I wanted to have this next chapter up before I went for my 12 (which turned out to be 14-day Orz|||) vacation, but I had greatly underestimated its complexity and how FREAKING MUCH WORK IT WAS OMG. _____ I honestly don't think I can or WILL write another game/duel like this AGAIN unless I can get someone to play with me and we can just document what happens turn-by-turn. These are just too damn complicated. I had to keep track of Lifepoints, monsters, turns, while putting in all the little special scenarios… I didn't even get to use all the ones I wanted to because of complexity (and poor planning on my part .). So… as you can tell, I skipped them using their own cards (and by that I mean they're "technically" using their own decks, but if you know anything about them these aren't their decks [and that's because it would have been a whole 'nother level of OMG WTF DO I DO?! D8;;; that I did NOT want to deal with *dies a little inside *]), so… sorry. ^_^;;;; In short, it was hard, and I hated it, but I hope you at least enjoy reading it. From here it gets… different. 8DDDDD;;
~Atakiri
PS And somebody asked me this, so I'm just going to confirm—I DID make up the rules for the Duel Monsters Concentration; if you know of another game that's similar or even the same (eep O_o;;;) I swear I did not hear of it before hand.
Chapter 3 -_-_- I Refuse to Lose
"You can go first," Yami Bakura said arrogantly, moving around to his side of the cards. Yami took his place in front of his own. "After all, this is my game, I might as well give you a handicap."
"Do what you will, snake," he spat. He looked at his cards, looking at the blank backs. Who knew what lied under each card? He believed in his cards; he truly believed they wouldn't let him down, and somehow he knew that they wouldn't. We can do it, he thought, speaking directly to the cards and Yugi. Somehow he could tell what Yugi would say.
I know you can.
Numbers appeared in the air behind them, thin, burning numbers that blazed orange against the purple clouds. 4000, 4000.
"Monster, lend me your strength!" he shouted; his voice boomed in the silence of the Shadow Realm just like in the middle of a Duel. He threw his arm forward, pointing directly at the black heart of one of the cards. It didn't move.
"Didn't I say, Pharaoh?" Yami Bakura asked sarcastically. "The cards don't flip over until you've chosen both." Yami scowled, but pointed at one of Yami Bakura's.
"Go, my beast!" he shouted. Both cards flipped over at the same time; Yami felt his heart drop for a moment. Kuriboh; one of his closest monsters, but too weak. How could it be enough? He looked at Yami Bakura's card and felt his face his face crack into a triumphant smile.
"My Kuriboh has one hundred more attack than your Dragon Piper!" he shouted, glaring Yami Bakura right in the eye. With a scream, the card shattered into a million triangular pieces, just like when a monster was destroyed in a holographic duel. The Kuriboh turned over. Yami Bakura's arrogant smirk never slipped, even as the numbers unwound themselves like snakes behind him and moved into new numbers.
"Good job, Pharaoh," Yami Bakura said. "I like seeing hope on your face—it lets me know that it'll crush you all the more when you lose." He stared at the face-down card thoughtfully. "How fortunate, though; the one monster in my cards that could be defeated by your little mud-covered puff ball." He raised his eyes to Yugi's and glared at him triumphantly. "I purposefully part that card in there to spark that hope; thank you for taking it out of the game so early!" He pointed at two cards using his index and middle fingers.
"Go! Destroy his pathetic monster!" The two cards turned over, revealing Kuriboh and a Mad Sword Beast. There was another cry, different this time, as Kuriboh shattered. Yami grunted in pain as his Lifepoints dropped. "Incredible how quickly this game can turn, isn't it?" Yami Bakura asked, smirking. "Now I'm beating you by a thousand points." He shrugged. "Oh well, go again, Pharaoh."
Yami scowled, but pointed at two cards.
"Destroy his monster with your might!" he shouted. The two cards turned over; his own Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress and Yami Bakura's The Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams. The ghost's scream echoed through the quiet before it shattered. Yami Bakura laughed at something Yami couldn't see.
"Very well, Pharaoh!" Yami Bakura shouted. "I choose these two cards!" They turned over; Yami's Beaver Warrior and Yami Bakura's The Portrait's Secret. Two screams shook the clouds around them and both cards shattered. "Well it looks like I guessed right!" He smirked at Yami, who scowled bitterly at him. "Then I will choose these two! Attack!" Yami Bakura's Dragon Zombie destroyed Yami's Koumori Dragon. "Well well Pharaoh—you take another hit. Are you too scared to continue?" He glared haughtily at Yami, who glared back at him with all the loathing he could muster.
"Attack my beast!" he shouted in response. The two cards turned over; his own Skull Red Bird to a Headless Knight. A muffled cry of pain; the Headless Knight shattered.
"Incredible, Pharaoh," Yami Bakura scoffed, even as his fiery numbers moved. "How unfortunate you are! You keep choosing monsters that only win by a hundred points. Is someone losing his touch?" He pointed at two cards before Yami could answer. "Cards!" he shouted.
The two cards turned over—his own Penguin Soldier and Yugi's Mystical Elf. A squawking cry rang through the heavy air and the Penguin Solider shattered.
"What was that about my luck?" he asked, showing a little of his own arrogance. He crossed his arms and smirked. "You just so happened to choose one of the few monsters my Mystical Elf could defeat! It would seem that you're loosing your touch as well." The numbers behind Yami Bakura shifted again. Yami Bakura's smirk didn't shift.
"You might have destroyed my Penguin Soldier, but it's effect will take much more from you!" The cry sounded again, stronger this time, angry and determined. The Penguin Soldier itself appeared over the field—not the card, but the monster itself—waving its sword angrily. "Go my Penguin Soldier! Destroy two of his monsters!" With a war cry, the penguin pierced first one card and then a second one; the two cards shattered without turning over. The penguin shrieked in triumph before being blown away by a nonexistent wind as if it was made of smoke.
"No!" Yami shouted, looking at the gaps in the neat rows of cards. "That isn't right! Penguin Soldier's effect sends two of my monsters back to my hand, not to the graveyard!"
"Oh, did I forget to mention?" Yami Bakura asked, sounding pleased with himself. "There is no hand, or graveyard, so all cards are removed from play! Only cards that call a monster from the graveyard can be used to resummon these monsters—which have to stay in face-up position—not cards that call monsters from your hands."
"Damn you, Bakura!" he shouted. "All rules to the Shadow Game must be told before it begins!" Yami Bakura shrugged.
"What can I say, Pharaoh? I just forgot," he said "innocently". He laughed darkly and Yami ground his teeth together.
"My turn!" he shouted, cutting Yami Bakura's laughter short. "I turn over this card—my Mystical Elf!" The card he pointed to turned over. "I set her in Defense Mode and end my turn." The card rotated by itself. Yami Bakura smirked.
"Very well, Pharaoh!" Yami Bakura said, crossing his arms. "I don't believe it'll help you though!" He pointed to two of the face-down cards on the field. "Consume his Lifepoints!" The two cards turned over; a triumphant smirk settled over Yami's face for a moment before turning to horror. His card was a Gemini Elf, one of the most powerful normal 4-star monsters. But Yami Bakura's card was Patrician of Darkness. A card with 2000 attack.
Gemini Elf shattered as the fiery ropes that were his Lifepoints rearranged themselves.
"Dammit!" Yami swore under his breath.
"You can do it!" Yugi shouted from where he hung against the boiling sky. "Believe in the heart of the cards, Pharaoh! I believe in you! You can win this!" Yami looked up at his partner and smiled. Yugi smiled back. He'd forgotten for a moment that Yugi was watching this game as well. He could suddenly feel his partner's presence like a field of electricity around him. He felt confidence surge through him, knowing that his partner was there, cheering him on.
Yami nodded once to him before turning back to the duel.
"I won't let your luck faze me, Bakura!" he shouted, his voice reinvigorated by the reminder of Yugi's presence. Instead of looking cowed by this surge of confidence, Yami Bakura looked delighted. "I believe in the heart of the cards, and my bond with Yugi! Our friendship will not be broken by some foolish game! Come, my monster! Destroy his Patrician of Darkness!" He pointed to two cards; the first one turned over on his side, and he felt a stutter of horror in his heart; Man-eating Treasure Chest. That was only 1600 attack; not nearly enough to destroy his Patrician of Darkness. Had the heart of the cards failed him?
"Tch." He looked up to see Yami Bakura grimacing, staring at his card that had been turned over. He looked as well and felt his eyebrows climb up his forehead. The card that had been turned over was a Baron of the Fiend Sword, not the Patrician of Darkness. Before his eyes the card shattered, and Yami Bakura's Lifepoints rearranged themselves into a new number.
2700, 3600.
"Impressive once again, Pharaoh." He looked into Yami's eyes, and he wasn't smiling so much anymore. He looked frustrated. "Even when you make a mistake you aren't wrong." His smirk returned, but it was more an expression of anger than contemptuous amusement. "But I won't allow you to be so lucky now!" He pointed to one of his cards, one right next to the gap left by his Baron of the Fiend Sword, which Yami knew housed the Patrician of Darkness. "I flip my Patrician of Darkness over, locking him in Attack Mode! Move now Pharaoh! What will you do when the only monster you can attack is my Patrician of Darkness?!"
Yami stared at the card, his brow furrowed in concentration. He knew the Patrician of Darkness' effect was to make it so Yami Bakura got to choose the attack target of all of Yami's attacking monsters, and knowing Yami Bakura he would use the power so that all of his attacking monsters had to attack it. This meant that he couldn't target any of the face-down cards in the hopes that they were weaker. His only hope was to believe in the heart of the cards and trust them to save him.
"My monster! Attack, and take my faith with you!" he shouted. The card flipped over. It's attack wasn't nearly enough to destroy Bakura's Patrician of Darkness. But its effect was.
It shattered with a scream, and the numbers behind Yami changed. But his smirk didn't.
"You may not know this, Bakura, but my Newdoria comes with a special effect—when it's destroyed in battle it can destroy one monster! And I choose your Patrician of Darkness!" Heavy beats shook the ground, jarring both Yami and Yami Bakura; the cards didn't move. A massive creature suddenly appeared behind Yami, towering over him. It glared at Yami Bakura with sightless eyes, who took a step back, his face set in an aggressive scowl. "Destroy his card, my monster!" The Newdoria let out a howl and brought one of its limp hands crashing down onto the Patrician of Darkness. It cast a shock-wave out, making some of the cards spin and fly into the air as the Patrician of Darkness shattered with an agonizing keen. The cards that had been sent flying flew back to their proper places and settled once more, seeming as if they'd never been disturbed. The Newdoria blew away like smoke, just like the Penguin Soldier before it.
Yami Bakura scowled.
"Count your blessings, Pharaoh! You were fortunate this time, but next time you won't be so lucky!" He pointed to two of the cards, then brought his hand up and pointed them straight at Yami's heart. The two cards flipped over; Yami flinched as his monster—and a hundred of his Lifepoints—were destroyed.
"You can do it Pharaoh!" Yugi shouted, suffusing all of his hope and faith in his voice. Yami clenched his fists; he couldn't let Yugi down. Not Yugi, not to an enemy as despicable and loathsome as the spirit of the Millennium Ring.
"I'll protect you, my partner!" he shouted, flinging his hand out, his fingers spread wide. "I'll protect my puzzle and our future! I will not fail you!" He pointed to two cards. "Destroy his monster!" He scowled bitterly; a tie. The two shattered, but he ignored them—he was already on to the next two. "Attack!" The two turned over and Yami laughed with victory—his Fairy King Truesdale had a thousand more attack than Yami Bakura's Pyramid Turtle.
"Now Pharaoh, really—why on earth would you be laughing now?" Yami Bakura asked, his voice sly and dark, even as the fiery numbers moved behind him and his card shattered with a scream. Yami fell silent, eyeing Yami Bakura warily. "Didn't you notice, Pharaoh? What color was my card?" Yami's eyes widened.
"It was an effect monster!"
"Ding ding ding, we have a winner, Pharaoh," he said, his voice dripping with scorn. "And my Pyramid Turtle allows me to summon one zombie-type monster with a defense of 2000 or less from my deck!"
"But we don't have decks!" Yami shouted angrily; he knew Yami Bakura was going to shed light on some other rule Yami hadn't heard of. Yami Bakura grinned at him, none of his earlier frustration showing, and wagged his finger back and forth at Yami.
"There's that interrupting thing again, Pharaoh. You may think you're so high-and-mighty, but how about letting us little people speak when we have the power to bring you big ones to your knees?!" He threw his arms out to either side. An enormous ripple appeared in the clouds above them and a monstrous shape emerged, larger than their entire playing field. It roared, its cry deafening. Yami grimaced and held his hands tightly over his ears, but Yami Bakura didn't seem to notice the sound—he was still laughing as if he had just thrust a dagger through Yami's heart already. "Go my Pyramid Turtle! Reveal to me the location of my Vampire Lord!" All of the cards started to shake and rumble as if the plane they were on was rippling; the Pyramid Turtle roared again, and then suddenly a card in the row closest to Yami Bakura and a little to the left of his hand flew into the air, spinning and turning as it did until it fell onto the plane once again, sending the cards rocking in one final shock-wave before the energy and the Pyramid Turtle receded once more.
Yami glared at the face-up Vampire Lord, torn between his horror at its arrival and his fury with Yami Bakura for not telling him all of the rules. He could practically feel Yami Bakura's smirk.
"Now it's my turn, isn't it?" His voice dripped malice and a promise of blood. "Go my Vampire Lord! Suck the life from my enemy's body!" A card on Yami's side of the field flipped over; Giant Red Sea Snake. With a cry it shattered, scattering Yami with shards. He scowled. "And guess what?" Yami glared at him, knowing what followed could not possibly be good. "When my Vampire Lord takes a bite out of your Lifepoints—as it just did, dear Pharaoh—I get to choose one type of card and you must remove it from your deck. Which means you must send one of your Monsters to the graveyard from the field!" Yami ground his teeth, but he believed Bakura; he knew that card's effect as well.
"I choose my Feral Imp! Thank you for your sacrifice, my monster!" A card two rows away from him flipped over and shattered with a scream. He could hear Yami Bakura starting to chuckle.
"Well… well… well, Pharaoh. Still feeling so high-and-mighty?" Yami raised his eyes to glare into Yami Bakura's. Yami was positive in that instant that he stared into the face of evil—every part of his expression, the smile, the way his eyes were narrowed, reeked of absolute joy at Yami's frustration, at the fact that he would lose his soul forever when he lost. There was absolutely no doubt in that face—Yami would lose, and when he did he would shatter like the worthless soul he was, lost for all eternity in a pit of hell he was only deserving of. And the fact that Yami could see this, could imagine that fate, could be shaken by the horrendous thought of it filled the spirit of the Millennium Ring with ecstasy.
But he was making a big mistake—Yami wouldn't lose. Yami didn't lose. Never. No matter how skilled his opponent, no matter how poorly-suited he was to the game.
Yami. Did. Not. Lose.
He was the King of Games, and he didn't need some false title given to him by Seto Kaiba to know that. He'd proven it time and time again—every time Yugi was in trouble, every time he was challenged, or he made the challenge, to protect his friends or to protect his puzzle. Every game he played, he won. No matter how tough, how tight, how frightening, no matter the stakes. He would not lose because he could not lose. And if he could beat Seto Kaiba, and Maximillion Pegasus, and Marik on countless occasions each in a game as complicated and prone to turn-arounds as Duel Monsters, he could certainly beat this two-bit hack at a child's game of Concentration!
"Laugh all you want, Bakura!" he shouted, hoping his resolve and his anger and confidence shone through his voice and burned Yami Bakura's skin. "It'll be your only comfort when you whither in the Shadow Realm!" He called upon two face-down cards; they flipped over, and Yami Bakura's card shrieked in pain as it shattered. The numbers rearranged behind him again. Yami's 1600 to Bakura's 2400.
Yami Bakura smirked.
"Poor Pharaoh, it's alright. You don't have to act brave anymore—when you're lost in the Shadow Realm, I know someone will mourn your passing—who else will I have to crush?!" He threw his head back and laughed, and Yami suppressed a scowl. Damn that bastard, damn him to the deepest pits of hell. "Well I won't keep you waiting, Pharaoh—I know how the worry can be worse than the true event!" He pitched his arm into the sky, and Yami's card flipped over. "Of course, in this case the real thing is so, so much worse!" A scream; Yami flinched as his Lifepoints were lowered once again. "And thanks to my Vampire Lord's effect, you're now down another monster, aren't you?"
"I choose my Stone Soldier," he said, his voice still burning with confidence. A card two rows down and to his left shattered with an agonizing scream. Yami Bakura smirked.
Yami could feel a tendril of anxiety deep in his stomach, emerging even through his confidence and resolution. Bakura had a thousand more Lifepoints than him. And the field was starting to look very empty—Yami Bakura still had more than half of his monsters, but Yami had only seven left. Seven monsters. True, he hadn't revealed anything truly powerful yet, which meant that the odds were high they would be in these seven cards, but what if Yami Bakura had effects that threw away his monsters regardless of attack? It was a frightening thought.
He tried to push everything away; he knew it would help him, knew it could only hinder him. He shunted everything to the side until there was only one thought in his head that he knew to be absolutely true—he couldn't survive any more turns with the Vampire Lord on the field.
"You can do it Pharaoh!" Yami turned again to Yugi, his eyes ablaze with confidence. "Things might look bad, but this is always the part of the duel where everything falls into place, all of the cards come together! Believe in the Heart of the Cards, Pharaoh, just like you always do! They always come through for us, always now, when things look so dire and hopeless! Just believe in the Heart of the Cards, like I believe in you! They know we're right, they know we're just! They won't let us lose!" If Yami had ever been thankful for his partner—and he had on several occasions—it was nothing compared to how he felt now. For a second he wondered how he could ever live without his partner, and for a second he was glad that if anything happened to his partner he wouldn't be around too long to have to deal with it. But he quickly threw that thought away—he didn't want to take comfort in the fact that if Yugi died he'd pass on, too. Right now he had to focus on not letting that happen, so he and Yugi could have years to spend together yet.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He let his belief in the Heart of the Cards, in his partner, in the fact that they held a bond that couldn't be broken and couldn't be broken now, flow through his body. He then pointed, unsure where he pointed, or at which card. He opened his eyes and stared straight down his finger, at the black hole in the back of a card.
"Go! My monster! Take the faith in my heart and strike his Vampire down!" He could hear Yami Bakura scoff. He watched as the card flipped over. Yami Bakura gave a strangled cry of shock and his Vampire Lord shattered, taking some of Yami Bakura's Lifepoints with him. Yami smiled at the face of his Dark Magician.
"Thank you, my friend," he said to the card as a cry of joy from Yugi came from the sidelines. "It's wonderful to see you." The card flipped back over again, hiding in the shadows, ready to attack at it's master's next call. Yami Bakura was growling quietly in the back of his throat, but he forced his annoyance down.
"Very good, Pharaoh! It would seem luck's on your side, this time!" he shouted. "But don't think you'll be so fortunate the whole game. I will destroy you and that foolish host's spirit and claim your puzzle as my own! Nothing will stop me, especially not some amnesiac pharaoh!" He pointed directly at Yami's heart. Yami just scoffed.
"Except for your general incompetence, of course." Yami Bakura drew his shoulders up at reflex. He hissed at Yami.
"My monster! Attack his face-down card!" he shouted. A card on his side of the field and a face-down card on Yami's side both flipped over. With a scream, Yami's was destroyed. Yami shrugged it off and called upon his Dark Magician and one of Yami Bakura's monsters; the thing never stood a chance. Yami Bakura grimaced in pain.
"Don't get haughty yet, Pharaoh," he snarled. Yami smirked. "Just because you've gotten lucky this time doesn't mean you'll win. You can rely on that Dark Magician of yours if you want to, but don't think it can support you forever."
"I don't need it to last forever," Yami said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He was still worried, still aware that he was in a perilous position. But showing a strong side to Yami Bakura, showing that confidence that lurked there, too, was his best weapon right now. "I just need it to last long enough to decimate what remains of your Lifepoints."
Yami Bakura growled furiously and gestured to two face-down cards. They flipped over, and he was barely able to restrain a furious grunt as his card shattered, taking some of his Lifepoints with it. Yami was unable to hold back a laugh.
"Don't speak so soon, Bakura," he said mockingly. "Maybe you should stay quiet as well, eh? After all, better to keep your mouth shut than to shove your foot in it." He raised his hand up and pointed to one of Yami Bakura's cards. "Go my Dark Magician! Destroy his face-down card!"
Yami Bakura almost screamed as Dream Clown was destroyed, taking almost all of his Lifepoints with it. Yami couldn't help but smirk.
"What you said before is true, Bakura." Yugi was cheering loudly in the background. "It's amazing how quickly the tables can turn. Look at our lifepoints, and look at the field. Now you have only one monster more than I do, and one of mine is the Dark Magician. What do you have that can beat that?"
Yami Bakura didn't say anything; he just glared at Yami and seethed. His shoulders moved in time to his breathing, but he didn't say anything. He could feel that he was on the edge of a dangerous precipice. He was near the end of his rope—there wasn't much hope that he could defeat Yami at such a weakened state. And what irritated him more was that Yami knew it.
Yami turned to the prone form of Bakura, who was still hanging unconscious by the dark rings around his wrists and ankles.
"I'm sorry, my friend," he said to the unconscious body, Yugi glancing at his friend as well. "But I promise—I will save you." Yugi turned back to Yami and gave out a frightened cry. But it was too late.
With a hideous snarl Yami Bakura had pushed himself off the ground and was sailing towards Yami already; Yami barely had time to turn before Yami Bakura was on top of him, his fingers clawing at the chain around the Millennium Puzzle.
"I won't lose!" he shouted furiously as Yami struggled to beat him off. "Not to some foolish, arrogant fool like you!" The two rolled about, fighting each other with all of their might. Yugi was still making sounds of horror and dismay, urging the Pharaoh on and reacting to every hit Yami took as if they had been struck against himself, too.
Yami ground his teeth and tried to pry Yami Bakura's hands away from the puzzle, while at the same time trying to kick him as hard as he could. But Yami Bakura seemed oblivious—he was too focused on stealing the Puzzle to feel anything else.
Suddenly the world began to grow hazy and insubstantial, like Yami was floating in a dream. He blinked owlishly, but it didn't help—he was still just as physically strong and in control, but still everything felt so surreal. Too surreal. He could hear Yami Bakura's maniac laughter ringing in his ears, though it was like someone had covered the bell first. He abruptly had a sickly feeling of being washed away by a powerful wave and then coming back. And it was then that he understood.
Yami Bakura was trying to use the power of the Millennium Ring to force Yami's spirit out of the Puzzle.
Yami called upon the power of the Puzzle, using all of its, and his, power to keep his spirit in the puzzle. Yami Bakura growled in irritation at Yami discovering his plan. Yami Bakura called all of his power into the Ring, as well.
For a moment the world seemed to swim in a clear water of dreams and nightmares, and then everything went black.