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Fanfic Chapter 177: Solo Duel Pt 1: Serenity the Charmer
Harold: Seeing as how he couldn't beat me through his monsters, Mirage set out to attack me mentally by bringing my deepest fear to the forefront: the fear that I would never be happy because I didn't have a family. But of all the people who came to my rescue, it was Serenity who said that my friends were now my new family. That brought me back and by using the Copycat monster card, I won the duel. But more importantly, I gained a new family, a family that I will fight to protect no matter the cost.
"Fifteen Duel Monster Cards in the deck, fifteen Duel Monster Cards. Take one card, play it face-down, fourteen Duel Monster Cards in the deck. Fourteen Duel Monster Cards in the deck, fourteen Duel Monster…"
"Joey that song got old at twenty-five Duel Monster Cards."
"Sorry, Yug, just wanted to liven up dullsville around here."
"We're not exactly on a camping trip here, guys," Harold pointed out. "And besides, that didn't even rhyme."
Serenity cast a side-glance at her brother and his friends. On the outside, everyone seems to be okay, but somehow, deep down, I know they're exhausted from their duels. I'm the only one who hasn't dueled yet so I should be the next one. The only question is my deck. She took out a Duel Monster deck Amara's been helping me organize my Duel Monster deck, but would it really hold up in a duel? I was able to help Harold win that duel against Nesbitt during the Virtual Wars. But now that I'm on my own, I don't…
"Hey Serenity, is that your Duel Monsters deck?" Yugi asked.
"Yup," Serenity replied. "I've been trying to organize it but I don't know if it's any good."
"Can I see?"
"Sure, Yugi." Serenity turned her deck over to Yugi.
"Hey Harold," Joey said. "Got a sec.?"
"What's up, Joey?"
"Look, uh…" He grabbed Harold across the shoulders and led him off to the side. "Look, man, I know that you like my sister."
"Huh… uh…" Harold blushed. "Well… I mean… er… it's hard not to like her."
"You know what I'm talking about."
"Sorry, Joey, but… I mean… she helped me out a lot, on the blimp and just now when I was dueling Mirage. I guess…"
"Hey, it's okay, man."
"It is?"
"Yeah, just between you and me, I much rather it be you than Tristan or Duke."
"Huh?"
"Those two are nuts, they would literally bend over backwards and kiss their own butts just to impress her. All I'm saying is… if you want to open up to her don't worry about me knocking you out."
"Uh… thanks, Joey… I think."
"Oh no!" Joey and Harold turned to see Serenity staring horrified at Yugi. "Yugi, are you sure?"
"Positive, if this deck was placed in a Duel Disk, it wouldn't activate."
"What's up, Sis?" Joey asked.
"Yugi says my deck won't work."
"No, all I said was that it's too short. It has only 37 cards, 3 cards short of the legal requirements. If she were to put this deck in a Duel Disk, it wouldn't work. Harold, could you demonstrate?" Harold removed his own deck from his Duel Disk and inserted Serenity's. He moved it around but the tray wouldn't come together. "See what I mean?"
"So I won't be able to duel," Serenity said glumly as Harold returned her deck to her.
"Why would you be worried about dueling?" Joey asked crossing his hands. "Because you won't be dueling the next round."
"But Joey…"
"No buts, Serenity, have you seen the nut cases Yugi, Harold and I had to go up against? They could wipe you out without even a glance."
"But… all I want to do is help."
"Sorry, Serenity, but I'm putting my foot down. You're not dueling and that's that!"
"Joey, I want to prove…"
The ground started shaking.
"The Shadow Realm is releasing another threat against us," Edina announced. "We must get to safety."
"Let's head for that mountain," Harold said pointing to a large shadow in the distance. Wingweaver picked up Harold while the others climbed onto Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Everyone made it safely towards the summit of the mountain.
"You two arguing must've set off the Shadow Realm," Harold said turning to Joey and Serenity. The two looked glum.
"I only want to prove I can handle myself," Serenity said meekly.
"Serenity, I really hope you don't get the chance to duel in a Shadow Game because the attacks really hurt," Yugi said. "But I'm sure we can strengthen your deck to the minimum limit in the off-chance that you do have to duel."
"Sure… I guess I can live with that."
Harold said, "Here, Serenity, take my Swords of Revealing Light."
"And Pot of Greed is always a good card to have around," Yugi added.
"Thanks, you guys," Serenity said.
"Wait a second," Joey said. Everyone looked at him expecting him to burst into another argument. "I… have a card for you too, Serenity. Here." He handed Serenity a card.
Yugi and Harold peeked over her shoulders. "Joey, that's an incredibly rare card," Yugi said. "How did you get it?"
"What, like you're the only one who can own rare cards? I got some pretty good ones myself."
"Joey, you didn't…"
"Hey, I paid for it! Paid for it up the yin-yang," Joey added ashamed.
"Well… thanks, Joey," Serenity said quietly.
"Sure… I just hope you don't get to duel," Joey said in the same tone and pitch.
"You idiot," a voice cried out. "You just made us drop another card!"
"Sorry."
"From now on, let me do the card handling!"
"I said I was sorry."
"You're a butterfingers when it comes to handling Duel Monster Cards, mate."
"It's coming from this cave," Joey said pointing to a cave near their landing point. The four humans along with Edina and Queen of Autumn Leaves entered leaving the larger Duel Monsters outside. The cave wasn't a cave at all, but a tunnel leading inside the mountain.
Except it wasn't a mountain, it was a volcano. Though there were paths around the inner walls of it, the pool of lava at the center definitely made it a volcano. A quarter of the way around a volcano was three heads. Yugi and his friends hid behind a stalagmite as they heard the heads talking.
"When is Panik going to call us into action?" One voice asked in a deep (and somewhat stupid-sounding voice).
"You idiot, Panik obviously wanted us out of the way because he's scared of my power."
"You mean our power, don't you, Bonz?"
"You morons couldn't duel your way out of a paper bag!"
"Hey, I can duel."
"Besides, you didn't do so good against that weirdo with the dream catcher around his neck."
Serenity shifted her feet to get a better look and accidentally knocked a rock into the lava. Unfortunately that was enough to catch the three's attention.
"Uh-oh, busted," Joey said.
"Hey, it's those blokes from the island," Voice #3 said. As they stepped into view, the teens saw that one of the guys had spiky dark hair and beady brown eyes, another had shaggy red hair and sun glasses and the third had a head like a skeleton.
"Hey, I know those guys," Joey said. "Those are Bandit Keith's boys."
"Shut up," the skeleton-head boy said. "We don't work for that scum-bag any more."
"The name's Zygor, remember it," spiky-head said.
"They call me Sid," the shaggy red-headed.
"And you know me as Bonz," the kid at the center said. "And we're your worst nightmare!"
Yugi, Joey, Harold, and Serenity screamed, but not from Bonz's verbal threat, but from the fact that the three were fused together. Sid and Zygor made up the sides of this strange creature with Bonz at the center. Despite this, they still had two arms and two legs.
"What kind of three-headed freak job is this!" Joey cried.
"Shut your mouth, Wheeler," Bonz said. "After we lost a duel to that white-haired psychopath, we appeared in the Shadow Realm stuck together like this."
"Some roly-poly guy named Panik promised to separate us if we worked for him," Sid said.
"Boy, when you guys step in it, you really step in it," Harold said. "Well good luck with that. Come on, guys, let's go."
"Where do you think you're going?" Bonz demanded.
"We got a friend to rescue and we can't waste time with low-level dueling wanna-bes."
"You can't ignore us!" Sid cried. The ground started to shake again. A crack formed between Yugi and Joey and Harold and Serenity. They called out for each other.
"Panik's been ignoring us as of lately," Bonz said brandishing a Duel Disk on his (or to be more accurate, Sid's) arm.
"Oh no," Serenity gasped.
"Don't worry, Serenity, I'll duel circles around this three-headed clown," Harold said activating his Duel Disk.
"Are you sure?" Bonz asked. Tendrils lashed out and wrapped around Harold's arms and legs and began dragging him to the wall.
"Harold!" Serenity reached out for his hand but she began dragging with him.
"Serenity, press the button on the underside of my Duel Disk, quickly!" Serenity pressed the button. The Duel Disk slid off Harold's arm. "It's up to you now, Serenity, you have to beat him!"
"But Harold, I can't duel alone!"
"You're not alone, Serenity," Harold said. "Remember, our cards are with you, so therefore it's like we're dueling along side of you."
"Maybe Panik will notice us if we win a duel."
"I won't let you harm my friends," Serenity said donning Harold's Duel Disk and inserting her own deck into the slot. "I'm ready to duel."
"Then let's duel," Zygor said.
"Wait a second, mates, which deck should we use?"
"We're using my deck, duh," Zygor said.
"No way, my deck can easily top yours."
"Will you both shut up I'm the only real Duelist out of the three of us so we'll be using my improved zombie deck!"
(B: 4000)
(S: 4000)
"Prepared to be scared out of your mind as my zombies rise from their graves!" Bonz said in a deep voice.
"You know, if it wasn't for the fact that it was coming from a three-headed kid, I would've probably been scared," Serenity said causing her opponent(s) to face-fault.
"You shall be scared," Bonz said. "I summon Corrosive Shark (1) in attack mode!" A dark gray shark with smoke coming from its blowhole appeared.
"Then I'll…" Serenity looked through her hand. "Hmmm… I'll set this in defense mode." She set a monster card face-down on her Duel Disk.
"This'll be a piece of cake," Zygor said. "Mmmm, I could go for some cake."
"Would you stop it, Zygor, you're making me hungry now!" Sid protested.
"Oh, sorry."
"On that note, I summon Dragon Zombie (2) in attack mode. Now, Corrosive Shark attack with Acid Mist!" A blue-haired woman appeared.
"You just activated the special ability of Eria the Water Charmer (3)," Serenity said. "Now I get to take control of a water monster on your side of the field." Corrosive Shark teleported to Serenity's side of the field.
"Yes, but only as long as your monster remains on the field," Bonz pointed out. "Dragon Zombie, attack Eria with Deadly Zombie Breath!" This time, the blue-haired woman disappeared and Corrosive Shark returned to Bonz's side of the field. "Fortunately for you I can't attack any more so I'll set a card face-down and end my turn."
Serenity took a couple of deep breaths. Okay, I haven't lost any life points left but as soon as he summons another monster, I'm doomed. But I have to prove to Joey I can handle myself. "I play the magic card Second Chance, this lets me bring back a monster from my graveyard face-down and in defense mode. Next I'll flip my face-down monster face-up." Eria the Water Charmer reappeared. "Now I get to control your Corrosive Shark again." Corrosive Shark went back to Serenity's side. "Corrosive Shark, attack Dragon Zombie with Acid Mist!"
"Serenity, stop!" Joey shouted. "That shark's weaker than his dragon!"
Serenity put her hand over her mouth, her shocked eyes showing she didn't know. Dragon Zombie retaliated and destroyed Corrosive Shark.
(B: 4000)
(S: 3900)
"This'll be easy pickings," Bonz said. "Will you end your turn?"
"All right," Serenity said.
"Good. Now I summon Molten Zombie (4) in attack mode. Attack with Flames of Decay!" Serenity's Eria was destroyed.
(B: 4000)
(S: 2800)
"Your turn, Dragon Zombie, Deadly Zombie Breath!" Serenity screamed as she was pelted with black smoke.
(B: 4000)
(S: 1200)
"This is awful," Joey told Yugi from the other side of the chasm. "I knew Serenity wasn't cut out for this."
"Have faith, Joey," Yugi said. "We have to believe in Serenity just like she believed in us during our duels."
"You're making it too easy for me, Serenity," Bonz said.
"Yeah, you're doing worse than Bonz did against that nut…"
"Shut up, Zygor! Now I end my turn."
I can't be scared, I can't be scared, I can't be scared, Serenity chanted to herself as she drew a card. It was Harold's card. "I play Swords of Revealing Light!" Three swords came down in front of Dragon Zombie and Molten Zombie. "There, now you can't attack me for three turns."
"So what, I can wait three turns," Bonz said. "It'll just take one attack to finish you off anyway."
"I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."
"Then I'll play Regenerating Mummy (5) in attack mode."
"There's only two turns left," Serenity muttered as she started her turn. "I play Cure Master increasing my life points by 1000."
(B: 4000)
(S: 2200)
"I'll sacrifice my Dragon Zombie to summon Vampire Lord (6) in attack mode. I could just destroy you now, Serenity, but I so love seeing the look of fear in your eyes, you're scared of my horrible zombies."
"The only thing horrible about you is your breath," Harold called. "Otherwise you're mediocre."
"Shut up!" Bonz snapped as a small tendril wrapped around Harold's mouth.
"Harold," Serenity muttered. She drew a card. "I set another monster in defense mode and end my turn." The swords started to fade.
"I'll set a card face-down and end my turn. Finally, now I'm all set to finish you off next turn."
Now I know how the others must've felt, Serenity thought. Please, let me win this. She drew a card and heaved a sigh. "I set a card face-down and end my turn."
"At last, my triumph has come," Bonz declared as the swords faded into nothingness.
"What do you mean your triumph, it's all of our triumph," Zygor argued.
"This victory belongs to me and me alone. I summon another Regenerating Mummy in attack mode. Now, all zombies attack!" Serenity closed her eyes as the monster all dashed towards her.
To Be Continued
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Corrosive Shark
Level: 4
Type: Zombie
Attribute: Water
ATK: 1500
DEF: 1000
(2)
Name: Dragon Zombie
Level: 4
Type: Zombie
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1600
DEF: 0
(3)
Name: Eria the Water Charmer
Level: 3
Type: Spellcaster/Effect
Attribute: Water
ATK: 500
DEF: 1500
(4)
Name: Molten Zombie
Level: 4
Type: Pyro/Effect
Attribute: Fire
ATK: 1600
DEF: 400
(5)
Name: Regenerating Mummy
Level: 4
Type: Zombie/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1800
DEF: 1500
(6)
Name: Vampire Lord
Level: 5
Type: Zombie/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 2000
DEF: 1500
