All right, now we get to Max's first official duel in this story. Will Max be able to fight against Arkana's Magicians of Darkness?
Well, all I can say is that it's going to be a big battle.
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Between my Brother and Me
by Green Phantom Queen
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Chapter 8-Wind against Thunder and Lightning
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Mokuba was concentrating on something. His eyes were shut as he felt energy running through his veins. Then his eyes opened and an orb of magical energy appeared in the palm of his hand.
"Whoa..." He whispered to himself. "Is this...my magic?"
Khonsu nodded his head, sitting amongst a plethora of stuffed animals on the ground. The two were currently in Mokuba's soul room as Leo Minor was sitting on the Moon God's lap.
"Now," said Khonsu. "Focus it into a shape...any shape you want..."
"Okay..." said Mokuba. Staring at the orb of magic, it started to stretch and grow, twisting around like vines until forming some sort of neck. Then spikes grew from its back, and small blobs appeared under the neck. With a puff of smoke, the orb became a small dragon. The creature opened its small eyes and flapped its tiny wings at its creator, greeting the young boy with a hello.
"And hello to you too." Mokuba said with a small smile. The dragon clicked its teeth and soon fluttered around the room. It turned to the left and landed on the desk, using its small teeth to grab onto a chocolate parfait upon the silver platter, before settling on the rest of the delicious treats. The two boys could do nothing but laugh at the site.
"I'm amazed at your progress." said Khonsu, gently placing the lion cub onto the floor before standing up. "You truly are Moka's reincarnation."
"You keep saying that I resemble Moka either through aura or resemblance." said Mokuba. "But...what else do you know about him?"
"Moka was an orphan child who became my vessel at the age of 4." Khonsu explained. "And he looked so different then all of the children...he wouldn't even shave his head, which was a tradition for all male children. Even still, he loved the evening sky and commented that after his duties as my Vessel, he would want to live with me in the moon and fly across the evening sky and play with the stars. He was also considerate of others, giving up his own time to play with the other children to help someone who had been cursed with a disease or monster...and he was also good friends with some of the other Vessels....In fact, he was able to see when a god came down from the heavens to walk amongst the citizens of the kingdom."
Khonsu bowed his head as he continued. "But at the end, when Pharaoh Atem became corrupted by the Heart of Chaos, he sought my power first...because he knew that I was a god who protected him. At first, Moka—who was around 7 when Atem came into the temple—thought it was some game...but when I got word of it, I fought Atem in Moka's body. I could not kill him, because the Heart of Chaos half he had inside him prevented his death. I left Moka's body to make sure he would not die and worked on a spell to purify the Pharaoh...but Atem weakened me and was preparing to drain all of my power...At the last minute, Moka came in and took the spell that was meant for me, causing him to die. The last that I saw o him, was him saying, 'Now can I fly across the evening sky, and play with the stars?' Then...his eyes closed, and Atem was laughing at the site, laughing at the site of me losing my Vessel."
Mokuba stared in shock and sadness as tears fell Khonsu's white eyes. The Moon God began to sob at the memory as Leo Minor sat near the Moon God, meowing.
"Don't worry Khonsu." said Mokuba, clasping the Moon God's hands. "The Heart of Chaos is no longer in the Pharaoh, so he's not going to after you anymore. And you have me now to take Moka's place....I promise that I'll be here forever. Forever and ever."
"Really?" asked Khonsu, blinking away some tears. Mokuba nodded his head.
"I promise from the bottom of my heart." said Mokuba. "And with your magic, I'll learn how to fly and we can visit the Moon and stars whenever we want! I'll never be lonely, because you'll be with me!"
"Thank you." Khonsu replied, sniffling a bit. The young Moon God soon wiped away the last of his tears before speaking. "Now, I need to remind you of one little thing when dealing with my powers. When you tried to show your powers to your brother, you nearly went and attacked him, had it not been for me taking over you the last minute and saying that we needed to leave."
"Yeah, I was wondering why I felt so strange." said Mokuba. "Is that just a side effect?"
"More or less." said Khonsu. "Since you just received your powers, you're still not adjusting to my spirit residing inside you. That can cause imbalance in your soul and cause unwanted anger and frustrations...sometimes blacking out."
"Does that happen with all first time Vessels?" asked Mokuba.
"Sometimes." was Khonsu's simple reply. "All the Vessels react to their chosen god in different ways, so it's only natural that you felt some anger in you...it might be because your body just accepted the concept of magic and it made you...unbalanced."
"Well, you're right about that." Mokuba said in reply. He soon closed his eyes and clutched his head in pain. "Khonsu....I'm...sensing something...."
Khonsu placed a hand upon the younger Kaiba's forehead and closed his eyes. Seconds later, he stepped back.
"The Seal of Orichalcos." He murmured. "Three instances of the Seal had been played recently. One of them encased the Goddess of Joy, but she escaped...."
"The second one, I cannot tell who it is...but I detect great power from the person..."
"And the last one...involves the Prince of Wisdom."
Mokuba soon lowered his hands and opened his eyes, feeling no pain hurting his skull. "Are we close by?" He asked. "Are the Goddess of Joy and Prince of Wisdom near?"
"I believe they are at the place you call 'Industrial Illusions'." Khonsu answered. "Let us hope that the Prince of Wisdom does not lose against this evil..."
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"Since the Orichalcos is mine, it's my turn to take the stage." said Arkana. "And I'll start by playing Dark Magic Curtain!"
The spell card appeared, revealing a upper half skeleton draped with a black cape. A dream-catcher-like symbol was under its ribs, and swirling amongst the cape was dark energy.
"Oh no!" said Yugi. "He's going to bring out his Dark Magician!"
"Wait." said May, turning to the King of Games. "This guy has a Dark Magician like yours?"
Yugi nodded his head. "Yeah," He answered back. "And this guy has more than one copy of the card...Max is in big trouble."
"Lady and Gentlemen," said Arkana, tipping his hat. "May I present to you—at the cost of half of my life points—my Dark Magician!"
The curtain opened to reveal the Dark Magician, but unlike Yugi's—who was dressed in a royal purple garb and had a serious look on his face—this Dark Magician was dressed in red with white hair and dark skin...
Also, this Dark Magician looked more insane as he stared at Max with maniacal glee.
"And thanks to the Seal of Orichalcos." Arkana continued. "My Dark Magician gains 500 attack points!"
Dark Magician laughed as the Orichalcos appeared on its forehead, its eyes glowing in a red light. (2,500/2,100) -) (3,000/2,100)
"3,000 attack points?" Max gasped out. "That's the attack strength of a Blue Eyes White Dragon!"
"How observant." said Arkana. "But luckily for you, I cannot summon any other monster this turn, nor can I attack. So, I'll be ending my turn with two face down cards."
Two cards appeared behind the Dark Magician.
(Arkana: 2,000)
(Max: 4,000)
Max gulped a bit as he saw the cards in his hand.
I don't have Silent Magician in my hand, and I doubt she'll stand a chance against that monstrosity! Max thought to himself. Nothing in my hand is strong enough to destroy that thing....I best play it safe.
"I play my Pot of Greed!" said Max, playing the Magic card. The green grinning pot chuckled as the young boy drew two cards from his deck.
"Next, I'll Special Summon Watapon in Defense mode!" said Max.
A white furry creature with antennae and large eyes appeared, bearing a big grin. (300/200)
"That's your strategy?" asked Arkana. "Throwing puffballs in an attempt to save yourself? And you call yourself a magician!"
"Maybe you should read up Watapon's special ability." said Max. "Since I drew Watapon outside of my Draw Phase, I get to Special Summon him onto the field. And as for my Normal Summon, I'll play one monster face down."
A sideways card appeared to the right of Watapon.
"To end my turn, I'll also place two cards face down. Your move." Max ended.
"Max has two monsters on the field," said May. "So even if Arkana summoned another monster, he won't be able to touch Max's life points, right?"
"I'm not sure about that." said Yugi. "Arkana has many cards that could cause Max to lose his monsters, and trust me, they're nothing but trouble."
Arkana drew a card and grinned. "Let's summon my second performer!" He said, placing a card onto the disk. "I summon Legion the Fiend Jester in Attack mode!"
A mannequin with a red pointed cap with green shoulder and knee pads appeared in a burst of confetti. (1,300/1,500) -) (1,800/1,500)
"And now, I'll attack your face down monster!" said Arkana. "Dark Magician, attack with Dark Magic Attack!"
Dark Magician pointed his staff at the face down card. A beam of black energy hit the card, revealing a grizzly old man with a black cloak crouching in defense. (400/600)
"Ha!" said Max. "That's Old Vindictive Magician! And since you attacked it, I get to destroy one card on the field! So say goodbye...to Legion!"
"What?!" May exclaimed. "Why did he do a move like that? Dark Magician is stronger than Legion!"
"Your brother knows that." Yugi answered. "But if Max destroyed Dark Magician, Arkana would use his other monster to attack Watapon, leaving Max wide open for an attack on Arkana's next turn. By destroying Legion, Max is still able to keep his second monster, giving him a chance to summon a stronger monster and somehow fight back."
Old Vindictive Magician let out a laugh as he shot a blast of magic at Legion, destroying the dark clown.
"Well," said Arkana. "You saved yourself for now, so I'm ending my turn at that."
Max drew a card, and a small grin was soon formed on his lips. This is just the card that I needed! He thought to himself.
"Say Arkana." said Max. "Have you ever relied on luck?"
"Are you saying that a Magician such as myself need something like luck to perform?" The Magician exclaimed. "You must be joking!"
"No, I meant if you ever relied on luck in your duels." Max replied. "You better start because I'm playing my Magic Card called Reasoning!"
The Magic Card revealed, showing a man in a turban and green coat, pointing to a card floating in the air.
"Here's how it works." said Max. "You choose a number—any number, as long as it's reasonable—and I draw cards until I draw a monster. If the monster's level is the same as the number you called, that monster goes to the graveyard. But, if not, I get to Special Summon it onto the field."
"A little guessing game, huh?" said Arkana. "Very well then, I choose four."
Max drew two cards—the first one being Xing Zen Hu, the second Heart of Clear Water—placing both of them in the graveyard. When he drew the third card, he smiled.
"Guess again!" He said. "I'm Special Summoning my Level 2 Miracle Flipper in Defense Mode!"
A small Spellcaster appeared, with a similar headpiece, shoulder pads and boots to the Dark Magician, except it was blue with yellow lining. He was also wearing a cape, plus a purple tunic also added to the look of the blue haired boy. He was wielding a red staff with an orange crystal ball on top. (300/500)
"He's so cute!" said May, seeing Miracle Flipper on the field. The young Spellcaster smiled at the Dark Magician, although the older magician ignored the greeting.
"All of that for a little boy?" asked Arkana. He soon began to laugh. "What's next? Rabbits out of a hat? That's child's play!"
Miracle Flipper scowled in anger at the remark.
"True." said Max. "But it isn't only the magician that the audience pays attention to, it's also the magic tricks that they want to see!"
"What are you getting at?" asked Arkana.
Max smiled and showed him a Magic Card. It depicted Millennium Shield destroyed by some sort of energy blast.
"Shield Crush." He stated simply. "With it I can destroy any monster in Defense Mode. So I'm going to use it to destroy Miracle Flipper."
Max placed the card into the slot as Miracle Flipper gasped in shock...then, without warning, he screamed as he was shattered into pieces! All that was left of him was his staff.
"Max!" May screamed. "What are you thinking?!"
"Destroying your Magician, perhaps?" Arkana answered. "What will that accomplish?"
Max walked up and picked up Miracle Flipper's staff, then he pointed the weapon at Dark Magician. A beam of orange magic hit Dark Magician who could do nothing but scream and disintegrated.
"W...What have you done to my Magician?!" Arkana screamed. The staff in Max's hands vanished as Max took a deep breath.
"It's simple." Max explained. "If Miracle Flipper gets destroyed due to the ability of a Magic or Trap card, I can destroy one monster on the field, namely your Dark Magician."
"You've got rid of my main performer," Arkana snarled. "But he'll return, just you wait."
"Yeah, yeah I get it." said Max. "But I still have Watapon to use, so now I'll sacrifice it for my Dark Red Enchanter!"
Watapon was soon replaced with a red dressed magician with blonde hair along with a golden spiked helmet and shoulder pads accented with an orange orb on each of the items. In his hand was a crescent shaped staff with an orange orb in the middle. (1,700/2,200)
"Dark Red Enchanter gains two Spell Counters when he's summoned onto the field." Max explained. "And he gains an extra one for every Magic Card that's played. Plus, he gains 300 Attack points for every Spell Counter he has!"
Dark Red Enchanter muttered something under his breath as two orange orbs circled around his body. (1,700/2,200) -) (2,300/2,200)
"All right!" said May. "Max's monster has 2,300 Attack points while Arkana only has 2,000 life points! Max will win the duel!"
"Not so fast, May." said Yugi. "A duelist like Arkana always has some trick up his sleeve."
"Dark Red Enchanter!" said Max. "Attack Arkana directly with Dark Flare!"
Dark Red Enchanter's staff began to glow. Then it launched a magic attack at the masked magician.
"You activated my trap!" said Arkana. "I play Draining Shield!"
A barrier appeared which blocked Dark Red Enchanter's attack! Arkana grinned at the young boy who looked on in shock.
"Draining Shield?" Max repeated. He stayed silent as he recalled Marius commanding his Vileplume to use Drain Punch before speaking again. "Let me guess, it negates my attack but you gain life points equal to my monster's Attack Points?"
"So you've brushed up on your Duel Monster cards." said Arkana. "And yes, you are correct. So now, what are you going to do?"
"Darn it!" said May. "And Max was so close in defeating him!"
"Yeah," said Yugi. "Arkana is going to destroy your brother at this rate."
"I'm ending my turn at that." said Max. "Your move, Arkana."
(Arkana: 4,300)
(Max: 4,000)
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"I've been trying to contact Pegasus." said Mokuba as he stared onto his laptop. "But there's no signal from Industrial Illusions at all. I don't like where this is going."
"I had a feeling that would happen." said Kaiba in response. "Whoever Alister's working for must've already gotten their hands of Pegasus. And if that's true, I'm sure our new friends will be expecting us."
"I'm guessing you have a plan to outsmart them, right?" asked Mokuba.
"As always, Mokuba." Kaiba replied. "I'm always one step ahead of them!"
Mokuba smiled a bit at the reply from his brother, before a frown appeared on his face.
"Khonsu." He whispered. "What's going on? What was with Alister...and that Seal of Orichalcos he played?"
I checked for any lie behind his story, but he's clean. Khonsu explained. Apparently he truly did see his brother captured by your step-father, and the scene he saw with Gozaburo was not a tale.
"But..." Mokuba was about to say, but then grit his teeth. The audacity Alister had to insult me and Seto...I understand that Gozaburo was a jerk, but he should have come to us, instead of dragging us both to Duelist Kingdom like that!
Desperate times call for desperate measures. And if we do not hurry, the Prince of Wisdom will fall...
Isn't there some way for us to go faster?" We'll never get to them at this rate.
I'm one step ahead of you. Said Khonsu. Stand back.
Mokuba heard chanting in his head, but was able to understand the words like he had known them for all his life. Then, he soon felt a gust of wind under the belly of the Blue Eyes White Dragon jet, as if they were riding on the wind currents.
"Interesting." said Kaiba. "The jet is flying faster than expected."
Mokuba wanted to explain the truth, but decided to stay quiet, hoping that the gust was enough to move them closer to their goal.
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Arkana drew a card, placing another one into the Duel Disk. "I'll play my own Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." He announced.
He drew his two cards before placing a monster face down in Defense mode. "That's all." He stated simply.
Dark Red Enchanter gain another Spell Counter, his attack raising to 2,600.
"Really?" Max asked. "For a Magician, I thought you'd want to surprise me!"
"A Magician needs to have the perfect timing to execute a well thought of trick." said Arkana. "Just you wait, I'll have the last laugh soon enough."
Max drew a card. He then brought one up and showed it to his opponent. It depicted a golden beetle with a circle of strange symbols on its metallic shell. (0/0)
"Is this the card you're going to summon?" asked Arkana. "And if it is, why are you showing it to me?"
"First off, this isn't the monster I'm going to summon." said Max. "And second, the reason I'm showing it is because I'm activating its special effect. My Golden Ladybug lets me gain 500 life points once per turn if I show the card to my opponent."
"So you gain some applause, but not a lot." said Arkana. "What's next?"
"I'll tell you what's next!" Max shouted. "Dark Red Enchanter, attack that face down monster!"
Dark Red Enchanter fired a blast of energy at the face down card, revealing a tomato with an evil looking face. It soon exploded into nothing but red pulp. (1,400/1,100) -) (1,900/1,100)
"What the heck was that?" asked May.
"A Mystic Tomato." Yugi answered. "If it's destroyed, Arkana can summon a monster onto the field with 1,500 attack points or less. And I think I know what he's doing...he's repeating the same combo that he used against me the last time we dueled."
"I'll play a second Mystic Tomato into Attack mode." said Arkana, as another evil looking tomato appeared. (1,400/1,100) -) (1,900/1,100)
"Well, I'll just add some more power!" said Max. "I'll summon my Maiden of Macabre in Attack mode!"
The blue skinned geisha appeared, wielding her skull scythe. (1,700/0)
Arkana grinned. "You've activated my Trap Card!" He announced.
One of his face down cards activated, revealing a red coffin with a pentagram in the middle. A coffin that looked similar to the image of the card replaced it, opening its lid as both Mystic Tomato and Maiden of Macabre got sucked in.
"This is my handy Dark Renewal!" said Arkana. "And now I'll sacrifice my Mystic Tomato and your Maiden of Macabre to bring back a Spellcaster from my graveyard!"
"Wait..." said Max. "You're going to be summoning..."
"You catch on for someone so young." Arkana replied with a grin. "By using these two monsters, I'll bring out my star of the show once more! Come forth, my Dark Magician!"
The lid of the coffin closed. It opened soon after and the red Dark Magician appeared once more, laughing maniacally. (2,500/2,100) -) (3,000/2,100)
I can't defend this time! Max thought to himself. Luckily, even if Arkana summons another monster, I'm going to lose 400 life points from his Dark Magician, plus some more from the monster that attacks me. I guess this is the feeling May felt when she fought Bandit Keith.
"I'm ending my turn." said Max. "You're up."
(Arkana: 4,300)
(Max: 4,500)
Arkana drew a card as a huge grin appeared on his face. Then he started to laugh, causing chills to fall down Max's spine.
"What's so funny?" asked Max with some fear.
Arkana stopped laughing, staring at his opponent seriously. "I just drew the card that's going to end this duel! First, I have to sacrifice my Dark Magician!"
Dark Magician soon became wrapped by a swarm of shadows.
"Hold on!" said Max, raising his hand. "I activate my Joyful Doom Trap Card!"
His trap card revealed, showing a frightened old woman with her white hair sticking out as if it got caught in a tornado. Her face looked as if she had seen the dead.
"This Trap makes your Dark Magician's attack points drop all the way to zero." Max explained. "But in exchange, I gain life points equal to its attack points! That means I get 3,000 life points."
"It doesn't matter either way." said Arkana. "Have 10,000 life points if you need to, it's still not going to stop my Dark Magician from becoming stronger."
"Wait," said May. "There are other Dark Magicians?"
"Yeah." said Yugi. "There's monsters like Chaos Command Magician and Dark Magician of Chaos that are in the same family as the Dark Magician, and I know which monster Arkana's trying to summon."
"I sacrifice my Dark Magician," Arkana announced. "To summon my Dark Eradicator Warlock!"
The red Dark Magician was soon replaced with a fancier version of the purple Dark Magician. Most of his armor was gone, replaced with purple robes, and a staff that looked like a horned trident. (2,500/2,100) -) (3,000/2,100)
"And here's its special effect." Arkana continued. "Whenever either of us play a Normal Magic Card, you lose 1,000 life points."
"What?!" May screamed. "That's so unfair!"
"No it isn't!" said Arkana. "I activate my face down card, Mystical Guillotine!"
The spell card revealed the famous beheading device as a real guillotine appeared on the field.
Dark Red Enchanter disappeared from Max's side of the field and was soon stuck under the guillotine. The blade shimmered in the light as Dark Red Enchanter gulped.
"Here's where the fun starts!" Arkana laughed.
Dark Eradicator Warlock glowed in a dark aura as Max screamed in pain. He got on his knees and took a deep breath.
"And now, I'll behead your precious magician once and for all!" said Arkana. "As Marie Antoinette once said, 'Let them eat cake!'"
The blade of the guillotine fell as Max closed his eyes. The sound of the blade slicing through something was heard...then all was still. Then the guillotine vanished.
"I'm not through yet." said Arkana. "I'll summon my Malice Doll of Demise to join in the fun!"
A wooden doll with blonde hair and overalls appeared, wielding a carpenter's ax. It laughed at Max with utmost glee. (1,600/1,700) -) (2,100/1,700)
"Now my monsters!" said Arkana, pointing at Max. "Attack him directly!"
Dark Eradicator Warlock's staff began to glow in dark flames as he fired a blast toward Max. Malice Doll of Demise swung its ax toward the boy.
"Wait," said May. "Max has 7,500 life points, he lost 1,000 life points from Dark Eradicator Warlock's ability and those monsters have 5,100 attack points combined. That means..."
Max screamed as pain ripped throughout his body. He fell onto the ground as he grit his teeth in pain.
"HA HA HA HA HA!" Arkana laughed. "Your pathetic deck is no match for my unstoppable Magicians! Just surrender and it'll be less painful for you."
"Never..." Max hissed, as he got on his knees. "You're not going to defeat me!"
Arkana frowned. "Guess I'm going to have to make you understand the hard way! I'll play my Ectoplasmer Magic Card!"
"Now your brother's in trouble May!" said Yugi. "Arkana can now sacrifice any monster he wants, and half of their original attack points will be taken away from Max's life points!"
"Correct, Yugi!" said Arkana as the Magic card appeared. This one depicted a white blob escaping from the back of a human. "And I'll use my Malice Doll of Demise to end my turn!"
Malice Doll of Demise stopped laughing as it slumped over. An orb of white light escaped the body and shot toward Max! Max cringed in pain once more.
(Arkana: 4,300)
(Max: 600)
Max grit his teeth as he saw the situation at hand: a Magic card that can cause direct damage to his life points—but he could do the same thing to Arkana—a monster who makes him lose 1,000 life points for every Normal Magic Card played, and he had no monsters that could defeat them! All he had was Card of Sanctity, Rush Recklessly, and Golden Ladybug.
I better draw something good, or else it's all over! He thought to himself.
"Max!" said May. "Don't give up! You have something that could stop this madman!"
"I...do?" asked Max. Then it hit him. "Of course I do!"
"Believe in your deck!" said May. "You can't fail your monsters now, can you?"
"No!" said Max, as he drew a card. His eyes widened at what it was.
It's Millennium Comet! I can summon Jirachi with this...but I only have Golden Ladybug as my only Light Monster...
Wait a minute...Golden Ladybug might be the card I need to end this duel!
"All right Arkana!" said Max. "Prepare to meet your doom!"
He showed the magician the Golden Ladybug card. "My Golden Ladybug gives me 500 more life points so now I have 1,100 life points to use!"
"And what good will that do?" asked Arkana. "You don't have a card in your hand that could save you now."
"Maybe not in my hand." said Max. "But how about my deck? I'll play my Card of Sanctity!"
Dark Eradicator Warlock's eyes began to glow as Max felt a jolt of pain run through his body, but he ignored it as coins fell from above the ground.
"I guess you know how this card works." said Max. "We draw till we get six cards."
Arkana didn't reply, but drew four more cards while Max drew three. Max stared at his hand for a while before a smile was on his face.
"It's too bad it has to end like this." said Max. "I had a lot of fun."
"What?" Arkana exclaimed. "What do you mean by that? You have no monsters or magic and trap cards on the field, and you're down to your last 100 life points. Of course, you mean that it's been fun for me to see you be defeated by the likes of a Master Magician?"
"I mean that I'm going to end this duel with a bang!" Max explained showing Arkana a Magic card. "I'm playing my Ritual Magic Card known as Millennium Comet!"
Max played the spell card on the field, depicting a yellow star streaking through the heavens. On the field was a giant black meteorite.
"Now let me explain," said Max. "To make this work, I have to sacrifice two Light Monsters from my hand or on my side of the field into the graveyard So now, I'll sacrifice my newly drawn Silent Magician LV 8 and Chaos Command Magician from my hand to bring out my monster!"
Silent Magician LV 8 and Chaos Command Magician appeared in a spiritual form before transforming into orbs of light. They then absorbed themselves into the space rock as it started to glow in a blue light.
"Oh wow." said May. "It makes me wish I had my old Wish Catcher on me."
"May, what exactly is going on?" asked Yugi, still watching the duel through the gates.
"A miracle." May said simply. The meteorite soon started to crumble as black shards of rock fell and as beams of light shot from under the cracks.
"W...what is this?" said Arkana, gasping at the light surrounding Max's field. Max smiled as tears fell from his eyes.
"May I present to you," said Max. "May I present to you, on this very stage, my faithful friend...Jirachi, the Wish Granter!"
The light dimmed, revealing the Steel and Psychic type Pokémon. Its eyes were opened as the blue tags on its yellow star pointed head began to glow as its small yellow cape fluttered in the wind. (?/1,000)
There was some silence in the air before Arkana began to laugh. Dark Eradicator Warlock also let out a booming laugh, causing May to feel nervous.
"What's so funny?" She exclaimed.
"It's just that." Arkana replied, after taking a breath. "It's just that I was looking for something more menacing, and not some star fairy for Circus shows!"
"CIRCUS SHOW?!" May yelled. "At least I don't try and behead monsters you...you..." She grit her teeth as she screamed out, "YOU EVIL, SADISTIC MONSTER!"
"May, calm down." said Max. "I'll handle this guy...no, Jirachi and I will handle him."
Jirachi began to glow in a rainbow colored aura as the tag on the right star point began to be covered in white lettering.
"Let me explain the basics." Max continued. "Jirachi has 3 different effects, all that can be used once he's summoned. First off, its attack points is half of the combined attack points of the monsters I used to summon it. So, since Silent Magician LV 8 had 3,500 attack points, and Chaos Command Magician had 2,400, then you divide that in half...you have a grand total of 2,950 attack points!"
The eye on Jirachi's stomach opened as power washed over the Wish Pokémon. (2,950/1,000)
"Then," Max added. "Jirachi's second ability states that during my Standby Phase, I gain life points equal to his Defense Points. Since he has 1,000 Defense Points, I gain 1,000 life points."
"And last but not least, Jirachi can destroy one monster on the field as long as I discard one Light monster from my hand!"
"But you don't have a Light monster in your hand!" said Arkana. Then, his eyes widened when he saw Max's Golden Ladybug card; Golden Ladybug was a Light Monster!
"Does it finally ring a bell?" Max replied, discarding the Insect type monster into his graveyard. "And where I come from, this is called Hyper Beam!"
Jirachi began to to glow in a brilliant light as the last of his two teal tags began to glow in a bright light. Then, a giant orb of pure energy was released from his mouth, hitting itself dead on with Dark Eradicator Warlock. The magician screamed in pain as it eroded into dust.
Arkana stood at the spot where Dark Eradicator Warlock used to stand, his face seeing nothing but shock.
"This...can't be..." He gasped out. "My monster was unstoppable..."
"Unstoppable in attack strength, yes." Max replied. "But its weakness was that it couldn't stop the effects of monsters."
"Oh, I hope I didn't forget to mention the second half of Jirachi's third ability; since Jirachi is a star type Pokémon, this ability depends on the level of the monster destroyed. You lose 200 life points times the level of the monster. So, say goodbye to 1,400 life points."
Arkana cringed in pain as a Jirachi attacked him a bolt of white light.
"It's time to end this!" said Max. "Jirachi! Attack Arkana directly! End this with Doom Desire!"
The eye on Jirachi's stomach shot open as the Wish Pokémon was bathed in silvery light. Arkana began to sweat as he saw the power building inside the small creature.
"FIRE!" Max screamed as Jirachi charged at Arkana...Jirachi closed his eyes as an explosion of light surrounded the area.
"Too bright!" said May, as she and Absol covered their eyes. Yugi also shut his eyes and moved away from the brightness. In fact, it was so bright, everyone else inside the foyer of Industrial Illusions had to cover their eyes!
"My eyes!" Valon cried. "Someone turn off that light!"
"Where the heck is that coming from?" asked Téa.
"Don't know," said Tristan. "But it should die down soon enough."
The light dimmed down as Max saw Arkana on his knees. The young boy couldn't help but sigh in relief as he got on his knees also, panting for breath.
"Game...over." Max stated simply.
(Arkana: 0)
(Max: 100)
The Seal of Orichalcos shrank, soon surrounding over the masked Magician's body. Arkana didn't scream, probably due to shock of Jirachi's attack. When the Seal of Orichalcos vanished, the body slumped over as the card fell down near him.
"Thank you Jirachi." said Max, staring at the Wish Pokémon. "I'm glad that you could help me out."
I'll always be there, Max. Jirachi said in his head. But right now, I need to sleep...Good night.
Jirachi soon became an orb of light, returning into Max's deck. The boy smiled a bit, seeing that Jirachi was with him no matter what.
"Max!" May cried, hugging her brother. "You're all right...I was so worried."
"May..." Max replied, as he turned his body to wrap his arms around her. "I was so...afraid..."
He then began to cry, tears falling down his face. Even with him able to stay calm after the whole ordeal, the attacks that he endured from Arkana scared him...he was only 7 years old after all.
"It's all right, Max." said May, hugging her brother tighter. "Everything is going to be all right, I promise."
Suddenly, May heard the sound of a car coming this way. Absol growled as it prepared to strike. The car started to become closer as the details became clearer: a blue convertible with a driver and two passengers in the backseat.
"Look!" said May. "Someone's come to help us!"
The car soon came to a screeching halt, just as Absol was about to use Razor Wind. The driver—a teenager with spiky black hair, red headband, dice earrings and green eyes soon got out, running toward May and Max. Seeing him closer, May noticed that the driver was also wearing black jeans, a black shirt and red vest.
"Duke Devlin?" asked Yugi, seeing the Dungeon Dice Monsters creator. "What are you doing here?"
"Well," said Duke. "I met up with these two on my way to Industrial Illusions."
He pointed to both Weevil and Rex who looked exhausted, probably from how fast the car was driving.
"As we drove through the desert road, I noticed a couple of motorcyclists sprawled on the road and they told me of two kids and a couple of creatures who defeated them." Duke continued. "I also heard them tell of four teenagers with descriptions similar to you and your friends. And as I was driving on the road, there was this giant light, and I thought it was some sort of explosion...so that's how we ended up here."
He then turned to May and Max, who were still in their embrace. Then he turned to Arkana's unconscious body. "What...happened here?" He asked.
"It's...kind of a long story." May answered.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Millennium Comet (Magic Card)
Type: Spell/Ritual
Level: -
Attribute: -
Attack: -
Defence: -
Image: A yellow star streaking down from the heavens.
Description: This card is used to Special Summon "Jirachi-the Wish Granter" onto the field. You must sacrifice two Light monsters from your hand or side of the field to use it.
0
0
0
Jirachi, the Wish Granter (Monster Card)
Type: Fairy/Ritual/Effect
Level: 10
Attribute: Light
Attack: ?
Defense: 1,000
Description: This monster cannot be Normal Summon or Flip Summoned. This card can only be summoned through the Ritual Card "Millennium Comet". This card's attack points is half of the attack points of the monsters tributed through Millennium Comet. During your Standby Phase, increase your life points by equal to this monster's Defense Points. Once per turn, you can destroy one monster on the field as long as you discard one Light monster from your hand. The owner of the monster destroyed loses life points equal to the monster's level x 200.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Max: That was so scary May...I can't believe how powerful Arkana was.
May: It's all right Max, you're okay...he's not going to hurt you any more.
Yugi: This is what I warned you about! You two are too young to be going in this dangerous game!
Max: It doesn't matter! May and I promised to help you out, and we're going to keep dueling!
May: That's the way! I'm dueling no matter what!
Mokuba: And if they're going in, I am too! The three of us must be together to help stop this evil from spreading!
Max: The only question is, what's next?
May: Simple, we're going to force our way inside Industrial Illusions and stop the duel Joey is currently in.
Mokuba: But how are you going to do so? If Khonsu's weapon couldn't break through, what makes you think you can?
Max: Because we have a secret weapon! Something we have that they didn't realize!
May: Wait a minute! Do you mean...
Max: Exactly! They'll never know what hit them!
Mokuba: Next time, Between my Brother and Me chapter 9: "Seeking the Water of Knowledge"
May: I wonder how everyone's going to react to our surprise.
Max: It's about time we hit those bikers where it hurts!