War Campaign, Part III
SC: There's not much left to this chapter of the game, but I'll try to make it worthwhile. I may even throw in some bonus material; we'll have to wait and see about that one.
I reiterate that it is indeed Yami/Atemu/Dark Yugi in control right now (and during the entire game), even though it just says "Yugi." I have to repeat this several times because whenever I try to explain it to my friends, they don't get it. They get all confused when they read my unpublished fanfiction because I call him Yugi, even though I mean Yami. In short, I call them both Yugi, just because it's easier for me, and I like that name better. If you don't like that, then I'm awfully sorry, but that's how the cards are stacked. Deal.
(Man, what a bad pun. Get it? Cards? Deal? Oh, never mind. On with the story.)
Recapitulation: "The last of the sun buried itself behind the horizon as the two opponents cried out into the night: 'DUEL!'"
My first battle, Yugi thought. Before him, Etos's three monsters glared and snarled in anticipation of the fight. May luck and the hearts of my monsters be on my side. Yugi had no idea what to expect in this match, so what next came instilled without a doubt surprise.
The air above the battlefield warped, reflecting iridescent waves of light. The bending rainbow light shifted and rearranged itself; Yugi swore that he could make out words forming in the nearest one, above Seiyaryu. He narrowed his eyes and read as the smeared letters came into focus:
Seiyaryu HP: 2015
Beneath the data came a row of four stars, along with a picture of the dragon's face.
"A status window!" Yugi exclaimed. "Of course!" In all his worry, Yugi had forgotten that this realm was in fact a game, and that as a game it must have some sort of battle system. He scanned the data for his other two monsters.
Celtic Guardian HP: 1675
Magician of Faith HP: 1352
Celtic Guardian's window had four stars, just as Seiyaryu's did; however, Magician of Faith sported seven.
Those stars... What could they mean? Yugi glanced at Etos's monsters and observed their status windows. Blackland Fire Dragon, Basic Insect, and Foreign Swordsman had three, five, and seven stars, in that order. It can't be related to the number of stars that they have as cards, for Seiyaryu's a seven-star monster, and Magician of Faith, a three. Nor can it be related to each monster's physical strength, for both Celtic Guardian and Seiyaryu greatly outrank Magician of Faith in that category as well. Yugi strained to come up with what the stars could mean; yet he found nothing. Argh! For all I know, those stars could be a rating of ugliness!
"Now we begin. My Foreign Swordsman takes the first strike," Etos declared. The warrior monster gripped the hilt of his sword and tilted his head down, the wide brim of his straw hat casting his eyes in shadow. "And I think I'll have him cross swords with your elf. Swordsman! Attack Celtic Guardian now!"
Foreign Swordsman leapt forward. In one smooth motion he drew his sword from its sheath and slashed it across Celtic Guardian's shoulder. The elven warrior stumbled backwards, bellowing in pain. Yugi's fist clenched as he watched his loyal monster grimace and step forward back into line. Not being able to dodge only makes the fight that much harder! Unless I figure out how this works, my monsters will only get hurt!
"Your turn, rebel," Etos said smugly.
Yugi looked up. "My turn?" How did he know? Glancing up above his monsters, Yugi noticed that Magician of Faith's data was highlighted a bright yellow. Beside her, a new column of words appeared, presenting to Yugi what he assumed to be commands:
Attack: This one was easy; obviously it meant using an attack on an opponent's monster.
Special: This command was written in faded gray letters, perhaps because it couldn't be used at present...? This didn't matter, for Yugi had no idea what it meant.
Item: This command was also faded, but its meaning remained apparent: use an item on a monster. However, Yugi knew that he didn't have any items, so this command was useless now.
Info? Yugi didn't know what this command meant.
Escape: Run away? Even if this option wasn't faded, Yugi knew he'd never run away.
Defend: Defend, as in defense? Could monsters in this realm assume defense mode, too?
Wait? Again, Yugi had no idea what to make of this command.
Right now, it seemed Yugi's only option was to attack or defend. He scanned Etos's monsters, and was about to direct Magician of Faith to attack Blackland Fire Dragon when out of the corner of his eye he noticed something peculiar on Foreign Swordsman's window. Where once there had been seven stars, only six remained!
That's odd, Yugi thought. Why did it go away? "Hmm..." Something wasn't right here, and Yugi, being Yugi, decided to find out what. "Magician of Faith!" he declared. "Attack the Foreign Swordsman!" The young magician nodded and raised her staff; seven spheres of light, one for every color of the rainbow, formed around the end of it before shooting forward in a rushing stream of energy. The blast struck the Foreign Swordsman in the stomach, winding him and knocking him over. Yugi couldn't help but grin as he watched the swordsman's HP drop by over a hundred points.
"Grrrrr..." Etos growled. "It seems you catch on quickly, for someone so young and inexperienced. Decided to take out the one with the most Action Points first, eh? Well, two can play at that game. Basic Insect," he cried, and the praying mantis stood up straighter, "attack Magician of Faith with your soldier spike!" The nimble insect monster hopped forward and dove into a tackle, driving its shoulder into the Magician of Faith's right arm. She let out a cry of pain and fell to her knees, clutching her wounded arm tightly.
"Oh no, Magician of Faith!" Yugi exclaimed. "Are you all right?" She looked up and nodded feebly, slowly rising to her feet, though still with her hand over the wound.
"My, my, I daresay I landed a critical hit with that last one, rebel. I don't think she could take another hit like that." Etos smirked maliciously. "Too bad for you."
Yugi balled his hand into a fist again. His teeth clenched in anger and he was about to say something very obscene to Etos when Magician of Faith shook her head, silently chiding him. Yugi relaxed a little bit, but only barely. He had to think of a way to win this before his monsters got too badly hurt. His thoughts turned back to what Etos had said: "Decided to take out the one with the most Action Points, eh?" Action Points... Etos had mentioned them earlier, too. But what were they? Yugi looked up to see that Magician of Faith's health had dropped by nearly half; she didn't have much to start with in the first place. He saw that she too had lost one of her seven stars, and that the Basic Insect was down to four. Why do they keep losing stars...? Yugi almost asked himself, when suddenly it dawned on him.
The stars were the Action Points! That's why the monsters kept losing them! An Action Point is what limits how many times a command can be performed – otherwise, the strong monsters would easily overpower the battles. That's why Seiyaryu and Blackland Fire Dragon had fewer stars... And why Foreign Swordsman and Magician of Faith had so many. So, to compensate for lower attack power, the weaker monsters could attack more times, thus making it even. It was so simple! Yugi felt like an idiot for not figuring this out sooner.
Then that means I really should take out the Foreign Swordsman first. He may not be as strong as the dragon is, but by attacking more times he can hurt me even more. The yellow highlight flashed in Celtic Guardian's window. "Celtic Guardian, it's payback time! Attack the Foreign Swordsman with Faerie Blade Slash!"
Celtic Guardian grinned. He pulled his sword back, point facing forward, and charged straight for Foreign Swordsman. Eyes flashing with anger, the elven warrior plunged the blade directly into his target's left leg. The red-stained tip came out the other side, earning a bellow of pain from Foreign Swordsman. He yelled even harder when Celtic Guardian yanked the sword out and jumped back into line. Streams of blood ran down Foreign Swordsman's leg into a small puddle on the ground.
Yugi felt bad for having to do this to a Duel Monster, but he had no choice. The highlight shifted over to Seiyaryu's window; apparently, a player could have two turns in a row. Seiyaryu glared with piercing eyes at the wounded swordsman, for it knew that he would be its target. Still, the rose-colored dragon waited for Yugi to declare the attack. "Seiyaryu! Finish what your comrades started! Attack Foreign Swordsman now!"
Seiyaryu flapped its wings and rose from the ground. Inside its open mouth, pale orange flames mixed with dreamy white ones, creating a heavenly fireball. The dragon launched the flames in the Foreign Swordsman's direction with a prideful roar. The fireball crashed into him, and in the instant the fire died, so did the swordsman. His sword slipped from his grasp with a clatter and he fell to the ground. Light issued forth from the jewel around his neck and swallowed his form up, so that no trace of the swordsman remained except the glittering gemstone.
"One down," Yugi found himself saying. He felt very distant from himself, a feeling of guilt settling down in his stomach. I'm sorry... he said mentally before focusing back on the battle at hand.
Etos looked devastated. "You... You insolent weakling rebel! How could you? How could you defeat my monster so easily when clearly this is your first face-off? How could you!"
Yugi could only smirk. "Wouldn't you like to know." After all, they don't call me the "King of Games" for nothing.
A flustered growl came from Etos. "I'll show you what you want to know! That I am still ruler of these lands!" The Blackland Fire Dragon reared up on its hind legs; small plumes of flame issuing as warnings from its nostrils. "Now, my great beast! Roast the Magician of Faith!"
The dragon roared fiercely and unleashed a wave of flames that crashed into the Magician of Faith with the force of a cannon ball. The heat was almost too much to bear for Yugi, being so close to the flames. The Magician of Faith screamed, and Yugi tried to see her through the blaze, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Magician of Faith!" Yugi cried, hoping upon hope that she had somehow survived...
Etos wasn't as apprehensive. "There's no way your weakling monster survived that blast. Just give up alread-" He cut off as the flames subsided, and there stood the Magician of Faith, panting heavily. "What! How on earth..." The magician's HP bar dropped to a meager fifty-eight. She had barely managed to pull through.
"It seems my monster survived enough to take another turn, Etos," Yugi observed. "Magician of Faith, go! Use the last of your power to attack the Basic Insect!" She nodded and tremulously raised her staff. Once again, the stream of rainbow light surged forth and struck the insect hard, actually knocking it back several feet. A quick red light flashed in Basic Insect's HP bar before the numbers started dropping by twice the amount of damage the magician had done before. "Yes! A critical!" Yugi exclaimed happily.
"A lucky shot, rebel," Etos growled. "Attack, Basic Insect! Tear that wench to ribbons!" Basic Insect clicked its pincers angrily and raised its claws. With a quick leap it bridged the gap between the two and brought its claws down across Magician of Faith. Her high-pitched scream split the air before the magenta light bubbled up from her jewel and swallowed her into its depths.
Magician of Faith had been defeated.
Yugi stood frozen in shock. After a moment, he made to pick up her gem when Etos cut in. "Leave her. She's not worth the effort of bending down anyway." Hot tears and anger burned in the back of Yugi's eyes.
Celtic Guardian's turn had come. Yugi couldn't find the words to speak his command, yet the elven warrior understood enough to know that a nod in the Basic Insect's direction meant to attack. Moonlight flashed off the steel of his blade as Celtic Guardian slashed across the Insect's abdomen. Seiyaryu's eyes seemed to match Yugi's as it silently flapped into the air and fired a plasma fireball at Basic Insect. The bug screeched and vanished in the light from his jewel, just as his comrade and enemy had.
And still, Yugi said nothing. (1)
The duel now stood at two to one. The scales had tipped in Yugi's favor.
"Grrrr... That's the last straw!" Etos snarled almost as fearsomely as his dragon did. "I am the ruler here! You cannot defeat me! My dragon," he roared in command, "attack that pathetic rebel's Celtic Guardian with Flame Gale!" The great green dragon reared up onto its hind legs again and let loose its hateful fire. Celtic Guardian was engulfed by the flames and bellowed in pain; Etos took on a psychotic grin and giddily cried out, "That's it, destroy! Kill! Burn! Slaughter!"
The fires died out, and Celtic Guardian took a staggered step forward. He planted the blade of his sword between two stones and put all his weight on it, panting heavily. Yugi felt the back of his eyes burn again as his loyal monster gave him one last apologetic gaze before collapsing. The light of his gem swallowed him up before he had even hit the ground.
Now the two opponents were tied, each with one dragon on his side.
"Ah, how the weak do fail," Etos commented lightly. "But that matters not, for now I plan to crush you like the spiky-headed insect you are. KAH HA HA HA HA!" He laughed at the insult he had made.
Yugi stared at the two faded gems that had been his monsters. Celtic Guardian, his loyal friend, and Magician of Faith... Téa's favorite card. The image of Téa's face flashed in Yugi's mind, but he blinked it off. No, she wasn't here now, and in any case, Yugi had a job to finish. "Seiyaryu," he stated plainly. The dragon nodded and cast its sapphire gaze on Etos and the one barrier between the two: the Blackland Fire Dragon. Yugi hated having to do this to monsters, even to ones on his opponent's side. But it had to be done, and so he hesitated only for an instant before crying out, "Attack! Shining Plasma!"
The heavenly fire formed once more in Seiyaryu's mouth. Across the way, the Blackland Fire Dragon tensed and hissed angrily in defiance of the attack. "Not tonight, rebel, for I'll meet your attack head on!" Etos interrupted. "Blackland Fire Dragon, show the rebel what you're really made of!" The great-scaled beast threw back its head in a howling roar and unleashed a wave of flame just as Seiyaryu released its fireball. The attacks sped towards each other with the force of bullet trains.
They collided.
The force of the explosion that resulted sent Yugi flying backward several feet. The inferno that blazed where the two monsters had been was so hot that some of the stones beneath glowed a vibrant orange, on the edge of melting. Yugi strained to see through the flames, yet they were blinding and neither dragon was visible.
"This is your demise, rebel!" Etos shouted over the roar of the flames. "For even if your monster defeated mine, yours would be gone too, and thus I would win, since I called the last attack!" (2)
After what seemed an eternity but was probably only a few seconds, the fires died. And in the haze of the battlefield, breathing raggedly and barely clinging to life, Blackland Fire Dragon emerged. Even while exhausted, the monster was still grinning from victory. Etos opened his mouth to gloat when a second figure also stepped from the smoke. Battered, charred in many places, and just as close to defeat as the other dragon, Seiyaryu stepped forward.
Etos was thunderstruck. "How! How did your monster survive? Yours is a weak, rebel nothing, while mine is as strong as the Empire... How?" Seiyaryu's eyes flashed; it still had one Action Point left with which to attack, and the Blackland Fire Dragon had none. "How did you win?" Etos muttered feebly as the fires of heaven crashed into his dragon and banished it to the depths of its jewel.
Yugi's glare matched Seiyaryu's. "With heart. And trust in my monsters."
Etos fell to his knees. Yugi exhaled loudly and gave Seiyaryu a gratifying gaze. The dragon nodded in acknowledgement, though it looked ready to collapse at a moment's notice. I promise not to let that happen to you again, Yugi vowed. He bent down and picked up Celtic Guardian's shiny green gem and was just about to get Magician of Faith's when Etos's sudden yell sliced the air. "Even if you did win, I can still eliminate your monsters!"
Etos leapt forward, clutching a part of a rock that had jarred loose in the explosion close. He raised it over his head and brought it down through the air above Magician of Faith's jewel. "NO!" Yugi cried yet in the same instant he had yelled a loud roar had rang through the air. A swift, tiger-striped dinosaur rushed forward from behind him and rammed its head into Etos's stomach. The man wheezed, then fell over, completely unconscious. The dinosaur snorted, having done its job well.
"Lord Yugi!" He spun around in the direction of the voice and saw Fizdis run towards him from the staircase. "Oh, you're all right! I waited thirty minutes like you said before coming in, but while Uraby and I were inside the castle we heard the explosion... We hurried up here as fast as we could..." Fizdis threw herself on Yugi in a hug. "Oh, Lord Yugi, I thought you had–"
"Shhh, calm down. I'm okay, see? I'm alive." Yugi patted her back awkwardly, trying to ease her sobs. Fizdis pulled back and looked up at him, tears lining her innocent black eyes. She sniffed and fervently rubbed the tears away. Behind her, Yugi could have sworn he saw Uraby roll its eyes.
"And what about you?" he asked, changing the subject. "You came all the way up here to help me, and you even defeated Etos!" Uraby snorted indignantly. "Okay, okay, you and Uraby defeated Etos. But still! You showed great bravery to do that."
Fizdis looked down at her feet. "But I was only doing what you told me to do," she mumbled.
"It is one thing to act, and another to act as one tells you," Yugi said simply.
Fizdis nodded, though she didn't say anything. Yugi stole a glance at Etos, still lying unconscious on the ground. His three amulets containing his monsters glittered innocently around him in the moonlight. Yugi sighed and collected the first two, yet when he made for the one holding the Blackland Fire Dragon he jumped back suddenly.
Rainbow sparks flurried upward in a spiral, not of a single color like the other's had been but of all the colors of the rainbow. Slowly the dragon's translucent form came into view, a faint silver glow around its edges. The Blackland Fire Dragon looked at Yugi, and somehow the yellow irises that had one been angry and full of hatred now looked apologetic and solemn. It spoke in a soft roar, not one that condemned Yugi to death but that pleaded with him. Even though Yugi did not speak Dragon, the King of Games could still understand what was being "said."
"You're sorry," Yugi stated plainly. Fizdis whirled around in his direction and gasped when she saw the dragon; she hadn't noticed it appear and thought Yugi's words had been directed at her. "You didn't want to fight for the Empire, but you had no choice." Blackland Fire Dragon stared hard at Yugi. "And you want to make up for it." The Dragon nodded quietly.
Uraby hissed angrily. No good for nothing Duel Monster like him could be allowed into the rebellion so easily! Did it think them to be fools? No one goes from opposition to redemption so quickly! Yugi looked to Seiyaryu and expected his companion to feel the same, and yet the rose-colored dragon said nothing. Strangely, it was giving Blackland Fire Dragon a penetrating glare, checking it out all over, and Yugi had an odd feeling that those piercing sapphire eyes could see into the dragon's very soul. As the defender of light and destroyer of darkness, Seiyaryu could ultimately be the final judge of who was trustworthy and who was harmful.
"Well?" Yugi asked his dragon testily. Blackland Fire Dragon looked with pleading eyes at Seiyaryu, and for a moment, neither man nor beast moved or spoke. Then, with the very air of a royal declaration, Seiyaryu nodded in the Fire Dragon's direction.
He had passed.
Blackland Fire Dragon roared with glee. He growled something or other to Seiyaryu, a friendly growl, and Uraby rolled its eyes again. The rainbow light bubbled up again from the jewel and Blackland Fire Dragon vanished into its depths. Yugi picked up the still gem and looked at it fondly. A new ally...
And Yugi draped the chain around his neck, letting it join his other monsters.
"N-Now what, Sir?" Fizdis asked. Now that the action had passed, she was back to her usual timid self.
Yugi glanced up at the moon staring down at them like the unblinking eye of an owl. "We take out the trash," he said.
Shimon had made it about halfway to Jakhud when he ran into Yugi and Fizdis. He nearly fell over from shock when he saw Etos tied up and unconscious on Uraby's back. Even after losing his memory, Lord Yugi had still managed to defeat the enemy! Shimon knew of middle-aged men who were not as powerful as this youth, and at such a young age...
Oh, he knew Lord Yugi was special all right. He would amount to great things in the times to come.
Morning dawned as they traveled. The threesome continued on until Uraby stopped atop a hill. "There it is!" Fizdis squealed happily. Below the group of three, nestled between two hills, lay Phedon. "This is the town where Uraby and the others scared away the soldiers!" She bounced up and down from excitement. Uraby gave a loud sigh. Why oh why had he accepted this silly young girl as his master?
Yugi studied the small buildings and houses with interest. "So this is Phedon? It's a nice little town."
"Quaint, indeed," Shimon agreed. "And they're waiting for you," he added.
"M-me?" Yugi stammered.
The older man nodded. "Of course! You took on the ruler of these lands, won, and freed the province! They'll be dying to see you up close."
Yugi sweatdropped. "But, surely they don't think me that great."
Fizdis looked down at her thumbs. "Well, when I was here last, I kinda' said some nice things about you..."
"Like what?"
"Uh... I think I mentioned you as being 'their savior in these dark times,'" she said sheepishly.
Yugi sighed heavily. "Gre-ea-eat. And I'm horrible at public speeches too."
When Yugi and the others rode into town, all the townspeople on the streets looked up. They immediately recognized Fizdis from yesterday, and when they saw Etos bound by ropes and gagged, they all stood agape at first before jumping for joy. Fizdis jumped off Uraby's back and greeted the townspeople happily, who in turn took to studying the other two members of the rebellion. At first glance, they thought Shimon to be the resistance leader, simply because he was eldest.
Everyone was shocked to learn that it was in fact Yugi, a child in his or her eyes, who defeated Etos.
But soon the shock wore off, and celebration followed, in which Yugi was passed around the crowd of people. After what seemed to be an eternity he broke free from the pressing villagers and went back over to Seiyaryu. He rubbed his hand fervently; he felt as though he must have shaken hands with everyone at least five times.
Seiyaryu gave a purring growl as Yugi stroked its neck affectionately. "I think you deserve the real credit for the fight," he murmured so that no one would overhear. Behind him, Shimon and Fizdis continued interacting with the crowd.
Yugi glanced down at the four amulets around his neck. The one that was his shone with the same vivid purple. Blackland Fire Dragon's hung dormant on its chain. Celtic Guardian's and Magician of Faith's jewels had regained their sparkle; it seemed the monsters had recovered from the fight. Yugi could almost feel the hearts of his monsters within the gems. Celtic Guardian was angry that he had been defeated and had failed his master. And Magician of Faith... she was fine, happy as can be.
Yugi saw this as a good thing. If she was okay, then somehow he knew that Téa was okay, wherever she was in this world...
Yugi felt himself blushing and shook the thought out of his head. "I'll find her," he whispered to himself. Seiyaryu watched as Yugi's eyes narrowed in determination. "I swear on my life."
Seiyaryu only stared up at the bright blue sky.
(1) Isn't that what he'd do? Yugi's really protective of his monsters; he'd feel bad if one of them got destroyed.
(2) I don't know for sure if this is true in the game or not, but it makes sense, aye? Let's say Monster A was about to die and Monster B, who was poisoned and also about to die, attacked. Monster A would faint but Monster B would take damage from poison, thus they both die. Logically, the win should go to Monster B. However, I don't know if this is how it actually works in the game, so I may be wrong.
SC: (falls off chair) I finished it! YES:victory pose: Man, was that annoying to do. But anyway, for those of you who overlooked the obvious hints that I threw in there, this story has a MINOR (minor, minor, minor) amount of Yugi/Téa (although, since Dark Yugi/Yami's in control right now, it should really say Yami/Téa). This will really be the only time it's mentioned until several chapters in the future. It may come into play later; I haven't decided yet. But romance isn't a main plot device here and now.
Well, Blackland Fire Dragon has joined the fray. This will be important later, so remember it well!
Other than that, I have nothing more to say. Hope you enjoyed it! We'll end with a little bit of review responses.
Neo the Mage-Blade: You're the only reviewer for chapter two! Thanks for leaving one. Sorry, I don't plan to include any of those four monsters (Neo and Legendary Fisherman aren't even in the game, and I don't think Masaki is either. I know Kanan is, but her personality/strengths don't really match the characters well). Fusion, huh... I really don't use fusion when I play the card game. I only use it in the free-fuse games (that's what I call 'em anyway), where you just pick two cards and they automatically fuse. I grew up on that stuff, baby. :cough: But anyway, the only name for a Dark Magician that I know of belongs to a friend, so give me three seconds to come up with one that won't get me sued. :thinks: Okay, this is stupid, but how about something like Ombre? It's French for shadow; looks stupid in writing but sounds great out loud. I don't know. I suck at naming things.
To anyone who read the chapter, thank you! Please leave a review, and maybe you'll get a paragraph response like that one!