All right here's my next chapter. Now I know Kaiba did just finish a duel a few chapters back, but this just came to me, and he and Serenity seem to be doing all right together since she helped him figure out how to take down that Neo Aqua Madoor so this will be another tag team duel, hope you enjoy it.
After defeating Gate Guardian, Ellie and Kyle both finally made their way to the big set of doors to leave the area.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm ready to finally get out of this labyrinth," Kyle said to his girlfriend.
"I couldn't agree more," Ellie replied and they walked to the doors, which began to open on their own as the two approached them, thus shining a bright light on the young couple.
The two young duelists shielded their eyes from the light, and walked though it and as the light faded, they both found that straight ahead they were in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to look at but the dust and the wasteland area where they stood.
"Okay, well this is so much better," Kyle said sarcastically. "First we're in a seemingly never-ending maze, now we're in a desert wasteland. Beautiful, just beautiful."
"Maybe we should see if there's another way back in-" Ellie turned around in shock and saw the door they walked through had just vanished, and the scenery was nothing but wasteland as far as the eye could see.
"Where's the door?!" Kyle exclaimed.
"Whatever this virus is, it's completely messing around with us. We win a duel only to end up in a desert!" Ellie yelled angrily as her voice echoed.
"Well standing here isn't gonna get us anywhere," Kyle said. "The only thing to do is to trek through this desert. Maybe we'll find another one of those doors and transport ourselves someplace else."
Ellie sighed. "Guess anything is better than just standing here. Which way do we go?"
"Straight ahead, I guess. Everything looks the same, so I don't think it really matters."
The two then began to trek through the desert, hoping to find somewhere else to be.
Back in the mountain area of the virtual world, Kaiba and Serenity had trekked through the snow, being in the opposite climate of Ellie and Kyle.
As they walked along the icy paths, winds started to blow making the cold air even worse.
Serenity began to shiver and pulled Kaiba's white overcoat more around herself to try and keep warm. "The cold is getting worse. I hope we find someplace warm soon."
"There's no telling what else this good for nothing virus will try to pull. All I know is that it'll do whatever it can to torment us, so that we never reach it. But I'm not gonna let any of that stop me from destroying it and saving my company!"
As the CEO and the red-haired child continued to trek, the ice slowly began to crack a few feet ahead, until it completely broke, forming a big circle of ice for them to stand and preventing them both from moving forward.
"Great now what?!" Kaiba said very sternly.
After the ice cracked, water arose from the river, and froze into a tall pillar of ice. And then a big chunk from the top of it shattered revealing another Neo Aqua Madoor.
"You go no further!" the new monster spoke aloud.
"Not another one of these things. I already defeated your good for nothing twin! So, move aside unless you want to meet the same fate!" Kaiba yelled while pointing at the ice wizard.
"You both shall not pass. It is here your journey ends!"
"You asked for it!" Kaiba said preparing to draw a card from his deck to fight.
"Wait a minute, Kaiba," Serenity stopped him. "This monster didn't just go and attack us like the other one did. I bet this one is here to duel."
Kaiba looked to face the monster standing on the ice pillar. "So, you're another one of those monsters the virus is sending in to try and stop me from getting to it, aren't you? Well then if you want a duel, I'll give you one you won't forget! So, let's go."
"Not so fast. This isn't going to go down so easy. My master has become impatient with you and all your friends and wants you all eliminated as quickly as possible. So that's why I'm going to destroy you both at once."
Kaiba looked down to Serenity who looked on in worry. "This thing is tough. If I were you, I'd get away from here."
Serenity then looked to face the Neo Aqua Madoor and glared at it. "No, Kaiba. I'm not just gonna run from this. I came here with all my friends to help you beat this virus, and that's just what I'm gonna do. I'm staying and I'm gonna duel by your side. And besides, this thing has us trapped so I couldn't go anywhere even if I wanted to."
Kaiba scoffed and turned away with a small smirk. "All right. If you're so insistent on putting your life here at risk, who am I to stand in your way." He then looked back up to their next opponent. "All right you masked freak, you've got yourself a duel. It'll be two on one, so let's get this over with."
"Then prepare yourselves for your ultimate defeat!" Neo Aqua Madoor said as a duel disk appeared on his left arm.
The devices on Kaiba and Serenity's arms also became duel disks, and a wall of cards appeared in front of them to build their virtual dueling decks.
"All right, now I've got to choose carefully because we don't know what this thing has planned for us," Serenity said picking her cards and then saw a familiar card. "That's Red Eyes Black Dragon; Joey's favorite card. The last time I dueled, that card helped me defeat Bandit Keith. Okay I'll add it to my deck and hopefully it can help again." Serenity selected the Red Eyes card.
Once they selected their cards their decks appeared in the slots of their duel disks.
"And now pick a monster to be your deck masters for the duel."
"Okay. My deck master will be Marie the Fallen one." Serenity said and her monster appeared behind her.
"Mine will be my Spear Dragon," Kaiba said as his blue and yellow dragon appeared behind him.
"And I shall be my own deck master. And there's one more thing; In this duel, because you are both dueling against me at once, my life points will start at 8000,"
"Big deal. It wouldn't matter if you started with a billion life points. You will fall, just like every other third-rate duelist I've ever faced against."
Neo Aqua Madoor: 8000 LP.
Serenity: 4000 LP.
Kaiba: 4000 LP.
"Let's duel!" the three players said drawing their first hands.
"The first move goes to the female," said the Neo Aqua Madoor.
"All right," Serenity began with her draw phase. "First I'll summon my Lady Panther in attack mode."
Lady Panther ATK: 1400 DEF: 1300.
Serenity's first monster was a brown, female panther wearing gladiator armor, wielding a golden shield and a polearm.
"Next I'll lay a card faced down, then end my turn, and because I am it activates my deck master's ability. At the end of each of my turns, Marie the Fallen one will give me 200 life points for each monster I have on the field."
Serenity's deck master then hovered over her and sprinkled sparkling dust on her, raising her life points.
Serenity: 4200 LP.
"All right, then. My turn!" Kaiba drew his card. "I'll begin by putting a card faced down as well. And then my first monster will be this: My Giant Germ in defense mode."
Kaiba's first monster was a round, pink ball with brown spots all over it.
"With that done, I'll call it a turn." Kaiba finished.
"Then I shall go!" Neo Aqua Madoor exclaimed drawing a card. "I shall begin by summoning Cold Enchanter!"
Cold Enchanter ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200.
The ice underneath from the ground broke open and from it arose a woman with white hair, wearing a white and icy blue uniform and a helmet, wielding an icy staff with a snowflake at the top.
"And now for Cold Enchanter's ability. Once a turn I can send a card in my hand to the graveyard and place an ice counter on her, thus giving her 300 extra attack points for each one."
Cold Enchanter ATK: 1900 DEF: 1200.
Next, I place a card faced down as well, then use my Cold Wave magic card," the opposing duelist said playing a magic card with an image of a dinosaur frozen in ice, which then released a blizzard, freezing all their face-down cards as well as making Serenity shiver even more so. "Until my next turn, all magic and trap cards are frozen out of play, preventing all duelists from playing any."
Kaiba gasped in shock. "That thing froze our magic and trap cards solid!" He thought to himself. "Now I can't play my Crush Card Virus trap."
"With your face-down cards out of play, Cold Enchanter will attack your Giant Germ!"
Cold Enchanter raised her staff to Kaiba's monster and shot a flurry of snow at it, freezing it solid and then destroying it seconds after.
Kaiba who was unfazed by the cold pointed a finger at his opponent. "When Giant Germ is destroyed, its special ability takes away 500 of your life points, and then summons two more Giant Germs from my deck," the CEO said and then two more duplicates of the same monster that was just destroyed appeared on his side of the field.
Neo Aqua Madoor: 7500 LP.
After taking life point damage, the ice underneath the Neo Aqua Madoor began to crack slightly.
"I end my turn," said Neo Aqua Madoor.
"Back to me then," Serenity said drawing a card. "Right now, I can't play anything to destroy your Cold Enchanter or play any magic or trap cards, so I'll just summon my Spirit of the Harp in defense mode, and I'll switch Lady Panther into defense mode, too. That ends my turn, and once more I get 200 more life points from my deck master for each monster I have out."
Marie the Fallen One sprinkled sparkling dust on Serenity once more, giving her another life point boost.
Serenity: 4600 LP.
"My turn now," Kaiba drew his card. "I'll begin my turn by sacrificing one of my germs to bring out Kaiser Glider."
Kaiser Glider ATK: 2400 DEF: 2200.
One of Kaiba's Giant Germs disappeared into blue particles, then came forth the same golden dragon that he'd used as his last deck master.
"Kaiser Glider, attack his Cold Enchanter!" Kaiba commanded and his dragon shot a gold blast at his opponent's monster which destroyed it instantly. "I still have another monster, which will now attack you directly." Kaiba said once more, and his Giant Germ attacked next.
Neo Aqua Madoor: 6000 LP.
After Kaiba's attack, the cracks on the ice began to grow bigger.
"Lucky for you I'm out of moves, so I'll end my turn. But at the start of your upcoming turn, your Cold Wave will wear off allowing us to use our magic and trap cards again."
"My draw, then," Neo Aqua Madoor drew his card and both Kaiba and Serenity's faced down cards thawed from the ice. "When the difference between the cards you control and the ones I control is at least 4, I can summon this monster without a sacrifice. Come out, Medium of the Ice Barrier."
Medium of the Ice Barrier: ATK: 2200 DEF:1600.
The ice broke open in front of the ice wizard and a woman wearing a white and icy blue dress with long flowing blue-green hair arose.
"And as long as this Medium is on the field, you both have the privilege of only playing one magic or trap card every turn."
"Only one?!" Serenity exclaimed.
"That's not good. I've got to get rid of that monster," Kaiba said to himself.
"And I'll also summon another monster. Such as Koa'ki Meiru Ice."
Koa'ki Meiru Ice: ATK: 1900 DEF: 1200.
The ground ice broke open again and the newly summoned monster was a large brute made entirely of solid ice, wielding a long icicle lance and a snowflake shaped shield.
"And next I'll play a field card. Go, Umiiruka!"
The scenery changed around them changed from a frozen land of ice and snow to a blue sea, leaving each of them standing on their circular platforms of ice.
"With Umiiruka in play water monsters will gain 500 attack points and lose 400 defense points."
Medium of the Ice Barrier: ATK: 2700 DEF: 1200.
Koa'ki Meiru Ice: ATK: 2400 DEF: 800.
"Now his monsters are even stronger," Serenity gasped. "And I'll bet his whole deck is full of water monsters for that field card to power up."
"And now it's time for you to feel the cold fury of my monsters. Koa'ki Meiru Ice, attack the Lady Panther!"
As Neo Aqua Madoor commanded his first monster threw its lance at Serenity's panther and destroyed it instantly, also causing the lance to shatter and shards of ice damaged Serenity's life points.
"Medium of the Ice Barrier, your turn. Destroy that Giant Germ!"
The second monster then blew a large flurry from its mouth towards Kaiba's monster.
"You may have stopped this move before with that Cold Wave of yours, but now it's thawed out, so go Crush Card Virus!" Kaiba exclaimed flipping up his trap card. "With this trap once you destroy my Giant Germ, the virus will spread through your deck, destroying every monster with over 1500 attack points."
"Wrong! I flip my faced down card up. Wiretap." Neo Aqua Madoor flipped up a trap card with a white phone, a headset and a GPS. "This counter trap negates that trap card you played and sends it back to your deck."
"What?!" Kaiba exclaimed as his trap card got shuffled back into his deck, rendering it completely useless.
Medium of the Ice Barrier's attack continued and destroyed Kaiba's Giant Germ.
Kaiba: 2300 LP.
After he took damage, the ice under Kaiba began to crack.
"Hold on. Why did the ice just crack below me?" Kaiba said.
"It's simple. As we all take damage the ice below us thins out. When a player's life points hit 0, a massive crevasse breaks open and sends the loser plummeting into the icy abyss."
"I don't like the sound of that," Serenity spoke in a worried tone.
Kaiba smirked. "You seem to have forgotten that when Giant Germ is destroyed it deals you 500 points of damage."
Neo Aqua Madoor: 5500 LP.
"Perhaps, but it is you both who are now at a disadvantage. Your remaining monsters are weaker than mine."
"Yeah, but you're out of cards in your hand," Kaiba retorted. "So, it's only a matter of time before one of us gets through these frozen freaks of yours."
"I end my turn."
"I'm up then," Serenity said. "I'll begin by playing a magic card, Premature Burial. This magic card will resurrect my Lady Panther from the graveyard at the price of 800 life points."
Serenity: 3800 LP.
A bright light shined from Serenity's magic card, and her Lady Panther emerged from her card graveyard.
"I presume you're going to build up your defense by summoning another monster in defense mode, aren't you?" Neo Aqua Madoor asked.
"Nope. This time I'm going on the offensive. I'll sacrifice my Spirit of the Harp and my Lady Panther," Serenity continued and her monsters vanished into blue particles. "And now I'll summon to the field Seiyaryu."
And in another flash of light her fierce pink dragon arose to the field.
"Time to really deal some damage. Seiyaryu, attack with razor fire blast!"
Her dragon went at Neo Aqau Madoor's Koa'ki Meiru Ice and hit it with a blast of light blue flames.
Neo Aqua Madoor: 5400 LP.
"So, you destroyed Meiru Ice, but you still have Medium of the Ice Barrier to contend with."
"I'll deal with that monster. My turn!" Kaiba exclaimed and looked to the five cards in his hand. "No! Impossible. I've got nothing in my hand strong enough to take down that Medium of the Ice Barrier. If I could summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon that'd get rid of it easily, but I have nothing to sacrifice to summon it. I'm just gonna have to go on the defensive for now." Kaiba looked back up to their opponent. "All right for this turn I'm just gonna summon my Versago the Destroyer in defense mode."
Versago the Destroyer: ATK: 1100 DEF: 900.
Kaiba's new monster was a pitch-black monster with a white mask over its face, 4 purple arms with sharp claws and white wrappings over its body.
"I'll play these two cards faced down and end my turn."
"It seems you're all bark and no bite. You claim you can defeat my monster, but you instead cower with defensive monsters."
Kaiba scoffed. "I never cower. Just because I can't defeat your monster now doesn't mean I won't be able to defeat it at another round. Just you wait."
Elsewhere close by, Joey and Tristan had finally made it up to the icy area of the mountains.
Both teens were rubbing their shoulders while walking through the frozen landscape trying to get warm.
"Man, why does a virtual glacier land have to feel so cold?" Tristan said.
"Tell me about it. It's colder than a freezer at its lowest temperature here," Joey replied. "But even so. I'm not gonna let a cold mountain stop me from findin' my little sister."
They both continued to trek through the frozen lands but stopped when they heard a cracking sound.
"Uh, what was that?" Tristan asked.
"I don't know, but I think we need to keep an eye out. There's no telling when we could take a wrong..." Joey didn't get to finish because the ice under them broke sending them plummeting down and sliding through some icy caverns, screaming the whole way.
Back down in the forest area, Yugi, Tea and Duke all continued to trek through the virtual wilderness, keeping a keen eye out for any other insects or any monsters that might jump from the trees.
"Anything else look new to you guys?" Yugi asked.
"Nah. This whole forest all looks exactly alike," Duke replied. "Fortunately, I haven't seen any more monsters to attack us."
As they continued on walking, Tea looked to see a clearing in the forest, along with a fork in the path. "Hey, guys look. A clearing up ahead."
"Hey, all right. We must be close to getting out of these woods. But there's just one question: Which path do we take?" Yugi said.
"I say we let a game of chance decide," Duke suggested pulling out a silver coin. "Heads to the left, tails to the right."
"Works for me," Yugi said.
"Go ahead and flip that coin, Duke," Tea said.
Duke tossed the coin into the air, and as it came back down, he caught it and slapped it down onto his backhand revealing the heads side. "To the left it is."
The trio of friends went to the left and walked along the path.
Back in the icy area of the mountains, Joey and Tristan had been sliding down the caverns, until it finally came to an end and the two landed in a pile of snow.
Both of them instantly recovered and got to their feet, now both shivering from the cold more so than before.
"Man, we can't seem to catch a break from all this," Tristan said.
Joey then looked further downhill and saw who he had been looking for. "It ain't all bad, man. Look down there."
Tristan looked downhill as well and saw Serenity and Kaiba dueling the Neo Aqua Madoor. "It's Serenity and Kaiba. How'd they end up together?"
"Who cares? All dat matters is we found her. Serenity! Up here!" Joey called out to his sister.
Both Serenity and Kaiba turned around to see Joey and Tristan.
"Oh, great. Wheeler and one of the geek squad members."
"Hey, it's Joey and Tristan. They're okay," Serenity said relieved.
"We found Serenity but she's not exactly safe, Joey. Look she and Kaiba are dueling."
"Huh? Serenity, you're duelin' with Kaiba?" Joey said in disbelief.
"It was gonna happen eventually, big brother. At least with someone as skilled as Kaiba by my side, we have a good chance at winning this."
"Kaiba! You better not let my little sister lose dis duel! You keep her safe at all times!"
Kaiba looked to Joey with a glare. "I warned her that it would be dangerous, but she chose to duel alongside me anyway. I look after only myself in a duel, Wheeler. What happens to your sister is none of my concern. She chose to duel, so she can look after herself." He remarked turning away to face their opponent.
"Don't worry about me, Joey. I'll be fine. In fact, there might be a card in my deck that I have a good feeling will help."
"We'll just have to trust her, Joey," Tristan said. "You and Yugi have taught her well, so as long as she stays true to the heart of the cards, she can pull through this, just like you said she did Bandit Keith."
"I hope you're right, Tristan. Because I just can't bear to see the sight of losin' my little sister forever if she's beaten in dis duel."
Both Joey and Tristan watched from the sidelines, waiting for this duel to play out, and hoped that together Kaiba and Serenity would be able to beat back that Neo Aqua Madoor.
To be continued.
All right, viewers. I'm gonna stop here for now. First let me say that I'm really sorry I haven't updated this in a few years. I just haven't had many ideas on what I should have done after that last duel, and thoughts for what to do next are still coming to me. Anyhow I hope you all liked this chapter. I figure Joey and Serenity have been apart long enough. So, if she and Kaiba win this duel, then they only have 5 more friends to find. As for Yugi, Duke and Tea I have some idea where I want them to end up. As for what and where it is, you'll just have to wait and see. Please read, review and enjoy.