing. Maybe I'm out of my league here.
"Harold, don't give up!" Yami-Yugi called. "It's not over yet. Remember, it's not always the strongest monster that wins."
Right, not always the strongest monster that wins. Harold drew a card. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."
"What's wrong, big boy, don't tell me you're scared of little ol' me," she said fluttering her eyelashes at him. Harold just looked grim. "I summon Dancing Elf (3) in attack mode! Soldier Lady, attack his face-down card! Harold's Magical Merchant was destroyed. "Now, Dancing Elf, attack his life points directly!" The woman kicked Harold right in the head.
(H: 2650)
(A: 3900)
"By destroying my Magical Merchant, you let me move a magic card from my deck to my hand," Harold said nervously.
"Harold, calm down," Yugi advised. "You'll never win a duel if you're confused."
Easy for you to say, Harold thought. You didn't have your favorite monster destroyed like it was nothing. He drew a card, "I summon Thunder Nyan Nyan in attack mode! Attack his elf!" It was a literal cat fight and the cat girl won.
(H: 2650)
(A: 2300)
"I set two cards face-down and end my turn," Harold finished.
"Are you really a Duelist or are you just some nut case who got lucky?" Amara asked.
"Huh?"
"You placed two cards face-down. Even a blind nitwit would know you're setting a trap."
"Just go," Harold said.
"Oh you're going to regret doing that," Amara said drawing a card. "I play the magic card Heavy Storm which destroys all magic and trap cards on the field." Harold's face-down cards, Rope of Life and Soul Resurrection, were destroyed. "I warned you, if you use up all your good cards, you won't have anything left to beat my best monsters."
"You mean that's not your best monster?"
"Not quite, it's only ONE of my best monsters. Prenumbral Soldier Lady, attack Thunder Nyan Nyan now!"
(PSL: 2100-3100)
The warrior swung her sword and did to Thunder Nyan Nyan what she previously did to Serapheem."
(H: 1450)
(A: 2300)
"Good grief, how did you get to become a Battle City finalist if I'm kicking you around like you're a lightweight?"
Harold was ready to charge the field and slug her off the blimp but he had to compose his self. He drew a card. "I play the magic card Sacred Treasure which let's me draw five cards!"
"Too bad you can't attack with any of the monsters you get."
Any attack I make would be pointless, so I can only defend for now. "I summon Mystical Elf in defense mode and play Cure Master raising my life points by 1000!"
(H: 2450)
(A: 2300)
Mystical Elf should protect my life points for a bit but I need to destroy her Soldier Lady. The problem is both Serapheem and Wingweaver are in the graveyard and they're the only ones who can stand up to her Soldier Lady.
"Nice try, but I'm not going to waste my time attacking a defense position monster." Amara drew a card. "I summon Invader of the Throne (4) in defense mode and place one card face-down that ends my turn."
"Couldn't Harold just resurrect Serapheem from the graveyard?" Serenity asked.
"He can't," Kaiba said harshly.
"Why not?"
"Ritual monsters can't be revived with Monster Reborn or any other card that returns monsters from the graveyard."
"Sounds like Harold's done for," Mokuba said.
"Don't count Harold out just yet," Yami-Yugi said. "Even though the odds are stacked against him, he'll continue fighting as long as there's even a slim chance for victory. If Harold trusts in his deck and in his self, he can get the cards he needs to win."
"Good luck," Kaiba said sarcastically. "If he was truly a master at using light monsters, he would have known about Penumbral Soldier Lady's special ability and have a counterstrategy ready. Heart without skill is just empty promises one keeps to one's self."
"I'm beginning to see what's up now," Amara was saying. "That ritual monster you summoned on your first turn was the best monster you got, and now that it's gone, you don't have anything left to use against me. Looks like you're about to be schooled and I'm the teacher."
I hate to admit it, but she's right, Serapheem was my best monster and she destroyed it like it was nothing. Perhaps it's all over for me… perhaps… this is the end.
To Be Continued
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Beautiful Headhuntress
Level: 4
Type: Warrior
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 1600
DEF: 800
(2)
Name: Penumbral Soldier Lady
Level: 6
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 2100
DEF: 1400
(3)
Name: Dancing Elf
Level: 1
Type: Fairy
Attribute: Wind
ATK: 300
DEF: 200
(4)
Name: Invader of the Throne
Level: 4
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 1350
DEF: 1700
