Chapter XV: Dark Counterattack

Turn 3: Ganon 5000 LP, 1 card; Link 7000 LP; Midna 9000 LP

Ganon growled at his adversaries, seething at how they had caught him off guard. Finally he yelled "Time for me to finally rid myself of you pests, I DRAW!" He grinned, eying his card.

"Be careful Link, I don't like the sound of this…" Midna warned. Link smiled a reassuring smile, but said nothing, waiting for his adversary to finish.

"HAHAHA! The time has come for your ultimate destruction! The card I now hold in my hand will wipe what little hope you had of rescuing Hyrule! For now I play a magic card known as Beast Resurrection!"

"Uh-oh, I don't like the sound of that…" the couple thought to themselves with worry for each other while Ganon continued "This card allows me to pay half of my life points so I can summon my ultimate monster. Say hello to DARK BEAST GANON!" As he placed his card down, dark energy waves reverberated within the golden triangle, finally focusing in the center as a giant hog with a glowing wound materialized.

"Uh-oh…" both murmured, their memories taking them back to when Ganon faced them in this form after he had possessed Princess Zelda. Ganon then explained "This monster initially starts with just 1000 Attack Points, but it gains power equal to the Life Points I sacrificed to summon it, plus it gains 800 more points thanks to the Seal of Power!"

Link and Midna watched its Attack Power go up until they exclaimed "Now it has 4300 points!" Ganon then yelled "This should put a damper on your spirits, now Dark Beast, attack Link directly!" The beast then charged, heading straight for Link, when Link replied "Not so fast, I activate Scapegoat, which gives me four monsters to protect me!" Ganon then started to chuckle, until it became a hard laugh. "I missed the joke, Ganon" Link cautiously replied.

"Poor fool; you think I didn't see that coming? I saw your duel with Zant, so I know your tricks!" Ganon continued "Dark beast's special effect prevents magic or traps from being activated during battle, plus monsters can't be summoned during battle by effects!" Link watched his card shatter into pieces, and cried out when the boar struck him with its horns.

"LINK!" cried Midna "are you okay?" Link grunted and struggled to heave himself up, blood dripping from his wound and replied "I'll be okay, but it's getting harder to see you!" Midna yelled "Hang in there; we'll be out of this soon!" She then yelled to Ganon "are you done yet, beast?" Ganon smirked and replied "Go ahead".

Link struggled to draw his card and eyed it with relief when he saw what it was. He then glared at Ganon and yelled "Time for a little divine help…I activate Card of sanctity, so we all must draw until we're holding six cards!" All duelists drew the required cards, and Link continued, "Next I summon King of the Swamp". He looked at his hand with confidence and said "Now we'll show you just how powerful we are when we believe in each other! I activate the magic card Polymerization, which fuses King of the Swamp with Black Luster Soldier! Yugo Shogun! Come forth, Master of Dragon Soldier!" Out from the vortex appeared a three-headed dragon with a soldier in armor on top of it!

"5000 Points?" Ganon exclaimed. Link then commended "Master of Dragon Soldier, slay his beast with GALAXY CRUSHER!" Blue beams were emitted from all of the dragon heads as well as from the soldier's sword which proceeded to engulf and obliterate the beast.

"Great work, Link!" Midna praised, "We've just obliterated his only way to victory!" Link was about to smile when Ganon laughed "You foolish children; do you really think that you've won? You've just paved the way for something even stronger! My beast has a final ability; if it gets destroyed, it evolves into a legendary deity called ULTIMATE GOD OF DARKNESS, GANON!"

Link and Midna gasped as the hog burned, leaving in its place a flaming golden human, similar in appearance to Ganon's god form from their previous encounter. "Of course, there is a price to pay for his arrival; first I must discard my hand, and pay all of my Life Points."

"But that means you lose" the duo replied simultaneously. Ganon smugly replied "Under normal conditions, yes. But as long as my god is in play, I stay in the game. But if you beat him, you win." They then looked at the attack meter and exclaimed "INFINITE ATTACK POINTS?!" Ganon then continued "So there's not a monster in your decks that can stand up against him, and once he strikes you down, HYRULE WILL BE MINE!"

Link sighed and said glumly "I end my turn." Midna then drew wordlessly and announced "I'll end this with Thousand Knives, which destroys your monster!" To her dismay however, once the daggers hit the God, they burned to dust. Ganon cackled and yelled "Fool, my God can't be destroyed or removed from the field by card effects." Midna growled and continued "I play double Spell, so I can nab a magic card from your grave if I ditch one in my hand." She slammed a card in the graveyard and a card flew from Ganon's side into Midna's hand, and she continued "Now I play Nightmare's Steelcage, so we're all unable to attack!"

Ganon cackled "You're just delaying the inevitable; soon I'll take both of you down, and you'll wander in the shadows for all eternity! HAHAHA!"