"I'm taking the first move," Serena said. "And I'll start with this monster," she said with a sly smile as she Set the card. "I'll lay two other cards down as well," She said as she finished up.
"I'll draw, then play Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen. Then I'll completely disable your entire deck! Valhalla allows me Special Summon a Fairy from my hand if I have no monster, so say hello to Archlord Kristya!" She said. Bakura laughed; Kristya did indeed completely ruin Serena's strategy.
"Oh yeah? What's so special about it? Murmillo will clean its clock!" Serena said confidently. Beryl chuckled at Serena's naivety. "What's so funny?" Serena demanded.
"Kristya prevents both players from performing Special Summons, brat. You won't be tagging in anything," Beryl replied. Serena's eyes widened but she quickly shook out of the shock. Now was not the time to lose focus. "Kristya, attack!" She ordered.
"I'll play Waboku to save my Bestiari," Serena replied. Beryl grinned.
"No Fusion either, my dear. Your deck is completely helpless!" She said. Serena grimaced as Beryl set a card and passed the turn.
"This isn't over yet! I'll play Smashing Ground to destroy Kristya! She won't do much good from- hey! Stop cheating!" Serena complained as Beryl put Kristya not in her Gravedyard, but on her deck. Beryl smirked.
"I'm not, 'Meatball Head'," She quoted. "When Kristya would be sent to the Graveyard, she is instead sent to the top of my deck. And with Valhalla on the field, that means she'll keep coming back like a phoenix from the ashes!" Beryl added smugly.
Atem looked tersely to Kaiba from the ground. "Kaiba… Don't lose faith just yet," He said as the CEO's face fell. "Serena has talent. She can find a way around that combo," He said. I hope, he added silently. He looked up at the saws and shuddered at the thought of a loss here.
"Fine… I'll lay down another card and end," Serena murmured. Beryl smirked and paused.
"It's time! I need the one card in my deck that can disable hers entirely, but I have to draw it now! Heart of the cards, guide me!" Beryl said, openly mocking Atem as she made a huge fanfare of drawing. Bakura burst out laughing, enjoying the shot at Atem and even Kaiba had to smile. "Yes! This is it! I Special Summon Archlord Kristya!" She said overdramatically, smirking at Atem the whole time.
Atem growled and bared his teeth at the open insult. "How about you take ME on after this and see who's laughing when we're done?" He called up. Beryl grinned and turned back to Serena.
"Now I'll- wait, what in…?" She blinked. Kristya was gone and no signal on her duel disk told her to bring it to her deck. She looked up to see Serena with her arms crossed.
"I activated a Spell called Book of Moon when you Summoned Kristya. It flips a face-up monster into face-down Defense position. And since you just Summoned it, you can't change it back until my next turn," She said. Beryl narrowed her eyes.
"Fine! I'll play The Sanctuary in the Sky, followed by Gellenduo who can't be kiled in battle but dies if I take damage. However, the Field now prevents battles with Fairies involved from doing damage," Beryl said. "Now, destroy Bestiari!" She ordered. Bestiari was destroyed, but Serena seemed unphased. "Another facedown card, your turn," Beryl said.
"Before I draw, I'll reveal my remaining facedown, Royal Decree!" Serena declared. Beryl swore silently, but kept a poker face. "Then I'll play a familiar combo, Secutor and Test Tiger! I Tribute Tiger, tag out Secutor, then tag him back in. Then I'll play Gladiator Beast's Archfiend Shield and attack Gellenduo!" She said.
"Smart move. She'll lose Life Points but get his effect as opposed to flipping the Kristya," Kaiba noted. Atem nodded even as the shield broke and Serena's Life Points took a tumble (8000 - 1500 = 6500).
"Secutor will bring out Equeste and Murmillo! Murmillo, destroy her face-down Kristya with Bubble Cannon Burst!" Serena ordered. Beryl could only watch as her Archlord was destroyed. "And since it was facedown, it won't be coming back again," Serena added. Her opponent sighed and placed the Fairy into the Graveyard.
"Next, Equeste will bring Bestiari to my hand from the Graveyard," Serena said, adding the monster to her empty hand. "I'll end my turn," She said. Beryl nodded and drew.
"I'll attack Equeste with Gellendo, then end the turn," She said, looking neutrally at the card she'd drawn. It was part of what she needed, but for the moment it would do no good. Serena grimaced before remembering that she'd played both of her monsters in Defense mode.
"Sorry, Equeste. Thank you," She said before drawing. "Alright! I'll play my Bestiari again!" She announced as it reappeared. "Then I'll combine my monsters, returning Bestiari and Murmillo to the deck and summoning Gladiator Beast Gyzarus!" Serena said. Atem looked on in interest; this was the monster he'd gotten rid of before it could show itself in his duel with Serena. It looked remarkably like Bestiari as it rose up, unfurling its wings (2400/1500).
"Gyzarus has a special ability! When it's Summoned, I'm allowed to choose up to two cards on the field to annihilate! I'll take out your Sanctuary and your face-down card on the right!" Serena said, pointing at the card. Beryl frowned as her Divine Wrath was destroyed.
"…Enjoy yourself while you can, Serena. This duel will be over soon enough," Beryl said. Serena gave Beryl an odd look. Beryl was on the ropes; her Traps were compromised, her only remaining monster was about to die and she was still so confident? The whole situation made her feel uneasy. "Go on ahead. Make your move," She said. Serena nodded.
"I attack Gellenduo with Gyzarus!" She ordered. Gyzarus charged forward and slammed the fairy, who briefly bounced back before dying to its ability (8000 - 700 = 7300).
"At the end of the Battle Phase, I'm allowed to tag Gyzarus back to the Extra and summon two Gladiators, only this time I can't play Bestiari. So now…" Serena furrowed her eyebrows. What was Beryl planning? Her Traps were locked down and she'd only have one card in her hand plus one Trap to use even if she did draw a card to destroy Royal Decree. If only Bestiari were an option… Well, she still had the next best thing.
"I'll bring out Laquari and Darius, the latter of which will Special Summon Equeste back from the Graveyard!" Serena announced.
Atem smiled. He remembered THAT play. Heraklinos would follow. "Dat girl's got some real talent," Joey commented. Kaiba nodded.
"Let's just hope she's not a one-hit wonder," He added. Atem frowned. On the one hand, he really wished Kaiba would have a little more faith in Serena. On the other, something seemed…wrong. The main problem was that Serena only had one card left in her hand. Heraklinos was good, but required her hand to maintain its ability.
"I fuse my monsters into Gladiator Beast Heraklinos, then end my turn!" Serena said, smiling as the hulking star monster of her deck came forward. Beryl drew and looked at Serena dead in the eye.
"You thought your Royal Decree would stop me from protecting myself during this match. It is a powerful card… so long as the opponent is using Traps. I didn't happen to draw too many so far," She said. "The first thing I'll do is play Soul Taker to send Gyzarus to the Graveyard," She said.
"I'll negate that with Heraklinos' special ability," Serena replied quickly, discarding her final card.
"As I knew you would. You've played into my hands, Serena. I'm going to play the Pot of Greed Spell, drawing two fresh cards," Beryl said. She prayed that she would draw correctly; her confident front was dependant on a strategy she needed to draw. One of a few cards could do it, but still…
"Ah. That will work. I'll activate my Valhalla's effect to Special Summon Darklord Asmodeus!" She said. Bakura smiled, remembering his encounter with the venerable force of the monster as it came to the field. "Then I play Foolish Burial, and since you have no cards in your hand you cannot stop it," She said.
Atem became confused. Foolish Burial was a card that hurt the person that played it, normally only useful with some effect that would switch the target to a monster in their opponent's deck. "Something is very wrong here, Kaiba," Atem said.
"No kidding? I didn't notice," He replied dryly, adjusting his grip on the pistol in his hand. Atem shook his head and exhaled in frustration as he looked up toward the duel once more.
"I'll discard Darklord Superbia to the Graveyard," Beryl said. "Finally, I reveal from my field Monster Reborn!" She continued. Bakura began to shake in a silent laugh as he understood what Beryl had done.
"…Even if you crash your Asmodeus into Gyzarus and attack with Kristya, I'll still live," Serena said. Although what I could draw at this point, I have no idea, she added to herself. Beryl smirked.
"You don't know the half of it, brat. I'll Special Summon Superbia!" She announced. Serena now knew that something was very, very wrong. "Confused? I'll put this in simple terms for you; when Superbia comes from the Graveyard to the field, it brings another Fairy with it," She said as Kristya emerged from Superbia. Serena's eyes widened as she stared down the three mighty angels.
"You lose, Serena! Darklord Asmodeus, attack Gyzarus!" Beryl commanded. The two monsters struggled with each other before each landed a deciding blow. "And since Asmodeus was destroyed, she'll split into the Asmo and Deus parts. Now all of you, my fallen angel army, finish her off and destroy all that she loves!" Beryl ordered.
"NO!" Atem cried as the blows came to bear on Serena. Kaiba bared his teeth, thinking quickly as he made his decision. He tossed his hostage aside, instead aiming the gun at Beryl's duel disk and…
BLAM!
The shot miraculously hit home, putting a hole cleanly through the duel disk. Serena looked around wildly, realizing that her Life Points were still at 6500 and Beryl's army was fizzling. At the same time, Beryl was clutching at her arm; the bullet had gone cleanly through the disk's life point screen and into her arm, and the dark queen was clenching her teeth to steel against the pain.
"Don't think so!" Rebecca shouted, tacking Neflite as she charged at Kaiba. Atem ran to help her, but froze at he noticed what Kaiba had done. The bullet had fired right through Beryl's life point readout, Atem realized as he saw the safe with both party's cards inside hanging open. He ran to it, Amy throwing Jaedite to the side as he tried to halt Atem's path.
"Thank you," Atem told the Scout as he scooped up the cargo. She nodded, then looked to the tower.
"WAIT!" She cried. Bakura, a furious look on his face had his hand on the button that would send their friends plunging to their demise. Her head whipped back behind her at the sound of a revving engine.
"Gimme a ramp girl!" Joey shouted from atop his bike. Amy looked in shocked doubt from the tower to Joey. "Do it, we ain't got time for questions!" He said again. She shrugged and took in a breath. "Mercury Ice Beam!" She shouted. A solid chunk of ice began to form before Joey, eventually lifting and curving into a ramp. He smiled, backed up a few feet and gunned the engine before taking off.
"Comin' through!" He yelled. Serena, who'd noticed the proceedings, dropped to the floor. Bakura wasn't quite as attentive.
"What in-" Were the last words Serena heard before Joey dismounted the bike in midair, sending the vehicle crashing in one side of the clock tower and out the other, sending Bakura flying in the process. He hit the extended roof hard, rolled down and finally fell to the ground.
"DIS WAS POORLY PLANNED!" Joey yelled as he flew through the air, realizing that he hadn't exactly thought the landing through too well. Amy's eyes widened as she followed his progress, desperately trying to think of a solution. She winced as she saw him crash through the stained-glass window of the church seated directly behind the school, praying that he was still alive.
"Joey!" She yelled, freezing the hinges and busting them off without a second thought. What she saw both horrified her and in a horrible way vaguely amused her. Joey had slammed straight into a model of Jesus hanging on the cross, practically wrapped around the thing. "Well… I suppose that's one way of getting closer to God," She commented as she ran over, pulling him down gently. "Are you even alive?" She asked worriedly.
"…I'm in a church. If I am dead, I'm in Hell," Was his dull response before he blacked out. She bit back a laugh as she checked his pulse, which was still strong. There was no way she was doing anything but waiting here; he had to have broken some ribs, falling from that height.
"Man… If defiling the church is a sin, we are so all going to hell," She muttered as she looked around. Glass was everywhere, the doors were in two pieces and the stature of the Crucifixion was cracked.
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Amazingly, Bakura had stayed awake (and for that matter, alive) throughout the entire minute-long process of Joey's sudden attack. He shook his head clear just in time to see Atem toss Kaiba the box that held both Grapha and the Blue-Eyes before running towards the church.
"KAIBA!" Bakura screamed, racing after the man. Screw Beryl and the others, he was not letting Kaiba get away alive after this. He followed Kaiba as the elder of the two brothers leapt into his car. Rebecca ran after, but Kaiba yelled something at her and she backtracked. Bakura dismissed the girl; he'd go after her after he finished destroying Kaiba.
"Something to keep in mind from here on, Bakura! I'm not anymore inclined to follow the rules than you are!" Kaiba yelled out the window as he revved his engines. Bakura yelled and dodged to the side as the car flew at him, barely escaping being run over.
"DAMNIT!" He roared. He'd been cheated! Of all the people to be cheated, HE got cheated! He turned to chase Rebecca only to find that the girl had managed to free her friends while he'd been busy. They all stood before him, none too pleased. He cursed a few more times and used the same portal warp as Beryl had taught him to get out.
"Every damn time," Lita muttered. She looked around. "Where's Amy at? Or Serena?" She wondered. Rebecca grimaced.
"Amy and Atem went after Joey after that little motorcycle stunt he pulled. Serena… she's still up in the tower," She said.
"…Go get her. We'll check on the others," Lita said after a moment. Rebecca nodded and the group departed.