The Priestess Legacy
Chapter 17
Balance
"Now Dark Lucius, destroy her Sky Warrior!" Dark Téa roared. The Fiend leapt into the air and brought its scythe down on Neo Parshath. The centaur whined as a black aura spread around it body, turning it to ash.
-Dark Téa: 2550, Téa: 800-
"I'll end my turn with that." Dark Téa finished. Téa growled and drew.
"I switch Jarel into defense mode, and place another monster in defense mode." She sighed.
"That all?" Dark Téa sneered. "First my 'Pot of Greed', so I can draw twice. Then I play 'Dark Wave'! Now as long as this card remains on the field, I'm forbidden to summon any monsters if I'll have more than one in play. But now my Dark Lucius can attack more than once per turn! In fact, he can attack all your monsters!" Téa gasped. Dark Lucius swung its scythe and chopped the monsters to pieces. Sacred Jarel and 'Dunames Dark Witch' (1800, 1050) exploded in a blast of dark energy.
"When Sacred Jarel is destroyed, I regain a thousand points." Téa yelled.
-Dark Téa: 2250, Téa: 1800-
"That's useless." Dark Téa snorted. "Now I'll set a card and end my turn."
"My move then." Téa breathed, drawing. "I…"
"Don't bother already." Dark Téa snorted. "Whatever you play will die. Go ahead and surrender already. It's over."
"Oh, give me a freaking break!" Everyone whirled their heads around to stare at the person that had pushed their way to the front of the crowd. Rochelle crossed her arms and glared at Téa. "You're one of the best damn duelists there is. Yeah, not half as good as me, but who is? My point is you're supposed to be the Queen of Games, Gardner. You beat Seto Kaiba, former world champion, you beat the creator of the game! Somehow you managed to beat me three times, although you can be sure you got lucky. So shut that loser…whatever the hell she is, up, and take her down already! Stop playing around!"
"You sure dat's Rochelle dey brought back?" Joey asked Yugi. Téa stared at Rochelle for a moment, and nodded.
"Don't worry Rochelle, she's going down!" Téa vowed. "I place a card face-down and end my turn."
"What's she doin', dat's da oldest bluff in da book!" Joey protested.
"You're an idiot Wheeler." Kaiba muttered. "The special effect of Dark Wave prevents Téa's little clone there from attacking directly, so by not summoning she can conserve her cards."
"Not likely!" Dark Téa laughed. "I activate the Trap card 'Black Lure'! Now I can randomly select a card in your hand, and if it's a monster, I can call it to the field! And I choose the only card left in your hand!" Téa sighed and slipped it onto her Duel Disk. 'Wingweaver' (2750, 2450) appeared in a flourish. "Perfect. Next, to get rid of that annoying Field. I activate 'Mystical Space Typhoon' to destroy it!" Téa gasped and looked over her shoulder as her Sky Sanctuary was blown away in the whirlwind. "Now Dark Lucius, rip apart that Fairy!" Dark Lucius roared and threw the scythe like a boomerang. Wingweaver screamed as the blade ripped its wings to shreds, its body turning to ash.
-Dark Téa: 2250, Téa: 1750
"I end my turn." Dark Téa ended. Téa drew and nodded.
"I play 'Pot of Greed' to draw two cards. Then I place a card face-down and end my turn."
"Then allow me to end this duel!" Dark Téa sneered. "I cast the Spell card 'Dark Exchange'. I can use it to return to destroy any Spell or Trap on my field, and take another Spell or Trap from my deck. And I choose to destroy my Dark Wave! Adios!" The Spell shattered in a shower of holographic shards. Dark Téa flipped through her deck and picked her card. "And now that that's out of the way, Dark Lucius, attack directly!" The Fiend leapt up.
"Reveal Trap 'Light Force'!" Téa cried. "This blocks your attack and lets me draw a card." Téa drew and gasped.
"Big deal, so you live one more turn." Dark Téa muttered. "I'll set a card face-down and end my turn here. I'll finish you off on my next turn."
"Not this time!" Téa replied. "I reveal my face-down card 'Dark Factory of Mass Production. Now I can get back two Normal monsters from my Graveyard and add them to my hand. Wingweaver, Dark Witch, return to me!" Two rays of white light emerged from Téa's disk and floating into her hand. "And next I play 'Shinato's Ark'! So by sending my monsters to the Grave, I can call forth my ultimate weapon!" A beam of light shot down as a glittering blue angel descended behind Téa in a flourish of wind.
"Behold 'Shinato, King of a Higher Plane' (3300, 3000)." Dark Téa gasped. "Now Shinato, destroy her Dark Lucius!" Shinato held out a hand and fired a ring-shaped halo of golden energy. Dark Téa screamed as the Fiend exploded.
-Dark Téa: 1750, Téa: 1750-
"That's all for now." Téa ended.
"This is over!" Téa Dark screeched. "I activate 'Graceful Charity'. Now I'll draw three times, and send two of those cards to the Grave." Dark Téa drew and smirked. "Perfect. I discard 'Dark World Lightning' and 'Green, Assassin of Dark World' (500, 500). And when Green is sent from my hand to the Grave, I can destroy a monster. So Shinato's big entrance is going to be cut short!" A glowing green Fiend appeared and dashed, stabbing Shinato.
"She's wide-open!" Joey protested.
"Correct! I call forth the last monster you'll ever seen! Rise, 'Giant Orc' (2200, 0000)! Giant Orc, attack! End this duel!" The Orc roared and raised its club, charging across the field. "I told you that you couldn't beat me!" Dark Téa crowed. Téa sighed and hung her head.
"You're right." Téa whispered.
"Huh?" Dark Téa's jaw dropped.
"What did she say?" Yugi cried.
"I can't beat you. I beat you once, but you beat me right after that. And we've been matching each other this entire duel. I can't beat you, I admit it. But on the other hand…" Téa lifted her head and smiled. "You can't be me either! Face it, we're equals in this!"
"You're insane!" Dark Téa sneered.
"Then let me prove it!" Téa countered. "I reveal my final Trap." A glowing circle appeared between the two duelists. "Go 'Chaos Blast'!" Dark Téa gasped as a ball of black light floating out of her and zoomed into the glowing circle. Téa followed suit as a ball of white light emerged from her.
"What's going on?" Dark Téa demanded.
"Chaos Blast is one of the most dangerous cards there is. It lets us attack each other!" Téa explained. "It inflicts damage to us equal to the other's Life Points!" Dark Téa's eyes widened.
"But…we have the same Life Points!" She cried, stepping back.
"Exactly!" Téa nodded. Blasts of dark and white light zoomed out of the glowing circle and hit the two women. Dark Téa and Téa were thrown back as the light hit them.
"It can't be…" Yugi whispered.
"They…" Kaiba agreed. The smoke cleared, and Dark Téa and Téa slowly climbed to their feet.
-Dark Téa: 0000, Téa: 0000-
"H…how?" Dark Téa demanded as Téa walked up to her.
"You're right. I can't beat you. You said it yourself, you're a part of me. We're just two halves of the same person." Téa explained. "Even if I beat you here, you'll still exist. And even if you had beaten me, I'd exist." Dark Téa stared silently. "Look, if helping Yugi fight evil for three or four years has taught me anything, you can't stop evil. But you have to keep fighting it. Sometimes evil wins, sometimes it loses."
"So…you settled for a tie because of some twisted philosophy?" Dark Téa muttered, shaking her head. "You hate me but you can't bring yourself to destroy me?"
"Yeah…you're a bitch, and you give me the creeps. But you're still me." Téa agreed. "There's no point in trying to defeat you. We're equals. We need each other." Dark Téa rolled her eyes.
"Whatever." She snorted, shaking her head. The Eye of Wdjat glowed, and the two Téas turned towards it.
"The Eye has heard your words." Malik called. "And it accepts your decision." The two nodded.
"So I gotta get locked up again?" Dark Téa moaned.
"I'll make you a deal." Téa offered. Dark Téa turned her head. "Let it end now, and when I graduate, I'll hold a kegger." Dark Téa smirked.
"Drunk?" She asked. Téa shrugged. "Fine. Besides, it's not like I have a choice." Dark Téa turned and walked into Téa, her clothes fading behind her. Téa closed her eyes as Dark Téa's form vanished inside her.
"Téa?" Yugi asked.
"I can feel her…" Téa whispered. "Inside me, all along…I never realized it before."
"So can we go home now?" Joey asked. Téa turned to him and nodded.
"Yeah, let's go home." Téa smiled. She turned to Rochelle. "All of us." Rochelle rolled her eyes.
"You people are insane." She muttered, turning to leave.
"You've dealt with them for a few weeks, try a few years!" Kaiba called after her.
It's been a long, long road, but...it's over. One last chapter in the trilogy.