Hello everyone... Normally I would begin on a happy note, but today I'm rather in a depressive mood. If you haven't heard through reading my latest Mutalior chapter, allow me to repeat myself. I think you all should have every right to know.
I'm sad to report that fellow fic author, series contributor to this series and the D-Fusion series, loyal reviewer, big anime fan, and good friend, Youkai Youko, has died as of this past Friday on July 8th in a terrible accident. I found this out Sunday night the 10th and it struck me hard. She was a great friend, helped contribute ideas and allowed me to use such wonderful characters as Inumon, Himura, Yui, Athenamon, Basilikmon, Nemesis, etc. Now, she is gone but she is in a much better place.
If you will, send your condolences to her, her family and Belletiger. Belletiger, another contributor to this series, is Youko's cousin. From now on, she will help me continue on through this series and the upcoming sequel. Thanks again, Belle. I appreciate it and Youko would be very grateful if we continue this story. She would want every one of us to see this story end on a good note.
You always have a special place in my heart, Youko. Thank you for the memories.
Now to more pressing matters, we're back on the ball again and bringing you the second half of the Shadow Tournament! It's been nearly a year since the start, starting in September, but now I plan to work my way through the remainder of this story and aim to finish it by mid-September at the latest. That is my aim and I hope you all will wish me the best of luck!
Now, with that out of the way, I'm happy to see the positive feedback for my comedy chapter. Perhaps, I may decide to do another one. We'll see but that chapter was for all you, my loyal readers. ;) Also, I'm glad naked Mina didn't offend any of you, but I did jump my story from 'T' to 'M'. I'm thinking of changing it back to T since there will be no more nudity scenes.
All right! Here's what you guys have been waiting for! The first set of matches of the Shadow Tournament is set to commence! Can Himura find the strength to rise and duel against Yugi Muto, the King of Games? Dark Gabumon meets Wolfmon in the ring, while Guilmon is pitted against fellow digimon Felinismon! Let's get the show on the road! Enjoy!
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Day Two Begins! The Siege at the Ancient Sovereign Temple!
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Phoenix Arena/Infirmary Center/Himura's Room
With Himura still resting in his bed, the Tamers, the Duelists and the Warriors gathered around with mourned looks. They were certain that their fallen comrade would awaken from his coma. Normally, people don't even awaken for months or ever according to stories. Have they truly seen the last of Himura Tsubasa? Will he forever succumb to an eternal sleep?
Well, Kouji and Kouichi didn't think so. They were standing outside the room while smiling toward one another. Only they knew that Himura would indeed awaken since they were in the dream dimension with the boy. They heard Kotori mention it and no friend would ever lie to another to give him false hope.
"This just isn't right! Damn it!" Joey growled as he punched the wall. "Why won't he just awaken?"
"It's not easy when you're in a comatose state, Joey," Tea stated. "You nearly went into a coma after Marik forced a Shadow Game on you."
"Yeah, but eventually I awoke! Here I am standing alive and well!"
"But for others, it is difficult," Henry replied to Joey's berating. "Himura nearly lost all of his blood in that duel!"
"Even if he does awaken, it's still going to be hard to tell him about Anubimon's death," Yugi sighed. "Either way, it won't be easy for him or anyone one of us."
"C'mon, Himura, I know you'll awaken! Please!" Yui grasped her brother's left hand. "Himura!"
"Oh, Jeri, I'm so sorry," Jeri kneeled beside the young Tsubasa.
"You know. I can't believe he's still being forced to duel in this condition! Yugi, what do you make of this?" Takato asked the teen.
"Well, I have to go and present myself. If I don't after a certain time limit, I'll be disqualified for sure," Yugi stated. "In Himura's case, they'll simply disqualify him for not even showing up. I'm sure they'll know about his current condition. That's how the rules have always been. Whether you are absent or unfit to compete, you're automatically eliminated in the case of a tournament."
"This sucks! This really does! Himura knew he would be dueling a gruesome match with Nemesis, but to have him in this condition. I feel bad for him," Rika sighed. "I mean Himura was going to duel you, Yugi! This would have been a dream come true! To have it taken away... It's so unfair."
"His condition is more important to me than a duel," Yugi answered the redhead. "In his comatose state... Well, I don't know. It's hard for me to say."
"You might want to get ready and present yourself, Yugi. Your duel is set to start any minute now," Takuya spoke up. "If you just present yourself, you'll advance to the next round."
"It's a shame. You and Himura dueling against each other would have been a great duel," Ryo nodded.
"I know, but things just happen. However, I really hope this didn't happen for a reason. There's still Lance to worry about. I know all of you, including Kaiba, will make sure that guy doesn't end up winning the tournament. If he manages to beat me, my puzzle will be his."
"Don't worry. You have us to make sure you make it through that tournament," Takato reminded him. "Besides, if I end up dueling Lance, I'll make sure to knock him off! I've gotten much better with the training last night."
"Same here, don't worry yourself, Yug," Joey gave the pint-sized teen a thumb up.
"Well! I don't know about you, guys, but I get to showcase my skills in that tournament!" Felinismon said while stretching out. "So, dino boy, you ready for a lady to kick your scaly butt?"
"Ha! I'd like to see you try, kitty!" Guilmon snickered. "I'm not going to lose in this tournament!"
Kouji walks over towards Dark Gabumon, who was kneeling by Yui's crying side. He bends over and pat the rookie on the shoulder. This caused Dark Gabumon to spin around and step into a battle stance. As soon as he realized it was Kouji, he let out a sigh and smiled.
"I'm so sorry there, Kouji. That's your name, right?"
"That would be me," Kouji smiled. "Listen, you and I are going to be fighting in a different ring while Guilmon fights Felinismon. Let's make sure to have a good, competitive match."
"Yes and I wish the best of luck to you, too, Kouji! May the best Garurumon win!" Dark Gabumon chuckled while shaking Kouji's hand.
"Himura is a good kid. You tell Yui that he'll be coming back soon," Kouji whispered into Dark Gabumon's ear.
"Oh...? Really?"
"Yeah, I really mean it. Now, we better get going," Kouji sat up from the floor.
"I wonder if that boy really is serious. Will Himura truly awaken? Oh, this is certainly going to make Yui happy, but how should I tell it to them?" Dark Gabumon thought.
Inumon kneeled beside Himura and his ears were quick to pick up on what Kouji said. However, he wanted to keep this to himself and let Himura's awakening be a surprise to everyone. If he or Dark Gabumon told any of their friends in the room, they probably wouldn't have believed them. He looked down at Himura as his eyes softened.
"C'mon, buddy... Wake up for me. For Yui... For all of us," Inumon whispered down to his partner.
"Inumon," Renamon said as she kneeled beside the canine. "Remember our talk last night...?"
"How could I forget...?"
"It'll be okay. Trust me," Renamon smiled as she put a hand over Inumon's. "It'll be all right."
"Well, I'm sorry to ruin everyone's mood, but the matches are about to begin. Yugi, Kouji, Dark Gabumon, Felinismon, Guilmon, Don't you have matches to compete in now?" Mai reminded them.
"We sure do. Seeing how Himura won't awaken, it looks like I still have to present myself to prevent a double disqualification," Yugi stated as he turned towards the door but not long before facing his friends again. "Everyone, you let me know how Himura recovers. I'm off!"
"We'll be watching, Yug!" Joey called out to his friend.
"Same here!" Takato exclaimed. "Guilmon! You make sure and give it your all, buddy!"
"I'll make sure not to go hard on Felinismon, Jeri! Thanks, Takato!" Guilmon waved out to his partner and friends.
"Felinismon! You give Guilmon a good fight! I'll be rooting for you!" Jeri called out to her feline partner.
"Ha! I know you're with me, Jeri! This match is going to be fun if you ask me!" Felinismon laughed as she stepped out through the door. "Let's go, dino boy! Ready for me to lay the smack down on your red scaly butt?"
"We'll see!" Guilmon retorted.
"Kouji, can we get going now?" Dark Gabumon asked as he stepped out through the door.
"Right behind you!" Kouji called out. "Though, I'm going for the costume change before I present myself out there."
"Good luck, Dark Gabumon! I'll be watching you from the monitors!" Yui waved to her digimon partner.
"Give them hell, Kouji!" Takuya clasped Kouji's right hand. "I know you want Piedmon, but for now you're stuck with Dark Gabumon."
"It's all right. Besides, I already told him that this match would be a fair one."
"Win one for the team, Kouji," Izumi smiled.
"Especially after our losses," JP sighed. "Oh well. At least you, Takuya and Izumi are still in this tournament!"
"Show those crowds that you're truly the Warrior of Light!" Kouichi tightened his fist and showed support for his brother.
"Good luck, Kouji," said Jaarin. "You and Dark Gabumon give us one heck of a good show!"
Waving out to his brother and friends, Kouji walked out of the room and down the hallway with Dark Gabumon by his side. Following behind them were Yugi, Guilmon and Felinismon.
"I just hope they don't tear down the arena," Kazu joked. "Anyway, we'll keep an eye on Himura and the TV those nice nurses brought in for us to see the matches."
"This should be an interesting start. I'm banking on Guilmon and Kouji to win their matches," Kenta said.
"I'm going with Felinismon and Dark Gabumon!" Tristan sat on a chair to watch live coverage of the event.
"Of course, I'm going with Guilmon, but don't know about the other match. I might go with Dark Gabumon," Takato shrugged before coming into contact with Jeri. "Oh, hey, Jeri..."
"Don't underestimate, Felinismon, Takato," Jeri pointed and waved her finger to Takato like a mother. "Just because she isn't uber-strong like Guilmon, that doesn't make her a weakling. Last night, she told me that she perfected her new mega form and it's going to blow your mind."
"A new mega form? Really? Wow, I didn't know that!" Takato stated.
"I'm interested to see what she becomes," Rika smiled. "It should be an awesome form. Though, Renamon has perfected on her new alternate mega form. Right, Renamon?"
"Yes, and something Inumon helped me to gain. Thanks, Inumon," Renamon nodded to the mongrel.
"Heh. At least this mongrel is good for something, right?" Inumon smiled sheepishly.
"Everyone, would you keep it down?" Guardromon asked the others. "They're preparing to start now. It looks like ceremonies are finished."
"Yeah, he's right! From now on, let's just pay attention to the matches," Duke nodded. "We'll also make sure to keep an eye on Himura."
"At least we know nothing bad is going to happen in these matches. It's only our friends competing against one another," Takuya replied. "These matches should be fun."
"Man, if only Himura were here with us to compete in this duel. Him and Yugi would had a great duel," Joey scoffed. "Damn Nemesis..."
Upon hearing her brother's name, Yui inched closer towards him and clenched his left hand tighter. Several tears fell from her eyes while her prayers were with her comatose brother.
"Hello again, my loyal viewers! This is your favorite hostess, Lillymon, announcing from her usual announce position to give you the live coverage of today's event!" Lillymon's voice blared from out of the arena speakers and the television. "We've got two exciting battle matches along with a duel to cater to your craving for tournament desires! Let us take a look at the great line-up of the first matches! We have Himura Tsubasa dueling against Yugi Muto! Due to recent reports, there's a possibility Himura will not compete, but we will give him at least a little more time to make an appearance. If he doesn't, then he is automatically eliminated from the tournament. For our battle matches, we have Guilmon against Felinismon and Dark Gabumon competing with Wolfmon! This should be fun! Now, without further ado, let's bring out our battle match competitors first!"
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Phoenix Arena/Battle & Duel Platform Areas
Back out in the arena, the jam-packed crowds were already lining up and gathering for the matches set to begin. All pre-tournament festivities had ended just a short time ago, but the crowds wanted action. That's exactly what they were going to receive with three awesome matches in one setting.
"We're getting set to introduce our competitors! Boy, isn't this going to be exciting? We'll be seeing allies pit against one another and I'll bet Pharaohmon is watching this with a grin on his face. Oh, here come our first two combatants!"
As soon as she said that, the red dragon digimon and the feline stepped out of the entrance side by side. They weren't looking toward one another and solely focused on the ring across from them.
"First! These two are digimon partners of two very gifted Tamers. I'm sure you all know the one named Takato Matsuda. He created this particular digimon and I must say he is sure a cutie! The feline is Felinismon, a former minion for Pharaohmon, but she turned to the Tamers side. Her human partner is Jeri Katou, who put up quite the duel performance against Seto Kaiba yesterday! Give it up for these two!"
The crowds erupted in a massive ovation for the two digimon, mainly for Guilmon. The crowds were growing to love the red reptile ever since his performance yesterday. There was no word on Machinedramon but he was lucky not to have been trashed into scrap metal by Gallantmon. Felinismon had her share of support from the crowd and she was confident that she would defeat Guilmon.
With the first two stepping inside Arena A, the next two were set to come out. Dark Gabumon and Wolfmon walked through the entranceway. They, too, received a loud ovation. Wolfmon especially was given a large crowd support since the legendary warriors are said to be well respected across the Digital Worlds. Dark Gabumon was certainly an underdog going into this match, but he will certainly change many digimon's opinions when he digivolves into Shadow Metalgarurumon.
"And these two have one thing in common. Both are descended from the actual Garurumon line. Kind of ironic to see two of the same digimon family linage to square off, but it should certainly be interesting. Wolfmon is the Warrior of Light and he's sworn to get his hands on Piedmon if he has the chance. Hut, he must make it past Shadow Metalgarurumon first. This little guy and Felinismon worked together to form Shadow Omegamon to finish off Wardevidramon. This will certainly be a close match, but I must admit Shadow Metalgarurumon may have the advantage with a mega form."
"Heh, I hope you realize that I, too, can turn mega, but I think Beowulfmon should suffice for this match," Wolfmon thought.
With Wolfmon and Dark Gabumon stepping inside Arena B, the duel contestant was prepared to make his grand entrance. It was the King of Games himself, the legendary Yugi Muto.
"Finally, the duelist you digimon have come to witness! He is the King of Games! The one... the only... Yugi Muto!"
After giving the formal introductions, Lillymon pointed towards the entrance. The short, yet determined Yugi Muto marched out of the entrance and across the aisle leading to the duel dome. Yugi did not at all look like he wanted to duel especially since Himura was still confined to his rest bed. He just wanted to show up to confirm his presence and prevent him from getting eliminated due to absence.
"Seeing how Yugi is the only duelist to show up, I assume Himura was in no condition to make a presence. Ok, now I've been handed a note, Himura is still recuperating. I'm sorry to say that we just might have to disqualify Himura for not reporting to show up at the dueling arena. However, we will give at least ten minutes for Himura to confirm his role in the tournament," Lillymon announced. "I hate to say this but I don't think the kid can make it. Oh, this just isn't fair. If it wasn't for that witch, he'd be up and ready to compete. Can't say I'm not surprised. Beelzebumon is still pretty out of it, but Himura's condition was much worse. I hate to have to disqualify the kid."
Yugi stood at the entrance of the duel dome while turning towards the entranceway. There was no chance for Himura to wake up and arrive to duel the King Of Games. The crowds were already anxious to know whether the boy would even arrive to compete. They did pay good digi-money to see a duel.
"Mr. Etemon, excuse me," Yugi directed his attention towards the official.
"Yeah? What can I help ya with, kid?" Etemon asked.
"Are you willing to give him a certain time limit before he is automatically disqualified?"
"A ten-minute limit and nothing more. We know about his condition, but the rules are still set forth in place. We can't bend the rules for anyone," Etemon shrugged. "I'm sorry. That's just the way it goes."
"I understand. Thanks anyways," Yugi sighed. "What now, Pharaoh? We might as well take this bye through this tournament, but I can't accept it. I needed to duel and win fairly."
"It's no one's fault but Nemesis'. Himura would have gone through hell and back to face you in a duel when give this opportunity. However, I can't say for him in his current condition. There is no other way and we must not allow Lance to win the tournament for Pharaohmon."
"But... Still, I feel horrible for taking a cheap victory like this. I can't be satisfied."
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Himura's Room/Infirmary Center
With everyone in the room watching the monitor, no one notices Himura's eyes twitching, as if he was entering into a state of REM sleep. That is, nobody noticed until Dark Gabumon and Inumon caught a glimpse of the boy. The duo couldn't believe what they were seeing. Dark Gabumon nudged Yui's side to get her attention. She did not bother to acknowledge her partner but he gave her another nudge. Yui lifted her head up and glared towards her partner.
"What was that for?" Yui asked.
"Take a look at Himura. He's... He's starting to move. Look at his eyes," Dark Gabumon whispered into her ear.
Doing exactly as her partner instructed her, Yui looked down at her brother and caught a glimpse of his eyes twitching. She gasped out in shock and then saw Himura's hands moving. She immediately tugged on Jeri's left hand and motioned her towards her brother.
"Oh my..." Jeri managed to gasp out before she turned around to face everyone in the room. "You guys! It's Himura! He's starting to move!"
"What! Are you sure?" everyone exclaimed out.
With that said the group gathered around the bed and watched Himura regaining motion. First, his eyes and then his hands; followed by that was his body. Himura slowly opened his eyes and his vision was blurry. He could barely see anything in the room, but soon he was gaining focus on several faces circling over him.
"Look! He's opening his eyes!" Tea pointed out. "Great!"
"All right! I knew he'd somehow pull out of this!" Joey nodded. "Way to go, Himura!"
"I knew you'd make it, buddy," Inumon smiled as tears swelled up in his eyes.
"Himura! Can you hear us?" Jeri asked the awakening boy.
Slowly but surely, Himura's vision was starting to regain clear focus. He quickly recognized the voices around him. The first faces he saw coming into view were Yui, Inumon, Dark Gabumon, Jeri, Takato, Kouichi and Renamon. The boy gasped out and sat from his bed. He realized he was back in the infirmary room. There were no longer any signs of Kotori's spirit. His quality time with his deceased friend was over and it would be time to return to live out a better life with his new friends.
"Everyone... Were you guys here with me all night?" Himura asked everyone.
"HIMURA!" Yui screamed out as she jumped onto her brother and hugged him tightly. "Oh, Himura! I'm so glad you're all right!"
"Geez, you had us sacred there, buddy!" Inumon joined in with Yui by hugging his friend.
"You guys... I appreciate all the attention and concern, but you two are squeezing me too hard," Himura managed to choke out. "Ack...! Breathing room!"
"Sorry about that!" Inumon chuckled as he released his grip and ruffled the boy's hair.
"Himura! Welcome back," Kouichi smiled as he gave the boy a wink.
"This is just great! You're back and you just might be healthy enough to duel!" Joey exclaimed to get Himura's attention.
"Wait... Huh? I'm dueling now? But I just got up," Himura stated.
"Oh no, you can't duel, Himura. You're in no condition," Jeri pleaded for the boy to stay in bed. "I'm not even sure if you have the mentality to handle Yugi."
"What? Yugi's my opponent?" Himura asked before he jumped right out of his bed. "Oh yeah! This is one duel I've waited my entire life for!"
"Kid, you just went through a coma. You should get rest," Mai suggested.
"She's right. I mean in case you haven't noticed, but you just woke up," Tristan reminded Himura.
"But... This is my chance to duel against THE Yugi Muto! I've always dreamed of having at least one duel with him! It's been a dream of mine ever since I became a duelist! This just may be my only opportunity!" Himura got off his bed and placed his shoes on.
"But, you should rest," Jeri stated. "You've been through enough as it is..."
"Himura! Think about your health and not with your heart," Yui said. "I know how much you've always wanted to duel Yugi..."
"Then as a sister, you should understand that this is something I've wanted. Please, guys. I'll be just fine out there. I'm dueling Yugi after all," Himura smiled. "Um, guys...? Hey, before I say anything... Why isn't Anubimon here? I figured he'd be here with you guys."
As soon as the boy mentioned the underworld lord's name, the group lowered their heads and was silent. The Tsubasa boy did not seem to understand the sudden silent treatment she is receiving.
"Ok, guys. What's with the silent treatment?"
"Himura, there's something you should know," Kazu spoke up to break the silence. "When you were knocked out in your coma, Anubimon..."
"Attention! This is a last call for Himura Tsubasa! You only have five minutes left to be present at the duel platform to confirm your position in the tournament or be forced to become disqualified," Lillymon's voice blared from the arena speakers.
"Well, you heard the official. I have to get out there and duel," Himura started walking towards the door. "Besides, I'm sure Lord Anubimon is somewhere and rooting for me to win this duel anyway. I'll be sure to catch up and ask how well he fared in the tournament."
"Boy, he's not going to handle the truth," Rika muttered. "Renamon. We're going to have to tell him the truth now or never..."
"It's best we let him concentrate on his duel with Yugi first," Renamon replied. "Then, we'll sit down and discuss what really happened to Anubimon."
"That's a good idea, Renamon," Inumon nodded in agreement. "We should let Himura have this opportunity. It's no good if we tell him about Anubimon now. This is a duel he's been dreaming for since he started getting into Duel Monsters."
"Himura... Sooner or later you're going to realize the truth. I just know he's going to take it hard," Henry thought as he watched Himura walk out the door.
Before Himura had a chance to walk out, Yui came running towards her brother again and wrapped her arms around his waist. The boy stopped to give his sister a pat on her back.
"There's something we've been meaning to tell you. It's important and you should listen to what we have to say," Yui told her brother.
"But, first, you have a duel to compete in. We wish you the best. You and Yugi give us one heck of a duel," Takato smiled to Himura.
"We'll be here rooting for you two," Takuya nodded.
"Thanks you, guys," Himura gives his friends a thumb up.
Once acknowledging his friends, Himura marched down across the hallway while still grasping his head. The boy was still reeling from his comatose state but he would still have the desire to compete in this duel he had dreamt for so long. It was a good thing his friends are keeping Anubimon's whereabouts a secret for now because he would be placed into deep shock if they were to inform him about the underworld lord's death.
"Good luck, Himura," Junpei said.
"Did we do the right thing by not telling him the truth?" Jeri asked.
"I would think so. We wouldn't want to put Himura into deeper shock just as he already awoken," said Kenta replied. "This should be a good duel for that kid. I'm looking forward to this!"
"You said it, man. I couldn't have said it any better myself," Kazu agreed.
"Give us a great show, Himura and Yugi!" Guardromon threw out his fist triumphantly.
Takato fixed his goggles and focused his attention towards the television monitor with careful examination.
"Himura gets to live out his dream by dueling against Yugi, but I hope to get a match with the King of Games. I'd sure like to become the best card duelist in Japan. Himura, this is it. It's your opportunity of a lifetime, but, unfortunately, Anubimon won't be here to see it happen. How are we going to tell you about what really happened to Anubimon? As your friends, we will tell you everything, but I know it's going to hurt you. I wish you the best, Himura."
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Phoenix Arena/Battle and Duel Platforms
Back in the arena, the crowds were anticipating the supposed arrival of Himura. Eight minutes have already passed and many were wondering if Himura would even be present to duel. Yugi waited patiently for the remaining two minutes to pass. If the boy didn't show up before the time is up, Yugi will automatically be declared the winner and be given a bye to the next round.
Felinismon, Guilmon, Dark Gabumon and Wolfmon waited patiently with their eyes set directly on the entrance. Before they agreed to proceed with their matches, they decided to sit this one out and wait to see whether Himura does indeed show up. So far, nothing has come up. Felinismon sighed sadly while tapping her foot. Meanwhile, Wolfmon remained standing firm and realizing that Himura would indeed show up to duel. After all, he was in the dream world with Himura and overheard Kotori telling the boy that he would return to the living realm.
"C'mon, Himura. You only have a minute left before they disqualify you. Don't let Kotori down," Wolfmon thought.
"Wolfmon...? Are you sure he'll be here?" the rookie asked the Warrior of Light.
"Positive..." Wolfmon muttered before looking ahead and getting a glimpse of Himura from the entranceway. "It's him! Himura!"
"What! You're kidding!" Guilmon exclaimed. "It is him!"
Suddenly, the audiences were in absolute stunned silence by the arrival of Himura Tsubasa with his duel disk. It wasn't too long ago where he was confined to a bed and in a comatose state. Now, he was up and walking like he received a quick recovery. Yugi couldn't believe his eyes, nor could Lillymon and every other digimon in attendance.
"Himura has made it! This is truly a miracle! With just ten seconds from being declared unfit to compete, Himura has reached down deep and dragged himself over to the arena! How did he recover so quickly? Was this work of a new medicine or a true miracle? I must know his secret!" Lillymon exclaimed. "Ladies and gentlemon, we are still going to have ourselves a duel! This is just exactly what you paid to see!"
"Ah, Himura! Good to see that you made it!" Wolfmon shouted towards the boy. "You stayed true to Kotori's word!"
"Wait, you know Kotori?" Dark Gabumon asked Wolfmon.
"Well, in a sense, yeah... It's a long story," Wolfmon nodded. "Are you ready to get this over with?"
"You bet! Now I'm more than ready to win this match! Seeing Himura back gives me new, rejuvenated strength! Give me your best shot!"
"Oh, I intend to!"
Himura stepped by Yugi and motioned towards the King of Games. This is just exactly what he wanted for so long: a duel with the legendary Yugi Muto.
"Himura... I can't believe this. You're actually up on your feet," Yugi whispered.
"I came back after talking with Kotori in my comatose period. Thanks to her, I've come back better than ever and ready to help you guys to the end. But first, I want to duel you and see whether my skills is enough to trump your deck."
"You saw Kotori...? That's great, Himura. I'm glad you're back, but listen. You have to know..."
"Let's save all the mushy talk for later. We've got a duel to compete in. What do you say we give these digimon exactly what they want?"
"Sure thing, Himura!" Yugi laughed happily.
With Himura and Yugi stepping inside the duel dome, Etemon closed the dome door behind them and activated the stimulation program. The dome began to ascend towards the arena ceiling and transport the two duelists inside to another location in the Digital World.
"After seeing Himura miraculously march his way to prevent a disqualification, you have to admire this boy's courage!" Lillymon announced. "I haven't seen so much fire and determination from one child than I've seen with Himura just now! This duel will still commence and I, for one, am thrilled! As for our battle combatants, they look ready to get their matches out of the way! Guilmon competes against Felinismon! Dark Gabumon and Wolfmon go head to head! The action is set to heat up! Let Day Two officially begin!"
With that said, the official bell rang and the four competitors were prepared to make their first move. Felinismon and Guilmon encircled one another while Dark Gabumon stared down Wolfmon. The digimon audiences were on their feet and started to chant out for the four combatants. Dark Gabumon charged ahead and leaped out at Wolfmon to start their match; Felinismon leaped out in front of Guilmon and attempted a claw slash, which the crimson reptile managed to dodge from.
The action was starting to heat up and officially Day Two has begun. However, there were others who were searching for an important artifact that could forever change the fate of the Digital World and Pharaohmon forever.
Outside of Drago Village/Deep into Tropical Gorillamon Forests
Having departed from Drago Village, the six Sailor Senshi girls, the three Legendary Warriors, the Dra-Warrior duo, Cammy and Artemis were marching across through the damp forests. Labramon was leading the group across since he is the most familiar with these parts. He sniffed the ground while leading them down a path that cut across through the forest. Luckily for them, they weren't too far from reaching towards the temple.
With Labramon leading the team across, the girls were chatting over the insanity that ensued during last night's festivities. This even included Minako's drunken antics, stripping herself down to the nude and blurting out German words. The Senshi were simply embarrassed to even mention it. But as Setsuna explained everything to Minako...
"WHAT! YOU MEAN I RAN AROUND WITH NO CLOTHES ON?" Minako exclaimed at the top of her lungs. "And I spoke German...?"
"You sure did and must I remind you that I scolded you to never drink that much quantities of sake again?" Rei pointed her finger at Minako like a scolding mother.
"Heh... Well, I couldn't resist the taste of fresh sake in my mouth," Minako giggled. "Besides, we were guests and they didn't mind at all."
"Well, we're telling you now to never do that again," Makoto sighed. "You're crazy when you're sober, but when you're drunk... No, I'm not even going to go there. Insanity is simply an understatement when describing you."
"Don't be too embarrassed, Minako. The Goddess of Venus was usually depicted to have a nude figure," Setsuna reminded Minako.
"Um, yeah, that's awfully reassuring. Thanks for the history lesson, Setsuna-san," Minako smiled sheepishly.
"Please, from his point on, we have to be serious about our mission," Ami spoke up while scanning her surroundings with her mini-computer. "Minako, do you want to regain your powers again?"
"Of course, I do, Ami. You know very well I do. That's why I'm here with you guys," Minako nodded as she reverted back to a serious demeanor. "I know traveling through here is dangerous and we have to be on the look out."
"It's great to know you're taking this seriously, Minako. That's the Sailor V I know," Artemis smiled as he leaped onto Minako's right shoulder.
"Anything yet, Labramon? All of this walking is making my feet hurt," Sam spoke up.
"Not yet, but we are getting closer. Besides, you'll see the temple anyway since it covers a large area of the forest," Labramon replied while continuing to sniff.
"We had better make this hasty, Labramon. If what Setsuna says is true, the tournament will end a little before sunset. We must have perfect timing," Ninjadramon stated.
"Herodramon, are you certain there are even more enemies to encounter in the temple?" Hotaru asked the Dra-Warrior.
"I'm willing to bet there are. That is why we must all be on alert. Pharaohmon may have sent reinforcements across the Digital World. It's very much possible. I wouldn't put it past him to send minions in the temple to keep us at bay. Certainly, General Scorpionus and his men proved that."
"That's true," Dimitro nodded in agreement. "In any case, you still have myself, Vega and Sam to spirit evolve when need be."
"You also have myself, Setsuna and Hotaru to henshin," Ami smiled. "And of course, how could I forget Rei, Makoto and Minako?"
"Yeah, they'll simply henshin into Ninja Senshi and take care of anything that gets in their way!" Cammy nodded proudly while walking by her sister, "Right, sister?"
"That's right and we're here to protect you. When we find that sword, you'll gain the powers of the Digital Priestess and we'll regain our ability to henshin into Sailor Senshi again," Rei replied. "Just don't be afraid. We're here with you."
"Thank you, Rei..."
Just then, unbeknownst to them, there was a horned ogre-like creature sitting perched on a tree and looking down at the group walking across the forest. His eyes were set directly on the main key member of the group, Labramon the guide. This was a surprise considering how Cammy is become a target for many of Pharaohmon's hired accomplices.
"Labramon... Heh. Heh," the ogre snickered under his breath.
The raven-haired Rei stopped for a moment and felt a dark vibe coming out from the forest. She quickly spun around to see whether anyone was spying on them. Fortunately, the ogre had already disappeared out of sight.
"Rei, what is it?" Makoto asked. "Did you just sense something?"
"Yeah, for a moment. I did feel something behind us and now it's gone," she answered.
"Really? What could it be?" Minako looked around her surroundings. "I'm already getting antsy as it is."
"I'm not so sure. Let's keep our guards up, everyone."
"She's not lying. I sensed something, too," Ninjadramon stated. "It's possible that we're being watched but we can't let that problem get in our way. We've come too far to stop and reconsider."
"Who said anything about us reconsidering and going back?" Vega spoke up. "Didn't we come to find that sword and get these three girls' their powers back? Hell no. I'm not cutting and running."
"That's the spirit, Vega," Dimitro agreed.
"Nonetheless, we better keep our ears and eyes open," Rei said as she started walking across the forest with Cammy by her side.
As they continued venturing across the forest, the girls pulled out their henshin pens and ninja devices just in case a pre-emptive attack was implemented. The three young men held their D-Scanners by their waists. Ninjadramon and Herodramon looked around their surroundings to pick up on any activity.
"Ninjadramon, there's no doubt someone is watching us. I sensed a presence and I'm never wrong with my ESP readings."
"Yes, Rei-san. I know. Our keen senses are the strongest out of everyone in this group. Let's keep track of everything that occurs in our surroundings."
"So, are we getting closer to the temple, Ninjadramon?"
"According to Labramon, we should be very close. Don't worry. We will retrieve that sword. Our mission will soon be complete."
"Great, so I can finally get my powers back and get back at that bastard for the hell he's put me through."
"Heh, you just let your sister handle him. She alone has the power to crush Pharaohmon with the sword alone. Adding you would only be overkill."
"Better overkill than no kills at all. I'm glad this will finally be all over."
With the group walking through the forest ahead, their journey would soon end. The temple was only half a mile away. The venture across the forest would now pay off. Unfortunately, there was that one uninvited guest the group was not exactly to welcome anytime. The ogre creature watched them venturing across the forest carefully. He came close to being detected by Rei and Ninjadramon, which he couldn't afford to happen again.
Labramon became a keen of interest for the ogre monster rather than simply capturing Cammy. But, why? Why would this particular monster want with Labramon when he could kidnap Cammy?
"So, they're awfully close to my master's hideout in the temple. That Labramon knows about the temple, but has no idea of what lurks within. I must prevent them from intruding and capturing that sword! Must capture Labramon above all else!"
With that said, the ogre monster leaped across from one tree branch to another. He swiftly yet carefully jumped across the canopies in hopes of catching up with the group towards the temple.
"Then again, they're going to have themselves some guests of honor to keep them busy while I capture Labramon. This plan is sure to be fool proof! The master will be pleased!"
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
-
Unknown/Sector Paradise-0997
Once being transported from the dome and through many dimensional doorways, Yugi and Himura found themselves facing each other off in an area where light and darkness were intertwining. The area itself was near pitch black, however, there were streams of white light shooting across at different directions. Himura was very familiar with this specific area.
"Where are we?" wondered Yugi.
"We're in Paradise..."
"Paradise?"
"That's right, Yugi. This is the opposite of the Dark Area. Here, all digimon are judged to be sent to paradise or the Dark Area. Monsters like Basilikmon and Pharaohmon would be sent to the Dark Area; but souls like Kotori are sent to paradise. So, we've been sent here to duel?"
"Looks like that way, Himura," Yugi looked around his surroundings. "This is rather odd."
"Paradise... This must be the work of Goddramon and Holydramon," Himura stated. "Otherwise, we would have been sent into another part of the Digital World. Nemesis sent herself and me into the Dark Area using her dark magic. I don't see Floramon anywhere. I assume our match isn't going to be broadcasted."
"Oh, I wouldn't think like that, Himura-kun," a loud yet gentle voice echoed out from across the dimension.
The duelists were alarmed for a moment but Himura quickly recognized this voice. He stepped out across and yelled back towards the direction from where the voice spoke out.
"Hey, Goddramon, Is that you? I didn't think you'd bring us here!" Himura shouted back.
"It was Holydramon I who summoned you two here. Don't worry. We will have Floramon transported here for your duel to be televised, but wanted to see at least one duel close up and personal, dear Himura," Goddramon stated. "We saw your duel with Nemesis in the Dark Area and we felt it was right to bring you hear for your next duel. We felt you needed a fair duel with the King of Games. You both deserve it after facing the likes of Yami Bakura and Nemesis."
"Yes, this is exactly what we needed," Yugi nodded his head towards the seemingly invisible authority digimon.
"Goddramon, where is Anubimon. Can you tell me where he is?" Himura asked. "I didn't find him in the room I was resting in."
With that said, there was silence once again. It seems every time he brings up the Underworld lord's name he receives a silent treatment. He couldn't understand this and wondered what the big deal was.
"Himura. Once you finish your duel with Yugi Muto, your answers will be revealed," Goddramon spoke. "Please, trust our word."
"Of course, I do, Goddramon. I know Anubimon is somewhere watching my duel right now. He's sure to root for me!" Himura smiled.
"He has no idea, does he? I can't say I blame him since was he was unconscious the whole time. Unfortunately, he will have to learn the truth after this duel is over with," the Pharaoh spoke through Yugi's thoughts.
Suddenly, a portal opened up and Floramon was transported from the arena and into the Paradise Realm with her trusty Tapirmon cameraman.
"Whoa! How did we get here? This isn't where the duel was supposed to take place!" Floramon wondered. "What is this place? Hey, it's you two! Himura and Yugi!"
"We're in the Paradise realm. It's the complete opposite of the Dark Area," Himura answered her.
"Really! Paradise? Wow! I'm finally making history! I'm the first spokesperson to have the privilege to commentate in both the Dark Area and Paradise! I feel so much better about myself!"
"I, Goddramon, summoned you here, Floramon," the loud voice of Goddramon called out.
"Eep! Goddramon? Of the Paradise Realm?" Floramon squeaked out. "Um... It's a real honor, sir! How can I help you?"
"Cover and commentate this duel. It should be a great one."
"Yeah! Let's get this show on the road, Yugi!" Himura smiled and activated his duel deck. "This is something I've always wanted for a long time. C'mon, Yugi! As a friend, you will honor my request with a fair and respected duel!"
"If that's what you want, then I'm more than happy to oblige," Yugi nodded as he activated his duel disk. "Floramon! Cover our match and make sure everyone's watching this!"
"You got it! Roll it, Tapirmon, my man!" Floramon snapped her fingers and waved her hand out in front of the camera.
"Camera, ready! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Roll out!" Tapirmon called out and started the live recording.
"Hello, fight fans and welcome! We're right here at the Paradise realm to host the duel bout between the miraculously recovered Himura Tsubasa and Yugi Muto! They both garnered big wins over Nemesis and Bakura yesterday to advance to this round! Both are good friends but now are forced to duel one another. For Himura, this is a dream duel come true! He gets his opportunity to duel against the King of Games! This will be one awesome duel if I do say so myself!"
"You ready, Yugi? Because I know I am!" exclaimed Himura.
As soon as Yugi nodded, his Millennium Puzzle let out a bright golden light and engulfed him completely. The spirit immediately took over the boy in his place.
"YU-GI-OH!"
The Pharaoh was in place of little Yugi and ready to start the duel with Himura. Two friends were planning to have an honorable duel to see who the better duelist is. For Himura, this was his dream come true; for Yugi, it was to be a duel of honor against a dear friend. However, only one of them will advance to the next round.
"Duelists! As your official, I declare the first match of the quarter-finals to begin!" Floramon declared as she waved her left hand down.
With that said Yugi and Himura shuffled their decks and drew five cards.
"DUEL!"
Life points
Himura: 8000
Yugi: 8000
"Himura? Are you ready? This is what you've been waiting for. A duel with me?" Yugi called out to the boy.
"You bet! I didn't wake up just to smell the roses! I've come back to help you guys to the end and stop Pharaohmon! But, I want to make it clear that I am not going to back out from a duel against you, Yugi!"
"Then, may the best duelist win in the end," Yugi nodded.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to be the first to start," Himura said as he looked down at his hand and drew out his first card. "To start things off, I'll activate Restructer Revolution! With this card, I can inflict two hundred damage to your life points for each card in your hand. Since you have five cards, that equals a thousand points of damage!"
"Well, I've got to hand it to you, Himura. You got me there," Yugi stated as he watched a thousand of his life points plummet.
Yugi
Life points: 7000 (8000-1000)
"Next, I'll set a card facedown and another facedown in defense mode! I end my turn!"
"Good work, Himura. You certainly do have an advantage, but never take your eye off of the game!" Yugi summons forth a monster to the field. "I bring forth Beta the Magnet Warrior!"
Summoned forth to Yugi's side was a yellow warrior with magnets on his head and hands.
Beta the Magnet Warrior
1700/1600/4 star
"Beta! Attack Himura's facedown defense card!"
As Yugi declared his attack, Beta launched itself out and slammed towards the crowd. However, the other facedown card was immediately activated.
"A trap card!" exclaimed Yugi.
"That's right! I activate my Magic Cylinder! Using this card, it negates a monster's attack and inflicts damage to you equal to the monsters attack points! Wow, I'm already getting the best of you already, Yugi. I never would have thought this would happen!"
Yugi couldn't believe it either. Two purple cylinders appeared and Beta charged right into one and out the other, which was directed at Yugi. As Yugi received his own monster's attack, he looked down at his duel disk and watched yet more points being depleted from his life points.
Yugi
Life points: 5300 (7000-1700)
However, despite this set back, Yugi remained calm and collected. He wasn't too worried about the fate of his life points. He knew that he would regain momentum just as he has in everyone of his duels before.
"Well, despite what you've done to my life points, this is far from over. I end my turn."
"All right then. All I'm going to do is set one card facedown in defense," Himura laid down his card after drawing a new card to his hand. "That ends my turn."
"Now, I'll activate my Alpha the Magnet Warrior!" Yugi declared as he laid out a card face-up.
The monster revealed was an intimidating silver warrior with magnets on his head, hands and sword.
Alpha the Magnet Warrior
1400/1700/4 star
"Now, Alpha! I declare an attack on Himura's facedown defense card!" Yugi pointed directly across the other side on Himura's field.
With that said Alpha flew across the field towards the other side and launched an attack on Himura's facedown defense card. The card was revealed to be a giant hamster monster. This was Bubonic Vermin.
Bubonic Vermin
900/600/3 star
The hamster was immediately vanquished from the field by Alpha's attack, but no damage was inflicted on Himura's life points. The monster was in defense mode and ensured the boy's life points stayed intact.
"You may have destroyed my monster, but he has an effect to it," Himura said as he immediately special summons a facedown defense card on his side. "When you destroy one of my Bubonic Vermin, I can special summon another in a facedown defense position!"
"Fine and I'll get rid of that monster before it becomes a problem in the long run," Yugi replied. "Beta! Attack his facedown defense monster!"
Like Alpha before him, Beta flew across towards Himura's field and launched out an attack on his facedown defense monster. Another Bubonic Vermin was revealed and instantly wiped out from the field. However, this meant Himura could summon another thanks to the monster's effect. The Tsubasa male laid out another facedown defense card on the field.
"And now I can summon another Bubonic Vermin once one is destroyed."
"That depends if you have anymore in your deck."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that right now, Yugi. I have plenty of more surprises where that came from."
"Should be interesting on what your deck can do, Himura. I declare an end to my turn."
Drawing a new card to his hand, Himura quickly summoned forth a monster. It was revealed as a zebra-unicorn hybrid.
Dark Zebra
1800/400/4 star
"I summon my Dark Zebra in attack mode!" Himura exclaimed. "Now, attack his Alpha, my monster! Make sure he stays down for the count!"
The zebra-unicorn hybrid stampeded across and shoots out an attack from its horn towards Alpha. The magnet warrior was struck by the attack and vaporized into data. Yugi watched as more life points were taken away but yet he remained calm and collected. He obviously knew how he was eventually going to dictate this match. However, he can't underestimate Himura. The boy has already proven he can indeed hang with a veteran duelist.
Yugi
Life points: 4900 (5300-400)
"There go more of your life points, Yugi! You don't seem shocked at all. Oh well. Eventually, I will make you sweat bullets," Himura smiled. "Wow, I can't believe this. I'm already ahead of Yugi in life points! But, I should be careful. A veteran like him does have a habit of biding his time before he launches a comeback."
"Good dueling, Himura. I certainly expected this from you. You certainly are no rookie yourself," Yugi smiled. "Please, let us continue this honorable duel, my friend."
"Thanks, Yugi. I became a duelist just to face you one day and now my dream has come true. However, I can't realize my dream fully until I defeat you!"
"You have a lot of confidence, Himura. I'm sure you'll find a method to defeat me in this duel. However, just because you have higher life points, that doesn't change a thing. You'll learn that soon enough."
"We'll see, Yugi! I end my turn just to let you know!"
"Just what I needed to hear," Yugi replied while adding a new card to his hand. "First, I'll set one card facedown in defense mode! Then, I'll send my Beta to attack your facedown defense card! Go, my magnet warrior!"
Beta once again flew across the ring and destroyed the facedown card to reveal the third Bubonic Vermin. Unfortunately for Himura, the effect could not be activated since he has no more of those monsters in his deck.
"Judging by the look on your face, you have no more Bubonic Vermin to summon on the field," Yugi studied Himura like a book. "Looks like you'll have to depend on another monster. I declare and end to my turn. It's your move!"
Himura added a new card to his hand, looked through his hand and summons forth a new monster to the field. This time it was a Minotaur wearing battle armor and wielding a giant axe. It stood up in an attack position.
"I summon forth my Battle Ox in attack mode!"
Battle Ox
1700/1000/4 star
"To start my turn off, I'll send my Dark Zebra to attack your Beta!" Himura called out.
The zebra-unicorn hybrid monster stampeded across and fired an attack through its horn. It aimed directly for Beta and destroyed the magnet warrior out of the field. One hundred points were subtracted from Yugi's life points as a result of this attack.
Yugi
Life points: 4800 (4900-100)
"Next, I'll send my Battle Ox to take out your facedown defense card!" Himura exclaimed.
With that said the Battle Ox charged towards Yugi's side of the field and slams his axe through the card. The card hologram was sliced in half and revealed a technical-built silver ball with a small opening. This was the Cyber Jar.
Cyber Jar
900/900/3 star
As the jar was destroyed, its effect was automatically activated.
"By destroying my Cyber Jar, you activated its effect!"
"Its effect?" Himura quirked an eyebrow.
"All monsters are destroyed on the field and both players must pick up five cards. Then, we have to show them to each other. Immediately after that, special summon any level four or lower monsters in a face-up or facedown position. Finally, place the rest of the cards in the hand."
Himura watched as every monster were instantly wiped off the field, including his Battle Ox, Dark Zebra and face-down monster. He and Yugi quickly picked out five cards from their deck. They displayed them to each other. The five cards in Himura's hand were Fusion Sage- a Magic card, Battle Ox, Dark Hole- Magic, Mirror Force- Trap, and Beast Fangs-Magic. Yugi's five card hand was Alpha the Magnet Warrior, Magic Cylinder- Trap, Gemini Elf, Gamma the Magnet Warrior, and Summoned Skull.
Himura placed his only monster in hand, Battle Ox, in a face-up attack mode. Meanwhile, Yugi set both Alpha and Gamma in a facedown defense position and his Gemini Elf in a face-up attack mode. Summoned Skull was too highly powered and was placed in his hand. Every other card, including the traps and magic cards, were put in each duelist's respective hands.
"Since it's still my turn, Yugi, I'll activate my Fusion Sage. This allows me to move one Polymerization from my deck into my hand!" Himura declared as he pulled out a Polymerization card into his hand. "Next I'll activate my Dark Hole to destroy all monsters on the field!"
"Including all of my monsters," Yugi looked across his side field.
"That's right! All of our monsters are gone thanks to Dark Hole," Himura nodded. "That leaves us both with no monsters!"
Both duelists watched as a large hole appeared across the center and sucked up all of the monsters from both sides. Yugi wasn't counting on losing any monsters so soon, but he remained calm and collected as ever.
"Before I end my turn, I'll set one card facedown. That ends my turn for now. Your turn to make a move, Yugi," Himura motioned to the King of Games.
"Himura has destroyed all of our monsters, but it's going to take more than just monsters to win this game," Yugi said through the Pharaoh's thoughts. "Now, I'll activate the magic card- Monster Reborn! I'll use it to special summon my Beta the Magnet Warrior!"
Once activating his magic card, it automatically resurrected Beta. The magnet warrior reappeared by Yugi's side and prepared to follow his duelist's commands.
"Now, my Beta, attack Himura's life points directly!"
But just as Beta launched himself out to attack, Himura forced his facedown card to flip over and reveal a protective wall on his side.
"You've just activated my trap, Yugi! Mirror Force!"
"Mirror Force? Oh no!" Yugi exclaimed as he watched his monster slam against the impenetrable wall.
"That's right! I'm sure you're familiar with this card," Himura smiled. "By directing your attack on the wall, all of your monsters in face-up attack modes are instantly destroyed. That includes your Beta!"
As soon as Himura declared this, Yugi watched his Beta explode into a shroud of data fragments.
"Not looking so well, huh Yugi?" Himura asked. "I know you're holding back on me because I'm still recovering from my coma, but don't purposely hold back anymore. You don't have to hesitate. I've longed for a duel against you. It's my one dream and I want to relish this forever. Please, Yugi."
"I'll be honest with you, Himura. I am not holding back. However, I can't help but feel that you shouldn't be here."
"But I am. I came here to duel. I want to know where Anubimon is. I didn't find him in the room when I woke up. I know him very well and he would have stayed by my bedside. I want answers, but like Goddramon said... I must complete this duel with you to get my answers."
"That's exactly what we are doing. We are dueling. I am honored to be dueling you, Himura."
"I will say the same to you, Yugi. Now, let's continue where we left off! We want to give these people something to remember us by, right?"
"Yes, of course," the Pharaoh smiled and quickly pulled out a card from his hand. "Now, I activate Dark Magic Ritual!"
"Dark Magic Ritual? What kind card is that?"
"Guess you haven't seen every card there is to know, but allow me to demonstrate how it works! I have to offer monster cards with a combined level of 8 or more to offer as sacrifices. My Summoned Skull is a level 6 and my Dark Magician is a level 7, for a combined level of 13! More than enough!"
"Dark Magician and Summoned Skull?"
"That's right! I'll sacrifice them both to summon this rare and powerful monster!" Yugi exclaimed as he placed the two monsters into his graveyard.
Landing in front of Yugi was a dark coffin with a pentagon embedded on the center. The coffin opened up to reveal a gothic-dressed, blue-faced mage in a black magician's outfit with pink trimmings. Himura looked across in shock awe at the monster Yugi had summoned forth. This was the same monster used to defeat Pegasus at Duelist Kingdom.
"Behold, Himura! Allow me to introduce you to my Magician of Black Chaos!"
"Magician of Black Chaos? I can't believe you have that monster! That's a very rare monster card!"
"Indeed and I'm glad you're impressed, Himura."
The Magician of Black Chaos stepped out of its coffin and stood by Yugi like an obedient soldier ready to protect his 'pharaoh'.
Magician of Black Chaos
2800/2600/8 star
"I'll end my turn by placing one card facedown," Yugi said as he laid down a concealed card. "Now, it's your move, Himura!"
"I'm impressed, Yugi. I'll hand it to you. We both have very powerful monsters. You have your Magician and I have my Guardian Airtos. Let's hope I don't have to use Airtos on you," Himura said as he placed one card facedown. "I really don't have anything to offer, so I'll place this card facedown. That ends my turn."
"Is that it, Himura? Well, then, I guess you wouldn't mind my monster attacking your facedown card. Magician of Black Chaos, direct your attack on his facedown defense card!"
The Magician waved his scepter wand directly at Himura's facedown card and fired a dark magical blast. The magic blast quickly destroys the facedown card and revealed a flying squirrel. This was the Nimble Momonga.
Nimble Momonga
1000/100/2 star
Since the squirrel was in defense mode, no damage was inflicted on Himura's life points. However, the creature also had an effect that would give Himura a big advantage.
"Since your Magician destroyed my Momonga, it comes with a hefty price! You see when it is destroyed it helps to increase my life points by a thousand. Then, I can special summon any more Nimble Momongas from my deck in a facedown defense position!"
"That means your life points are raised up to 9000!" Yugi exclaimed.
"How observant, Yugi," Himura smiled.
Himura
Life points: 9000 (8000 + 1000)
The boy immediately drew out another Nimble Momonga from his deck and laid it out in a facedown defense position.
"Too bad I only have one left. My other one was face down when Cyber Jar was activated."
"Very good, Himura. You're far more impressive than I gave you credit for. You clearly proved yourself to me when I helped train you before this tournament. I was even far more impressed when you held your own against Nemesis."
"Thanks, Yugi. I appreciate the compliments, but I'm here to prove that I can beat you. I will not give up."
"Victory just might be in your grasp, Himura. Just continue improving and you just might take my place one day," the Pharaoh stated. "I end my turn."
Himura drew a new card to his hand and simply placed one card facedown, "I have nothing to offer on this turn but put this card facedown in defense mode. I end my turn."
"Since you have nothing to offer, looks like I'll take advantage using my Magician! Go, Magician of Black Chaos! Attack Himura's facedown defense card!"
As the Magician shot out a blast from his scepter, the card itself was destroyed from the quick blast and revealed a half-human and half-tiger hybrid warrior wielding a massive axe.
Tiger Axe
1300/1100/4 star
Fortunately for Himura, the monster was in defense position and thus did not inflict any damage to his life points. However, Yugi was determined to damage Himura's points sooner or later. The boy was in the lead over the King of Games, but Yugi still kept his 'game face' on. The duel was indeed not over.
"With that, I end my turn, Himura," Yugi nodded. "Make your move, my friend."
"All I can do is..." Himura pulled a new card from his deck and placed it into his hand. "...place one card in a facedown defense position. With that, I end my turn."
"And I'm going to repeat the process," Yugi stated. "Magician, attack Himura's facedown card!"
Once again, the Magician launched out a magical blast and destroyed Himura's facedown card. The monster to be revealed was a green-skinned warrior wearing pants and an open vest with three horns protruding through his head.
Vorse Raider
1900/1200/4 star
With the monster destroyed in defense mode, zero damage was inflicted on Himura's life points once again. Yugi had to think of a new strategy in order to penetrate through Himura's defenses.
"Again, I lose no life points. Maybe you ought to try a different approach, Yugi," Himura said.
"Well, I have nothing else to offer on this turn. I end it," Yugi replied.
"Great, now I can finish off where I left off before stalling for time," Himura added a card to his hand and smiled. "Now, this is a card I'm looking for! First, I'll sacrifice my facedown defense Nimble Momonga to summon this... Berfomet!"
Summoning forth to Himura's side was a winged demon with ram's horns.
Berfomet
1400/1800/5 star
"By summoning this monster, it has an effect that is rather useful. I'm sure you'll like this! With Berfomet on the field, I can move one Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts from my deck to my hand!" Himura declared. "Next, I'll activate Polymerization! I'll fuse both my Berfomet and Gazelle! I sacrifice my Berfomet from the field and Gazelle from my hand! Finally, with that, I can summon Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast!"
Appearing by Himura's side was a twin-headed winged lion with horns on its head. It stood in an attack position and roared angrily ready to pounce on whatever challenged it.
Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast
2100/1800/6 star
"He's using the same monster I would normally use. I guess what they say is true. Great minds do think alike," Yugi said in the Pharaoh's thoughts.
"Or was it 'Imitation is the greatest form of flattery'?" the Pharaoh answered back.
The Pharaoh turned to his opponent. "Impressive, Himura, that's a monster I would use in my duels."
"I know. I've seen you use it at Battle City during the tournament. I felt I had to get me these great cards. Now, it's ironic that I use them against you," Himura stated. "Now, where was I? Next, I'll activate this card: Beast Fangs! This card allows me to increase the attack and defense of one beast monster by three hundred. Then, I'll activate Black Pendant! This will increase the attack of one monster by five hundred points!"
"That increases the attack power of your Chimera to 2900!" Yugi exclaimed. "That'll be stronger than my Magician!"
"You're catching on, Yugi! Now, Chimera! Attack his Magician of Black Chaos!" the Tsubasa boy declared. "Better do something quick before your Magician is a goner!"
As the Chimera charged closer towards the Magician, a card was immediately activated on Yugi's side. Himura caught on this and gasped out.
"What!"
"You just activated my magic card, Magic Cylinder! With this card, it can negate a monster's attack and inflict damage to an opponent equal to the monster's attack power! Since your Chimera has 2900 attack points, that number is subtracted from your 9000. That reduces your life points down to 6100! Nice attempt, Himura."
Himura watched as his monster entered one of the two cylinders that appeared on Yugi's side of the field and came out the other and attacked him.
"I should have known you'd pull something like this off! I can't believe I forgot you had that card!" Himura exclaimed as he looked down at his duel disk to read his life points. "You definitely got me good there, Yugi."
Himura
Life points: 6100 (9000-2900)
"Well, I end my turn there, Yugi. This is getting good, just exactly what I was hoping from the King of Games," Himura smiled to his opponent. "But this is far from over. Only one of us will advance to the next round."
"That's right and only one of us can hope to stop Lance."
"That's right. Now, let's see what other tricks you've got to offer up your sleeve, Mr. King of Games."
"As you wish," Yugi stated as he added a card to his hand. "First, I'll activate Harpie's Feather Duster! With it, I'll destroy every trap and magic card on your side!"
"Argh! That means my Beast Fangs and Black Pendant are gone!" Himura shouted as he watched a mammoth feather blow hard wind across and wiping out the two cards. "But, heh... It's a good thing you got rid of my Pendant."
"Why's that?"
"By getting rid of it, the Pendant has a secondary effect! When it has been sent to the graveyard, it inflicts five hundred damage to your life points!"
"No!"
"Oh yeah, it's too bad you didn't know about my Pendant in the first place. I would have thought you would know about its two effects."
Yugi
Life points: 4300 (4800-500)
"So, what are you going to do now, Yugi? Don't even think about ending your turn! I know you're capable of doing better than that!"
"As usual I won't disappoint you, Himura!" Yugi exclaimed. "I'll summon my Gamma the Magnet Warrior!"
Summoned forth on Yugi's side is an obese pink warrior with a blue S on his chest, wings and a magnet wrapped around his neck.
Gamma the Magnet Warrior
1500/1800/4 star
"Next, I'll send my Magician to attack your Chimera! Go, my Magician of Black Chaos! Destroy his Chimera with your Scepter blast!"
Following his duelist's orders, the Magician slams his scepter into the ground and sends out a magical sphere blast directly for Chimera. The beast howled in pain before exploding into data fragments from the extremely powerful attack. Himura witnessed as life points were immediately subtracted.
Himura
Life points: 5400 (6100-700)
"That takes care of your Chimera!" Yugi exclaimed.
"Yes and an excellent job, Yugi! But, you realize that there is an effect to the monster."
"I know..."
"When that card was destroyed, I can special summon either Berfomet or Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts from my graveyard, and place either in a face-up attack or facedown defense position. I've decided to do this."
With that said Himura special summoned his Berfomet back on the field in a facedown defense position.
"He just placed his Berfomet in a facedown defense position. I must be cautious about that card and take it out before he has a chance to use it. Make sure to keep an eye on it, Pharaoh," Yugi warned telepathically. "I will declare an end to my turn."
The Tsubasa boy added a card to his hand and shrugged, "All I can do on this turn is sacrifice my facedown Berfomet and set one card in a facedown defense position. That ends my turn."
"This duel is turning out to be a fairly played but one exciting duel!" Floramon announced. "Thanks to Goddramon and Holydramon, there is assured to be no interference with this duel! While we continue to give you live coverage of this hard played duel, we'll go check to see how things are going in the dual battle matches taking place. I'll bet you're having a blast, Lillymon and Etemon!"
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
-
Phoenix Arena/Battle Platforms
Meanwhile, back in the stadium, the crowds were already going crazy over the two battle arena matches in session. Lillymon was there to cover the action with her hot color commentary. In Arena A, War Growlmon had already turned up the heat against Felinismon. The feline used her speed and agility to dodge the behemoth's blades. She was looking rather desperate and didn't expect War Growlmon to present any form of challenge to her. Meanwhile, Wolfmon was a tug of war against Shadow Garurumon. The Warrior of Light couldn't hope to match strength with Shadow Garurumon but he managed to leap overhead.
"The action is already getting good! War Growlmon had just digivolved and it looks like Felinismon is in serious trouble as we speak! Wolfmon has his hands tied up with Shadow Garurumon!" Lillymon announced. "These fans are going wild as it is! War Growlmon is a huge favorite amongst these great fans! He's a likely candidate to win this tournament!"
War Growlmon charged across the ring and slammed a fist across in hopes of snatching Felinismon. However, the feline digimon leaped out of the way and phased out of sight. This managed to throw War Growlmon off guard as he turned around to find Felinismon delivering a spinning wheel kick across his face. However, the giant merely turned his head and slam his tail across. Felinismon dodged the tail blow and landed on War Growlmon's back. She clawed across the giant's back and attempted to rip away at the metallic armor.
"Now, Felinismon's clawing her way through War Growlmon's armor, but I doubt that will even work! War Growlmon's armor is said to be strong as several steel walls!" Lillymon announced.
Drawing out his energy kitanas, Wolfmon charged across and spun the dual weapons around to hold Shadow Garurumon at bay. The dark wolf beast encircled the warrior in hopes of pouncing him on. However, the Warrior of Light wasn't going to allow that to happen.
"Wolfmon is showing us that he can hang with champion-level beasts! I need more information on the legendary warriors, because it seems to me Wolfmon is a champion-level. Oh well. At least those two are going toe to toe!"
War Growlmon stomped his way across the ring and attempted to pull Felinismon off his back. The feline kept a tight grip on his metallic armor with her claws. The giant roared angrily. However, he had an idea. He decided to fall on his back, which Felinismon did not take too kindly to. She immediately jumped off his back and landed back on her feet. War Growlmon got back on his feet and turned around to face off with Felinismon.
"Nice counter there, War Growlmon! I didn't think you'd use that noggin as a giant. I don't give you enough credit, but did you think I would be defeated by the likes to you?" Felinismon panted. "I've dealt with my fair share of giants and took care of them myself."
"Oh really? Well, you don't mind if I decide to take things up a notch?"
"Be my guest, my red friend," Felinismon smiled. "Besides, I've wanted to try out my newly achieved mega form on you."
"You've been telling me about it. I'd like to see it," War Growlmon nodded. "Should be fun..."
"My red friend this is it! This is what all of you have been waiting for!" Felinismon laughed as her body started to emit a golden aura of light. "Felinismon! Warp Shinka!"
The form of Felinismon underwent a major transformation. The crowds looked across in awe as the feline was increasing in size. Lillymon was stunned beyond words.
"Felinismon has now made a decision to digivolve! I just wonder what kind of mega she will turn out to be! Perhaps some sort of Egyptian goddess? This should be quite a treat! Now, War Growlmon's de-digivolving back to Guilmon! Just what is he thinking?"
As War Growlmon de-digivolved back to Guilmon, he simply had this to say, "To do this, Lillymon! Guilmon! Warp Shinka!"
With that said Guilmon's body was starting to emit a golden aura. His body increased in size and took the form of a knight with a lance and shield. The exalted royal knight, Gallantmon, stood upright and was ready to continue this battle match. He looked across and watched Felinismon changing into an entirely different being. She was tall female figure that was part dragon and part human. Around her right hand was a golden staff with the Crest of Hope on top of it. Not only was she majestic in appearance but very beautiful. This certainly would be no pushover for Gallantmon.
"Oh, wow!" Lillymon shouted. "Felinismon has just digivolved and I must say... She has turned into the most beautiful digimon I've ever laid my eyes on! Who knew she had this in her!"
"I'm impressed, Felinismon. I thought you'd turn into something like what's her face?"
"You mean Cleopatra?" the newly digivolved Felinismon smiled. "Or perhaps some sort of feline goddess? I guess I proved all of you wrong. Only Jeri and Anubimon had seen this form. Lord Anubimon was very impressed and said I would indeed reach my full potential. Pharaohmon had no idea I would ever digivolve into mega."
"I see. So, since you're no longer Felinismon, what should I refer to you as?"
"Just call me Angedramon."
(Angedramon. Mega Level. Angel Dragon Digimon. Special Attacks: Destruction of Light, Hopeful Light & Holy Apocalypse.)
"Nice, Angedramon. You're a mega just like me. How about we continue where we left off?" Gallantmon stepped into a battle stance.
"That's what I've wanted to hear out of that bread scarfing mouth of yours?" Angedramon held her staff in one hand and prepared herself.
Back in Arena B, Shadow Garurumon fired out his own dark version of Howling Blaster. This attack struck the ring and incinerated a small portion of it. Fortunately, Wolfmon leaped away and retaliated with his Lobo Kendo. Shadow Garurumon couldn't react in time as he was struck in the chest and sent skidding across the ring.
"I doubt that put even you down!" Wolfmon exclaimed. "This fight isn't over!"
"I know..." Shadow Garurumon grunted as he got back on his feet. "I will not fail Yui!"
As soon as Shadow Garurumon said this, he immediately de-digivolved back into Dark Gabumon. Then, his body was engulfed by a dark aura and he underwent an immediate evolution into his mega form.
"Dark Gabumon! Warp Shinka!"
The Warrior of Light watched as the small rookie increased in size and took the form of a dark, metallic wolf. In place of the adorable Dark Gabumon was the intimidating and mighty Shadow Metalgarurumon.
"Shadow Metalgarurumon!"
"Now, we have Dark Gabumon digivolving into his mega form! Wolfmon sure has his hands full with this one! How can he hope to defeat a mega on his own?"
"Nice, now I'm definitely going to have trouble with you, pal," Wolfmon smiled, "But, digivolving into a mega isn't going to make a bit of difference. I'll still find a way to win."
"You will have to give it your best shot!" Shadow Metalgarurumon growled. "I will win for Yui!"
"Well, it's too bad that you're going to get knocked out of this tournament! Piedmon still has a debt to pay!" Wolfmon charged across with his laser kitanas. "Prepare yourself, Shadow Metalgarurumon!"
"Bring it!" Shadow Metalgarurumon roared as he charged across the ring.
"Two action-packed encounters and we're getting ourselves a great show!" Lillymon exclaimed.
In Arena A, Gallantmon slashed across with his lance but Angedramon quickly maneuvered to one side. She was dodging every attempted strike from the exalted knight. She raised her staff and tried to slam it against Gallantmon. However, the Royal Knight blocked out the strike with his shield and pushed her away. Angedramon jumped away and landed on her feet swiftly. She raised her staff overhead and sends out a force of light energy directly for Gallantmon.
"Holy Apocalypse!"
As the beam came directly for him, Gallantmon managed to put up his shield just in time to block it. However, Angedramon maintained control over her attack and twirled her staff around. The beam makes a u-turn around Gallantmon and struck him across the back. The exalted knight gasped out as the force sent him falling on his knees. He sure did not see this coming, especially from Felinismon's mega form.
"What was that just now?" Gallantmon wondered.
"I simply redirected my attack and struck you in the back. Since you are viral type, my holy energy has struck some damage on your armor," Angedramon smiled. "But it looks like I'll have to keep attacking your armor if I hope to penetrate it."
"That's what you think!" Gallantmon jumped back on his feet and raised his staff towards Angedramon. "I'll bet you can redirect this!"
"Go ahead and try it."
"Oh, you bet I will!" Gallantmon powered up his staff and shot out a strong energy blast. "Lighting Joust!"
"Ah, so simple-minded," Angedramon sighed as she held her staff in place and immediately absorbed Gallantmon's attack through it.
"What! You can even absorb my attacks through your staff?"
"It's as Jeri said to Takato. Don't take me very me lightly. Looks like I've proved that I won't be as easy as you think," Angedramon stated and directed her staff towards Gallantmon. "Now take this! Destruction of Light!"
With that said Gallantmon was quick to shield himself with his massive shield. On the other hand, Angedramon fired out a powerful laser from out of her staff and directed it towards Gallantmon. The laser was so powerful that it pushed back against Gallantmon's shield and sent him flying out of the ring. The exalted knight found himself lying on the outside as the beam exploded against the arena walls.
"Incredible! Angedramon has just sent Gallantmon out of the ring! She had managed to counter with some very impressive attacks! This could turn out to be a big upset for the royal knight! Felinismon just might advance to the next round! These fans are going wild for her display!"
Meanwhile, back in Arena B, Shadow Metalgarurumon was firing away an array of missiles from out of his back. The missiles penetrated around the ring in hopes of blasting Wolfmon away. However, the Warrior of Light was proving to be very quick on his feet. He dodged every missile being fired at him.
"Why don't you hold still and take my missiles like a warrior?" Shadow Metalgarurumon taunted the warrior.
"And get blown away to kingdom come? No way! I came here to win and hope I get a shot at Piedmon in the next round! I won't let you defeat me!"
"Let you? I'm GOING to beat you! If you think you'll get a chance to face Piedmon, then think again. I want to tear him apart for being affiliated with Pharaohmon in the first place!"
"We have our common enemies, but it's the price of victory that counts here! The better digimon will win here!" Wolfmon leapt over Shadow Metalgarurumon and struck him across the back with his energy kitanas.
Howling in pain, Shadow Metalgarurumon slid across the ring. Wolfmon charged across with his energy kitanas in hand and attempted to slam them down on Shadow Metalgarurumon. The mega quickly jumped away in time before Wolfmon's kitanas penetrated through the ground.
Shadow Metalgarurumon turned around and whipped his tail across to cause Wolfmon to trip off his feet. The warrior landed on his back and found himself in a precautious situation. Shadow Metalgarurumon loomed over the fallen warrior and raised his claws to strike.
"So, got anything else to say before I end this match?" the metallic wolf growled.
"Yeah... This! EXECUTE! SLIDE EVOLUTION!" Wolfmon screamed out as his body was covered in Digicode.
"What's this!"
Taking the place of Wolfmon was a quadruped wolf with the same body stature as Shadow Metalgarurumon. However, his armor was entirely a light shade of white, blue and yellow.
"Garmmon!"
"Interesting, now we have just seen Wolfmon evolve into his beast form! Garmmon looks exactly like Shadow Metalgarurumon, but is he any more powerful? We'll see how he contends with this rather strong mega!"
"Well, you sure are full of surprises, Warrior of Light," Shadow Metalgarurumon commended Garmmon. "Looking at you, I could say we could be brothers."
"Too bad I already have a brother," Garmmon replied. "Besides, we're only related through the same digimon family type. We are wolves after all."
"Lone wolves we once were and now we have friends around us to give us the support we need," Shadow Metalgarurumon stated. "You have your brother, Kouichi. I have Yui as my partner. I won't let her down."
"And I won't fail my brother!" Garmmon declared.
"I guess we each have someone to look out for and help motivate us in the process! Garmmon! Let's see you take these!" Shadow Metalgarurumon exclaimed his mouth opened to fire off an ice blast. "Cocytus Breath!"
"Allow me to retaliate! Howling Laser!" Garmmon shouted and fired out a laser blast through his mouth.
As the ice blast and laser beam collided with one another, it was Garmmon's blast that penetrated through the ice. Shadow Metalgarurumon gasped out as he saw the beam coming. He jumped away in time and fired away an array of missiles down on Garmmon.
"Garuru Tomahawk!"
The Beast Warrior of Light quickly activated the wheels on his heels to slide away from the missiles. They struck the ring surface and nearly caused Garmmon to fly out of the ring due to the impact explosions.
"Whew, that was a close one for Garmmon! Several of those shots and he would have been a goner for sure!" Lillymon exclaimed. "Oh, here comes Shadow Metalgarurumon! He's going for another strike on Garmmon! The Warrior of Light is in trouble!"
With Shadow Metalgarurumon flying down to meet Garmmon head on, the Beast Warrior of Light dodged to the side and prepared to attack Shadow Metalgarurumon from the side.
"With these two matches in session, I must say that the duel between Yugi and Himura is turning out to be better than I expected. Himura had Yugi reeling until our spiky-haired friend managed to make a comeback! However, Himura is still in the lead with life points over Yugi. It'll be interesting to see how everything plays out in that duel! But, that's enough of that since Floramon is covering it. Let's get you guys back to the action at hand!"
Looking from the audience were Neemon and Bokomon. The two were cheering on for Garmmon's efforts against Shadow Metalgarurumon. Neemon bit into his hotdog and forced the weenie to splatter across Bokomon's face. The book-carrier's face was covered with spit and mustard. Neemon knew what was coming up. SLAP! Neemon howled in pain once Bokomon pulled on the rabbit's pants and released it to slap it across Neemon's butt.
"Owwie! Owwie!" Neemon shrieked in pain.
"That's what you get, buffoon," Bokomon scoffed. "C'mon, Kouji, my boy! You can do it! Don't let yourself get eliminated! Our team has had to suffer enough losses as it is!"
"Is he going to lose?" Neemon asked.
"Not if he manages to pull something off to come back with," Bokomon replied. "Kouji! There's something you've got to do! Perhaps, Beowulfmon should suffice..."
On the other side of the arena, Piedmon watched the event unfold and drank a glass of red wine. He set his sights directly on Garmmon at the moment and enjoyed the punishment he was enduring. For Kouji, by defeating Shadow Metalgarurumon, he can only wish to finally get his hands on Piedmon sometime during the tournament.
"Having fun seeing that boy suffer?" Lady Devimon approached the former Dark Master leader.
"More than just enjoying it, dear Lady Devimon, I'm savoring the fact that he gets eliminated. Even if he does advance, he will not make it any further," Piedmon smiled. "If we ever do cross paths, I'll do worse to him than I did to his dear brother, Kouichi."
"I wholeheartedly agree, Lord Piedmon. Now, those other two. Who would have thought Felinismon would digivolve into mega. Just looking at her new form reminds me how much I hated that blonde-haired tramp, Angewomon!"
"Having some bad memories about Angewomon, dear Lady Devimon?" Piedmon teased the dark mistress.
"Oh, shut up," she muttered under her breath.
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-
Hallway of the Phoenix Arena/Second Floor
Taking a break from watching the battle matches at hand, Koenma decided it was time to speak with Yusuke about his Spirit Egg. With Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei watching the matches, Koenma escorted Yusuke across the hallway and started to speak with him in private.
"So, why are you dragging me out again? Those were two intense fights I was getting a kick out of," Yusuke scoffed.
"Oh, have you completely forgotten why I decided to bring you here? Or do you not remember what I mentioned yesterday?" Koenma sighed in disbelief. "It's about your Spirit Egg you dolt!"
"Oh, that... What's so important about that?"
"I guess you haven't forgotten the consequences of possessing that egg. If you had been good during this whole trial, a spirit beast would hatch to give you guidance. But, if you had been a total jerk and remained a selfish kid, a monster would devour you. Body and soul with nothing left. Seeing how have lived up to being a Spirit Detective, you have done plenty of good deeds, but you still are as brash when we first met."
"So, what now? Do I get a spirit beast or a monster to bite my head off?" Yusuke asked.
"It depends. It's about to hatch anytime now," the child ruler pulled out the golden egg out of his pocket.
However, this time the egg had slightly grown. It was about the size of a human baby. Yusuke was stunned in belief at how quickly the egg has grown over the past half year.
"What! You mean that's the egg you first gave me! It's huge!"
"Yes and the beast inside will be no bigger. In just a few moments, your fate will be decided."
"Well... Let's see, I expect a monster to come out," Yusuke said as he touched the egg. "I knew I would have something bad."
"Yusuke!" Keiko's voice called out to the boy.
The Spirit Detective turned around to find Keiko and Botan rushing over towards him. They stopped to find the egg Koenma was carrying with him. Botan stopped and gasped out while pointing out to the massive egg.
"Is... Is that the spirit egg of Yusuke's?" Botan asked while stuttering out.
"It would indeed be his Spirit Egg. It's getting ready to hatch as it is," Koenma nodded.
"That's one big chicken egg," Keiko pointed out.
Suddenly, just as Keiko pointed to the egg, it started to move about in Koenma's arms. He immediately threw it to Yusuke.
"Here, you catch it since it's your egg, Yusuke," Koenma stated.
"What!"
Before the egg even fell on the ground, Yusuke slid across and caught the egg in time. He felt it vibrating against his chest and cracking around the edges. The egg moved about more until more edges cracked. Yusuke looked down in anticipation of what will finally emerge out of the egg. It either comes down to a spirit beast or a monster to take away his body/soul.
"It's about to hatch!" Botan exclaimed. "Watch it, Yusuke!"
"Please, don't let it to be monster," Yusuke thought as he kept his eye on the hatching egg.
Within a few moments, the egg quickly hatched and caused the shell to shatter. Koenma, Keiko and Botan watched as a golden puff of smoke shrouded Yusuke. They coughed against the billowing smoke cloud and peered through to find what had hatched out of the Spirit Egg. It comes down to either a Spirit Beast or a body/soul devouring monster.
"So, what actually hatched out of that egg?" Keiko asked while coughing.
"We'll see soon enough," Koenma replied. "Yusuke! Are you all right?"
"Please tell me if you haven't been eaten yet!" Botan cried out. "I'd hate to see you get devoured just when you're about to compete today!"
"No, guys... As it turns out, I'm fine," scoffed Yusuke. "Some beast this turned out to be... Reaaaaaaaaally scary..."
As soon as the cloud was dissipating, Yusuke stood upright with his face crossed with a frustrated sneer. The creature that emerged out of the egg sat on top of Yusuke's head. Koenma, Botan and Keiko looked across. There were smiles crossed their faces. Then, they busted out in laughter. Yusuke quirked an eyebrow and wondered what had them laughing their heads off.
"Say, what's so funny? Where's the beast? My head is still attached. I still have a body a soul," Yusuke said as he checked all over his body. "Nothing worthy to see here..."
"Huh...? Um, you might want to check your head, Yusuke," Keiko giggled as she pointed towards the top of Yusuke's head. "Oh my gosh...!"
"My head?" Yusuke wondered and looked up above his head.
He looked up at what looked like a round-bodied puff ball. It was covered with blue feather-fur, had two small flippers, a pair of penguin feet and a tiny yellow beak. His eyes were round and adorable. A patch of jet, black hair appeared on his head. On the sides of the creature's head was a pair of ear-like flaps. Yusuke's face twisted with utter disbelief.
"So... Tell me... Is this thing the monster that came out of my Spirit Egg?" Yusuke asked while pointing up at the blue creature. "It looks like a penguin!"
"Yes and he has your hair!" Botan laughed heartily. "Oh my... This is just too funny! Ha! Ha!"
"Who would have thought Yusuke would have a twin? But this is just ridiculous!" Koenma busted out laughing while rolling on the ground.
"Ok... It's not that funny," Yusuke growled deeply as he picked the creature on top of his head. "And just what do they call you?"
Answering Yusuke, the blue creature leaped out of his arms and jumped up chirping, "PUU! PUU!"
"Puu? What you need to poo?"
"No, silly, that would be his name, I think," Keiko walked over and scooped Puu in her arms. "Oh you're so cute!"
"Great! Now I have a spirit beast that's cute! I spent all of those months worrying over nothing! What a damn waste!" Yusuke cursed. "Koenma! Botan! Is this your idea of a sick joke!"
"We didn't think it develop into that," Botan stated as she got up from the floor. "It just happened. However, I can tell you that it has inherited your traits, including that patch of black hair. Isn't it just adorable?"
"My ass! I'm going to kill you two for this!" Yusuke roared as he went to chase both Botan and Koenma. "Stupid Spirit Egg! Beast biting my head off? What a freaking joke!"
Keiko watched on from the sidelines as Yusuke was chasing Botan and Koenma around. She couldn't help but laugh at the crazy antics taking place.
"Puu? That's a really cute name for you," Keiko held the tiny spirit beast in her arms and smiled. "Just look at him... Isn't he just something, Puu? Yusuke..."
"Keiko!" the voice of Kuwabara called out from behind.
She immediately turned around to find Kuwabara walking up towards her. However, he wasn't alone. Kurama and Hiei walked ahead of him to find Yusuke chasing Botan and Koenma.
"Say, Urameshi is looking angry as usual. I wonder what they said to make him mad?" Kuwabara wondered before noticing Puu held in Keiko's arms. "Say, what's that you got there?"
"Well... Koenma held this really large chicken egg and this thing hatched out. He and Botan mentioned it was the spirit manifestation of Yusuke. Now, Yusuke is anxious to get his hands on those two for not telling him anything about the Spirit Beast turning out to be this cute thing."
"What! You mean this little blue guy is the Spirit Beast that Urameshi had to worry about all this time?" Kuwabara exclaimed before he, too, busted out in laughter. "Oh boy! Between Hiei's immediate crush on Mizuno and this, I can't tell what's funnier!"
"I can't quite decide myself either," Kurama covered his mouth to contain his chuckling.
"Mention that no good wench's name again and I'll make sure you are bowing before my feet," Hiei threatened Kuwabara.
"Don't be angry to admit that you have a thing for that Mizuno girl!" Kuwabara teased the short-stature fire apparition.
"Shut up, you fool! You stay out of my business!" Hiei snapped as he stepped out to confront Kuwabara.
"Calm yourselves, you two," Kurama calmly said to his two comrades. "Please, there's already a situation we have in our hands. If you haven't noticed, Yusuke is giving us quite a show by chasing Botan and Koenma."
"Well, I've got admit... Seeing that blue little fuzz ball associated with Yusuke makes me lose respect in the Spirit Detective," Hiei snorted. "Of all the creatures, why a blue little bird?"
"Yeah and top it off by adding Urameshi's hair on the top," Kuwabara chuckled. "Oh, man! Urameshi is a softy! You hear that? You're a softy, Urameshi! You just didn't want to admit!"
"After I'm done with these two, you're next, Kuwabara!" Yusuke yelled out in warning.
"Well, gee... Thanks for the warning! I'll be ready for you!" Kuwabara retorted.
Suddenly, there was an ominous, cloaked presence standing from behind a pillar. 'He' watched the Spirit Detectives gathered together and walked off down the hallways. The first to catch glimpse of this mysterious figure was Kurama. The half fox demon's senses were quick to detect the figure's presence. His eyes and nose sensed a fiery aura. It had to belong to one individual; one that Kurama had become very familiar with. Kurama's eyes narrowed carefully as thoughts clouded his mind.
"Brimstone...? You're still here... just as I expected..."
"Hey, Kurama! Come on over here and watch this! Now Urameshi has those two in a double headlock!" Kuwabara called out to the red-haired teen.
"Oh? Sorry about that," Kurama turned around and smiled. "Oh... Yusuke..."
Looking across at Yusuke, the fox demon watched him applying a double headlock on both Koenma and Botan. They struggled under his grip in hopes of breaking his hold.
"Oh, Yusuke, you're still the same as ever," Keiko sighed while nodding her head.
"Old habits die hard," Hiei replied.
"I'll say, especially for Urameshi," Kuwabara nodded in agreement. "I can't believe I'm actually agreeing with you of all people."
"Well, there's a first for everything I suppose."
Unbeknownst to them, another pair of individuals was watching them from afar. This time it was the controversial duo, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. They studied the Detectives carefully like hawks. It would be a matter of time before these two sides come into collision again. Perhaps, it could happen in one of the upcoming battle matches. Yusuke or Kurama could end up being paired off against Uranus. Anything at this point was possible.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
-
Other side of the Second Floor
On the other side of the arena hallways, Omegamon was walking down in search for Athenamon. He had wanted to discuss with her on important matters including their mission to stop Pharaohmon. There were no signs of Athenamon anywhere, but the Royal Knight was determined to find the Amazon Queen.
"Athenamon... Where are you? I even told you to meet me here," Omegamon scoffed. "Are you THAT upset about the loss yesterday?"
Just then, without Omegamon knowing, Athenamon herself arrived. She walked up carefully behind Omegamon. The Royal Knight was unaware of the Amazon Queen behind him, which gave her a chance to sneak up this close. She quickly spun him around. Then, with one unexpected move... She threw her arms around his neck and planted a long, hard kiss on his lips. Omegamon didn't know what to think. He couldn't pull himself off her with her arms tightening around his neck.
After the long kiss, still hugging him, she pressed her head against his chest. Then, there was a long, very awkward silence. Omegamon was the first to break this silence with a cough.
"My lady... What is the meaning of this...?" Omegamon gulped. "Why are you doing this?"
"..."
"Lady Athenamon?"
"You don't get it, do you, Royal Knight?" Mermaimon emerged from out a corner. "When a male warrior defeats an Amazon in battle, she must marry him. That kiss she gave you is the sacred Amazon's Kiss. It is a symbol of that covenant."
"Yeah," Jaguarmon spoke out as she hopped on Mermaimon's right shoulder. "Be lucky you aren't a female digimon, for when a female defeats an Amazon, the kiss symbolizes a blood oath. She would have to hunt you down until you or she is dead."
"You see, Omegamon... Yesterday, I was a drunken mess. By losing to you, I couldn't stand the thought of you being your bride. I just couldn't bring myself to lowering myself to being a man's slave. My pride would not allow it."
"My lady... This is all happening to quickly..."
"After our conversation at the tavern last night, I went off to brood. The more I thought about it, I... I slightly do admire you and am sort of grateful for what you've done," Athenamon slowly moved herself from Omegamon and looked him deeply into his eyes. "I thought about the fact that marrying wouldn't be so bad, because I, in fact, do love you."
"What!" Omegamon exclaimed. "Athenamon, are you still sober? You're telling me all of this now? This is happening too fast!"
"Normally, we would hate to welcome any male but you've defeated our queen fair and square," Darcmon stepped out from another corner. "You aren't so bad. You, too, have a warrior's spirit like all of us, especially our queen. You two are royal knights. It would be right for a marriage to occur between two knights."
"We're supportive of our queen and a ceremony just might happen soon. There's nothing you can do to change. We're already arranging it as we speak," Mermaimon stated. "So, looks like you're out of luck, mister, because you will be supportive of our queen!"
"By defeating our queen, you brought this upon yourself. So in the end, it was Lady Athenamon who got the last laugh," Jaguarmon snickered.
Pushing himself away from Athenamon, Omegamon backed away from the Amazons and found himself in a new predicament. Never would he thought about the possibility about a marriage with Athenamon, the Amazon Queen.
"My lady... Please, I only see you as a friend and a colleague. There's no need for us to take this to the next level. It's all too soon," a reluctant Omegamon backed off. "Please, reconsider this!"
"It's an honor bond tradition even you can't run away from. We'll chase you to the ends of the Digital World if you dare flee!" Darcmon threatened the Royal Knight. "If you break Athenamon's heart, we will not hesitate to kill you ourselves!"
"Besides, you're the first male to ever defeat an Amazon Queen in thousands of years. The only other Amazon queen to fall in defeat was the first one and her marriage was a blissful one," Mermaimon explained. "When her husband was killed in a battle, she was left a widow and made it clear that this would be a sacred tradition. When a male defeats the Amazon queen, the queen must give the victor the covenant Amazon Kiss and a marriage between those two warriors is to occur. No exceptions. So, congratulations, Omegamon. You're going to be Athenamon's beloved husband. So, don't you try anything funny or you will deal with us!"
Upon hearing all of this, including the history lesson, Omegamon couldn't handle anymore of this. He walked off down the hall to clear his mind. The Amazons watched him depart and whispered amongst themselves. Athenamon happily waved to Omegamon as he left but her smile turned into that of a frown. She punched her fist through a wall and growled angrily.
"That man! He doesn't believe in the sacred tradition and he calls himself an honor bond warrior!" Athenamon angrily cried. "Girls! If it's the last thing we do, you must make sure to hunt down that idiot and make sure he understands the tradition of the Amazon Kiss! He will become my husband, no matter what!"
"Yes, my lady!" the Amazons cried out in unison.
Before Athenamon and the Amazons departed from the hall, the troublemaker herself showed up just in time to find the Amazon Queen. This troublemaker was none other than Witchmon herself.
"Um, who are you?" Athenamon asked. "What is your business with us?"
"My name is Witchmon, your highness! I just can't help but notice your recent proposal to Omegamon! I'm happy to know that you've found your soul mate!" Witchmon giggled as she shook Athenamon's hands happily. "I'm so proud of you!"
"Eh? You are?" Athenamon asked until an idea came into mind. "Perhaps, you can help me win Omegamon over to me?"
"I can...?"
"Yes, do you happen to make any love potions of the sort?"
"Um... Yeah..."
"Then, would you like to join us for the time being? We can conduct business."
"Oh! Thank you, my lady! I won't let you down!"
"Yes, now I can win Omegamon to me without any trouble. Who said I was dense?" Athenamon snickered in thought. "Come we have important matters to discuss, Witchmon."
"I'm at your service, my queen!" Witchmon saluted the royal knight.
Meanwhile, down on the other side of the hallways, Omegamon stopped to catch his breath. He couldn't believe what he had undergone. By defeating the Amazon queen and receiving the kiss, he is bound to marry her. If he even thought about fleeing, he would be considered dishonorable even to the Royal Knight code. He let out a deep sigh of relief but not long as a pair of chuckling figures approached him.
Omegamon lifted his head to find Skull Satanmon and Marine Devimon laughing amongst themselves. Why were they laughing? The Royal Knight stood upright and had hoped he didn't run into anymore nuisances.
"May I ask what's so funny? Shouldn't you two be kissing Pharaohmon's feet right now?" Omegamon growled. "I don't have time to deal with you two idiots."
"Oh look! It's the honor bound knight who can't even look a woman in the eye! Some warrior you are! Wait until we tell our buddies about this!" Marine Devimon busted out laughing. "Ha! Oh my... What a joke! Omegamon dug his own grave by receiving that Amazon Kiss! I thought you would have known your Digital World history!"
"You've finally met your doom through this marriage!" Skull Satanmon laughed. "Looks like you'll be cleaning up Athenamon's temple and rubbing her feet! Ha! What a maroon!"
"As far as being a Royal Knight, you're a freaking joke! Omegamon the softy who can't even look the great Athenamon in the eye! You're going to be a laughing stock! The Digital World will never forget this!" Marine Devimon continued on. "Please, can you sign our autographs? Oh Great Omegamon! Your name should be Omegamon Wuss Mode! Ha! Ha!"
Omegamon's body flared with a bright golden aura. He clearly heard enough from these two idiots. He raised his Metalgarurumon hand and swung it across.
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!
The force of the blow slammed against the two noodle-brainers. They were sent hurtling out of a window and upwards towards the skies.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT AGAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!" the two demon digimon's voices echoed across the heavens.
Letting out a deep sigh of relief, Omegamon walked down the hallway and looked for an empty room to help clear his mind. Today has already started off badly for Omegamon. He can only wonder how much worse it will be for him. Time will only tell.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
-
Paradise/Sector Paradise-0997
Back at the Paradise realm, the duel between Yugi Muto and Himura Tsubasa was still in session. Floramon was there to give live coverage of the duel with Tapirmon as her cameraman. Watching on from beyond the realm was the ominous presence of both Goddramon and Holydramon.
Yugi and Himura faced each other with sheer determination. Neither one were counting on a defeat and knew only one would advance to the next round. Could the goddess of victory smile upon Yugi or will Himura achieve his dream of triumphing over the legendary King of Games? This duel would decide the end result.
"We continue live coverage of the duel between Yugi and Himura! The boy who had just miraculously awakened from his coma is now in the lead over the King of Games! He leads with 5400 life points over Yugi's 4300, but there is always room for a comeback! We'll see just how Yugi will pull himself out of this predicament!"
"Himura... I do believe it is my turn," Yugi smiled while adding a new card to his hand. "First, I'll summon the Skull Mariner in attack mode!"
Laying out the card on the field, the monster revealed was a pirate ship with a red skeleton on the front.
Skull Mariner
1600/900/4 star
"Next, I'll switch my Gamma into defense mode," the King of Games switched his monster into a face-up defense stance. "And I'll send my Magician of Black Chaos to attack your facedown defense card! Lay his card to waste, Magician!"
The Magician fired out a shot from his scepter and incinerated the facedown card. It was Ancient One of the Deep Forest, a goat with red eyes, tiny wings and five bushy tails.
Ancient One of the Deep Forest
1800/1900/6 star
Since the goat was in defense mode, no damage was inflicted on Himura's life points. However, Yugi was not finished with his turn.
"Now, before finishing my turn, I'll send my Skull Mariner to attack your life points directly!"
The ship moved towards Himura's direction and attempted to ram him with force. The boy managed to maneuver to the side but not long as the red skeleton jumped out and elbowed Himura in the gut. The boy took the blow and staggered back. The skeleton hopped back inside the ship and rowed it backwards to Yugi's side. Though Himura did not suffer too much damage from the skeleton's elbow shot, his life points were still taken away.
Himura
Life points: 3800 (5400-1600)
"That ends my turn, Himura. Anything, you'd like to offer in retaliation?"
"As a matter of fact, I do," Himura nodded and added a card to his hand. "Ah! Perfect! The card I drew will keep you at bay! I bring forth the Swords of Revealing Light!"
"Oh no! Not now!"
"I'm glad you're familiar with this card!"
Yugi watched as a pair of golden swords dropped down around him and his monsters into the shape of a circle. They became surrounded by a barrier around the swords.
"With the swords in place, you can't attack me for three whole turns! I end my turn there! I hope you have something to offer since I prevented you from attacking me. Looks like this duel is going to be mine after all."
"Don't count me out just yet," Yugi retorted and added a new card to his hand. "I'll sacrifice my Skull Mariner to place out a facedown defense card in its place. Next, I'll switch my Gamma to attack mode. That's all I can do. There's only two turns until these swords release me."
"Well, seeing as I can't do anything. I'll end my turn phase here."
"This gives more than enough time to prepare once these swords are gone," Yugi said. "Now, I'll sacrifice my Gamma and replace it with another facedown defense monster! I'll flip a card over to over my facedown monster! Come forth my Dark Magician Girl!"
Summoned forth to the field was a beautiful blonde-haired girl wearing a light blue magician's outfit with a pink trim. She flipped out in front of Yugi gracefully and stood by side like a guardian protecting her pharaoh.
Dark Magician Girl
2000/1700/6 star
"Since I sacrificed my Dark Magician earlier on to summon Magician of Black Chaos, my Dark Magician Girl's attack power is increased by three hundred points!"
Dark Magician Girl
ATK: 2300 (2000 + 300)
Himura couldn't believe this. Now Yugi was getting the best of him by summoning forth another powerful magician to give aid to the Magician of Black Chaos. How could Himura hope to contend against two mighty Magicians at once?
"Whoa... Two magicians? I know about your mastery with your magician cards, Yugi, but it's still not going to make a difference. When those swords are gone, I'm going to launch an offensive that even your magicians cannot hope to withstand. Now, since I can't do anything, I'll pass on this turn."
"All right then! I'll set one card facedown in defense mode! Next, I'll flip my other facedown defense card to reveal a second Dark Magician Girl in attack mode!"
"A second one! No! I didn't think you'd have a second one!"
Flipping his second facedown card, the second Dark Magician Girl emerged and stood by Yugi's left side. Now, Himura must contend with not two but three magicians at once! The situation was not turning out the way Himura had intended. He was overestimating his own dueling abilities and overlooking Yugi. This would eventually come back to haunt him.
Also, thanks to sacrifice of Dark Magician to summoning the Magician of Black Chaos, an additional three hundred points was added to the second Dark Magician Girl.
Dark Magician Girl
ATK: 2300 (2000 + 300)
"Not just that, Himura, but the effects of your Swords of Revealing is finished. That sets me and my monsters free to attack next turn!" Yugi stated.
The swords quickly dispersed from off the field. With Yugi's turn over, Himura drew a card out and added it to his hand.
"Since its back to my turn, I'll first summon another Vorse Raider in attack mode!" Himura laid out the newly drawn card to reveal his monster. "Next, I'll activate Axe of Despair! This will increase the attack power of any one monster by a thousand points! So, I'm equipping it to my Vorse Raider!"
A new battle axe appeared in Vorse Raider's right hand and increased his attack power by a thousand points more.
Vorse Raider
ATK: 2900 (1900 + 1000)
"That makes him stronger than your Magician of Black Chaos by a hundred points! Now, Vorse Raider! Slay his Magician of Black Chaos!"
"No!" Yugi exclaimed as he witnessed the axe wielding beast charge forward.
Vorse Raider raised his medieval weapon and slashed down the Magician of Black Chaos in half through the waistline. The magician howled in excruciating pain before breaking down into data fragments.
Yugi
Life points: 4200 (4300-100)
"Yes, but by destroying my Magician of Black Chaos, you allow my two Magician Girls' attack powers to increase with three hundred more additional points!"
Dark Magician Girl #1
ATK: 2600 (2300 + 300)
Dark Magician Girl #2
ATK: 2600 (2300 + 300)
"Well, I just hope they're ready to get skewered by my Vorse Raider on my next turn!" Himura laughed. "Well, I end my turn there. Anything to sacrifice to my monster?"
"No, but I can do this!" Yugi revealed the Dark Hole card. "I activate Dark Hole!"
"That means..."
"All of our monsters are gone, including your Vorse Raider!"
"But your Magician Girls will be gone, too!"
"It's a price to pay, Himura!"
A large hole appeared at the center of the field. Both Dark Magician Girls and the Vorse Raider were absorbed down the hole. Both sides of the duelists' fields were now empty.
"To finish my turn, I'll set one card facedown."
"I think I'll place a card facedown, too," Himura said after drawing a new card to his hand. "I end my turn!"
"I, too, will place another card facedown! That ends my turn!"
Himura drew out a card from his deck and smiled once realizing what he drew. He immediately summons the monster card to the field.
"Now, we're getting somewhere!" Himura laughed. "I summon my Master and Expert card!"
Appearing on Himura's side was a man with a Hell-Hound. This creature and man clearly was representing both Himura and Inumon. Yugi looked across and realized the similarities.
Master & Expert
1200/1000/4 star
"I see you have a card that reminds you of the bond between you and Inumon," Yugi pointed out.
"This too is one of our favorite cards and I will use this same card to ensure me victory!"
"Perhaps, but you will have to try! You just triggered my trap card! I activate Call of the Haunted!"
"What! Call of the Haunted?"
"With this card, I can select one monster from my graveyard and special summon it in an attack position! I'm equipping this with the monster of my choice and I choose to special summon... my Magician of Black Chaos!"
"You're bringing your mighty Magician again!"
"That's right, Himura! You thought you'd be seeing the last of him? Well, obviously, I've proven you wrong!" Yugi declared.
The Magician of Black Chaos was quickly resurrected back on the field and stood by Yugi protectively.
"I didn't see this coming, but I'm glad you're getting more serious dueling against me. I'm happy to know that you're not willing to hold back! You see... This is just what I expect from the King of Games! You impress every time, Yugi."
"I can say the same to you, Himura..."
"Let us continue! Since my turn is finished, let's see what you can do!"
"Gladly, Magician of Black Chaos! Destroy his Master & Expert with your Scepter Blast!"
Pointing his scepter, the Magician directed it towards Master & Expert monster. It was destroyed by the overwhelming force of the Magician's magic power.
Himura
Life points: 2200 (3800-1600)
"With that, I end my turn," Yugi declared.
"Nice shot there, Yugi! But it's going to take more than that to put me down! Now, it's my move!" Himura added a new card to his deck. "The card I just drew... I will activate it! The Change of Heart! With this I can take control of anyone of your monsters for one whole turn! You know which monster I'm planning to take from you!"
"Oh no! You wouldn't..."
"That's right! I'll use it to 'borrow' your Magician of Black Chaos! Kind of ironic how I'm going to use your own monster to take a chunk out of your life points!" Himura smiled as the Magician of Black Chaos floated to his side. "Now, Magician of Black Chaos! Attack Yugi's life points directly!"
"You didn't think I'd be prepared in case something like this would ever occur? Life is full of surprises, Himura. This duel is no different! By attacking me, you just caused me to activate a trap card! Mirror Force!"
"Oh no!"
As the Magician directed his attack, it slammed against a protective barrier and was destroyed in the process.
"The Call of the Haunted also has a secondary effect. Since my Magician equipped with this card has been destroyed, that card will also be destroyed."
"You did it again, Yugi. Heh. You sure were prepared for me. I'll give you all the credit in the world. You are one of the best, perhaps even the best, but I will be remembered for this. Just you wait and see..."
"We both will be commended by duelists alike for years to come. You have a bright future, Himura."
"Well... Enough of the mushy stuff. That ends my turn."
"All I can do now is set one card facedown in defense mode," Yugi laid out his newly drawn card.
Drawing a card to his hand, Himura laid out that same card and it was revealed to be another Vorse Raider.
"I summon another Vorse Raider in attack mode!" Himura shouted. "Now, Vorse Raider! Attack his facedown defense card!"
Charging across the field, the Vorse Raider stomped across and destroyed the facedown card. It was revealed to be a purple-haired woman wearing blue robes wielding a staff with a crescent moon on top of it. It was the Magician of Faith. Since this monster was in defense mode, no points were deducted from Yugi.
Magician of Faith
300/400/1 star
However...
"By destroying my Magician of Faith, its effect has been activated! I can choose a magic card from my graveyard and put it directly into my hand," Yugi stated as he pulled out a magic card he chose from his graveyard.
"I don't know what you're planning, but... I will not come away losing! I will think of something to defeat you! My turn ends if you wanted to know."
"That's all I need to hear," Yugi smiled. "Now, I'll activate Raigeki! This card destroys all monsters from your side of the field! That means that your Vorse Raider is gone!"
"Not! My Vorse Raider!" Himura exclaimed as he watched another one of his Vorse Raiders be destroyed before his very own eyes.
"Finally, I'll activate... Monster Reborn! With this, I'll resurrect and special summon my Magician of Black Chaos!"
"No! Not your Magician again!"
Reappearing before Yugi was the majestic Magician of Black Chaos. He pointed its scepter directly at Himura and prepared to fire away at will.
"Now, my Magician! End this duel and wipe out his life points!" Yugi declared.
Following Yugi's command, the Magician unleashed a powerful magic blast from his scepter and watched it engulf Himura completely. The boy screamed out as all of his life points dropped down to zero. The duel has now been decided. Himura, despite his efforts, was unable to dethrone the King of Games. Yugi Muto has won.
Himura
Life Points: 0 (2200-2800)
"With only 2200 left, the Magician's blast was 2800! That dealt the final blow and has won Yugi Muto the match!" Floramon announced. "What a duel! This was what I've wanted to see! An honorable duel with no dark magic involved! You have to admire Himura though. He gave it his all!"
Kneeling down on the ground, Himura panted heavily and attempted to get up. He strained heavily until The Pharaoh walked over to him. The King of Games extended his hand to Himura. The Tsubasa boy accepted his hand and pulled himself up with Yugi's help.
"Yugi... That was a great duel. This is exactly what I've expected from you, friend."
"You dueled with your heart, Himura. It was an honor to duel you," Yugi smiled "Unlike our previous opponents, we dueled honorably and it's how a duel should really be contested. No tricks, shadow magic or manipulation. You've proven to me there are duelists with honor."
"Thank you, Yugi. It was my dream to duel with you and I have fulfilled it. It would have been sweeter if I had won."
"Winning or losing does not matter as long as there are no high stakes involved, like saving one's soul. In this case, it was a duel to determine who the better man was. I came out on top, but you still come out looking like a winner in my view."
"You don't know how much those words mean to me," Himura said as he stepped back. "But... I want to know what happened to... Lord Anubimon."
"..."
"Since our duel is through, I want to know what happened to Anubimon. He wasn't there when I awoke and he was one of the first I expected to see..."
"Himura, I... I don't know how to break this to you," Yugi sighed as he remained silent for a few moments.
"What...? How did he do in his match? At least, tell me that. If he didn't win, then that was expected. I know how powerful Pharaohmon is..."
"But you weren't there to see that monster achieve eight percent of his strength! It was truly a frightening experience! Beelzebumon was hospitalized. Agunimon managed to survive and advanced to the next round. Anubimon... He didn't win but he..."
"He, what? Just tell me already!" Himura demanded. "What happened?"
"Lord Anubimon has died..." Goddramon's voice thundered out from the dimension.
Upon hearing this shocking revelation, Himura spun around and felt his body grows cold. His heart immediately stopped and every muscle in his body stiffened in shock. Yugi walked over to Himura and held him up from collapsing.
"Anubimon...? No, that can't be true," Himura gasped out as his face turned pale. "It can't be..."
"Himura, you just come out of a coma. Please, calm down," Yugi said to Himura. "If you just let Goddramon and Holydramon speak..."
"Pharaohmon killed him...? That monster! Damn it!" Himura screamed out as he pushed Yugi away. "No! This can't be true!"
"I'm afraid it is, Himura," Goddramon sighed.
Suddenly, two enormous dragons emerged from out of the darkness. The room soon became radiated with a brilliant, heavenly light. The first dragon to emerge was golden dragon beast wearing a silver metallic mask. Numerous symbols and markings plastered across his body and face mask. A pair of wings sprouted from his back, however, both sides contrasted with one another. The right side had a pair of black angel wings and the left side was a pair of white wings. His body itself was elongated like a serpent's. A pair of gazelle-like horn protruded at the front of his mask. The beast's eyes were crimson and intimidating yet they also had a gentle glare to them. This really depended on his mood and he was currently at peace with the two duelists. This monster was the majestic Goddramon.
(Goddramon. Mega-level. Holy Dragon Digimon. God Flame & Summon)
The other was a serpent-bodies rose pink dragon. Her limbs were short yet clawed. Six pairs of tiny angel wings sprouted on side of her body. A lion's mane surrounded her neck to give her an intimidating beast presence. Her face, too, was lion-like. The beast's eyes were emerald green and a pair of antelope horns protruded out of her front head. This monster was Holydramon.
(Holydramon. Mega-level. Holy Dragon Digimon. Holy Flame & Apocalypse)
"Are these really Holydramon and Goddramon? The two watchers of Paradise?" Floramon shouted. "Whoa... I'm speechless!"
"Yes, these are the majestic watchers of Paradise," Himura introduced them to everyone. "That's besides the point... You all knew Lord Anubimon died? Why didn't you all tell me when I awoke?"
"Because we didn't want to ruin your chances of dueling," Yugi answered. "If you had not arrived when you did, you would have been surely disqualified. If our friends had told you beforehand, you wouldn't have concentrated hard."
"But, you guys held back the truth... I... I don't know what I can say... I can't even look at you!"
"Himura... I'm sorry," Yugi sighed.
"That's not enough to bring Lord Anubimon back!" Himura screamed out. "Don't you get it? He was the closest to me besides Kotori, Inumon and Yui!"
"Himura! Please, control yourself! Especially after what you promised Kotori in your comatose state," Goddramon reminded the boy.
"That's right... I remember," Himura sighed and nodded. "But, Lord Anubimon... God... He's gone... All thanks to that damn Pharaohmon. Now I have another good reason to see that demon die!"
"But you have us, Himura. We're your friends and we will stand by your side to the end," Yugi got up and smiled to Himura. "You know what Anubimon said before he died?"
"What...?" Himura started to tear up. "What did he say?"
"He said that we must fight against time. Pharaohmon threw away his soul by joining a Dark God. Yes, Himura... Pharaohmon was once Anubimon's friend."
"No, that can't be true! I knew Anubimon had a friend that betrayed him but I never thought it would be Pharaohmon... That just isn't possible."
"It is, Himura," Holydramon spoke up. "Now, you and everyone must band together to prevent Pharaohmon from winning this tournament. By uniting, your combined strength will be enough to bring that demon down and avenge Lord Anubimon's death. Please, don't walk away from this battle. We need you."
"Who said I was going to run away? I'd be a fool to leave my friends behind!" Himura shouted.
"That's right. The decisions you make will affect those all around you. By joining your friends, you will help to ensure Pharaohmon's demise. We stay true to our word," Goddramon stated promptly.
"I hope that you're right," Himura said with fists clenched. "I will carry out Anubimon's honor and Kotori's promise. I will help you guys crush Pharaohmon at any cost!"
Smiling, Yugi gave Himura a pat on his right shoulder.
"I know you'll help us through, Himura. You are apart of the team. You, I, Takato, Takuya, Inumon, Omegamon and everyone else will stand united together. Today will mark the end for that monster. I guarantee it."
"I believe you, Yugi," Himura nodded as he walked towards the King of Games. "Oh... Before I go, Goddramon and Holydramon..."
"Yes, Himura?" the dragons asked simultaneously.
"Thank you for telling me. That's all I needed to hear. I know Anubimon is resting peacefully and wishes this whole nightmare just end."
"It will, Himura. It will end," Holydramon assured the boy. "Now go out there and make Lord Anubimon proud!"
"We will! Count on it, your lordships," Yugi bowed in respect.
As soon as they prepared to depart, a portal opened up behind them. Yugi and Himura nodded to one another before stepping through. Floramon and Tapirmon were quick to follow before the doorway closed up in front of them. With everyone departing from the dimension, only Goddramon and Holydramon remained behind.
"Good luck, heroes of the Digital World," Goddramon said before disappearing across the horizon with Holydramon. "Conquer this great darkness."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
-
Phoenix Arena/Battle & Duel Platforms
Back in the arena, the two battle matches were still in session. The crowds were heavily getting into the heavy action and got their moneys worth. They had also witnessed the end of a well contested duel between Yugi and Himura. They also witnessed the presence of the two watchers of Paradise, which stunned everyone. Pharaohmon was amongst those watching the big screen.
The demon watched carefully from his skybox and smiled. He overheard Himura and Yugi's vow to defeat Pharaohmon. In his presence of mind, there wasn't anything these 'peons' could hope to stop him. However, he also caught glimpse of the battle matches at hand. Gallantmon and Wolfmon were quite impressive. He hoped that he would face either one of them during the next rounds in the tournament. He showed great interest is displaying more of his demonic strength against them.
In Arena A, Gallantmon was already back to his feet and ready to go for the finishing blow. During the course of the match, Angedramon hadn't hoped for Gallantmon to be recovering so quickly and knocking away her holy attacks. She aimed her staff forward and shot another powerful Holy Apocalypse. The Royal Knight saw this attack coming forth and dodged away to the side. He quickly phased out of Angedramon's sight and caught her off guard. Just as she was prepared to take flight, Gallantmon reappeared by her side and aimed his shield directly at Angedramon. The female's eyes widened as a massive beam came firing out of the shield and struck her body first.
"SHIELD OF THE JUST!"
Before Angedramon had time to react, the blast caught her and pushed her downwards. The force of the blow caused her body to arch forward and slam through the ring surface. The female lost a large amount of her power and de-digivolved back into Felinismon. Gallantmon levitated down from mid-air and dropped down to one knee.
"There goes Angedramon and she immediately de-digivolves back to Felinismon! Looks like the deal is sealed for the valiant feline! Etemon is there to make the count, but I think it's obvious we know who the winner truly is! However, let's give credit where credit is due! Felinismon put up quite the effort!"
Back in Arena B, Beowulfmon had taken over the battle against Shadow Metalgarurumon. It was just a while ago during the heat of the duel where Shadow Metalgarurumon was overwhelming Garmmon with a heavy assault. This led to Kouji de-evolving back and using 'Fusion Evolution' to become the mighty Beowulfmon.
Wielding his sword, Beowulfmon stepped into a battle stance. His eyes locked onto Shadow Metalgarurumon; he aimed and rapidly raced across the ring. The metallic wolf sped off towards him at just about the same time. Both raced towards each other with one goal in mind: victory. For Shadow Metalgarurumon, it was to win for Yui. For Beowulfmon, it was to advance to the next round and hopes of facing Piedmon. There would indeed be one winner. Raising his sword overhead, Beowulfmon summoned forth a large spirit wolf with crimson eyes dimming. With one loud cry, the Warrior of Light directed his attack towards Shadow Metalgarurumon.
"FROZEN HUNTER!"
The metallic wolf continued his charge until the spirit wolf engulfed him completely. He didn't feel any excruciating pain at first but that soon changed as he howled in pain from attack's flare. As a creature of darkness, the light was too much for him to bear and thus weakened him in the process. Beowulfmon turned around and watched Shadow Metalgarurumon collapse. The mega de-evolved back into Dark Gabumon. Beowulfmon sheathed his sword as he fell to one knee to catch his breath.
"Now, Shadow Metalgarurumon goes down! He has turned back to Dark Gabumon but still managed to give a good fight to Beowulfmon! Etemon is already on seven back in Arena A!"
"...Eight! Nine! Ten!" Etemon exclaimed while signaling to the announcer. "Felinismon was unable to answer the ten count! Therefore, Gallantmon is your winner!"
"There you have it! Gallantmon is the first name to advance to the quarter-finals! That just leaves a winner to be decided in Arena B. However, it looks like Dark Gabumon is out for the count!" Lillymon exclaimed.
Gallantmon walked over to the fallen Felinismon, kneeled over and placed her over his right shoulder. He turned away while leaving Arena A. Suddenly, he stopped to find the Duel Dome descending down from the ceiling.
"Here comes the Duel Dome to drop our duelists off back to the arena. I must say that we should give those two a standing ovation for their valiant efforts in producing us an excellent and hard fought duel!"
As the dome stadium opened, Himura and Yugi were the first to step out. Gallantmon walked over to his comrades and waved to them.
"Great duel, you guys! You sure gave them a good show just like you promised them!" Gallantmon nodded.
"Looks like you went a little too rough on Felinismon there, Gallantmon," The Pharaoh pointed out at the unconscious Felinismon.
"She'll be just fine. I made sure not to go overboard with my attack," replied Gallantmon. "Besides, Jeri would kill me if something had happened to her."
"Well, you now advance to the next round, Gallantmon. Congratulations," Himura commended the royal knight.
"Thank you. So you and I are going to have some tough competition in the next round, Yugi."
"Perhaps, but we have yet to learn about our opponents. It'll be a little while before I duel again," Yugi stated.
"Well, we know the winner of... Dark Gabumon!" Himura raced over towards Arena B. "Beowulfmon! I hope you went easy on that attack because you just clearly knocked Dark Gabumon out for a loop!"
"Yeah, well... He's just fine. My aim wasn't to destroy him. I know how much he means to your sister," Beowulfmon assured Himura. "Good dueling, Himura, you have a warrior's spirit."
"Thanks, Kouji."
"...Nine! Ten!" Etemon called out and gave a signal to Lillymon. "For not answering before the ten count, Dark Gabumon has been declared eliminated! Beowulfmon wins and advances to the next round!"
"We have our first two official winners of the Shadow Tournament!" announced Lillymon. "Gallantmon and Beowulfmon advance to the next round! Give it up for these competitors! They gave us an excellent opening show!"
With the audience heavily applauding the competitors, Beowulfmon walked over to Dark Gabumon and carried up on his back. He stepped out the Arena B and walked down with Himura. Gallantmon and The Pharaoh caught up with them. The group headed down towards the entranceway to meet up with the others in the infirmary center.
Having seen Beowulfmon coming out victorious, Bokomon jumped out of his seat and hollered out with a megaphone. The digimon around him were a bit taken back by the bookworm's sudden outburst.
"WAY TO GO, KOUJI! YOU DID IT, MY BOY!" Bokomon screamed out through the megaphone. "You see that everyone? That Beowulfmon is a dear friend of mine! I am honored to see that boy coming out a winner! Oh, Kouji, how you and the legendary warriors have made me proud!"
"Um, hey, rabbit?" an Ogremon whispered into Neemon's ear. "You know that whack job?"
"Um... Who?" Neemon tilted his head.
"Never mind..."
"What's a whack job?" wondered Neemon before shrugging his shoulders. "I'm hungry for some pretzels..."
Also watching from the audience stands were the three Dra-Warriors: Flamedramon, Luzdramon and Panzerdramon. They studied the crowd around them and avoided any food being thrown across. Flamedramon was nearly struck in the head by a beer bottle.
"Whew, thank goodness I was able to dodge those last beer bottles," Flamedramon wiped his forehead. "Those were some great matches and well worth the pay!"
"Of course, you know that's not why we're here, Flamedramon," Luzdramon reminded him. "We're here to scout the arena and check for anything unusual."
"Right and report anything peculiar to Imperialdramon-sama," Panzerdramon nodded. "Where is he anyway?"
"He said he'd meet with us or our two colleagues helping those human girls find the priestess sword," Luzdramon stated. "Either way, he will come. Then, we can help these earth heroes against Pharaohmon."
"So, for the time being, we're just here to watch the festivities?" Flamedramon asked.
"Until Pharaohmon competes again," Panzerdramon said. "Flamedramon, I thought you would know all the information presented to you by Imperialdramon."
"Well, I didn't have time to read the whole report. I was in a hurry to get here."
"Yeah, just leave it to our valiant leader to get the job done," Luzdramon sighed. "I should have been leader."
"Don't worry. We have a long day, fellas. Maybe later, we can go about and search the arena. I know there are some of Pharaohmon's goons causing some trouble."
"Really? Oh, in that case, we better go and put a stop to their little fun," Luzdramon smiled. "Right, Panzerdramon?"
"Oh, yeah! We know a surprise that's going to blow their minds!"
"Gee, I wonder what that is?" Flamedramon rolled his eyes. "Well, Ninjadramon. Herodramon. We're counting on you two in helping those girls find that sword. With us three here covering the arena, let's hope that sword will stop Pharaohmon before the two worlds are his."
"We wrap up the first of our second day matches! Yugi has advanced to the next round and awaits the winner of the next duel, whoever the two duelists maybe. Now, it's been confirmed that Guilmon and Wolfmon advance to the next round! Their opponents have yet to be determined until we complete all of our battle matches before the quarter-final rounds! Next, we will be taking a five minute break period to allow the ring crew to clean up the mess and allow the competitors to get themselves ready. In the meantime, I will be drawing out names from a lottery to determine who competes against whom in our three matches! Until then, feel free to visit our snack stands!"
With that said Lillymon shut off her microphone and flew off to find the lottery basket she was provided for by the tournament committee. The matches would be decided by random drawings from two baskets: one for the duel tournament and the other for the battle tournament. The anticipation was high and it was impossible for anyone to guess what match pairings will be announced next.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
-
Phoenix Arena/Infirmary Center/Himura's Room
Watching the results of the matches, the group was happy to see great sportsmanship and no bloodbaths. Especially considering what happened yesterday with Nemesis nearly killing Himura, Lance torturing Kenta and Pharaohmon murdering Anubimon. This was a fresh of relief for the Tamers, the Duelists and the Legendary Warriors.
Jeri was glad to see Felinismon pulling out all the stops and fighting in her new mega form. Despite the loss, she was clearly proud of her digimon's efforts. The same concerned for Yui. Not only was she proud for Dark Gabumon but was happy to see her brother realizing his dream of dueling Yugi.
The door opened up behind them. Everyone turned around to find Guilmon carrying Felinismon on his back, the Pharaoh, Kouji with Dark Gabumon on his back and Himura.
"Himura! Felinismon!" Jeri ran over to her friends and kneeled beside Felinismon. "Guilmon, did you really have to go so hard on her?"
"Heh, sorry, I just couldn't help my strength," Guilmon rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.
"Guilmon. You'll never learn," Takato rolled his eyes as he approached his partner.
"Himura! Oh, thank goodness! You dueled well out there!" Yui commended her brother. "Dark Gabumon did well, too. Your losses don't matter because you two gave it your very best."
"Thanks, Yui," Himura smiled. "Thanks for not going crazy out there with my sister's digimon, Kouji."
"Nah, Dark Gabumon really gave it his all out there. I was impressed, but I've dealt with guys at his level before," Kouji gave Himura a wink.
"Heh, I can't doubt that for a minute there," Himura agreed.
"That was some duel you guys," Takuya approached Yugi and Himura. "It was a nice fresh of breath air to see a fair duel."
"Especially one that doesn't involve shadow spells," Kenta nodded. "Thank goodness I was saved by you, Marine Angemon."
"Pi! Pi!" the tiny mega digimon squeaked out.
"In any case, we must be cautious," Renamon replied to everyone in the room. "Lance is still in this tournament.
"That's right, you guys. Nothing is cool as long as that guy is in this tournament," Joey stated.
"We should find Kaiba and warn him," the Pharaoh suggested. "If he is put against Lance, there's no telling what shadow spells he has store for Kaiba."
"Like he'll ever listen to us," Tristan shrugged. "He'll again pass it off as some 'stupid trick'."
"I mean look where we are! A Digital World and I don't see Kaiba refusing to acknowledge its existence," Tea nodded in agreement. "I guess anything dealing with technology or digital reality is dream for him."
"Sounds like one swell guy," Ryo spoke up.
"You don't know the half of it, buddy," Duke sighed heavily.
"Himura, it's good to have you back, buddy," Inumon hugged Himura tightly.
"Ack! Can't breathe here!"
"Whoops, sorry about that," the dark canine chuckled. "Anyway, what did you talk to Goddramon about? You and Yugi that is..."
"You guys don't have to hide it anymore," Himura informed everyone. "Goddramon told me everything about Anubimon's fate..."
"He did...? And you're taking it rather well," Jaarin said.
"I was upset and broke down as you clearly saw on the big screen. I wanted to blame you for not telling me sooner, but it's a good thing I waited until after the duel. Otherwise, I wouldn't have performed well against Yugi. When Yugi told me about Anubimon's last request, I'm more determined than ever to stand with you guys to the end. We want Pharaohmon defeated as soon as possible. Isn't that right?"
"That's right, Himura," Rika nodded. "You don't know how much we wanted to hear that from you. No offense, but I was honestly sick of your moping."
"None taken. Besides, being comatose has helped to clear my head," Himura smiled. "Inumon, you're in this tournament and I know you won't let us down."
"You can count on me!" Inumon saluted his partner. "I hope I get paired off against that damn snake! He deserves a good ass kicking!"
"And it'll be us duelists to prevent Lance from winning," the Pharaoh stated.
"Count me in. Anything to kick the snot out of that brat," Mai slammed her left fist against her right hand.
"Fired up as always, huh, Mai?" Joey poked Mai in the arm.
"Always, Joseph."
"We're so going to own this tournament... Well, at least the duel portion of it," Kazu cracked a smile. "Lance has to contend with Chumly, Yugi, Joey, Mai, Rika and Kaiba! The odds are so stacked against him!"
"Let's hope so," Lopmon said.
"Lance is so screwed!" Guardromon agreed with his partner.
"Then again, I have to wonder what Lance and Pharaohmon could be scheming. They aren't the types to enter a battle without a backup plan. After what they were capable of inflicting yesterday, we have to enter these tournaments with extreme caution," Yugi spoke through the Pharaoh's thoughts. "We must be extremely careful. The fates of the two worlds are at stake."
Takato took notice of Yugi's reminder and realized what they were truly fighting for. It was to prevent Pharaohmon from taking the two worlds. Nothing was going to hold them back from protecting their world and stopping the demon's momentum. It was all or nothing.
"I know, Yugi. I know what we must do," Takato whispered.
"Attention everyone! This is your lovely hostess, Lillymon speaking! I have drawn two of the random lottery picks for our next duel! The next duelists to compete next will be Joey Wheeler and Mai Valentine!"
As soon as this announcement was made, Joey squeaked out in shock and slowly shifted his eyes towards Mai. The blonde-haired beauty simply crossed her arms and smiled proudly.
"Well, you heard the nice Lillymon, Joseph. We're up next!"
"But, I'm dueling against you..."
"What of it? It's our rematch and my opportunity to kick your keester this time," Mai slapped him across the back.
"We'll see. I've gotten much better myself."
"This is great. I'm sure you two will do well. I for one am looking forward to it," Yugi smiled to his friends.
"Um, may the best duelist win then?" Joey extended his hand to Mai.
"Save it. We're competing. If you can beat me again, then maybe I'll consider you my equal," Mai said. "When I beat you, then I'll take care of Lance myself if I have to."
"Don't get too overconfident, Mai," Tea said to the blonde. "Joey may act like a noodle-brainer, but he has gotten better at dueling."
"I know and I want to see how well he stacks up against me. That's all."
"Give it your best, you two," Takato said.
"Yeah, we're the only girls that advanced this far," Rika approached Mai. "Let's hope one of us makes it further."
"If it comes down to us dueling, I'm sure we'll have a blast, kid."
"I am also happy to announce that the four lottery pick names for the dual battle matches have also been confirmed. In Arena A, Renamon will compete against Kuzuhamon! In Arena B, Kurama battles Agunimon! Competitors show up or be forced to become disqualified!"
Upon hearing this announcement, a sly grin formed across Renamon's face. This was her opportunity to beat the living tar out of Kuzuhamon, especially after last night's incident. Inumon approaches Renamon and pats her right shoulder.
"Looking forward to this one, Renamon? You finally get your paws on that wench."
"After what I saw last night, she's not going to last long with me. Remember, that one form you suggested I use that I haven't had the chance to reach?"
"You mean...?"
"Let's keep that secret until the match, ok?"
"Right, I got it," Inumon nodded. "Man, Kuzuhamon is so going down! Your nothing compared to my Renamon!"
"So, I'm competing against that Kurama guy who helped us with those Scrabmon back home?" Takuya said. "Cool, at least I'm competing against a good guy! Little does he know that I've be preparing myself for this tournament!"
"We're behind you all the way, buddy," Junpei gave Takuya a thumbs-up.
"Good luck, Takuya," Kouichi and Kouji replied simultaneously.
"Kick some butt, kid," Jaarin slapped the boy on his back.
"Takuya, you give it your all, ok?" Izumi approached Takuya. "Be careful..."
"Don't worry guys. Nothing's going to happen. I'll bet this Kurama will play fairly by the rules," Takuya smiled. "At least I'm paired off against him rather than Pharaohmon... Still, I look forward to getting my damn hands on that monster myself!"
"...This tournament has certainly become more unpredictable than I even imagined," the Pharaoh said. "Probably even more as long as Lance and Pharaohmon are sticking around. If we can endure one day of this, there's no doubt we'll beat Pharaohmon for sure and prevent him from taking the two worlds! Digimon and humans are counting on our victory! This one's for you, Lord Anubimon..."
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-
Deep into Tropical Gorillamon Forests/Hohou Sovereign Temple Outskirts
Nearly forty minutes of crossing the jungles, the Dra-Warrior duo and Labramon stopped once passing through a thick brush. They looked ahead and found what they had been searching for. The Sailor girls and the three warrior males came out of the brushes to peer ahead. Their eyes all glistened in astonishment. Cammy's mouth widened at the sight of the temple they had searched for this whole journey.
Standing tall before everyone was a large, ancient temple ruins that stretched out to the size of an average soccer stadium. It looked to be ancient as if it had been a lost inhabitance for thousands of years. A tall tower structure stood tall like one of Ken's control spires.
"Wow...!" Cammy exclaimed. "So, this is the temple?"
"Looks like one of the ancient temples from ancient China and Japan," Ami stated.
"It is," Rei replied. "Though, to think that digimon could copy our style of architecture. This is simply incredible."
"This temple has been lost for the past thousands of years," Herodramon informed everyone.
"Yep and it still looks cruddy with all the moss! This place could use some redecorating if you ask me," Labramon scoffed. "And it still smells around here! Yuck!"
"Please, respect the ancient grounds, Labramon," Ninjadramon sighed. "Not everything needs to be tampered with. These were holy grounds."
"Did I... I mean the priestess, use this temple during those Great Wars?" Cammy asked.
"No, but the sword was first created here by ancient holy mon and weapon smiths," Herodramon stated. "It was then that they gave the sword to the Sovereigns to hand to you, my Priestess. Your time of reawakening is upon us."
"Well, I'm just glad we made it this far! I don't ever want to go on another long journey like that again," Minako wiped her forehead.
"So, I assume there aren't any guards or enemies to prevent us from entering?" Hotaru wondered.
"I don't think... I'm not sensing any presences," Ninjadramon closed his eyes to pick up on energy signals around his surroundings. "Everything seems to be clear."
"I don't know," Rei walked past Ninjadramon and sensed her surroundings. "Something is just not right here and what I felt earlier definitely had a dark vibe."
"Yes, I do recall a dark presence temporarily before it disappeared. What do you think it could be?"
"You said yourself that we were most likely being watched," Setsuna reminded the Dra-Warrior.
"In any case, we must be careful," Dimitro informed everyone. "Right, Vega? Now, don't you start getting panicky."
"Me, get panicky? No such thing! Bring on whoever wants to stop us from entering that temple and getting that sword!" Vega smashed his right fist into his hand. "I'll beat the crap out of whoever it is!"
"That's awfully reassuring," sighed Sam.
"Calm down, everyone, let's just stick together and I'm sure nothing will come up," Ami suggested the entire group.
"Yeah, leave it to Ami get calm everyone down," Makoto nodded. "Who am I kidding? I'm anxious to know who is watching us."
"Everyone, just calm down! We'll be just fine if we stick together like Ami said!" Rei shouted out. "Now, Cammy, you stay close to me."
"Right," Cammy nodded as she drew closer to her sister.
Just as everyone gathered together, a swift figure came passing by within a blink of an eye and snatched away Labramon. They stopped and realized that they were one member short. It was then they found Labramon absent from the group.
"What the hell! Where's Labramon!" Makoto exclaimed.
"Huh! I didn't even see him move!" Artemis shouted. "I didn't think he'd scram that fast!"
"No, he didn't run off! Take a look up there!" Minako pointed towards a pillar top.
The group turned upwards to find a red-skinned ogre wearing an animal's pelt skin around his waist and wielding a club in his right hand. Underneath his left arm was Labramon, who struggled to break free of the monster's grip.
"It's a Fuugamon!" Ninjadramon exclaimed.
(Fuugamon. Champion-level. Ogre Digimon. Evil Hurricane & Heavy Swing)
"Fuugamon...?" Rei asked. "An ogre type, huh? I've read about these kinds of monsters..."
"Ha! I've got your friend and now I'm going to have some fun with him!" Fuugamon laughed. "But, I have some friends here you can play with for the time being... Yeah... Um, here they come now!"
Pointing his club towards the temple entrance, a loud stampeding was heard. The Sailors, the three boys and the Dra-Warrior duo braced themselves for the upcoming threat that was to come. Emerging from out of the temple were numbers upon numbers of silver-white and black knights carrying heavy swords.
"Just what are those!" Artemis panicked as he scrambled up into Cammy's arms.
(Knightmon. Ultimate-level. Warrior Digimon. Berserker Knife and Armor Sword)
(Darkknightmon. Ultimate-level. Viral warrior Digimon. Berserker Knife and Armor Sword)
"Knightmon and Darkknightmon," Herodramon replied as he stepped into a battle position. "Brace yourselves everyone! Ninjadramon!"
"Right!" the ninja digimon exclaimed as he stood by Herodramon's side.
"Time for us to henshin, girls!" Ami declared. "Hotaru-chan! Setsuna-san!"
Nodding in reply, both Outer Senshi pulled out their transformation rods. Ami did the same and prepared to undergo her transformation into A Sailor Senshi.
"Makoto! Minako!" Rei shouted. "Let's show these guys what we're made of!"
"You got it!" Makoto agreed.
"I'm ready!" Minako pulled out her device.
"Let's waste these damn tin cans and save Labramon!" Vega shouted while pulling out his D-Scanner. "Sam? Dimitro? You guys ready?"
"Always!" the two teens replied.
"Let's do this!" everyone exclaimed in unison.
The first to undergo their transformations were the three Legendary warriors. All three boys scanned their D-Scanners through their hands and transformed into their H-Spirit forms.
"EXECUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"
"GROTTOMON!"
"ARBORMON!"
"MERCUREMON!"
In place of the three teen males were the Warriors of Earth, Wood and Metal respectively.
Next, the three Sailor Senshi underwent their transformations using their henshin rods/sticks.
"MERCURY STAR POWER! MAKE-UP!"
"PLUTO PLANET POWER! MAKE-UP!"
"SATURN PLANET POWER! MAKE-UP!"
In under a few seconds, the three girls were garbed in their Sailor battle uniforms and ready for combat. Sailor Mercury, Sailor Pluto and Sailor Saturn joined in with the three Legendary Warriors.
Finally, the final three underwent their transformations into Ninja Sailors.
"SAILOR STORM! NINJA FORM!"
With that phase said, Rei, Makoto and Minako emerged garbed in their ninja sailor forms with their respective planet symbols shining through their foreheads.
The female ninja trio leaped out onto the battlefield while joining their comrades against the new Knightmon/Darkknightmon threat.
"Whoa! I see you got you some powerful buddies, Labramon!" Fuugamon laughed while drooling all over the canine digimon.
"PLEASE! SAVE ME FROM THIS DROOLING LNUATIC!" Labramon screamed out of the top of his lungs.
"Don't worry, Labramon! We're going to save you!" Cammy called out to the canine.
"Ha! Nobody's saving this puppy dog! Ha! Ha!" Fuugamon laughed idiotically.
"Oooo, wait until I knock that stupid grin off that jerk's face!" Minako growled.
"I have an idea," Ninjadramon suggested. "Makoto, Rei, and Minako, you three come with me into the temple with Cammy. That way we can retrieve the sword and finish this mission quickly!"
"I love your style! That's exactly what I was suggesting," Rei nodded.
"Meanwhile, the others can hold off the Darkknightmon and Knightmon," Makoto stated. "Good! This will also give us a chance to regain our powers quicker and rescue Labramon!"
"Here's a fair warning, girls. When we step inside, we should expect the unexpected and not split apart," Ninjadramon informed the girls.
"Yeah, I'm getting some really dark vibes from inside that temple," Ninja Mars thought. "There's got to be more than Fuugamon. I'm willing to bet the head honcho of this little brigade is waiting for us inside! But, this is our only chance! We can get the sword, restore the priestess powers dormant in Cammy and regain our powers! If we screw this up, there's no chance of us of ever stopping Pharaohmon. It's now or never!"
Finally, the Sailor Senshi and their allies arrive at the temple! Their quest has ended, but now they face off with a resistance led by an unknown monster. Our heroes find themselves surrounded by Darkknightmon and Knightmon. However, thanks to a plan by Ninjadramon, he has suggested that he, Rei, Makoto, Minako and Cammy sneak into the temple while the others hold off the Knightmon army. They now have two missions: rescue Labramon from Fuugamon and retrieve the scared sword.
Back at the stadium, Guilmon and Wolfmon both advance to the next round. Their opponents are yet to be determined. Yugi and Himura fought an honorable duel, but it was the King of Games who prevailed in the end. Learning about Anubimon's death, Himura is determined than ever to stop Pharaohmon once and for all. The next set of matches have been announced: Mai will be dueling with Joey in a rematch from Duelist Kingdom; Renamon finally gets her hands on Kuzuhamon; and lastly, Kurama faces off with Agunimon.
The second day is already heating up and has no signs of slowing. Not with Pharaohmon and Lance looking on with keen interest. They know that nothing stands in their way of clenching victory over our heroes.
The tournament action continues!
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
(PREVIEW)
Robin: Yo, everyone! This is Robin from the Teen Titans to give you guys the sneak peek for the next episode! The second set of matches is getting underway. Mai is really looking forward to her rematch with Joey and wants to prove that his first victory was a fluke.
Mai: Joseph! Show me everything you've learned since we last dueled.
Joey: I'll bring it to you, Mai!
Kouichi: Meanwhile, Kuzuhamon and Renamon go one on one! Wait until you see Renamon show Kuzuhamon and everyone her new battle form. It'll blow your mind!
Kuzuhamon: What! You can reach a new mode!
Sakuyamon: More or less... But you won't stick around long enough to find out.
Kenta: And Kurama steps in Arena B with Agunimon! Watch as the red-haired fox half breed shows Agunimon that his plants will triumph over his flames!
Agunimon: No way! This guy can grow his own plants and use them as weapons! Well, they're no match for my flames!
Kurama: I advise caution when you underestimate my plants, Agunimon.
Takato: Meanwhile, Bakura and Duskmon are up to no good as they spring another trap to draw out Kouichi.
Duskmon: Bakura, this time your plan better be effective in helping me crush Loweemon once and for all.
Bakura: Fool, you don't realize that I'm merely using you in the grand scheme of my plans. With you gone, I can plot to capture Yugi's Millennium Puzzle!
Izumi: You guys! I forgot to mention that Jaarin and I have to tell you something after extracting information from Marine Devimon!
Himura: What! You mean he's after seven pieces of a Demon God!
Junpei: Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse.
Sailor Pluto: These Knightmon sure are persistent! But, even our combined powers can crush them!
Sailor Saturn: More are coming! They've also brought reinforcements! Karatenmon!
Ninjadramon: Girls, we must be cautious when inside the temple. There are traps and enemies lurking when we least expect it.
Ninja Venus: Like more Knightmon!
Ninja Mars: That's more than just half it. Now we have a demented Pinocchio toying with us!
Puppetmon: Ah, now that was rude! You guys have stuck your nose where it doesn't belong! We won't allow you to take the sword! In the name of Lord Pharaohmon and the master of this temple, we will triumph!
Makoto: Master of this temple?
Fuugamon: Master, I've put the Labramon under control. Uh, what now?
Thunderous voice: Easy! You go and ensure that the Knightmon keep those fools out of my chamber! No one is allowed to take the sword! Not even these human fools!
Takuya: The next chapter of the Pharaohmon series is entitled...
A Revisit from Duelist Kingdom! Enter the Sovereign Temple!
Skull Satanmon: Um, hey! Marine Devimon! Let's go pick on those three Dra-Warriors! They don't seem to present a challenge!
Flamedramon: Um, excuse me? You two are joking, right?
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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That concludes the first part of day two. With this chapter complete, I look forward to ending this series towards the middle of September.
I'd like to thank Ninetalesuk with allowing me to use his Dra-Warrior characters and his Darkknightmon. Another thanks to Belletiger for helping me with a bit of the Athenamon/Omegamon scene. Lastly, for my trusty beta-reader, LazerWulf for beta-reading this chapter and allowing me to use his idea for the Athenamon/Omegamon scene.
First, I apologize for returning to the 'OOOOOOOOO's rather than using the horizontal lines, but I've had some trouble when posting this chapter.
Now, to more serious matters... This chapter and the remainder of the Pharaohmon series will be solely dedicated to Youkai Youko. As you read from my notes before this story, she passed away on Friday July 8th. I didn't get around finding out until the Sunday night after. It was truly a saddening day for her cousin, Belletiger, myself, Ninetalesuk and many others. My thoughts and prayers once again go out to Youko's family.
If you can, please give your condolences to Youko, who was a huge contributor to this series and the final D-Fusion sagas. She was responsible for wonderful characters like Inumon and his evolutions, Himura, Yui, Nemesis, the Amazons, Athenamon and a few others. They are also Belletiger's characters since she draws them and helped co-produce them with Youko.
Thank you for everything, Youko. This story and the upcoming sequel will continue on in your honor. We will never forget you.
I now conclude this segment by giving my farewell until the next update, which, according to LazerWulf, shouldn't be to long. Peace!