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Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.
Kindred Spirits
Chapter Six: Clash of Wills! Yusei vs. Seto!
It was midday when Shada regained consciousness. Shada was relieved that Yusei was unharmed, and even seemed eager to speak with him. Yusei was at a loss for words about the priest's request. Shada's calm, friendly disposition made Yusei uneasy; for the short time that they conversed in the cell, Shada seemed like a stoic man. It was remarkable what Shada talked about, the ancient Egyptian man knew almost as much about the Signers and Crimson Dragon as Yusei himself did.
"There was a temple that the dragon took me to. While we were there it showed me a vision; a savage war took place between the Crimson Dragon and Earthbound Gods."
Like in Ruka's nightmare, Yusei noted.
"Anything else important you saw?"
"Just the dragon's experiences fighting alongside you. It's very fond of you."
Yusei blinked. He was flattered.
"Did Stardust say it was mad at me?"
"No. If anything, it was happy you showed up to win it back from Jack."
"Did it tell you anything else?"
Shada smiled.
"Nothing else of importance, but now I have a better impression of you. I'll tell the other priests that I support you, and with the palace judge backing you up, the other priests will feel better supporting you."
"Thank you."
Shada nodded before he took a long sip of water. He hadn't been this excited in ages.
=(0)=
Mahado had little time to collect his thoughts when Shada awoke. The Dark Magician found it difficult to focus on the magic residue around Shada due to the lingering thoughts of Isis in his head. The raw magic on Shada was still faint, but Mahado traced some of it back to the crimson mark on Yusei's arm. The other half was far away, but he had pinpointed that it was coming from the throne room.
He turned to Yusei and asked, "Any guesses?"
"Stardust Dragon."
=(0)=
Yusei was out of the prison. In the Pharaoh's palace no less. It was an insult to his title, Seto thought, for a potential threat to walk around freely when he, the Pharaoh, specifically gave orders to keep him isolated. Since most of the priests weren't following orders, Seto took it upon himself to administer the law. He left the throne room and made it to the tablet room alone.
In front of him was a dragon carved into the tablet. Its graceful form hid its terrible might.
Seto spoke, "Kisara. I need your power once again."
=(0)=
It was mid-day when Yusei was beckoned to the throne room. There was a lot of people there, including most of the priests, and Yusei thought he spied the top of Atem's hair in the crowd. The strange thing was that people made room for him; an outsider with potentially dangerous powers and knowledge. He made a beeline for the throne until he could see Seto's smirk.
"Finally here, I see."
"I was tired. Being imprisoned does that."
Yusei felt odd speaking to Seto. Yusei didn't particularly like him, but saying something rude could prove fatal on his part. He didn't want to insult someone who had the title-and perhaps the power-of a god.
Seto chuckled.
"Yusei. Let me make myself understood to everyone here. You have one day to leave this place. Although some here say you don't pose a threat, I've found evidence that you do."
He stood, and pulled Yusei's duel disk from a servant.
"This man has his own DiaDhank, as well as more than twenty of his own shadow creatures!"
There was a small gasp from the crowd, and Yusei felt the urge to shout back.
"Coming here with weapons like that doesn't exactly give you my trust."
"Pharaoh. Forgive me. I don't know how to leave."
Seto's grin widened.
"Then I will send you away myself. Face me in a Shadow Game!"
Atem knew that Seto's glare could freeze one's soul, but seeing Yusei's glare was something else entirely; twin whirlpools of blue rage that drowned out any of Seto's cold logic.
"No."
Seto turned ever so slightly, so that Yusei could just see Seto's glance while the Pharaoh's back was turned to him.
"You do not know who you are speaking to. I am Pharaoh."
The tension in the room increased tenfold, and Atem braced himself to spring to Yusei's defense.
He was taken aback at the humorless chuckle that he heard come from Yusei. The other man's head was now downcast, and Atem couldn't see the other's eyes. Yusei quivered for a moment in silent laughter before he raised his head to meet Seto's angry stare.
"What irony. I'm a king myself. I wonder if I beat you, what will there be for me to gain?"
There was a huge collective gasp from the crowd. Some guards started to surround Yusei as several crown members ran towards him with rage.
Seto turned around so that Yusei could see his full expression. His mouth was a thin line. His eyes were wide with shock at the insult. He had expected anger from the duelist, but not in the way that Yusei had expressed it. It made Atem wonder what he looked like when he was really angry.
Seto then threw his head back and laughed into Yusei's angry stare. It was full blown laughter that resounded throughout the large chamber. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch the Pharaoh.
"You couldn't defeat me. I would crush you in an instant."
This time Yusei met Seto's smirk with a cool stare of his own.
"Just try it."
Atem rushed forward with Isis and the other priests, towards the two quarreling men. Karim and Shada lifted the Key and Scales respectively, in an attempt to stop the Shadow Game before it began.
Seto's hand tightened on the Millennium Rod. A dark void shot out of it in all directions. Everyone in the room was thrown back as the void formed a clear sphere of purple-gray force around Yusei and Seto. The golden light of the chamber began to dim until the room took on a darker shade. Even the sunlight which shown through the courtyard seemed to halt at the barrier produced by the Millennium Rod. All was silent save Seto's booming voice.
"The Shadow Game has started. The first step: The Wager! We each declare what shall happen if each one of us would win this game. When I crush you, I'll send you back to where you came from!"
Yusei shouted in response to Seto's boast, raising his voice over the howls that came from the void around them.
"If I win this battle, you must resign your title as Pharaoh!"
Seto laughed.
"Then it has begun! Daiha!"
++=(0)=++
"This is very bad."
Mahado frowned at the shadow barrier surrounding the playing field.
"If Seto wins and Yusei gets removed from this world, it might harm him as well as our world. A special type of magical power brought Yusei here, and trying to send him back with shadow magic would probably kill him."
"Then we have to stop this Daiha!"
Mahado shook his armored head at Atem's suggestion.
"You know from experience that a Shadow Game cannot be halted once it has begun. We will have to put our faith in the gods-and in Yusei as well."
"Yes, but… can you perform a counter spell? Just in case Yusei loses this battle? "
"I can try."
Amid the room embroiled in shadow, Mahado spread his arms and legs apart. Pointing his staff straight into the air, he spoke in a low voice. Deep, powerful syllables filled the air as a circular seal of emerald energy enclosed around the Shadow Game. The Dark Magician closed his eyes as he focused his power. He was always looking for another riddle to solve, and he found the viscous tendrils of shadow energy to be peculiarly enticing. Even though they were mundane dark power, he found his own refined dark magic to have little effect on them. Even if he magnified his magical aura to match the dark power in strength, he couldn't contain it for long. He barred his teeth at the problem; he was already failing his Lord's request, and the Shadow Game had just begun.
++=(0)=++
"Let me explain the rules of the Shadow Game. Each of us has access to up to three tablets from our respective tablet pools. We also can summon one monster under normal conditions. We each shall summon a monster, and they will do battle! The player with no monsters standing shall be the loser."
"Tablet pools?" Yusei shrugged at the unfamiliar term, but Seto simply threw Yusei's duel disk at his feet.
"They work the same way as those smaller ones in your DiaDhank. Anything else you need to know?"
"The battle is simultaneous?" Yusei asked.
"Of course. It is a time honored tradition for all Daihas to be performed this way."
Seto pointed at Yusei with his right arm, and beckoned the duelist.
"I shall begin! I first shall use the power of the Summoner's Art! This allows me to invoke the soul of a powerful creature from my tablet pool!"
An aura of blue flames emanated from Seto's figure as a large pressure filled the bubble of shadow.
"Next, I'll use my right of the Ancient Rules to summon my creature!"
Seto raised both arms, and his Millennium Rod ignited with a searing golden light. The pressure in the room condensed into a large ball of platinum energy, which ignited the shadows like the flashes of lightning.
The orb gradually shrank into a pale-skinned human female. She had long blue hair that was almost white, and her eyes were a striking shade of sky blue. The women gave a gasp of surprise when she saw Yusei, and she glanced sadly towards Seto. The Pharaoh pointed back at Yusei, and the women began to glow with white light. The room itself hummed at her transformation; she constantly got brighter and brighter as her figure became harder and harder to identify. But those blue eyes remained. Even as she grew over thirty feet tall, even as wings sprouted from the back of the changing form, even as the body changed from that of a woman's to the bulky one of a full grown dragon, the blue eyes were still there.
Seto laughed and laughed as his strongest creature appeared before Yusei. The white dragon seemed to have natural armor that covered its main body, neck and tail. Like Stardust Dragon, this dragon had a very long neck, however its mouth was much larger than Stardust's, and the creature's wings, tail and body were much bulkier; closer in appearance to Jack's Red Demon's Dragon. The pure white dragon's hide was very reflective, and the creature shown with light, even in the darkness of the shadow game.
"Behold! My strongest creature! My Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
As if on cue the dragon let out a booming roar. Yusei found he could barely stand against the mere sound, and was in awe of the dragon's summon. Seto crossed his arms and smirked.
"As long as I have Kisara by my side, Yusei stands no chance. Even his Stardust Dragon will fall before Kisara's power."
The Signer grimaced before he took a deep breath. The duel disk at his feet looked so far away, and he hated crouching before Seto to retrieve it. The dragon before him didn't seem very proud based on the women's expression when Seto summoned her, and it seemed very ironic that such a powerful dragon would behave in such a manner. Staring into the dragon's eyes had a sobering effect on Yusei, and he strapped the disk onto his arm in a fluent motion before regarding Seto.
"I'll begin then."
He drew his six cards from the disk, and he smiled as his deck had given him an answer to Seto's dragon. Although his own fighting spirit had been all but extinguished, he had pressed on against Seto with his anger. His deck had other ideas it seemed. He glanced at the tail mark on his right arm; it was glowing like a lantern. If the Crimson Dragon's power did extend to even this world, Yusei would believe in it. He wouldn't give into his own despair. Not when he had his friends to return to.
"Seto! Your dragon may be a symbol of your power, but it is also a living creature as well! It's not yours to freely abuse! I'll match your misguided ideals with my own power!"
Yusei raised his first card before playing it.
"I'll use One For One! This allows me to send a monster from my hand to the cemetery! Then I can summon a monster directly from my card pool!"
"What? A summon from the card pool?" Seto's surprise gave Yusei some satisfaction.
"I'll send my Quillbolt Hedgehog from my hand to the cemetery to summon Tuningware from the card pool!"
Yusei slid the Quillbolt Hedgehog into his graveyard, and gasped in surprise as a beam of white light shot out from his deck; solidifying into the form of Tuningware before him. Yusei's monster was a black and yellow robot whose head was a sphere with two blue dots for eyes, a cooking pot for the top of its head, and had a scarf around the bottom half of the head, which fell down to its small body. The summoned monster was about two feet tall.
"That's all? My dragon will crush it!"
"My turn isn't finished yet. I summon Road Synchron!"
Yusei's next monster was a larger robot; the top half of its golden body was humanoid while the lower half had wheels rather than legs, as well as exhaust pipes coming out of its back. It was about a head shorter than Yusei.
"Two monsters? But you already summoned!" Seto protested.
"True, but Tuningware was summoned by the effect of One For One, rather than my normal summon. Now I can summon Quillbolt Hedgehog from my graveyard since I now control a tuner monster-Road Synchron! Appear now! Quillbolt Hedgehog!"
The newest monster, true to form was a gold hedgehog with four giant screws protruding from its back. It gave a squeak as it landed it front of Yusei.
"So you can summon multiple monsters in a turn? They still can't stand against my dragon!"
"Individually my monsters may lack strength, but by combining with one another they can unleash a monster that can!"
Yusei raised his right arm to the dark sky above them. As this happened, Road Synchron began to glow. The monster's form separated into four green rings of translucent energy. The rings flew into the air and aligned as Tuningware and Quillbolt Hedgehog jumped in between the aligned rings. Yusei closed his eyes and began to chant:
"Clustering hopes form a new horizon!"
The rings bisected the forms of Quillbolt Hedgehog and Tuningware; reducing them into orange framework, which rapidly faded, revealing four blue stars of energy in the monsters' respective places. The four stars aligned with the rings.
"Become the path its light shines upon! "
A slim pillar of light shot through the rings and stars in a straight line before it expanded, shining light all through the shadows.
"Synchro Summon! Dash onward, Road Warrior!"
From the light, a new creature emerged. It was a tall humanoid clad in white-gold plate armor over a black bodysuit. The monster also had mechanical claws attached to its gauntlets, and a large section of road on its back. Circular red eyes ignited in a spark of anger as the creature's claws crackled with electricity. The monster towered over Yusei, and at its gaze was matched by the white dragon opposite to it. Both creatures tensed at the struggle they knew was about to unfold, and the light that radiated from their forms cut through the darkness of the Shadow Game completely.
++=(0)=++
"Seto has summoned Blue Eyes!" Atem stared in shock at both Seto and Yusei's respective fields as the shadows around them faded.
"I hope Yusei knows what he's dealing with."
++=(0)=++
Seto grinned at Yusei's latest summon. "So you managed to summon a decent monster. Now observe as it falls before my dragon! Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Destructive Burst Stream!"
"Counterattack, Road Warrior! Lightning Claw!"
Time seemed to slow for an instant as both monsters unleashed their respective attacks simultaneously.
The Blue-Eyes White Dragon charged a crackling sphere of power in its mouth before unleashing it in a giant blast of blue and white lightning. At the same time, Road Warrior's right claw turned white-hot as it charged at Kisara, its claw crackling with the deadly electricity. The stream fired from the dragon slammed into the warrior as it closed in on the dragon. The blast tore through the left side of Yusei's monster, but Road Warrior's attack still got through. The claw stabbed Kisara's chest, and the dragon lashed out in pain, clawing and biting the struggling warrior.
The momentum from both impacts sent tremors through the entire room. The priests were able to glimpse brief seconds of the struggle as the wisps of shadows churned and twisted. At one moment, the dragon appeared to have the upper hand, but another glimpse showed the warrior on equal footing.
The two beings slammed into each other again and again, neither showing any desire to stop. Road Warrior knocked the White Dragon back enough to pull the section of road off of its back. The monster pointed the piece of road towards the sky, and an emerald beam shot out of it skywards. With a slam and a tackle, the dragon pinned the warrior to the ground by exerting her full weight upon it. In retaliation, the golden warrior stabbed its claws into the dragon's stomach, and exerted the deadly electricity straight into the creature's body. Kisara roared in pain before falling down with a great shudder; just as Road Warrior stopped moving, the light fading from its eyes.
Seto and Yusei both watched as the two monsters faded, their bodies splitting into wisps of gray smoke. All that was left as evidence of the clash was a massive crater where they fell. Neither player spoke for several seconds.
Seto gave out a slow sigh before he regarded Yusei.
"So it's a tie then. We'll have to compromi-"
His thought was cut off as he was knocked back. A giant thud was heard. There was a cloud of dust, and when Seto opened his eyes again he was on the ground. Above him was a blocky blue creature. It was about as tall as he was, and it had embedded a large slab of stone right where he had been a moment ago. Seto got up and was surprised as the shadows around him faded. The creature in front of him gave a grunt before it too disappeared.
++=(0)=++
"Mahado! Are you all right?"
The cry came not from Atem, but from Isis. The women tried to pull him away from the edge of the seal, but Atem held her back before she could grab the spellcaster.
"Careful Isis! This isn't over yet!"
As Atem watched, the shadow barrier dissolved. Yusei was still standing tall, while Seto quickly stumbled upright. Seto looked shocked.
"What in the name of Ra was that?"
Yusei made eye contact with Seto again before he spoke.
"My last monster. I used Road Warrior's power to summon the two star Fortress Warrior from my deck right before Road Warrior countered your dragon."
"That was your monster? But that means that… under the conditions of the game I…"
Seto couldn't even finish his sentence. He glanced down at the puzzle around his neck and then looked to Atem. Seto advanced to Atem stone-faced before he kneeled before him. Atem felt the other man's fingers lift something over his head. When Seto stood before him again, Atem felt the familiar weight of the Millennium Puzzle around his neck.
"By the rules of our Shadow Game and by the wager given by the victor, I pass my title of Pharaoh back to you."