The Priestess Legacy
Chapter 16
The Return
"Joey?" Tristan asked, walking over to the tent where Dark Téa was being held. He pulled back the flap of the tent and gasped at the sight of the incoherent duelist. "Joey, get up!" He quickly shook his friend awake, and Joey rolled over with a groan.
"What happened?" He moaned.
"Where's Téa?" Yugi asked.
"I dunno, I felt something hit my head." Joey muttered.
"Guys, Téa's gone!" Yugi called. The tents at the other end of the clearing burst into activity as the assembled group came out.
"Where is she?" Tristan asked.
"She must have gone to the Eye to try and stop Yugi!" Malik cried. The group spun around as the headlights of a Jeep blared into the clearing.
"I figured you dorks would be here." Kaiba muttered, taking the keys out of the rental and grabbing his briefcase.
"I heard what happened to Téa…sort of." Bakura added, coming up beside him. "What's going on?"
"Long story short, Téa's evil side is in control and Yugi's trying to rescue her good half." Joey blurted.
"Sounds like just another day around you." Kaiba snickered. A sharp golden glow emitted from the cavern entrance, and the group fled down. Joey led the charge and skidded to a halt in front of the stairs.
"What did you do?" He demanded. Dark Téa stood in front of the Eye of Wdjat, turning her head.
"I didn't do anything, it started glowing when I got here!" she protested. The stone walls groaned and creaked open to reveal a blinding light. Everyone shielded their eyes as three distinct screams filled the air.
Téa, Yugi and a hooded figure in black were flung out of the light, the cloaked figure landing on Dark Téa and sending the two sprawling to the ground. Yugi and Téa climbed to their feet and looked around.
"Are we?" Yugi whispered, blinking.
"We're back!" Téa cheered, pulling the duelist into a tight hug.
"Uh, guys." Joey pointed out, approaching the platform. "Who'd ya bring with you?" Yugi and Téa froze and whirled around as the hooded figure climbed off Dark Téa and groaned. It couldn't be…
""What the hell was in that cola Dorien gave me?" Rochelle moaned and grabbing her forehead as she took the hood off. "Don't think I'm done with you losers." She looked down and raised an eyebrow. "Gardner? What the hell?" She looked down at herself, then back at Dark Téa. "Give me back my clothes."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Dark Téa sneered, getting up and glaring.
"Um, Rochelle." Rochelle turned, and Téa gave a little wave. "Hi."
"I haven't hallucinated this much since I turned 16." Rochelle grunted, rubbing her temples and squinting. "Which one of you is real?"
"I'm the cool tough half, she's the preppy bitch half." Dark Téa snorted.
"Who is she?" Malik asked, looking at Joey.
"Remember the chick who stole the Legendary Demons and got trapped in the Shadow Realm?" Joey reminded. Malik nodded. "Her."
"So how come she's back?" Tristan asked. The four in front of the stone – mostly Téa, Dark Téa and Rochelle – alternated glaring at the other two while Yugi walked up to Malik.
"Yugi, what happened in there?" Ishizu asked.
"It was a lot like the last time we went there, Téa had to live out Teana's challenges, like Yami had to endure Atem's." He explained.
"It makes sense then." Malik mused. "Yami and Bakura battled in the ancient past through their past incarnations, and in spite of losing Bakura was still restored to his present self when the game ended. It would seem the same holds true in Téa's situation." Joey and Tristan shared a look.
"Uh, run that by us again." Joey asked.
"So can we go home now?" Bakura added.
"What about the ycho-say itch-bay?" Tristan muttered.
"Which one?" Joey snorted.
"That's true, even though Téa's good half has been restored, her evil side continues to endure on its own." Ishizu said.
"So how do we seal it back?" Tristan asked.
"Wait, lemme guess, a duel." Joey said. Malik gave him a look of surprise.
"How did you know?" He replied. Joey held up his heads.
"Dat's how we solve every problem around 'ere." He said.
"I believe that would work. If Téa were to win, she would be able to prove her dominance over her dark side to the Eye and so conquer it." Odion whispered.
"So I've gotta kick her ass again?" Dark sneered. "It would be a pleasure." she shoved Rochelle aside and lifted her arm, flicking on her Duel Disk. "Let's go."
"You're on!" Téa shot back, reaching to turn on her own disk. Her hand passed through air, and she looked down and groaned. "Um, guys?" She looked at the group and groaned. Dark Téa was the only one with a Duel Disk.
"So what, we gotta stay like this now?" Dark Téa moaned. Kaiba pushed his way past Joey and slammed his briefcase on the ground, flicking it open.
"Just be careful with it, it's a prototype." He snapped, thrusting a large metal device to Téa. Téa took it and looked down at it. It looked a little like a Duel Disk, but was more silver in color and streamlined. A digital blue orb on the top blinked a few times as she slid it on her arm. "That's the test model for the Duel Disk MK3. I was going to test it out against you, but the sooner you take down the cosplayer over there the sooner we can get to that." Kaiba explained. Téa pressed a button on the disk, and the card tray slid forward, the positions for the cards snapping to the sides. She nodded at Kaiba, and the teen stepped back to a pillar and leaned back.
"Use all the fancy new crap you want. It won't be enough." Dark Téa leered. Téa slotted her deck in the new Duel Disk.
"I've beaten you before, and I'll do it again!" She declared. As the two faced off, Rochelle picked herself up and moved to lean against the wall of the cavern just beside Bakura.
"Beauty before creeps!" Téa said, drawing. "I set one card face-down, and summon 'Sky Caller' (1400, 800). Then I'll activate 'The Sanctuary in the Sky'." Dark Téa looked up as a glowing palace surrounded by clouds appeared on Téa's field behind a glowing gold and green ball of energy. "That will end my turn."
"Alright." Dark Téa sneered. "I play 'Trap Booster'. Now I ditch a card to the Graveyard, and I can then activate a Trap straight from my hand! And I choose 'Call of the Haunted'! This lets me revive the monster I just discarded. Return to me 'Mystic Tomato' (1400, 1100)! And next I'll play a Spell card 'Infernal Reckless Summon. This lets us both summon all monsters in our decks and hands with the same name as the ones we have on the field. So I call forth two more Tomatoes!" Three round, red creatures appeared on Dark Téa's field.
"Now Tomato, destroy Sky Caller! Dark Scream!" The Mystic Tomato made a face fired a ring of blue energy. The gold ball of energy turned black and imploded.
"You activated Sky Caller's special ability! When it's destroyed I can summon another Fairy from my deck. Unless I have the Sanctuary in the Sky in play, in which case I can summon 'Airknight Parshath' (1900, 1400)!" Dark Téa rolled her eyes as the divine centaur reared up.
"Big deal. I'll set a card and end my turn." She muttered.
"Okay." Téa cried. "I summon 'Sacred Jarel' (1000, 2000)!" A large, round being looking like a green bell floated out of the clouds. "And then I activate my Trap 'The Spell Absorbing Life'! It gives me 400 Life Points for every effect monster on the field, and I count five!"
-Dark Téa: 8000, Téa: 10000-
"How will that help?' Dark Téa snarled.
"Here's how! I sacrifice Airknight Parshath to summon 'Sky Warrior Neo Parshath' (2300, 2000)!" Dark Téa's eyes widened at the sight of the golden centaur, spreading two large gilded wings and drawing an arrow along a large white crossbow. "And now for his special ability. Since my Life Points are higher than yours, and I have the Sanctuary in the Sky in play, he gains power equal to the difference between our Life Points!" The glowing centaur's crossbow (4300, 4000) glowed brightly. "Now Neo Parshath, attack! Solar Crossbow!" The weapon glowed, and the Parshath fired a blast of light from it. Mystic Tomato withered and was reduced to slime in the ensuing attack.
-Dark Téa: 5100, Téa: 10000-
"Now I can draw a card, and my airknight's power rises to 7200!" Dark Téa growled as she drew.
"I set two cards face-down, and a monster in defense."
"That won't do you any good!" Téa said. "My Sky Warrior can do damage even when he attacks a defense monster! Parshath, attack!" The Warrior aimed and fired the crossbow.
"Activate 'Magic Cylinder'!" Dark Téa laughed. A glowing cylinder appeared and intercepted the blast. "Say goodnight!" The attack backfired and slammed into Téa, sending her flying back with a scream.
-Dark Téa: 5100, Téa: 2800-
"Téa!" Yugi protested. Téa slowly climbed to her feet.
"I...switch Sacred Jarel to defense mode and end my turn."
"Not yet!" Dark Téa replied. "I activate 'Ceasefire'. Now all monsters on the field are flipped up, and you take 500 damage for each of them!" Dark Téa flipped up her card, a monster in silver armor with a small scythe (1000, 1000). A dark aura appeared around Téa's body, and she fell to her knees.
-Dar Téa: 5100, Téa: 1300
"My turn now." Dark Téa sneered. "And I activate a card your dear Yugi might recognize! Go, 'Deluxe Level Up!!' Now I sacrifice my Dark Lucius Lv4 to call forth my ultimate weapon." Dark Téa snatched her deck and spun the cards around her, swiping two cards from them and holding up her duel disk to catch the cards.
"Now I send to the Graveyard my Dark Lucius Lv6, Lv4, and pay half my Life Points to summon this!" A gigantic fiend in silver armor with a gigantic scythe rose onto the field. It snapped open a pair of red eyes and roared, spreading six black wings.
"Behold my ultimate weapon! 'Dark Lucius Lv8' (2800, 900)!" Dark Téa laughed. Téa gasped. "And if you think Dark Lucius looks bad now, wait until you see him in action!"
Yes, even with the ending in sight, I couldn't resist one last GX tidbit with the Duel Disk. Heh.
Tea's new cards brought to you by: Surge of Radiance, the new LIGHT structure deck, coming soon! Sky Warrior – Neo Parshath is the signature card of the set.
This card can be Special Summoned by Tributing 1 "Airknight Parshath" on your side of the field. When this card battles with a monster in Defense position with DEF lower than this card's ATK, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to the opponent's Life Points. When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, draw 1 card from your Deck. While "The Sanctuary in the Sky" is on the field, and your Life Points are higher than your opponent's Life Points, this card gains ATK and DEF equal to the difference between your and your opponent's Life Points.
Suddenly, Life Point decks look very dangerous huh?