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Fanfic Chapter 175: Copycat Pt 1: Crush the Crush Card
Joey: Let's face it, Bandit Keith's villain skills stink. He wanted to use his army of machines to overthrow Panik and take control of the Shadow Realm. I mean who would be stupid enough to join a side only to overthrow your superior and try to obtain massive amounts of power? Of course I wasn't worried for a bit. Well… okay, maybe a little, but could you blame me? I mean my sister and friends were captured and being threatened to turn into machines. I don't know what happens to the loser of a Shadow Game in the Shadow Realm but it can't be good. Fortunately, I was able to fend off both Keith's cards and his taunts. Panik sent that Pseudo-Kaiba over to recall Bandit Keith. Good riddance, I say. If you ask me, the Shadow Realm's too good for a creep like him.
"So you think you could go behind my back?" Panik asked Bandit Keith.
"Hey, don't take it personally," Keith said chuckling nervously. "Can't you take a joke?"
Panik snapped his fingers and the demon that brought him before Panik appeared. "I'll give you a second chance if you can beat Mirage here."
"Fine, I will," Keith quickly agreed and activated his Duel Disk. "Let's duel!"
Mirage chuckled and activated his own Duel Disk.
(B: 4000)
(M: 4000)
Bandit Keith went first. "I summon Machine King Prototype in attack mode and play Machine Conversion Factory increasing its attack and defense points by 300."
(MKP: 1600-1900, 1500-1800)
"I play the magic card Dark Hole which destroys all monsters on the field," Mirage countered. "Next I summon Lord of Dragons (1) in attack mode and play Flute of Summoning Dragon. Now I get to summon a dragon monster from my hand."
Keith's face paled as the dragon materialized. "No, not that, anything but that!"
"Monsters, attack," Mirage commanded. Keith didn't even know what hit him.
(B: 0)
(M: 4000)
Bandit Keith's body disappeared.
"Thank you for getting rid of him," Panik said.
"It was easy, Master Panik, to beat a worm like him."
"Yes, but Yugi Moto and his friends will not be so easy."
"The key is in the cards, Master Panik, to use a deck that has little or no chance of failure. And as it just so happens, I have such a deck."
"Yes, I see. Very well, choose one of the two who haven't dueled and duel them."
"As you command, Master Panik."
Tea heard this from her "prison." Harold and Serenity, she realized. I wish there was some way I can warn them.
That was strange, Harold Kumara thought as he looked over his deck. I still have no idea what happened.
Harold took another look at his favorite monster. "Wingweaver… I'd do anything to have you back, even give my soul to the Shadow Realm… just to have you back to normal."
Yugi noticed something and gasped, "Harold, look at your Duel Disk!"
"Huh?" Harold looked down at his wrist. His deck was glowing. "What in the world?" Energy shot from the deck into the air and formed an angel in a white dress.
"Serapheem!" Harold gasped.
Serapheem regarded the fallen Wingweaver with a sad look. She then laid her hands on each side of Wingweaver's face. Slowly, the mechanized form dissipated leaving Wingweaver as she originally was. She opened her eyes and started to fly around.
Somehow Serapheem was able to come alive without me even calling for it. What's even more, she was able to heal Wingweaver which is Serapheem's basic form. What's even more is that I was crying over Wingweaver's loss like I just lost my own family member. But why? Wingweaver was found with me when I first woke up in my apartment. So somehow, my past is connected with Wingweaver and perhaps Serapheem. I wonder if…
"Harold?" Harold looked over at Serenity. "Are you all right? You look troubled about something?"
Harold looked around. They had stopped for a little much-needed rest. They've been walking for what felt like hours. Wingweaver had formed a sphere of light to function as a fire. Joey dozed leaning against Red-Eyes Black Dragon's wing while Yugi and Buster Blader kept a look-out. He looked down at Serenity and smiled, "I'm just organizing my deck. I'm probably going to be dueling next."
"Are you nervous?"
"A little, you've seen Yugi's and Joey's duels, I have a feeling mine won't be as easy."
"I know you can do it, Harold." Her hand squeezed his. "I have faith in you."
"Hey, what's that?" Yugi asked. Everyone looked in the distance. A thin ray of artificial light was shining down on someone bound to a wall. As everyone's eyesight got used to the adjustment, they got a full glimpse of the figure held captive.
It was Tea.
"It's Tea!" Yugi cried. Everyone ran towards where Tea was bound.
"Something is wrong," Yami said.
"Tea is bound up there so of course something is wrong."
"But where's Panik? Surely he wouldn't have left her out in the open unguarded. Yugi, I think something is wrong."
"Time enough for that when we get Tea down."
"Yugi, I think this is a trap."
"A trap? No way, that can't be, Tea would never set a trap for us."
"I'm sorry, Yugi, but…" Yami took control. "Everyone, stop," he commanded. Everyone skidded to a halt. "Something isn't right?" He regarded "Tea." "Show yourself!" He shouted. "I know you aren't Tea."
"Yugi, have you gone bonkers?" Joey asked.
But a loud cackle came from the sight where Tea was bounded. It disappeared and Mirage appeared. "Very good, Yugi, you saw through my disguise again."
"Oh man, it's this guy again," Harold complained.
"Now, now, no need to be so formal, you can call me Mirage. I can assume the appearance of anybody but you know me better as Seto Kaiba."
"You're not Kaiba," Yami said.
"In some ways I am, and in some ways I'm not. In fact, if it wasn't for me, you and Kaiba would've never dueled to begin with."
"What are you talking about?"
"Pegasus implanted me in Kaiba's mind to find the owners of Millennium Items and duel them. Being the top Duelist he was, Kaiba was the perfect cover for my real mission. Once I saw that you were the one with the Millennium Puzzle, all it took was the idea that your Grandfather had the card he was looking for and he did the rest. The meanness and cruelty already existed thanks to his step-father, Gozaburo, I simply exploited it a little."
"You said you would tell us where Tea was if we found you," Yami pointed out.
"Yes, but the information would not come cheap you must win it in a duel."
"Fine, I'll duel you," Yami said.
"Wait, Yugi," Harold said. "Let me duel him."
"Bur Harold…"
"He's already seen your deck in action before," Harold reminded Yami. "He hasn't seen mine."
"Very well," Mirage said. "It matters not to me who I duel as long as I win."
"I guarantee you won't," Harold said. Mirage produced a Duel Disk and activated it. Harold activated his own. "Let's duel!"
(H: 4000)
(M: 4000)
As Mirage drew his sixth card, he cackled, "While I may no longer be a part of Seto Kaiba, I do have his deck."
"Impossible!" Yami protested. "Only Kaiba has his deck."
"Let's just say it's one of the benefits of the Shadow Realm. But don't take my word for it. I summon Saggi the Dark Clown (2) in defense mode and set a card face-down."
"It's the same card," Joey noted. "But that doesn't mean his deck's the same."
Better make this look good, Harold thought as he started his turn. "I summon Thunder Nyan-Nyan (3) in attack mode!" A woman with red hair, cat ears and claws appeared. "Attack, Lightning Claw Strike!" The cat woman's claws were energized with lightning and she lashed out at the clown.
"You triggered my trap card!" Mirage cried as his card was flipped up. "Crush Card!"
"Not that!" Yami cried.
"Yugi, that was the same strategy Kaiba used against you at Duelist Kingdom," Joey said.
"Yes and now Harold's fallen for it."
Harold watched as the Dark Clown was filled with black smoke, black smoke which transferred into Thunder Nyan-Nyan and destroyed her. "Now not only is your monster destroyed," Mirage was saying, "But you must send all monsters with more than 1500 attack points to the graveyard!"
"But that's practically half my deck," Harold complained.
"Precisely, which will make it all that more easy to defeat you."
Harold grumbled and gathered up all his high-power monsters and sent them to the graveyard.
"Your deck is only half of what it used to be now," Mirage announced. "Now end your turn!"
"I will," Harold said defeated.
"Good, now since my Saggi was destroyed, I must summon another monster. I call forth Ogre of the Black Shadow (4) in attack mode. Attack him directly!" The ogre raised its club and pounded it onto Harold.
(H: 2800)
(M: 4000)
To Harold's shock, pieces of his body started to disappear. "What the heck is going on?"
"This is a Shadow Game, remember? As you lose life points, you lose a piece of your body."
"This is just like what happened to me during the Battle City Finals," Yami commented.
"Will Harold be all right, Yugi?" Serenity asked.
"When it comes to strength, there are few who are stronger than Harold," Yami vouched.
"But Harold once told me that he doubted himself because he didn't have a family."
"When did he say this?" Joey asked.
"On the blimp after the preliminary rounds of Battle City. I went to his room to see if I could cheer him up and he told me that."
She spent the night in Harold's room? Joey thought raising an eyebrow.
"Harold, don't give up. Even with low-level monsters you can still win this!" Yami yelled.
"Good luck," Mirage said. "You could barely defeat Kaiba when he used the Crush Card against you."
"I'm not afraid, Mirage," Harold said. "So stop playing scare tactics." He drew a card. "I set one card face-down and a monster in defense mode."
"You will be, once I get an army of monsters up against you. I summon Mystic Horseman (5) in attack mode. Attack his face-down card." A pair of wings with a crown disappeared.
"That was my Skelengel (6) which means I get to draw a card from my deck."
"But I still have one monster left. Ogre, attack!"
"I reveal my trap card Waboku!" A trio of sages blocked the ogre's attack. "Now I'm safe from all damage for this turn."
"Are you trying to make me waste my deck so you'll win by a default?" Mirage asked. "If so, it won't work, I'll just summon more monsters and knock you to the other end of the Shadow Realm!"
"Too bad you'll have to wait until your next turn. It's my move!" I can't implement my strategy now, I have to wait until he thinks I have no way out. I just hope I can survive long enough. "I set another monster in defense mode."
"Not much you can do with my Crush Card destroying your strongest monsters. My move and I play Polymerization fusing Battle Ox (7) with Mystic Horseman to form Rabid Horseman (8)!" A giant centaur appeared. "Rabid Horseman, Savage Slice!" The centaur sliced down on the card revealing a red-haired woman carrying a flower basket.
"That was The Unhappy Maiden (9), when she's destroyed, you can't make any more attacks."
"Harold's doing pretty good with only low-level monsters," Serenity commented.
"Yes but he can't keep up this stonewall maneuver for long," Yami said. "He needs a big play and now."
Harold drew a card. "I summon Spirit of the Pot of Greed (10) in defense mode and play Pot of Greed. With Spirit on the field I can draw three cards instead of two. I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn."
"This is it, you're about to lose your soul to the Shadow Realm," Mirage announced. "Rabid Horseman, Savage Slice!" The Spirit of the Pot of Greed was destroyed. "Ogre of the Black Shadows, Dark Savage Strike!" Harold was hit directly.
(H: 1600)
(M: 4000)
Okay, now's my chance. "Fine, play time is over!" Harold announced.
"What?"
"I'm not as helpless as it seems," Harold told Mirage. "Sure you may have more than twice as many life points as me, but I have all the monsters I need to beat them once and for all!"
"You can't! I just sent all your strongest monsters to the graveyard!"
"Well guess who are making a comeback! I reveal my trap card Beckoning Light!"
"What does that do?"
"I'll show you. First I discard my entire hand to the graveyard." Harold slid the five cards into the graveyard. "Now I can take a number of light monsters equal to the number of cards I discarded and return them to my hand."
"Oh no! You're going to take back some of your strongest monsters."
"Bingo." Five monster cards slid out of the graveyard. "Next I reveal my other face-down card, Ray of Hope! Now I can take two more light monsters from my graveyard and add them back to my deck."
Mirage growled. Harold gave his opponent a satisfied smirk. "I knew the moment I saw you that you would try to duplicate Kaiba's Crush Card strategy, so I was sure to include those two trap cards. I strung you along to make you think I was helpless but in fact, I was leading you into a trap."
Mirage gasped.
"Wow, Harold is so smart," Serenity said.
"The old fake-out routine, it's good to know some of me is rubbing off on him."
Harold has been growing stronger in his mastery of light-attribute monsters, Yami thought. If he really applied himself, I bet he could win a Duel Monster Tournament.
"I hate to be the bearer of more bad news, but it's now my turn and I call back to the field Thunder Nyan-Nyan! Attack with Lightning Claw Strike!" The cat woman charged the Ogre.
To Be Continued
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Lord of Dragons (Lord of D.)
Level: 4
Type: Spellcaster/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1200
DEF: 1100
(2)
Name: Saggi the Dark Clown
Level: 3
Type: Spellcaster
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 600
DEF: 1900
(3)
Name: Thunder Nyan-Nyan
Level: 4
Type: Thunder/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 1900
DEF: 800
(4)
Name: Ogre of the Black Shadows
Level: 4
Type: Beast-Warrior
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 1200
DEF: 1400
(5)
Name: Mystic Horseman
Level: 4
Type: Beast-Warrior
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 1300
DEF: 1550
(6)
Name: Skelengel
Level: 2
Type: Fairy/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 900
DEF: 400
(7)
Name: Battle Ox
Level: 4
Type: Beast-Warrior
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 1700
DEF: 1000
(8)
Name: Rabid Horseman
Level: 6
Type: Beast-Warrior/Fusion
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 2000
DEF: 1700
(9)
Name: The Unhappy Maiden
Level: 1
Type: Spellcaster/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 0
DEF: 100
