The following takes place during Shadow of a Duel.
LP Richard 4000
LP Bakura 450
I stand still, a little bit frightened, as Bakura's ace monster looks at me with a serious face.
"I'm going to show you... the true terror of my Occult Deck!" my opponent says smirking.
"A monster that requires three creatures to be destroyed in order to be Summoned..." I think "This thing must have a very good ability..."
"Continuing my turn I place one card face-down!" Bakura declares "I'm done"
"Why didn't he attack?" I think "He could have destroyed my monsters easily. Is it because of my face-down card? Or there is something else?"
I then draw my card and look at it. "I still have all my Life Points. Bakura only has 450. With this card I can finish him" I think as I place the card on the Duel Disk "I sacrifice Amphibious Bugroth MK-3 to Summon Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness!"
The giant orca appears on the field alongside my Mermaid Knight (AT: 2100).
"That excuse of a whale doesn't stand a chance against Dark Necrofear!" Bakura says.
"We'll see about that" I answer "You thought my face-down card was a Trap Card! It's actually an Equip Magic Card! Steel Shell!"
"What?!"
"This card raises the attack power of my Orca by 400 points!"
A giant blue shell appears on Orca's body, its attack points increasing to 2500.
"Now it has 300 more attack points than Dark Necrofear!" I point out "Now go! Attack with Deepsea Takedown!"
Orca rushes towards Dark Necrofear (a little bit slowly than usual because of the heavy shell) and hits it with its tail.
LP Richard 4000
LP Bakura 150
Surprisingly Bakura seems... happy. "Defeating Dark Necrofear... I thank you for that!" he says "Now that Dark Necrofear has been sent to the Graveyard I can activate the Field Magic Dark Sanctuary!"
Suddenly the field is sorrounded by a red clouded sky, a creepy sanctuary behind my opponent. Then, from the crimson sky, a dozen of eyes and mouths (a few with even eyes inside them!) appear.
"You just triggered the most terrifying switch of my Occult Combo!" Bakura declares laughing "Now the Shadow Game can finally begin!"
Shadow Game?! Damn, now my life is at stake! Still, Bakura triggered the Shadow Game in a very critical situation for him: he has no monsters on his field and I still have one to attack with. Then why he did it? I don't know, but I might give it a shot! "I attack directly with Mermaid Knight!"
As my monster starts rushing towards my opponent, a creepy spirit comes out of her body and hits me.
"What the-" I say "Something came out of Mermaid Knight and attacked me!"
"You must been really shocked!" Bakura comments "She's been possessed by the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary"
"So it's inside Mermaid Knight"
"The Ghost is more than happy to attack when you order it to, although you're the one who will be taking damage. Furthermore, the player who is attacked loses Life Points equal to half of the possessed monster's attack points"
"Say what?!"
LP Richard 3250
LP Bakura 150
"And the points you lost will be added to my Life Points!" he finishes laughing.
LP Richard 3250
LP Bakura 900
"You absorb my Life Points?!" I cry.
"This is too early to be surprised" he replies "My Occult Combo is only on its first phases"
He then draws his card and places it in the middle of his hand. "I activate the Continuous Trap Destiny Board!"
All of a sudden behind Bakura a giant ouija board appears, Dark Necrofear's hand holding the planchette.
"The Destiny Board is used to comunicate with spirits" Bakura explains "That planchette will point the letters on the board and spell out the spirit's wishes. Look. In this turn the spirits will give you a letter"
The planchette starts moving until it stops on a letter: "F".
"Starting next turn, when the other four letters will appear, even if you will still have Life Points remaining, you'll be eliminated right on the spot!" he finishes laughing maniacally.
"But this means I only have four turns left!" I state "He let me beat Dark Necrofear in order to unleash this combo?!"
"The countdown to your doom has begun" Bakura continues taking the card on his far right "But there's much more to the Occult Combo! Like the Continuous Magic Card The Dark Door! Now you can only attack with one monster per turn!"
He then holds up another card smirking. "Next I place this face-down and Sumon Earthbound Spirit!"
A human figure attached to the ground appears on the field (ATK: 500).
"But since Dark Sanctuary needs a sacrifice each turn, I'll sacrifice it!"
The weird monster vanishes as I draw my card, which is Torpedo Fish. "Because of The Dark Door I can only attack once per turn" I think "Mermaid Knight is possessed by the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary, so I cannot attack with her. But Bakura doesn't have any monster protecting him. If I attack directly with Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness, since Bakura only has 900 Life Points remaining, he'll be finished! But there's a good chance he realized it. I'm 100% sure that is face-down card is a Trap Card!"
"What's wrong?!" he mocks me chuckling.
"But I cannot waiste this turn! Even if that face-down card is a Trap Card, I need to try! I play Torpedo Fish in Defense Mode!"
The mechanical fish appears on the field (DEF: 1000).
"Next I attack directly with Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness!"
But, as Orca tries to move, the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary comes out of it and attacks me.
LP Richard 2000
LP Bakura 2150
"This time it got Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness?!" I state.
"I forgot to tell you" Bakura says "The Ghost of Dark Sanctuary changes host every turn. If you don't choose your attacking monster carefully, your own army will tear your body to ribbons!"
"I... end my turn" I declare getting up.
"I activate the effect of Destiny Board!"
The planchette moves again and stops on another letter: "I".
"Every time you end your turn, Destiny Board will spell another letter!" Bakura explains.
Now it spells "FI". Still I saw Bakura placing a card on the Duel Disk. Are the letters some sort of Magic Cards? If that's the case... "Bakura... before you gather all the letters, you still require three cards" I say smirking "But you have only one open slot on your Duel Disk"
"Thanks for the warning, but don't think you found a weakness in my strategy" he answers chuckling "Let me explain. Dark Sanctuary has another ability: I can now play Magic and Trap Cards in the Monster Card Zones!"
"What?! But that means you can play up to ten Magic and Trap Cards!"
"My Occult Combo is perfect! This will end in three turns!" he states drawing his card and placing it on the Duel Disk "I Summon Sangan!"
A three eyed furball-like monster appears (ATK: 1000).
"Then I sacrifice it for the Dark Sanctuary!" he continues as Sangan disappers "Also, due to Sangan's special ability, I draw one card from my Deck!"
"Which one of my monster is possessed?" I think as I draw my card "I doubt is Torpedo Fish: it's not the type of monster to use in offensive. Is it Mermaid Knight or Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness? Due to The Dark Door I can only attack once! In my hand there is nothing that can help me"
I then glance at my drawn card, which is Aqua Madoor. "I'll use this as a defense, since it has too low attack points for it to be possessed. I Summon Aqua Madoor in Defense Mode!"
The masked mage appears on my field (DEF: 2000).
"There is no point in defending!" Bakura mocks me.
"I hate to admit it, but he's right! I only have a few turns left. I need to pick one of my monsters to attack. If I hesitate now, I can't beat him! It's a gamble!"
I then glance at Mermaid Knight. "Mermaid Knight, attack directly!"
Mermaid Knight rushes without problems. I got it!
"I activate a Trap Card! Dark Spirit of the Silent!" Bakura declares "It possesses a monster in Attack Mode, silences it and forces another monster to take its place, despite of the owner's orders!"
A spirit similar to the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary appears. It rushes towards Mermaid Knight and possesses her, stopping her dead on her tracks.
"Mermaid Knight cannot move!" I state "The attack will be done by Orca Mga-Fortress of Darkness!"
"But the orca is possessed by the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary!" Bakura says.
The spirit comes out and attacks me a third time.
LP Richard 750
LP Bakura 3400
"There is no flaw in my Occult Combo!" my opponent declares.
"There must be something I can do" I think as I look at my monsters "My problem is the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary that keeps possessing my monsters. Unless I can get rid of it, I can't stop his Occult Combo. How do I fight something I can't see?"
"What's wrong?! You can still give up if you want" Bakura trashtalks.
"The Ghost of Dark Sanctuary can only possess one monster. Only one..." I think as I scan my hand, which contains Monster Recovery, Beckon to Darkness, Silent Doom, Double Attack and Mirror's Curse "Wait a minute! There's still a way! I place two cards face-down and end my turn!"
"So you still continue with your futile strategies" my opponent comments.
"Yes! Because I believe that next turn will bring new possibilities!"
"Don't make me laugh! There're no new possibilities!"
"It's your turn!"
"Then Destiny Board's effect activates!"
The third letter is "N". Now it spells "FIN".
Bakura then draws his card and places it on the Duel Disk. "I Summon Souls of the Forgotten!"
A group of souls appear on the field (ATK: 900).
"I sacrifice you to maintain the Dark Sanctuary!"
The souls disappear instantly.
"In just two turns, I'll see the distorted look of fear in your face..." he says.
I smirk. "You sure have gotten full of yourself. But don't you think you'd be safer keeping that superego of yours in check?"
"What did you say?"
"In this turn I'll crush your Occult Combo!" I declare as I draw my card.
"Just leave the tough-guy act up already" he says "You're the one getting full of yourself"
"Each new card gives new possibilites" I answer as I place the drawn card in the middle of my hand "And this is one of them! Magic Card Monster Recovery!"
As my face-down card activates, all the monsters on my field disappear.
"Every monster on my field along with the cards in my hand are returned into my Deck!" I explain as I do said action "Afterwards I draw 5 new cards!"
As I scan my new hand I select the one on the far right. "I now Summon Unshaven Angler!"
A blue angler with a long beard appears on my field (ATK: 1500).
"You said it yourself!" I say smirking "The Ghost of Dark Sanctuary can only possess one monster. Now I play my other face-down card! Beckon to Darkness! This card destroys one monster on the field! By using this on Unshaven Angler I destroy the Ghost as well!"
A demonic red hand appears from under Unshaven Angler and grabs the latter, forcing it to come down in the giant crevasse said hand created. The Ghost has been defeated!
"Now I place one card face-down!" I declare "My turn is over!"
Bakura clenches his fist. "I activate the effect of Destiny Board!"
The fourth letter appears: "A".
So Richard managed to destroy the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary. But he still has a major problem: as soon as he ends his next turn, Destiny Board will spell the final letter. Will he be able to turn the tables in just one turn? You'll find out in the next chapter. Until then, hasta la vista!