BATTLE FOR LOST SOULS
Chapter Eight – The Light-and-Dark Duels (Part One)
Before the other Yugi could turn around and check on Mokuba, he heard a familiar voice nonchalantly say, "Hmmm.… It's hard to find good help these days. I specifically ordered Hyperion to leave everything to me...to not touch any of you. He'll learn a harsh lesson in obedience once the right time comes..."
The busy hospital suddenly became empty.
The other Yugi's amethyst eyes went wide. A chill traveled down his spine when he saw that all the people around him disappeared, including Mokuba. He turned around and faced the owner of that voice.
Emrys, who still sat on her wheelchair, stared at her lover with cold eyes. "Don't worry about the outside world, Pharaoh. They won't interrupt us, especially since it's time for you to duel against me."
As painful as it was to him, the other Yugi stared into her piercing hazel eyes as he told her, "Emrys, listen to me. This isn't you. You've been through a lot lately, especially at Thera. Whatever – or whoever – is making you do this to our friends, fight it!"
Emrys snickered as a devious glint radiated in her eyes. "There are many things that you don't know about me. This is who I have been many years before we've met. What makes you think that someone - or something - has to force me into doing something pleasurable?"
"I'm not going to duel you – not like this!" the duelist spat through gritted teeth and clenched fists.
Emrys' eyes narrowed while she pulled out her deck from the leather holder secured by her belt and let it sit on her open palm. As the entire deck magically lifted within inches from her palm and the cards fell one by one back in her hand, certain cards removed themselves from the deck and floated in mid-air.
By the time that the entire process was complete, there were five cards floating before Emrys. As she gave the floating cards a split-second intent gaze, each card began its furious spin.
When the cards stopped spinning and began facing the other Yugi, the duelist gasped.
There were four magic cards and one trap card - all of them bore a six-pointed star. Jonouchi, Sugoroku, Honda, and Anzu were imprisoned in each of the magic cards. Mokuba, on the other hand, appeared on the face of the trap card.
"Why are you doing this to them? I thought that you loved me. I thought that you cared about them..." the other Yugi muttered with a mixture of anger, denial, and sadness in his tone.
As her response, Emrys snapped her fingers. She stared into her lover's eyes as if she was relishing the other Yugi's and Yugi's shared agony from hearing Jonouchi, Honda, and Anzu scream and struggle for breath. "I do love you. I do love Mokuba and Kaiba. I do love Jii-chan and our friends. However, I'm willing to put everything aside for more important matters...the greater good, for example..."
The other Yugi clenched his fists until his fingernails left deep and raw indentations in his skin. His eyes glistened with tears and his chest heaved from wanting to save everyone but feeling so helpless and betrayed.
A few minutes later, Emrys snapped her fingers once more. The hungry gasps of breaths from her captives reverberated as she deadpanned, "I don't have all day, Pharaoh! Are you going to duel against me, or will you let them die by my hand?"
"Don't give up on her! We could still get her back, just as we did with Jonouchi when Malik controlled him!" Yugi cried out to the spirit.
While sadly staring into his lover's eyes, the other Yugi mentally told his vessel, "She's not the Emrys that we've known before, Aibou. We're left with no choice..."
With a sly smirk on her face, Emrys said as she shuffled her deck, "Let us duel, Pharaoh. May the best cause win!"
The spirit's eyes narrowed and his customary scowl crept over his face as he activated his duel disk. "I don't know what's wrong with you, but you're going to pay for this! You better give me your word that you'll let them go, once I win this duel!"
"I'll give you an honorable duel. I'll release them if you manage to beat me." Emrys then released everyone from her mystical choke hold, once all five cards inserted themselves in her deck. As her duel disk activated, she gestured to her irate opponent, "The first turn is yours."
Hazel and amethyst eyes fiercely met as their respective owners yelled, "Duel!"
The overall Life Point counters for both duelists started at 4000.
The other Yugi drew six cards to begin his turn and declared, "I place one card face down. I also put one monster card face down." After two card holograms appeared on the field, he then said, "I end my turn."
Drawing her first six cards, Emrys announced, "I place one card face down. I then activate Spring of Rebirth."
Spring of Rebirth
Continuous Magic Card
Grants the owner of the magic card 500 life points whenever a monster is returned to a player's hand.
A hologram of an ornate ivory water fountain appeared before them as clear waters flowed from it. Once the magic card fully materialized on the field, Emrys then said, "I also put one monster card face down. I end my turn."
The other Yugi pondered as he studied the field, "I have to be careful with those cover cards of hers. She's already good before we started dueling against each other. Those many duels that we've had not only increased her skills even more, but they also sharpened her instincts."
Once the other Yugi drew a card for his turn, he placed the newly-drawn card on the field as he said, "I summon Gazelle – King of Mythical Beasts! Gazelle, attack her face-down card!"
Emrys smirked once Wall of Illusions, her face-down card,opened on the field and absorbed the Gazelle's attack.
Wall of Illusions
(Fiend / Effect / ATK 1000 / DEF 1850)
The monster attacking this creature is returned to its owner's hand. Any damage resulting from the attack is calculated normally
Due to Wall of Illusion's special effect, Gazelle bounced back to the other Yugi's hand. Aside from this, he lost 350 Life Points from the discrepancy between Gazelle's attack strength and Wall of Illusions' defenses.
Emrys, on the other hand, gained an additional 500-point lead as Spring of Rebirth granted her 500 additional Life Points for Gazelle bouncing back to her opponent's hand.
As the other Yugi ended his turn, his Life Points stood at 3650 while her overall score reflected 4500 Life Points.
After drawing a card and placing it on the field, Emrys ended her turn...leaving her with Spring of Rebirth active on the field, Wall of Illusions flanking her defenses, and two face-down cards waiting to be unleashed.
With eyes further narrowing, the other Yugi drew a card and declared while placing the newly drawn card, "I activate Pot of Greed!"
A malevolent glint shone through Emrys' eyes. "Not so fast, Pharaoh! Open face-down card - Jar Robber!"
Pot of Greed
Normal Magic Card
Draw two cards from your deck.
Jar Robber
Normal Trap Card
Once your opponent activates Pot of Greed, negate that card effect and draw one card from your deck.
As his eyes widened while Pot of Greed went to his Graveyard without benefiting him, the other Yugi heard Emrys say as she stared at the card she drew due to her Jar of Greed, "Thanks for the free draw. I won't let your efforts go to waste."
"She modified her deck. I didn't expect that from her," mused the other Yugi as he gave Emrys and the field a probing gaze. Resuming his turn, he then declared, "I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior in attack mode. I end my turn."
Alpha the Magnet Warrior
(Rock / Normal / ATK 1400 / DEF 1700) Trap Card
Alpha, Beta, and Gamma meld as one to form a powerful monster.
When the other Yugi ended his turn with 3650 Life Points, he had one cover card, one monster hidden in defense mode, and Beta the Magnet Warrior in attack mode.
Emrys, on the other hand, had 4500 Life Points, two cover cards, Wall of Illusions in defense mode, and Spring of Rebirth active on her side of the field. As she drew the card to mark the beginning of her turn, she then pulled out the card that she received via Jar of Greed. " I activate Change of Heart. I use it to control Alpha the Magnet Warrior!"
Change of Heart
Normal Magic Card
Take control of one monster from your opponent's side of the field until the end of this turn.
As the half-angelic and half-demonic creature appeared on the field, the entity assumed the form of the other Yugi's Alpha the Magnet Warrior – leaving its original master's side of the field with just one monster to flank his defenses.
Once the magic card went to her Graveyard, Emrys then announced, "I then tribute your Alpha the Magnet Warrior to summon Great Maju Garzett!"
Great Maju Garzett
Six Stars
ATK 0 / DEF 0
Dark / Fiend / Effect
This monster's attack points becomes twice the tribute monster's attack points.
A towering and grotesque demon appeared on the field, absorbing the life essence of Beta the Magnet Warrior until the monster disappeared into the void. By the time that Beta disintegrated, the monster counter for Great Maju Garzett re-calibrated to 2800 attack points.
Smirking as the other Yugi's eyes went wide, Emrys told him while the demon let out a ferocious howl, "You're familiar with what Maju can do...aren't you, my love? All thanks to your Alpha Warrior, Maju now has 2800 attack points! Maju, attack his face-down card!"
Following its mistress' orders, Great Maju Garzett attacked the face-down card and destroyed Big Shield Gardna.
After staring at his deck and with his chest pounding loudly for many minutes, the other Yugi closed his eyes. He braced over the fact that his last monster was just destroyed and that Emrys had a powerful monster on her side.
As Emrys ended her turn, she told her lover, "I'm expecting you to pull a miracle from your deck, Pharaoh. I don't expect anything less from the King of Games."
Vividly seeing his deck in his mind's eye and strongly feeling its vibrations, the other Yugi thought, "I need to turn this duel around, and I place all my faith in you. I need to save my friends from her...and if you can help me save her from herself, the better..."
The other Yugi then pulled out a card from his deck...
Normal Disclaimer
Yu-Gi-Oh is the copyrighted property of Kazuki Takahashi. Alexandra Emrys, other original characters, The Scrolls of Passage, The Dead Incantations, The Portal of Osiris, and this fan fiction are properties of the author. This fan fiction is written for entertainment purposes only - thereby releasing the author from any liabilities.
Author's Notes
Ah, such a hard chapter to do. To Luna-chan...the Statistic that I was talking about last chapter is my Statistics class...I'm still having a headache from it. I'm in the middle of beta-reading what you've sent me, so rest assured that you'll get it by this weekend ;-D
To my comrade-in-faith, Wes, hang in there, Sister...my thoughts and prayers are with you always, and I'm beta-reading your stuff, too. You'll get it by this weekend
;-D