AnZuOh, Queen of Games

A question for anyone who has played any of the 'Max Payne' games: is it just me, or does this chapter sound like one of Max's dream sequences?

Chapter 9

Light Casts a Shadow

Téa groaned and sat up.

"Wha…where am I?' She groaned, looking around. She was sitting in a lavish bedroom, sitting up on the bedspread. An open window looked out on the view below. Téa jumped up and ran to look out. And gasped. A vast island spanned before her, leading off into what should have been the ocean. But instead, purple clouds floated where the water would be. More purple clouds floated across the sky. But on the bright side, Tea recognized the island.

"Duelist Kingdom?" She muttered in disbelief. "I thought I had to undergo some sort of trial. So what am I doing here?" She climbed to her feet and looked around the room again. She reached for the closet door, and gasped as her hand struck wood when she reached for the knob. The knob was painted on. She tried to open the drawers on the nightstand. There was no luck.

"Okay, this place is definitely scoring a 9.0 on my really-creeped-out-o-meter." Téa said to herself. She reached for the door handle, and smiled when her hand met a real doorknob. She twisted and pulled the door open, stepping out into the hall. Sadly, things weren't much better out there. A long, long hallway stretched before her, into the distance. The walls were lined with paintings, each one of a stone Duel Monster, like the tablets they had seen in Yami's memory, during the battle against Zorc. Tea gulped.

"Okay. I was better off in the room." She said, turning around. A smooth wall met her. Téa ran her hands along the wall, her mouth hanging open. No trace of a door could be found.

"Teeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaa…….." A voice called. Téa screamed and spun around. "Teeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaa….." Téa shivered. She knew that voice, but she couldn't place the speaker.

"Yeah, what?" She called back.

"I'm waaaaaaaaitiiiiiiiiiiiiing." The voice trilled. Téa sighed. The only way to…well, anywhere, was the long hall before her. She bit her lip and started walking. The hall stretched on for what seemed like eternity. Téa stepped up her walk into a jog.

"Hurrrrrry uuuuuuuup." The voice commanded. Téa skidded to a halt.

"Hey, I just came here for some sort of trial, not to run down some never-ending hallway! So forget this!" Téa snapped. She turned around, stepped forward, and bumped into a door. Téa fell backwards, rubbing her bruised posterior. She glared and pulled open the door. The bedroom was on the other side. Téa shook her head and turned again. The hall was now only 10 feet long, and ended with another doorway. Téa looked around.

"Okaaaaay….really freaked out right now." She said, running to the door. She looked up. "Hey, if there's another hallway beyond here, I'm coming after you!" She warned the voice. Confident now, Téa yanked open the door. And for a change, found a room she knew. "Pegasus' dueling arena?" She muttered, remembering the place where Yugi, Joey, and Mai had dueled years ago.

"The final match up will now take place." Téa's head whipped around to stare at Pegasus himself, sitting in his usual place on the sidelines. But the business man was looking far different. He had on a red sweater with black jeans, and his hair pulled up into a ponytail. A golden eye patch covered his left eye (1). "Will the challenger please take her place at the arena?" Téa pointed to herself, and Pegasus nodded. Téa stepped up the dueling platform and looked down at the deck waiting for her. She picked it up and flipped through it.

"Hey, it's my original deck." She cried. She hadn't used a majority of these cards since…well, since the real Duelist Kingdom.

"Go Téa, you can do it!" Téa put her old deck down and looked up at the balcony. Yugi, Tristan and Joey stood up there.

"Take them down Téa!" Tristan shouted.

"Yeah, dis nobody's got nothing on you!" Joey added. Téa smiled. Well, one nice, comforting thing about this place.

"Okay, so who am I dueling?" she asked Pegasus. Pegasus turned his head and looked up. Téa followed his gaze. Above the opposite dueling platform, in the rafters, stood a woman. She wore a black trenchcoat, black jeans with a black tube top. The woman's face was in shadow, but Téa knew that outfit.

"I see you up there Rochelle!" She shouted. "So come down here!" The woman laughed.

"You see me, huh?" She mocked. Téa's eyes widened as a chill raced down her spine. It was the same voice from the hall. And now that it was speaking normally, she knew whose voice it was. But…it couldn't possibly be her! The woman leapt into the air and fell, landing opposite Téa. Téa stepped back as the woman pulled out her deck and slammed it on the podium before her.

"No way…there's no way!" Téa shrieked. Opposite her, Téa Gardner sneered and drew her first five cards. Téa shook her head as her double crossed her arms. The clone was almost exactly like her. But…there was just some sense of…Téa didn't want to get dramatic, but there was a powerful sense of evil radiating off her.

"You knew what you were getting yourself into, challenging me." The other Téa laughed. "Too late to back out now!"

"Don't worry Téa, you're gonna win hands down! Take her to the cleaners!"
Joey cheered. Téa gulped and stepped up.

"Yeah…I can beat m…her." Téa whispered. She looked up at the Téa opposite her. The hair was hers…the eyes were hers…that cocky smirk was not hers. This couldn't be real. That dark version of herself couldn't possibly actually exist.

"You can go first." Dark Téa offered. "You'll need all the help you can get." Téa nodded and drew her cards. Well, whatever was going on…might as well go along with it. Once this nasty copycat was dealt with, maybe then she could get on with the trial Ishizu had warned about.

"Not bad. I summon 'Fairy's Gift' (1400, 1000)!" She shouted, playing the card. A tiny winged forest sprite fluttered on Téa's field.

-Téa: 3000, Dark Téa: 2000-

"Not a bad move." Dark Téa admitted. "Fairy's Gift gives you a thousand Life Points when you play it." Téa blinked.

"It…does?" She asked. "Oh right, we're using Duelist Kingdom rules."

"Don't tell me you don't know your own cards!" Dark Téa scoffed. "My move. I summon 'Versago the Destroyer' (1100, 900)!" A multi-tentacled fiend appeared on the field. "Next. I activate 'Moonlight' (2), to give all my monsters a 30 percent power bonus." A glowing white moon appeared over Dark Téa's field, sending a beam of light down onto her monster. And what's more, all your Fairies lose 30 percent of their power! Versago, destroy Fairy's Gift!" The fiend (1430, 1170) lashed out its tentacles and wrapped them around Téa's Fairy (980, 700). Fairy's Gift exploded in a flash of light.

-Téa: 2550, Dark Téa: 2000-

"Well I'm off to a great start." Téa muttered, drawing. "Okay, Duelist Kingdom rules, 30 percent power bonus…" Téa ran through her head and did some quick math. Nothing in her hand was strong enough to beat Versago yet. Even a 2000 point monster would lose 600 points if she played it. She needed a miracle. "I place a monster in defense and end my turn." She announced. Dark Téa smirked.

"Well if I can force you into the defense in a single turn, I expect beating you won't take long at all! Honestly, how did a pathetic loser like you get this far? You should have been tossed off the island long ago!" She laughed. Téa grimaced. She had never said such mean things in her life. And now she was hearing them from her own double. Directed at the real thing, no less! "I summon 'Tainted Wisdom' (1250, 800)." A pulsing brain appeared and grew more tentacles as the Moonlight increased its strength (1625, 1040). "Tainted Wisdom, attack!" The brain lashed out and struck Téa's monster, 'Tenderness' (700, 1400). The large red fairy screamed as the tentacles pierced it. Téa drew and smiled.

"Okay, time to make a comeback." She whispered. "I summon 'Dark Witch' (1800, 1700)." The angelic fairy flew onto the field, and twitched her tail as the Yami field (1260, 1190) took its toll.

"You idiot!" Dark Téa mocked. "With my field draining her strength, your witch is no where near the power of my monsters!"

"Maybe, but who said I was done yet?" Téa countered. "I activate 'Silver Bow and Arrow'!" Dark Witch grabbed a shining bow and arrow that appeared in mid air. "This gives my Dark Witch another 300 attack and defense points, enough to wipe out your monster! Dark Witch, attack and destroy Versago!" The witch aimed and fired a glowing bolt of energy from her new weapon, skewering Versago.

-Téa: 2550, Dark Téa: 1870-

"Alright, that does it. No more Ms. Nice Duelist." Dark Téa growled. "I summon 'Ancient Brain' (1000, 700)." A fiend in a cloak appeared, a large horn extending from the creature's exposed brain. "And next I play 'Polymerization', and fuse my Ancient Brain with Tainted Wisdom, to create the all-powerful 'Skull Knight' (2650, 2250)!" Téa gasped as the warrior appeared on the field, grasping a sword and shield made out of bone. "Skull, crush her pathetic witch with Skeleton Sword!" The knight (3445, 2925) slashed and flung its sword at Téa. Téa fell backwards as the sword sliced into Dark Witch. "And take out a huge chunk of her Life Points while you're at it!" Dark Téa laughed.

-Téa: 665, Dark Téa: 1870-

Téa coughed and climbed to her feet. This was not fun. Not only was she in the weirdest place she had ever seen, but this evil version of herself was crushing her with a deck of Fiends.

"I'll set this card and end my turn." Dark Téa said.

"I set a monster in defense and end my turn." She said.

"Pitiful. You know you have nothing that can beat me." Dark Téa sneered. "My Skull Knight has more power now than a Blue Eyes White Dragon! You'll never stop him!" Dark Téa drew, and smiled. "And now, for my next trick, I play my face-down card 'Curse of Fiend'. This card reverses whatever positions our monsters are in. So now, my Skull Knight switches to defense, and your monster switches to attack!" Téa gasped as 'Shining Friendship' (1300, 1100) flipped up, and wobbled as Moonlight took effect (910, 770).

"Next, 'Dark King of the Abyss' (1200, 900). Absorb my field and grow stronger!" The Fiend chuckled darkly as its power intensified (1560, 1170). "Attack!" The King lashed out a claw and sliced apart Shining Friendship.

-Téa: 15, Dark Téa: 1870-

"You are without a doubt, the worst duelist I've ever seen!" Dark Téa chortled, doubling over in her laughter. "You're up against the strongest monster in my deck, and you've only got 15 Life Points left! 15 measly little Life Points. Weak, useless, and ultimately futile, just like you and those pathetic Fairies. Just surrender now." Téa groaned.

"You can do it Téa! Life Points don't matter in the end, just remember the Heart of the Cards!" Yugi yelled. Téa smiled. No. Even if she only had a handful of points, she was not going to lie down and surrender. Especially not in front of her friends. Téa reached for her deck.

"Yeah, send that Fairy-loving freak packing!" Joey yelled. Téa started to draw, and froze. Fairy-loving…freak? Joey has just said…she looked up to see the three looking down at Dark Téa. Dark Téa batted her eyelashes up at them.

"Don't you worry Yugi, this duel is in the bag!" Dark Téa said, blowing Yugi a kiss. Yugi blushed and looked away, grinning sheepishly. Téa's jaw dropped as her blood turned to ice. Her three best friends…even Yugi, who she had known her entire life…they weren't rooting for her…they were rooting for…her.

1: A reference to how Pegasus/Sol Chevalsky looks in the GBA game 'Reshef of Destruction'. Kinda like Pegasus crossed with Duke Devlin.

2: Actually, the card is called Yami. But hey, under the circumstances, how am I supposed to have the duelists play a card named after a character? It would just be weird.