Disclaimer: I, Younger Hokage, wish to remind you that we don't own the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh. Nor will we in the foreseeable future. We do own all of our original stuff, unless otherwise noted. I would strongly recommend you deal with it.
Previously,
As they approached the cave, Yugi and his friends were attacked by the other Elemental Duelists. Brian ran distraction (with Tim helping him out) as Yugi, Joey, and Kaiba headed deeper into the caverns. In Needlez throne room, a trap awaited them. One that forced Joey to duel his brainwashed sister who was wielding the dreaded Seal of Orichalcos. A last minute plea has now brought all those under Needlez control to their senses, and Yugi, Joey, Serenity, Kaiba, and the six Elemental Duelists are now prepared to give Needlez a piece of their minds.
Assuming they can find him that is…
Chapter 17
Clash of the Titans
Yugi and the others slowly made their way through the caverns. They were walking down a narrow passageway that led from the throne room. The six Elemental Duelists were leading the group, walking as close together as the passage would allow. Yugi, Joey, Serenity, and Kaiba were following them, watching as the six muttered to each other about something.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Serenity asked Joey.
"I'm hoping it has something to do with how they're going to repair the damage they did to my buildings." Kaiba growled.
"I think that's the least of our problem's Kaiba." Joey reminded the young CEO, "Or did you forget that there's still some maniac that wants to duel with Yugi?"
At the head of the group, Celeste had a serious look in her eyes.
"I don't care what you guys think; I'm letting him borrow it." She whispered to the others.
"I don't have a problem with that; I just want to make sure I'll get it back." Tim responded.
"If Yugi can't beat Needlez, none of us will." Gold whispered, "I think we should give him all the help we can."
"Yep, yep, yep!" Zeffie nodded, "Zeffie thinks these would really help Mr. Pharaoh. Besides, Zeffie feels bad for being so mean to him…"
"We all do, don't worry." Brian responded, "So it's agreed then?"
"I'm all for it." Mako stated as he reached for his deck.
The six of them stopped, and Yugi immediately came to a halt as well. Joey, Serenity, and Kaiba looked at the scene in confusion as each of their former enemies pulled a card from their respective decks.
"Something wrong?" Yugi asked as Brian stepped forward.
"Yugi, none of us have any clue as to what Needlez may have in his deck." Brian explained, "But we all agree, it's a safe bet he knows what's in yours."
"That's a good point." Kaiba muttered, "And if he does, he could have made a deck to counter your strategies."
"But we had an idea to help you!" Zeffie cheered as she jumped over to Yugi, holding out a card, "Here."
Yugi took the card, and looked at it. It was Chaosrider Gustalph.
"That's Zeffie's absolute favorite monster." Zeffie smiled, "You can use him to beat mean old Needlez!"
Zeffie raised a finger and held it in front of Yugi.
"But Zeffie is only lending it to you for this duel, got it?" Zeffie asked.
"Um…thanks." Yugi said as he looked at the card.
"We all have a card to lend you." Brian said as he placed a card in Yugi's hand.
Yugi gasped as he saw he had Brian's Vampire Lord.
"That guy has helped out of more than a few scrapes." Brian explained, "And I have a feeling he'll be a big help against Needlez…"
"And so will this." Tim interrupted as he held out his Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys, "Just make sure that slimeball doesn't get his hands on it."
Yugi nodded as he took the card. Mako squeezed past Tim, holding out his Legendary Fisherman.
"I never got the chance to try this guy out against you in a duel." Mako sighed, "But maybe he'll be able to give you some support on the dueling field."
"And I can lend you someone who'll be a big help." Gold chortled as he took a card from his deck, "Granmarg the Rock Monarch's effect just can't be beat!"
Celeste stepped forward sheepishly, and held out one last card.
"This one has two effects, and the second may be a nasty surprise for your opponent." She explained.
Yugi claimed the card, seeing it was Soul of Purity and Light.
"Just remember to give them back." Celeste reminded him.
"Thanks." Yugi smiled as he took out his deck and began to leaf through it, "I guess I'd better remodel my deck to use all of these…"
The group all sat down, leaning against the smooth walls of the tunnel as Yugi began to sort through his cards.
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Needlez stood in the crystal chamber, his eyes locked with those of the body in the pillar. The room was filled with a ragged breath and a beating heart, and the crystal pillar was slowly pulsing. Needlez turned toward the six stone tablets on the floor, and smiled as the six Elemental Seal cards appeared on the ground next to their respective tablets.
"It would seem that my plans are nearing fruition." Needlez smiled as he held up a blank card with a footprint stamped on it, "I just need a few more minutes…"
Needlez smiled as the seventh tablet, the one in front of the crystal itself, began to shine with blue-green light. On the stone appeared a familiar six-pointed star, and Needlez smiled as the card in his hand began to shimmer. He closed his eyes and began to chant in a mysterious language, his Orichalcum crystal glowing with a malevolent light.
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Back in the tunnel, Yugi got to his feet. He plugged his deck back into his duel disk, and everyone else stood back up.
"Ready?" Brian asked.
"As I'll ever be." Yugi answered as he started down the tunnel once more.
"Then as ye approach, let me entertain ye with a wee history lesson." A familiar voice echoed from further down the cave.
"Needlez!" The Elemental Duelists gasped.
"That's me name, don't wear it out!" Needlez laughed, "Ah…I've waited seven-thousand years for a chance to say that…"
"What do you want?" Yugi shouted.
"Aside from ruling the world ye mean?" Needlez continued, "I just thought I'd tell ye a bit about the ancient tribe from which I came."
"Does this have anything to do with the Orichalcos?" Joey shouted.
"Right in one Joseph!" Needlez laughed, "Actually, my ancient tribe was descended from the people who first discovered the Orichalcos."
The team began to make their way down the hall as Needlez continued to talk.
"As some of ye already know, the first people to harness the power of the Orichalcos were the people of ancient Atlantis." Needlez stated, "They used the power of the sacred stone to create technological masterpieces, far beyond even our time! But eventually, the stone began to transform the people of the city into horrible beasts. Eventually, the power of Orichalcum became too great and resulted in Atlantis's king going mad and destroying the city."
"We already knew about that." Yugi stated as they turned right down another featureless hallway.
"Aye, but ye may not of known that there were some survivors, who left Atlantis before it met its end." Needlez continued, "They traveled across the ocean with naught but a few samples of Orichalcum stone to power their ships, and eventually found themselves in a new land. They began a new civilization their, one that they decided would not make the same mistakes they had before. They used some powers of the Orichalcos to jump start things: fertilize the land for farming, create irrigation ditches, etc. During these renovations, they made an amazing discovery: When the Orichalcum stone was exposed to an element, it changed and began to affect that specific element."
"Hence, our crystals." Mako guessed as the team made a left turn.
"Aye." Needlez confirmed, "So anywho, thousands of years past. The survivors of Atlantis built a flourishing city, but never allowed the power of the Orichalcos to possess them again. Most of what they had taken with them to fuel the ships had been transmuted to another element, but they kept a sample of the original stone around. It's powers had long since gone dormant. As time went on, exposure to the stone in the farmlands, irrigation canals, temples, and other such common places began to show. But rather than driving people mad, this new Orichalcum granted powers over the elements. This first came to everybodies attention during what I regarded as a rather humorous tale about a farmer's wife who got into a wee argument with her husband and literally brought the house down…but that's another story."
"Sounds like my ex-wife." Gold muttered.
"Don't ask." Celeste whispered to Yugi.
"The point is, people were developing powers due to the exposure to the crystals." Needlez stated, drawing everyone's attention back to him, "Not everyone mind ye, just a select few. The few were granted positions as mystics, using their powers to protect and nurture the city. They were so in tune with the crystals, they even discovered safe ways to break them into smaller pieces. Soon, smaller cities and villages began to spring up. The civilization grew into an empire…"
"And then you hit the scene." Brian guessed.
"That's right ye little smart ass." Needlez growled, "I had been the only human since the fall of Atlantis to be affected by the original Orichalcos stone."
"Ain't that a bitch." Tim smirked.
"Shut it!" Needlez ordered.
The six crystals the Element Duelists wore began to crackle with multicolored lightning, which quickly died out.
"Seems that no one is on me side." Needlez sighed, "But it won't matter! The original stone not only gave me power over a new elemental force, but allowed me to control the six original elements as well. This was roughly three-thousand years after the fall of Atlantis, and our civilization had reached its peak."
"And how can ya be so sure you descended from Atlantis?" Joey questioned.
"Because I, like the other mystics, was one of the few allowed to read the records of our founders." Needlez answered, "Only the mystics and village elders were trusted with the information about our civilizations true past, for fear that the tragic history of Atlantis might repeat itself."
"You mean where a total psycho messes things up for everyone else?" Tim smirked, "No, that's not what happened at all…"
"I told you to shut it!" Needlez yelled as the group made a left turn again.
"How is it that you were the only one who was affected by regular Orichalcum?" Celeste queried.
"Because one of the survivors was a member of the royal family." Needlez laughed, "In fact, he was the brother of Dartz, the final king of Atlantis!"
Everybody stopped in their tracks, Yugi's eyes widening in shock. His Millennium Puzzle flashed, and Yami took over.
"Dartz never mentioned having a brother." Yami stated.
"I'm sure he didn't." Needlez explained, "Dartz and his brother never quite saw eye-to-eye about the power of the Orichalcos. The brother eventually fled with the other survivors, leaving his insane brother to meet with his twisted end. And wouldn't ye know it, I wind up being descended from him. The brother had been exposed to regular Orichalcum as much as any other member of the royal family, and that was recorded in his very genetic code. I won the DNA lottery when I was conceived."
"Yeah, you inherited a world destroying power that drives everyone that uses it completely crazy!" Celeste spat as the group picked up the pace again.
"I'll ignore that." Needlez growled, "Even after my elemental powers were sealed away, my spirit evaded death. I roamed the world, waiting for a chance to come back, while reincarnating myself every hundred years or so. I'd always be sure to keep away from any chance of drawing attention to myself, because each time I came back I restored a wee amount of my former strength. With this latest body direct from bonny Scotland, I'd finally accumulated enough of the old mojo to find me old, mummified body. I knew that if I restored its elemental powers, I could find a way back to my rightful position of supreme ruler of Earth."
The team finally entered a large chamber. It was roughly twenty feet by twenty feet, with absolutely no distinguishing features other than several torches lining the wall.
"I don't get it, we should be in the seal room where Needlez kept his body." Brian muttered.
"I'm seven-thousand years old, not stupid." Needlez stated as he stepped into the room, "I don't need ye brats to be trying anything funny with me corpse, not when I'm this close! I'd told ye I recovered a bit of my powers, so I decided to reshape the cave a wee bit to give me time to prepare."
"Prepare what?" Gold asked.
"The ritual that will restore my old body to its former glory." Needlez answered as he pulled seven cards from his robes.
Everyone else gasped as they recognized the images on the cardboard rectangles.
"The Elemental Seals and…some blank card?" Joey gasped, "Wait, what's with the blank card?"
"It used to be Serenity's Seal of Orichalcos, but my traitorous little friends thought it fit to end that." Needlez answered as the six cards with pictures began to glow, "But I just need a teensy bit of energy from their seals and…"
The blank card began to shimmer, and the Seal of Orichalcos, that dreaded six pointed star, faded into view on the card. Needlez threw back his head and laughed as he tossed the other six seals aside.
"So the elemental seals were parts of…" Yami gasped.
"The Seal of Orichalcos!" Needlez laughed as he pulled a deck of cards from his robs and shuffled the seal in, "But I'm not completely evil pharaoh, I'll give ye a fair chance. If yeh'll kindly step forward we'll play a few rounds of Duel Monsters."
"And I suppose the loser's soul will be forfeit?" Yami guessed as he shuffled his own deck while the others stepped back.
"Of course, but not in the way ye think." Needlez confirmed as he placed his deck in his disk, "For the soul of the loser will be offered as a tribute to revive my old body!"
"Needlez, I'll make sure your plans end here and now." Yami promised as both of their disks activated, "In the name of the lives you ruined seven-thousand years ago!"
"Prepare yerself then," Needlez shouted, "Fer the duel that shall resurrect the Elemental Master!"
Yami's eyes narrowed as his own disk whirred to life. Both opponents squared off, and drew their opening five cards.
"In the interest of fair play, I'll allow ye to go first." Needlez smiled.
Yami: 8000
Needlez: 8000
"Very well Needlez." Yami growled as he drew his sixth card, then placed one onto his disk, "I'll open with Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200) in attack mode."
A young, elfin man materialized in a flurry of sparks in front of the spirit. He wore green armor, a blue cape, and carried a shiny, steel blade. He raised his weapon, holding it in a battle-ready position.
"That's all for my turn Needlez." Yami declared as he waved his hand.
"And that's the start of mine." Needlez grinned as he picked up a card, then placed one on his own disk, "And I summon Homunculus, The Alchemical Being (1800/1600) in attack mode."
A beam of light struck the ground in front of Needlez, and from it emerged a young man. He wore nothing except several black straps across his eyes and on his arms and legs, and his skin was bright yellow. The strange figure raised his fist into a threatening stance, and turned his gaze to Yami's monster.
"Homunculus, wipe out his guardian with human transmutation!" Needlez ordered, pointing right at the elf.
Homunculus clapped his hands together, and then dashed forward. He slammed his hands into Celtic Guardian's chest, and a yellow glow surrounded the elf. He gasped…
And shattered into particles of light! Yami drew back as the lights flew past him, stinging his face as they did.
Yami: 7600
Needlez: 8000
"And then I lay this card facedown, your move." Needlez smirked as he slid another card into his disk.
The holographic representation of the card shimmered into existence behind Homunculus, who snickered evilly. Yami just drew another card, and looked over his options.
"We need to be careful Yami." Yugi stated as he appeared next to his partner, "It looks like we'll have to take him seriously!"
"Don't worry Yugi, we can handle this." Yami thought as he placed a card on his disk.
"I summon Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700) in attack mode." Yami announced with a sweep of his arm.
In front of Yami appeared a young wizard, wearing bulky black robes. He carried an iron staff, and had three mystical orbs attached to his clothes. He gave his master a quick nod, before turning to Needlez.
"Now, strike down Homunculus with dark magic blast!" Yami ordered.
The spellcaster twirled his staff, and fired a bolt of black energy from the tip. Before it could hit Homunculus, a trio of robed priestesses jumped in the way. Needlez laughed as his facedown Waboku turned over, and the bolt of magical energy fizzled before it could do any damage.
"Nice try pharaoh, but Waboku stops ye from harming me or my monsters this turn." Needlez laughed, "Anything else ye want to try?"
"I'll just set one card to finish my turn." Yami sighed as he slid another card into his disk.
The card materialized behind his magician, who pointed his staff at Homunculus. Needlez drew his next card, and a wicked smile crossed his features. He began to laugh maniacally, his golden charms clinking and chiming as they shook with the rest of his body.
"You wanna let us in on the joke?" Joey asked, "What's so funny?"
"I have a bad feeling about this…" Brian muttered as Needlez opened his field slot.
"And yew should." Needlez stated as he put a card into the slot, "I activate: THE SEAL OF ORICHALCOS!"
Yami's eyes widened in fear as the all-too-familiar circle materialized on the ground around him and Needlez. A pulse of energy shot out, knocking everybody else present to the floor On the floor between Yami and Needlez appeared the six pointed star, and a miniature version of the seal emblazoned itself onto latter's forehead. He continued to laugh as his eyes began to glow red, and the same symbol appeared on his monster. Homunculus (2300/1600) grinned evilly as his body was surrounded by a blue-green aura.
"I hope yer prepared to face yer doom pharaoh!" Needlez shouted, "Homunculus, destroy his puny magician!"
The yellow humanoid lunged toward Yami's monster, who now had a glowing orb of light on his left shoulder. Just before he reached his target though, Yami's facedown card lifted. A mystical-looking circle came from the card, and quickly snapped around the alchemical being's waist, freezing him in place!
"What in blazes!" Needlez shouted.
Then he heard Yami laughing himself. The ancient spirit was snickering a little as he moved his hand away from the button he had just pressed.
"Your monsters may gain strength from the seal," Yami explained, "But that doesn't make them immune to trap cards. My Spellbinding Circle will hold Homuculus in place, until I can find an effective way to deal with him."
"That a fact…" Needlez grumbled, "The mystics who imprisoned me tried tricks like this, and they never worked for very long."
"Except that last one." Mako shouted from the sidelines as he got to his feet, "I mean, seven-thousand years? Last I checked that was a pretty long…"
"SHUT IT!" Needlez roared as the seal let loose another blast of energy, knocking the water duelist off his feet again, "Ye got lucky pharaoh, there's nothing more I can do."
"Very well then." Yami said as he drew another card, "Then I switch my Skilled Dark Magician into defense mode, and summon one more monster facedown."
Yami slid a card horizontally onto his tray, and turned the magician's card ninety degrees. In front of him appeared a facedown card, and Skilled Dark Magician fell to a kneeling position.
"And now it's your move again." Yami stated.
Outside the seal, the others were getting back to their feet. Mako was nursing two large lumps on the back of his skull, and none of the others seemed too happy with being knocked over.
"You just had to mouth off, didn't ya?" Gold grumbled to Mako.
"He had it coming." Mako stated as he continued to rub the back of his head.
"Yeah!" Zeffie agreed with a nod before turning back to the seal, "Kick his butt pharaoh! It would serve him right!"
"No, what would serve him right would be a flaming enema." Tim growled as his hands ignited.
"Thank you for those multiple disturbing images bro." Brian sighed, placing a hand on Tim's shoulder, "Anyway, I don't think we have much to worry about yet. Yami hasn't even used any of his strongest monsters."
"But I doubt Needlez has either." Celeste stated as she stepped forward, "Homunculus is a fairly common monster, but it's effect is useless unless it's used with…Uh oh."
"What?" Joey asked, turning to the light duelist who was turning paler by the second.
"This…could be bad." She muttered.
In the meantime, Needlez drew a new card and smiled.
"Well now, this is a pleasant surprise." He smirked as he placed the card on his disk, "I summon Element Dragon (2000/1200), in attack mode!"
A roar filled the cavern as a new creature materialized. It was a young dragon, with a long neck. It had red scales, that turned yellow on its underside, and a mane of orange hair on its head, from which a pair of short horns emerged. It had a bird-like beak, and a pair of red, bat like wings with a green membrane. Etched across its body were several small letters, running along its legs and wings. It let out another roar and thrashed its tail as the seal appeared on its head.
"What is that?" Yami gasped.
"This is one of the six protectors of the elemental goddess." Needlez explained, "This young dragon was once a servant of fire, like many of his kind, but he was so weak that he was ridiculed by his draconic brethren. The goddess of the elements took him in though, and gave to him two blessings in return for his service to her."
"Two blessings?" Yami queried as he looked to the dragon, "What do these blessings do?"
"Unfortunately, I can only show ye if the powers of fire or wind are present." Needlez sighed, then smiled, "Fortunately, that's where Homunculus comes in. Homunculus, become wind!"
The immobilized creature's skin began to change! The yellow color faded away, and was replaced by a light green. At the same time, about half of the letters on Element Dragon began to glow the same color.
"When wind is present on the field," Needlez explained, "It's breeze grants the dragon extra speed. Thus, it can attack twice in one turn, as long as its first attack destroys a monster."
"And Homunculus can change to any element Needlez desires, once per turn, even if it can't attack." Celeste finished from outside the circle.
"In other words, Homunculus is just perfect fer me Alchemy Deck." Needlez laughed.
"Alchemy deck?" Joey muttered.
"I've heard of this kind of deck. Basically, it revolves around the four basic elements of fire, water, wind, and earth." Tim explained.
"Yes, but at the same time most of the monsters in it are either light or dark." Celeste continued, "So it revolves around changing the elements of your monsters to what you need them to be, just like alchemy was an attempt to turn one material into another."
"Now then, Element Dragon, destroy his Skilled Dark Magician with fire flapping!" Needlez ordered.
The dragon released a blast of fire from its beak, and flapped its wings. The flames expanded from the added oxygen, and rushed forward, consuming Yami's monster before it had time to scream.
"And now destroy his facedown monster!" Needlez shouted.
The dragon launched a second wave of fire, and the facedown monster turned over to reveal a large man in a green shirt and orange pants crouching behind a gigantic purple shield. The flames harmlessly bounced of the shield, and Needlez gasped as some of them licked across his body.
Yami: 7600
Needlez: 7400
"Nice try Needlez, but Big Shield Gardna (100/2600) seems to be a bit too much for your dragon to handle." Yami commented.
"Maybe so, but since he was attacked he has to switch to attack mode now." Needlez pointed out as the shielded man stood up, lowering his shield to his side, "I'm laying one card down and ending my turn there pharaoh, now let's see what ye can do."
A new card appeared in front of Needlez as Yami drew. His eyes widened as he saw the card he'd just picked up. He smiled as he quickly removed the Big Shield Gardna from his disk, and placed the new card in his place.
"I owe this one to Gold, your former duelist of earth." Yami declared as his shielded monster vanished, "I offer my gardna to summon Granmarg the Rock Monarch (2400/1000)!"
The ground began to tremble, and from the earth emerged an eight-foot-tall giant! He wore golden armor, and had huge arms covered in golden gauntlets. He let out a deep, throaty laugh as a large rock began to float next to him.
"Now that I successfully tribute summoned him, Granmarg will destroy one facedown card you control." Yami declared, "So I choose the only facedown card on your field!"
The rock in front of Granmarg flew forward, and slammed into the brown card. It shattered, and Needlez gasped at the loss of his Negate Attack card.
"Now, I'll have Granmarg destroy Homunculus with rock smash attack!" Yami shouted.
The golden giant pulled back his fist, and swung it forward like a wrecking ball. Gold let out a cheer as the immobilized creature burst into fragments, and Element Dragon growled as the glowing letters on its body were extinguished.
Yami: 7600
Needlez: 7300
"Yeah! This takes me back to those tourneys in New York!" Gold shouted as he mimicked his monster's punch, "Go get 'im Granmarg!"
"Yew shut up!" Needlez ordered, waving his hand.
Another blast of energy shot from his palm, and Gold grunted as he was knocked onto his rear.
"I now set one card facedown, and end my turn." Yami declared, sliding another card into his disk.
Needlez snapped another card from his disk, and smiled as he saw what it was.
"I play Swords of Revealing Light!" Needlez called out as he placed the card into his disk.
"Not the swords!" Yami gasped as a cage of green swords, made entirely from light, formed around him and Granmarg.
"Aye laddy, the swords." Needlez nodded, "That should give me three turns to take care of Granmarg, so I hope ye aren't too attached to him…"
Needlez chuckled as he watched Gold stumble back to his feet.
"In the mean time, it's yer move." Needlez acknowledged.
Yami drew, and looked at the card he had picked up. He carefully slid it onto his disk, and a new facedown monster appeared.
"I'll set this monster facedown and end my turn." Yami announced.
"Good." Needlez smirked as he drew, "Now let's see what I got…"
The others watched with bated breath as Needlez looked over his hand. The element duelist smiled as he took a card from his hand.
"I summon a second Homunculus (2300/1600) in attack mode!" Needlez called out as he placed the card onto his disk.
Another yellow skinned man jumped out onto the field, the seal instantly appearing on its forehead. It smiled at Needlez, as if waiting for an order.
"I think I'll have this one become fire." Needlez stated.
The human-like creature nodded, and its skin quickly changed from yellow to red. Element Dragon (2500/1200) let out a grateful sounding growl as the letters that didn't light up last time began to glow red. Yami drew back as he saw the dragons' attack score begin to boost.
"Now the blessing of fire becomes apparent." Needlez intoned as he pointed to his dragon, "The flames of rage in my dragon have reached their peak thanks to the presence of an actual fire monster. Therefore, his attack power increases by 500 points!"
"Yugi!" Joey shouted.
"Don't panic Wheeler." Kaiba ordered, "If I know Yugi, he already has a plan for this."
"Don't ye wish that was true." Needlez scoffed, "Dragon, yer target is Granmarg!"
The dragon released his blast of fire once more, aiming toward the golden man. He let out a roar of pain as he shattered into pebbles!
"Homunculus, take out the facedown monster!" Needlez commanded.
The fiery red monster clapped his hands again, and jumped forward. Yugi's facedown card lifted to reveal a peaceful blue skinned woman in a green dress. Homunculus smiled as he pressed his hands against the Mystical Elf's (800/2000) shoulders, and drew back. Immediately, her clothes burst into flames! She screamed in terror and pain, then vanished in a burst of fire.
Yami: 7500
Needlez: 7300
Yami flinched and raised one arm in front of his face as the flames flared up. He lowered his arm, and smiled as he did so…
"Thank you Needlez," Yami grinned as he pressed a button on his disk, "By destroying one of my monsters you activated Soul Rope!"
The facedown card lifted, and revealed the image of a golden man with a golden rope flying from his chest. A similar rope now shot from the card and struck Yami's deck, causing it to pulse with golden light.
"And just what does this do?" Needlez asked.
"It allows me to pay 1000 life points to summon a four star monster from my deck." Yami stated as he took his deck out of his slot and selected a card, "And I know just who I want…."
The ancient duelist placed a card on his disk, and in front of him appeared a strange figure. It seemed to be made of pink stone, with a round body and a pair of pink wings sprouting from its back. The creature pumped its fist into the air, revealing a large S mark on it chest.
"I select Gamma the Magnet Warrior (1500/1800)!" Yami declared with a dramatic sweep of his arm.
Yami: 6500
Needlez: 7300
"Notice me caring." Needlez responded with a sarcastic tone, "That puny rock can not help ye."
"We'll soon see won't we?" Yami challenged, "Are you done now?"
"Aye." Needlez nodded.
"Then I draw." Yami declared as he did so.
"And what a draw it is!" Yugi exclaimed when he saw the card.
"And now I activate Graceful Charity!" Yami continued as he slid the card into his disk.
An orb of light flew from his disk, and hovered over head. The light faded away, revealing an angelic woman holding a glowing card in her hands. She raised the card over her head, and it split into tiny motes of light which floated onto the pharaoh's deck. He smiled as he drew three cards, and quickly placed one onto his disk.
"And now I summon Watapon (200/300) in defense mode." Yami announced as the cottonball fairy jumped onto the field in front of him.
The tiny creature looked up its master and let out an adorable squeak.
"Now wait just one minute." Needlez protested, "Ye are supposed to discard two cards before yew do anything else after playing Graceful Charity."
"Normally yes, but Watapon's effect states that I can summon it the moment I draw it by a card effect, no matter what the circumstances are." Yami explained as he slid two more cards into his graveyard, "And now that it's on the field, it will serve as a sacrifice for a monster that helped us in the past."
Yami quickly removed Watapon's card from his disk. The little fairy winked, and vanished in a pulse of light. In its place, a column of bats rose up and began to swoop around in circles over head. From the bats appeared the impeccably dressed vampire, who flashed a fang-filled grin to Needlez.
"Brian's Vampire Lord (2000/1500) will help me now." Yami declared.
"And how will he do that when he's weaker than both of my monsters?" Needlez challenged as Homunculus cracked his knuckles.
"With some help from Celeste's monster." Yami stated as he moved his hand to the graveyard, "I remove Watapon and Mystical Elf from play…"
The two cards were ejected from Yami's disk, and he placed them into his deck case. He then took the final card from his hand, and placed it on the field. Rather then the monster appearing in front of him though, this one came into existence behind him! It was a silver female spirit, with beautiful wings. She smiled as she gently wrapped her arms around her controller's shoulders, resulting in Yami beginning to blush.
"Good thing Tea isn't here to see this." Yami said to himself.
"Yeah…When she asks what happened, let's not tell her about this part." Yugi agreed.
Needlez cleared his throat, snapping Yami and Yugi from their conversation.
"I highly doubt that Soul of Purity and Light (2000/1800) can attack through my swords, which don't disappear till after your next turn anyway." Needlez pointed out, "So if I may…"
Yami nodded, and Needlez swiftly drew his fourth card. He frowned as he saw what it was.
"It seems I'm being forced to waste my time dealing with the weaklings my former allies have leant ye." He grumbled as he waved his arm toward Yami's side of the field, "So while he could easily handle any of those pathetic creatures, I think I'll do the most damage possible and have Element Dragon wipe out Gamma."
The dragon blasted forth its flames once more, and fueled them with a flap of its wings. As the flames flew toward Gamma though, Soul waved one hand. An aura of silver light surrounded the flames, causing them to die down a bit. Whatever she had done though hadn't been enough, Gamma was still melted into a puddle of molten stone.
Yami: 5800
Needlez: 7300
"Now what happened!" Needlez shouted, "I should have done 1000 damage, not 700!"
"It seems these "weaklings" have powers you weren't aware of." Yami smirked, "Soul of Purity and Light can't bear the sight of violence against her friends. So long as she's on the field, each of your monsters will have their attack points reduced by 300 for the duration of your battle phase."
"Meaning if I attack with Homunculus, it will be a draw." Needlez grimaced, "A situation I'd rather avoid at the moment. I end my move now pharaoh."
Yami drew, and he smiled as he saw what he held. He played the card, and a cage of swords crashed to the ground around Needlez now!
"Looks like I drew my own Sword of Revealing Light." Yami stated, "So your swords will now vanish since I end my turn here, buy your imprisonment will begin!"
The swords surrounding Yami shattered one-by-one, leaving Soul and Vampire Lord with Yami. The two monsters smiled at each other and nodded, then turned toward Needlez.
"Ye really enjoy holding me back, don't ye?" Needlez stated with a quizzical tone as he drew, "These tricks won't protect ye forever, I'll get at yer life points eventually."
Needlez snickered a bit as he tapped the end turn button on his disk.
"I've waited seven-thousand years fer my chance to rule the world, I can wait three more turns…" He mused.
Outside the seal Joey pumped his fist into the air.
"Alright Yug! Now you got a chance to really turn this duel in your favor!" Joey cheered.
"Don't get to confident Joey." Brian muttered, "Something isn't right…"
"Needlez has come too far to let his plans ride on one duel." Celeste stated, rubbing her chin in thought.
"Knowing Needlez, he's probably trying to manipulate us again." Tim said, his eyes growing wide, "He wants us to think he wants to win the duel. But really he…doesn't care?"
"That's it!" Kaiba shouted, "Needlez said the loser's soul would revive the Elemental Master but he never said it had to be Yugi's!"
"Of course, if it was his body, it would probably work even better with his soul." Celeste nodded.
"Then we have to stop this." Brian declared.
"Let's break the seal like we did before!" Zeffie shouted.
"Won't work." Serenity argued, her face becoming serious, "I was fighting the seal when you broke it before, but Needlez wants to use its power."
"Too bad we can't just attack Needlez." Mako grumbled.
Tim smirked as he looked over to the six cards lying nearby.
"Maybe we can." He whispered, "Needlez said he needed one sample of each talent. What if we gave him a little extra of one?"
"It would tip the balance." Celeste smiled.
"In our favor." Brian agreed, "But we'll need the seal cards, and Needlez sure won't let us try and get them."
"Leave that to me." Celeste volunteered as her ring began to glow, "Just face the door, and when you see the flash, grab your seal and Tim's and run like hell."
"In the meantime, I'll grab our stuff from our rooms." Gold smiled, "Needlez seems like the kind of jackass who'd take everyone down with him."
"Zeffie will help!" Zeffie shouted, jumping on the large mans shoulder.
Needlez looked right at the duelists.
"Zeffie will help what?" He asked, thankful ignorant to the previous conversation.
"Zeffie will help us kick your ass!" Gold responded, "But first…"
Celeste clapped her hands together, and Soul placed her hands over Yami's eyes. A flash of light filled the room, causing Needlez to cry out in pain!
"YOU LITTLE WITCH!" Needlez cursed as another pulse of energy shot from the seal around him.
Celeste screamed as she was smacked into the wall by the blast. She slid to the ground, but smiled as she saw that Needlez was still covering his eyes, and Brian, Tim, Gold, and Zeffie were gone. Mako helped Celeste up, and she smiled.
"Go get 'em guys." She thought, "We'll handle things here."
We're in the home stretch now duel fans! Next time, Yami and Needlez will conclude their epic struggle, while Brian and Tim race against the clock in an attempt to ensure Needlez's fate. Catch it all in our last chapter
The Amazing Dueling Hokage Brothers!
See ya then! And if you don't show up, we end without you…
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Original Card
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Soul Rope
Trap
Image of a man with a golden rope flying from his chest.
When a monster in defense mode on your side of the field is destroyed in battle and sent to the graveyard, pay 1000 life points. Special summon from your deck a level four monster.
This card was first used in the anime by Yugi in the episode "Clash in the Coliseum (part 2)." It is also a real card in Japan, so all credit goes to its creator.