Chapter 17- Yugi vs Scossa: Fall of the King
Eyes stared blankly at the image of craters still smoldering. Gloria stumbled back and fell on the hard floor, grumbling concededly of her perfect figure. Harlan couldn't help but drop his microphone with his jaw hanging open. "Tha-that's unbelievable mana power after two weeks from her first fight, she must have gone into some serious training." He murmured. The mana giant behind them chuckled grimly; both his servants turned to face him, paler than when they were watching the ends of the fight.
"You seem aghast at that power; almost discourage to see if you two can defeat her if she went to that again." He said, "If that is her peak of power, she's nothing more than the runt of the Zodiacs. However, it's smart not to estimate those that can tap into the full power of Yin-Yang the Eternal Dragon. Even within their bodies, that Dragon can possess their vessels and make his power known to the mortal plane. I should have known it's in the blood." His red eyes fell back onto the mirror behind him; the red bangs on the head of his kill seemed unusually lighter than before. "But I guess…like mother, like daughter. And like her mother, she will be dead by my hand." He sunk into his thoughts. I know that a family bloodline can tap into Yin-Yang's power. But what your daughter has showed me, she doesn't just tap into Yin-Yang's power. In fact, Yin-Yang taps into her body and let loose his own powers. He concluded.
A fourth presence descended in the dark void with the image still projecting some light. The mana giant sighed out of annoyance. "I haven't forgotten, Scossa. Your next fight is tomorrow… And I trust you haven't forgotten about the consequences for if you lose again…"
Coming into the light, a mess of long black hair hid the eyes of his servant; a particle mask hid the face beneath. Draping clothes covered his body from neck to toe, obviously worn too big for the small man, and studded in small silver rivets all over his body and clothes. Around his waist looked like an inactive detonator with scraps of damaged toys on the chain that punctured his skin at the right hip. "I haven't, Master…" He hissed under the mask, his dilated eyes twitching from the pain of having rivets being stapled into his skin. "Tomorrow I will face Yugi Motou and overcome him in the biggest explosion yet."
"For your life, you have better win, Scossa. Other than Kravegh, you are to keep an eye on the shamans, especially the Zodiac." The mana giant stated and Scossa vanished away from the darkness.
Two weeks after his notice, Yugi headed for his second round. It was dusk in Domino and several landmarks of the town was under construction, assuming that they damages dealt from previous fights. He left a note for his grandfather, saying he'd be sleeping over with Joey for the night. It was fortunate that Joey was able to get the OK for it; but Joey didn't know about his next round. Since the pager's notice, Yugi was trying his hardest to find information on the name of his opponent. Second round, under the West Entry Bridge, tonight. The information the Oracle Pager provided kept running through Yugi's head. My opponent is Scossa Welle? I still don't know who he is…
It was all bad news, and just for being the second round of the preliminaries. Several days ago he heard that Yoh and Manta were severely injured in Yoh's second round and they were being hospitalized. Before that, almost three weeks from now, Miranda's house was obliterated in a mysterious explosion; and Miranda hasn't showed up since that night of her round. He feared the worst, he feared that his opponent might be just as dangerous.
As he walked by, the departing traffic rumbled across the road beside him. He just looked up when one motor came close: a motorcycle with a helmed rider that became known as Tristan by face. "Yugi? What are you doing out here? Joey and Téa have been looking for you." he said.
Yugi sighed, "I'm going to my second preliminary round of the Shaman Tournament."
"Alone?"
"Yeah, I don't need you guys to see what would happen."
"What do you mean Yugi?" Tristan asked.
"I've been told from Anna, that Yoh and Manta were sent to the hospital after his second round." Said Yugi, Tristan looked dumbfounded, "that's not all, Miranda went missing after her house exploded. That was her house on the news weeks ago and we haven't seen her since! This tournament is getting dangerous, even for bystanders. You shouldn't come with me." He warned.
"Are you serious?" Tristan wondered. No sooner did Joey and Téa arrive on foot and Yugi tried to argue to get them to leave. It didn't work, and Yugi led them to the bridge, the time reading on his Oracle Pager was 7:55pm, only five minutes before the fight began.
It was the same bridge Yugi remembered facing off against Slifer the Sky Dragon while Marik conducted the Rare Hunters through the powers of his Millennium Rod. He wasn't the first to arrive; someone waited under the bridge.
He leaned against one of the support beams, with black hair thrown all over the place across his shoulders and down his back; attire was poor with very loose clothing and a chain equipped around his waist, feet were just steel-toed slippers. He looked up, with a particle mask hiding his mouth and nose, a pair of heavy ear mufflers hanging around his neck, and silver studs stapled to his skin like body piercing, and in his hand he fidgeted with clipping and unclipping the pin of a grenade. "Are you Yugi Motou?" He hissed with the grenade disappearing from his palm and his motor skills going into inattentive spasms.
"I am, you must be Scossa Welle?" Yugi said, getting a nod in return. Yugi turned to his friends behind him, all of them looking weary. "You guys better get out of here while you still can." His request was yet a negative again.
"You kidding? We've faced scarier guys than dis." Joey boasted.
"You three better heed your friend's warning." An unfamiliar voice approached them. Finally came two more necessary people, the Patch Officiants. One of them was Yugi's officiant, Ironac; beside him was another officiant shaking inside his cloak and pale enough to be considered a white man.
"Ironac, what's wrong with him?" Yugi asked, looking at the other Patch Tribesman.
"Bronsen? He is Scossa's officiant." Ironac replied.
Bronsen looked up to the three accompanying friends, "You must get as far away from here as possible, save your own lives."
"Don't get your feathers ruffled, we aren't going anywhere except a few steps back to watch the fireworks." Joey said.
"We support Yugi, through thick and thin." Téa followed.
"Even if it's to the grave?" Scossa asked with his delight in his voice, energy building inside. "Let them stay if that is their answer." From the Millennium Puzzle, Yami rose in his image.
"You won't harm a single hair on my friends!" He declared.
Scossa snickered wildly. "An empty promise. For I intend to win this round, I have a price for defeat so losing is not an option for me." He said and waited until the Patch were out of the way, but the three wouldn't budge. "Looks like I'll make them move, there's one way to do it. Puppe! Come forth!" He commanded. Faintly everyone heard the crying of children, their groans of pain becoming louder as a figure came into view from inside Scossa's belt. Limbs of arms and legs hung by their joints in the figure; and faces were missing eyes, ears, noses, and even the bottom jaws. All of these pieces of human sown poorly together, like someone clashed half-a-dozen Frankensteins together.
Everyone was terrified and disturbed. Yugi's mouth hung open in shock, Téa covered her own in fear, and Joey and Tristan hung on to each other in quivering terror. Yugi finally found the words in his voice, "Wha-what is that spirit?"
Scossa was smiling so widely that his poor dental hygiene was appearing over his mask. "This is my guardian ghost, Puppe. They're the spirits of children killed in war in Russia, and fragments of their tattered spirits are as one to be my guardian ghost." Scossa briefed, making them even paler than before. The conglomerate of children moaned and cried, Scossa's dilated eyes twitched with annoyance. "Shut up brats!" He commanded from under the mask, the kids did as they were told and just hung in the air with dangling limbs.
Beep beep beep!
"Two-minute alert." Ironac announced.
"Guys, you have to get somewhere safe, now!" Yugi called to his friends. They nodded and the trio dashed up to the edge of the bridge where the stone incline ended. The Patch were on top of the bridge to get full view of the fight to come.
"Rough year for you, huh Bronsen? First Hengist and now Scossa; if I didn't know better, my guess would be that you were also Faust's shaman." Ironac chuckled.
"Skeletons, demons and bombs, I've had enough…" Bronsen shivered.
Ironac resisted from busting in laughter. "Someone has to test even the oddest of shamans."
Yugi gulped in anxiety. Even with the ghost silent, the moans from a dozen mouths were clear as lunchtime traffic. Yami stood firm despite his harmless afterimage to his host. "How can you have a spirit like that? Using innocent children as a tool for this tournament!" He boasted.
Scossa lean forward with his hands on his knees, evidently smiling behind his mask. He chuckled again, "I did not produce this spirit myself, nor did it come to me willingly. My Master gave it to me, so I cannot forsake my Master by losing again. Especially to inexperienced shaman like you." Scossa could barely contain his excitement of the next round as he began to bounce on his toes. The seconds were ticking away; the Pagers were beginning to sound off the ten-second alert. Everyone became tense; Yugi readied himself with his hand over his deck, Scossa kept loose as so it appeared.
"Four seconds." Ironac announced.
Beep…beep…beep…
Scossa pulled his ear protectors over his head. Yugi drew his first card.
BEEP!
"Yami! Spirit Form, into the Duel Disk!" Yugi commanded, his ally clashed into his deck and Duel Disk alike.
"Puppe! Spirit Form, into the detonator!" Scossa cried, his monstrosity of a spirit absorbing into his belt. Without a moment's hesitation, the second round began.
"I summon Kuriboh and Multiply!" Yugi cried as the numbers of tiny fiends grew by the second. "I'm ready for anything! Because when Kuriboh come in contact with an enemy, they explode!" Yugi threw a hand gesture and his army of Kuribohs charged.
Scossa rubbed his palms together with sheer ecstasy. "They explode? I live for it!" He bawled with hysteria of laughter as the Kuribohs made contact. The wonderful sound of gunpowder igniting bewildered him. "More, more, MORE!" The bombardment of Kuribohs only lasted a moment longer. Seconds afterwards, the smoke cleared and Scossa was still standing, trembling with excitement like a child on Christmas day.
Yugi was shocked. "No way! He actually liked it!"
"I always do love the smell of ashes in the morning." Scossa rushed forward with a grenade in his right hand. He skidded to a stop and leaped back to throw the explosive.
Joey tried to argue the fight's opening moves. "Dat can't be legal! Using grenades! Dat's a low blow!"
"Those grenades are solid mana that Scossa spend to create." Ironac stated, "Bronsen, I believe you know this shaman better than I do?" The unnerved Patch nodded.
"Scossa's Over Soul focus is the detonator around his waste, so naturally creating Over Souls of bombs, grenades, and even warheads is the best offense. Whether that detonator is diffused or not is unsure to me." Bronsen advised.
The grenade didn't even make contact before exploding in a flare of impact, the loud bang of mana acting as gunpowder came with the squealing pain of his guardian ghost. Yugi felt the jolt and was thrown off his feet, sliding on his back to the concrete ground. It took him a bit to climb back up with encouragement from his friends.
"Come on! Down after one blast? That's my weakest attack!" Scossa insulted.
"Guess we dive in now." Yugi mumbled and pulled a card from his deck. "Yami, Over Soul! Obnoxious Celtic Guard!" He played another card with numbering Kuribohs still multiplying at an alarming rate, and divided with half as barricade, half to swarm Scossa in attempt to slow him down. Yami formed into the card's image, with the diamond blade sword gripped in his hands. "Hit him directly!"
His Over Soul is his Duel Disk apparently… Scossa thought, Doesn't matter what his Over Soul is I will win! He waited for Yami to come out of the Kuriboh barrage and charged mana at his heels. He made the mana explode to make him shift right at the last second.
Yami waged a battle cry and struck down into the plume of smoke where Scossa was. "Did I get him?" He wondered as the smoke dissipated.
"YUGI! Behind you!" Téa cried. Just behind him, Scossa balanced himself on one hand with his feet swing towards Yugi. Just above the steel toe, Scossa gathered mana while he made his swing, aiming for Yugi's Duel Disk from the ground.
"Soccer Bomb!" Scossa declared and sent the mana bomb in Yugi's direction. Yugi had hardly any time to react, but Yami just barely came in between the bomb and his host with his blade to block. Regardless, the bomb exploded, and both ghost and host flew forward brutally damaged. Yami caught himself by his feet and spun around for a low swing on Scossa.
Scossa saw it coming and pressed both palms to the ground for a reactive handstand, small mana explosives formed in his hands and set them off instantaneously to send him into the air easily. Again Yami's swing was a miss as Scossa landed softly in front of the Kuriboh wall. He stood up on his feet and turned to stare at one of them, his black eyes to a Kuriboh's yellow eyes with purple irises. Going by reference previous, Scossa poked at it once. Kuriboh twitched and exploded in his face without traces of fur or any gory mess. He snickered with enjoyment while Yami helped Yugi to his feet.
"Are you all right, Yugi?" Yami asked.
"I…I think so. At least I hope I'll be." Yugi answered and pulled a card from his deck. "Mystical Elf, defense mode!" He declared as a female elf in a green gown appeared in front of Yugi. "Hopefully her magical strength of defense will nullify most of Scossa's attacks. You're my only offense Yami; I can't summon anything else without risking collapse from mana exhaustion. Be careful." Yami nodded and posed with his sword again.
All the while, Scossa kept poking at Kuribohs to watch them explode, his amusement evident from under the mask. "I might take up this silly game just to watch these things go boom!" Scossa commented with another spell of laughter following.
"Laugh at this Scossa!" Yami cried with his sword raised.
Scossa was still snickering as Yami was coming to him. "Oh I will, and with the right moment, irony will make it even funnier." Scossa took sharp dodges against Yami's rapid slashes and taking steps back to come out of his attack radius.
In the sidelines, it could be just as tense as the battle below.
"I don't think Gideon was this tough, I mean even with three armed puppets. But this sideshow freak is a ticking time bomb!" Tristan commented.
"Literally! Come on Yuge!" Joey cheered.
Téa kept to herself. Win or lose, please be OK…
The Patch Officiants were scanning the numbers of the battling shaman. "Yugi's grown in strength, two forms and his Kuriboh barrage, but both forms of cards are weak in attack." Ironac mumbled. Bronsen didn't look too happy and Ironac leaned over to see Scossa's numbers. "He's barely lost any of his points. But his explosions are powerful with how little is spent."
"A speck of gunpowder, no matter the quantity, is still dangerous when ignited." Bronsen answered with metaphor, "Scossa's mana is like gunpowder. Small amounts are powerful; it's a process every shaman would dream to have except the mana expansion lives for only a fraction of a second, the time it takes for a bomb to go off. Then the mana dies and it takes a while to recollect that mana no matter how fast the shaman recovers or how hard he trains."
"So when Yugi uses his Kuriboh, he's at risk of losing his own mana?"
"That varies. Summoning his Kuriboh takes even less mana than Scossa's bombs, so he can sustain a barricade and be left untouched. That is if the opposing shaman conserved his physical health." Bronsen tilted his head, "Scossa isn't one of them."
In the fray, Scossa fluently avoided Yami's attacks. His heel just touched one of the bridge's columns and he jumped to avoid Yami's final attack of his series. The blade wedged tightly into the concrete and Yami tried to pull it out. In between Yami and the column, Scossa stood perfectly on the blade like he was standing on a balance beam. Scossa's wide smile showed over his mask as he gathered mana under his heels.
He's going to detonate! Yami thought fast and let go of the sword. Right at the second the mana exploded, making the column crumble from the middle out. Yami was thrown to the ground and Scossa sent himself into the air again.
"Yami!" Yugi called behind his Kuriboh wall. Yami recovered and looked up at Scossa going into a free fall. He saw Scossa hanging in the air over Yugi and grabbed his sword in hopes to protect him again.
His body curled in on itself and built mana up fast. "Crazy Destroyer!" Scossa opened up again and mana grenades rained down on the battlefield. The Kuribohs fell into position about Yugi and Yami to create a ceiling that rebuilt itself each time a Kuriboh was destroyed.
"Yami, the Kuribohs are keeping most of Scossa's explosions away." Said Yugi, "He should know that so why does he keep attacking?" Soon the explosions ended, and Scossa landed behind them with his head low and on his hands and feet.
"Above you and around you, those fun little things can protect you…" Scossa hissed, "But your defenses are weakening each time you have to make a new one."
"Then we end this and now!" Yami declared and charged forward with a handful of Kuribohs to protect him.
Scossa's eyes narrowed until they were black slits on his face and snickered under the mask. He reformed mana in his palms and threw at least ten grenades, each caught by a Kuriboh and called the attack stalemate, but left Yami without any defense.
I'm too close to him to send another rain of grenades unless he darts around using the mana at his feet. Yami figured and kept an alternating gaze between Scossa and his feet, waiting to strike after Scossa makes a move.
In sword's length, Scossa jumped back with mana at his feet and surprised Yami. Right where Scossa was, Yami replaced and the ground beneath him exploded like he hit a landmine. The ghost was thrown hapless into the air like a rag doll. The onlookers gasped.
Bronsen showed worry, "Scossa never made that move in his first match. He used his explosive mana to create a landmine just under the cement. He used the terrain to his advantage."
Yami lost it and the Celtic Guard attributes shattered from his form. Yugi paled in shock, "He attacked from below us!" After a second he shook it off, but felt the damage from Yami's ordeal. "Yami, get up!" he called, seeing that his Duel Disk still had a strong Over Soul. Yugi couldn't help but feel he needed to use one of his resorts. "I sacrifice Kuriboh and Mystical Elf," Yugi declared, the real Kuriboh vanishing and the rest followed after with the elf, "in order to play the Dark Magician of Chaos!"
Lights swarmed Yami and renewed his strength. His uniform turned black with four belts equipped around his chest by metal rings on his chest and back. More black belts tightened around Yami's arms and distinctive black marks became clear under his eyes. In his hand was a black staff topped off with a teal stone secured on the staff-head.
Scossa's shoulders slumped, "You ruin my fun, you know that?"
"You're fun is over! Oblivion Blast!" Yami commanded, sending a volt of magic from his staff right into Scossa. Scossa's fast movement sent him close to the river along side their fight ground another blast sent Scossa in the opposite direction.
Before Yami could attack with another third bolt, Scossa planted another mana landmine and used the attack to set it off. The explosive shaman twisted himself in the air until he was pointing back to the ground. Mana manifested around his body as he made a free fall become a nosedive. Everyone saw it from above, Scossa coming down like a nuclear warhead.
"Here it comes…" Bronsen groaned, "doesn't matter how you dodge a direct hit, you'll never escape the aftershock."
"Then we won't dodge." Yugi claimed and pointed to the human missile, "Yami! Defuse it!" Yami used the magic held within the Dark Magician of Chaos and levitated to meet Scossa face-to-face. The small audience was agape in shock as the officiants checked their pagers, Ironac checking on Yugi's and Brosen looked to Scossa's numbers.
"Scossa's bombardments are taking its toll." Ironac noticed, "Yugi is down in mana by 250: 100 just to offer and summon Dark Magician of Chaos."
Bronsen sighed of inevitable defeat for Ironac's shaman, "Scossa is losing his mana, but gradually because he stimulates his mana like gunpowder."
In spite the negative commentary, Yami was still going for it, he saw the warhead becoming visible around Scossa and forced all his magic into the head of his staff. With Scossa coming down in full velocity, Yami thrust in opposition and the heads collided.
There was a blinding explosion, enough to probably get attention from the border of the city. Everyone had to cover his or her eyes as time seemed to freeze in place. Any cries to check for anyone were overruled by the bang of mana eruption and children screeching, courtesy of Scossa's guardian ghost.
The explosion was so loud everyone thought they went deaf after a moment. Even the Patch who called upon their winged familiar to take them as high as they could had no dice to get sound back from the fight. Everyone still had eyes covered.
Thud! Kink! There were two sounds after the explosion's deafening end. Téa opened her eyes first and saw the battlefield aftermath: Scossa was sprawled out on the ground, lying on his back and his ear mufflers off his head. Probably winded to hit the cement from that height and there was no secondary explosion mark that could slow his fall. His body was throwing off smoke like he was just on fire a moment ago.
Then she looked to Yami, kneeling with an exhausted breath and using his staff to keep himself upright. Yugi behind him was just as equally tired-his hands gripped his knees to balance his stand.
"Hey! Yugi did it! He defused Scossa!" Téa cheered, getting everyone's attention to open eyes again. Joey and Tristan poked one eye out from their hands, and then had their own cheer.
"Don't celebrate yet. This shaman fight isn't over." Ironac declared and pointed to Scossa who was twitching to consciousness. The damages gave everyone another reason to gasp other than another minute of the devastating bout: a piece of Scossa's baggy clothes was ripped, the left side of his waist was exposed, and the chain that was around his waist, was actually punctured into his skin…
…And the detonator showed signs of Over Soul, weak but Over Soul was Over Soul.
Scossa slowly got to his feet, allowed enough time for Yami and Yugi to brace themselves. The bomber began to stagger forward, his Over Soul flickering and the sound of children whimpering was low in volume.
Scossa came to Yami first, handling the staff to support his weak physical body with one hand and the other to pat Yami's shoulder. Yami, as well as everyone excluding Bronsen, were in deep confusion. Scossa found his position to stand straight and walked towards Yugi. Yami's suspicions rose fast as he held his staff.
"Yami don't! We just need to beat this guy, not to kill him!" Yugi commanded.
"Are you sure Yugi?" Yami questioned.
"He hardly has anything left." Yugi nodded, without further question Yami dropped his staff's attack position.
Bronsen was shuddering more than ever, even going as far as biting his own tongue to keep himself quiet. Ironac passed another blank glance, "Bronsen?" The fearful Patch officiant said nothing in response.
Scossa approached Yugi, limping with energy fizzling out. "The infamous Yugi Motou. Your rep precedes you, kid." He wheezed, offering to shake his hand.
Well, it's the least I could do. Yugi thought and accepted the handshake. Scossa grabbed Yugi's left arm and jerked him into an embrace of sportsmanship. Everyone was still lost in thought as to how the most disastrous of fights could have a subtle end, but Bronsen bit his tongue hard enough it began to bleed in his teeth.
Ironac glanced at his partnering Patch. He knows something…
Scossa patted Yugi's back, his other hand holding on to the Duel Disk. "The King of Games. Very well told. Maybe even the Shaman King of Games, who knows?" he complimented, "how often do I see someone defuse one of my strongest attacks? I know my previous opponent did but I think he got too damn lucky for his own good."
"Uh, thanks…" Yugi acknowledged. Scossa left the embrace and turned around to fetch his belongings, again coming within Yami's attack radius.
"What is going on?" Joey asked.
"Is Scossa forfeiting?" Tristan watched on.
Scossa stopped when his feet were right in front of his ear mufflers and bent down to pick them up. "The King of Games, does have a nice ring to it. Most people can't beat Kings, Warlords, and Masters. But it all depends with what they're Masters or Kings of. Either way, I know when I'm beat." Scossa rambled with words as he held the ear mufflers over his head and his spirit flame dying out like a lit fuse around his detonator. "And I know that in this fight…" he clapped the mufflers over his ears without turning around, "…I'm not beat."
Before the question rose, and right before Scossa last point of Over Soul physically vanished.
BANG!
"AAAAHHH!" An explosion caught Yugi completely off guard as Scossa's final mana bomb came from his Duel Disk in an instant. In reaction Yami clutched his chest tightly, and his Black Magician of Chaos outfit shattered, leaving again the translucent image he was.
"YUGI!" All three of Yugi's friends freaked out in absolute terror, from their point of view it was as if Yugi's arm was blown off from the rest of his body. Ironac also stood aghast, but Bronsen's headband shadowed his eyes as he found relief to breathe again. Scossa checked his Oracle Pager: the displayed FIGHT was replaced with Scossa: 1-1. He smiled with pleasure.
Bronsen raised a solemn hand. "The winner…is Scossa Welle." The said judgment, all three came to Yugi's side as Scossa walked away triumphantly. Yugi was out cold completely, his cards were scattered from what was left of his Duel Disk, and the arm of which the machine was equipped to was burned badly from the shorted circuitry with tattered sleeves.
"Yugi? Yugi please wake up." Téa tried to call in Yugi's coma. They all acted quickly.
"Tristan, get Yuge on my back. The hospital's not too far from here." Joey said, Tristan complied and helped the unconscious duelist to his back, brushing off the fact that Yugi's arm was bleeding onto his shoulder. Téa picked up as many of the cards that were intact and followed the boys out of the battlefield.
Ironac grimly looked to his partner. "You knew the whole time, didn't you?" Brosen nodded in response. Ironac understood the circumstances. "We must remain impartial, we cannot warn shaman of what we know, even if it does seem unfair." Ironac and Bronsen raised their hands and called forth their winged familiars to send them out of the area. "I'll keep an eye on Yugi until he makes it to the hospital." Ironac volunteered and the officiants split up.
Harlan couldn't help himself but to scream out in celebration, but the other two viewers looked irritated for the most part. Gloria was about ready to charge at the wild singer until she heard the Master's deep laugh. "As much as that wasn't the Zodiac, the fall of the King of Games was just as pleasing."
"It looks like your persuasion took to him, Master." Gloria agreed, trying to suck up to the mana giant. Harlan was quick to temper.
"Brown-noser." He mumbled.
"Dire Straits reject." Gloria spat back and the two stared each other down again, their spirits doing the same. The giant groaned in submission of the two's constant bickering.
Scossa limped in and dropped to one knee in front of the Master, evidently exhausted, "Second match…victorious…Master."
"So we've seen. This does make up for your defeat against that hippie by giving the King of Games the humility of his life and his body." The Master acknowledged, "however, your record is only 1-1, and we can't have you lose again."
"I promise you I will not lose again, just get these explosives off my skin." Scossa begged. On his body it was obvious that he was picking at a stud on his throat.
"I thought you liked bombs and gunpowder," the giant chuckled at his own remark, then grew serious again. "I will have your head if I see another loss, Welle." He agreed with definite threat and raised a hand to gesture another one over. A fifth presence entered with shifting plates of armor scraping against one another. Blood red armor reflected torchlight, the suit standing at least six feet in decorative formation and no skin revealing whatsoever, just a pair of violet eyes glowing out of a dark slot in his helmet. "Defuse him." The Master commanded.
Obeying, the suit raised a hand and mana manifested into a pair of long fearful pliers made out of his fingers. Inside the armor a voice snickered in a vile language, "Zf cvg utm fs gfzxp frkn zm. Kekm nshk utm fs ltqq frkn stf."
Scossa whimpered to himself, "Chyort…"
On a hospital bed, Yugi was admitted and his injuries were stabilized immediately. Under a light sheet, the only limb on top was his left arm wrapped from the elbow down and a few bandages on other various scratches. A cord was strung out from under his shirt, measuring his vital signs. The others were in chairs next to the bed, holding Yugi's possessions, his deck and jacket; the Millennium Puzzle was placed in Yugi's open palm.
The doctor previously groaned as Yugi was being treated, saying something about how recently they've been getting a rash of severe injuries, including a boy with a number of broken ribs. Soon after that all three of them saw Manta making a mad dash down the hall.
"Come on Yuge, wake up…" Joey moaned with hope.
"They had to know that was an unfair match! Why couldn't they give Yugi some other opponent?" Téa complained. Tristan was to himself, looking through the cards that were intact from the explosion.
Téa cried loud enough to get attention from the next room over and someone came in, Anna. It came as a surprise that Anna wasn't admitting the strong, strict aura, but more of a concern and despair feeling. She looked up and saw everyone around Yugi's bed. "He had his second round, too?" she asked, getting a bunch of nods in return. "Yoh's in the same shape, but conscious. What was Yugi's ordeal?"
"Some freak could make bombs out of thin air." Tristan answered.
"Out of his mana." Téa corrected, "Scossa tricked Yugi and obliterated his Duel Disk."
"Yugi? Yugi?" A familiar voice stirred Yugi to his subconscious. He was staring into the face of his guardian spirit as he managed to sit up from the carpet of his soul room. "Good, at least I can reach you within."
"What…happened Yami?" Yugi asked weakly. Yami tilted his head, instantly Yugi got the message. "We lost?"
"More than just the match. Your body needs to recover, that's why we can't reach you outside." Yami answered, Yugi looked down to the floor again.
"How bad off are we?"
"We lost the Duel Disk, and your left arm is in bad shape. But Joey and the others got you to the hospital safely after the match." Yami reported, trying to assure Yugi with the brighter of things.
"But with the Duel Disk gone, and if we can't get another one, what are we going to do for the final match?" Yugi asked. Yami gave it a moment of thought before answering.
"We don't need the Duel Disk to Over Soul. Sure we were attached to it throughout Battle City, but there is something closer to us than that." Said Yami. He looked down at his heel where a Kuriboh stood. "Our deck, and the monsters inside it. We didn't need Kaiba's Duel Disk, nor Pegasus' arena, to feel what powerful bond we share with them."
"Are you sure you can Over Soul each card?"
"It may take a little practice, and with what little time we have we need all the practice we can get." Yami answered, "We'll have to memorize every card and act as one to bring them out into battle and help us."
Yugi seemed uncertain, but it was still the preliminary rounds; one more win would let him qualify into the actual tournament.
Anna walked up to Yugi's beside. Her concern turned to rage, "Wake up! Yoh has broken ribs and he's conscious; you just have scorch marks!" As with a flailing hand slapped Yugi across the face and bringing him back to consciousness.
Yugi sprang up on his bed, gasping for air. "Hey what was that for!" He demanded, obviously he felt it before waking up. Anna huffed.
"You better get tough because you're jumping right back to training when you're released!" she shouted.
"Are you nuts, woman!" Tristan objected, "Yugi nearly got his arm blown off!"
"If it wasn't for my training that would have happened!" Anna argued back, the proven point silenced Tristan. "Can you get another Duel Disk, Yugi?" she turned to the injured.
"Actually, I was thinking of actually focusing my medium into the deck now that I don't have the Duel Disk to focus into." Yugi replied. Anna took a moment to herself to absorb the answer.
"All right, suit yourself. In the progress of two preliminary round you've shown progress as a shaman. I'll leave training to you, good luck in the third match." Anna briefed before turning on a heel. "I need to leave, Yoh is going to Izumo to extend his training."
"Izumo?" Yugi wondered.
"That's where Lord Yohmei is, Yoh will train under him for his third match against Ren." Anna answered, "Yoh will need this to go against this Tao." And then she left the room. Yugi and his friends just sat there for a moment in silence before…
"Tristan, what cards do I still have?" Yugi asked, Tristan began to flip through what remained of his deck.