Chapter 18: Superbia Arrives

Kari grimaced for a moment and clutched her chest. "No...no, no, no no, no!" she cried out. "I haven't come this far only to lose to you!"

"It's pointless to hide yourself from me," Yami said. "The real Kari would never have relied on a power like the Seal of Orichalcos to find the truth. I may have only seen glimpses of her true self, but now I'm certain of it! You're not the real Kari Asaila but another alias of hers, aren't you?!"

Kari glowered again at Yami but then suddenly smirked. "Perhaps I am," she said. "And what of this real Kari you speak of? Is she another alias too? We can't all be the real Kari, and yet we can't all be aliases either! So what do you plan on doing now? Do you still believe that there is some essence of a real person in here? Because chances are she's long gone by now."

"Don't be so sure," Yami said. "My partner will help find the real Kari and bring her back to the surface!"

"Not as long as I'm still here! And to make sure of that, I'm going to summon the monster that will put an end to your heroic nonsense!" Kari said. "I remove from my graveyard the Fiend Generals Vanagloria, Gula, Ira, Acedia, and Tristitia in order to bring forth the strongest Fiend General! I bring forth the mighty Fiend General Superbia (8/3000/2500)!"

As the spirits of the former Fiend Generals appeared on the field, they began to form together and combine with the shadows to bring forth a large red-skinned fiend with glowing yellow-green eyes and a white mustache and goatee. It flexed its muscles and took a stance of confidence as the Seal of Orichalcos appeared on its forehead, granting it more strength!

Fiend General Superbia (8/3000/2500 - 8/3500/2500)

"Now prepare yourself to bow before my mightiest monster!" Kari declared, laughing wildly as Yami stared up into the now red eyes of the Fiend General Superbia.


"After the fire that burned down my home and took away my family, I was left alone, no one left to care for me. I ran away so no one would be able to find me. I spent days wandering the forest that was near my former home, and I was sure that I was going to die. But in the midst of it all, I found these strange pieces scattered about the forest. To keep my mind off of my own starvation, I would spend hours searching for these little tiny pieces. Eventually, I found a large disc that seemed to allow the pieces to fit inside, so I started put them together. Once I had found them all, the pieces fused together and created a medallion with a curious seal on it, and I felt an amazing power surge through me briefly.

"And that's when Dartz found me. He asked who I was, and that's when I realized I didn't know anymore. I had forgotten my name. He offered me a chance to find out who I really was in exchange for helping him out. I was so scared that I didn't know what else to do or who else to turn to, and with no one else to take care of me, I agreed and became one of his servants.

"I spent years under his tutelage, using the power of the Seal of Orichalcos to take a number of souls for his purposes. I even began to use other identities in order to lure people into a false sense of security before taking their souls. But no matter what I did for him, there were no answers for me. I was as lost as the day he found me, no closer to finding the truth about myself than I had been. Then one day I discovered what the medallion was and where it had come from.

"It was made by a small resistance that opposed Dartz's reign once he had succumbed to the Orichalcos' power. The medallion was forged with the essence of the original Orichalcos to allow them to fight against Dartz's organization. They even managed to make another Great Leviathan in order to fight off the original. But during the Battle of Atlantis, their Leviathan was slain by the Orichalcos' Leviathan, and the medallion was shattered. I managed to assemble it over 10,000 years later.

"That's when I knew the truth about Dartz. He had been using me to further his own goals in reviving the Great Leviathan. And so I confronted him on the matter and challenged him to a duel for the answers I sought. I lost that duel, but my soul was saved by the power of the Orichalcos Medallion. I fled from the temple and from Dartz and gathered a group of people that would help in my struggles against him. Together we formed an alliance against Dartz and the Orichalcos, using the power of the medallion to aid in the struggle.

"Eventually, you and the others showed up with the Legendary Dragons and ended the threat of Dartz and the Orichalcos Leviathan, allowing for the rebellion to end. Even after the war was over, I was no closer to finding an answer to who I was than I had been. I was confident but unknown, I had a purpose but no identity. Even so, I found hope that I might discover who I was.

"And so I spent the next few years in different disguises, working to find out myself while pretending to be my siblings. The only reminder I had of who I was was the family picture I had kept in secret all this time. But there felt like an ever-present darkness inside, from the time I served Dartz. I felt I couldn't forgive myself for letting him take advantage of my weakness."

Kari finished her story, and Yugi lowered his head.

"Knowing what Dartz did to get the others to side with him, I'm almost certain he was the one who burned down your home," Yugi said. "He would have planned on giving you a reason to join his side, and having faced such a tragedy on your own, he knew he would be able to convince you to join him."

"That may be," Kari said, "but now I have to face that darkness that still persists. I have to face up to that which remains. And that means I have to look back to my past again."

Yugi placed his hand on Kari's shoulder, causing her to look up at him. "Then let's do it together," he said. "I know that Yami's out there right now fighting for you, and now that you've learned so much about what happened, we can work on moving forward."

Kari smiled and nodded, and the two disappeared back into the maze, the little girl smiling at them as they left before fading away.


Yami: 5800
Kari: 200

"I hope you're not too intimidated by my Fiend General Superbia!" Kari taunted, with her monster standing confidently with its arms crossed and a smug look on its face. "He may look powerful, but that's only because he is!"

"Your monster doesn't scare me, and it won't keep me from winning this duel," Yami retorted, his Dark Paladin brandishing its bladed magical staff.

"We'll see about that," Kari said. "I now equip Blade of the Fiend General with Fiend General Superbia, raising his Atk power by 500!"

Fiend General Superbia (8/3500/2500 - 8/4000/2500)

"And that's not all! Now I use Fiend General Superbia's own effect, which allows me to remove 1 Shadow Khan monster in my Graveyard from play to give him an additional 300 Atk," Kari continued, "and since I've got 8 Shadow Khan monsters in my Graveyard, I think I'll go ahead and remove them all from play so my Fiend General Superbia can power up to maximum strength!"

With that, Superbia opened its mouth and sucked in the spirits of the Shadow Khans - Crab, Mantis, Sumo, Mini, Ninja, Razor, Squid, and Samurai, boosting its power by an impressive amount!

Fiend General Superbia (8/4000/2500 - 8/6400/2500)

"A monster with 6400 Atk points now stands before you!" Kari said. "I hope you have a plan for what to do next, because now my Fiend General Superbia is the strongest monster on the field! And with that, I end my turn and leave you with only 3 turns to defeat me before my Time Limit goes off!"

(Time Limit: 3 turns)

She may have the strongest monster in play, but that doesn't mean she's going to win this duel, Yami thought. "It's my turn!"

Looking through the cards in his hand, Yami found it difficult to find a card he could use. Right now, I need to get rid of Superbia, he thought to himself, but not only that, I have to make sure she doesn't have any other monsters in play so that her Spirit Barrier can't activate, or else I have to take out the Spirit Barrier.

"Come now, surely you're not stumped after that resounding speech of yours," Kari taunted. "Make your move!"

Wait! That's it!


Kari and Yugi were making their way through the maze rather easily. The walls no longer moved to impede the progress but rather moved away, as though opening up the way for them.

"It's strange," Kari said. "I've never been able to make the walls move aside so easily before. I couldn't even move them before!"

"It means we're getting closer to the truth," Yugi said. "We know enough, now we just need to finish what we've started."

The two eventually arrived at an open area surrounded by crystal and mirrors. A bright moon shone down with moons of its own, and the mirror reflected the light and brightened the landscape such that the whiteness was only dulled by the night sky. And there stood a dark shadowy figure at an altar of crystal in the center.

"So you've finally found your sanctuary," a voice echoed from the altar. The figure turned around and revealed itself to Yugi and Kari as a shadowy clone of Kari.

"You!" Kari gasped.

"Yes, me," the shadow Kari said. "Me, me, me. So glad you could join me at last. And now I can assimilate you and take control over your body permanently! But first, we can't have that annoying little boy with you!"

The shadow Kari held up her palm and pushed a massive invisible force that struck Yugi, sending him hurtling out of Kari's mind! He soared back into the Millenium Puzzle and found himself back in his own soul room, filled with its innocent play things.

"I have to warn the Pharaoh!" he said, and he disappeared very quickly.


"Prepare yourself, Kari, because I'm about to bring an end to your monster and this duel!" Yami said. "First, I will activate-"

Pharaoh!

Yami stopped for a moment and saw Yugi float by his side.

Yugi? What are you doing here? What happened? Yami asked.

Kari's in trouble! We got out of the maze together, and then there was this shadow clone of her that forced me out! Yugi said.

This is troubling...we have to stop her and end this duel soon! And I think I have just the cards to do it! Yami said.

Alright. Hang in there, Kari! We're coming!

"Now I activate my Necromancy spell card to bring back 4 of the monsters in your Graveyard back to your field in Defense mode!" Yami declared.

"Don't bother," Kari said. "I've already removed every monster in my graveyard from the game thanks to Superbia!"

"How quickly we forget," Yami smiled. "You keep forgetting to account for Kari's other monsters! Come out to her field!"

Kari was surprised when suddenly her graveyard opened up and summoned out Nitros Dragon, Cure Mermaid, Speedy Dragon, and Turbo Dragon!

"These monsters all belong to Kari, and they are as much apart of her as her other identities are! But not you! You are the one that she didn't create on her own, the one that planned to take everything away from her! I won't forgive you for that! So now, Kari, if you are in there, listen to the cries of your monsters and fight back!"

Yami's words echoed into the realm of Kari's mind. Her eyes opened widely as she heard the words.

"Yugi," she said quietly.

"Don't listen to him," the shadow Kari said. "You have no such power to face me on your own! You will be mine and mine alone!"

Kari's face changed from one of timid fear into one of determination. "You're wrong," she said, surprising the shadow Kari. "I'm not alone here. If you want this body so much, you'll have to get by me!"

"And me!"

Kari looked over to her side and saw Leila Kimber, dressed in her prophecy robes, standing nearby.

"And me!"

Turning to the other side, Kari saw Joe appear, as energetic and eager as ever!

"Don't forget about me."

Then Gwen Mitchell appeared, adjusting her glasses, and next to her were Lucky Lynn and Vicky Queens.

"And of course you've got to beat me too!"

Then Monica Toronto appeared with her motorcycle, alongside Jade Weng and Leanna Warner, each one ready for the fight.

And that's when a number of other individuals appeared dressed in a variety of different attires. There was an actress and an athlete, a lawyer and a police officer, a wrestler and a swimsuit model - and there they were. Kari's family, as pristine as ever, readying themselves for a fight. The shadow Kari looked around nervously at this army of identities and memories.

"N-n-no! You can't all be here! I've already taken care of you!" she said. "This is impossible! How are you all free?!"

The gentlemanly father spoke up, "You think you could keep our daughter down and take control of her mind? I'm afraid you're sadly mistaken. She's made of tougher stuff than what you'd be able to produce. You never stood a chance!"

This threw the shadow Kari off her feet and down onto the ground. Scrambling around, she looked up, terrified as Kari stood over her now.

"I've been running away from my past for so long," she said. "I've worn so many different faces that I'd forgotten who I was. But the truth was right there all along. I'm all of these people, and they're all apart of me too. For the longest time, I couldn't find it in myself to look at them as though they were me, as though they were apart of me. But now I can look at them and say that they're all me, and I am all of them! And against all of us, you are nothing!"

On the field, Yami said, "Now I activate this card, Diffusion Wave-Motion!"

Yami: 4800
Kari: 200

"The power of this magic card will bring about the end of this duel!" Yami said. "By paying 1000 Life Points, I'm able to have a Spellcaster of Level 7 or higher attack all of your monsters once each. So now my Dark Paladin can destroy every monster you have in play!"

"What?!"

"Now go, Dark Paladin! Diffusion Wave Blast!"

The mighty warrior mage charged up a powerful orb of dark magic that emitted waves of darkness that sliced through Cure Mermaid, Speedy Dragon, Turbo Dragon, and Nitros Dragon easily! Kari watched on as each one was destroyed, and every time one was destroyed, in Kari's mind the identities and memories merged with Kari. The shadow Kari could do nothing but watch as Kari assimilated every one of her selves together. Then the shadow Kari began to laugh, and Kari on the field began to laugh as well.

"You may have defeated a bunch of monsters you brought back from my Graveyard," Kari said, "but you have done nothing against my Fiend General Superbia! It's useless to attack him, he's far too powerful for you to defeat! You might as well surrender right now!"

"There's a side effect to my Necromancy spell that you should be aware of," Yami said. "Each time a monster that was revived by its effect is destroyed, all the other monsters on your field lose 600 Atk points."

Kari recoiled back in shock. "But that means-!"

"That means since I destroyed all 4 of the monsters I revived from your Graveyard that Fiend General Superbia loses 2400 Atk points!" Yami declared, pointing right at the general as the spirits of Cure Mermaid, Speedy Dragon, Turbo Dragon, and Nitros Dragon grappled its limbs and held it off!

Fiend General Superbia (8/6400/2500 - 8/4000/2500)

"No, you haven't beaten him yet!" Kari yelled out.

"I'm afraid I have," Yami said. "Go, Dark Paladin! Finish off the Fiend General Superbia!"

And with that, the warrior-mage sent another wave of dark magic charging forth at the Fiend General!

"You won't destroy him so easily!" Kari said. "With the power of the Blade of the Fiend General, I can protect the Fiend General Superbia from being destroyed this turn!"

"I'm afraid you won't get the chance," Yami said. "Go, Dust Tornado!"

A blustering wind suddenly appeared and blew away the sword that Superbia wielded, sending it far away from the general's grasp!

"No! You can't!" Kari shouted.

"I just did," Yami said, and the dark energy wave ripped right through the Fiend General Superbia, destroying it once and for all.

The shadow Kari felt a stab of pain in her chest. "No," she said, "it can't be!"

"It is," Kari said. "Now it's time for you to surrender yourself!"

"No! I will not stand for this!" the shadow Kari yelled out. "I will not be destroyed!"

A surge of dark power emerged from the shadow Kari, and she fled the crystal fields and onto the battlefield with Yami, taking full control over Kari!

"I'm not done yet! I have only to stall you out for a mere turn!" she said, drawing her next card. "And now I summon Shadow Khan - Bat (3/900/600) as well as the Fiend General Avaritia (3/1300/1300) and give them the power of the Seal of Orichalcos! Now carry my anger and rage, my shadow minions, and strike Yugi directly!"

The shadowy bat creature appeared alongside a yellow-faced demon, each gaining power through the Seal of Orichalcos. The bat creature became empowered by the Seal as it took flight in the air!

Shadow Khan - Bat (3/900/600 - 3/1400/600)
Fiend General Avaritia (3/1300/1300 - 3/1800/1300)

The bat then dove straight past Yami's monsters and lunged directly for him.

"You should be careful what you do with your monsters, imposter," Yami said. "For you see, I had a Trap already set and prepared."

"You lie! You didn't Set any cards during your turn!" Kari yelled out, but then she saw the face-down on Yami's field. "But...you didn't Set a card!"

"I actually Set this card with the power of Dust Tornado," Yami explained. "You see, after Dust Tornado took out your general's blade, I was given the option to Set one card from my hand. And the card I chose to Set was none other than..."

The card flipped up and revealed itself as two cylindrical objects that redirected an arrow!

"Magic Cylinder!"

And with that, the same cylinders appeared, one which intercepted the Shadow Khan - Bat's dive!

"But I can't take any damage while there's a monster on my field!" Kari cried out.

"Wrong! Your barrier only protects you from taking Battle Damage, and the powers of the Magic Cylinder allow me to inflict the damage directly to you as Effect Damage!" Yami countered. "You lose!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The bat appeared out of the other cylinder and collided with Kari, the powers of the shadows ripping apart the rest of her Life Points.

Yami: 4800
Kari: 0

Kari knelt down and faced the ground, the Seal now beginning to encircle her.

"This is my fate," she said. "This is my punishment. This is my sorrow..."

"Not for you!"

Kari looked up and suddenly felt a hand against her forehead. Yami was using the power of the Millenium Puzzle on her!

"My Puzzle has the ability to put the souls of people back into their proper place," he said. "Now, let the dark soul reveal itself! Set Kari free!"

Kari was then flooded with a powerful light and ousted from the Seal of Orichalcos with Yami! But there remained the shadow Kari inside of the Seal!

"Wait! You can't get rid of me! This isn't how it was supposed to be!" the shadow Kari cried as the Seal took her soul and sealed it inside the Orichalcos Medallion. The shadow Kari disappeared with the Seal, and the Orichalcos Medallion cracked and shattered into a thousand pieces and faded out into dust! The Seal of Orichalcos also disappeared and faded away into nothingness.

Yami held Kari in his arms and supported her as she awoke. She looked up at him and asked, "Am I free?"

"Yes," he replied, "you are free."

At that moment, the rocks from the cave-in were pushed aside, and light from the outside poured into the tunnel. "Hey! Are you two alright in there?" a voice called out.

Yami then swapped places with Yugi, who responded, "We're okay!"


"Wow, now that's something."

Yugi stood next to his friends in front of Andrew, Matt, and the Admins that had been supervising the final match-ups. After Yugi and Kari were rescued from the tunnel, Matt had Kari taken into the medical bay to patch her up and make sure she was okay. Meanwhile, Andrew was dying of curiosity to see how the duel had gone, and so Yugi had to explain the entire situation regarding Kari, the Seal of Orichalcos, the mental maze, the identities, and the eventual defeat of the shadow Kari. It was a little hard to believe.

"It's a little hard to believe that all of that happened," Andrew said. "I mean, I've never heard of the Seal of Orichalcos or of shadow people or mind mazes or any of that crazy stuff."

"Eh, for Yug, dis stuff happens all da time," Joey said, wiping his nose with his thumb.

"It happens more often than it should is more like it," Tristan commented.

"True dat," Joey agreed. "But hey, da important part is Yugi won!"

"I think the most important part is the safety of both duelists," Matt interjected. "After all, both Yugi and Kari were trapped in that tunnel for a long period of time. Now that both duelists have been cared for to some extent, then I suppose that yes, the next important part would be that Yugi has won the duel with Kari. Of course, even if Kari had won the duel, she is in no condition to duel in the finals, and so she would have to be disqualified, and the runner-up would then duel in the finals."

"So Yugi would be dueling in the finals no matter what," Tea concluded.

"Precisely," one of the Admins who was wearing glasses said. "There is no contest in that Yugi is to now participate in the finals match of the tournament."

"But hey, I could understand if you need a breather after all of that," Andrew said cheerfully.

"Yug could probably take you on with both hands tied behind his back!" Joey retorted, holding up a fist of confidence.

"Is that so?" Andrew challenged, and the two began to engage in a staring contest, a tense bolt of lightning connecting the two's glare.

"Shouldn't I be the one challenging people to a duel?" Yugi asked, a sweat drop coming down from his head as everyone laughed cheerfully.

I imagine Kari will be alright in the meantime.

Yugi looked up at Yami, who had just appeared as though he had heard the cheer and decided to join in.

She should be fine, she just needs to rest, Yugi said. After all, she's been through a lot.

Agreed, Yami nodded. So now we only have Andrew to face off against.

Yeah, and his Ancient Heroes...

Yugi and Yami turned to look at Andrew, smiling in the group. Andrew looked up at Yugi and smiled softly.

This may be one of our toughest battles yet, Yami said.

I don't know if it'll be as tough as that last one, Yugi said, but I agree, it's going to be tough. We don't even know how to beat his indestructible strategy.

We don't know now, Yami said. Not yet.


AUTHOR'S NOTES

What an ending! Yugi and Yami managed to pull through and save Kari from her evil side! And we got to see some cool cards as well:

Fiend General Superbia (Effect Monster)
Level 8, 3000 Atk, 2500 Def, Fiend, DARK
Effect: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by banishing 5 "Fiend General" monsters from your GY. You can banish 1 "Shadow Khan" monster from your GY; gains 300 Atk.

Blade of the Fiend General (Equip Spell)
Effect: Equip only to a "Fiend General" monster. It gains 500 ATK. If the equipped monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead.

Necromancy (Normal Spell)
Effect: Special Summon up to 4 random monsters from your opponent's GY to their side of the field in Defense Position. Each time a monster Special Summoned by this effect is destroyed, all of your opponent's face-up monsters lose 600 ATK for each of those monsters until the End Phase.

Diffusion Wave-Motion (Normal Spell)
Effect: If your opponent controls a monster: Pay 1000 LP, then target 1 Level 7 or higher Spellcaster monster you control; this turn, it must attack all monsters your opponent controls once each, also other monsters you control cannot attack. The effects of monsters destroyed by these attacks cannot activate and are negated.

Dust Tornado (Normal Trap)
Effect: Target 1 Spell/Trap card your opponent controls; destroy that target, then you can Set 1 Spell or Trap card from your hand.

Fiend General Avaritia (Effect Monster)
Level 3, 1300 Atk, 1300 Def, Fiend, DARK
Effect: "Shadow Khan - Bat" you control are unaffected by your opponent's Spells.

Magic Cylinder (Normal Trap)
Effect: When your opponent's monster declares an attack: target the attacking monster; negate the attack, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to its Atk.

The Battle of the Titans Tournament is almost at an end. Yugi and Yami have only one challenge left ahead of them: the indestructible Ancient Heroes. Will they be able to conquer Andrew's monsters and win the God Cards back, or will the Ancient Heroes prove too much for them? Check in for the final chapters in the Battle of the Titans!