Sekhmet: This is the final chapter of Season 1. This duel took us from 11 pm to 5 am to write. SIX HOURS IN A GRAVEYARD SHIFT.
Susano-o: We had to rewrite it twice after we realized how much the IRL version of the Sacred Beasts SUCKED ASS. Consequently they are one of the few times we use the anime versions of a card over the actual version...which would have dragged the duel out forever to activate all the required spell and trap cards.
Sekhmet: In the end we even had to pull cards from the future to get this to work. Hopefully we won't have to do that again. I felt like Ernest Hemingway writing "For Whom The Bell Tolls".
Susano-o: And a manga card ironically another one from Yu-Gi-Oh R. Seriously making this duel fun to read was hellish.
Sekhmet: I barely even remember most of that night. I just remember starting, struggling for what seemed like two hours and when we got done I looked out the window and the sun was coming up. It was surreal.
Susano-o: Also I always felt it ended kinda abruptly since we were so burned out at that point, we didn't even have the graduation duel since there was no need after Rose beat Zane the first time.
Sekhmet: It's briefly touched on in the epilogue for the season, but that's neither here nor there. Finally, without further ado, let's start the final chapter of season 1!
Duel 29: Specter of Death
"What did you do?!" Yuko yelled harder.
"I don't know!" Chazz said in shock. "I didn't think this would do anything!"
"The Keys must have registered Alexis as a Shadow Rider the instant you put them up for bet!" Yuko reasoned.
"That makes no sense!" Rose yelled as she finally slipped her bonds by biting through them. "She's not a Shadow Rider!"
"That's the only way I can reason it!" Yuko said. "These are ancient artifacts, they don't gotta explain shit!"
"You can't just use magic as an excuse!" Rose yelled. "Magic has rules too!"
"Not anymore I guess!" Yuko said.
"You're our resident demonologist here!" Rose yelled. "You should know this!"
"You want my brother for that!" Yuko said. "And he kept me far away from the Egyptian magic!"
"And you listened?" Rose asked. "Wow you sucked at being a rebelious teenager!"
"I never had a reason to rebel! My life was exciting enough without it!" Yuko said. The keys around Chazz' neck turned into balls of light and scattered into the distance.
"Well next time study harder," Rose said running after them. "This is what we pay you for!"
"You don't pay me!" Yuko said, following her.
"We pay you with Syrus's sweet ass!" Rose yelled.
"Don't you talk about his ass!" Yuko flushed.
"Oh sorry I forgot you worship his ass," Rose said wiggling her eyebrows. "How does it taste?"
"I wouldn't know, I'm not a pervert!" Yuko said.
"Well Alexis's taste like vanilla," Rose said licking her lips. "And according to her mine tastes like cinnamon sugar."
"I don't think flesh is supposed to taste like that." Yuko said.
"It's a combination of soap, any body creams, and NATURAL MUSK!" Rose said doing the italian finger pinch gesture.
"Why would I put body creams on my ass though?" Yuko said. "I only use lotion in the winter anyway."
"You don't use lotion on every part of you?" Alexis asked.
"No, it's usually my hands and my underarms that get dry." Yuko said. "The rest of me is fine."
"Well then wonder what Syrus is gonna taste," Rose sniggered. "I know for a fact the boy uses bubblegum scented, he's such a kid."
Syrus blushed and stumbled in his run. "I like it ok," He pouted.
"Probably flesh, whatever it tastes like." Yuko shrugged.
Rose sighed as she shook her head. "Such a naive girl in the ways of sex," She said voice dripping with fake condescension. "You truly are a summer child."
"My birthday IS in July." Yuko shrugged.
"Can you two stop it?" Chazz snarled.
"Hey you're the one who got us into this mess, you're the one making me do it! Oh I get it now, I have to run through this forest cause I'm havin a fuckin panic attack over here, I gotta stress run!" Yuko said, going off topic halfway through her little rant.
Rose didn't say anything, she just tripped him and sent him face first into the forest floor. "Shut up maggot!" She yelled.
"Are we there yet?" Yuko asked. Just as she said that, a clearing of torn up trees came into view. Tilted pillars surrounded the clearing. In the middle was a small yellow platform with something glowing on top of it.
"That's them," Bastion said nervously.
"Well why are we just standing here then? Let's move! If we get there in time, we can probably reseal them!" Yuko said, and took off running again. She almost snatched the cards off their pedestal, but the shockwave of a large object knocked her off her feet. The clawed hand of a legged stasis tube took the cards.
"These cards don't belong to you." A garbled voice from inside declared. "They belong to me."
"I don't see your name on them," Rose said grabbing a nearby larger rock. "And my friend rocky here agrees," She added tossing the stone in her hands. "And he tends to break things when disagreed with, glass things especially."
"You think that pitiful stone can harm me, your superintendent Kagemaru? The glass is shatterproof." The man inside the tube said. "And even if it wasn't, the rock would never make contact anyway."
As Rose and Kagemaru continued to have a debate over who would win in a rock vs. glass tank fight, Yuko felt weird, like she was floating outside her body.
"Guys, I think I'm having a migraine…" Yuko said, but her words fell on deaf ears.
"Probability of migraine, 0%," A voice said in her head.
"Woah, new voice. Who are you?" Yuko asked.
"AVATAR! IS THAT YOU MY SPHERICAL BROTHER?" Eraser yelled.
"Great! the gang is all here now," Dreadroot said happily. "Took you long enough Avatar."
"Avatar?" Yuko asked. "So there are three of you?"
"Locially, three Egyptian Gods, Three Roman Gods, Three Persian Gods."
"Huh. Cool. No offense, but what DID take you so long?" Yuko asked.
"Primary Mission: Finding worth host."
"So I wasn't worthy up until recently?" Yuko asked.
"Calculation probability of worth….75.823456676435432124675324632…"
"AHHHHHH THE NUMBERS! THEY BURN!" Eraser yelled.
"He will be at this for a while," Dreadroot explained. "You are quite an oddity in his calculations."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Yuko thought. "You wanna help me defeat this guy?"
"Locially, you would need the power of all three of us to equal the Sacred Beasts power."
"He is right, me and Eraser would not have been enough to defeat them."
"Yes! Alone we are but smothered babies! But together we are the dingo that EATS the baby!"
"Well we're all in this together then." Yuko thought, and returned to the present.
"I don't care what your tube is made of!" Rose yelled. "If I hit it hard enough with this rock it! Will! Beak!"
"No it won't," Kagemaru responded. "Enough of this nonsense. Only one of you is worthy of dueling me for these Sacred Beasts cards, and that person is Yuko Muto!"
"Oh no, what a surprise." Yuko said sarcastically. In response, a cracking barrier of electricity bounced between the pillars.
"Hey wait a minute!" Rose yelled. "She already got two of the Shadow Riders! Why does she also get the BBEG?" She asked annoyed.
"She's the only one who provided enough dueling energy when she fought. She was the most worthy. And if you refuse this duel, I'll sink the island into the ocean. Now, let this Shadow Game begin!" He declared.
"I'm well aware of what's at stake. That's why I've gotta pull out all the stops on this one." Yuko said, removing the stone bead holding her braid in place. It unfurled into its natural shape. She cracked her knuckles and drew her hand. A blast of electricity shot up her arm.
"Alright," Rose said walking away. "Yuko kick his ass so hard he sees the curvature of the Earth!"
"With pleasure." Yuko said.
"Duel!" (LP: 8000)
"In the spirit of competition, I will graciously allow you the first turn."
"Fine, I draw!" Yuko said. "I set two cards face down and end my turn."
"It doesn't matter what you play." He declared. "I set my three Trap Cards, 'Anti-Spell Fragrance', 'Gravity Bind', and 'Imperial Custom', and then send them all to the Graveyard to summon 'Uria, Lord of Searing Flames!'"
The three Traps poured into a pillar behind the field, and the red serpent erupted from a column of fire with a mighty roar. (0/0)
"Oh shit," Rose said in slight fear.
"A Sacred Beast, on the first turn, remarkable," Bastion added. "I must get close!"
"No," Alexis said hitting him.
"Is Yuko gonna be ok?" Syrus asked.
"No we're done," Chazz snarked, Rose responded by punching him in the throat.
"We'll be fine," Atticus said with a nervous smile.
"When this card is summoned, it gains 1000 ATK for each Continuous Trap in my Graveyard! (0-3000/0-3000) And he also gets to destroy 1 set Spell or Trap card on your field." Uria let out a mighty roar, and Yuko's 'Seven Tools of the Bandit' was shattered. "Now 'Uria' attack her directly with Hyper Blaze!" 'Uria' reared back as a sphere of fire formed in his mouth before unleashing a blast of flames.
Yuko looked at the monster with a mix of frustration and disdain. "An ace card on the first turn? That's some bullshit. Then again, what I'm about to do is bullshit too." "I activate the Trap card 'Threatening Roar!' It stops your attack for this turn."
"No matter, you only delay the inevitable," Kagemaru replied
"I draw! I activate 'Double Summon' to set a monster and summon a 'Gillasaurus' in the same turn, and then special summon 'Spell Striker' by banishing 'Double Summon' from my Graveyard!" (1400/400)(600/200) "And now I sacrifice all three to summon "The Wicked Dreadroot'!" (4000/4000) "When he's on the field, all other monsters lose half their attack and defense points! (3000-1500/3000-1500) Now Attack with Fears Knockdown!
Dreadroot grappled with Uria before breaking its spine over his knee and shattering it. (Kagemaru's LP: 8000-5500)
"Woohoo!" Rose yelled. "One down!"
"Two to go!" Alexis added.
"We be fast," Atticus continued.
"And you be slow!" Syrus finished jumping up and down.
"A fool's errand," Kagemaru said drawing a card. "For you see I can use Uria's other effect, by sending a trap card to the graveyard I can bring him back from the graveyard," He said as his beast emerged on the field in defense mode (0-4000/0-4000)(4000-2000/4000-2000).
Rose blinked. "Well...fuck."
"And now I play 'Fallen Paradise'!" The field was engulfed in darkness as a dead tree sprouted from the ground. A single, perfect apple fell from its branches.
"Now and once per turn, if I control a Sacred Beast, I can draw 2 more cards." He explained, drawing his two cards. "Now I play the spells 'Messenger of Peace', 'Level Limit Area-B' and 'Burden of the Mighty', and then sacrifice them all to summon "Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder in defense mode! (4000/4000)"
A glacier suddenly ripped it's way out of the ground behind them before a yellow beast of lightning tore its way out with a mighty roar (4000-2000/4000-2000).
"Ok, that's kind of halfway intimidating." Yuko said.
"And now I play 'Phantasmal Martyrs' he said playing the card. "When I control both 'Hamon' and 'Uria' I can send two cards to the graveyard to summon three 'Phantasmal Tokens'," He explained as three demonic nobleman appeared on the field. "Now I sacrifice these three tokens to summon 'Raviel, Lord of Phantasms' (4000/4000)!"
"All three of them oh fuck me with a paddle," Rose gulped, everyone agreed but didn't comment.
A giant beam of blue light shined down from the sky, causing the ground to rip apart as a massive blue demon crawled out of the earth with a roar. (4000-2000/4000-2000)
"Cool, so what's the catch?" Yuko asked.
"Glad you asked, whenever you summon a monster I get a 'Phantasm Token' and by sacrificing up to two monsters I can add their original attack points to Raviel's own," He said as Raviel reached over and and touched 'Hamon' absorbing it and covering him in a blue light (2000-6000/2000). "'Raviel' destroy her 'Dreadroot' with Celestial Ravaging Fist!"
'Raviel's' clawed hand glowed a blinding white as he reared back and slashed Dreadroot into three with one swing. (Yuko's LP: 8000-6000).
"Ex fucking cuse me?!" Yuko thought.
"Now I believe I'll end my turn," Kagemaru finished before suddenly turning young, muscular, and breaking out of the tube. "Ah finally," He said laughing as he looked at his Shadow Charm Ring. "The Sacred Beast's have absorbed enough duel spirit energy to bring me back to my youth!"
"What what?" Bastion asked scratching his head. "Was that his entire plan?"
"That's so stupid!" Rose agreed. "At least tell me you're also taking over the world as well!"
"I draw!" Yuko said. "I activate "Pot of Greed" to draw two cards." Red hot fire coursed through her arm when she drew her second card. Perfect. "Then I use "Monster Reborn' to bring back my 'Gilasaurus', and then I use 'Inferno Reckless Summon' to bring out my two other 'Gilasaurus' from my deck, and then I sacrifice all three to summon 'The Wicked Eraser'!"
Eraser rocketed out of the ground in a burst of hellfire onto the field. (?/?) "He gains 1000 Attack for every card on your field!" (0-4000/0-4000)
"Oh no," Kagemaru said as a 'Phantasm Token' appeared on the field against his will.
"Oh yes," Yuko said. "Now you can't do anything without destroying everything."
"It's like setting a bathtub full of cat piss in the middle of a lobby," Rose smirked. "Sooner or later they're gonna have to move it."
"Is that why we found a bathtub of pee in our lobby!" Alexis yelled. "Why did you do that?!"
"I still owed them payback for jumping me the first time I went over," Rose explained shrugging.
"That was last semester!"
"MEMORY LIKE AN ELEPHANT!"
"You think so?" Kagemaru said drawing his three cards. "I send my token to the graveyard to give 'Raviel' another 1000 attack." (4000-5000/4000). "'Raviel' destroy 'Eraser'!" He ordered.
"Looks like you should have backed off. Eraser! You know what to do!" Yuko said. As Raviel lopped off Eraser's head, black blood swamped the field, destroying all cards on the field, including Uria. "And now we start from square one."
"Or not, because I play 'Pot of Greed' to draw two more cards," Kagemaru sneered. "Now I play 'Foolish Burial' to send a card in my deck to the graveyard," at that he chuckled. "You are not the only one who can use 'Inferno Reckless Summon' I play 'Monster Reborn' to summon my 'Dark Summoning Beast' (0/0)!" He yelled as a demonic priest appeared on the field, then two more appeared beside it. "Now I will use their effects, by sending all three to the grave, I can bring back my three beasts, but they won't be around for long, because I use 'Dimension Fusion Destruction' to banish them to fusion summon 'Armityle the Chaos Phantom'(0/0)!" He ordered as his beasts fused into a massive amalgamation of the three beasts appeared behind him.
"That's a huge bitch!" Yuko said.
"Yes, and now I will end here, you will see what he can do next turn."
"You got this Yuko!" Chazz yelled. "Just remember if you lose we all die!" Rose quickly pounced on him and took him to the ground.
"Heart of the cards be WITH ME!" Yuko said, and drew, a sound that sounded like Kaiba's chuckle was heard in the back of her head.
Perfect.
"I play 'Card of Demise'! Now I can draw until I have three cards in my hand. A blast of cold energy coursed through her, and it felt like she had been holding a gallon of milk for an hour.
"Hang onto your hat, you devil dog, cause I'm about to give you a SOUL injection! I play 'Soul Charge'! This allows me to Special Summon monsters from my Graveyard, at the cost of 1000 Life Points each, and I'll summon three!". (Yuko's LP: 6000-3000) "Now I sacrifice all three to summon 'The Wicked Avatar'!"
Shadows from all around, including those from the audience, were pulled into the center of the arena. They flowed like oil upwards, forming a huge perfect sphere of pitch black. (?/?)
"It doesn't matter, I know of his effect," Kagemaru said glaring as 'Avatar' warped and shifted into a pure black version of 'Armityle'. (100/100)
"Everything is not what it seems!" Yuko said. "I set a card and end my turn."
"Ha and now you lose," Kagemaru laughed. "I use Armityle's ability, first he gains 10,000 attack and defense!" (0-10,000/0-10,000)
"That's fine." Yuko said. (100-10,100/100-10,100)
"Oh that won't save you now," Kagemaru smirked. "See there's a reason the Romans lost to that infernal beast, because they didn't finish 'Armityle' in time for the final battle! When 'Armityle' attacks he deals 10,000 effect damage to the owner of the monster he's battling, no matter what you're about to do you will lose!" He yelled. "'Armityle' attack with and Wide Obliteration- Transmigration Wave!"
'Armityle' raised it's 'Uria' arm, an action mirrored by 'Avatar' and fired a massive energy wave that shook the island to it's very core, the two waves hit each other in a flash of light that covered the entire island, splitting the very sky itself where the beams deflected each other into space and carving huge crevices in the ground where they deflected downwards. "And now you die!" Kagemaru yelled over the sounds of raw energy clashing. "'Armityle' activate your Illusion of Hollow Agony!" He ordered, 'Armityle' compiled as his second mouth opened, sending a secondary wave that would go through 'Avatar' and hit Yuko directly.
"You know, you should pay more attention to both sides of the story." Yuko said calmly. "There's a reason that the Egyptians lasted the longest. Go, 'Divine Evolution'!"
"NO NOT THAT!" Kagemaru yelled in pure terror. "I thought that was lost with The Nameless Pharaoh!"
"My ancestor? Please, he would never be so careless. Now if I may proceed. First, I target a Divine Type monster, my Avatar. This card is unaffected by card effects. Any monster that it battled has its effects negated, and any damage I would take is dealt to my opponent instead."
Kagemaru watched in horror as 'Avatar's' beam overtook him monsters, sending the entire wave right back at him. "Probability of success," Yuko said detached as she watched the beam overtook Kagemaru. "Zero Percent." In the final explosion, the shockwave and light caught her figure, and for a brief moment, she took on her brother's likeness, Egyptian magic and all.
(Kagemaru LP: 5500-0) (Winner: Yuko)
The group was silent as the took in the destruction caused by the final clash.
"...So how are we gonna explain that?" Rose asked pointing at one of the twelve foot long and nearly two feet deep gashes torn into the island from the two monster's beams.
"The same way we explain everything," Alexis said.
"Ah weather balloons of course!" Rose finished laughing.
This broke the tension and soon everyone was chuckling, either out of relief or genuine laughter was up for debate. Rose slid down the wall of the crater and ran over to Yuko to tackle hug her to the ground. Yuko didn't react.
"It is done." Yuko said, still a bit affected by Avatar. "Unless he has any more minions, we're done here."
…
Bonus Duel 1
Kagemaru was disposed of, but not before Rose shattered his shins.
Midori, Chumley, And Zane all graduated the following day.
Everyone moved up a grade, and returned home for summer break. Syrus and Yuko exchanged Facebooks, and kept in touch regularly.
Yuko learned to curb the Wicked Gods to the point where Tristan wasn't afraid of them. They behaved themselves all summer.
Rose managed to get an apartment for herself with her stolen riches, it was hard saying goodbye to the people who had raised her, but she knew it was time for her to go.
—- To be Continued
Sekhmet: It's done! The first season is done! We're almost a quarter of the way there!
Susano-o: Whoop whoop, now we join a cult.
Sekhmet: Well, WE don't join a cult, we make fun of those who join the cult. Cause let's face it, the Society of Light is just a cult. No one wanted to admit it, but they were. You actually have big plans for season 2, right?
Susano-o: Oh it was heavily implied to be a cult, I'm guessing for ratings reasons it was just never called that. -But yes, season 2 is where we really go off the damn rails. Season 2 was born out of an idea I had for when I was writing on my own of Rose making a rebel group to oppose the Society of Light, since I honestly have no idea how they got away with everything they did in that season. Seriously they're like the Blue Dorm but somehow EVEN WORSE at getting away with bullshit. Crowler for the love of Ra they repainted your dorm and basically kicked you out, how did you let them get away with that?!
Sekhmet: I don't know, I think season 3 is where we get really crazy, and we've already relegated season 4 to "the shitposting season" complete with Blend W as the theme. Or at least that's what I was gonna pitch.
Susano-o: No, but yes, remember we're dub watchers, so we never got season 4, and from what I saw I can describe it as such..."CRAWLING IN MY SKIN! THESE WOUNDS THEY WILL NOT HEAL!" So instead we're putting all the edge in the next 2 seasons and leaving 4 to tie up loose ends and have fun.
Sekhmet: Yeah tell that to the "Ojama King" incident we have planned. We plan to take a short break after season 2 to refresh our palates and work on a few other small projects. For me that's Duality, but we're also going to be working on that Evangelion fic in the profile and maybe a next gen type sequel too.
Susano-o: Yeah, Season 2 is already done we just need to upload it. Also we'll try to upload it once a week on either friday or saturday, to at least have some consistency.
Sekhmet: They say try because I'm solely responsible for uploading the chapters and I can get lazy or unmotivated at times. I'll try my best to remember the schedule. Once the current duel is written, it should flow pretty smoothly. The same goes for Duality. The only reason I'm not uploading chapters of that anymore is because I don't have a lot of them and I'm stuck in a tournament arc.
Susano-o: I'll make sure to keep them as on time as possible. -But anyway thank you all for reading, we're thankful for everyone who stopped by to read and left a review, and Black Knight thank you especially for your kind words and encouragement.
Sekhmet: And Hugo for just being outwardly kind to a couple of new writers.
Susano-o: Yeah Hugo your reviews make everything worth it, thank you so much.
Susano-o: So let's end this one on this….
"An end is only a beginning in disguise"- Craig D. Lounsbrough