Chapter 20: The Tournament's End
"Man, how's Yugi supposed to beat a monster like dat?"
Joey's question hung in everyone's heads. After having witnessed the reviving strength of Ancient Hero Ultimus, it was hard to think of a way to rid the field of the monster permanently.
"If anyone can figure out a way of defeating it, it's Yugi," Tea spoke as though to comfort everyone's wondering minds.
"Yeah," Joey agreed, "Yugi could do it!"
"Come on Yugi!" Tristan chimed in for support.
Naturally, they haven't realized the predicament Yugi's in, Kaiba thought to himself. He's going up against the very same monster I had to defend against, and even I couldn't defeat it. So what will you do, Yugi?
At that moment, another Admin entered from outside the arena and headed right for Matt. He bent over and whispered something in his ear that perked him up.
"Alright," he said, and he stood up and prepared to leave the arena. Everyone noted this and looked over at him as he left. Andrew was the first to ask, "Where are you off to?"
"I'm afraid some rather important business has come up," Matt answered back, "and I must attend to it immediately. Regardless, I continue to wish both of you the best of luck, Yugi especially. Hopefully, I can return before the duel is over."
"Heh, that may not be much longer," Andrew replied. "Maybe you should stick around instead, see the end and then take care of your business."
"I apologize, but that's not possible," Matt refused. "I hope you both continue to fight your best despite my absence."
And with that, Matt left the arena with the other Admin in tow. Andrew simply shrugged and turned back to Yugi.
"Well then," he declared, "time to make your move!"
Yugi looked up at Andrew and his monster, the mightiest of the Ancient Heroes looming over him. What can I do? he thought. Against his Ultimus, I'm running out of options.
Yugi, don't give up.
Yugi turned to his side and saw Yami floating there, standing as proudly and triumphantly as ever.
There is a way to defend ourselves against it and possibly win, Yami said. We have the power to stop Ultimus in its tracks.
But then how can we beat it? Yugi asked. He's already far stronger than any of the monsters in our Deck.
And then he realized something: Yami was smiling. He was enjoying this duel! It didn't matter what was at stake or how unbeatable the odds were: Yami was enjoying the thrill of facing off against this monster. Yugi smiled himself when he realized this and nodded his head.
"Alright then," he said, drawing his next card, "my move!"
He looked at the card he drew. That's it!
"Now I Set this one card face-down on the field," he announced, "and end my turn."
Andrew looked a little surprised. "That's it?" he asked, to which Yugi simply looked back with a determined smile.
Ahhh, I see that fire in his eyes, Andrew thought, smiling himself. He's rekindled his fighting spirit. Interesting!
"I was expecting a little more from you than that, to be honest," Andrew admitted, drawing his next card, "but if that smile tells me anything, it means you're ready for what's to come!"
The others in the stands took note of this, Kaiba especially. It can't be he's found a way to stop that card already, can it?!
"Yeah, dat's da way Yugi!" Joey cheered. "Go all out on him!"
"You can do it, Yugi!" Tristan cheered as well.
"We believe in you Yugi!" Tea cheered too.
Andrew looked over and smiled. What an enthusiastic and supportive crowd, he thought, then he turned his attention back to the duel.
"During my Standby Phase, my Ancient Hero Ultimus gains 500 Atk points, making him even stronger than he was before," he announced.
Ancient Hero Ultimus (9/3900/3500 - 9/4400/3500)
"And now, Yugi," he continued, "show me what you've got! Ancient Hero Ultimus, attack Yugi's Life Points directly!"
The spirit charged up the solar eye and prepared to fire the beam. Yugi looked on, his expression unwavering. The tension in the stands was thick enough to cut with a Duel Monsters card. Andrew waited for Yugi's response, to which there was no reply. And then the beam fired down its light upon Yugi!
"Trap card activate!"
The call rang out, and suddenly a magical circle intercepted and deflected the beam of light, protecting Yugi from the attack!
"It stopped my attack?" Andrew said curiously.
"That's not all it's going to do," Yugi said, and the circle then floated up and surrounded the spirit of Ultimus, ensnaring it in its binds! Andrew looked up and saw this, completely shocked.
"This is the power of my Spellbinding Circle card," Yugi explained. "When a monster attacks, I can use this card to stop the monster from attacking as long as the circle remains in play. And since your Ancient Hero Ultimus isn't immune to the circle's magic, it's been stopped right in its tracks!"
A cheer rang out from the stands as Joey, Tristan, and Tea celebrated Yugi's counter! Andrew continued to look on in shock, while even Kaiba managed to crack a small smirk.
"Guess his monster wasn't truly unstoppable after all," he murmured to himself.
A few moments passed, and the cheering settled down as a new sound echoed in the arena. Andrew had begun to start laughing!
"What's so funny?" Joey asked.
Andrew wiped away some kind of tear from his eye before looking up at Yugi. "You're the first person in all of my time dueling to have stopped Ancient Hero Ultimus' attack," he explained. "It really does make you the best duelist around! If anyone could do it, it would be the King of Games!"
Yugi simply smiled back. "It wasn't easy," he said, "but it was the only way I knew of to counter your monster's strength!"
"That's beautiful," Andrew chuckled. "Regardless, though, this duel is not over yet. I'll just summon out my Ancient Hero Nomader (4/1000/1000) in Attack mode to end my turn."
Andrew was then accompanied by a warrior in a rusted armor, a lonely spear by his side that aided him like a walking stick. There was a red scarf around its neck that fluttered about like a breeze had passed by it.
"Then it's my move," Yugi said, drawing his next card. "And I'll use my Monster Reborn to bring back none other than my Dark Magician!"
And with that, the Dark Magician was reborn onto Yugi's field, his ace monster ready to spring into action.
"And now, Dark Magician! Attack Ancient Hero Nomader with your Dark Magic Attack!"
The magician raised its staff and fired off a beam of dark magical energy at the nomadic warrior, hitting its armor which deflected the attack around him. While the warrior himself remained unharmed, Andrew's Life Points were still affected.
Yugi: 2450
Andrew: 1600
"And then I'll Set this one last card face-down to end my turn," Yugi said.
"In that case, what better time to activate my trap card?" Andrew said. "Go, Curse of the Ancients!"
The curse opened up and hit Yugi first, reducing his Life Points!
Yugi: 1950
Andrew: 1600
"As you know, when Curse of the Ancients activates, it hits your Life Points for 500 damage," Andrew explained. "And then during each turn, your monsters will get weaker and weaker due to the curse's effect."
"Dat Trap card's gonna weaken Yugi's Dark Magician!" Joey yelped.
"And it won't be the only thing!" Andrew continued, drawing his next card. "First things first, it's time for monsters to power up and other monsters to power down!"
Ultimus' aura glowed brighter, increasing its strength while the curse afflicted Dark Magician and weakened it.
Ancient Hero Ultimus (9/4400/3500 - 9/4900/3500)
Dark Magician (7/2500/2100 - 7/2000/1600)
"And on top of that," Andrew continued, "I'll use Ancient Hero Nomader's effect to reduce the Atk of the Dark Magician by another 500 points!"
The warrior then raised its spear and threw it at the Dark Magician, piercing it through and reducing its power even further.
Dark Magician (7/2000/1600 - 7/1500/1600)
"It won't matter since his monster is still trapped in the Spellbinding Circle," Kaiba sneered. "If he's going to end this duel, he's got his work cut out for him."
Andrew simply smiled. "Sorry to disappoint those in the stands," he said, "but this duel's already done."
Everyone was taken aback by this. "Don't tell me he drew a card to get out of da circle!" Joey yelped from the stands.
Andrew looked over at Yugi. "Well, Yugi," he congratulated, "you've certainly done well. Like I've said, no one's been able to stop my Ancient Hero Ultimus' attack before. However, I've also said before that he's only one of my strongest Ancient Heroes. I actually have something even stronger than Ultimus right here in my hand."
Everyone was stunned at this point, Yugi, his friends, and the Kaiba brothers out of shock, the Admins for what was going to make an appearance on the field.
You mean Ultimus isn't the strongest monster he had?! Kaiba thought, completely blown away.
Andrew picked out the card from his hand. "Ready Yugi? In order to bring out this monster, I have to sacrifice all the Ancient Heroes on my field, so say goodbye to Ancient Heroes Nomader and Ultimus and hello to the even more powerful Ancient Hero Superior (10/?/?)!"
With that, a burning aura surrounded Nomader and Ultmius, enveloping them in flames and consuming them entirely. The flames then merged together and formed a large humanoid being. Its robes were of a dark red and gold, and it wore a mask that jettisoned out from its collar, disguising part of the elderly and solemn face. Its grey hair strewed about itself, and two more flames appeared by its side. One of these flames formed itself into a golden trident while the other formed into a mallet, the signature A on its face. This new warrior grabbed each of these weapons and combined them together into one large staff, which it wielded with great ease above its head before setting it down on the ground next to it.
This stunning display caught everyone in awe, even the Admins were surprised to see this monster make an appearance! Yugi watched as he was incapable of stopping the summoning for this monster! Andrew continued to smile widely.
"This monster is vastly superior to my Ancient Hero Ultimus in a number of ways," he explained. "For instance, Ancient Hero Superior has the power of all his fallen comrades, gaining 800 Atk and Def for each one. Ancient Heroes Bladegon, Thundorus, Typhoonador, Lucky Death, Ultimus, and Nomader are all now fueling his power!"
Six auras appeared around the warrior, forming themselves into the respective Ancient Heroes and infusing themselves within it, causing its robes to brighten into a brilliant crimson and gold as well as raising its power to colossal heights!
Ancient Hero Superior (10/?/? - 10/4800/4800)
"Dat monster's powerful!" Joey exclaimed.
It's even stronger than my Ultimate Dragon! Kaiba thought.
"Yugi," Andrew smiled. "This marks the first time I've had to use this monster in battle. You should have more pride now than ever, knowing you've forced me to go so far. But now, this battle is over. Ancient Hero Superior! Eliminate the Dark Magician with your power!"
The warrior raised its staff into the air and aimed the trident straight at the Dark Magician! It then lunged forward and prepared to pierce the Dark Magician!
"I activate my Trap card!" Yugi said, but as the trap intercepted the trident, it broke and was run through!
"Sorry Yugi," Andrew said, "but like I said, this duel is over."
And with that, the trident continued down its path and sliced through the Dark Magician, running through and eliminating the rest of Yugi's Life Points!
Yugi: 0
Andrew: 1600
"And the winner of the Battle of the Titans tournament and the Champion of all Titans is, Andrew!"
Andrew's final monster disappeared from the field as he approached Yugi, who had kneeled down on the ground in exhaustion after being blown back by the attack. He offered his hand down to Yugi to help him stand up.
"You played a good duel there, Yugi," Andrew said. "It really was an honor for me to duel you."
Yugi looked up, smiled, took Andrew's hand, and replied, "Same to you. Your Ancient Heroes deck is really powerful!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, let's give these two a round of applause!" the small Admin spoke up, and the small crowd that was there clapped and cheered for the two.
"You did great, Yugi!" Tea cheered.
"Yeah, you did your best, man!" Joey added.
Kaiba simply smirked, stood up, and walked away, with Mokuba at his heels saying, "Good job, Andrew! Seto says you did well!"
Andrew smiled back uneasily. "I don't know if I want Kaiba cheering for me much anymore," he joked.
"Well Andrew," the short Admin said, "congratulations. As winner of the Battle of the Titans tournament, I'm now allowed to give you this key so that you can unlock the safe to where the Egyptian God Cards lie."
He pulled out a small card key that had been shaped like a regular key and handed it to Andrew, who received it graciously.
"Thank you, Creighton," Andrew replied, and then he turned back to Yugi and the others. "What say we grab those Egyptian God Cards out, eh?"
The others were surprised by this remark. "You want us to come with you?" Joey asked.
"Of course! Besides, Matt oughta know who managed to beat Yugi Muto!" Andrew replied, and he laughed a little overzealously much to the others' bemusement. The other Admins smiled a little, they were familiar with Andrew's antics after all.
A quick elevator ride down, and they arrived once again in Matt's office. Oddly enough, Matt wasn't around.
"Strange," Andrew said walking in. "I thought he would've been cooped up in here."
"Maybe he had to step out for a minute?" Yugi asked. That sudden ominous feeling had begun to stir in him the moment he stepped into the office, though he couldn't figure out what it was.
Andrew then remembered something from earlier and asked the Admin with the glasses, "Izzy, do you know where Matt could've gone to?"
"I'm not sure to be honest," Izzy replied, adjusting her glasses. "There are a number of different areas he could have gone to and no guarantee as to his being present there if we were to look for him at one."
"Hmmm..." Andrew mused.
"Hey guys, I found a note from Matt!" the kinder Admin Shannon announced, holding up a small slip of paper. Andrew went over to her at Matt's desk and read the note.
"To whomever wins the tournament, the safe is located behind the picture," Andrew read aloud. He looked over on the desk and saw the picture of a mighty red-winged dragon in a small picture frame. It appeared behind the tall figure of a man with large spiky hair and a Duel Disk on his arm, standing triumphantly wielding it as though he were controlling the powerful dragon. Andrew couldn't help but smile as he picked up the picture frame.
"What's dat?" Joey asked out of curiosity, a question the others had on their mind as well.
"It's my brother's favorite picture," Andrew explained. "I remember when he bought this after the Battle City tournament had taken place. There were several promotional pieces done with the finalists, and he bought the one with Yugi and the Egyptian God Slifer the Sky Dragon. It's a nice picture and a clever way of hiding the cards in plain sight."
"What do you mean?" Yugi asked, but he soon found out as Andrew set the picture frame down and took out the key shaped card key, swiping it down the slide of the picture frame. He then inserted the card key into the side of the frame, and the back popped out dropping the picture, three cards, and two small notes.
"Looks like they're all here," Andrew said, picking up the cards.
"Wait, he stuck them in here the whole time?!" Joey yelped. "Den what's with da wall safe?!"
"You don't think Matt was trying to throw us off by showing us the other vault, do you?" Tristan wondered aloud.
Yugi was about to wonder the same thing, but then he caught sight of Andrew's face as he looked down at the three cards. His humor had left him, his smile gone, his expression now one of great concern. The others took note of this, and the unsettling feeling grew even stronger.
"Something wrong?" Shannon asked.
"He took it..."
Andrew put the three cards on the desk: Obelisk the Tormentor, The Winged Dragon of Ra, and Decoy Dragon.
"He's stolen Slifer the Sky Dragon."
AUTHOR'S NOTES
WHAT?! Slifer the Sky Dragon is gone?! Could the cards hold the answer to this mystery?!
Spellbinding Circle (Continuous Trap)
Effect: Activate this card by targeting 1 monster your opponent controls; it cannot attack or change its battle position. When the monster is destroyed, destroy this card.
Ancient Hero Nomader (Effect Monster)
Level 4, 1000 Atk, 1000 Def, Warrior, EARTH
Effect: Cannot be destroyed by battle. Once per turn: you can target 1 monster your opponent controls; it loses 500 ATK until the end of the next turn.
Ancient Hero Superior (Effect Monster)
Level 10, ? Atk, ? Def, Warrior, EARTH
Effect: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by Tributing all "Ancient Hero" monsters you control. Cannot be destroyed by battle. Unaffected by your opponent's Traps. This card's original Atk and Def are equal to the number of "Ancient Hero" monsters in your GY x800. Once per turn, during your Main Phase: you can have this card gain 500 Atk.
A dynamite duel leads to an unsolved dilemma! For what purpose could Matt have taken Slifer the Sky Dragon? Could it have something to do with why he left the duel early? The Battle of the Titans tournament may be over, but the adventure has only just begun!
