Tea's Time to Shine
Magicman: Alrighty then, just one more duel and then the quarter finals will be over! Akumu is out of the running but now we have Zev and Mai duking it out!
Joey: Yay! Wet T-shirt contest!
Zev&Mai: WHAT did you say?
Joey: Um…help?
Magicman: Not this time buddy. You're on your own.
Joey: (eyeing the enraged women) Hey Tea? Will you feed my fish once I'm dead?
Tea: Of course I will Joey.
Joey: Then I can die with peace of mind.
Magicman: And that would be my cue to avert everyone's attention to the story in an effort to keep the ratings down.
IIIIIII
This was the most anticipated duel of the tournament. It was a grudge match between two girls who hated each other that would decide once and for all which of them was the best.
Yugi really couldn't have cared less. He was too busy slumping against the railing and being depressed. Every now and then he would sigh and turn his head to look over at Tea and Yami.
Once when he did this Ami's green eyes stared back. "Gah!" When he recovered he shook his head ruefully. "I don't think my heart can take too many more jolts today Ami."
Ami tilted her head cutely and slumped against the railing next to him. "What's wrong cubling? Is the demon getting you down?"
Yugi shook his head. "No. Well…yes actually. But not exactly. Sort of. You know?"
Ami blinked then grinned. "Oh I know!" she said cheerfully. "Cubling has had his heart ripped out of his chest and stomped into paste by the steel-toed boots of love!" She grabbed his surprised face and hugged him fiercely. "Poor, poor cubling. Such a poor cubling."
"He certainly is" Akki said, wandering over. "Who are we talking about?"
Yugi's face was crushed even harder and he felt his ability to breathe cutting off. Ami ignored his gesticulations and glared at Akki. "My cubling!" she hissed. "Mine! You can't have him! Ami found him first!"
Akki rolled her eyes. "I think your 'cubling' is running out of air."
Yugi finally managed to break away from the grip of steel and gasped for breath. Weakened, he slumped against the railing again, indifferent to Ami's gentle crooning and stroking of his hair. Akki slumped next to him.
"So, are you feeling alright?" she asked.
Yugi sighed gustily for perhaps the eighth time since his world had collapsed. "I don't want to talk about it" he muttered.
"Are you sure? Sometimes soul crushing agony is best shared." She raised an eyebrow. "Especially when someone close was the one who did the crushing."
The diminutive one snorted. "I don't know how you figured it out but-"
"It was pretty obvious that you had a crush on Tea."
Yugi glared at Akki. "But it's really none of your business."
"Of course it isn't. Let's get some better seats Ami. The duel is about to start."
Ami stroked Yugi's hair one last time before straightening up and following Akki away, leaving Yugi alone with his thoughts. Before the girls were out of range however he stepped back with a black scowl on his face. "Damn it!" he swore and gave the marble railing a savage kick.
Akki hid a smile and turned back to Yugi. "Feel any better?"
"No! Now I'm angry and my foot hurts!" He took a step toward the girls and winced, the pain evident on his face. His purple eyes still burned angrily. "Why?" he demanded. "Why did she pick him? I was there first! I've been her friend since grade school! I've always cared for her! Always! And if I hadn't put together that puzzle then it would be me standing by her!" His violet glare turned to encompass Yami, the anger intensifying. "I can be everything he is. I could give her everything he can. He wouldn't even exist if it weren't for me!"
Akki nodded her head. "Very true. So what?"
"So Tea should like me! She shouldn't be with Yami!"
"Why not?"
"Because I love her!"
Ami shook her head sorrowfully. "Poor cubling. His mind is turned to mush by the most powerful emotion. So much love and he just doesn't understand it."
"What are you talking about!" Yugi nearly shouted.
Akki let her wry smile finally appear. "I think I get it Yugi. Ami's asking if you love her enough to let her go."
Yugi opened his mouth to yell some more but suddenly closed it. Then in a quiet voice he asked "Why didn't she pick me?"
"I really don't know Yugi." Akki shrugged. "But if you really love Tea enough to want her to be happy then what can you do? She's happy with Yami. And you should be happy for her."
Yugi didn't answer but then he didn't have to. He was happy for Tea in a way, though that happiness was clouded with his own suffering. But still… "It hurts…"
"I know" Akki agreed, patting him on the back. "Love often hurts."
"Cheer up!" Ami jumped on Yugi's back. "It's not over until Exodia obliterates! Cubling will find someone."
"Maybe you're right" Yugi answered, wincing at something. "But I meant my foot. I think I broke a toe."
IIIIIII
"This match between Mai Valentine and Zev Crawford signals the end of the quarter finals" Croquet announced. "If both duellists are in position, you may begin."
Up on the balcony, oblivious to Yugi's suffering, Tea watched the upcoming duel with much curiosity. This duel was approached with a tension that none of the others had even approached. Even Nesbitt was watching the match, her calculating eyes watching for weaknesses. Up in his custom balcony seat, Pegasus waved a custom made flag that read 'Go Zev' on it.
Zev grinned at the attention. This was how she wanted it to be. She wanted this duel to be public. She wanted Mai's humiliation to be complete. It was the least she could do to pay her back.
"Hey psycho!" Mai shouted, drawing Zev's attention. "The duel is over here! Quit dreaming and draw your hand."
"My dreams would terrify you" Zev said flatly. "It ends here. I always said I'd beat you one day."
Mai watched her foe, her eyes hard. "If that's how you want it. Do your best girl."
Zev snarled hatefully and drew her hand. "I'll go first, and I'll summon Winged Minion (700/700) in attack mode! Then I'll play one card facedown and end my turn."
The small blue imp floated just above the ground as the square behind it began to glow. Mai frowned.
"I'll summon Harpy Lady (1300/1400) in defence mode. That's it for me."
Zev shook her head in bewilderment at the harpy. "You still use those weakling birdbrains?"
"She's stronger than your little twerp!"
"Why so she is. I guess I'll just have to play another card facedown and end my turn."
Now two of Zev's trap cards lay on the field, protecting her underpowered monster. For the life of her, Mai could not figure this out. Zev never played in such a restrained style. She was cunning but very aggressive. Given the choice, she would always attack. But now she was just waiting. Was she bluffing? Mai drew.
"I'll switch Harpy Lady into attack mode. Now I'll have her attack your Winged Minion!"
The Harpy screeched and leapt into the air for a skydiving attack. The Winged Minion wouldn't stand a chance.
'This is so perfect' Zev gloated mentally. "I activate Mirror Gate!"
A tall door made of reflective glass appeared in the center of the field. Both the Winged Minion and the Harpy lady were shown in the surface. On the field, both monsters were suddenly gripped in a magical wind and sucked inside.
"You DO know what Mirror Gate does, don't you?" Zev asked condescendingly and put on a fake look of astonishment when Mai scowled at her. "You don't? Truly? And you still call yourself a champion duellist? Good grief! Let me enlighten you then. Mirror Gate activates when you attack one of my monsters. It switches their positions on the field. Basically, your Winged Minion is now attacking my Harpy lady." Zev pointed at the small fiend. "Destroy that pest with Sky Slash!"
Winged Minion flew forward, trying to bite the harpy, but she leapt up into the air. Shrieking, she flew down. There was a flash of claws and Winged Minion shattered. Mai's lifepoints dropped to 1400. The blonde scowled.
'She's not playing her normal style deliberately to throw me off. But I've got her now. She'll try to hit me while I'm down, and then I'll activate these babies.' Her thought complete, the blonde selected two cards in her hand. "I'll play these two cards facedown now. Come and get me!"
"With pleasure." Zev drew and her eyes widened. Then she grinned and began to laugh wildly. "This is just too funny! Can you even survive this one turn Mai-mai?"
Mai scowled. "Just play the card already."
"As you wish! I activate my Right Arm Offering!" Zev activated the card and the field was tinged red for a moment. "Now I can discard my entire hand and bring one magic card in to replace it. My magic card will be Heavy Storm, which I will now play!"
A mighty wind blew up, causing destruction on the field. None of the facedown cards survived and were destroyed. But when the wind stopped, Mai's field was surprisingly crowded. Four small fuzzy creatures flanked one large snake man that hissed menacingly. Zev scowled. "Hey, what gives?"
Mai smirked. "Oh, don't tell me that a great duellist like you has never heard of Scapegoats and Embodiment of Apophis (1600/1800)? You haven't? Really?"
"Shut up!" Zev snapped. "So now you get a bunch of little fuzz balls and a decent monster to guard your lifepoints. I have a trick too. My destroyed facedown card was a Statue of the Wicked. When destroyed, it creates a wicked token (1000/1000), and I'll play it in defence mode. Then I'll switch my Harpy Lady (1300/1400) into defence mode. I guess we're both at a standoff." She crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow. "What now Mai-mai? You've always been good at standoffs."
Mai nodded. "Better than you if I recall. I'll draw" she glanced at the card, "Then I'll attack your Harpy Lady with Embodiment of Apophis. Attack it my pet!"
The snake man hissed and lashed out with its sword, catching Harpy Lady in the neck. The female monster's head flew across field and the body collapsed.
"Finally I'll play one card facedown." Mai placed down the card and eyed Zev's field skeptically. "You seem to be outnumbered."
Zev rolled her eyes as she drew. "It's not quantity that counts. It's quality. You taught me that yourself. I'll pass this turn."
"Cocky little witch." Mai drew. "I'll play one more card facedown then I'll attack with Embodiment of Apophis!" Her vicious monster crushed Zev's low class fiend. "There" she said. "How's that for quality?"
Up in the stands, the audience watched Zev snort. Tea rolled her eyes.
"Who is she kidding?" she muttered. "She's outnumbered and outgunned with one card in her hand. She doesn't have anything"
"Zev Crawford has everything she needs to turn this duel around." The cool emotionless voice made Tea jump a bit. She turned and saw Julia standing about five feet away, her hand resting lightly on the railing. The machine duellist's light blue eyes were fixed on the duel but she had clearly heard Tea's remark. "She has an arsenal of deadly fiend monsters and she knows exactly how to use them. She has many rare and powerful magic cards and traps. She has a great deal of experience in duelling and was taught by her uncle. Most important of all she hates Mai Valentine and wants to see her defeated at her favourite game. She will stop at nothing."
This was the longest speech Tea had heard from Julia's mouth and she had said it all without tone or inflection. Tea was taken aback slightly but she recovered. "So you think that Crawford will win?"
"I don't think" Julia said blandly. "I know. I have calculated all the possibilities and Zev Crawford can counter them all. Mai Valentine cannot."
Tea bristled. "That's my friend you're talking about!"
"I know."
"This game is more about possibilities, you know" Tea snapped.
Julia turned her head and looked Tea directly in the eyes. "I know" was all she said.
And the strangest part was that Tea believed her. She returned her attention to the duel, suddenly fearing for Mai's chances.
Back in the duel, Zev had drawn. "Now I'll just even the odds. I activate my Pitch Black Warwolf (1600/600)! Just try and activate your cheap little trap cards while he's gnawing on your leg!"
The man-wolf howled in defiance at Mai, waving its blood-tipped saber threateningly. Mai scowled.'Rats. I can't summon another, stronger monster with all of these tokens on the field and I can destroy her wolf with my traps when we battle.'
Mai's thoughts were cut off when Zev continued her turn. "And finally, I will play one card facedown. That's it for me."
"I'll bet." Mai drew. "I'll play one card facedown and end my turn."
"And that's all you can do, isn't? You just don't like taking risks. That's your whole problem. Last turn you could have attacked my Warwolf and destroyed it and your own Embodiment of Apophis. You could have cleared up a space in your line for an even stronger monster and killed off mine all in one turn." Zev grinned. "Assuming of course that I'd have let you. We'll never know now, will we? My turn."
Mai snorted. "Stop with the taunting! It's getting on my nerves!"
"Just relax Mai-mai. It'll all be over before you know it." Zev drew and her grin turned evil. "Oh yeah baby! That's what I'm talking about! I summon the queen of demons! My Dark Necrofear (2200/2800)!"
The mighty Necrofear rose up from the depths, cradling its broken doll in surprisingly gentle hands. She looked up and hissed viciously at Mai.
"She's been my favourite for some time now" Zev told her foe. She watched her monster with an interesting light in her eyes. "Interesting, isn't it? She's a fiend. She's feared throughout the game of Duel Monsters for her dark powers. And yet she holds that doll so carefully that it's impossible to think that she doesn't have a gentle side. Or did." Zev's gaze turned cold. "Does she remind you of anything?"
Mai scowled angrily. "Don't go there!"
"Stuff it. You owe me and I intend to collect. Your days at the top are gone for good! Dark Necrofear attack! Destroy her Embodiment of Apophis with Hatred from Beyond!"
Zev laughed wildly as her monster powered up its attack. "And you can't even activate any facedown cards! My Warwolf is locking down your traps! You're helpless before me!"
Dark Necrofear opened her mouth and screamed her hatred at Mai's monster. The sound waves echoed through the stadium, causing some girls to clutch their ears in pain. The snake monster howled in helpless agony before shattering. The Necrofear glared at its now empty spot for a moment before returning to cuddling her broken doll. Mai's lifepoints dropped to 800 before Zev waved a hand, signalling the end of her turn.
Mai drew a card and thought hard about her options. 'I have less than half of her lifepoints and I can't use traps to block her attacks. My only choice now is to go on the offensive. Fortunately…' She played a card. "I summon Unfriendly Amazon (2000/1000) in attack mode."
The tall muscular woman wielded her large sword expertly. She let out a fearsome war cry. Zev was unimpressed.
"You're after my wolf obviously. Go ahead then, if you think it will help."
Mai grinned. "Idiot. Your wolf only negates traps I activate during the battle phase. I could activate one right now and you could do squat against me. I'll play my facedown Ring of Destruction. And I'm targeting your Dark Necrofear!"
A ring studded with dynamite locked itself around Zev's monster. It hissed angrily but refused to struggle pointlessly like so many weaker monsters. The dynamite ignited and a moment later there was a massive explosion.
"Activate facedown card!"
The shout came from both sides of the arena. Zev played Divine Wind, hurling the damage back at Mai and doubling its power. Mai activated Ring of Defence, to block all the excess damage that her Ring would have done to her lifepoints. The powerful traps cracked off of each other and all went silent as the duel continued.
"And finally I order my Unfriendly Amazon to attack your rabid dog, evening the life scores up a bit."
The Amazon cut down the wolf, dropping Zev's points by 400. Mai smirked. "Not so tough now without your freaky little friends."
For some reason Zev found this hilarious. "I don't believe it!" she managed, in between breaths. "You're actually lecturing me on friends? Weren't you the one who told me that friends are there for lending money and nothing else? Didn't you always use to say to look out for number one?"
Mai's smirk fell. "I was screwed up back then" she muttered.
"NO FUCKING KIDDING!" Zev screamed, all traces of humour ripped from her voice. "You have no idea what that kind of betrayal feels like, do you?"
"You'd be surprised" Mai muttered again.
With a clear sign of effort Zev calmed down. "Well then you won't be surprised if I make you pay for it. Do you end your turn?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Good. Now my Dark Necrofear's special ability kicks in. When she's destroyed as a result of battle or of a card's effect she can seize one of your monsters and turn him to my side." Zev considered and pointed. "I target one of your scapegoats. Now it belongs to me." The little blue animal was overcome by shadow that turned its eyes all spirally. It hopped merrily over to Zev's field.
Mai blinked. "You wanted my scapegoat?"
"Well duh! I don't want that damned Amazon's special effect screwing me over. I've got a much bigger idea for it." Zev grinned again. Or at least she showed her teeth.
Mai looked around at Zev's decidedly empty field and pointedly raised an eyebrow. The grey-haired girl with the very bad temper just shrugged at the look. "I said I'd destroy you. I never said it would be easy. But I will do it Mai. I'm going to watch you go down like a loser in front of everyone here, and I'm going to enjoy it."
On the balcony Tea heard every word that was said. She didn't know why but Zev's calm threat was more frightening to her than the violent screams were. And she knew that things were about to get worse.
IIIIIII
Magicman: I beg all of your forgiveness my beloved readers… I've had six essays to do in these last two months. Six! Big, eight pagers! Worth up to 40 of my final mark!
Tea: Poor guy.
Pegasus: It's a good thing he's already crazed. Otherwise I might fear for his sanity.
Joey: (horrible mutilated from the savage beating earlier) Why don't…you…let me die…?
Magicman: I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my fellow angels, and especially to the seraph who guides my actions by poking me when I begin to flag. I promise, I'll try and get things moving faster. I only have two more essays to go after all, but I expect this last one to be a real bugger… Anyway, next time the match wraps up between Zevvie and Mai-mai. If I figure it out, we just might hear about the truth behind the so called soul-frying hatred between them.
Pegasus: He already has it figured out actually. He just doesn't know how long the next half of the duel will be.
Magicman: Basically. So I hope you enjoyed this. Until next time!
