"Yugi!"
The boy turned his body halfway. "Jericho?"
"Yugi, let me duel in your place!"
Normally Yugi would take this as an insult, but in his current situation, he could understand why his friend wanted to take his place. He wasn't doing so hot, and he couldn't figure out a strategy to defeat Seeker's monster. He wasn't about to give up, though, not with his friends on the line. He shook his head. "Thank you, but no. This is my duel. I refuse to lose. I can do this, Jericho."
"But what about your Dark Magician? Don't you need him?"
Yugi smiled. "No. I may depend on him in a lot of my duels, but I didn't get to be the King of Games using only him. I've lost powerful cards before and still made it this far." He stopped. Something hit him. Powerful cards… That's it! He's trying to gather all five pieces of Exodia! That's why he didn't do much of anything at the beginning of the duel. I'll bet he has most of the pieces already, and that's why he's on the attack now. He's gotten cocky, and that'll be his downfall. I just have to stop him from drawing the rest of what he needs before it's too late. I know exactly what to do now.
Jericho regained his confidence in his friend. He had a point. "Alright, man. Win this so we can duel in Battle City!"
Yugi nodded quickly in acknowledgement, and then returned his attention to his duel with the old man. "I've got you now, Rare Hunter. I figured out your strategy, and I've also figured out a way to counter it."
Seeker was indifferent. There was no way the boy could've figured out his strategy. "Really? You're bluffing. Nothing can stop me from claiming victory in this duel."
"Think again, Seeker. I know you're trying to assemble all the pieces of Exodia the Forbidden One! I'm telling you now that it won't work!"
Now Seeker believed him. He coughed and snarled for a moment, his shock getting the better of him. Then he realized there was still no way Yugi could stop him from drawing the last piece of Exodia. Unbeknownst to Yugi, he had marked his cards, and he knew the head of Exodia was his next card. It was inevitable. "Hah. So you figured out my strategy. That doesn't mean you can stop it. I'm too close to lose now."
"We'll see about that, Rare Hunter." In an assured manner, Yugi slapped a card into an empty slot on top of his Duel Disk. "I sacrifice Berfomet to bring forth Summoned Skull (2500/1200)!"
A lightning bolt twisted out of the ceiling, striking down in front of Yugi. Stepping forth from the drifting smoke was a volatile fiend. In a way, it looked like a taller Berfomet, down to the wings and horns, made from pure muscle with an exoskeleton of bone.
Seeker was not intimidated. "You like sending your monsters into battle to die, don't you? My monster still has 100 more attack points than yours does."
"I'm not done. Now I activate the Magic Card known as Spell Textbook."
"Huh? What does that do?"
"It's simple. First, I must discard all the cards in my hand," Yugi responded, holding up the only card in his hand before discarding it to the Graveyard. "Then I'm allowed to draw one card. If it's a Magic Card, I can play it immediately." He placed his hand atop his deck, his eyelids closing. Please…heart of the cards, guide me… He drew. Perfect! He flipped the card so that it was facing his opponent. "I drew Card of Sanctity."
"It doesn't matter what you drew. I'll still be the winner of this duel!"
"I'll play my Card of Sanctity, which lets both players draw until they're each holding six cards." He smirked as he looked at Seeker's full hand.
"That's not fair! I already have six cards."
"That's exactly why I was hoping for this card." He scanned his fresh hand. I can work with this. Seeker won't be winning this duel now. "I place two cards face-down, and then I'll attack your Trojan Horse with my Summoned Skull!"
The old man's wrinkled brow curved as he tried to figure out why his opponent was attacking with a weaker monster. Yugi wasn't stupid, so this had to be part of a plan. "It'll never work!"
Summoned Skull's clawed hands produced an immense amount of lightning, surging throughout his entire body as his wings lifted him up. Trojan Horse reared up onto its hind legs in preparation to fight back, but it was in vain. The fiend's lightning struck it, paralyzing it. It fell to the ground with a loud thud before it was mercilessly sliced through the gut and destroyed.
[Yugi: (6900) / Seeker: (8000 = 7400)]
"What? But my monster was stronger than yours! Tell me how you did that!" Seeker was outraged.
Yugi picked up a card from his Graveyard, showing it to the old man. "When I activated Spell Textbook, I had to discard one card from my hand. Fortunately for me, that was my Beast of Gilfer. Whenever he's sent to the Graveyard, I can select one monster on the field and lower its attack by 500. I chose your Trojan Horse, weakening it enough so that my monster could destroy it."
Seeker grasped a card in his hand, bending it angrily. "It still doesn't matter," he said through gritted teeth.
"Then you won't be upset when I activate this – Time Seal!"
The card in Seeker's hand was almost bent in half now from his fury.
"This stops you from drawing on your next turn, so go ahead and make your move, Seeker."
Joey literally jumped into the air with bliss. "Yeah, that's my boy! Show him why you're the King of Games, Yug!"
"Do you think Yugi can actually win now? From the looks of it, he only has one more turn to pull out the win or it's all over," Jericho noted.
"Yugi will figure it out. He's never let me down before."
The old man's demeanor remained relatively the same throughout his next turn. He threw a card into the Graveyard as he ended his turn, already having a full hand. "Your move. On my next turn, you're finished."
"I set one card face-down," said Yugi. He slid the card into the device, then entered another card next to it. "Then I activate Card Destruction! This forces us to discard our entire hand and redraw the same amount of cards we threw out!"
Seeker's eyes almost fell out of his skull. Veins bulged in his cheeks and forehead, and the corners of his lips began twitching. Four of the five pieces of Exodia the Forbidden One were now in his Graveyard, so even on his next turn when he drew the head, his automatic win condition would no longer apply. My Exodia pieces! I'll have to start all over! "Curse you!"
A green-bordered card flipped up next to Yugi. "I activate Necromancy! With this, I can bring back up to four monsters from your Graveyard to your side of the field…but I only need one: the Right Leg of the Forbidden One!"
Without his consent, Seeker's recently discarded Right Leg of the Forbidden One appeared on the field in attack position.
"What's the meaning of this, you fool?"
"Activate Trap – Chain Destruction! Now, any copies you have in your hand and your deck are destroyed and sent to the Graveyard. That takes care of Exodia."
Seeker fell to his hands and knees, pounding the floor beneath him with his fists. This isn't happening! I had him right where I wanted him. I controlled this duel the whole time. How could he do that to me? No, I can still win without Exodia!
"If you're finished bowing down to me, I'll activate another face-down – Dust Tornado! Say goodbye to your Horn of Light."
Several miniature tornadoes emitted from the purple card, swirling into Stone Statue of the Aztecs and removing the beaded horn from its head, lowering its defense back down to its original value.
"With your monster weakened, I play Monster Reborn, bringing back a card from my Graveyard that you may recognize."
A golden circle spun onto the field, first standing upright but then flipping and lying flat on the floor. The center lit up brightly as the tip of a blue hat poked out. Soon the entire body of a sexy female magician stood in the circle, holding a scepter in her right hand.
"It's Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!" exclaimed Tristan. "Oh, yeah! Yugi's got this guy now! There's nothing he can do!"
"I'm not done yet, Rare Hunter!" He looked to Jacob, nodding once before playing his card. "I activate Premature Burial. At the cost of 800 of my Life Points, I can bring back a monster from my Graveyard in Attack Position. I choose Beast of Gilfer (2200/2500)!"
[Yugi: (6900 = 6100) / Seeker: (7600)]
The demonic-looking monster made its field debut, hunching over beside Dark Magician Girl. The three monsters positioned themselves for battle.
Yugi grinned hugely. "The tables have turned, Seeker. I'm in control now."