Chapter 14: Amy vs. Satoshi Part 1
Lord Hallows led the teens into the final room. Amy breathed in and out slowly to relax herself in preparation for the next challenge that awaited her. This was it, the final member of the Fiendish Five. Once she beat this duellist, she'd finally get to challenge Lord Hallows and rescue her brother! Then they could leave this nightmare castle for good! Amy closed her eyes for a minute.
I'm almost there Jack! Hang on for me. Your little sister's gonna get you back! she whispered to herself.
"You OK Ames?" Kazuki asked softly.
Amy sighed bluntly.
"I'm managing…barely." she admitted, "I'm still shook up over what went down with me and Amethyst back there. I'll be haunted by this for the rest of my life!"
"It really wasn't fair that you had to be put through that." Chloe said sympathetically, "At least it's almost over now. I bet you'll beat this last member of the Fiendish Five and then you'll beat Hallows and get Jack back! The sooner we can leave this nightmarish wonderland, the better!"
"You and me both, Chloe." Amy concurred, "For Jack's sake, and also for Amethyst's sake, I will not lose now!"
"Do you tell yourself that over and over before every duel you participate in?" Hallows scoffed mockingly, "If it makes you feel a little better about losing, I don't suppose there's any harm in that."
"Whatever Hallows. I'm just keen to get this over with." Amy muttered.
"Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it…" Hallows taunted.
He guided the teens through the door. The trio walked into a room that looked as if someone had taken the inside of a volcano and dropped it here. The walls looked like rock with flashing lights that resembled molten lava, there were flamethrowers spitting fire all over the place and the floor itself was even painted to look like pools of lava, giving off the impression that the duellists were standing in a volcano as they fought it out. It was ridiculously hot in the room too. Amy, Chloe and Kazuki were sweating after just two minutes being in here and they were finding the air stifling and hard to breathe in. Chloe took her jacket off and fanned herself. Kazuki did the same.
"Phew! And I thought Garth's room was hot enough! This feels like being in a sauna!" she gasped.
"I must apologize if the décor is to your disliking, puny mortals." Hallows snorted, "The last member of the Fiendish Five is um…pyro-crazy to put it bluntly. His obsession with fire kinda got to his head a bit. I don't understand it myself but as long as it gets me more souls, I won't judge him!"
"You wouldn't." Amy muttered.
She looked ahead to see her final opponent was already standing opposite her in the duelling arena. He was another boy, about 16 in age and it was clear his obsession with fire that Hallows had described had gotten the best of him. The sides of his face and his lower arms were covered in hideous burns that had never fully healed and he made no attempt to cover them up. It was as if he was proud he'd been burnt and wanted to show the world what had become of him. His hair was red, spiky and pointed upwards which gave the impression that his head was on fire. Amy imagined that was intentional. He dressed casually in a hoodie and jeans and he wore a twisted smile on his face. He looked insane with his shrunken pupils and wide grin. How long ago had his mind snapped and reduced him to this? Had Hallows been responsible for it? Amy dreaded to find out.
"And this my children is where the Fiendish Five challenge ends. Say hello to Satoshi, the Fire Duellist." Hallows introduced, "I always save him for last because he tends to be the strongest duellist of the five. His duelling style combines burn tactics with powerful monsters that will leave you burnt to cinders! You may have defeated the other four Amy, but you will never defeat Satoshi! He'll have you screaming in anguish as he burns you alive and delivers your soul to me!"
"In your dreams! I'll extinguish his flames no problem!" Amy declared, "I've come too far to lose my soul now! I'm gonna win and that's a promise!"
"Don't make promises you can't keep, foolish girl!" Hallows cackled, "Enjoy the duel. It may well be your last…"
He disappeared into the shadows once more, leaving Amy and Satoshi alone to get on with their duel. Despite her light dress code, Amy was still sweating from the heat in the room. Sometimes it helped to wear revealing clothing! She wouldn't let it get to her no matter what. She loaded her Duel Disk and fixed eyes on Satoshi. The Fire Duellist loaded his own Duel Disk with his deck. His Duel Disk was red, orange and yellow to match the fire theme going on and the section his deck was loaded in looked like a volcano about to erupt. In this case, cards would come out instead of lava.
"I've been waiting for you, Amy." Satoshi murmured in a low, haunting voice, "Oooh yes, you'll look so pretty when I set you alight! My flames will consume you whole and I will be the only member left standing to continue carrying out Lord Hallows's commands!"
"You're a freak and I'm not gonna feel sorry for sending you to the Shadow Realm." Amy muttered grimly, "Any freak who's obsessed with fire belongs there if you ask me. So if I were to guess, you joined Lord Hallows because he enables your fire fetish?"
"He does." Satoshi confirmed, his tone of voice showing obvious pleasure in addressing that fact, "Before Hallows, I was an outcast in society because they see my love of fire as freakish and wrong. They're wrong! Fire is beautiful! Fire sustains our very lives! Fire provides us warmth and fire also is the ultimate judge on who lives and who dies! I am proud to call myself a worshipper of the flames and thanks to Lord Hallows, I can burn whoever wrongs me and puts me down! Ha, ha, ha, ha! And I'll be glad to burn you alive Amy! Anyone who seeks to extinguish me will burn!"
"Where the hell did Hallows find you, the loony bin?" Amy scoffed, "I'm gonna kick your ass in this duel and you'll never burn anyone again you sick freak!"
"NO! It is the fire that will claim you!" Satoshi shot back, "And fire is what awaits you when you lose this duel…"
He whipped out a remote control and stabbed down on the button with his thumb. All at once, Amy suddenly found thick steel clamps closing around her feet and locking her into place! They'd come up from the floor underneath her and now they held Amy firm. Amy pulled on her legs but it was no use. She couldn't move. Then Satoshi pressed another button on the remote and a pair of flamethrowers rose up from either side of Amy. They pointed at her and blasted her with jets of flames that threatened to incinerate her on the spot. Chloe and Kazuki cried out in horror and Amy ducked down. She'd barely been quick enough. The flames hadn't hit her but they had managed to set her jacket ablaze. Amy felt the heat on her back and yelped frantically as the fire began to grow. She tore off her jacket and threw it onto the floor to let it burn to ashes. With no jacket on, Amy's back and shoulders were completely bare. The red-haired duellist panted heavily.
"What are you trying to do you crazy bastard?! Kill me?! We have a duel to get on with!" Amy shrieked at the top of her lungs.
"That was only to give you a taster of what awaits you when you lose." Satoshi sneered, "Once your Life Points hit zero, your soul is delivered to Hallows and I get the pleasure of burning your body to cinders! You'll be a glorious Guy Fawkes display for me to enjoy and thanks to those shackles around your feet, you'll never escape your fate!"
"I cannot wait to get back to the real world where we duellists can just have a nice fun game of Duel Monsters without some kind of death trap awaiting the loser!" Amy groaned, "I swear if I'd known this was awaiting me when I became a duellist, I'd never have bought a single card!"
"Don't worry about it Ames! You'll crush this guy, I know you will!" Kazuki yelled supportively.
"The only fire burning will be yours Amy!" Chloe cheered, "You'll blaze past him and get to Lord Hallows!"
"Oh I will you two, I know I will!" Amy said confidently, "Let's duel!"
She and Satoshi drew their starting hands. A Life Point counter flickered into life display all 8000 Life Points that Amy and Satoshi would have and the holographic projectors whirred as the duelling arena lit up. This was it, the final duel against the Fiendish Five. It was do or die and Amy was determined to make this her fifth consecutive win.
"I'll be a nice guy and let you go first, Amy." Satoshi purred, "You'll need a head start against me."
"You're too kind." Amy said sarcastically.
She drew her sixth card and added it to her hand. She studied her cards carefully. She'd drawn a good opening hand. She had two relatively strong monsters she could summon right away, her Red-Eyes Black Dragon and two Trap Cards. Satoshi was in for a nasty surprise with this kind of hand! Sadly she had White Dragon Ritual in her hand but no Paladin of White Dragon to go with it but it was still not a bad hand for her. Amy knew she couldn't take any chances in this duel. It would be best not to use her resources up so quickly. She would keep hold of her Traps and use them when necessary instead of using them all at once. There was one that she could use for now at least.
"I set one card face-down to start off with, and then I play my almighty Spear Dragon in Attack Mode!" Amy declared.
Her face-down card and Spear Dragon materialized onto the field. Spear Dragon screeched with anticipation, ready to skewer whatever unlucky monster would be in its sights. Chloe and Kazuki knew Amy had started off well. Spear Dragon's 1900ATK points would be tough to overcome and her face-down card was likely to be troublesome for Satoshi. Lord Hallows seemed to share their thoughts as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Remember Satoshi, Amy is not to be taken lightly." he warned, "Treat any face-down card she has with great caution! She has some very powerful traps that have helped her out in all of her duels against your comrades."
"Not to worry my lord, I won't make the same mistakes they did!" Satoshi crowed, "Now it's my turn!"
He drew his next card and added it to his hand. He had four Spell Cards and two monsters in his hand. A very good start and he was very pleased with two of the Spell Cards he had to use. Grinning wickedly, he selected them.
"Now to show you the true damaging potential of fire, my red-headed bonfire display." he purred, his voice a creepy taunt as he slotted his first Spell Card into his Duel Disk, "I activate Tremendous Fire!"
The card activated and Amy grimaced as she suddenly found herself being blasted full on by a torrent of flames that exploded all around the duelling field. Even though the flames were only holograms, Amy still felt the need to defend herself as she covered her face and braced for impact. Kazuki and Chloe looked away as if worried Amy was actually being roasted alive only to remind themselves that it wasn't real fire this time. Tremendous Fire was a double-edged sword of a Spell Card as it damaged both players, but the opponent got it worse than the player as the opponent received 1000 points of damage while the player only for 500. For Satoshi, it was a small price to pay when it meant he now had the lead. But he wasn't done yet.
"And now for the second round!" he jeered, "For I also activated Ookazi! Feel the burn as you lose 800 more Life Points!"
Amy screamed as another torrent of flames exploded from the holographic image of Satoshi's card on the field and burnt away more of her Life Points. This was NOT a good start at all! Down to 6200 Life Points already and it was only the second turn! Hopefully Satoshi didn't have any more cards like this to use in his deck! Chloe clutched the lapels of her jacket in worry.
"Oh god, this is horrible!" she whimpered, "Amy's taken a beating already and Satoshi hasn't even played a single Monster Card!"
"He's a Fire-type Duellist. Of course he relies on burn damage." Kazuki snorted, "All Fire-type Duellists rely on that. It's a handy way of dealing damage to Life Points but experience has taught me that it's not always the most reliable strategy in the long run."
"I guess you've beaten Fire-type Duellists before?" Chloe asked.
"Sure have. Plenty of them in fact." Kazuki confirmed, "They burn off a lot of my Life Points but they all failed to actually beat me because they often don't have much else to fall back on after they use up their resources. I bet Satoshi will be just the same."
"I sure hope so or we're gonna watch Amy burn to a crisp!" Chloe shrieked.
They watched as Satoshi made his next move. Thankfully he had no other burn damage cards to use. He simply selected one of his Monster Cards and played it in Defence Mode. It was Blue Flame Swordsman (1800ATK/1600DEF), a monster that resembled the famous Flame Swordsman, a favourite of Joey Wheeler. As its name suggested, its outfit was mostly blue and so was its sword. Amy could see what Satoshi was hoping for but his defences wouldn't hold out for him, not when she had a powerful monster in play and a Trap Card that would mess with his plan. She rubbed her arms and shook her head, still feeling it from the earlier damage from Satoshi's two Spell Cards.
"Not bad Satoshi. Not bad at all." Amy muttered, "But I guess that just shows what a coward you actually are. You're too afraid to fight like a man so you cower behind your flames to make yourself seem tougher than you are! But I bet deep inside, you're nothing but a scared little boy who's nothing without his precious flames to protect him!"
"I am no coward!" Satoshi growled, "I'm the bravest of all the Fiendish Five! The fires that burn within me are a symbol of my courage and determination to beat all who stand in my way!"
"Well just like any fire that burns, your courage and determination will be put out when I'm done with you! Then what will you have?" Amy taunted.
She knew it was risky trying to insult Satoshi as he could easily just decide to incinerate her with his flamethrowers instead of continuing the duel but she thought if he riled him up, he might make mistakes that would cost him the duel in the end. She also betted that Hallows wouldn't allow Satoshi to try killing her right now. She had a feeling he needed her alive in order to take her soul, otherwise he would've just let Satoshi or indeed any of the Fiendish Five before him kill her already and not bother with any of the duels she'd been participating in. Satoshi was visibly angered by Amy's insults and he his hand twitched furiously. Amy imagined he had to physically restrain himself from reaching for his remote and using the flamethrowers on her right now. Satoshi lowered his head and sighed heavily. He simply announced his turn was over and allowed Amy to continue. The teen duellist drew her next card. She smiled happily.
Great! Another Trap Card! This'll come in GREAT handy! she thought excitedly.
"I set another card face down." Amy declared as she set her newly drawn card on the field, "And now I call to the field another monster of mine. My mighty Battle Ox!"
Her armoured oxen warrior materialized beside Spear Dragon with its sharp axe glistening in the lights. Kazuki and Chloe beamed happily. At least with two moderately strong monsters in play, Amy could keep Satoshi on the back foot and do some real damage to him. But Amy wasn't done yet for she activated the first card she'd set on her first turn. It was Final Attack Orders, a Trap Card that Amy hadn't had the chance to use until now. This card forced all monsters face-up on the field into Attack Mode and left them unable to change positions. Any face-down monster that was attacked wouldn't make a difference as it would immediately be switched into Attack Mode upon being flipped face-up and battle damage would still be done. As long as the card remained in play, Satoshi wouldn't be able to defend himself. The pyromaniac watched helplessly as Blue Flame Swordsman was forced into Attack Mode by Amy's trap. The holographic image got up from its knees and drew out its sword, ready to attack. Unfortunately, it was no match for Amy's Spear Dragon.
"Let's see how you like it when those you burn fight back!" Amy declared hotly, "Spear Dragon, skewer that puny swordsman and Battle Ox, attack Satoshi directly!"
Her monsters lunged into battle with Spear Dragon making the first move. It skewered Blue Flame Swordsman with its sharp beak. Blue Flame Swordsman could only feebly cry out as it was destroyed by Amy's dragon. Thanks to Final Attack Orders, it didn't go into Defence Mode after attacking which would prevent Satoshi from exploiting its zero defence points by attacking it while it was in Defence Mode. With no monsters to protect him, Satoshi was helpless to do anything as Battle Ox let out a thunderous bellow of rage and charged directly towards him. It sliced through him with its beefy axe and Satoshi staggered backwards from the pain of the attack. His Life Points dropped down all the way to 5700 as a result of the two-pronged attack. Amy's monster retook their positions on her side of the field. Kazuki and Chloe cheered excitedly.
"Way to go Ames! Keep it up and you'll snuff that guy's flames out in no time!" Kazuki cried.
"He hasn't got a chance against you now!" Chloe declared, "He can't defend himself from your attacks! You've got him well cornered!"
Satoshi regained his bearings and ran a hand over his spiky hair. He didn't look worried in spite of the fact Amy had a big lead over him.
"So what? You got a good turn and now you act like you've already beat me?" he sneered, "All my other victims acted the same way and they ended up incinerated by the end! You'll be no different Amy!"
He drew his next card and grinned deviously. Now HE'D drawn a Trap Card! He would put this to great use!
"I'll place this card face down for now." Satoshi announced as he set his new card, "And I'll call forth my blazing hot ally, Solar Flare Dragon, in Attack Mode!"
A fiery dragon with a long, snaky body, twin horns and a body coated in flames materialized in front of Satoshi (1500ATK/1000DEF). It roared loudly and fixed Amy with its evil looking eyes. It looked like it wanted to fry her right there on the spot. Amy refused to be intimidated by it. She even questioned what Satoshi was playing at with this move.
"Hey dipshit, you do realize your monster's way too weak to destroy either of mine?" she taunted, "What good is playing it in Attack Mode gonna do you?"
"Well your Final Attack Orders stops me from defending myself so why bother putting it in Defence Mode when I can't?" Satoshi retorted, "I could've set it, yes, but I have a feeling I might be able to power it up if I get lucky on my next draw. You see, I have the handy little Spell Card known as Graceful Charity in my hand!"
He played the card and Amy watched the familiar angelic figure on the card appear on the field and hold her hands out as if granting a blessing to Satoshi. Said blessing was an extra three cards he could draw from his deck but he would have to discard two from his hand. He drew his three cards and studied them carefully. He had Cost Down in his hand from his first turn, which was useless, and he had another monster that he'd drawn through Graceful Charity. He sent them to the Graveyard while keeping the two new cards he'd drawn in his hand. His burnt face twisted into a grin of maniac glee as he made his next move
"Graceful Charity gave me what I needed!" he crowed, "I set another card face-down," he declared as he set his new card, "And now I equip Salamandra to my Solar Flare Dragon!"
Amy watched in horror as a fiery sword appeared by magic in front of Solar Flare Dragon. It had no hands to hold it with so it held the sword with its tail instead. Salamandra granted any Fire-attribute monsters a 700 attack point boost, making Solar Flare Dragon stronger than both of Amy's monsters with 2200 attack points at its disposal. Satoshi looked to be taking control of the duel with this move.
"As I warned, never act like you've already won after a good turn!" Satoshi mocked, "Now Solar Dragon, incinerate her Battle Ox!"
The fiery hot dragon rushed towards Battle Ox and opened its jaws, ready to obliterate it with a tongue of flames. Battle Ox stood its ground, refusing to give its opponent the satisfaction of watching it cower before it. It would rather face death with dignity. But death never came for it.
"Nice try Satoshi, but I had a little surprise still waiting for you!" Amy taunted, "I activate Spellbinding Circle!"
Her face down card flipped up and a magical circle formed around Solar Flare Dragon, cancelling out its attack and immobilizing it completely. The dragon let out a strangled yelp of surprise and struggled furiously but it couldn't move. Unless Satoshi had any backrow removal cards, his dragon was nothing more than a sitting duck. Chloe sighed with relief. At least Amy was safe now! But Satoshi was still smiling in spite of what had happened.
"My dragon may not be able to attack now, but it's got a VERY handy effect!" the fire enthusiast crowed, "During each of my End Phases, it can inflict 500 damage to your Life Points! Even when it can't attack, it can still hurt you!"
"What?! Oh no!" Amy cried worriedly.
Satoshi laughed mockingly at his opponent as he ended his turn and let his dragon activate its effect. Solar Flare Dragon flicked its mane and sent a fireball that hit Amy directly in the chest and burned away 500 more of her Life Points. Amy cried out and instinctively rubbed her chest despite no actual fireball hitting her. She was down to 5700 Life Points, making her and Satoshi currently equal. This was not good for her. If she couldn't get rid of Solar Flare Dragon soon, it would gradually eat up her Life Points with its effect! At least it couldn't attack as it would've only been able to do more damage to her. But losing any number of Life Points was still a cause for concern. Amy looked at her hand again. She still had Red-Eyes Black Dragon in there and she currently had two monsters to sacrifice in order to summon it so that would deal with Solar Flare Dragon!
Amy placed her fingers on top of her deck and drew her next card, praying that it was something good. She looked at it and frowned in annoyance. It was only The Dragon Dwelling in the Cave. She'd hoped to draw Monster Reborn so she could bring back Spear Dragon after sacrificing it to summon her Red-Eyes and then she'd be able to attack Satoshi twice this turn. But at least she could still destroy his dragon and stop its effect from damaging her Life Points further. She was about to make her move before Satoshi grinned wickedly again.
"Just before you do anything, I'd like to activate a Trap Card of my own!" he crowed, "Go Time Seal!"
"NO! Not that one!" Amy cried in despair.
But it was. Time Seal revealed itself to Amy and its effect was activated. Now Amy would be forced to skip her next draw phase on her next turn, leaving her with no new cards to use. That would definitely be a boon for her! Satoshi now had an advantage for he had two turns where he could draw new cards to use against her while she would have to wait until the turn after. Amy looked at her hand again. She still had one unused Trap Card that she could set but a part of her still wanted to take her time and wait for the right time to use it. It wasn't as if she actually NEEDED to use it right now! She still had the stronger monster she could play for now.
"So you've stopped me drawing anything on my next turn. At least you haven't stopped me making this move!" Amy declared, "For I can still sacrifice my two monsters on the field in order to summon my Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
"Gah! You have a strong monster in your hand waiting to come out?!" Satoshi cried in shock.
Spear Dragon and Battle Ox disappeared from the battlefield as they were used as tributes to bring out Amy's new monster. This was the first time she'd actually used Red-Eyes Black Dragon proper without using it to Fusion Summon her Black Skull Dragon. The terrifying beast appeared in a bright flash and it spread its huge wings out as it roared in anticipation, thrilled to have the chance to fight (2400ATK/2000DEF). Red-Eyes Black Dragon looked vicious to the core with its horned head, sharp beak full of sharp teeth, long tail and large claws ready to slice the victim apart. Even if it wasn't as powerful as Blue-Eyes White Dragon, it was a monster that few duellists wanted to find themselves facing with its appearance alone leaving them quaking in their shoes. Chloe readjusted her glasses as she took in the appearance of Amy's draconian monster.
"Wow, and I thought Blue-Eyes White Dragon was scary!" Chloe exclaimed, "That thing looks like it could kill you just by looking at you!"
"It's just what Amy needs to stop Solar Flare Dragon from doing more damage to her Life Points so it was lucky for her she had it in her hand ready for this." Kazuki concurred, "At least Satoshi will feel its wrath and not us."
"Too right Kazuki!" Amy agreed, "I've also been dying to say this for ages so now's my chance. Red-Eyes Black Dragon, destroy that Solar Flare Dragon with Inferno Fire Blast!" she ordered.
Red-Eyes Black Dragon opened its jaws and incinerated its target with its signature attack. Amy cheered as Solar Flare Dragon was completely obliterated. Satoshi winced in response to his monster being destroyed. He was now down to 5500 Life Points and he currently had no cards in his hand that could help him out. He had a face-down card but it wouldn't mean much if he didn't have any monsters to defend himself. He had to draw one now or else he'd be wide open! He wished that Amy hadn't used Final Attack Orders as that was giving him additional problems too. His defences were useless when he couldn't actually put any of his monsters in Defence Mode and setting them face down made no difference as once they were attacked, they were flipped face-up and would be switched to Attack Mode anyway so he'd still lose Life Points! His burnt face contorted with rage. Whenever he got angry, the burns somehow managed to look even more grotesque than they already did.
"Such a beautiful fire from that dragon should be mine to incinerate YOU with!" he declared, "I will not be burnt by the fires that stand by my side to lay waste to my enemies!"
"Really? Cause that's what's happening right now you pyromaniac." Amy retorted.
Satoshi reached into his pocket for the remote control to the flamethrowers and he stabbed down at the button. He didn't aim them at Amy as he knew Hallows wouldn't allow it, but the flamethrowers shot off their flames on either side of her in an attempt to scare her into silence. To his annoyance, Amy didn't even flinch.
"You think that's gonna scare me a second time?" she jeered, "I know your game Satoshi and it's not gonna work on me. I'm not scared of you and your fear tactics won't throw me off my game!"
"Yeah, you tell that freak!" Chloe cheered.
"You'll regret your bravery when I emerge victorious in this duel, Amy!" the Fire Duellist growled, "Enough talk! It's my turn now!"
He drew his next card, praying to Hallows himself that it was a good one. He looked at it. It wasn't what he wanted, but it could still help him out in this match.
"I now play Pot of Greed!" Satoshi declared.
The recognizable image of Pot of Greed materialized onto the field as Satoshi drew his two new cards. Amy hoped that they were both dead draws but unfortunately, Satoshi seemed to draw what he was hoping for.
"I now call to the field my Darkfire Soldier #1 in Attack Mode!" Satoshi announced.
A muscular man surrounded by flames, clad in shoulder pads and a sweatband and wielding a long curved sword appeared in front of Satoshi (1700ATK/1150DEF). It offered no protection against Red-Eyes Black Dragon but at least now he had a monster to stop Amy from attacking him directly.
"But he won't be alone." Satoshi purred, "For I also drew Monster Reborn and I use it to bring back Solar Flare Dragon!"
Amy watched in annoyance as the fiery dragon made its unwanted return to the field. Great, now it could use its effect to damage her Life Points again! And just when she got rid of it last turn!
"With these two defending me, I'm safe for now and you can't attack me directly." Satoshi taunted, "But I've got another unpleasant surprise for you…now I have no cards in my hand, I can activate my face-down Fire Darts trap card!"
His face-down card flipped up to reveal itself. Amy recoiled. She'd never seen this card before so she was worried to find out what it did. No doubt it did more burn damage to her!
"Scared? You should be!" Satoshi sneered, reading the worry on Amy's face, "This card allows me to roll a dice three times and I inflict 100 points of damage to your Life Points depending on the numbers I roll! You better pray for some low roles as this'll hurt!"
A dice magically appeared in Satoshi's hand and the crazed teen rolled it. The dice spiralled through the air and landed in the duelling arena. It rolled over several times before coming to a stop. It had landed on a six. Amy winced. A good roll already! Hopefully the other two would be low rolls or else this would do some major damage! She watched with her heart pounding as Satoshi rolled a second time. This time, it landed on a four. That was still bad for her as she would lose at least 1000 Life Points thanks to this Trap Card. All she could do was hope Satoshi rolled a one on the last throw! Satoshi grinned deviously, relishing Amy's worry as he threw the dice for the last time. Kazuki and Chloe watched anxiously, sharing Amy's worry. Please be a bad roll! The dice bounced off the floor, rolled, bounced again and rolled over and over until it came to a stop. To Amy's dismay, Satoshi had rolled another four. It was better than a five or a six at least but a six and two fours was still way more damage than Amy would've wanted to take.
"So with that total, say goodbye as I burn away 1400 Life Points!" Satoshi cackled.
Darts of fire shot out from his Trap Card. It was as if a hidden gun had shot them towards Amy. The darts hit Amy over and over, each one feeling like she was being hit by flaming debris that was showering down on her. They kept up their onslaught until Amy was down to 4300 Life Points. If Amy hadn't been shackled into place, she would've fallen to her knees in pain from the bombardment of Fire Darts. The shackles were the only thing keeping her standing. Amy put her hands on her thighs and bent over, panting heavily. How was it the game managed to feel so real despite all the attacks and the damage being done being an illusion? She was considering dropping a suggestion to KaibaCorp to dial it back a bit as this was too real for her tastes!
"Oh your suffering delights me so!" Satoshi cackled, "You'll soon learn why you should never play with fire! For now, all I can do is end my turn and let my newly returned Solar Flare Dragon do its trick!"
As his turn ended, Solar Flare Dragon sent another ball of flames hurling towards Amy. Amy cried out as the flames hit her in the chest again and she rubbed herself instinctively. She was down to 3800 Life Points, and Satoshi had barely even attacked her! She was truly beginning to see the dangers of going up against a burn deck strategy. Who needed to attack when monster effects and Spell or Trap Cards could do the job just as, if not more effectively? Amy wondered if Satoshi still had any more burn cards left to use or if he'd used up all of his resources at this moment. It was a lovely thought but she doubted she'd seen the last of Satoshi's fiery tricks. At least her next turn would allow her to get rid of Solar Flare Dragon all over again.
She reached for her deck and was about to draw her next card only to remind herself that she couldn't Time Seal prevented her from drawing this turn! Sighing, she took her hand away from her deck.
"Drawing something good would've been nice." she muttered, "Oh well, all I can do for now is just set a monster face-down."
She set her Dragon Dwelling in the Cave. She thought having another monster on the field wouldn't hurt and if her dragon survived, maybe she could use it to tribute summon a new monster if she drew any powerful monsters next turn like Summoned Skull, Blue-Eyes White Dragon or Barrel Dragon. Of course it couldn't actually defend her thanks to Final Attack Orders affecting both sides but placing it face-down would hopefully make Satoshi hesitant to attack it.
"And now say goodbye to your stupid dragon all over again!" Amy declared, "Go Red-Eyes, Inferno Fire Blast again!" she yelled.
"Hold it right there!" Satoshi barked, holding up a hand to stop Amy in her tracks, "I must apologize, but I forgot to mention that Solar Flare Dragon has another really handy ability. You see, while I control another Pyro type monster, it CANNOT be attacked!"
"WHAT?! That's so unfair!" Amy protested, "So because of your other monster, Solar Flare Dragon's untouchable for now?!"
"Exactly!" Satoshi crowed, "So at least for now I get to keep my dragon around to keep doing more damage to you!"
Amy cursed angrily. She couldn't get rid of the dragon after all! She would be forced to destroy Satoshi's other monsters just to be able to take a shot at it! That was certainly going to make this duel more tedious and also scary for her as Solar Flare Dragon could do more damage to her the longer it was allowed to stay on the field! She was starting to regret ever using Final Attack Orders now as it prevented her Dragon Dwelling in the Cave from destroying Solar Flare Dragon once Red-Eyes got rid of Darkfire Soldier. The dragon only had 1000 defence points so if Satoshi had been able to play it in Defence Mode, Amy could've launched a two pronged attack that saw Red-Eyes destroy Darkfire Soldier and leaving Solar Flare Dragon unprotected for her other dragon to get rid of it! Hopefully next turn, she'd draw Remove Trap to get rid of Final Attack Orders as it was proving to be more of a hindrance than a help to her.
"All I can do I guess is just attack your soldier instead and thus prevent it from protecting your dragon." Amy sighed.
Her Red-Eyes Black Dragon destroyed Darkfire Soldier #1, leaving Solar Flare Dragon unguarded as no other Pyro type monsters were in play and Satoshi was now down to 4800 Life Points. There was only 1000 Life Points between the two duellists now but that was subject to change thanks to Solar Flare Dragon still being in play. Chloe looked to Kazuki anxiously.
"I'm scared! What if Amy can't get rid of that dragon?" she asked worriedly, "Amy's Life Points will just burn away and then Satoshi will win and he'll burn her alive!"
"We just gotta hope Satoshi doesn't draw another monster on his next turn or else Amy's gonna struggle…" Kazuki murmured.
Satoshi made his next move. He drew his next card and laughed tauntingly at Amy.
"Ooooh…so sorry little girl but Solar Flare Dragon remains protected!" he jeered, "Here's another Pyro type to defend him!"
He played his Molten Zombie (1600ATK/400DEF) in Attack Mode. It was true to its name, looking like some undead creature with burns and boils all over its body. Thanks to Solar Flare Dragon's effect, Amy would be forced to destroy it first before she could destroy his dragon. But Molten Zombie wasn't just on the field to defend his dragon.
"I noticed in your last turn, you set a monster." Satoshi acknowledged, "I imagine you're hoping to build your forces and overwhelm me later on. Well too bad! I'm making sure you only have one monster to attack me with so you won't be able to get rid of both monsters at once! Molten Zombie, attack the face-down monster now!"
Amy watched in dismay as Molten Zombie attacked her Dragon Dwelling in the Cave. If Final Attack Orders hadn't been in play, it would've shielded her from the attack. Molten Zombie punched at the face-down card, revealing what monster it was and upon being flipped face up, it was switched to attack mode. With only 1300 attack points, it was no match for Molten Zombie. Amy was now down to 3500 Life Points because of this and the moment Satoshi ended his turn, Solar Flare Dragon inflicted a further 500 points of damage to bring her down to 3000. If she couldn't get rid of Solar Flare Dragon in the next six turns, it would wipe out the rest of her Life Points completely! She needed to destroy it and fast! Amy could feel the sweat trickling down the sides of her face. It wasn't just the heat that was causing it. She was genuinely terrified. She was more scared than she had been in any other battle with the Fiendish Five. This felt as if it truly was the end for her! She looked over at the flamethrower turrets beside her. She could already imagine them turning on her and blazing her to ashes. What a gruesome way to die! Amy wouldn't allow her life to end like this!
"At least now Time Seal's done with, I can draw again!" Amy declared, gleefully drawing her next card as if it might be a golden ticket to victory.
To her dismay…it wasn't a Monster Card. If she'd drawn Dark Blade, that would've been great as Dark Blade could destroy Molten Zombie and Red-Eyes Black Dragon could destroy Solar Flare Dragon! No, she'd drawn Remove Trap instead. She did want to get rid of Final Attack Orders, but preferably AFTER she'd gotten rid of Solar Flare Dragon first! Sighing, Amy played the Spell Card. At least she could defend herself if necessary for the remainder of the duel. Final Attack Orders disappeared from the field and Amy concluded her turn by ordering Red-Eyes Black Dragon to destroy Molten Zombie. Solar Flare Dragon was once again unprotected and if Satoshi didn't draw another Pyro type monster, it would remain that way. Amy put a hand to her heart and prayed that luck would be on her side. Please let Satoshi get a bad draw! All eyes were on Satoshi as he made his next move.
"I don't blame you for being so nervous Amy. Look how low you are on Life Points!" he taunted, "The fires that burn at my command are truly enjoying their feast! And they'll finish you off in no time! Here we go!"
He drew his next card…and his eyes widened in shock.
"NO! I didn't draw another Pyro type Monster!" he exclaimed, "I didn't draw a monster at all! My precious dragon is wide open for destruction!"
Amy sighed with relief. FINALLY! She could get rid of that dragon and stop it burning off her Life Points! But Satoshi wasn't worried for long. Upon looking more closely at his new card, he suddenly realized that he wouldn't even need Solar Flare Dragon anymore. If anything, he could just do damage to Amy in a whole new way!
"Still, this duel isn't lost yet." he said smoothly, "Not when I play this new card face down and end my turn, that is…"
His new card materialized face down on the field. Amy was no longer relaxed. Satoshi may not be able to defend his dragon from being destroyed anymore, but his face down card was likely to be troublesome. Suppose it was another Fire Darts card or some other Trap Card that did Life Point damage? Lord Hallows watched the duel with interest and he curled his bony fingers around his chin in thought.
"Aaaah…could this be Satoshi's trademark strategy at play again?" he purred darkly, "Could that face down card be what I think it is…?"
He'd watched Satoshi duel enough times to get happy whenever he had a face down card on the field. He would watch on to see what happened next. Satoshi ended his turn by switching his dragon into Defence mode. At least he could actually defend himself now Amy had gotten rid of Final Attack Orders! His Life Points would be safe while Amy's would keep taking damage. The red-haired girl cried out as Solar Flare Dragon burnt away yet more Life Points from her, leaving her with only a paltry 2500 left. It wouldn't be long now until he was bringing her soul to Hallows and getting to burn his next victim!
Amy made her next move. She drew her next card and beamed happily.
"Great! Another Monster Card! Now I can do more damage to Satoshi's Life Points!" Amy cried excitedly, "Time for my good luck charm to come out again as I call to the field Ground Attacker Bugroth!"
Her war machine monster appeared beside Red-Eyes Black Dragon with its cannons ready to fire and its engines whirring like mad. Kazuki and Chloe beamed. Amy could now destroy Solar Flare Dragon and attack directly to do some real damage to make up for all the damage Satoshi had inflicted on her! What was even better was that Red-Eyes Black Dragon would be able to do it as Ground Attacker Bugroth was strong enough to destroy Solar Flare Dragon thanks to its paltry 1000 defence points! Amy was about to attack before she suddenly hesitated. There was Satoshi's face down card. Did she dare risk an attack when it could screw with her chances of winning? Should she play cautiously for now or risk stumbling into an obvious trap? That had cost Gypsy the duel against her and she didn't want to make that same mistake. But if she did nothing then Solar Flare Dragon would just keep burning off Life Points! Amy sighed. She hated to do this, but what other choice did she have?
"I'll have to go for broke and hope for the best." the young duellist said grimly, "OK Ground Attacker Bugroth, destroy Solar Flare Dragon!"
Ground Attacker Bugroth aimed at its target and blasted Solar Flare Dragon to atoms with its cannons. But as it attacked, Satoshi sprang his trap.
"Just what I wanted you to do!" he cackled, "Go Backfire!"
His face down card revealed itself to Amy. At first, nothing happened but then Ground Attacker Bugroth finished its attack on Solar Flare Dragon. The moment it was destroyed, a sheet of flames shot out from the card and blew over Amy. Amy screamed and held up her hands to defend herself, even though it did nothing. Her Life Points dropped down to 2000, meaning she'd lost another 500 points. But why? Why had that happened? What did Backfire do exactly?
"What's going on? Why did I just lose Life Points?" Amy demanded, "Is that something Backfire does? Like I lose Life Points if I attack or something?"
"Almost." Satoshi corrected, "Backfire inflicts 500 points of damage to you every time you destroy my Fire attribute monsters. Doesn't matter if it's through battle or card effect. If they get destroyed by any means necessary, you get burnt for your troubles! Consider it my way of punishing you for attacking me!"
"Oh no! Now attacking his monsters will be riskier than before because she'll only end up hurting herself as well!" Chloe exclaimed.
"I was afraid he'd have that card in his deck." Kazuki muttered, "Fire duellists LOVE using Backfire. It combos so perfectly with their Fire monsters and it ends up making you hesitate to attack!"
Amy knew she was up against the wall now. With only 2000 Life Points left, she'd have to think very carefully about attacking Satoshi's monsters lest she only end up doing more damage to herself because of it. At least for the remainder of this turn, Red-Eyes Black Dragon could attack directly now no monsters were left. Her dragon blasted Satoshi and shaved off 2400 more Life Points, bringing him down to 1600. At least she was in the lead again, but for how long? The moment Satoshi had another monster to play, he'd be able to damage Amy further just for attacking it. This duel was far from over and Amy was far from safe. The next turns were going to be very tense indeed!
Lord Hallows laughed to himself with glee.
"I knew it! I knew he'd finally brought out his handy Backfire Trap Card!" Hallows crowed, "That card's NEVER let him down! Ha, ha, ha, ha! How will you duel your way out of this one Amy given each monster you destroy is only more damage you'll inflict on yourself! You might even kill yourself just trying to defeat Satoshi! Imagine such a deliciously ironic outcome for this duel…"
He rubbed his hands with pleasure. Satoshi had this duel in the bag! As long as he kept drawing Monster Cards, he'd be able to keep abusing Backfire and make Amy hesitant to attack him. He couldn't possibly lose now! The final member of the Fiendish Five was going to be the one to finally win him Amy's soul!
Amy's quite literally playing with fire here! How will she handle a duellist like Satoshi, especially now he has a Trap Card that will cause her to lose Life Points every time she destroys a monster? Find out in Part 2 and see if Amy can extinguish his flames...
Trivia: No doubt Amy's situation reminds some of you fans and anime viewers of Yugi's duel against Panik in where he shackles Yugi into place and tries to intimidate him with flamethrowers. Gotta love little nods to the anime, eh? ;)
Also, no, I didn't name Satoshi after the creator of Pokémon, Satoshi Tajiri. I wanted him to have a Japanese sounding name and Satoshi was the first one I could think of. Besides, if I did name him after the creator of Pokémon, I wouldn't have made him one of the villains here. =P
Also, I must apologize for the long wait between this chapter and the last one. Christmas took a bigger priority and all that. ^^; Ah well, consider this my last gift to you before the New Year starts. ^^ Happy New Year everyone!