Chapter 98

Illidan smiled at the fact he'd won six rounds so far. He had three more to go, but he was doing well at the moment. Suddenly, he felt weak and about fell over. "What was that? Man, I must be more fatigued than I thought. After all, with little sleep and lots of tough duels, I'm getting exhausted. I have to hurry up and wrap things up before I lose it." his thoughts raced.

Up in the stands, Yugi's friends looked on. Duke suddenly said "He may not last."

Tristan, Serenity, and Tea looked up at Duke with puzzled looks. Tristan bluntly said "What do you mean Duke?"

Duke looked at the others and replied with "I'm talking about Illidan. He's getting tired."

"But he's won all his rounds so far, and has almost all his life points. He should be fine, right?" asked Tea.

Duke shook his head and replied with "You're wrong Tea. Illidan has been dueling longer than the others. Today, he faced Joey and had a tough duel with him. Then he faced six duelists so far in these duel. Each round a fresh opponent has come in to take a fallen one's place. Meanwhile, Illidan has been stuck fighting for a long time. While they're fresh, he's being worn down. Dueling for so long will take its toll, and I think the direct attacks Noa made really took a lot of the wind out of his sails. He's clinging desperately to his field advantage, which does help him, but still, he's so fatigued he may make a mistake. Joey may have a chance, but it's still a shame Illidan is so worn down when he faces him."

Serenity and Tea only nodded, while Tristan looked on in concern. Their new friend was one of the most amazing duelists they'd ever seen, about as amazing, if not more, than Yugi even. Even though they were friends now, they still hoped Joey would win, but in the weakened condition Illidan was in, Joey wouldn't take pride in that kind of win.

Finally, Tristan sighed and just smiled, saying "He's not done yet Duke. He may put up more of a fight than we're thinking. I wouldn't be surprised if he did."

Duke chuckled lightly and nodded, hoping that Tristan was right for Illidan's sake.

Back on the field, Illidan was still feeling the pain from Noa's direct attack. "I'm in trouble I think. Things seem to be getting slightly blurry at times, but I have to remain standing and fight on. Besides, I have a field advantage for now. As long as I can keep that, I'll be fine."

"Will the fourth ranked duelist now come forward." The judge announced, immediately interrupting Illidan's thoughts.

Joey came forward, a big grin on his face and a load of confidence in his eyes. The judge instructed him on what to do and Joey proceeded to follow orders.

He finally arrived at his dueling position and activated his Duel Disk. With a smile as usual, he said "Flame Swordsman (1800/1600), let's kick some butt!" The orange and blue clothed warrior then appeared, with his huge red sword on his back.

Joey drew his first five cards and said to Illidan "Alright Illidan, let's continue where we left off earlier. You may have more monsters out, but I'll still put up a good fight. Good luck man."

Illidan grinned and replied with "Good luck Joey."

He then drew his next card and smiled slightly at his second Blade Knight. He went ahead and placed it back in his hand and said "I'll switch my Spirit Reaper and Luster Dragon into defense mode. That is all for me Joey." (Illidan 3550, Joey 4000)

Joey nodded and drew, saying "Good, cause it's my move now. I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two new cards." Joey quickly drew the two and a big Cheshire cat grin appeared on his face.

"I first summon Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600)!" A black iron coated knight then appeared on the field, wielding a huge iron sword like arm.

"Next I play Release Restraints, transforming Gearfried the Iron Knight into Gearfried the Swordmaster (2600/2300)!" The knight jumped up into the air and yelled out as his armor glowed. Finally, the armor exploded, revealing a warrior with quite muscular features. His long black hair fell down his back and his piercing eyes looked at the field.

"Now I equip him with Axe of Despair, which raises his attack points by 1000 points (3600/2300)." An axe then appeared on the field. The warrior grabbed the axe and gave it a good swing around to make sure he could wield it easily.

"Of course, you know what this does already. By equipping my monster with a magic card, he can automatically destroy one monster on the field. I'll choose your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" The powerful warrior then aimed his axe for the dragon and swung it through the air, sending a huge energy wave at the dragon. Roaring in pain, the powerful dragon finally exploded.

Illidan only slightly growled at this, but quickly remembered something. "Not to worry, I have Monster Reborn still, so no problem."

"Without your dragon, you're toast Illidan. Now Gearfried, attack his XYZ-Dragon Cannon with Despair Axe Swing!" The warrior quickly crossed the field and swung his axe. He chopped the powerful machine monster in half easily with one strike. The huge machine had sparks flying everywhere and finally exploded.

"You're so finished Illidan. Next I'll set one card face down and end my move. Just try and attack me now." (Illidan 2750, Joey 4000)

Illidan calmly drew his next card. He glanced at it and was ever so happy to see Jinzo. Smiling, he said "Time to give you some pay back Joey. It starts by me sacrificing my Spirit Reaper in order to summon Jinzo (2400/1500)!" The small little grim reaper creature disappeared and was replaced by the powerful cyborg in green and black that simply folded his arms on his chest as usual.

"Now all your trap cards are useless."

Joey replied back "Yeah, well, so are yours."

Illidan only laughed, saying "True Joey, that is if I had any trap cards down. Now watch as I reveal Change of Heart! This allows me to take control of your Gearfried the Swordmaster!" Joey gasped as his powerful warrior went to Illidan's side, now staring at him.

"That's not all. Now I reveal my Monster Reborn card, allowing me to return the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800) to the field!" The huge three headed dragon then reappeared, roaring at Joey.

"It's over Joey! I switch Luster Dragon into attack mode next. Now Luster Dragon, direct attack his life points with Ruby Blaster!" The powerful sapphire dragon took flight and spat a ball of ruby energy at Joey directly.

Joey only smiled and clicked a button on his Duel Disk. "Not so fast Illidan! I reveal my magic card Scapegoat, automatically special summoning 4 Scapegoat Tokens (0/0) to the field to defend me. Try and get through those!" Four goat creatures then took the field, blocking the way to Joey.

Smiling, Illidan yelled "Gladly! Luster Dragon, redirect your attack at a goat!" Ruby colored energy struck the small goat, easily blowing it up.

"Dark Magician of Chaos, use Chaos Slice on a goat!" Magical energy built up around the powerful mage. He then brought his staff up and made a striking like move. A blade of energy formed from it and sliced a poor goat in half.

"Gearfried the Swordmaster, attack a goat with Despair Axe Swing!" Letting out a mighty battle cry, the warrior quickly ran across the field and sliced a goat in half with his axe.

"Now Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack his final goat with Neutron Blast!" Each head of the dragon powered up, causing lightening to form on the field. Finally, the three fired a blast each which collected into one huge blast, instantly crushing the goat.

Now Joey was wide open. He sighed, knowing his fate. Smiling, he said "Go ahead Illidan, finish it."

Illidan nodded and looked at his dragon, saying "Thanks to my last attack, my Deck Master allows my dragon to attack again, so Ultimate Dragon, use Neutron Blast on his life points directly!" The dragon let loose another powerful blast. This one headed straight for Joey.

"JOEY!" came out a scream.

Illidan looked up to see it was Serenity, Joey's sister, who had a look of concern on her face. Joey smiled at her and then quickly put his arms up in a defensive stance. The blast hit him hard, knocking him completely down. Once the smoke cleared, Joey's life points were down to zero. His Duel Disk then powered down.

Slowly, Joey got up as small bolts of electricity were still coming off him, but he was alright, for the most part. He smiled and gave Illidan thumbs up. He then slowly limped on off the field.

The judge then cleared his throat and declared Illidan the winner of the round. He then granted Illidan another 1000 life points and declared the next duelist to enter would be the third ranked one, Marie.

Marie slowly walked onto the field and saw that Illidan was growing tired. Silently, she said in her mind "It's no real big surprise. I'm surprised he's even able to keep this up. I figured by now he'd be too weak to duel. I just hope he can make it to the end. I'd hate to see him lose the duel."

The judge then interrupted her and instructed her on what to do. She complied and shuffled her deck and made her way to her position. Once there, she stuck her deck in her Duel Disk and then activated it. It unfolded and powered up.

Ready as she would ever be, she said "Alright Guardian Angel Joan (2800/2000), it's time to win this one." The beautiful pink skinned angel appeared. Its golden wings shined greatly as she smiled at her master.

Marie then drew her 5 cards and said to Illidan "You alright Illidan?"

Illidan smiled and nodded. Even though he was extremely tired, and weakening still, he had more than enough strength to win this duel. "Just have to last a little longer now body. I have to make it. If I fail, the whole world could be in jeopardy, and I can't risk that!"

Putting his pain aside, Illidan smiled and said "I'm far from alright, but I'll make it. Let's do this."

Marie smiled, knowing Illidan was in pain, but was ignoring it. She nodded and said "Let's do it then!"

Illidan drew his new card and smiled at Dark Hole. Placing it in his hand with the rest of his cards, he said "I'll start by switching my Luster Dragon into defense mode, and then I end my move." (Illidan 3750, Marie 4000)

Marie smiled and drew her card. Her smile grew larger as she made her move, saying "I start by summoning my The Agent of Creation – Venus (1600/0) in attack mode." An angel with golden wings and golden skin then appeared. She had three spheres around her. One was red, another blue, and the third purple.

"Next I activate her special effect. I can now give up 500 life points to special summon a monster known as Mystical Shine Ball to the field. So, I'll give up 1500 life points to pull them from my deck and to special summon three Mystical Shine Ball's (500/500) in defense mode each." Three spheres of light then appeared on the field. A cloud seemed to form around them.

"Next I'll play the field card known as Luminous Spark, which increases all light monsters attack points by 500, but lose 400 defense points. That means my monsters, as well as yours, that are light attribute get a power boost." The three headed dragon then roared as its points increased (5000/3400), as did the powerful warrior (3100/1900). The three spheres of light then each glowed with more power (1000/100). Finally, the golden skinned angel glowed with more power (2100/0).

"Now I equip the magic card known as Cestus of Dagla to my Venus, increasing her attack points by 500 (2600/0)." A small necklace then appeared around the angel's neck, enhancing her power.

"Venus, attack Jinzo with Tri-Sphere Beam!" The three spheres that were surrounding the angel then moved forward. She brought her hands up and pushed energy into all three, which then responded by firing a beam each, which eventually combined into a multicolored blast. The cyborg was hit head on and was easily taken down.

"Thanks to my Cestus of Dagla, I can now gain the life points you lost. So, I gain 200 points. Then my Deck Master's special ability kicks in. It adds Jinzo's attack points to my life points, which means I just gained 2600 total points. Finally, I'll set three cards face down and end my move." (Illidan 3350, Marie 6600)

All Illidan could do was growl as he had lost life points, and Marie had gained a bunch. In his mind, he said "Her Deck Master is one of the toughest to beat, but I can if I try. I have to beat her in order to win this duel. And I know the way. I'll use Seto's dragon to crush her Venus. Once it's gone, she'll have three Mystical Shine Ball's left. With only 100 defense points each, they'll be easy to take out. Her face down cards do worry me though. They could be trouble. I have take a chance though."

Illidan drew his next card and sighed. It was his Thunder Nyan Nyan. Knowing it was useless, he placed it back in his hand and in a rash decision, said "It's time I take back the control of this duel, and it begins with this attack. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack her Venus with Neutron Blast!" All three heads roared and began to power up. Lightening filled the ring as the three heads of the dragon prepared for an assault. Finally, all three fired their blast which combined into a huge ball of energy. As the blast neared her golden skinned angel, Marie smiled.

She then yelled out "You must be getting sluggish in the brain Illidan, because you should have seen I set a trap. I activate this trap card, my Shift! This trap allows me to switch which monster you attack, so I'll switch the target to my Mystical Shine Ball." The blast from the three headed dragon immediately was blocked by one of the balls of light.

"But I'm far from done Illidan. I activate another trap known as Enchanted Javelin! This trap adds the attack points of the attacking monster to my life points!" A small javelin then appeared in front of the blast that was about to strike the small ball of light. The blast seemed somewhat absorbed by the javelin before it continued on to the ball of light. Once the light ball was destroyed, Marie's life points went up by 5000 points.

Growling in frustration, Illidan said "I may have made that mistake, but this one is far from one! Thanks to my Deck Master, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon can now attack once more. Dragon, attack her Venus with Neutron …"

Before he could finish, Marie said "Not so fast Illidan! I activate another trap. This one is known as Zero Gravity. It now switches all the monsters on both sides of the field's positions. That means your attack is cancelled out, and your monsters go to defense mode, well, all but your Luster Dragon which goes to attack mode. Mine on the other hand, other than Venus, go to attack. Venus goes to defense though."

Illidan growled in frustration as his vision blurred for a moment. Shaking his head, he realized he had to finish Marie soon or he'd probably not be able to finish. He quickly said "Luster Dragon, attack her Venus with your Ruby Blaster!" The sapphire dragon took off from the ground and spat a ball of ruby energy at the defensive fairy. With 0 defense points, she was easily overcome.

"That ends my move." (Illidan 3350, Marie 11500)