Chapter 8
Furry Finish
The Collector stared at the giant red dragon with a look close to fear. His gaze followed the lines of its body down, and he caught sight of the monster's attack point display. The jaw that hung open slowly closed in sly grin.
"All that bravado, and still your only move was a farce. You're the King of Games, aren't you? Why such a foolish mistake as to assume size is everything?"
"Perhaps I better explain my actions. This card is one of three Egyptian Gods I have waiting in my deck. This particular god, Slifer the Sky Dragon, gains one thousand attack and defense points for every card in my hand. As well, magic and trap cards only affect them for one turn, if at all, with special effects useless. And, if you looked closer, you would see that indeed I do know size does not matter," Yami replied, looking with a small, friendly smile at the furry creature he had place in defense mode to end his turn.
The Collector squinted into the shadow of the monster, spotting a small form floating beneath an undulating coil. It was tiny, especially next to the dragon, its whole body smaller than one talon on the giant hand and covered in brown shaggy fur. Bright green hands and feet hung almost limply at his sides and big, wide eyes peeked out almost comically. "That thing! A Kuriboh! You're even more pathetic if that thing will save you and your worthless dragon!"
Yami just smiled a little more. "Indeed? Remember: Five turns."
The Collector's face contorted in barely suppressed rage and indignation. "Really! I draw." He looked at the card and smiled a wide frog-lipped grin. "This should come in handy. I'll play a monster, in defense mode for now." Then he inhaled sharply as Slifer's second mouth opened wide, lightning forming in its maw before shooting out to strike the newcomer. A fast ringing echoed through the hall its attack points were lowered.
"Oh, you might want to remember Slifer's Second Mouth Special Ability. It automatically drains away attack points from any monster on the field. My move." The pharaoh drew a card, sliding it out of his deck and holding it out to the side, eyes closed while the meter jangled with a thousand added attack points. He opened his eyes slowly, placing his draw in a nonexistent hand. "I pass. Four turns."
The red and orange thread dragons across the Collector's chest and stomach rippled in grotesque emulation of the Sky Dragon as he shifted in confusion. "That's all? Then I'll crush you now!" The monster on his field shifted to attack mode, a giant dragon of black hide and traditional shape that Yami had never seen before. "Umbrel, attack his pitiful dragon now!" She reared up in response, wings flaring to hold her up. A stream of cloudy darkness flowed from her mouth, shooting towards the ruby dragon. The darkness looked as if it absorbed all the light, a column of pure shadow streaking toward the weakened Slifer. It drew closer and closer, it was going to hit-
"Activate trap: Multiply!" Yami's voice shattered the mounting tension in the room as a face down card activated, the one that had been there since his first turn. The air began to fill with high-pitched keening, and splotches of brown fur appeared all across the field. The numbers of Kuribohs continued to grow exponentially, clogging the darkness' path to the God. It collided full force with those in its way, the tiny creatures detonating on contact with the attack. More came up to fill their place, the explosions buffering the stream and preventing it from reaching its target. Umbrel stopped spewing the shadows after a moment, settling back down to the ground.
"Haha! Yeah Pharaoh, that was great!" Yugi shouted, beaming at his partner. He supposed he should have known what the pharaoh was doing. After all they had done it twice back home, once to stop Kaiba's Blue Eyes, and once to save him from Lumis and Umbra. Now, though, he was beginning to piece Yami's plan together. The Kuribohs would provide an impenetrable defense, stopping all attacks the Collector might throw at him. Then by the end of his allotted five turns, Slifer would have five thousand attack points, enough to entirely wipeout the other's life points. If everything went smoothly, that is.
"The I play another Elemental Dragon, Pyrok, in attack mode, and end my turn," shouted the Collector. Yami laughed inwardly at the incredulous look on the man's face, drawing his next card. Another surge of unreal energy shot through him, and he looked at what he had. The Winged Dragon of Ra glittered at him from his fingers, exuding power and strength. I won't be needing him, if all goes well, but it's still good to have him in my hand, he thought to himself. The discordant jangle ceased as Slifer now reached two thousand attack points. "Again, I pass. Three turns left."
"Ha! You say you will beat me, yet all you do is draw. You're not even bothering to set up. You can't win. I'll fortify my army while you stall, and make myself unbeatable. But first, let's see what is up your sleeve. I play the magic card Exchange!" The Collector's smile broadened horrendously at Yami's surprise. "Dismayed, are you? Good, that means there is something in that hand you don't want me to have." Yami stayed rooted to his spot, forcing the rotund man to waddle his way across the marble floor to him. He brushed aside furball after furball, the Kuribohs squeaking indignantly. The spirit frowned as the man approached, stretching out his had to display his two cards. He knew which one the Collector picked even before he looked. The smile had grown, if possible, even larger and more devilish.
"You mentioned that wonderful dragon was one of a set. I believe then, that this is one of them?" He held forth the card he had taken, Yami sliding his own choice into his hand. "Good, good. I do so love collections. And you yourself said these creatures cannot be harmed by special affects. So your dragon's little draining spell won't get this one as it has my other two." His feet shuffled across the floor back to his position, where he turned around. "I'm curious as to just how powerful this creature is. Shall we take a look?" Three monsters on his side of the field vanished, leaving the two dragons alone. A great golden light flared from above in the vicinity of Slifer's cramped head. A shining orb with deeply etched lines hovered in midair, a bright sun against the shadows cast by the red dragon.
Yugi nearly laughed with relief. When he had seen what card the Collector had acquired, he had begun to get really worried. But the fear had been pointless; the Collector could never summon Ra, he couldn't read the text now shining on the card under the golden dragon's light. Yami just stood with the two cards in his hand and watched the proceedings.
"If you would like to use my dragon, you should read the script upon the card before you lose it. Then again, it is a special form of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, known only to the royalty and lost to time. I could tell you what it says, but that would be rather foolish of me." The golden sphere vanished a moment later, its waiting done.
"Aaaaa," the Collector screamed in frustration. "Then I'll just have to use my own brute force. I summon the remaining three of the four remaining Elemental Dragons; Geode, Hydros, and Lumen!" Three dragons shimmered into being, one appearing to made of earth, one of water, and the other of light. Each was then drained of power by Slifer's Second Mouth, though they still remained powerful, just as Umbrel and Pyrok had. "Now, my Dragons of Elementia, attack!" Five bursts shot out from his full sized army, and five different colored streams shot toward the wall of Kuribohs. Shadowy black, fiery red, earth brown, watery blue, and bright golden collided in tandem, sparking an explosion of orange and yellow. The room rocked with the force, coins from the golden piles beside around Yugi cascading down, their chiming adding to the cacophony. The five dragons closed their mouths as one, gazing ferociously at the still-standing wall of lovable beasts.
"Two turns." Yami said, tone as if he was merely stating a fact. They passed quickly, the Collector trying over and again to penetrate his furry shield, Yami drawing his last two cards.
"Your time is up. You have no turns left. This ends NOW! I switch my Kuribohs to attack mode. Kuriboh army, attack all five o his Elementia Dragons!" The creatures trilled in excitement at his command, floating forward en masse to descend upon the looming forms of the Collector's five dragons. They disappeared beneath a sea of brown and lime green, then erupted in blossoming flowers of fire. "Though each Kuriboh has only five hundred attack points, combined, their thousands equal enough to more than overpower your Elemental Army." The remaining Kuribohs retreated to hover protectively once more around Yami, leaving his opponent yet again defenseless. " Now for the final blow. Slifer the Sky Dragon, attack his life points directly!" The five cards now in his hands empowered his dragon with five thousand attack points, and the monstrous burst it let loose rocketed toward the Collector. The bright light faded slowly in time to the melodious tinkling of a life point meter running out.
Not quite what you were expecting? Good! Now for Challenge Two, which I'e still got some work to do on. Though I will use someone's suggestion...
Oh, and those Elemental Dragons the Collector had- they're not real cards. I figured he's out int the galaxy where who knows who produces his cards, so what the heck, there might be some that don't exist in Pegasus' version. So I used 5 of 6 dragons from my sister's original story Elementia, just to make her happy! If you want to read what she has written on it, check out her home page on it's evilmidgetturtle. I think, I'll fix it next time if that's wrong!
See you soon! (Hopefully!)