DISCLAIMER: If you recognise it from somewhere else, it isn't mine.

Double Duel Part II

Lumis sneered. 'Accepting our challenge was a huge mistake! When this double duel is over, you two will be banished to the Shadow Realm. Then we'll deliver both of your Egyptian God Cards to Master Marik and he shall possess all three.'

'Wrong!' the Pharaoh snapped. 'We will prevail and you will release Mokuba and my friends!'

'Never.' Lumis drew. 'Just look at this.' He turned his card around. 'It's my Mask of the Accursed magic card.'

The Pharaoh drew back.

Lumis played it. 'And once I place it on your monster, it will be rendered useless, Yugi. So try my Mask on for size, Magnet Warrior.' The Mask appeared on the monster.

The Pharaoh growled in annoyance as Lumis laughed.

'It's a perfect fit,' he said. 'As long as this mask stays on your monster can't attack or defend. And that's not the only effect, Yugi. Until the Mask comes off, you will lose 500 life points for every turn you take. You're finished!' He chuckled. 'I'll also place one card face-down.' The card appeared on the field. 'Now, it's back to your side.'

It's probably a trap card. Lumis hasn't played one monster card yet. I think I'm onto their team strategy. I bet Umbra holds their monster arsenal in his deck while Lumis holds a deck full of magic and trap cards to weaken our monsters. Yugi was right. It was just a pity that Kaiba wasn't going to listen to him.

Lumis pointed at him. 'You'll be in the Shadow Realm very soon. As soon as your life points reach zero. And speaking of life points, you lose five hundred thanks to my Mask of the Accursed.'

The Pharaoh watched the life points drop to 3500. He glared at Lumis. 'Enough!' He drew. Perfect! The Beast of Gilfer. Now I can sacrifice my Magnet Warrior, destroying their Mask of the Accursed and summon this more powerful monster!

'Why don't you make your move, Yugi?' Lumis sneered. 'Trying to delay your trip to the Shadow Realm?' He sniggered.

'Not quite. Now, I'll sacrifice my Magnet Warrior!'

Lumis laughed. 'Not so fast, Yugi. Behold!' He activated his down card. 'You just triggered my trap card, Mask of Restrict!' The trap took form. 'With this one the field, you two can't win. That's because as long as my Mask of Restrict card remains in play neither of you can sacrifice your monsters. And, without sacrifices, you two can't summon more powerful monsters to the field, making it that much easier to defeat you.'

'Of course, without the ability to sacrifice your Egyptian God cards are all but useless now,' Umbra said. 'Until we claim them for Marik!'

There's no way we can win with weak monsters! Yugi insisted. We've got to turn this duel around. Well, in the meantime, he had to make sure they couldn't do extra harm to their life points. 'I'll place one card face-down and then I will summon Kuriboh in defence mode.' He played the cards and they appeared, Kuriboh emerging. The Pharaoh glanced over at Kaiba. If we're gonna beat these Rare Hunters, Kaiba and I will have to duel like a team.

Patience, Yugi, the Pharaoh cautioned. He was sure, once Kaiba saw there was no other way, he would double duel properly. In the meantime, the Pharaoh would have to work this one out from his end.

'It's my turn.' Umbra drew. 'I could attack your Magnet Warrior, Yugi, but since it reduces your life points by five hundred every turn, I'd be a fool to destroy it. Then there's your monster, Kaiba. But your face-down card could be a trap.' He glanced over at his partner. 'First off, I'll set one card face-down!' He played the card and it appeared on the field. 'And now my Shining Abyss, attack Kaiba's Vorse Raider!' The monster attacked.

Kaiba smirked. 'Hold on, fool. You've activated my Ring of Destruction!' The card flipped up.

The Pharaoh smiled at that.

The Ring appeared around the neck of Shining Glory. 'My Destructive trap card will wipe out your Shining Abyss. Both of us will lose close to 2000 life points but only you will be out one monster.'

'Sorry to disappoint you, but my card cancels your trap!' Lumis flipped up his own down card.

'What?' Kaiba demanded.

'Activate Curse Transfer!' Lumis sneered at Kaiba's reaction. 'My counter-trap card is triggered whenever you play a trap card.' The Ring was removed from Shining Abyss and onto the Raider. 'It automatically transfers your card's effect back to your monster. Say goodbye to your Vorse Raider!'

Kaiba growled.

Umbra and Kaiba will both lose almost 2000 life points when Vorse Raider is destroyed. Unless they have a magic card to protect them! At Yugi's thought, the Pharaoh gasped. 'Kaiba, they may have something planned!'

'Zip it, Yugi,' Kaiba retorted. 'I know what's going on and I don't need your advice.'

'Prepare to lose your monster and almost half your life points!' Lumis crowed as the Raider was destroyed with the explosion. As it happened, though, the Pharaoh saw a card in front of Kaiba activate. The smoke was blown away, revealing the trap.

'I've activated my magic card, Ring of Defence,' Kaiba said. 'It will protect my life points from any damage.' He smirked again. 'Nice try.'

Umbra didn't lose his wide grin though. 'Why, thank you. But I'm afraid your Ring of Defence won't be helping you, Kaiba.'

'Why not?' Kaiba demanded.

'Because I activate this.' Umbra flipped up his down card. 'My Spell Transfer magic card. It transfers your card's effects to me…' The Ring of Defence crossed the field. '…which means my life points will remain untouched while yours are almost cut in half.' Kaiba's life points dropped to 2100.

The Pharaoh turned his head, irritation winning out for a moment. 'Kaiba.'

Shamee spoke up. 'If he was childish, he'd say "I told you so".'

Kaiba shot her a glare.

Lumis sniggered. 'Too bad you won't be seeing your brother again.'

Umbra finished the sentence. 'But where you're going, that will be the least of your worries, Kaiba. Time to wipe out the rest of your life points.' His monster started to charge up for his attack again. 'Shining Abyss, attack now! Say hello to the Shadow Realm!' Umbra laughed. The blast shot across the field, heading for the undefended Kaiba.

The Pharaoh knew he had to act fast.

'You're finished, Kaiba!' Umbra crowed.

YGO

Shamee wasn't really surprised when their side of the field was suddenly swarmed with Kuribohs. The blast Shining Abyss had released only wiped out a fraction of them and then they all grew back, multiplying and increasing the mass. For a second, Kaiba looked just as surprised as Umbra and Lumis but it didn't last. He'd seen this trick before.

'What happened?' Lumis demanded.

Kaiba's eyes snapped to Yugi. 'You! You saved my life points!' He sounded annoyed.

This one time, Shamee voiced her host's thoughts. 'Well, maybe you'd like to go back to the Shadow Realm, then?'

Kaiba said nothing. His silence gave him away. He'd been to the Shadow Realm once and he clearly had no desire to go back.

The Pharaoh addressed Lumis and Umbra. 'Your attack has been blocked, thanks to my magic card. It's simple.' The card flipped up. 'It multiplied my Kuriboh. Now, your monster's attack won't affect this side of the field.'

Umbra growled. 'Your furballs won't be around for too long, and when they go so will your life points.'

'I realise your magic card saved my life points, but next time I'll do it myself!' Kaiba snapped.

Shamee rolled her eyes. Telling him that there was a point when self-sufficiency turned into stupidity would accomplish nothing. Sharee had explained it to Yugi long ago, a message that seemed to have reached the Pharaoh as well. Kaiba had clearly had to do everything for himself and his brother from a very young age. That meant asking for help, or even receiving it, was such a foreign concept for him that he wouldn't know how to accept it.

The Pharaoh kept his face straight. 'Kaiba, if you ever expect to see Mokuba again we need to help each other. Remember, the minute one of us falls the other won't stand a chance against their unified tag-team assault.'

'Are you questioning my skills as a duellist, Yugi?' Kaiba demanded.

Oversensitive as a rotten tooth.

Shamee's lips quirked upwards. I'd toast to that.

'I'm saying we must combine our forces in order to defeat these Rare Hunters,' the Pharaoh said. 'They duel as a team, building on one another's moves and we have to do the same! I saved you and if you don't protect me the same way, I may not be around to save you again.'

Kaiba's eyes narrowed and he turned back to Lumis and Umbra.

YGO

Téa hit the floor. 'Oh, man that was not fun.' She rubbed her throbbing rear end. 'Well, it could've been worse, right?' A stray box suddenly fell down onto her head. The door suddenly opened and Téa heard a familiar voice.

'Let me go! Whoa!' A body hit the floor. 'Do you know who you're messing with?' The door slammed shut.

'Who's there?' Téa pulled the box of her head. She was surprised at who she saw. 'Mokuba?'

Mokuba looked up, surprised. 'Téa!'

Téa rushed over to him. 'Are you okay?'

'Yeah, I guess.'

About twenty minutes later, Mokuba had told her what he knew.

'So they're called Rare Hunters?' Téa asked.

'Yeah,' Mokuba said. 'And I was trying to find you guys when they grabbed me.'

'The same thing happened to Joey and me,' Téa told him. 'And I think I know why.'

Mokuba looked at her. 'So do I. They're just using us as bait to trap my brother and Yugi and then take their rarest cards away from them.' He looked down again. 'You know why, Téa? Because Yugi and Seto both have an Egyptian God Card.'

That wasn't what she'd been thinking but now he had her attention. 'Egyptian what?'

'Gods,' Mokuba said. 'They're the most powerful cards in Duel Monsters and there's only three. Whoever has them all will be unbeatable, Téa. We just got caught in the middle.'

'Oh. Are you sure that's all these guys want?'

'Well, it's the only thing I can think of. Why?'

'Um!' Téa decided not to tell him. It sounded crazy anyway. 'No reason.' He didn't look convinced. 'Really! It's nothing.' If this has anything to do with ancient evil forces trying to destroy the world, then it's gotta be about more than just getting a few good Duel Monsters cards. I know it!

YGO

Kaiba stared across the field. He was not going to tag-team with Yugi. He could beat these jokers without Yugi's help. On top of that, Sharee could just shut her mouth. Okay, yes, everything she'd said during the duel had a valid point but he didn't need anyone's help to win this.

Lumis was going again. 'Master Marik will be pleased hen we deliver both of your Egyptian God Cards to him.'

'And tell him you've been banished to the Shadow Realm,' Umbra said.

'Enough of this!' Kaiba drew. He looked at the card. My Blue Eyes White Dragon. He'd always felt a strong connection to this monster, even before he had his first one. This card can destroy their monster with ease, but I have to sacrifice two weaker monsters in order to summon it and I can't do that. He looked at the offending card across the field. As long as these Rare Hunters have the Mask of Restrict in play I can't sacrifice anything. Kaiba ground his teeth. But I'll find a way. I'll wipe them both out by myself and take back my brother. They'll be sorry they ever met me!

Kaiba was aware of Yugi watching him.

Kaiba took two cards from his hand and set them on the field. 'First, I'll play one card face-down. Then I'll summon Battle Ox in defence mode to protect my life points.' The Ox emerged from his card.

Umbra chuckled. 'You can't expect to win by hiding behind weak monsters. Our Shining Abyss has 2600 attack points. It can easily annihilate your Battle Ox and tear you're your wall of furballs, leaving your life points wide open. Right, Lumis?'

Please! Not even the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon had been able to get through these furballs.

'Precisely, Umbra,' Lumis said. 'Looks like you'll never see your friends again. Not where you'll be going.' He drew. 'But before I completely wipe out your life points, I must first demolish your defensive wall of miniature monsters. And I have just the magic card to do it – another mask!' He played his next card. 'Behold!' The card flipped up.

Yugi drew back. Well, there went his defence.

'My Mask of Dispel!' Lumis crowed as Yugi's Multiply card began to come apart. As it was swallowed by purple mist, the Rare Hunter laughed. 'It will cover your Multiply magic card and conceal its effect so I'm afraid your Kuriboh army will be reduced back down to one.' Just that was happening. 'With your weak defences crumbling, it's only a matter of time before we destroy you both! This was easier than I thought, and I'm not through with you yet. Just like your Magnet Warrior's Mask, with this in play, you lose 500 more life points every turn.' He chuckled. 'Next I'll summon my Grand Tiki Elder and rid the field of your Kuriboh.' He played the card and the monster appeared. It immediately began to disorient the monster in question. 'Attack now!'

Kuriboh was blasted apart. Yugi lifted his arm to shield himself from the blast.

Once it faded, Lumis spoke again. 'Now your life points are wide open for a direct attack, Yugi, since your Magnet Warrior can't defend you thanks to the Mask it's wearing. And as soon as your life points hit zero, you'll plummet directly to the Shadow Realm.' He barked out another laugh. 'You two can't possibly win this duel. Not only can't you sacrifice your monsters to summon stronger ones, but thanks to our Mask cards you lose 1000 life points every turn, Yugi.'

Yugi looked down at his duel disk as his life points dropped to 2500.

'You're finished!' Lumis gloated.

'We'll see!' Yugi looked at the cards in his hand before he drew. 'I draw.' He added his new card to his hand before he took another, swapping them over. Obviously he had a plan because he looked at Kaiba with an annoyed look on his face. He was taking a really long time about it. He got an idea at which card Yugi was staring at.

'What are you waiting for?' Kaiba demanded. 'You couldn't possibly make things any worse than you already have, Yugi.'

Sharee suddenly spoke up. 'And who wasted two of his cards and half of his life points?'

Kaiba did not want to acknowledge her but that stung. He couldn't stop one glare from shooting at her. Sharee didn't even have the appropriate bad grace to look smug. Kaiba pretended to ignore her and continued what he was saying. 'Thanks to you the cards we're holding are absolutely useless. In fact, I have a card in my hand that could win this game for us.' He looked down at his Blue Eyes. 'But due to your sloppy duelling, I can't summon it to the field. It's better off in the graveyard.'

Yugi's shocked look confirmed what Kaiba thought.

Lumis sniggered. 'Well, have you ever seen such a pathetic team?'

'Defeating them and taking their Egyptian God Cards will be simple,' Umbra said. 'They've already done most of the work for us.'

'That's enough!' Yugi played his card. 'I place one card face-down.' It appeared on the field. 'And that will end my turn.'

'I see.' Umbra decided he wasn't done mocking them. 'It appears you weren't able to summon another monster to defend your life points. Not that it would have mattered, for I'm about to summon an unstoppable creature.' He pulled the card from his hand. 'But, first, I need to play my all-powerful magic card known as Curse of the Masked Beast!' A ritual card appeared on the field.

'What is that?' Kaiba didn't care that he'd asked the question at the same time as Yugi.

Umbra explained as it happened. 'This card allows me to sacrifice both our monsters and call forth one of the most destructive forces you've ever experienced. Behold, the almighty power of the Masked Beast!' It appeared on the field with a guttural growl. 'Nothing can stop his wrath.'

Yugi gasped as he looked it over. For once, Kaiba didn't blame him. The blasted thing had an attack strength of 3200.

Umbra went on. 'So prepare to lose it all, Yugi!'

'It can't be!'

'Time to say goodbye to your life points.' Umbra called the attack. 'Now send him to the Shadow Realm, my Masked Beast.' The beast charged.

Kaiba wasn't sure what drove him to do it, but he knew it wasn't what he would say. If he was honest, it was like something woke up inside him. Whatever it was, it compelled him to defend Yugi…no matter what the cost. It was kind of scary if Kaiba was honest. He wasn't used to feeling protective over someone who wasn't Mokuba. 'Battle Ox, defend!' His Ox charged and took the blow, inevitably getting destroyed.

Yugi threw his arm over his face as the light was expelled over his part of the field. When he lowered his arm, he gasped. He sounded surprised. Sharee just turned her head and looked at Kaiba. Her brow was furrowed like she was both confused and thinking very hard about something.

'What's this?' Umbra demanded. 'Kaiba's monster intercepted my attack. It can't be!'

Kaiba smirked. 'Are you surprised? This is a double duel after all and my team-mate was in danger.'

Sharee chuckled. 'Oh, I get it. If Yugi loses, so do you.'

'Exactly.' Kaiba would admit it, if only to himself, he liked Sharee the most out of Yugi's Dork Patrol. She asked the less questions, had fewer corny opinions, didn't push for him to do things her way and seemed to be the only one who knew when to back off. In fact, she often pulled her dumb friends back as well. 'So I used my Battle Ox to defend his life points against your Masked Beast.'

'I thought that they weren't working together as a team, Lumis!' Umbra insisted.

'Please,' Sharee said. 'Let's explain this properly. Kaiba only defended Yugi because if they lose this duel, then he won't get his brother back. See, he didn't do it for Yugi's benefit. It isn't that hard to work out.'

Yugi looked at him. 'Regardless, Kaiba, thank you.'

Kaiba said nothing.

'You defending your partner caused you to lose your only defensive monster,' Lumis stated.

Umbra picked up. 'And soon it will cause you to lose the rest of your life points when my Masked Beast moves in for the attack!'

Kaiba just smirked. Unless Yugi returns my favour.

'You fools can't win!' Umbra insisted.

'Reveal face-down card, Card Destruction!' The card in front of Yugi flipped up.

Yes! Just as Kaiba thought.

'Oh no!' Lumis yelled.

'We lose our entire hand!' Umbra cried.

'That's correct,' Yugi said. He did what needed to be done as he said it. 'Now, each duellist must deposit every card in their hand into the card graveyard. Once they're buried, you must start over by drawing a completely new hand.'

'Now, I'll send my hand to the graveyard.' Kaiba easily dropped his hand into the graveyard and pulled a new hand from his deck.

'Did your partner force you to give up any cards you needed?' Lumis asked, a little too hopefully.

'Actually, what just happened is quite the opposite, Rare Hunter,' Kaiba said. 'Without the ability to sacrifice, I wasn't able to summon the monster in my hand. But now I can.' He was quite satisfied to see the looks of horror on their faces. 'Watch closely.' He activated the card. 'Reveal Monster Reborn!' The card flipped up. 'Now, I can bring back the powerful monster I just sent to the graveyard…' His prized beast appeared on the field with a mighty roar. '…my Blue Eyes White Dragon!'

Lumis cried out.

'It's not possible!' Umbra insisted.

'It is,' Yugi said.

'This is the price you pay for using my little brother to get to me!' Kaiba was relishing every moment of this. 'Now, maybe you'll think twice before disrespecting the Kaiba family.' He pointed at them. 'Now go, my Blue Eyes!'