Tana: hey, I'm finally back! Sorry for being so late, but school is really hectic. I realized I really do not enjoy English classes. I hope the first update of the year will be good enough for everyone.
DragonWarrior135: I inspire you?! Wow, you just boosted my nonexistant ego! Thanks! In the duel (I pretty sure you meant the one Kaiba and Yami had after they left the Shadow Realm), Kaiba's is the one that loses, hence the reason why he was angry.
BlackFlamedKitsun2000: Here's your update, thanks for the compliment!
AnimeCrazy88: Thank you, person-who-is-the-only-person-to-wish-me-happy-birthday-both-times!! Happy belated/early birthday to you too!
And here's the chapter, finally...
Chapter 13 Friend vs. Friend Part I
"My partner in this duel will be you, Soraya Reikado."
Oh hell no…Soraya thought, numbly aware of everyone tensing up around her.
"No way in hell," Kaiba said brusquely, crossing his arms. Soraya looked over and struggled not to smile. Leave it to Kaiba to be direct about everything.
Akiro looked condescendingly at the brunette. "I don't think this is yours to decide," she drawled, turning away to walk toward the arena. After a few steps, she looked back at the silent group. "Aren't you coming?" she asked in her sickeningly sweet voice.
"No," Soraya replied bluntly.
Akiro widened her eyes in fake shock. "Why not?"
Soraya glared at the evil sorceress in disgust. "Why would I?"
Akiro raised an eyebrow and casually leaned against a pillar. "You're a duelist, aren't you? This is a duel, and I need a partner. Might as well make yourself useful," she said, looking at them as she thought they were slow-witted.
"And if I refuse?"
"If you refuse, then we can't all have a proper duel. Therefore, I can't win the Puzzle and the Pendant and kill you all, and you don't get a chance of winning your loved ones back." Akiro smirked. "Tell me if I'm correct, my dear, if getting your brother back safely is one of your top priorities right now."
As she spoke, the door at the end of the hall opened again. Red Eyes Black Dragon walked into the room with Sam's body clasped between its teeth. Akiro watched satisfyingly as the black dragon came up beside her and turned to sneer at her chosen partner. "So, what will it be?"
Soraya tensed as she continued to glare, desperately trying to think of a way out. Cursing to herself when her mind remained a blank, she sighed. "Fine," she said finally.
"Very good," Akiro said. With that, Red Eyes Black Dragon opened its jaws and Sam tumbled out. A swing of an obsidian staff, and Sam disappeared in midfall.
Soraya's eyes widened. Before she could say anything however, a small thump sounded in the cage behind the group. Turning around, she saw that her brother had joined the band of hostages.
"Let's begin, shall we?" Akiro said with slight impatience and swished around, lazily making her way toward the arena. Soraya hesitated, then followed, leaving the others behind.
Yugi stepped forward and blocked her way. "You sure about this?"
"It's the only way," Soraya replied, resolutely returning Yugi's solemn stare. Yugi remained silent. "Don't worry," Soraya forced a small smile and clapped a hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's not like you're going to lose or anything."
Yugi groaned inwardly as Soraya sidestepped him and continued walking. That's exactly what I'm worried about. He held the Puzzle and caught Yami's eye. Let's go, time to duel.
Kaiyuki had vanished into the Pendant. So, what's the plan? She asked optimistically, appearing in spirit form beside her light.
We have a plan? Soraya asked, grinning at her dark's antics.
What? No stupidly selfless plan of rigging the duel and getting yourself killed? Kaiyuki inquired, casting a sidelong glance at the girl.
Soraya shiftily glanced back. ……you know of no plan……
Kaiyuki groaned and dug a hand through her hair. How did I get stuck with such an idiot hikari?
How could you not? Soraya countered mischievously.
Kaiyuki stared at her light through her fingers. What was that supposed to mean?
"Okay, we can finally begin," Akiro started when everyone had taken his or her place. "In this duel, each duelist's life points remain separate, each starting at 8000. No one can attack in his or her first turn and card effects apply to both partners on a team except those dealing with life points. Those only affect one duelist at a time," she rattled off the rules. "When I win, I get the Millennium Puzzle and the Shadow Pendant. If you win, I give your loved ones back and you all go free. All good?"
Kaiba nodded. Yami, however, frowned. "And Soraya will leave with us after the duel, correct?"
"Oh," Akiro exclaimed maliciously. "I'm so glad you mentioned that. You see these platforms we're standing on? When your life points reach zero, that platform will break. You fall through and land on a Shadow Disk. Then you will have the wonderful experience of having your soul ripped from your body and cast into the Shadow Realm." Everyone glanced warily down at the glass floor and the pitch-black disks shimmering ominously below.
"And one last thing," Akiro continued, turning to face her partner. "To keep you, my dear, from playing below your regular skill level, the lives of your friends are on the line. If you suddenly decide to do anything you wouldn't usually do in a duel, everyone dies, understand?" Not getting a reply, she smirked again. "In that case, I'll start off. One monster and two cards facedown. That's all for now, your turn, Pharaoh. I hope you have your answer."
Akiro: 8000
Yami: 8000
Soraya: 8000
Kaiba: 8000
Yami gazed at his opponents. What a cowardly thing to do, forcing Soraya to duel this way. He breathed deeply and drew his first card. "I play one monster in facedown defense mode and one card facedown. Your turn, Soraya."
This wasn't what I was expecting when I came. How am I going to get out of this alive? I can't even rig the duel or anything now… Soraya thought, drawing her card. Well, I'll have plenty of time to think about that. "I'll also play one monster facedown as well as two cards facedown. That's all."
Kaiba surveyed his hand. "La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp in attack mode and one card facedown." Now the real action starts.
Akiro grinned maniacally as she drew her card. "I'll begin by activating a trap, Needle Wall! Thanks to it, every faceup monster on the field is destroyed."
Kaiba took a step back as he saw his monster be impaled by the metal spikes raining down and disappear, leaving his part of the field empty. Shit.
Akiro wasn't done. "Now, I'll flip summon my facedown monster to reveal this little guy, Red Eyes Black Chick! By sending it to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon the mighty Red Eyes Black Dragon! Attack Seto!"
How could she get such a powerful monster so soon? I'll be down to 5600 now! Kaiba thought angrily, as the dark dragon reared back and unleashed it fiery blast. And she's still calling me 'Seto,' he groused, bracing himself.
"Multiply!"
What the...
Hundreds of furry Kuriboh appeared, filling up their side of the field, and taking the dragon's hit.
"I don't need you protecting me, Motou," Kaiba snapped irritably.
Yami rolled his eyes. Egotistical baka.
Akiro huffed. "Those stupid furballs won't help you for long," she muttered.
"I believe it is my turn now," Yami said. "I'll play this monster in defense mode and play the magic card, Swords of Revealing Light, flipping your facedown monsters faceup and preventing either of you from attacking for three turns." Soraya flipped over her card to reveal the cheerful looking Dancing Fairy. Yami scowled. "Another card facedown and I'll end my turn."
Yami hasn't attacked, he's really building up his defenses, Soraya thought, drawing her card. Well I can't attack, but this card will do. "I gain 1000 life points during my Standby Phase, thanks to Dancing Fairy and set another monster in defense mode," she said. "I'll finish my turn by playing Poison of the Old Man, inflicting 800 points worth of damage to…Yami's life points." The withered old man pulled a vial of purple liquid out of his cloak and tossed the vial at Yami's feet. The vial shattered, enveloping the Pharaoh in vile smelling purple smoke.
Akiro: 8000
Yami: 7200
Soraya: 9000
Kaiba: 8000
"That stuff smells disgusting, you know that?" Yami said conversationally, breathing hard out his nose to clear the scent. Soraya grinned apologetically.
Kaiba smirked and drew. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two more cards. Then I'll summon Lord of Dragons in attack mode and play Flute of Summoning Dragon to bring two Blue Eyes White Dragons to the field!" Kaiba exclaimed as the three monsters appeared. "Blue Eyes White Dragon, White Lightning on Akiro's Red Eyes Black Dragon!"
Blue Eyes let loose a blinding white beam of energy. Akiro growled as her powerful dragon vaporized on impact.
"Now I'll attack you directly with my second Blue Eyes!" Kaiba said satisfyingly as the next blast raced toward its target.
It never hit.
Akiro, anyway.
"Magic Cylinder…" Soraya's voice was hardly more than a whisper. The purple cylinder appeared in front of Akiro, swallowing Blue Eyes' attack before sending it shooting back at Kaiba. The CEO winced and shielded his face as the attack blasted by him, slashing 3000 of his life points away, and making his hair and coat flap wildly. When the air grew still again, he lowered his arm, staring incredulously at Soraya, who was careful not to make eye contact with anyone.
"Well," Akiro murmured, considering her partner. "Maybe I need not have worried about your dueling ability after all."
"Shut up," Soraya snarled, her nails digging into her palms. "Just shut the fucking hell up."
Kaiba turned away angrily. "Lord of Dragons, attack Akiro directly! NOW!"
Akiro: 6200
Yami: 7200
Soraya: 9000
Kaiba: 5000
Akiro brushed off the attack indifferently. "My turn, I'll play one monster and one card facedown. Now, let's make this more interesting, shall we? I activate my facedown card, Tower of Babel. Do you know what this card does, Seto?" she asked as the gigantic, brown, spiraling column sprouted out of the middle of the arena.
"I don't see why that matters. You're going to tell us anyway, aren't you?" Kaiba rolled his eyes impatiently. "And stop calling me 'Seto.'
Akiro shrugged. "I suppose you're right. From now on, when any duelist activates a Magic Card, a Spell Counter is placed the Tower. When the fourth Spell Counter is placed, the Tower will be destroyed, inflicting 3000 points of damage to the duelist who activated the Magic Card at the time," she smiled. "So I would be careful if I were you, Seto."
Kaiba growled.
Yami drew. "I play Gamma the Magnet Warrior in attack mode, attack Dancing Fairy!" he announced as the pink winged robot appeared and flew across the field.
"I activate my last facedown card," Soraya said, "to reveal Enchanted Javelin. It raises my life points by the same amount as the Attack of the attacking monster, in this case, Gamma. My fairy remains safe."
Yami exhaled in annoyance. "I play two cards facedown and end my turn."
"My turn now," Soraya said. "I gain another 1000 life points from Dancing Fairy and I flip my facedown monster to reveal Stealth Bird. When Stealth Bird is Flip Summoned, like now, it can deal 1000 points of damage to my opponent. Sorry, Yami."
"Me again?"
"Yeah, you again."
Yami shrugged and sighed dramatically. Soraya managed a smile and continued. "And because of its effect, I can flip Stealth Bird facedown again. Thanks to your Swords, I still can't attack, so I'll put one card facedown and end my turn."
"I'll summon Fire Kraken in attack mode, burn down that fairy!" Kaiba commanded. The fiery squid slithered over, reducing Soraya's fairy to cinders. "Now I equip Lord of Dragons with Axe of Despair, raising his attack power by 1000! Attack Akiro's facedown monster!" A round spell counter appeared in a ridge of the Tower of Babel as the dragon lord sliced apart the card, showing an armored knight before it disintegrated.
"That was Familiar Knight," Akiro informed. "His effect allows each player to Special Summon one level four monster from our hands, I'll choose this one."
"Fine, I'll choose Vorse Raider," replied Kaiba as Yami summoned Celtic Guardian. "To attack your monster again!" The card fell apart, revealing a feathered face with a scythe.
"Hane Hane," Akiro said. "Lets me return a monster on the field back to its owner's hand. I'll choose your Blue Eyes White Dragon."
Kaiba scowled as one of his favourite monsters disappeared from the field. "I still have another dragon on the field and you have nothing to protect you. Blue Eyes White Dragon, at-…" Kaiba hesitated and sent a wary look at Soraya. The girl gave no clue except for a sheepish smile. He frowned, but decided to take his chances. "Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack Akiro's life points!"
The mighty dragon reared and shot a blazing white orb toward the sorceress, effectively slicing off a large chunk of her life points. Kaiba smirked thankfully. Much better.
"Wasn't there anything you could do?" Akiro snapped at her partner.
"Nope!" Soraya chirped happily, giving her partner the brightest grin she had.
Everyone else snickered.
Tana: there you go, the first part of the duel. This was supposed to be longer, but I didn't want to make you wait any longer. I hope this duel is better than my first ones, the next part will hopefully be up soon. Until then...review and enjoy!