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Fanfic Chapter 182: Shadow Duel Pt 2: The Dark Castle

Joey: We had to face a lot to get to Panik in his cozy little castle in the sky. First we had to duel guys we've already beaten using supped-up decks courtesy of the Shadow Realm. We had to storm a castle, fight off skeletons, Duel Monsters, lasers, and a whole lot of more freak jobs. But finally here we are! But of course that tub of lard won't back down. So Yugi's ready to kick his butt a second time.


Yami-Yugi shuffled his deck and inserted it into the Duel Disk. The two halves of the tray came together on the outside.

"You'll find this duel a lot different than our last one," Panik told him as shadows wrapped around his arm and formed a Duel Disk complete with deck.

"Perhaps, but the outcome will be the same," Yami-Yugi said. "Remember, if I win, you release Tea."

"And if I win, I'll subject you to a penalty game just as you did to me."

"That won't happen."

"You seem so certain you're going to win, Yugi. In that case, how about I go first?"

"Fine," Yami-Yugi agreed. He cast a side glance at Tea and gave her an assuring smile. Don't worry, Tea, I won't let anything happen to you.

"Yugi," Tea muttered. Is he really willing to sacrifice himself for me? Wow, what a friend.

(Y: 4000)
(P: 4000)

"You'll regret letting me go first," Panik said. "Since you seem to be so caught up in the past, I think I should re-introduce you to an old friend from our last duel: The Castle of Dark Illusions (1)!" A giant castle appeared floating in the air. "And thanks to its large defense points, unless you sacrifice a monster you can't destroy it. Now I set one card face-down. Now make your move!"

Yami-Yugi drew a card. Panik's right about one thing: I can't mount an attack on his castle with anything I have in my hand. But I can put up a strong defense too. "I play Obnoxious Celtic Guardian. And with this guardian on the field, unless you have a monster whose attack points are between 1500 and 1800 you can't destroy it. Looks like neither of us will be able to touch the other's life points."

"Don't be so sure, Yugi. First I reveal my face-down card Ultimate Offering. Now I can summon another monster for a cost of 500 life points. I also play the magic card Cost Down. This lowers the monsters in my hand by two levels."

"That means you can summon level 6 monsters normally!"

"Precisely right, in fact thanks for the idea. I summon Pumpking the King of Ghosts (2) in attack mode. And thanks to Castle of Dark Illusions' special ability, it gains an additional 100 attack points."

(PKG: 1800-1900, 2000-2100)

"Next I give up 500 life points to summon King of Yamimakai (3) in attack mode."

(Y: 4000)
(P: 3500)

"How did Yugi do when they last dueled?" Serenity asked.

"This guy was nothing but hot air," Joey said. "Yugi was able to see through his disguise no doubt and win back Mai's star chips."

"Panik's main tactic seemed to be intimidating his opponents into either making a mistake or forfeiting," Harold added. "Yugi was the only one who wasn't intimidated. Panik may have made Yugi sweat, but he wasn't intimidated."

"It doesn't look like he's doing that now," Serenity observed.

"It's always easier to beat a cheater rather than beat someone fair and square," Joey commented. "And I should know I've been up with more than my fair share."

"You guys are right," Harold said. "Last time Panik spent more time trying to scare Yugi than trying to duel him. But this time… he's all business."

"Now it's time to use some of these monsters," Panik declared. "Your Celtic Guardian won't be destroyed but I bet your life points won't be as well off. King of Yamimakai, attack with Electro-Shock Blast!" A black energy blast came out of King of Yamimakai's mouth. The guardian was literally thrown off his feet but got up just as quickly.

(Y: 3600)
(P: 3500)

"Pumpking, it's your turn, Vile Vine!" The Pumpking fired a vine which choked Obnoxious Celtic Guardian. The Celtic Guardian was actually gagging like a real creature rather than a hologram.

(Y: 3100)
(P: 3500)

"That's enough for now," Panik said as Pumpking dropped Obnoxious Celtic Guardian like a rag doll. "You see, Yugi, I can duel, especially with my powerful darkness deck thanks to the Shadow Realm!"

I have to protect my life points from another attack, Yami-Yugi thought. "I switch my Guardian to defense mode and summon Kuriboh (4) also in defense mode." A little ball of fur with big eyes appeared. "I end my turn."

"And it's now my chance to increase my army. First, Castle of Dark Illusions increases Pumpking the King of Ghosts' attack points by 100."

(PKG: 1900-2000, 2100-2200)

"I then sacrifice my King of Yamimakai in order to summon Mefist the Infernal General (5) in attack mode. Infernal General, attack his Guardian!" The zombie on a horse charged forward and attacked the guardian destroying it.

(Y: 2500)
(P: 3000)

"But my Guardian was in defense mode," Yami-Yugi protested.

"But my general can inflict damage to your life points even when your monster is in defense mode," Panik returned. "And there's one more thing. Because Infernal General was able to lower your life points, you have to discard a card from your hand."

Yami-Yugi gasped.

"Ouch, that'll hurt," Harold commented.

"Good thing Panik didn't attack Kuriboh," Serenity said.

"He meant to do that," Joey said. The others two stared at him quizzically. "Panik enjoys toying with his opponents. To him, he gets some sort of sick pleasure out of seeing fear. If Panik did attack Kuriboh, he would've ended the duel on the spot. But he prefers to make Yugi hang for as long as possible."

"But how can Yugi win, Big Brother?" Serenity asked.

"I wish I knew, Serenity."

"Is that fear I see in the great Yugi Moto's eyes?" Panik asked as Yami-Yugi glared daggers at him while sliding a card into the graveyard slot. "You haven't seen anything yet. I will rip apart your fearsome façade piece by piece. Sound familiar? Yes, those are the same words you told me so long ago. But now, I have you right where I want you, afraid, dangling like a worm on a hook waiting for a fish to come get him. And if you hate what I have planned for you, then you'll loathe what I have planned for your friends." Yami-Yugi cast a side glance at Harold, Joey, and Serenity. "I plan to torture them slowly just as I tortured your little girlfriend over there." He pointed to Tea's prone body.

"Why you stupid so…"

"Yami, wait!" Yugi commanded.

"Yugi?"

"We're falling into Panik's trap. He wants us riled up we would make a mistake! Have faith, he wouldn't kill Tea just yet. We have to rise above his taunts."

"You're right, Yugi, he's using the same tactics he used at Duelist Kingdom. Since then, I… we have grown. And it's time to show Panik that." Yugi drew a card. "I set one card face-down. All right, Panik, I'm ready, do your worst."

"I will," Panik said. "I summon Fear from the Dark (6) in attack mode and give up 500 life points to summon Element Doom (7) in attack mode."

(Y: 2500)
(P: 2500)

"Inferno General, attack Kuriboh now!"

"By attacking, you triggered my trap card," Yami-Yugi cried. "Mirror Force!"

"Not Mirror Force!"

"Yes Mirror Force, it reflects your attack back at your monsters and destroys them!" The spear hit a shield which caused lasers to lash out and destroy Mefist the Inferno General, Fear from the Dark, Pumpking the King of Ghosts and Element Doom. Castle of Dark Illusions remained.

"Hey how come the castle wasn't destroyed?" Serenity asked.

"Mirror Force destroys all monsters in attack mode," Harold explained. "Castle of Dark Illusions was in defense mode so it was unaffected by Yugi's trap."

"Not a problem," Joey said. "That castle has only 920 attack points. Heck, a wimp could finish off that monster."

"Yeah but its defense points are high," Harold pointed out. "Maybe Yugi can put a dent in Panik's life points if he switches it to attack mode."

"Like Panik will ever let that happen."

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"I guess when Panik ditches all those head games, he's actually a pretty good Duelist," Harold said.

"The good news is their life points are even," Serenity said.

"Not for long," Joey said pumping his fist in the air. "Yugi's about to take the lead."

"It's my move, Panik and I'm about to take away your last line of defense. I sacrifice Kuriboh and Obnoxious Celtic Guardian to summon my ultimate monster, Dark Magician!" Yugi's original Dark Magician appeared. "The Dark Magician may be unable to serve as a Guardian monster, but as a Duel Monster it's perfectly fine. Now, Dark Magician, unleash your Dark Magic on the Castle of Dark Illusions!" The Dark Magician flew up to the castle and stabbed its staff right through the heart of the castle. Energy burst from the castle and destroyed it.

Joey, Serenity, and Harold cheered, "I knew Yugi could kick that slime ball's butt," Joey said happily.

"I'm not surprised," Harold said. "He did it once before."

How weird, Tea thought. Before Panik was wiping the floor with Yugi, and now Yugi's coming back stronger than ever. It's got to be the Millennium Puzzle! The Pharaoh's giving Yugi the edge he needs to win!

"You're defenses are down, Panik," Yami-Yugi said. "And even though I can no longer attack, come next turn, victory will be mine! I will rescue Tea and leave you trapped in the Shadow Realm where it will finish you off."

Panik burst into laughter, "You're so confident you will win, Yugi, well that will be your downfall. You see, I've learned much from our past duel as well as your duel with Arkana. I know that the Dark Magician is your favorite monster. But you will soon find out that it's not the most powerful monster around."

"It's not how strong the cards are, its how you use them," Yami-Yugi argued.

"How right you are, and I'm about to show you how I use mine." Panik drew a card. "Ah, perfect. I play Pot of Greed which lets me draw two extra cards. Next I summon D. D. Trainer (8) in attack mode."

"Panik's losing it," Joey commented. "That monster only has 100 attack points, hardly enough to stand up to Yugi's Dark Magician."

"Next I play the magic card Curse of Fiend which switches the positions of all of our monsters." Dark Magician and D. D. Trainer were switched to defense mode. "And by the way, you can't change the battle position of your monster by yourself, you'll need help. But there will be no help for you because your strongest monster is now helpless."

"My Dark Magician may be helpless," Yugi said as he drew a card. "But my new monster isn't. I summon Neo the Magic Swordsman (9) in attack mode and I'll boost his power with Magic Formula."

(NMS: 1700-2200)

"Neo, attack D.D. Trainer with Magic Sword Slash!"

"You just triggered my trap card," Panik cried as his face-down card was flipped up. "Dark Mirror Force!"

"Dark Mirror Force?"

"Like your own Mirror Force, this dark version cancels out the attack, but it destroys all monsters in defense mode like your Dark Magician!"

Yami-Yugi gasped.

The energized blade hit a dark shield which began expanding. It expanded past Neo and struck Dark Magician destroying it.

"Oh no," Serenity cried holding her hands to her mouth. "Yugi's favorite monster was destroyed!"

"That's not good," Harold added.

"Don't worry, Yug, it's not the end," Joey called. "You can still beat him."

"But it is the end you see his favorite monster was just removed from play."

"What?"

"That's right, Not only does Dark Mirror Force destroys your monster but it removes it from play so you can't bring it back with cards like Monster Reborn and Call of the Haunted!"

Without my Dark Magician, I don't know if I can stand up to Panik's stronger monsters. Yugi drew a card. "I set two cards face-down and set a monster in defense mode."

Panik chuckled. "Using your best cards in one turn is the tactics of a desperate Duelist, you must be running scared… or should I say panicking."

"I'm not afraid of the dark, Panik."

"You said that in our last duel as well. Well you should be afraid because the dark contains all kinds of threats." Panik drew a card. "Like this one, I sacrifice D.D. Trainer to summon Byser Shock (10) in defense mode."

"Okay, now I know Panik's lost it," Joey said. "That monster's a level 5 but it has only 800 attack points."

"So it must have a special ability," Serenity deduced.

"When Byser Shock is summoned, all face-down cards return to your hand." The three face-down cards that Yami-Yugi played vanished. "And one more thing, you can't set them during your next turn."

"Just when it seems like we get a break, Panik makes a comeback," Harold complained.

I was counting on my face-down cards to protect my life points. Neo can destroy Byser Shock but if I draw something worthless, Panik can make a comeback. No, I can't start thinking that way. I must believe in my heart and in my deck, we beat him once and by joining forces, we can beat him again. Yami-Yugi drew a card. "I summon Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts (11) in attack mode. Attack Byser Shock!" The lion creature leapt forward and destroyed the strange monster. "Neo, attack his life points directly!" Panik screamed in pain as the swordsman slashed across the former Eliminator's mid-section.

(Y: 2500)
(P: 300)

"You're only 300 life points away from losing, Panik. If you want to forfeit, go right ahead."

"You would like me to forfeit so you and your little band can go on your merry way. Well unfortunately, the only place you'll be going is into eternal darkness while I siphon the power of the Shadow Realm for myself!"

To Be Continued


Duel Monster Database

(1)
Name: Castle of Dark Illusions
Level: 4
Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 920
DEF: 1930

(2)
Name: Pumpking the King of Ghosts
Level: 6
Type: Zombie/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1800
DEF: 2000

(3)
Name: King of Yamimakai
Level: 5
Type: Fiend
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 2000
DEF: 1530

(4)
Name: Kuriboh
Level: 1
Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 300
DEF: 200

(5)
Name: Mefist the Infernal General
Level: 5
Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1800
DEF: 1700

(6)
Name: Fear from the Dark
Level: 4
Type: Zombie
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1700
DEF: 1500

(7)
Name: Element Doom
Level: 4
Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1500
DEF: 1200

(8)
Name: D.D. Trainer
Level: 1
Type: Fiend
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 100
DEF: 2000

(9)
Name: Neo the Magic Swordsman
Level: 4
Type: Spellcaster
Attribute: Light
ATK: 1700
DEF: 1000

(10)
Name: Byser Shock
Level: 5
Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 800
DEF: 600

(11)
Name: Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts
Level: 4
Type: Beast
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 1500
DEF: 1200