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Fanfic Chapter 161: Conquering Hatred Pt 3: Destruction
Episode Basis: Battle for the Bronze Pt 2 and 3
Amara: Yugi, Tea, and Harold are missing a great duel! Joey was doing better against Kaiba than I thought. He really had some good strategies going. My favorite was him taking control of Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Though I don't think Kaiba was too happy about it. I'm beginning to see how he got to be Duelist Kingdom Runner-Up. But you can bet Kaiba's retribution is going to be swift and merciless. Man, where are those three? They're probably lounging around somewhere doing who-knows-what with not a care in the world.
Yami-Yugi, along with Ishizu and Serenity, hurried up the steps to the top of the Duel Tower. A large black bubble encompassed most of the dueling platform. Through it, they could see Yami-Marik destroy Harold's Mystical Shine Ball and Harold recoiling from the attack.
"I was afraid of this," Yami-Yugi said. "Now, Marik's targeting Harold!"
"Harold!" Serenity called and ran towards the shadow bubble. But she was repulsed by it and ended up landing near Ishizu. "Ow, what happened?"
"Once a Shadow Game starts, nobody is allowed to interfere with it," Ishizu explained helping her up.
"But I was able to enter the duel between Marik and Joey, why not this one?"
"Marik is slyer than ever," Yami-Yugi said. "He knows how much we rely on each other for support and strength so he thinks that by isolating us, he can pick us off one at a time."
"He's not Marik." The teens stared at Ishizu. "Yugi… Pharaoh, that thing is not my brother. My brother… is inside Tea!"
Yami-Yugi whipped around towards Ishizu. "What? Why? How?"
Ishizu shook her head, "I do not know, but now all three of them are in trouble from that dark spirit."
Seranity clenched her fist. "Tea, Harold, be strong."
Harold was panting from his monster's destruction. He felt like he was punched in the gut. He was beginning to see why the shadow power was locked away so long ago.
"I plan to make you suffer for all the times you've interfered," Yami-Marik was saying.
Harold nodded and walked onto the dock. "Two on one does not a duel make, how about we make it an even two on two?"
"What?" The three Duelists asked.
"Harold, what are you doing?" Yami-Yugi whispered as Harold stepped up on the other side.
"Joey's deck is strong; you can't worry about it and Tea at the same time. Let me deal with Tea while you concentrate on trying to break Joey free."
"Harold… thank you."
"Stand close, everyone," Yami-Yugi instructed. "Harold, can your Armlet protect us?"
"We're about to find out," Harold said and raised his arm to the sky. The archaic symbols came off the Armlet and began spinning around the kids. Harold decided to include the Kaiba Brothers as an afterthought. The lightning bolts bounced off of the Armlet's shield.
Harold said something that caused Tea to cover Serenity's ears. "I don't care about this crummy tournament any more, I won't stand by and watch people I care about get hurt!" Using his Armlet, Harold propelled himself onto the platform. He set up a shield between Joey and Mai and the blast. "I may not be able to stop Marik from winning the duel, but the least I can do is lessen the physical damage!" His shield pushed back the blast.
"You stood in the way of my plans for the last time!" Yami-Marik shouted.
"As long as you continue your plans, I or someone will always be there," Harold said. "It's my move!"
(H: 2300)
(M: 6100)
"I switch Venus back into attack mode," Harold announced. "Venus, attack his Double Coston!"
"Once again, you have fallen into my trap. Reveal trap card: Negate Attack!" Venus hit a swirling shield and was forced back. "I'm going to enjoy making you suffer."
"You wish," Harold said. "I end my turn."
"This will be easier than I thought," Yami-Marik said drawing a card. "I sacrifice my Double Coston to summon Despair from the Dark (1)!" A large rectangular shroud with large four-finger hands appeared. "Now swallow his Agent of Creation." And the monster did that… literally. It picked up Venus and stuck it in its mouth."
(H: 1600)
(M: 6100)
"Next I play Double Attack now by discarding a monster from my hand, I can have a monster on my side of the field attack again." He discarded Ultimate Obedient Fiend (2), a level 10 monster. Once again, the giant monster picked up an insect like monster and ate it. "With a 2800 attack point monster and 6100 life points, all you can do is forfeit."
Harold, who had skidded into the wall of the shadow dome, grunted. "The day I give up is the day that cows fly," Harold said. "Since you flipped over my Magical Merchant (3), I get to draw the top magic or trap card from my deck!" The card slid out. I need to think of a strategy soon, or I may be saying hi to Mai in the Shadow Realm.
Harold wasn't the only one strategizing. Kaiba was already thinking of a way to strip Joey of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon that (Kaiba believes) he stole. "Are you aware of my Kaiser Sea Horse's special ability?" He asked. "If I summon a light attribute monster, I can treat it as two sacrifices instead of one. So now I sacrifice Kaiser Sea Horse in order to summon another Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" A second one appeared behind Kaiba. "Now we both have a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but not for long. Blue-Eyes, attack with White Lightning!"
"Blue-Eyes, attack him right back," Joey commanded. The two dragons each launched a stream of energy at each other. The streams mingled and ended up destroying both of the dragons.
"I'd rather see my Blue-Eyes destroyed than in the hands of an imbecile like you."
"Sheesh, take a chill pill," Joey said. "Who would've thought you'd get so upset over a single card."
"That card represents my pride and soul as a Duelist!" Kaiba snapped. "And I will not let you disgrace it! I activate Monster Reborn to revive Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Whether it was the one he stole or the one Kaiba summoned to counter it, Joey had no idea. All he knows was that his advantage had been taken away from him. "I am the only one with the skills to possess a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Now it's time for me to finish you off and expose you for the fraud you truly are! You're worthless and undeserving of being in my tournament!"
"Hey, I finished in the top 4, same as you! But soon I'll outrank you!" Easier said than done, first I need to do is destroy Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. But to do that, I'll need a little luck and a lot of faith. "I place one card face-down and summon Baby Dragon in defense mode. That ends my turn."
"Joey's going to need our support," Tristan said. "So where's Yugi?"
"Tea and Harold aren't here either," Duke added. "I hope they're all right."
"This is nuts," Tristan complained. "Joey's facing down one of the toughest duels in his life and they're all out on a snack break."
"Go ahead, throw down some more morsels for my monster to snack on," Yami-Marik dared.
Man, I'm beginning to like him the way he was before compared to the way he is now.
"Harold, you must win for Tea's sake as well as my own," Tea-Marik called.
"Oh shut up, you little parasite," Yami-Marik said and used the Millennium Rod to throw Tea into the wall. She slumped against the wall unconscious.
On the outside, Yami-Yugi and the two females gasped. "Tea!" Yugi cried. He emerged and tried running into the shadow bubble but got knocked back, same as Serenity. "I guess there're no exceptions to the do not enter rule."
"Tea!" Harold turned towards Yami-Marik furious. "Leave her out of this she's done nothing to you!"
"Maybe not, but I enjoy seeing people suffer!"
Harold growled again but then calmed down. Okay, think, Harold, there's no way I can win against him, especially if he brings out that Winged Dragon of Ra. Heck, I'd be lucky if this duel could end in a tie… a tie, wait a minute! There's an old trap card somewhere in my deck that could help me survive this. But for all I know, it could be at the bottom of my deck! So I'll just have to hold out until I get it.
"Harold lost his duels with both me and Joey," Yami-Yugi commented. "So his best bet is to hold out for some miracle card."
"But by then it could be too late," Serenity said. She pounded on the shadow bubble. "Harold, can you hear me? Harold!"
"It's no use, he can't hear you, Serenity," Ishizu said.
It was true Harold could neither hear nor see the spectators. Not that it would help him anyway. "I play Polymerization, fusing Light-Speed Angel (4) and Mystical Elf (5) together to form a new monster!" The monsters, a dark-skinned angel with wings for feet and white robes and a blue-skinned female elf with long blonde hair and a green dress appeared on the field briefly before their images swirled like mixing two different colors of paint. "Introducing the Guardian Spellmaster (6)!" The Guardian Spellmaster had the Mystical Elf's skin and hair and the Light-Speed Angel's clothes and ankle wings. She also wore a green visor over her eyes and carried a blue wand with a green orb.
Yami-Marik chuckled. "You are aware that here fusion monsters can not attack in the same turn that they are summoned in."
"Tell me something I don't know," Harold said. "So I'm summoning her in defense mode."
"Defense mode, but why?"
"Why not, she has the defense power of my Mystical Elf."
"Which is still less than my Despair from the Dark."
"Oh, I'm not worried," Harold said. "I summon Spirit of the Pot of Greed (7) in defense mode. That ends my turn."
"I play Stop Defense on your Knight switching it into attack mode!" The bird-head knight stood up.
"All right, my brother's going to win," Mokuba cheered.
"Blue-Eyes, attack Joey's Knight and wipe out the rest of his life points!"
"Not so fast, I activate a trap: Nutrient Z which increases my life points by 4000!" Joey's life points briefly shot up before going back down.
(J: 2100)
(K: 700)
"Awesome, now Joey has more life points than Kaiba," Tristan cheered.
"Yeah, and he has a small buffer in case Kaiba attacks with that White Dragon again," Amara pointed out.
Annoyed, Kaiba laid a card face-down. "Making one decent move doesn't impress me next turn you're food for my Blue-Eyes!" The dragon roared as if agreeing with him.
Maybe, but I can still win this if I just draw the right card. Joey slid the card from his deck and looked at it.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
"I summon Time Wizard (8)!" A little clock with a face and carrying a staff appeared. "If my luck holds out and his arrow lands on a time machine, your dragon's done for. Time Wizard, spin Time Roulette!" The arrow started spinning around.
"So what are Joey's options?" Amara asked.
"Well, if the arrow lands on a time machine symbol, Joey's Baby Dragon will evolve and Kaiba's will be ground into dust. But if it lands on a skull, it destroys all monsters and takes a chunk of Joey's life points."
The arrow started to slow down. It landed…
On a time machine symbol.
"He did it!" Tristan cheered. Duke and Amara stared boggle-eyed.
Baby Dragon grew into a grayer, older version of itself, Thousand Dragon (9). Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon was engulfed in smoke and disappeared.
Joey could hardly believe his eyes. This is it, once I attack, I would've beaten Kaiba!
"Blue-Eyes, return to me," Kaiba commanded. The dragon reappeared.
"Your dragon should've been blown to dust," Joey complained.
"Not quite, I activated my trap card, Interdimensional Matter Transporter. It sent my Blue-Eyes to another dimension to protect it from your Time Wizard's effect. Now it's back just in time to tear your Thousand Dragon to shreds!"
As Yami-Marik started his turn, he glared daggers at Harold's Guardian Spellmaster. No doubt that fool wants me to attack his Spellmaster. It probably has a special effect. But I won't fall for it "I play Cure Master raising my life points by 1000."
(H: 1600)
(M: 7100)
"I set one card face-down and end my turn. You won't survive the next turn."
"Don't be so sure," Harold said. "My move!" Harold drew a card. "I set two cards face-down. That ends my turn."
"I summon Ryu-Kishin Clown (10) in attack mode. When this monster is summon, I can change the mode of any monster on the field and I choose your Spirit! Now let's try this again, shall we? Despair from the Dark attack!"
"Activate trap card: Staunch Defender!" The large monster's hand was redirected towards Guardian Spellmaster. "With this trap card, I choose which monster to attack and I choose my Guardian Spellmaster. And now I activate her special ability. By paying 500 life points I can negate the attack of any monster and send it right back to the owner's hand!" Despair from the Dark disappeared.
(H: 1100)
(M: 7100)
"One more thing," Harold said. "Staunch Defender forces all of your monsters to attack including your clown. And since its attack is lower than my Spellmaster's defense, you'll receive damage."
"My clown will be attacking but you will receive the damage. I play Spell of Pain which takes the damage I'm about to lose and transfers it to you! You've lost!"
"Got no choice, reveal my final face-down card: Hallowed Life Barrier, now by discarding one card I receive no damage whatsoever!"
"I end my turn," Yami-Marik grumbled.
I need that trap card, Harold begged. Boy, I never thought I would be even thinking that. That trap card represents how I used to be before I met Yugi, Tea, and the others. He drew a card. "I play Pot of Greed. When this card is played along with Spirit of the Pot of Greed, I can draw three cards instead of two." Harold's hand now contained three cards. There it is that's the trap card. I never thought I would need it.
When I first started collecting Duel Monster cards, I relished this trap card almost as much as I did Wingweaver. It represented my soul which was, to say the least, down. When Yugi stopped me from killing myself, I realized that ending my life needlessly was not the way to go. As proof, I wanted to take that card out of my deck but never bothered. But now… I promised I would never get in that way of thought, but now… it may be the only way to save Tea.
"I place one card face-down and end my turn."
"I play Pot of Greed which lets me draw two cards. Next I play Monster Reborn to revive my Double Coston and I'll sacrifice it to summon Despair from the Dark again. Ryu-Kishin Clown, attack his Spirit now!"
"I activate Hallowed Life Barrier again," Harold said discarding his remaining card. The monster was thrown back to its original place.
"I play Graceful Charity which lets me get three cards at the cost of two. I set my card face-down. That ends my turn."
"Big mistake," Harold said. "You can't do anything so you must end your turn. And once I draw, I'll have a card to use for Hallowed Life Barrier."
"Don't be so sure."
Harold drew a card. "I end my turn."
Yami-Marik drew a card and laughed triumphantly. "I did it, I won!"
"What are you talking about you can't get at my life points or my monsters."
"Not with this card, Mystical Space Typhoon!" A large wind picked up. "This can destroy one magic or trap card on the field and I choose your Hallowed Life Barrier." Harold's trap card broke apart from the wind. "Now I can attack you however I want. But first, I'll switch your Guardian Spellmaster to attack mode with Call to Arms. This switches all monsters to attack mode! Next I activate Red Medicine raising my life points by 500!"
(H: 1100)
(M: 7600)
All right, everything's all set. Just have to wait for the right time.
"Now, Ryu-Kishin Clown, attack his Spirit now!" The clown blew on a trumpet and a large punching glove came out of the bell and slugged the small puff of smoke with the same face as the Pot of Greed.
(H: 400)
(M: 7600)
"Prepare to say good-bye to your soul, Avatar, because it's going where it belongs: in eternal oblivion!"
Yugi, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to break our promise, Harold thought.
"Yugi, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to break our promise." Yami-Yugi gasped. Was that Harold? Why would he say… wait a minute. A trace of a not too distant memory of a conversation they had shortly after Joey's duel with Rex echoed in his mind.
"Is something wrong?" Yugi asked. "You see kind of down about something."
"I'm just wondering... why I'm here?"
"Harold, you're not..."
"Oh no, no, I'm not going back to that again.
"Harold, don't do it!" Yami-Yugi shouted startling the two females with him. "It's not worth your life!"
"You mean… Harold's going to…"
"I think so."
Serenity covered her mouth.
"Despair from the Dark, destroy his Guardian Spellmaster and the rest of his life points!" This time, the monster opened its mouth and let out a large blast of black smoke.
"Activate trap card," Harold commanded.
"No trap card can save you!" Yami-Marik said. The entire field was engulfed in smoke.
"HAROLD!" Yami-Yugi, Serenity, and Ishizu all cried out.
To Be Continued
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Despair from the Dark
Level: 8
Type: Zombie/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 2800
DEF: 3000
(2)
Name: Ultimate Obedient Fiend
Level: 10
Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Fire
ATK: 3500
DEF: 3000
(3)
Name: Magical Merchant
Level: 1
Type: Insect/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 200
DEF: 700
(4)
Name: Light-Speed Angel
Level: 4
Type: Fairy/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 1200
DEF: 1500
When you Normal Summon, Flip Summon, or Special Summon this monster, you can have it attack your opponent's life points directly. If you use this special effect, reduce its attack points by half.
(5)
Name: Mystical Elf
Level: 4
Type: Spellcaster
Attribute: Light
ATK: 800
DEF: 2000
(6)
Name: Guardian Spellmaster
Level: 6
Type: Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 1200
DEF: 2000
As long as this monster is in defense mode, you can cancel one of your opponent's attacks once per turn by paying 500 life points and return the attacking monster to your opponent's hand.
(7)
Name: Spirit of the Pot of Greed
Level: 1
Type: Fairy/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 100
DEF: 100
(8)
Name: Time Wizard
Level: 2
Type: Spellcaster/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 500
DEF: 400
(9)
Name: Thousand Dragon
Level: 7
Type: Dragon/Fusion
Attribute: Wind
ATK: 2400
DEF: 2000
(10)
Name: Ryu-Kishin Clown
Level: 2
Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 800
DEF: 0