A/N: Warning! This is chapter holds our obligatory super cheesy motivational speech! You may skip it if you wish, but we'd appreciate some feed back about it. Consider yourself warned.
Disclaimer: We don't own Yu-Gi-Oh (the show or the card game), but we do own our original characters and cards, unless otherwise noted. We also own the cheesy speech in this chapter.
Previously,
Brian and Yugi successfully manage to drive away Tim and Zeffie, and reach the canyon in one piece. Now they approach Needlez's lair, and chances are he won't take to kindly to the intrusion…
Chapter 16
It's Back…
Needlez was sitting back on his black throne; the five remaining Elemental Duelists were standing before him. It had been roughly fifteen minutes since Zeffie and Tim had returned, and they had already infused the distraught Zeffie's talent into the seal to release Needlez talent into the body. Now infused with the "power of life," the body's eyes followed anyone who entered the room.
"It would seem our foes are drawing closer." Needlez mused, looking at his watch, "They'll arrive soon, and we need the pharaoh alive."
"What about the others?" Gold asked, cracking his knuckles nonchalantly, "What could they do to us?"
"Ye remember what ye said about when your ex-wife left ye right?" Needlez asked, leaning closer to the earth duelist.
"Yeah." Gold said with a nod, "She took me for practically everything I had, even got me paying child support for our kid. Lucky I found out how much money I could make playing Duel Monster tourneys or I'd…"
"These others could do worse to us." Needlez interrupted, causing Gold to snap his mouth shut, "The pharaoh is always stronger when his friends are close by, and so we must do all we can to isolate him from them."
"But how do we do that?" Mako asked, scratching his head.
"Simple." Needlez grinned, "Stop holding back when ye blast them."
"You mean you want us to use those ridiculously over-the-top attacks we came up with that we have to announce like we're in a bad anime?" Tim asked, furrowing his brow.
"Aye." Needlez nodded.
"Zeffie loves using those moves!" Zeffie cheered.
"But we run the risk of killing them with those moves." Celeste pointed out.
"Then that's just what yeh'll have to do." Needlez declared, standing up from his throne, "Don't let them fool you! I was tricked into showing mercy to those evil mystics seven thousands years ago, and how did they repay me? They sealed my soul away, and stole my powers! The five of ye must show no mercy, make sure none but the pharaoh enter."
Needlez looked down at his minions, and saw they were looking up at him in shock. Their mouths were gaping open, and their eyes wide.
"Oh, fer the love of…" Needlez muttered as his watch began to glow again, "It's the only way. Surely ye must see that."
Zeffie's eyes narrowed as her own crystal began to glow.
"Let's roll team!" She shouted, vanishing in a tornado and turning to Needlez, "But don't call me 'Shirley.'"
The other four crystals all began to glow and the other four duelists vanished in their respective columns. Needlez smiled as he looked at the stone in the center of his watch.
"It's so hard to find good help these days." He sighed as he put the watch back in his pocket, "But thank goodness for brainwashing!"
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In the canyon, Brian led the other three forward. The canyon had been pretty straight, with enough space between the cliffs for the four to walk shoulder-to-shoulder if they desired. At the moment though, Kaiba and Joey were walking near opposite cliff faces, and Yugi was right behind Brian. They had been waling for roughly twenty minutes since the train stopped, and they hadn't stopped for anything.
"We almost there?" Joey asked, picking up the pace a bit, "I can't wait to give that Needlez a piece of my mind!"
"You should be thankful we're taking so long then." Kaiba snickered, "You need all that you can spare."
"Watch it…" Joey growled, turning toward Kaiba.
"Relax, we're here." Brian stated, pointing toward a cave just ahead.
The four of them picked up the pace, breaking into a run. As they approached the cave however, five columns burst up in front of them! From the columns emerge the other five Elemental Duelists, each of them staring down their opponents.
"The Elemental Duelists!" Yugi exclaimed, as he and the others screeched to a halt.
"Guess whose back." Gold said with a smile.
"They just did." Mako muttered, "And they were right."
"You shall not pass!" Zeffie shouted, then she giggled, "Zeffie has always wanted to say that."
Brian looked up at his brother, who was fingering the dark crystal around his neck.
"What are you guys doing?" Brian asked.
"Sorry, Needlez says that no one but Yugi and the pharaoh enter." Celeste stated, a glowing yellow aura flaring to life around her, "The rest of you will have to wait out here."
"Like hell we are!" Joey shouted, raising his fists, "If you think, for one minute, that I'm going to send my best buddy into some nut job's hideout by himself, you've got another thing comin'!"
"We were kind of hoping you wouldn't say that." Gold grumbled as he pressed his hands to the ground, "Fearful Earthbound!"
Joey gasped as the earth beneath him split, and a huge pair of jaws sprang from the ground he was standing on! Joey jumped back just as the jaws closed around where he had been standing a second ago.
"Well, seems the old dog's learned some new tricks." Kaiba muttered, "And it looks like our enemies have gained more power too…"
Joey shot an angry glare at Kaiba, as Brian took a step forward.
"I know that you guys don't want to hurt us." Brian called out to them, "You have to listen to me. Needlez has been controlling our emotions with those crystals! You have to get rid of them right now, before you do something you regret!"
"Sorry, no can do." Zeffie retorted, "Lordy Needlez said to make sure no one got in, and so we'll make sure that you don't. You'll have to get through Zeffie, Goldie, Celestey, Mr. Tsunami, and…Timmy?"
Zeffie gasped the last part of that as Tim suddenly jumped towards her. She tried to jump away, but Tim closed his hand around the dark crystal hanging around the girl's neck. He quickly tore it off, along with his own piece of the crystal, and turned to Brian.
"Bro, catch!" Tim shouted as he tossed the fragments toward Brian.
Brian caught the gems, and a flare of purple light sprung from his hand. He looked in his hand and gasped as he saw that the dark crystal had reformed! The two pieces had merged into one, and the extra chain now fell to the ground.
"What are you…" Celeste started, turning toward Tim.
"Sorry, but my family comes first." Tim smiled as he turned toward Brian.
"Hey…" Yugi grinned, "Brian, I think Tim's managed to shake off Needlez's control!"
"Well, if I could do it, I guess he could to." Brian said as he donned his crystal, "We'll keep the other four distracted, the rest of you get in their!"
Yugi, Joey, and Kaiba all ran toward the cave entrance. Mako and Gold both started toward them to try and block their path, when a ring of flame shot up around them. Celeste and Zeffie watched in shock as the three heroes dashed into the cave, and Tim ran to Brian's side. The flames around Gold and Mako fell away, and the two of them glared at Tim. Zeffie jumped forward, and landed on Gold's shoulder, while Celeste ran up to Mako's side.
"Let's get this started." Brian said, "You ready bro?"
Tim smiled and nodded.
"I'll take the big guy with the parrot on his shoulder!" He said, pointing to Gold.
"ZEFFIE IS NOT A PARROT!" Zeffie shouted.
Suddenly, the shadows in the cave behind the other duelists began to shift! Mako, Celeste, Zeffie, and Gold all let out a shout of surprise as a riptide of darkness pulled them into the cave!
Brian and Tim dashed in, nodded to each other, and then ran to opposite sides of the chamber.
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Celeste and Mako stood back to back, watching out for one of the two Hokage brothers.
"You see anything yet?" Mako asked.
"No, but let's shed some light on the subject." Celeste said with a smile, "Darkness Piercing Light!"
She held out her hand, and about two thousand tiny points of light began to float around the room.
Celeste smiled as she saw Brian run up, trying to bat away some of the lights that were clinging to his clothes.
Brian looked up and gulped as he realized he had been spotted.
"Oh boy…" Brian muttered as Mako pointed at him.
"Torrential Tribute!" Mako yelled!
A huge blast of water launched from his finger tip, right toward his former comrade!
Brian dove to the right, narrowly avoiding the blast of sea water, and gathered an orb of shadows around his right hand.
"My turn!" Brian called out, holding his hand over his head, "Darkness Approaches!"
A wave of darkness poured from his palm, smothering all of the tiny lights Celeste had created.
Mako shivered slightly as the shadows washed over him.
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In the meantime, Zeffie and Gold were staring down Tim, none of them daring to make a move.
Finally Zeffie pointed right at Tim, gathering a miniature tornado in front of her.
"This is boring!" Zeffie complained, "Mystical Space Typhoon!"
The tornado shot right toward Tim, who spun out of the way and gathered fire around both hands!
"Fire Darts!" Tim shouted as he tossed hundreds of tiny fireballs at his opponents!
Gold smiled as he slammed one fist against the ground, and a crack appeared in the earth in front of him!
"Guess again," He shouted, "Grave Shield!"
A huge stonewall burst out of the crack, and the fireballs exploded harmlessly against it.
Tim swore under his breath, and then gasped as he saw Zeffie jump over the wall with another tornado gathered in front of her…
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"Did you get him?" Celeste shouted to Mako as she created an orb of light in her hand.
"No I…ARGHH!" Mako screamed from the shadows!
Celeste looked worried as she held the light over her head.
"Mako?" She asked.
Mako jerkily walked into the light around Celeste, his eyes glazed over slightly as he pointed at her.
Celeste dove to the side as Mako launched a blast of pressurized water right at her!
"What the heck! Mako it's me!" Celeste yelled.
"I…know…he's…controlling…me!" Mako choked out.
"What's the matter Celeste?" Brian taunted from the shadows, "Didn't know about the Puppet Magic of Dark Ruler?"
Celeste looked closely, and saw that a series of black threads were attached to Mako.
"Okay, if that's the way you wanna play…" Celeste said pointing at the ceiling, "Sorry Mako! Lightning Vortex!"
Mako and Brian both screamed as bolts of electricity shot down from the ceiling, severing the threads! The two of them were highlighted by sparks dancing across their forms, which quickly faded away. Mako fell to his knees moaning as wisps of smoke rose from his body, and Celeste smiled as she heard Brian do the same.
"Cheap…shot." Brian shouted.
"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!" Mako yelled as got to his feet.
"He's over there." Celeste said, pointing to where she had heard Brian's voice.
Mako turned toward the shadows and smiled.
"Well alright then! Big Wave, Small Wave!" He shouted, waving his arms.
A huge tidal wave blasted forward, and Brian screamed as he was pinned against the wall! A second smaller wave washed him out into the light and a series of puddles appeared all over the floor.
"Got him!" Mako cheered.
"Yeah, but now, unless I'm feeling suicidal, I can't use any of my electric techniques!" Celeste fumed
"Yeah, but I got him." Mako grinned.
Brian just lay still, facedown on the ground.
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Zeffie smiled as she tossed another tornado at Tim.
Suddenly, the air around Tim rippled, and he shot upward on a blast of heated air!
"Drat!" Zeffie shouted as Tim flew slightly above her.
"Better watch out cause I'm hot like fire!" Tim called out as a huge fireball appeared over his head, "Meteor of Destruction!"
Tim threw the fiery orb down with both hands. The fireball went blazing down toward Zeffie, who quickly dove back down behind Gold!
"Do something!" Zeffie screamed.
Gold glared at Tim as two huge plates of stone appeared on his arms!
"Sakuretsu Armor!" He yelled, holding up the stone plates like a pair of shields!The fireball ran into the plates, and Gold began to push back against the powerful spell.
"Come on, Come on!" Tim prayed.
No such luck. Gold let out a huge roar and, with a Herculean burst of strength, sent the fireball back toward the ceiling.
Tim quickly dropped back to the ground, an aura of flames surrounding his body.
"Try this!" He challenged as he turned the palm of his hand toward his opponents, "Ookazi!"
A wave of fire shot toward Gold, but this time Zeffie jumped in front of him!
"Oh no you don't!" She yelled as a blast of wind split the flames in two different directions, "Tornado Wall!"
Tim silently cursed again, when the ground began to shake beneath him!
"Fissure!" Gold shouted, driving his fist into the stone floor beneath him.
Tim screamed as a huge crack opened beneath him, and he fell through the floor.
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In the meantime, Yugi and the others were running through the cave. The three of them had been making their way through the twisting tunnels, occasionally glancing over their shoulder at the sounds of the battle they had escaped.
"You sure we should have left them behind?" Yugi asked.
"And just what do you think you were going to do to help?" Kaiba asked, "In case you failed to notice, those aren't holograms they're using!"
"Let's just keep moving, alright?" Joey suggested as they all continued running.
They finally entered a large chamber, about the size of a living room. The floors, ceiling, and walls were all completely smooth and polished, with torches placed every twenty feet or so. On the far side of the chamber was a black throne, and sitting in the throne was…
"Serenity!" Joey shouted, staring at his sister.
In the throne was Joey's younger sister. She was still wearing her denim shorts and pink t-shirt, along with a deck case strapped to the waist band of her shorts, and she had a strange look in her eyes. She smiled sweetly at her brother, and got to her feet.
"What are you doing here?" Joey asked as he walked up to her, "How did you get here?"
"I owe that my new friend." Serenity explained, as she held out her right arm.
She was wearing a duel disk, loaded with cards!
"New frien…Celeste." Joey realized as he stared at the disk.
"Close, but no cigar Joey." Serenity said as she flipped her hair over her shoulder, showing off her hair clip, "Lord Needlez is the one who finally opened my eyes to the truth."
"The truth?" Yugi gasped.
"That I don't need my 'big brother' anymore." Serenity sneered, "And to prove it, I'm going to beat him in a duel, here and now!"
"You can't be serious." Joey gasped, "Serenity…"
"Save it!" Serenity snapped as she activated her disk, "Now turn on your disk and let's duel!"
Joey stood there, mouth wide open.
"If you don't duel me, I could call in Needlez or one of the Elemental Duelists and have them force you to do it." Serenity growled, holding out her hand as if to snap her fingers, "Trust me, you'd prefer it if you just agreed now."
Joey looked back toward the others. Yugi just shrugged helplessly, as did Kaiba. Joey looked at the duel disk that was still strapped to his own arm. He sighed, and activated it…
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Mako looked at Brian's prone form and gently nudged it with his foot.
"Hey are you all right?" He asked turning the dark duelist over.
Suddenly, Brian's body melted into shadows and vanished!
"WHAT!" Mako yelled as Celeste went on high alert,
"Physical Double. Endlessly useful technique that one." Brian laughed as he walked out of the nearby shadows.
"Why you…" Mako started before Brian cut him off.
"Shadow Spell!" Brian yelled, pointing at the ocean duelist.
A series of chains launched forward, strapping Mako to the wall! Mako screamed and struggled against the bindings, but to no avail.
"Just us now." Brian said as he turned to Celeste.
Celeste nodded and held out one hand.
"Lightforce Sword!" She shouted.
A sword of pure light appeared in her hand, and she swung it at Brian's head!
"Sword of Dark Destruction!" Brian answered, holding his own hand out.
A thin red sword appeared in his hand and he quickly parried Celeste's attack!
The two of them swung at each other again, this time their blades crossing as they tried to force their way through the others defenses.
"If you hadn't pulled a Benedict Arnold we wouldn't have to do this!" Celeste muttered as she gasped for air.
"The same applies if the four of you would just think for yourselves instead of letting Needlez control you!" Brian responded through clenched teeth.
The two stepped back from each other, Celeste raising up her free hand to launch a Solar Ray, but Brian was a hair faster.
"Bark of Dark Ruler!" He shouted, waving his arm in a wide arc.
A wave of black energy flew forward, knocking Celeste to the ground!
As she started to get up, Brian plunged his sword into the ground next to her head.
"I don't want to hurt you." Brian said, "Now, how about we act like civilized beings and talk this out. Or would rather I tie you up like Mako?"
Celeste looked over to Mako who was panting from the effort of trying to escape the chains.
"I feel chatty." Celeste said.
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Gold looked down into the crack Tim had fallen into.
"Is he dead?" He asked.
"I dunno." Zeffie said, looking down into the fissure from the opposite side.
Suddenly, a quiet voice from the bottom shouted something.
"What did he say?" Gold asked.
"Sounded like Dragon's Gunfire." Zeffie answered, a terrified look crossing her face, "Uh-oh…"
A series of fireballs launched from the crevice as Tim burst out of the hole on a wave of heated air, aiming his hands at Gold and Zeffie.
"KURENAI!" Tim shouted as the flames gathered around his wrists.
Two huge gouts of flame shot toward the other two duelists, and each of them quickly raised a barrier of their own element to defend themselves. The force of the flames, however, pushed both of them backward, and in opposite directions.
Tim landed on the ground and Gold slammed one arm against a near by wall. A series of spikes immediately burst from the stone, and aimed toward the fire duelist.
"Needle Wall!" He called out as the spikes rocketed towards Tim.
Tim casually flicked his wrist, creating a barrier of fire. The needles stuck it, and exploded into shard of rock on impact.
Tim smiled as he stepped toward Gold, generating a fiery aura around himself, when the flames went out! Tim choked and fell to the ground gasping for air!
"What…the…" Tim muttered.
"Zeffie wants to tell you something she learned in school." Zeffie giggled, aiming her hands toward her foe, "Fire needs oxygen to burn. So Zeffie got rid of most of the oxygen around you so you can't hurt us!"
"Nice one Zef!" Gold cheered.
"Now to end this!" Zeffie shouted as a wave of air appeared in front of her, "Take this!"
Zeffie fired a blast of air shaped like a scythe right at her helpless opponent.
"Ba…" Tim whispered.
"We win!" Zeffie cheered as the blast hit!
Suddenly a huge bonfire filled the area around them! Zeffie and Gold screamed as the heat forced them to the ground. The air scythe was quickly dispersed by the expanding heat blast.
Tim stood up as Zeffie's spell vanished. He took several deep breaths, and turned toward his opponents. Both of them were lying on the ground nearby, covered in soot and ashes.
"You should have listened." Tim panted, "I said Backfire!"
"Ouch." Zeffie and Gold said in unison.
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Serenity and Joey both pulled their first five cards off their respective decks. Serenity smiled a wicked smile as she picked up her sixth one.
"I think that I'll go first." Serenity declared, fanning her cards in front of her.
Serenity: 8000
Joey: 8000
Serenity deftly slid a card into her disk, and a swirling vortex appeared in front of her.
"I open with Polymerization." Serenity declared as she slid two cards into her graveyard, "And I choose to fuse my Humanoid Slime with my Worm Drake!"
Two monsters appeared in front of her. One was a scaly green serpent, with a set of powerful jaws. The second was a man shaped blob of water wearing yellow armor. Serenity pulled a card from the deck case at her waist, and placed it on the disk. Both monsters were consumed by the vortex, and in their place materialized a creature that looked like a winged serpent made of green liquid.
"Together, they form the Humanoid Worm Drake (2200/2000)!" Serenity announced as she placed another card into her disk, "And I also play the spell card: Branch!"
A large hole appeared in the ground behind the Worm Drake, and Serenity smiled.
"Your move Joey." She stated.
Joey drew his sixth card, and looked over his hand with a frown.
"I can't risk hurting Serenity." He thought as he took a card from his hand, "Best if I just defend."
"I'll set one card facedown, and set a monster in defense mode." Joey stated as he placed two cards into his disk, "And that's my turn."
Two cards appeared in front of Joey. Serenity just laughed as she drew her third card.
"What's wrong Joey, scared that you might hurt me?" Serenity taunted, "I'd be more worried about yourself."
The girl placed another card onto her disk. A loud war cry echoed through the cave as a soldier in black armor jumped in front of Serenity. He wielded a large sword, and had a black head band.
"Say hello to Warrior Dai Grepher (1700/1600)." Serenity said with a smile, "And now, my Worm Drake will attack your facedown monster!"
The watery creature dove forward, and Joey's monster turned over. It was a scaly reptilian monster, carrying a sword and shield. The monster screamed as it shattered into thousands of fragments.
"Alligator Sword (1500/1200)?" Serenity scoffed, "Pathetic. Dai Grepher, attack him directly!"
The soldier jumped forward, and swung his sword toward Joey. The blond let out a cry of pain, as the blade drew across his chest, and he stumbled backwards.
Serenity: 8000
Joey: 6300
Joey straightened up, and Serenity smirked.
"End turn." She said, with a wave of her hand.
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Back in the entrance chamber, the shadows slowly receded. Tim looked up from Zeffie and Gold (who were both lying prone on the ground, their clothes relatively unharmed, but their bodies covered in patches of red skin. Clearly their own powers had protected them to some degree.), and smiled as he saw his brother stepped forward. Celeste was right behind him, and Mako was being dragged in chains by the dark duelist. Mako had obviously decided that struggling was futile, and sat patiently as Brian released his grip on the chains.
"That will teach them to mess with the amazing dueling Hokage brothers, eh?" Tim smirked as he and Brian high-fived.
"Amazing dueling Hokage brothers?" Gold groaned as he sat up.
"It's what we called ourselves when we started dueling." Brian explained.
"How did Timmy make such a big boom?" Zeffie moaned as she leaned against Gold.
"It's a concept known as a 'firestorm.'" Tim explained, turning to Zeffie, "I learned about it in history class. In World War 2, during fire bomb raids on Tokyo, the fire would consume all the oxygen in the air nearby. But when a strong wind carried more oxygen into the area, it would ignite what was left of the fire bomb and begin a new blaze."
"I could make a joke about how history repeats itself, but I think I'd better save my energy for healing you two." Celeste stated as her hands began to glow with a silver aura, "Soul of the Pure!"
A silver aura surrounded Zeffie and Gold, and the redness faded away. As the two started to get up however, Brian held out his hands. Hands of shadow reached from the floor, and locked onto the earth and wind duelists ankles, as well as Celeste's.
"What the!" Zeffie shouted, tugging at the bonds.
"Just need to be sure that I have your attention." Brian assured them, "You guys have to listen to me, Needlez has been using us."
"May I be the first to say...DUH!" Tim exclaimed.
"You have proof, I assume." Gold muttered as he cracked his large knuckles.
"Come on Gold, doesn't Needlez story strike you as amazingly odd?" Brian asked, turning to the much larger person.
"Like how?" Gold grumbled.
"Usually in old stories like the one Needlez told us, there's a good reason that something is sealed away." Celeste stated as she looked toward Brian, "Am I warm?"
"Red hot." Brian confirmed with a nod, "Needlez wasn't trying to save the world, he wanted to rule it! And he used us as his pawns so he could get a second chance in our time."
"Got any better proof?" Mako yelled, "That's nothing but some random theory!"
Brian pointed at Mako's crystal.
"If Needlez trusted us so much, then how come he didn't tell us how we could remove the crystals?" Brian pointed out, "And what about how you all acted in your recent duels?"
Zeffie, Mako, Gold, and Celeste all shuddered a bit. Images of the last two days flashed through their minds, of them threatening opponents, stoically sacrificing their favorite monsters, and furiously pounding on their foes.
"Would someone who truly has our best interests at heart give us jewels that make us act like that?" Brian continued.
"There's no proof the crystals did it!" Gold protested as his bracelet began to shine.
"Let's think." Tim said, grabbing Gold's wrist and showing the gem, "Crystal doesn't glow, your fine. Crystal starts glowing, you get a bit agitated. Crystal really glows, and…well let's face it, you lose any control you retained after it started."
Gold took several deep breaths, and everyone watched as his crystal's light faded away.
"None of us took up dueling to try and recreate the world." Brian stated, "That was just an idea Needlez put in our heads. My duel with Joey reminded me of what truly mattered to me. My desire to show that darkness can be good set me free from Needlez control. Think back to why you each started…"
Zeffie smiled as she reached up to her circlet.
"Zeffie was bored with regular card games, then the other kids at school started playing Duel Monsters." She explained, "Zeffie thought it looked like fun, so she started playing too. It took a while, but soon Zeffie could kick all their butts! Zeffie played because it was fun…"
Zeffie slid her circlet off, and a card floated out of her deck, and touched the ground. Seeing this, Mako cautiously laid one hand on his anklet.
"When my father went missing, the only thing I wanted to do was get a boat so I could try to find him." He muttered, his voice slowly gaining strength, "I've learned much in my time playing this game, and I've come close to achieving my dream on a few occasions. But the people I've met through this game have helped me as well. Each one I faced made me stronger, helping me prepare for the day when I can truly begin my search…"
The anklet clicked, and Mako easily removed it. A single card fluttered from his own deck as Gold grabbed his bracelet.
"Too be honest, I just did it for the money." He sighed, "After my wife divorced me, and got custody of our daughter, I had a little trouble making the child support payments. But then I picked up this card game, and started winning a few bucks at the tournament. I finally found a job that wasn't boring, and I even met Zeffie at one of the tourneys I went to…"
Zeffie giggled, and hugged Gold around his waist as his bracelet was removed. Like the others, one card fell from his deck, and Celeste began to tug on her ring.
"After an incident in my family, I had a hard time making friends." Celeste stated, "So, when I started dueling I managed to make a whole bunch of friends, including you guys. But I guess I haven't acted much like a good friend lately…"
The ring slid off, and another card fell. Tim grasped his manacle and smiled.
"I like burning things, and my family didn't like the potential destruction I could cause." He stated, "So I built a fire deck and scorched monsters instead of material possessions. That, and it was something my brother and I had in common."
The manacle slid off easily, and a fifth card floated to the ground. Brian removed his necklace once again, not noticing as a card fell out of the sidedeck in his pocket.
"Now then, I know we just took our crystals off, but what do you guys say we show Needlez that you don't mess with a duelist without getting messed with yourself?" He offered.
With a wave of Brian's hand, the shadows holding the others faded away. Everyone nodded, put the crystals back on, and quickly left the chamber, heading deeper into the cave. As they left, the six cards on the floor glowed, and vanished into pools of blue-green light.
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Joey pulled a new card from his deck, and looked over his hand.
"All right Serenity, I set one monster in defense mode." Joey declared as he laid another card onto his disk, "And I'll also play Dangerous Machine Type 6!"
A new facedown card appeared. Then, the ground trembled as a large machine with six windows rose from the cave floor. It was made of strange green metal, and occasionally let out a whirring noise.
"I'm not your enemy Serenity, I don't want to hurt you." Joey explained as he tapped the end turn button on his disk, "But I'll do what it takes to save you! Now make your move."
"You got it." Serenity stated as she drew, "And since you didn't activate that facedown last turn, I bet it's just a bluff."
The brown haired girl placed another card onto her disk. Another bellow filled the cave, and out of the corner leapt a large Minotaur wearing red armor, and carrying a large ax! He stared down Joey, and bellowed again, stamping his hoof against the ground.
"Battle Ox (1700/1000) should be able to handle you." Serenity smirked as she placed another card into her spell slot, "And if you think I'm going to waste an attack against your facedown monster, you can guess again. I activate Tribute to the Doomed, destroying your facedown monster by discarding one card from my hand!"
Serenity slid a card into her graveyard, and a flurry of white bandages shot forward. They flew toward Joey's monster, which turned over to reveal a golden cat statue. As the linens wrapped around it, a flurry of gold flew forward! Serenity gasped as her monsters all dropped to their knees to collect the treasure.
"What happened?" Serenity gasped.
"You destroyed my Neko Mane King (0/0)!" Joey declared as held up a card that had a picture of a golden cat statue on it, "When you destroy this monster with a spell, trap, or monster effect, your turn immediately ends."
"Fine, your turn." Serenity scowled, "But don't think you're off the hook!"
"You got it." Joey said as he drew, "And now that it's my turn, my Dangerous Machine goes to work. It will pick a number between one and six, and, depending on what comes up, something special will happen."
The machine began to whine, and the six windows began to flash. The numbers one through six appeared in each window in rapid succession and the machine began to sputter and spark. Finally, the machine fell silent, and each of the windows displayed a three.
"All right!" Joey cheered as he drew again, "A three lets me draw one more card."
"And this happens during each of your turns?" Serenity guessed.
"Yep." Joey said with a grim smile.
"Fair enough." Serenity shrugged, "Your luck won't hold out forever."
"I just need it to hold until I can get my sister back." Joey thought as he placed another card on his disk.
"I summon Goblin Attack Force (2300/0)." Joey announced.
A quartet of green goblins, wearing armor and carrying a variety of swords and clubs appeared on the field. They excitedly clanged their weapons, staring down Serenity's creatures.
"Goblins, attack her Worm Drake!" Joey ordered.
The goblins surged forward, slamming their weapons against the aquatic creature. It roared in pain, and shattered into fragments. The goblins then stumbled backward and fell to their knees.
Serenity: 7900
Joey: 6300
"Of course, now my monsters go to defense mode." Joey explained, "But I got rid of one of your strongest monsters…"
Joey was interrupted as a howl echoed from the hole near Serenity. The howling grew louder, and then a man shaped blob of water wearing yellow armor jumped out! It crossed its arms, and settled to the ground in front of Serenity.
"What the heck!" Joey exclaimed, "What gives?"
"Now you know what my Branch spell does." Serenity said as she gestured to her monster, "Whenever a fusion monster is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon one of its components back. In this case, I chose my Humanoid Slime (800/2000) to come back in defense mode."
"Why would you even have a spell like that?" Joey asked, "That's only useful as long as you use fusion monsters."
"You mean like these?" Serenity asked as she pulled a thick stack of purpled bordered cards from her deck case.
Yugi's eyes widened at the sight of the cards. Joey drew back a bit, and Kaiba's eyes narrowed in concern.
"There has to be at least forty cards there!" Yugi exclaimed, "They can't all be fusion monsters, can they?"
"Actually, they are." Serenity explained as she placed the cards back, "My deck has been built to bring in some of the deadliest fusion monsters in existence!"
Joey gulped as Serenity pointed at him.
"And guess what Joey, they're all going to be gunning for you!" Serenity threatened, "Now then, are you done with your turn?"
Joey nodded, and Serenity drew a new card. She smiled as she saw what it was.
"I activate, Pot of Greed." She declared as she placed the card in her disk.
A green pot appeared in front of her, and Serenity snapped two cards from her deck. The pot then vanished with a wicked laugh. Serenity smiled as she slid another card into her disk.
"I summon the Earth Hex Sealed Fusion (1500/1600)." Serenity declared.
A new monster appeared, this one resembling a large chunk of rocks and minerals. It had several valuable looking gems sticking out of its body, and it was pulsing with strange energy as the seal appeared on its front.
"With this monster, I can summon a fusion monster of earth easily." Serenity stated as she removed it and another card from her disk, "I just sacrifice it, and the other monster that I need to complete the fusion."
The rocky monster floated over to the Battle Ox. Immediately, a second vortex began to swirl behind her monsters. The two monsters vanished into it. Serenity swapped the cards on her disk with one from her fusion deck. A new monster emerged from the swirling portal. The top half of its body looked like the Battle Ox, but below the waist it looked like a horse. It still carried the hand ax, and it let out a terrifying bellow.
"Now they're Rabid Horseman (2000/1700)!" Serenity announced, "And it's time to attack. Warrior Dai Grepher, you're on!"
The warrior let out another battle cry and jumped forward. With one clean slice, he cut every one of the goblins in half! They vanished in a shower of sparks.
"Rabid Horseman, attack him directly!" Serenity ordered with a sweep of her hand.
"I don't think so, I activate my trap card: A Hero Emerges!" Joey shouted.
The facedown card lifted, revealing the image of Zombyra the Dark striking a dramatic pose. Rabid Horseman stopped, and stared at the card.
"Now you choose a random card in my hand, and if it's a monster, I can summon it." Joey declared as he spread his hand.
Serenity looked over the three cards, and pointed toward one of them.
"I choose the one in the middle." She declared.
"Good choice." Joey nodded as he pulled the card from his hand, "You picked my Jinzo (2400/1500), which means I can summon it!"
Joey placed the card from his disk, and the trap spun around. Attached to the other side was an android in green armor, with glowing red eyes. Its gaze turned toward the Rabid Horseman, who whinnied nervously.
"Activating that trap triggered a restart." Serenity sneered, "So I call off my attack. Your move Joey."
Joey drew, and his machine began to whir again. The numbers flashed by, faster and faster, until a four lit up in each window. Joey frowned as Serenity's deck began to glow.
"What does a four do?" Serenity asked with a frown.
"A four lets you draw a card, so go on." Joey sighed, "Just remember who did it for ya, okay?"
Serenity beamed as she slipped a card off of her deck. Her eyes settled on it, and she smiled even bigger.
"I think she may have drawn something good." Yugi muttered.
"What was your first clue?" Kaiba griped, "Wheeler better not screw this up."
"All right Serenity, you ready?" Joey called out as he pointed at her monster, "I attack your horseman with Jinzo! Cyber shock attack!"
Jinzo cupped his hands, and an orb of black energy appeared in them. He threw it forward, and it plowed right into the Mino-horse. The creature roared, and shattered into pixels. As it vanished though, the hole let out a howl as Serenity took a card from her graveyard. She placed it on her disk, and the Battle Ox (1700/1000) appeared in front of her again, hefting its ax.
"I decided to bring my Battle Ox back in attack mode." Serenity declared, "What do you think of that?"
Joey stared at the card, and carefully slid another card from his hand into his disk.
"I lay this card facedown, and end my turn." Joey declared as it appeared in front of him, "Now what are you up to?"
"I'll show you." Serenity smiled as she drew.
She took a card from her hand, and her field slot opened up. She reached down to place a card in, but as she did the Elemental Duelists entered the chamber. They were all wearing their crystals again, but the gems weren't glowing like they had before. Celeste stopped short as she saw Serenity.
"Serenity?" Celeste gasped, "What are you doing?"
"Exactly what Lord Needlez wants me to do." Serenity declared as she placed a card in her field zone.
A circle of green letters was emblazoned on the ground around Serenity and Joey. Yugi's eyes widened in horror as he recognized the circle.
Brian, Mako, and Gold all charged forward. But as they reached the circle, a pulse of energy knocked them all back! A second pulse lashed out, knocking Yugi, Zeffie, Tim, Kaiba, and Celeste down as well. In the center of the circle, appeared a green, eight-pointed star. A wall of blue-green light finally appeared around the two competitors.
"I play…The Seal of Orichalcos!" Serenity declared as her forehead was marked by a smaller image of the seal.
Joey gaped in horror at the circle around him. He opened his mouth, but it snapped shut again. He opened again, and a choking noise came out.
"What's wrong Joey, you speechless for once?" Serenity snickered, "I guess you would be. It's not everyday you face a spell that gives your opponent almost limitless power. For starters, each of my monsters gains 500 attack points."
The three monsters in front of Serenity began to growl and scream. On each of their foreheads appeared a miniature seal, and their eyes (for those that had them) began to glow red. Warrior Dai Grepher (2200/1600) brandished his blade with malevolent gusto. The Battle Ox (2200/1000) began to pant, with smoke pouring from his nostrils. Humanoid Slime (1300/2000) was least affected, though it was hard for a faceless blob of goop to express any emotion.
"And now, I activate my second Polymerization!" Serenity declared as she placed the spell in her disk, "And I'm fusing Warrior Dai Grepher with the Spirit Ryu in my hand."
A new vortex appeared, and a small blue dragon floated through it, followed by the Warrior Dai Grepher. Serenity pulled another card from her case, and slammed it onto her disk. In place of Dai Grepher appeared a man who looked a lot like the warrior. Except now, he wore a hood made of a scaly, purple hide. He also carried what appeared to be two swords joined at the hilt. The front of the hood was imprinted with the seal, and the warrior's eyes began to glow with malevolent red energy.
"Meet Ryu Senshi (2500/1200)." Serenity declared, "He's more than a match for your monster, watch. Senshi, destroy Jinzo with dragon soul sword!"
Ryu Senshi's double sword was immediately engulfed in red flames. He jumped forward, and swung his weapon through Jinzo! The machine type let out a high pitched beeping noise, and then exploded.
Serenity: 7900
Joey: 6200
The others, in the meantime, got back to their feet. Brian cautiously walked up to the seal, and pressed one hand against it. A flash of green light burst from the seal, and Brian let out a yelp of pain as he stumbled backward.
"What is this thing?" He shouted, "It sort of reminds me of the elemental seals but…"
"It's the Seal of Orichalcos." Yugi said fearfully as he stepped up to it, "But this is impossible. All copies of this card were destroyed, it shouldn't exist anymore!"
"Apparently, one survived." Tim stated.
"What, this thing takes talent like our seals did?" Gold asked as he rubbed a bump on his head.
"Worse." Yugi said, "It takes the loser's soul."
"But…Needlez said he wasn't going to have Serenity duel." Celeste muttered, "He said that she was only going to be a bartering chip to force Joey to leave…"
"That was before ye all went turncoat." Needlez accented voice echoed.
Looking toward Serenity, everyone gasped as Needlez stepped out of a doorway from behind her (one that had been isolated from the rest of the room by the seal). He had changed out of his business suit, and now wore white robes and golden jewelry. The pocket watch hung on a silver chain around his neck, and he had a heavy golden bracelet on each wrist. He clutched an ornately carved wooden staff in his left hand, and strapped to his right wrist just behind the bracelet was a duel disk.
"I honestly thought ye could handle things, but since I was wrong I had to resort to plan b." Needlez said as he gestured to Serenity, "Now wee Serenity will have to take care of Joseph, so that way the pharaoh can duel me undisturbed."
The Millennium Puzzle flashed, and Yugi's face filled with a terrible look of rage. He lunged forward, and pounded his fist against the seal.
"NEEDLEZ, YOU LYING SCUMBAG!" Yami roared, "HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY FRIEND IN SUCH A COWARDLY MANNER! PUT A STOP TO THIS RIGHT NOW AND FACE ME IF THAT'S WHAT YOU DESIRE!"
"Now Pharaoh, ye know as well as I that the Seal of Orichalcos can't be removed once it has been played." Needlez yawned, "But enjoy yer friend's last duel, it's sure to be a real killer."
"Why you…" Mako growled as a group of crystals crackled around his hand, "Take this: Frozen Soul!"
Mako threw a punch, and a blast of sharp icicles flew right at the evil mastermind. Needlez just laughed as the crystals shattered against the seal's wall, and turned his back on the group.
"Serenity, ye have me full permission to due whatever is necessary to defeat Joey." Needlez ordered as he walked away, "And afterwards, be sure that none of those traitors git through."
"Yes Lord Needlez." Serenity declared as she saluted to him.
"Serenity…" Joey gasped, finally finding his voice.
"What's wrong Joey, afraid to lose to your little sister?" Serenity taunted, "Afraid that I might be tougher than you thought, that maybe I don't need you anymore?"
Joey fell silent, and Serenity pointed at him.
"Battle Ox, attack him with battle ax slam!" Serenity ordered.
The Minotaur charged forward, raising his ax over his head. Joey almost unconsciously tapped a button on his disk, and his facedown card turned over. Four little multi-colored sheep jumped up in front of him, and the blue one was struck down. The other three goats stared at where their brother had stood, and quickly dove behind Joey with bleats of fear.
"Your Scapegoats card, eh?" Serenity sneered again, "You don't know when to quit. Nothing more I can do though, so it's your turn."
Joey drew his card, his senses slowly returning. The goats floated out from behind Joey, and stepped in front of him. He looked over to Serenity, his eyes wide. The machine began to spin and whir, but Joey didn't seem to care.
"Serenity, we have to end this duel with a tie." Joey said calmly, "And we have to do it quickly."
"What are you talking about?" Serenity glowered, "Why should I have to tie with you?"
"This card you just played is dangerous Serenity." Joey continued, "It's going to take the loser's soul."
"So what?" Serenity laughed.
"You knew?" Joey gasped, "You knew but you played it anyway?"
"Yep." Serenity nodded, "And I did it all to prove that I don't need you anymore. Now you'll see just how much stronger I've become since we were kids! So don't hold back on my account, let's duel!"
The machine suddenly let out a loud clang. Both duelists looked over at it, and saw that each of the windows now displayed a five. The machine began to buzz, and a mechanical arm carrying a chainsaw came out of the side!
"What's it doing?" Serenity gasped.
"On a five, I get to destroy one monster on your side of the field." Joey explained, "So I'll get rid of Battle Ox."
The chainsaw roared, and tore forward, slamming into the Minotaur's chest! The monster roared and vanished in a blast of sparks. Serenity gasped and drew back in fright, then sneered.
"Not a good move Joey, you could have destroyed Ryu Senshi." She pointed out.
"If I did that, your Branch card would have called one of the pieces back." Joey explained, "At least this way, my goats will last a bit longer."
He quickly slid one card into his disk, and a new facedown card appeared.
"Until then, I lay this card facedown and end my turn." Joey declared.
"Needlez must be controlling Serenity's mind." Joey reasoned, "I'll have to force this duel to a tie, 'cause she probably won't do it herself."
"You may think that you saved yourself, but you're wrong." Serenity stated as she drew and placed the card into her disk, "I activate Card of Sanctity. Now we each draw until we hold six cards."
Serenity drew six times, and Joey frowned as he only drew three.
"I sacrifice Humanoid Slime to summon Berfomet (1900/1800) in attack mode!" Serenity
Serenity switched cards on her disk, and the slime man vanished. In its place appeared a red furred monster with large yellow ram horns. A pair of white wings extended from its back, and it had four pairs of arms. In one of its hands was a card, which it handed to Serenity.
"Berfomet? I have that card in my deck!" Yami gasped, as Yugi projected next to him.
"And that means Serenity got to add Gazelle to her hand!" Yugi shouted, "And that means…"
Serenity slid another card into her disk, and then pulled a new card from her fusion deck, and discarded the card she had received and Berfomet. Another portal began to swirl behind her monsters, and a four-legged creature that resembled a lion with a long horn jumped through, followed by Berfomet.
"I activate my last Polymerization card to fuse Berfomet with Gazelle and summon Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast (2600/1800)!" Serenity shouted.
From the portal flew a monster that looked like a two headed lion! It had horns on each head, and a large pair of feathery wings extended from its back. It let out a ferocious roar as a seal appeared on each of its heads, and turned toward Joey. Joey instinctively drew back.
"Chimera, destroy his yellow goat with terrible maul!" Serenity ordered.
The beast growled, and lunged forward, when Joey's facedown card lifted. A strange box appeared, and a pair of grabber arms extended from it.
"Sorry Serenity, but I activate Magic Arm Shield." Joey announced as he pointed to Ryu Senshi, "Now I can intercept your attack with one of your monsters, and I choose the dragon guy!"
The arms extended toward Ryu Senshi, who drew back in fear.
"Oh do you now?" Serenity asked, "Ryu, use your special ability!"
The warrior's weapon ignited again, and he swung it out at the arms. The arms shattered, followed by the box, and then Joey's yellow goat as Chimera's jaws closed around it.
Serenity: 6900
Joey: 6200
"How did you do that?" Joey gasped, "My trap should have stopped you!"
"But it didn't thanks to Ryu Senshi." Serenity laughed, "He can negate any normal trap card if I pay 1000 life points. And don't bother trying to target him with spell cards, because those just don't work on him. Now Senshi, attack the green goat!"
The warrior jumped forward, swinging his flaming blade through the bleating token. Joey raised his arms to block bits of ash that flew towards his face, and was silently thankful the goats were still in defense mode. The loan red goat bleated sadly, and trembled in fear.
"You're move Joey." Serenity said with a giggle and a wave.
Joey drew, and the dangerous machine began to whir again. The numbers flashed by, until a one lit up in every window.
"Oh-no!" Joey gasped.
"Joey, what does a one do?" Zeffie shouted from outside the seal.
A mechanical hand leapt from the machine, and yanked a card out of Joey's hand. It quickly stuffed the card into his graveyard, and then retracted back into the machine. Joey shot a glare at Zeffie, who backed away from the seal.
"Um…Nevermind." Zeffie muttered sheepishly.
Zeffie ducked behind Celeste, who looked away as Joey glared at her. Joey just drew his card and looked at it.
"I summon Swordsman of Landstar (500/1200) in attack mode, plus lay one facedown." He stated as he placed two cards on his disk, "And that's my turn."
A strange creature that looked like a kid from a cartoon show jumped onto the field. He wore brown armor, and carried a sword and shield. Behind him appeared a facedown card.
"You really are getting desperate, aren't you?" Serenity taunted as she drew.
She slid a card into her disk, and a replica of it appeared in front of her. It showed a picture of Dark Ruler Ha Des standing at the very top of what appeared to be a large chart. Below him were several lines, branching toward other fiendish looking creatures.
"What is that?" Tim asked as he stared at the card.
"It's Feudalism." Serenity explained as she began to search through her deck, "I can only use it if there is a field spell in play. It lets me choose any other field spell I want from my deck, and play it as though it were a continuous spell card instead!"
"What!" Gold gasped, "But that means she can get the bonuses of two field spells at once!"
"Exactly." Serenity agreed as she pulled a card from her deck and placed it into her disk, "And the other field I choose is Fusion Gate."
Behind Serenity rose a green archway. Inside the arch was a mysterious orb of green energy. The Feudalism card began to hover above the gate, glowing with green light. Serenity smiled and slid two more cards into her pocket, taking one from her fusion deck as she did.
"Now I can fuse monsters without Polymerization, just by removing them from play. So I'll fuse my Roboyarou with Robolady to summon Super Robolady (1700/500) in attack mode." Serenity announced as she placed the fusion monster on her disk.
Behind her appeared two figures. One was a robotic woman made of pink metal, and second was a robotic man made of blue metal. The two of them stepped through the fusion gate, and it lit up with a burst of green light. From the gate, emerged a new figure. It was a robotic woman in purple armor, wearing a red visor, and carrying a dangerous looking lance in her right hand.
"And you'll be happy to hear that Super Robolady gains 1000 attack points if she attacks your life points directly." Serenity giggled as the seal appeared on her new monster's forehead, "So first, Ryu Senshi, destroy the last goat!"
The armored warrior leapt forward, swinging his blazing weapon. The last goat bleated in terror, and shattered as the sword struck it.
"Chimera, attack his swordsman!" Serenity ordered.
Chimera growled in response, and launched itself forward. As it did, Joey tapped a button on his disk.
"I activate my facedown card…" He started.
"Joey wait!" Brian yelled, "Ryu Senshi negates traps, remember?"
Joey looked at Serenity, who just shrugged nonchalantly.
"I'll let you get away with it this time." She yawned, "I really don't feel like paying the life points."
The trap lifted, and Chimera let out a howl of pain. Serenity stopped in mid-yawn, as Chimera spat a silver coin from one of its mouths, and moaned as it meandered to his master.
"What the heck happened?" Serenity asked.
"My trap card, Silver Dollar." Joey explained as he pointed to the face up trap, "It negates any attacks launched at a monster that has less than 1000 attack points."
"Very clever Joey." Serenity sneered, "I'll end my turn then. But what could one lousy monster possibly do to threaten me?"
"I'll show you." Joey stated as he drew, "But first, my machine has to go for a spin."
The machine whirred, and the numbers flashed by again. They finally stopped, and settled on five again. This time, a hatch opened in the center of the gizmo, and a large cannon pointed out toward Serenity's field.
"Looks like I get to destroy another one of your monsters." Joey stated, "So to keep him away from my traps, I think I'll blast Ryu Senshi!"
The cannon fired, and a large bomb landed in Ryu Senshi's hands. The warrior went wide eyed for a split second, and then the bomb exploded, shattering him into dust. The hole behind Serenity's monsters howled again as another card was ejected from her graveyard. The cannon retreated back into the machine.
"I can still use Branch to bring Warrior Dai Grepher (2200/1600) back again." Serenity responded as she placed the monster on her field, "So don't think you've made things better for yourself."
"We'll see." Joey said as he swapped the monster on his disk for a card from his hand, "I sacrifice my swordsman to summon Maximum Six (1900/1600)!"
The warrior kid faded away, and a large crack appeared in the ground. The cave began to tremble, and a huge man with six arms and blue skin burst from the floor! Above Joey's head appeared a large, blue die, which fell to the ground and began to roll around.
"That thing kind of looks like Asura Priest." Celeste commented as she drew closer to the seal, "Can it attack multiple monsters at once?"
"No." Joey said as the die slowed, "When he's summoned, I get to roll a die, multiply the result by 200, and add it to his attack points."
The die came to a stop, resting on the four. Maximum Six (2700/1600) let out a ferocious bellow as he beat his muscled chest with four of his six arms!
"So a four means my monster has 2700 attack!" Joey shouted as he pointed at Chimera, "And now he'll wipe the floor with Chimera! Go six hand slam!"
"Joey stop!" Yami shouted from outside the seal.
Maximum Six bore down on Chimera, and slammed it into the ground with his six arms! Chimera yowled in pain, and then shattered…
And both Berfomet (1900/1800) and Gazelle (2000/1200) reappeared! Both of them growled at Joey as the seal appeared on their heads, and they crouched down in defense postion.
"That was soooooo stupid." Serenity said as she placed two cards onto her disk, "When Chimera is destroyed; I can choose to bring back either Berfomet or Gazelle using his regular effect. And thanks to Branch, I got to bring one piece back anyway. So that means I lost one hundred life points to recover two monsters in defense mode."
Serenity: 6800
Joey: 6200
Joey frowned as he looked over his remaining five cards. He finally selected one, and slid it into his deck.
"I play one more card facedown, and end my turn." Joey stated as the card materialized in front of him, "Go ahead Serenity."
"Why thank you Joey." Serenity snickered as she drew a third card, "I think it's time to summon a monster that Celeste gave me…"
Celeste's eyes widened.
"Serenity, don't!" Celeste shouted, "I didn't give you that card so you could hurt Joey!"
"Thanks all the same though." Serenity smirked as she picked up two cards from her disk and put a new one on, "I tribute Gazelle and Berfomet to summon Wingweaver (3250/2400)!"
The two beastly monsters vanished in pulses of light, and a golden beam of light shone onto the field. From the light, descended a lavender haired woman, with six beautiful wings, wearing a golden toga. She had a peaceful look on her face, until a miniature seal imprinted onto her forehead. The angelic woman's countenance twisted into a sneer, and she turned her gaze on Joey, who raised his arms defensively.
"No…" Celeste muttered as she fell to her knees, "Joey, I'm sorry. Needlez promised me that no one would be hurt…"
"Don't worry, I can handle this." Joey assured her.
"That a fact?" Serenity taunted, "Wingweaver, destroy Maximum Six with heavenly might!"
The winged woman raised one hand, and a beam of light began to descend from the ceiling toward Maximum Six. Joey quickly struck a button on his disk, and his facedown card lifted, revealing the image of a group of people, one of them being attacked by a purple spirit.
"Sorry Serenity, but I activate Compensation Mediation." Joey announced as everything on the field faded away.
"What's happening?" Serenity snapped.
Joey removed the trap from his disk, and tossed it toward Serenity. Serenity caught it, and looked at her brother quizzically.
"Here's the deal Serenity, you have to mix my card with two non-monster cards from your graveyard." Joey explained, "But you might want to make sure that they're ones you want to use again."
Serenity pulled a pair of cards from her grave slot, and showed them to Joey.
"Fine then, I pick Tribute to the Doomed, and Pot of Greed." She said as she quickly shuffled the three cards together, "Now what?"
"Put the cards down so I can see them." Joey instructed.
Serenity placed the cards into her two free spell slots and one of her free monster slots. In front of her appeared the three cards, all facedown, one in front of the other two.
"And now, I pick one of them." Joey finished, "If I find my trap card, your battle phase is done!"
"There's only a one in three chance you'll find it!" Serenity scoffed.
"But there's still a chance." Joey declared, pointing to one of the cards, "And I pick the card you put in your monster zone!"
The card lifted. Everyone in the room held their collective breath…
And breathed out in relief as they saw it was Joey's trap.
"Shoot!" Serenity shouted, stamping her foot.
"Don't get frustrated." Joey said as Serenity tossed his trap back to him, "Those two cards you picked from your graveyard go back on top of your deck now. So you'll have a chance at me again."
Serenity heard these words and smiled. She took the two cards from her spell and trap zone, and placed them back on her deck. As she did, the field returned to normal, her Wingweaver still summoning a beam of light down on Maximum Six. Wingweaver gasped in surprise however, as a purple phantom grabbed her from behind and dragged her hand down. The light faded away, leaving Joey's monster unharmed.
"Why would you use a trap that would give me access to two of my strongest spells anyway?" Serenity asked.
"You're my sister." Joey explained, looking right at Serenity, "No matter what you do, you can't change that."
"So!' Serenity yelled, "All you ever do when some big adventure comes around is push me out of the way, saying that I'll get hurt or something lame like that!"
"But that's because we're family." Joey declared, his eyes narrowing, "I don't want to see you get hurt Serenity. The only reason I try to keep you away from situations like these is because I worry about you! I…"
Joey looked to the ground, his eyes filling with tears.
"I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you got hurt when I could have done something about it."
Serenity gasped in surprise, and drew back. She struggled to regain her composure, and pointed to her brother.
"It's…your turn Joey." She stammered.
Joey drew, and wiped his eyes. He looked over his cards as the machine began to spin. Each of the numbers lit up quickly, before stopping on a six.
"Six?" Serenity muttered quizzically as the machine began to spark and sputter.
"Now my machine self destructs." Joey muttered back. He didn't even flinch as the giant explosion filled the area next to him.
"Joey…" Serenity whispered, the seal on her forehead dimming slightly.
"I'll…have Maximum Six destroy Super Robolady." Joey sighed.
The six armed man leapt forward, and plowed the robotic woman into the ground. The robot screamed in pain, and vanished in a burst of sparks.
Serenity: 5800
Joey: 6200
Joey waved his hand, signaling the end of his turn. Serenity stayed silent as she drew, her eyes on Joey the whole time.
"Finish him Serenity." Needlez voice echoed in her head, "Ye know ye want to…"
"I play Pot of Greed…" Serenity mumbled, sliding the card into her slot.
The green jar appeared, and Serenity picked up two more cards. The pot shattered as she looked at the cards.
"Do it!" Needlez ordered, the crystal in Serenity's hair clip flaring with green-blue light.
"Now, I play Tribute to the Doomed and discard one card to destroy Maximum Six…" Serenity continued, placing another card into her disk.
Hundreds of bandages swarmed around the multi-armed man as Serenity dropped a card into her graveyard slot, and he screamed as he was wrapped up and dragged into the ground! Joey didn't seem affected by this at all though.
"He deserves it, all of it!" Needlez coached.
"And now I fuse Marie the Fallen one and The Forgiving Maiden via fusion gate." Serenity stated, sliding her last two cards into the graveyard, "And I summon St. Joan (3300/2000)."
Serenity slowly pulled another card from her fusion deck, and placed it onto her disk. In front of her appeared a large cross made of light, and from the light stepped a blond woman in silver armor. She carried a wonderfully crafted steel blade, and even as the seal appeared on her forehead, her eyes remained calm and loving.
"FINISH HIM!" Needlez screamed in Serenity's head.
Serentiy and Joey looked at each other, and their eyes met. Both of them had tears in their eyes as they realized what was about to happen.
"Serenity, you have to fight it!" Celeste shouted, pounding frantically against the seal, "You can't just let Needlez control you like this! Please, fight it!"
"Don't listen to her!" Needlez commanded, "Destroy Joey!"
"No." Serenity thought simply.
"WHAT!" Needlez shouted.
"I'm not…going…to hurt…my brother!" Serenity shouted in her mind.
She fell to her knees, clutching her head. Serenity screamed as the seal began to shimmer and fade from her forehead, and the one on the ground began to falter as well. Joey gasped, and started toward his sister, but Serenity's monsters jumped in his path!
"Serenity!" Joey shouted, reaching for his sibling as Joan and Wingweaver stubbornly kept him away.
"She's fighting the seal." Brian realized, a smile spreading across his face, "I have an idea everyone. You know how Needlez told us our seals came from a more powerful one?"
"Yeah, I do." Mako nodded, his eyes going wide, "Oh, I get it!"
"Everyone, get around the seal!" Brian ordered, "Focus all your elemental power on it!"
The Elemental Duelists all quickly dashed forward, each of them standing an equal distance away from each other on either side. Zeffie and Gold were across from each other, as were Mako and Tim, and Brian and Celeste. The six of them all pressed their hands up against the seal, which began to strike back at them with green electricity.
"This hurts!" Zeffie screamed, a barrier of wind forming around her, trying to push the lightning back.
"Stay focused Zef!" Gold shouted back, as bits of rock and stone began to fight against the lightning.
The seal's energy continued to crackle around the six duelists, as Yugi and Kaiba watched helplessly. The green lightning was slowly being forced away from the six duelists however, being forced back to the seal. Soon, each of the duelists was pressing a large circle of their own element against the barrier!
"DARKNESS!" Brian yelled.
"LIGHT!" Celeste shouted.
"WIND!" Zeffie screamed.
"EARTH!" Gold intoned.
"FIRE!" Tim called out.
"WATER!" Mako finished.
The six plates expanded outward, covering the seal and blocking the view of Serenity and Joey, both of whom were still struggling.
"Release the Seal of Orichalcos!" All six of the Elemental Duelists shouted together.
The barrier began to pulse and sway. Suddenly, there was a flash of brilliant white light, and everybody screamed! As the light faded away, everyone was lying on the ground, including Serenity and Joey. Their duel disks had been shut down, and the Seal of Orichalcos card lay on the ground between the two, along with Serenity's hair clip. The clip cracked in half, and the green crystal in the center of it crumbled into a fine jade powder. As the orichalcum crystal dissolved, the Seal of Orichalcos card faded, until it was nothing but a blank piece of cardboard.
Serenity groaned, and struggled to her feet. She looked around the room, her eyes going wide as she saw her brother nearby, lying completely still.
"JOEY!" Serenity screamed, scrambling over to her older sibling.
Joey groaned, and slowly sat up. Serenity wrapped her arms around his chest in a tight embrace. Joey gasped in surprise, but quickly returned the hug.
"Serenity!" Joey cheered, "Are you okay?"
"Yes, are you?" Serenity sobbed, tears streaming down her face, "Oh Joey, I'm so sorry! I never meant…"
Joey put a finger to her lips. Serenity continued to cry, Joey wiping away her tears. The others were all getting up, and saw their friends sitting in the center of the room. Yugi moaned a little, and looked down to find that Yami's astral form lay next to him. Obviously, the blast had knocked the spirit back into the puzzle.
"You don't have to worry Serenity, everbody's okay." Joey assured his sister with a smile.
"Um…" Celeste muttered, stepping closer.
Serenity saw her, and drew back. Celeste raised her hands to show her hands were empty.
"Don't worry, no evil accessories this time." She promised, "I just wanted to apologize for what you two went through. If I knew what Needlez was going to try then I never would have agreed to it."
"Of course you wouldn't." Yugi nodded as his partner slowly rose to his feet, "No decent human would dare to pull something like this."
"Now just what is that supposed to mean laddy?" Needlez's voice echoed through the room.
"Needlez!" Yugi shouted, "You aren't going to get away with this!"
"We'll see laddy." Needlez promised, "Now come to the final chamber if you wish to try and end this…"
Everyone in the room looked at one another. They all nodded, and began toward the exit of the throne room.
"Needlez, I promise that you will pay for all the misery you've caused me and my friends." Yami thought as he walked next to Yugi.
Yugi smiled as he started toward the exit, being sure to stomp on the now blank card in the center of the room. As he left though, the card faded away into blue-green light…
Hold onto your hats folks, next chapter we're starting the biggest duel of our fic! It's time for Needlez to step forward and show us his true dueling power as he prepares to face the pharaoh. Can Yami and Yugi defeat this wicked mastermind? Find out in our next chapter
Clash of the Titans
Maybe the Elemental Duelists can lend a hand…
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Original cards
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Compensation Mediation
Trap
Image of a group of people, one person being attacked by a purple spirit.
This card may only be activated when your opponent declares an attack. Your opponent must select two non-monster cards from their cemetery and shuffle them together with this card. You then must select one of the three cards at random. If you select this card, your opponent's battle phase immediately ends, and the two cards they selected are placed on top of their deck. If you pick either of the other two cards, place that card on top of their opponent's deck, and your opponent's battle phase continues as normal.
This trap was first used by Joey in the anime episode "My Funny Valentine (Part 2)." All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.
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Maximum Six
EARTH
Warrior/effect
Six stars
1900 attack
1600 defense
When this monster is successfully tribute summoned, roll one six sided die. Multiply the result by two hundred, and add that total to this monster's attack points. This bonus remains for as long as this card is face up on the field.
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Dangerous Machine Type 6
Continuous spell
Image of a large green slot machine with six windows
During each of your standby phases roll a six sided die with the following results:
1. Discard a random card from your hand
2. Discard a random card from your opponent's hand
3. Draw one card
4. Your opponent draws one card
5. Destroy one monster on your opponent's half of the field
6. Destroy this card
Both of the above cards are actual cards in Japan. There were first used by Joey on the show in the episode "Down in Flames (part 2)."
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Berfomet
DARK
Fiend/effect
5 stars
1400 attack
1800 defense
When this card is successfully summoned, you may add one "Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts" from your deck to your hand.
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Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast
WIND
Beast/fusion/effect
6 stars
2100 attack
1800 defense
Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts + Berfomet
When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you may Special Summon either "Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts" or "Berfomet" from your Graveyard."
Both of the above cards are actual monster cards in Japan. They were first used by Yugi in the anime episode "Yugi vs. the Rare Hunter (Part 1)."
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Feudalism
Continuous spell
Image of a chart, showing Dark Ruler Ha Des at the top. From him come several branches displaying other fiend type monsters.
You can only play this card when there is a field spell in play. Select a field spell from your deck, and play it in your normal spell and trap zone. As long as this card remains in play, treat the selected card as a continuous spell card. When this card is removed from the field in any way, destroy the selected card.