The Path of Virtue

by TheMessengerofChaos

After finally defeating Yugi Moto and reclaiming his title as World Champion, Seto Kaiba is givin a challenge by a man known as Horus, a mamber of an eliete dueling orginazation known as The Saints Yugi and his frends tag along. After seeing Kaiba defeat

14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Collision Course

Horus and Yugi stood about 20 feet apart from each other staring down each other. Joey, Maximus and Shinobi all stepped back and could only watch, as Yugi Moto was about to challenge Horus to a duel.

"I can't believe it. I cannot believe that Yugi's actually resorting to this." Joey said. He then turned to Maximus "Guys I need to stop this. Is there anything we can do?"
"Forget it. There's nothing that's gonna stop them. They want to go this bad then let them go." Maximus said
"Yugi needs to learn to believe in himself again and to have faith in us. This I feel the only way." Shinobi added
"I wish it weren't." Joey said rather dejectedly. He was now forced to watch the battle begin.

Yugi drew a sixth card "I'll start this off by setting down two cards face-down and setting a monster in Defense mode." Yugi ended his turn. Horus drew. He looked over his own hand and at Yugi diligently, as if he were planning some sort of counterattack. "I think this will throw him off the scent." Horus said to himself "Ok, Let's see you deal with this. I'll do the exact same thing. I'll set 2 magic/Traps face down and one monster in defense mode." Horus grinned at Yugi, "I'll end my turn." He said rather non-chalantly.
Yugi began his turn. "I'll draw. I'll set two more cards face down and another monster Face down. Go Horus. Give me your worst."
Horus chuckled a bit, and then he drew. "I'll set two more cards face down also, and I'll also set one more monster face down." Horus paused for a brief moment. "I'll end my turn." He then said.

Yugi was puzzled. He wasn't expecting Horus to be passive with him. "I expected you to be a bit more aggressive than this Horus. Defense isn't your style, and neither is copying your opponent's…"
Horus cut off Yugi…"It's called strategy Yugi, and that's what I'm using right now. Whatever you do I am just going to do the exact same thing. I'm making you think. I'm trying to catch you off guard. I am trying to mess with your head, and if I succeed in getting in your head, then you're mine."

'I won't let you get the best of me Horus." Yugi shouted. "I've been through enough setbacks. I lost The Pharaoh six months ago. He was like a brother to me. I lost to Kaiba two weeks ago at the World Championships, and I felt like I could not be the duelist I was with The Pharaoh at my side. I lost to Shinobi and I felt more like I couldn't duel well anymore. I tried to protect Tea from Miguel and she nearly got hurt up there dueling him. I needed to have a big moment, because life has been handing me one defeat after another."

"Don't you realize THAT'S what we've been trying to do with you three since we met you?" Horus said. "I saw your duel with Kaiba and I saw that you were not your old self up there and I offered to help. As it turns out I not only was able to help you, but I helped Tea and Joey as well. Me, Dan and Sean are not in this for ourselves, we are trying to help others reach their highest potential."
Yugi was stunned to hear Horus say this. "Right now Horus all I want to do is prove to myself that I can still duel like a champion. If I can do that then I know I'll be able to handle Set. And by the way, I'm activating this face down card at the end of your turn. Spell Absorbing Life."

At once a burst of white light spread across the entire playing area and focused on the monster cards. Both of Yugi's Monsters flipped face up, one was a black robed Wizard with a staff known as Skilled Dark Magician, the other was a smaller younger wizard dressed in Purple Robes, with blond hair and a headband this was known as Apprentice Magician. Horus's two monsters flipped face up also. The first was a purple robed Spirit Reaper, the second was Mid-Shield Gardna, a soldier with a large shield attached to his arm.
'There are four effect monsters on the field so I gain 1600 Life points." Yugi said, as he said this all of the light gathered together and bathed Yugi's duel disc. His Life Points increased to 9600.
"Now it's my turn." Yugi said as he drew, "I play Pot of Greed and draw two more cards. I also get to place one counter on my Skilled Dark Magician." As Yugi drew his cards a small beacon began to blink over the head of Yugi's Magician. 'Next I'll switch him into Attack position and attack your Mid-Shield Gardna with Dark Magic Shot." Yugi's Magician stood up from his block stance, waived his arms and released a black sphere of magic at Horus's soldier. Yugi's Magician had 1900 Attack points to 1800 Defense points for Mid-Shield Gardna so Horus's soldier took the brunt of the attack before shattering to pieces.

Yugi continued. "Next I set two more cards face down and summon another Apprentice Magician to the field, letting me place a second counter on Skilled Dark Magician." A second purple robed young magician appeared on Yugi's side of the field. It pointed its staff at the Skilled Dark Magician and a second beacon started to blink. "Ok Horus, your turn now. Show me what you've got."
"OK Here it comes." Horus said, "I'll sacrifice my Spirit Reaper to summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 6!!" As Horus's Reaper faded away, there emerged a shadow resembling the shape of a dragon. The shadow began to assume a form and screeched with life as The Dragon appeared in all its fury. Yugi looked a bit scared as he now was staring down a form of the Dragon that had destroyed Seto Kaiba's reputation.
"Attack his Attack mode Apprentice Magician with Crimson Dusk!" Horus commanded and his dragon began beating its wings stirring up a small dust storm. At only 400 Attack Points, Yugi's Magician would not stand a chance against Horus at its Level 6 form.

"Not so fast Horus. I counter with Magic Cylinder." Yugi said. He activated his trap card and a large cylinder appeared in front of Yugi. The cylinder absorbed all of the dust that the dragon had blown up with his wings. The cylinder then altered its direction and aimed directly at Horus. It then released the entire attack directly at Horus, taking 2300 life points from him. The blast knocked him backwards several steps.

"Nice Shot Yugi!" Horus said, without any sarcasm in his voice. "I'll play my face down Pot of Greed and End my Turn." As Horus drew his two cards a third beacon began to blink over Yugi's Magician's Head.
Yugi drew to begin his turn. He could tell that Horus was still mimicking his moves, or at least imitating them as best he could, but Yugi thought eh could break Horus's strategy. "Since I have 3 counters I can Tribute my Skilled Dark Magician for Dark Magician!!" Yugi gave this command and the three beacons formed a ring around the Skilled Dark Magician. Out of the beacons magical runes emerged onto the floor and enveloped Yugi's Magician with a cloud of smoke. As the smoke Cleared, Skilled Dark Magician was gone and the true Dark Magician took his place.

"Dark Magician, attack Horus Level 6 with Dark Magic Attack!!" Yugi Shouted, Horus hunched down as if to absorb the blast. Dark Magician raised his staff and fired a beam of magical energy at Horus's Dragon.
Horus chuckled a bit. "Yugi, does this look familiar to you?" He asked as he revealed one of his trap cards. It was a Magic Cylinder. This time, the Cylinder caught Dark Magician's blast and redirected it at Yugi. Yugi lost 2500 Life Points. The scored were now Yugi: 7100, Horus: 5700.
Yugi could now see that Horus was still copying his every move. He was getting annoyed at this strategy by now. 'Stop Copying my moves and duel me for real!!!!" Yugi shouted
"Don't you get it by now??? I AM dueling you." Horus retorted. This apparently is the only way we are going to teach you that we want to help."

"We'll see about that once the duel is over." Yugi said, "I'll switch Apprentice Magician to Defense mode and end my turn."
"Pull for my turn." Horus said, as he looked over his cards, he began to stare down Yugi intently. "I'll summon Pitch-Black Warwolf to the field." A cloud of darkness appeared in front of Horus with what appeared to be a sliver of moonlight radiating from it. Out of this cloud emerged a wolf, as black as midnight with a long spear in his hand.
"Now so you know, my Wolf's special ability prevents you from activating traps during the Battle Phase, so Horus will attack your Apprentice Magician without fear from those face down cards." Horus said, His Dragon then stirred up a dust storm around Yugi's Apprentice Magician, once big enough the dragon breathed fire on the storm and Apprentice Magician was consumed by the inferno.
"You've activated my Apprentice Magician's Special Ability!" Yugi exclaimed. "When it is destroyed in battle, I can summon a Level 2 or lower Spellcaster to the field in Face-Down Defense mode, and I choose Magician of Faith."
'That's fine. Pitch Black Warwolf will attack your Magician of Faith." Horus said. His wolf leaped forward and swung its spear into Yugi's Magician of Faith, flipping it face up and shattering her.
'Thank you again Horus, now I use Magician of Faith's special Ability and return Pot of Greed to my Hand." Yugi said. Unfortunately he was too occupied getting back his Magic card to notice that Horus's Dragon was glowing.

"Hey Yugi," Horus said in a rather joking tone. "I'm gonna set once card face down and I'll end my turn. You know what happens now! My dragon grows to Level 8!!!"
Yugi looked up from returning his Pot of Greed just in time to witness Horus's Dragon bath itself in light and grow larger. After about 10 seconds Yugi was staring down Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 8. The Dragon screamed with life as Yugi's eyes began to glaze with terror. Facing down Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon was one thing, but this Dragon was far more intimidating to an opponent. "Oh Crap!" Yugi said

Yugi drew his card. It was Dark Magician Girl, his eyes filled with hope. He thought maybe he could find a way to beat Horus's Dragon using her. 'Ok Here we go. I sacrifice Dark Magician for Dark Magician Girl." Yugi said. Dark Magician faded away was in his place a circle of magic runes appeared and the female Dark Magician appeared. "Now since I summoned a monster, I can activate Torrential Tribute and destroy all monsters on the field!" Yugi shouted. He activated his trap card and a tidal wave began to spread across the entire playing area. Yugi felt for sure this would destroy Horus's Dragon.
"I'm well prepared for this Yugi; I'll use Interdimensional Matter Transporter to Remove Horus, Level 8 from the game until the end of this turn." Horus said. He activated his card and a strange futuristic device appeared above his dragon. A beam of light fired down from the device and pulled the dragon up and inside. Then the device began to spin around rapidly until it appeared to collapse upon itself. It finally disappeared without a trace. Meanwhile all other monsters were washed away in the flood.

"Now to mount an offense." Yugi shouted. 'I'll play Pot of Greed and Draw 2 cards." Yugi paused for a moment. "Next I'll pay 800 Life Points and play Premature Burial on Dark Magician." Yugi's Life Points dropped to 6300 as his Dark Magician emerged from the ground. "Dark Magic Attack!!" Yugi Shouted, His Magician pointed his staff at Horus and fired a beam of magic directly at him. The blast connected and took 2500 Life Points from Horus. Horus writhed in pain.
"Oh, it's not over yet!!" Yugi shouted. "Activate Quick Play Magic Card: Dedication through Light and Darkness!! By sacrificing Dark Magician I can summon the Dark Magician of Chaos!!!" A Magical circle appeared underneath Dark Magician and he was bathed in white and black beams. Within the beams the Dark Magician transformed into Dark Magician of Chaos. He was a similar looking wizard; only he wore black robes instead of purple ones. His staff was longer and wider than before. This Magician had 2800 Attack Points and 2600 Defense points.
"I now use Dark Magician of Chaos's Special Ability to once again return Pot of Greed to my hand." Yugi said, "Now I attack with Chaos Energy Wave!!" The Dark Magician of Chaos took his staff and aimed with both hands at Horus. He then pointed the staff towards the ground and unleashed a stream of energy through the ground at Horus. Horus was hit by the blast and lost another 2800 Life Points. He now had only 400 remaining. Horus was knocked to one knee by the blast and he bowed his head to ward off the pain. In his heart however, he knew that Yugi was doing exactly as he should be doing. He began to smile a bit

Yugi continued, "I once again play Pot of Greed." As he drew Horus looked up at Yugi and smiled. "That's the spirit Yugi!! Great shot!" Horus said as he groaned with pain. "I'll chain with Call of the Haunted to revive my Warwolf." Horus activated his card and his Wolf returned from the ground in a cloud of mist. Yugi then looked at Horus and was genuinely concerned for his well being. He only had 400 Life Points left and had just taken two blasts from two very strong monsters. "Are you Ok Horus?" he asked

"I'll be fine." Horus grunted
"I end my turn." Yugi said, as he said this the space capsule that had beamed Horus's Dragon aboard reappeared above the field. The beam flashed down once again and the dragon reemerged from the capsule and returned safely to the field. The Capsule then spun once more and vanished as it did earlier. The Dragon then looked back at Horus and saw him suffering from the two direct hits and expressed what appeared to be a look of concern for Horus. It was as if Horus the Black Flame Dragon could recognize when Mathias was in danger and if nothing else was physically capable of empathizing with the pain that Mathias was experiencing.

"I Draw…. I set one card face-down and summon Servant of Horus in Attack mode." Horus said. As he did this, Yugi activated another Trap. "I use Call of the Haunted and revive my Dark Magician." He said, Yugi's Magician reemerged on the field from beneath as it did before. Meanwhile a small priest wearing similar clothing to Horus, except this did not have on a shirt and wore a hawk shaped head cowl. He only had 100 Attack Points.
"He may look small, but this monster has immense power." Hours stated. "Horus's Servant protects all forms of Horus the Black Flame Dragon from any effect of m opponent that targets a monster." Horus pointed at Dark Magician of Chaos. "Horus, attack Dark Magician of Chaos!! Black Heart Fire Blast!!!" The dragon reared his head back and released a stream of black fire at Yugi's Magician. Dark Magician of Chaos was incinerated in the firestorm and destroyed. Yugi's Life points dropped to 6100.
"I hope you realize that your Magician isn't in the Graveyard, but removed from play. Horus stated. "I'll end my turn by switching my Wolf to Defense mode."

Yugi drew. "I'll activate Ring of Destruction on My Dark Magician. This will wipe out the last of your Life Points Horus." Yugi shouted. His trap activated and a large ring with multiple explosive charges snared Dark Magician. He struggled to free himself of the ring but it was no use. The charges detonated and destroyed Dark Magician. Normally this would deal damage to both players equal to the destroyed monster's attack strength but Horus was prepared as usual.
'Yugi, Yugi, Yugi," Horus said rather disappointedly. "I would have thought you of all people would know not to say things like that if you can't back them up. I counter with Barrel behind the Door. This takes the damage I WOULD have taken and throws it back at you!" A large snake like tube appeared in front of Horus and led all the way around to behind Yugi's head. As the Charges on the Ring exploded the blast that was thrown at Horus entered the tube instead and finally exited out behind Yugi, hitting Yugi in the back of the head. Yugi was thrown to the ground by the blast and his Life Points dropped down by 5000. He now had only 1100 remaining.

"YUGI!!!" Joey shouted. "You gotta stop this. You don't need to prove anything to anyone.
"Forget it man." Maximus chimed in. "He's not gonna stop until this is over."
"Well at least no one can say he's holding back in this duel." Shinobi said
Yugi slowly climbed to his feet. "I'm not out of this yet. I'm not giving up till it's over. I'll set this monster in Defense mode and end my turn."
Horus drew "I'll set one monster face down and switch Servant of Horus to defense mode. Now I'll have Horus attack your face down monster." The dragon shot another stream of black fire at Yugi's face down monster. It was revealed to be a small yellow mask known as Mask of Darkness. It too was destroyed instantly by the inferno.
"I now get a Trap Card back from my Graveyard." Yugi said. "I'll get back Ring of Destruction."
"Fine by me." Horus said 'I'll end my turn."

"As you end your turn I play Dust Tornado and destroy Call of the Haunted thus destroying your wolf." Yugi interrupted. A large tornado cloud formed in front of Yugi and made its way towards the gravestone behind Horus's Pitch Black Warwolf. The gravestone was blown away by the tornado and Horus's Warwolf shattered instantly afterwards. 'I now get to place one card face down." Yugi said, "Now I draw. I summon Exiled Force to the field." A group of ragtag bandits and soldiers emerged. This group had 1000 Attack Points. "Exiled Force, attack Horus's Servant." Yugi Shouted. One by one, each member of the band threw a spear at Horus's Servant. The monster blocked as best as it could but at 100 defense points could not withstand the hits and finally was destroyed.
"Now I can use Exiled Force's ability to sacrifice it and destroy Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 8!!" Yugi shouted. One by one, each member of the exiled Force leaped onto and grabbed a hold of Horus' Dragon. Once each member had grabbed the dragon, they began to squeeze, until they squeezed so hard that not only did they destroy the dragon, but also they destroyed themselves. Horus Level 8 screamed out in pain as the team exploded and brought the mighty dragon to its knees.
Horus covered his face and dropped to one knee, "Trust me Yugi, DUCK!!!" he said. The dragon finally collapsed and exploded in a massive firestorm that looked like a bomb had just exploded. Yugi took Horus's suggestion and got down to cover himself up from the blast.

"Good Shot Yugi!!" Horus proclaimed. He knew in his heart that Yugi had proven himself to be once again back at top form and could now face the task at hand. Horus now knew how this duel should end.
"I now activate Soul Resurrection to once again revive Dark Magician." Once again, Dark Magician emerged from underneath the ground. This time he assumed a crouch-blocking stance. "Go ahead." Yugi said

Horus drew his card. "Perfect!" He said "I'll set once card face down and use my own Ring of Destruction on Dark Magician." Once again, Yugi's Dark Magician was ensnared in a Ring of Destruction about to explode. This time, the blast would deal enough damage to wipe out both Horus's and Yugi's Life Points resulting in a draw.
'That blast will finish us both Yugi, so brace yourself!" Horus shouted as he dropped to one knee and shielded himself
"Not if I finish you first!" Yugi proclaimed, "I chain the Quick Play Magic Card, Poison of the Old Man!" This will deal 800 points of damage to your Life Points causing you to hit zero first and ending the duel.
" Nice Try Yugi, but I have a Quick Play Magic Card of my own." Horus shouted back. "I play Mystic Wok on my face down monster!" With this I send one monster to the graveyard, select either the attack of Defense strength and gain that much Life back." A large cooking Wok appeared and scooped up Horus's face down Monster that was shown to be a small insect creature with a skull marking on it's back called Skull-Mark Ladybug. The bug was cooked up inside the Wok and a surge of heat and warmth ran through Horus's body as his Life Points jumped from 400 to 2900.

"Allow me to explain." Horus said as the Wok cooked his monster. "My Skull Mark Ladybug has 1500 Defense points so I choose to gain its defense. I now gain 1500 Life Points. Plus I gain 1000 Life points from my Ladybug's Special ability, which kicks on whenever it hits the graveyard."

As a result of this massive exchange of moves, Horus's Life points jumped to 2900. As soon as this happened, he felt the surge of venom from Yugi's Poison of the Old Man; he dropped down to 2100 Life Points. After that happened, the ring around Dark Magician finally detonated and destroyed Dark Magician. Both Horus and Yugi were sent reeling backwards from the blast, which knocked 2500 Life Points from both of them. They both had zero Life Points left. The duel was a draw.

"Jeez!!" Maximus shouted, "Did you guys see that last chain???"
'That was insane!" Joey commented.

Yugi was down on his knees. Horus was on one knee. Both were breathing heavily as they regained their bearings after the last blast. After a few minutes, Horus was able to get up. He walked up to Yugi and extended his hand to help Yugi up.

"WOW!!" Horus said, "Excellent game!"