Author Notes: Ugh, Duelist Kingdom rules were not my friend this time around. X( I tried not to make the duel last forever, but I couldn't finish it within the same chapter. Sorry. :(
Also to keep the duel from being way too long, I summarized just their moves in some parts and left out the dialogue. In these sections, though, the dialogue doesn't stop, I'm just telling you bits and pieces of what they say. Don't let that confuse you. It's not a silent duel. They never stop talking, just like in the anime.
"Who else did you duel today, Joey?" Ryou asked as the five friends ascended the stairs to Pegasus' castle.
"This morning I took out Bandit Keith," the blond answered with a grin. "He was one cheating basta—Hey!" He was cut off as Anzu whacked him upside the head and shot him a glare. She utilized far more effective methods than his parents when it came to getting Joey to clean up his language. "I mean, he was a cheating jerk." He glared right back at her and muttered, "Happy now?"
"Very." She stuck her little nose in the air and marched up the steps as Ryou and Marik tried not to laugh at the exchange. Yugi just grinned as he watched her go ahead of Joey on the stairs, his eyes momentarily distracted by the way her skirt swished with her hips.
"How about you?" Joey asked Ryou, trying to change the subject
"I dueled a zombie duelist in the caves named Bonz. Like I told you when we met up in the maze, he ran away with his star-chips instead of giving me what I was due." He looked sad for a moment. "Well, what matters most is that in the end, you and I defeated the Paradox brothers and we all made it out of that cave safe and sound!" Ryou turned to Yugi then. "How did you get your ten star-chips, Yugi?"
"I dueled an Eliminator named PaniK last night," he answered, making Joey grimace a little. "He was a pretty sleazy guy who used a lot of underhanded tactics. He'd beaten Mai and taken all of her star-chips, so I won her star-chips back for her—and some for myself, of course!" It would have been foolish not to make that bet, especially since PaniK had been so confident that he would win he would have bet anything.
"I can't believe all three of you qualified for the finals!" Marik said cheerfully, reaching over to give Ryou's hand a squeeze. He was especially proud of Ryou, naturally. "I wonder if Seto qualified too."
"I wouldn't doubt it for a moment," Yugi said with a smile. "Seto's not the champion for nothing." Even though nearly every duel between Seto and Yugi had either ended in a tie or remained unfinished, and Yugi knew better than to think that was sheer luck. Seto was a winner by nature. He didn't stop until he was on top, whether it was a fistfight or a game of chess. Yugi was just glad that so far, it hadn't negatively impacted his friendships.
"Look!" Anzu pointed up ahead to the top of the stairs where Seto stood, his arms crossed, his long, dark purple coat being tugged by the wind. "I guess he did. Maybe he's waiting for us!"
Something was really bothering Ryou, though, as he looked up at Seto. He pulled Joey aside as the other three rushed up the stairs towards their mutual friend.
"Doesn't he seem... different to you?" Ryou asked quietly, looking up at Seto with a worried expression. "You two are really close. You can tell that something's off about him, right?"
"Yeah," Joey said quietly as he realized that Ryou was right. "That's how he looks when he's ready to tear someone's head off." Ryou gave Joey a strange look. "What? He and I used to fight all the time, remember? I know what he looks like when he's angry." They exchanged a worried glance before hurrying to catch up with their friends. They caught up just in time.
"Yugi." Seto sapphire eyes burned into the shorter teen from his higher ground. "Do you remember the day I defeated Noah Kaiba at Death-T?"
It seemed a strange way to open the conversation.
"Yes. I said I looked forward to dueling you someday." Yugi blinked up at Seto in understanding.
"I'd like to cash in that rain-check now, if that's alright with you."
"Of course," Yugi answered with a nod, but Anzu stopped him.
"Wait, Seto. Yugi already has ten star-chips. He doesn't have to duel you," she protested.
"No, Anzu, it's okay," Yugi reassured, holding up a hand to make her stop. He and Seto exchanged a look of their own, one that few of their spectators understood.
They had never seen eye to eye—and that wasn't just because of their height difference. Seto wasn't afraid to fight for what he believed in, to fight to protect those he cared about, to protect the innocents. Yugi was a pacifist and would rather take a beating than cause another person harm. Yugi believed the world was full of goodness. Seto saw the evil that lay hidden within everything and everyone. Yugi was optimistic. Seto was a pessimistic realist. The only place they could ever seem to meet in conflict without true contention was in a duel. Duels were the foundation of their tenuous friendship, and until the day when they started to see the world the same way, duels were the only thing that could strengthen it.
"We'll play using my newest innovation in holographic duel technologies," Seto said as he led them over to a clear space on an annex of the crenelated ramparts of the high castle wall. Seto stopped and turned, opening his backpack, pulling something out, and handing it to Yugi. "This a prototype of the new Duel Disk. It's a new high-tech dueling device that allows players the realism of arena matches in any setting."
"Whoah!" Ryou was impressed. This must be what Seto has been working on lately at KaibaCorp, he thought.
"Looks like a flyin' saucer ta me," Joey remarked casually. Seto shot him a glare, but his expression softened ever so slightly as Joey grinned at him and Seto realized that his friend was just playing dumb for a laugh. Seto equipped himself with his own Duel Disk and he and Yugi parted, walking several paces away so that there was plenty of space between them.
"First insert your shuffled dueling deck into the display drive recognizer. A lifepoint count will light up and keep score for you the entire match," Seto instructed, demonstrating by placing his own shuffled deck in his Duel Disk. "Then choose a card to play and set it on the digital card reader. I think the rest will explain itself."
Yugi slotted his own deck and the life-point counter appeared: 2000. "What's the bet?" he asked, looking up at his own opponent.
"Five star-chips. Whoever wins will be the only one who gets to enter the castle."
Anzu started to fret as each duelist removed five star-chips from his dueling glove—for Seto, it was all the star-chips he had, since he hadn't dueled since yesterday—and tossed them to a place in the center between them.
Seto took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to clear his mind. He needed to be at his best right now. He couldn't afford to lose. He closed his eyes for a moment. He could see Mokuba and Adina in his mind's eye, slumped over on the cold stone floor inside a prison cell. I will help you, Mokuba! There's not a power on Earth that will stop me—not Pegasus, not Yugi!
As the brunette closed his eyes, so did Yugi. He was tapping into the power of the Millennium Puzzle, summoning the pharaoh's spirit to his aid. They were going to fight this duel together, like always.
"All set?" Seto asked, and Yugi nodded. "Then let's duel! Stand back and prepare for battle!"
They drew their starting hands, and Seth watched the duel as he held his breath. The tension among the spectators was palpable, none of them knowing for whom to cheer. Anzu leaned towards cheering for Yugi, and Joey leaned towards cheering for Seto, but Ryou and Marik were caught in the middle. Ryou liked and respected them both; he couldn't be asked to choose between them. Marik favored both of them equally, for they were both pharaohs he'd sworn to serve with his life. Now he understood what people meant when they said, "You cannot serve two masters." While they may or may not have made up their minds individually, they all held their tongues for now.
Seto placed a card on the card reader, placed the cards of his hand on the disk's outer slots, and threw his disk to the ground where it spun perpetually, generating holographic sparks that wove together into his first monster of the duel.
"I play Ryu-Kishin, in attack mode!" Attack 1600/Defense 1200.
Seto's hand fanned out in front of him, each holographic card as tall as he was. His hand consisted of Battle Ox, Saggi the Dark Clown, Magic Lamp, and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. A good hand.
"Look, the cards!" Anzu cried, as if the others didn't see the same thing she did.
"They're holograms—just like the monsters!" Joey was genuinely impressed, but then again, Seto never ceased to impress him.
Yugi placed his own cards accordingly and threw his own Duel Disk. "On your guard. I play Curse of Dragon, in attack mode!" Attack 2000/Defense 1500.
"Huh." Seto smirked a little. "Well done. A formidable card, Yugi, and a play I would expect from a duelist of your caliber."
"Don't patronize me!" Yugi shot back. It had begun: the bragging, the overconfidence, the big talk that seemed to accompany almost every tournament duel.
"Yugi, I know from playing you you're a talented duelist; but you're just not as good as I am. Listen up—only one duelist is gonna challenge Pegasus, and that's me!"
Why don't you just tell them the truth? Seth asked in despair.
"Wrong," Yugi retorted, wearing a smug grin of his own.
Because Pegasus said that I have to defeat Yugi in a duel, and if Yugi knows what's going on, he won't give it his all, Seto snapped back, starting to scowl. I need to earn this victory. I won't have it just handed over to me.
"Then attack, and find out. What's the matter, Yugi, no faith in your monster?"
"You'll see—he's mightier than yours! Go, Curse of Dragon! Attack Ryu-Kishin! Dragon flame!" Curse of Dragon soared high into the air and singed Ryu-Kishin off the field. "There—Ryu-Kishin is no more." Yugi's eyes left Seto's to study his own hand for a moment: Multiply, Monster Replace, Dark Magician, and The Eye of Truth. Seto's life-points fell to 1600, and he retracted his disk, smirking as he rearranged his cards.
"Hm. You're good, but oh so predictable. Don't you think I expected that attack? And once again, you've played right into my hands, Yugi."
Yugi didn't so much as twitch as he watched Seto, waiting for him to play his card.
"He's bluffing!" Anzu called, finally speaking from the peanut gallery. "You already have Seto on the ropes! All right, go Yugi!" As the first one to pick a side, she had drawn the first line in the sand. Marik and Ryou glanced at each other briefly, both wondering if this could possibly end well.
"It's not a bluff; as you will all soon see." He drew his card, then placed his draw on the center of the disk before throwing it out once more. "I summon Swordstalker!" The sparks solidified into a hulking purple demon warrior, a red cape fluttering behind him. "The Swordstalker gathers the life force of a fallen ally, raising his own attack power by twenty percent." His monster's attack points went from 2000 to 2400 automatically.
"So that's why Seto allowed his Ryu-Kishin to be defeated so easily!" Yami realized aloud, speaking somewhat quietly to himself. "So he could use its energy to create an even stronger monster. And now that he's done that, his Swordstalker's attack strength is even greater than that of my Curse of Dragon!"
"Good move, Seto!" Joey called out, cheering on the brunette. "Way ta go!"
"Attack now, Swordstalker!" Seto barely glanced at Joey. "Vengeance strike!"
Yugi used Magic Replace to swap his Curse of Dragon with his Dark Magician for the duration of Seto's turn, using dark magic attack to destroy his Swordstalker. On his next turn, Seto used his La Jinn (1800/1000) and Magic Lamp combo, deflecting Yugi's attack and turning it back on his monsters, effectively destroying Curse of Dragon. Now their scores were even at 1500 life-points each, and Yugi had one monster on the field: Dark Magician, in attack mode. His hand contained Horn of the Unicorn, Multiply, Swords of Revealing Light, and The Eye of Truth.
I've never seen Seto duel this intensely before, Yugi observed, his words audible only to Yami. It's like everything he has is riding on the outcome of this duel.
Do not worry, Aibou, Yami assured, sensing his hikari's concerns. However this duel ends, we'll still be friends. He's too noble to be sore and petty about losing a card game.
Yugi played Swords of Revealing Light, and since the Magic Lamp made La Jinn untouchable, he didn't bother trying to attack. Seto then activated his De-Spell card to destroy the Swords. Yugi drew "Mystic Box" and used The Eye of Truth to see that Seto's hand contained Saggi the Dark Clown and Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Why hadn't he summoned it yet? It didn't make sense for him to keep it in his hand when he could use it to eliminate the Dark Magician.
"I don't know what he has planned, but it must be a powerful strategy," Ryou murmured to Marik as they watched the duel with wide eyes. "I've never seen him duel with such precision before. It's like he's calculated every move he could possibly make, every combo he could possibly use. Nothing seems to faze him."
Yugi's use of the Mystic Box destroyed his opponent's Magic Lamp, allowing his Dark Magician to attack and destroy La Jinn. Seto's life-points dropped from 1500 to 800, making him grit his teeth in frustration. He'd known that this battle wouldn't be easy, but even the slightest hint that he might lose this duel set him on edge. Adrenaline was pumping through his system, his pulse quick as he tried to suppress his nerves.
Seto then drew his Crush Card Virus and smirked, knowing that he had the advantage. He summoned Saggi the Dark Clown (600/1500) in defense mode and lay one card face-down. Yugi called the Dark Magician back to his hand, then drew and summoned Gaia the Fierce Knight to the field in attack mode. Gaia attacked Saggi, destroying him, but what he didn't know was that Saggi had been infected with the Crush Card Virus, so now Yugi's deck was infected, automatically destroying all monsters on his field or in his hand with attack power 1500 or higher. All high-powered monsters in Yugi's deck were also rendered useless. Yugi hadn't seen the move coming, and he had to admit that he was impressed.
"That's a dirty trick, Seto!" Anzu shouted at him, angry on Yugi's behalf.
"It's how the card works," he retorted coldly. "I'm just playing by the rules of the game."
"Yeah, Anzu, it's the rules of the game!" Joey said with crossed arms. "You never even played Duel Monsters!"
"I have too!" she exclaimed, stomping one foot as she rounded on Joey. "What are you, his guard dog? I didn't think that Seto needed you to fight his battles for him!"
"Don't call me a dog," Joey growled, fists clenched at his sides as he glared down at the spunky teen.
"Hey, break it up, you two," Marik reprimanded, looking cross. "They're in the middle of a duel!"
Seto drew one card, Gift of the Mystical Elf, and passed his turn, which only intrigued Yugi further. The shorter duelist drew Summoned Skull, but it was useless to him thanks to Seto's virus, so he summoned Silver Fang (1200/800) in defense mode. Seto drew his second Blue-Eyes, and felt a small thrill of triumph. He summoned Battle Ox (1700/1000) in attack mode and destroyed Silver Fang. Yugi drew and summoned Griffore (1200/1500) and equipped it with Horn of the Unicorn, raising its stats to 1900/2000. He attacked and destroyed Battle Ox, reducing Seto's life-points from 800 to 600.
Seto was biting his lip as he drew his next card, but smiled to himself as he was filled with confidence. His third Blue-Eyes was now in his hand. He summoned one Blue-Eyes (3000/2500) then activated Gift of the Mystical Elf, which raised his life-points by 300 for each monster on the field, raising his life-points to 1200. When he attacked Griffore, he devastated Yugi's life-points, making them drop to 400.
Yugi was starting to feel a little nervous. He drew and summoned his Giant Soldier of Stone (1300/2000) in defense mode, looking down at his hand as he tried to plan his next move: Multiply, Mammoth Graveyard, Polymerization. Seto drew his card, and grinned broadly.
"I use polymerization to fuse together my Blue-Eyes with the two Blue-Eyes White Dragons in my hand, creating the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" The creature was truly a glorious sight to behold, rearing its three majestic heads as it gave a piercing cry. All of his friends gasped in shock, none of them having even known the existence of that monster.
You need to stop this, Seto.
Why should I stop? Seto demanded, becoming increasingly frustrated with the Spirit of the Millennium Rod. I'm winning, in case you couldn't tell. My victory is assured.
Nothing is assured, Seth reminded him sternly. Listen to me, Seto. I see where this is going much better than you do. Stop now, before it's too late.
Since when can you see the future?
I can't, but it was shown to me,(1) Seth replied, starting to grow frantic. I can't tell you what will happen, but I know that if you keep going like this that—
Seto couldn't take it anymore. It's my little brother whose soul is at stake, and I'll be doing this my way!
Just listen to me, Seto!
"Shut up, Seth!" Seto shouted aloud without meaning to, and for a moment, they all got a glimpse of the intense anger he was working so hard to control right now. He jerked the Millennium Rod out of his beltloop—his usual spot for it—and gripped it tightly for a moment. Then he pulled his arm back and threw it towards the edge.
"No!" Marik dashed away from the others to catch the artifact before it fell into the woods hundreds of feet below them. He clutched it close to himself, staring up at Seto in horror. The brunette wasn't paying any attention to him at the moment, though.
"What is going on?" Ryou whispered to Marik, deeply disturbed by the turn of events. During the whole duel, Seto's behavior had been bothering him. Seto and Seth were supposed to be working together, like Yami and Yugi, weren't they? So why would he throw the Millennium Rod away? What had Seth said that set Seto off like that?
"Blue-Eyes, attack with neutron blast!" The three-headed dragon (4500/3800) reared back its three heads and launched a blinding attack of pure power at Yugi's stone soldier, annihilating it entirely.
"Draw your last pathetic card so I can end this, Yugi." Seto's eyes blazed, and Anzu took a step forward, her mouth open to shout something back, but Joey put his arm out to stop her. She looked up at him indignantly, but was surprised by the blond's grim expression.
"He can fend for himself," Joey said quietly, returning Anzu's gaze. "Yugi's stronger than you think."
"My grandpa's deck has no pathetic cards!" Yugi placed a card on his card reader and threw the disk out again, saying, "I summon Kuriboh, in defense mode!" The adorable fluff-ball materialized on the field, its stats disappointingly low: 300 attack, 200 defense.
Seto chuckled, the sound low and scornful. It quickly escalated into a loud, haughty laugh that made Yugi narrow his eyes at his opponent.
"I'm not done yet," Yugi said, placing another card on his Duel Disk. "I activate Multiply, generating an endless army of Kuriboh to defend my life-points!"
"Cute, real cute," Seto scoffed. "Blue-Eyes, attack with neutron blast!" His god-like dragon blasted at the wall of Kuriboh, and while some of them disintegrated, many of them remained, and more Kuriboh immediately began to fill the whole.
"What?!" Seto exclaimed. His stomach sank and he swallowed hard, trying not to let it unbalance him. Surely there must be some kind of mistake. This couldn't be happening. Nobody, not even Yugi, no matter how good of a duelist he might be, was going to stand in his way. Nothing would stop him from rescuing his little brother. Nothing.
(1) Remember when Seth talked to canonical Seto Kaiba during his Shadow Chess game with Noah Kaiba? ;)
P.S. Please review, because more reviews = more chapters!