Chapter 22
"The Sealed God Cards"
Up on the roof of one of the high rise buildings of Domino City, a deadly duel continues. "Accepting our challenge was a huge mistake. When this tag duel is over, you two will be out of our master's way forever! And once that's done, we'll collect your Egyptian God Cards and the Millennium Puzzle from your corpses and give them to master Marik, and once he possesses all three card and the Puzzle, he'll be able to dominate the world as pharaoh!" Lumis stated.
"Wrong! We will prevail and you'll release Mokuba, my friends and Fluttershy from your demented grip!" Yami retorted. "Never!" Lumis said before drawing. "Now allow me to show you what I've drawn. It's a magic card known as Mask of the Accursed." he said as he showed said card. "I plan to place it upon the face of your magnet warrior, rendering him useless to you, Yugi!" he explained as he activated his card of choice. "Now, let's see how it fits you, Beta." he added before the mask appeared on Beta's face.
"It's a perfect fit. And as long as this mask stays on his face, Beta can neither attack or defend! But there's more to my mask than that, Yugi. Until that mask is forced off, you'll lose 500 life points for every turn you take! Meaning you're bound to be the first to meet his demise! I'll also set one card face down before I relinquish control of the duel to you." he continued before setting his facedown.
'I'll bet that's a trap card he just set. Lumis hasn't played a single monster yet. But I think that's their whole strategy. I bet Umbra has all the monsters in his deck, whlie Lumis keeps the magic and trap cards in his to weaken our own creatures!' Yugi thought, catching on to what the twosome had in mind. "You'll be at death's door very soon! When your life points hit zero, that is. Speaking of which, since it's now your turn, my Mask of the Accursed takes effect!" Lumis declared as Yami's life points lowered to 3500.
"Enough!" Yami shouted before drawing a level six, Dark attribute fiend/effect monster with 2200 attack points and 2500 defense points. 'Perfect! Archfiend of Gilfer! Now I can sacrifice my magnet warrior, destroying their Mask of the Accursed and summon this in its place!' Yugi thought while Kaiba looked on. 'If Yugi makes a foolish move, he could take me down with him, so he better not mess up trying to summon Archfiend of Gilfer. I defeated these two on my own before, and I can easily do it again.' the lone former world champion thought.
"Why don't you make your move, Yugi? Trying to delay your trip to the morgue?" Lumis asked with a chuckle. "Not quite. I hereby sacrifice my magnet warrior!" Yami responded. "Not so fast, Yugi! You just triggered my trap card! The Mask of Restrict!" Lumis declared as his mask appeared. "Now neither of you can tribute summon as long as my Mask of Restrict remains in play! And that means, without being able to make sacrifices, you two can't summon more powerful monsters to the field, including your Egyptian God Cards!" he explained.
'I should've known! If we lose this duel because of Yugi, we'll both be dead.' Kaiba thought. "Lumis has a point, without the ability to sacrifice, your Egyptian God Cards are useless to you. That is, until we claim them for Marik." Umbra stated. 'We'll see about that.' Kaiba thought. 'There's no way we can win with weak monsters, we've got to turn this duel around!' Yugi thought. "I'll set one card facedown, and then summon Kuriboh in defense mode." Yami said before his famous fur ball appeared.
'If we're gonna beat these two Rare Hunters, Kaiba's gonna have to start dueling with me instead of alone.' Yugi thought. "Kaiba, you know there's only one way that we can win this duel and save Mokuba." Yami said to his rival. "I don't need you telling me how to duel, Yugi. So you can forget your old teamwork speech and trying to make me remember when my former board of directors forced us to work together in the virtual world I created for Duel Monsters Quest. Got it?" Kaiba retorted. "Besides, who needs it?" he asked.
"Clearly you do." Yami answered. "If you two are finished arguing, it's my turn!" Umbra said before drawing. "I could attack your magnet warrior, Yugi, but since its wearing Lumis' Mask of the Accursed, it drains 500 of your life points during each of your turns, so I'd be a fool to destroy it. Then there's your Vorse Raider, Kaiba. But your two facedowns could be a trap." he said. "Not to worry, Umbra, go ahead and attack. I've got us covered." Lumis said, which Umbra heard through a two way microphone in his mask. "Excellent. First off, I'll set one card facedown." Umbra said before making his move.
"Now, Shining Abyss, attack Kaiba's Vorse Raider!" he commanded after switching his monster to attack mode. "Hold on, fool. You've activated my Ring of Destruction!" Kaiba retorted as he activated said card and the ring itself, which had grenades all around it, appeared on Shining Abyss. "My destructive trap card will wipe out your Shining Abyss! Both of us will lose 2600 life points, but only you will be out one monster!" he explained.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I have a card that can cancel out your trap!" Lumi declared. "What?!" Kaiba said in shock. "I activate Curse Transfer! This card is only triggered whenever an opponent, like yourself, plays a trap card. It automatically transfers the effect of your trap to your own monster!" Lumis stated. "Say goodbye to your Vorse Raider!" he declared. 'Umbra and Kaiba will both lose 1900 life points when Vorse Raider is destroyed, unless they have a magic card to protect them!' Yugi thought. "Kaiba! I think they're up to something!" Yami said, urgently.
"Zip it, Yugi. I know what's going on, and I don't need any advice." Kaiba retorted. "Prepare to lose your monster, and almost half your life points!" Lumis declared as the ring went kaboom, taking Vorse Raider with it, though he was unaware that Kaiba activated another of his facedowns before the smoke was blown away. "I've activated my magic card, Ring of Defense. It renders any damage done by a trap card down to 0 and protects my life points!" Kaiba stated. "Nice try." he added.
"Thank you, but your Ring of Defense won't be helping you, Kaiba!" Umbra responded. "Why not?" Kaiba asked. "Because I activate this, the Spell Transfer magic card! It transfers your ring's effects to me! Which means my life points will remain untouched, while yours are almost cut in half!" Umbra explained as the Ring of Defense appeared on his side of the field while Kaiba's life points drop to 2100, prompting Yami to sternly say Kaiba's name.
"Too bad you won't be seeing your brother again." Lumis said. "But where you and Yugi are going, that'll be the least of your worries, Kaiba." Umbra added. "Time to wipe out the rest of your life points! Shining Abyss, attack now!" he declared before the creature fired a powerful blast of light at Vorse Raider. "You're finished, Kaiba! Say hello to the afterlife!" he bellowed.
Meanwhile, Tristan had just arrived at the Yonezato train station. 'I'm here at last, now to head to the hospital.' he thought. At Yonezato Hospital, he enters the lobby. 'I knew I should've made a left at that hot dog cart. But, whatever.' he thought before coming across the doctor tending to Serenity. "Hi, doctor. I believe Serenity is expecting someone to pick her up." he said before knocking on the door. "Who is it?" Serenity asked before Tristan entered. "It's me, Tristan. Joey sent me to take you home." he said with a smile.
"Hey, Tristan." Serenity responded. "Well, I heard the great news from your brother." he said. "Yeah, I get to take the bandages off of my eyes tonight." she responded. "And I can take you to Battle City so that you can watch your brother duel in the finals." he pointed out. "But, Tristan?" she asked. "Yeah?" he responded. "I'm kind of nervous about the whole thing and I'm not sure if I can do it." she explained. "Why?" he asked, puzzled. "Well, what if I take the bandages off and I'm still not able to see?" she pondered.
"Serenity, of course you'll be able to see. The doctor who performed the operation said you would. And besides, all of us will be there to help you." he said, reassuringly. "True." she responded. "You're gonna take those bandages off and I promise the first thing you see will be your brother." he said. "Thanks, Tristan. I needed that." she said. "No sweat. Now let's get to the train station. And I can guarantee that before tournament's end, you'll be watching your brother duel." he responded.
Meanwhile, at Domino City Hospital, Sol was sitting by Bakura's side. "Bakura, are you asleep?" he asked before checking to make sure. "Good, the doctor said that you needed some rest. After all, you've been through a lot." he said before taking the wet cloth on Bakura's forehead to wet it again. "It's a good thing Namu found you when he did. I just wish we knew who did this to you." he said. Suddenly, Yami Bakura takes over. 'You foolish old man.' he thought.
Meanwhile, at Domino Pier in warehouse 4, Tea and Fluttershy were being taken inside by their captors. "Where are you taking us? Let us go, right now!" Tea demanded. "Save your breath." said one of the Rare Hunters. "You won't get away with this." Fluttershy said, bravely before she and Tea were put in a room filled with boxes. "Make the best of your stay." said another of the Rare Hunters before they closed the door and locked it. "Get back here! Let us out of this dump!" Tea shouted. "You'll be sorry when someone comes to rescue us!" Fluttershy called out, but their words fell on deaf ears.
"There's got to be a way out of this warehouse." Tea said. "On top of that, I wonder what those criminals did with Joey." Fluttershy added. "What do they want with us, anyway? It's not like we have anything valuable." Tea pondered. "Well, other than the rarest card in my deck, you're right." Fluttershy pointed out before she and Tea remembered what Ishizu told them at the museum. "Is this part of the threat Ishizu warned us about?" Tea pondered. "It must be, because according to Yugi, these Rare Hunters are after his Millennium Puzzle. That's why they attacked us! We're bait for a trap meant for Yugi!" Fluttershy said in shock.
"You're right! It all makes sense now! Someone wants the Millennium Puzzle and they're planning to get it by putting us in danger!" Tea concurred. Meanwhile, at the duel, Shining Abyss' attack neared Kaiba. However, when the attack landed, it didn't hit Kaiba and deplete his life points, but it instead hit a wall of Kuriboh. "What happened?!" Lumis asked in surprise. "You! You saved my life points!" Kaiba said to Yami in equal surprise.
"Your attack was blocked, Umbra, thanks to my magic card. It's called Multiply, and it turned my one Kuriboh into an army! That means your monster's attack won't effect either me or Kaiba!" Yami explained. "Those fur balls won't protect you for long. And when they go, so will Kaiba's life points!" Umbra stated. "I realize that your magic card saved my life points and helped put up a wall to protect both of us, but next time I'll save myself!" Kaiba said to Yami, coldly.
"Kaiba, if you ever expect to see Mokuba again, we need to help each other." Yami responded, bluntly. "After all, the minute one of us falls, the other won't stand a chance against their united assault." he added. "Are you questioning my dueling skills, Yugi?" Kaiba asked. "I'm saying we have to combine our forces in order to defeat these two. They duel as a team, building on each other's moves and we have to do the same!" Yami answered. "I saved you, but if you don't protect me the same way, I may not be around for you to challenge for the world championship or my Egyptian God Card." he pointed out.
'If it weren't for your title or Egyptian God Card, I'd say good riddance.' Kaiba thought. "If they continue to disagree, their Egyptian God Cards will be ours in no time." Lumis said to his partner via the two-way microphone in his mask. "Right, Lumis. First thing we have to do is clear Yugi's wall of Kuriboh so that we can move in and wipe out the rest of Kaiba's life points. Can you handle it?" Umbra responded via the two-way microphone built into his own mask.
"Yes, and they'll never know what hit them, until it's too late." Lumis replied with a chuckle. Meanwhile, Tea and Fluttershy were trying to escape through the window by using the boxes in the room to give themselves a boost. "I almost got it. Just a bit further." Tea said as she reached with all her might. But just as she touched the ledge, the box she was standing on gave way and she got sent tumbling down, along with Fluttershy.
"That wasn't fun." Fluttershy said as she rubber her head. 'I wish I had my wings.' she thought. "Well, it could've been worse, right?" Tea asked before a box fell on her head. Suddenly, the Rare Hunters returned with Mokuba. "Let me go!" he demanded before being thrown into the room with Tea and Fluttershy. "Do you even know who you're messing with?" he asked as the Rare Hunters closed and locked the door. "Who's there?" Tea asked before removing the box on her head.
"It's Mokuba!" Fluttershy said in surprise. "Tea! Fluttershy!" Mokuba said, equally surprised. "Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked as she and Tea checked him over. "Yeah, I guess." Mokuba responded. Soon, he told the two what was going on, and Tea was more surprised about it than Fluttershy. "So, they're called Rare Hunters?" Tea asked. "Yeah, and I was trying to find you guys when they grabbed me." Mokuba answered. "The same thing happened to us and Joey. And I think we know why." Fluttershy pointed out.
"So do I. They're just using us as bait to trap my brother and Yugi and then take Yugi's Millennium Puzzle and both of their rarest cards away from them." Mokuba added. "That's right. They must be after their Egyptian God Cards." Fluttershy suggested. "Egyptian what?" Tea asked. "They're called the Egyptian God Cards, the most powerful Duel Monsters cards ever made and there's only three. Whoever has all of them could become unbeatable, Tea." Mokuba explained. "And these Rare Hunters claim their leader, once he has all three of them along with Yugi's Millennium Puzzle, can take over the world and rule it as pharaoh." Fluttershy added.
"And it looks like we just got caught in the middle. If I had known that you or your friends would potentially be kidnapped, I wouldn't have asked you to help arrest them, Fluttershy." Mokuba pointed out. "It's fine. But at least we know the reasoning behind this whole thing; their leader believe he could rule the world with those cards and Yugi's Puzzle." Fluttershy said. 'If this has anything to do with ancient evil forces that Yami fought 5,000 years ago, then that means if he loses, even if Kaiba loses a single duel, the entire world will be enslaved! I know it!' Tea thought.
Back at the high rise, the duel continued. "Master Marik will be pleased when we deliver both of your Egyptian God Cards to him." Lumis said. "And he'll be even more pleased when he learns of your deaths!" Umbra added. "Enough of this!" Kaiba said before drawing. 'My Blue-Eyes White Dragon! This card could destroy Shining Abyss with ease, but I'd have to sacrifice two weaker monsters to summon it and I can't do that, not as long as they have Mask of Restrict in play, neither me or Yugi can sacrifice anything. But I'll find a way around it, I'll wipe them both out with or without Yugi and take back my brother! They'll be sorry they ever met me, or ever entered Domino City at all!' he thought.
'We can do this, Kaiba. We just have to duel as a team.' Yugi thought. "First I'll set one card face down, then I'll summon Battle Ox in defense mode to further protect my life points." Kaiba said as his card and monster appeared within the Kuriboh wall. "You can't expect to win by hiding behind weak monsters. My Shining Abyss has 2600 attack points, it could easily wipe out your Battle Ox and tear away part of your wall of fur balls, leaving your life points wide open! Right, Lumis?" Umbra stated.
"Precisely, Umbra. Looks like you'll never see your friends and loved ones again. Not where you'll be going." Lumis responded before drawing. "But before I completely wipe out your life points, I must first wipe out your wall of miniature monsters. And I have just the magic card to do it, another mask! Behold, my Mask of Dispel!" he continued before activating said card. "It completely negates the effect of Multiply, so I'm afraid that means your Kuriboh army will be reduced back down to one." he explained as the Kuriboh wall vanished.
"With your weak defenses crumbling, its only a matter of time before we destroy you both! This was even easier than we thought and we're not through with you yet. Just like your magnet warrior's mask, with Mask of Dispel in play, you lose 500 more life points every turn!" he continued. 'Oh, no. With two of my cards covered by masks, I'll lose 1000 life points every turn! If we don't figure out how to stop them soon, it's all over!' Yugi thought.
"Next I'll summon my Grand Tiki Elder to rid the field of your Kuriboh!" Lumis declared as his monster, a level four, Dark attribute Fiend with 1500 attack points and 800 defense points, appeared. "Attack now!" he commanded before, in moments, Kuriboh was destroyed. "Now your life points are wide open for a direct attack, Yugi, since your magnet warrior can't defend you thanks to the mask its wearing. And as soon as your life points hit 0, you'll plummet directly to your doom! You two can't possibly win this duel! Not only can you not sacrifice to summon stronger monster, but thanks to my mask cards, you lose 1000 life points every turn, Yugi! You'll be the first to die!" he declared as Yami's life points dropped to 2500.
"We'll see!" Yami retorted before looking at his hand. 'This doesn't look good. I need a card to turn this around.' Yugi thought. "My move." Yami said as he drew. 'Chain Destruction! This card can destroy every copy of a single monster in my opponent's hand and deck, since every duelist is allowed to have up to three copies of one card in their deck, but that's not enough to help us. Maybe that card can help! If I activate Card Destruction, each player would have to send their entire hand to the graveyard and draw a brand new one! Wait, if Kaiba has a plan to beat them and I force him to get rid of his entire hand, I could ruin whatever he has planned. But what choice do I have? Kaiba doesn't want to duel as a team and I have no idea what his strategy could be. I have to make a move, but it could cost us the duel and our lives and we can't afford to lose!' Yugi thought.
"What are you waiting for?" Kaiba asked, causing Yami to look over to him. "You couldn't possibly make things any worse than they already are, Yugi. Thanks to you being countered, the cards we're holding are completely useless. In fact, I have a card in my hand that could win this for us, but due to Lumis' Mask of Restrict, I can't bring it onto the field. Its better off in the graveyard." he continued, as if telling Yami to play Card Destruction, catching him off-guard.
'Kaiba sounds like he wants to discard his hand, I think I know what I need to do.' Yugi thought as Lumis chuckled. "Have you ever seen such a pathetic team?" he asked. "Defeating them and taking their Egyptian God Cards will be easy. They've already done most of the work for us!" Umbra replied. "That's enough! I set one card face down and end my turn." Yami said, annoyed with their taunts. "I see, you weren't able to summon another monster to the field to protect your life points." Umbra said as he drew. "Not that it would've mattered, because I'm about to summon an unstoppable creature! But first, I must play this card in order to summon it, a ritual spell known as Curse of the Masked Beast!" he continued as he activate said card. "What is that?!" Yami and Kaiba asked at the same time.
"This card allows me to sacrifice both our monsters and call forth one of the most destructive forces you've ever experienced! Behold, the almighty creature known as The Masked Beast!" Umbra responded before the monster, a level eight, Dark attribute fiend/ritual monster with 3200 attack points and 1800 defense points, appeared. "Nothing can stop its wrath, so prepare to lose it all, Yugi!" he added.
"It cant' be!" Yami said in shock. "Time to say goodbye to the land of the living. Now, send him to the afterlife, my Masked Beast!" Umbra declared as the creature charged at Yami. The former pharaoh braced for the blow, but then, Kaiba rescued him. "Battle Ox, defend!" he commanded as his monster took the blow instead of Yami. "What's this? Kaiba's monster intercepted my attack! But that's impossible!" Umbra said in shock. "Are you surprised? This is a tag duel, after all and my teammate was in danger, so I used my Battle Ox to defend his life points against your Masked Beast." Kaiba explained.
"I thought their rivalry wouldn't allow them to work together, Lumis!" Umbra said, completely baffled. "Thank you." Yami said to his partner. "Don't let that go to your head, Yugi. The only reason I saved you was so that I could win." Kaiba stated. "Then you're a fool. Saving your partner caused you to lose your only defensive monster." Lumis said. "And soon it will cause you to lose the rest of your life points when my Masked Beast moves in for the attack!" Umbra added. 'Unless Yugi returns my favor.' Kaiba thought.
"You fools can't win!" Umbra said. "I reveal my facedown, Card Destruction!" Yami declared as he activated said card. "Oh no!" Lumis shouted. "We lose our hands!" Umbra added. "That's right, this card forces every Duelist involved to send their hand to the graveyard and then draw a brand new one." Yami explained as he sent his hand to the graveyard. 'This might be my only chance to save Fluttershy and my friends.' Yugi thought as Kaiba discarded his hand.
"Did your partner force you to give up any cards you needed?" Lumis asked Kaiba. "Actually, what just happened is quite the opposite, Lumis. Without the ability to sacrifice, I wasn't able to summon the monster in my hand. But now that it's in the graveyard, I can." Kaiba answered. "Now watch closely! I activate Monster Reborn! Now I can bring back the powerful monster I sent to the graveyard, my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" he declared as one of his signature monsters appeared.
"It's not possible!" Umbra shouted in disbelief. "Trust me, it is!" Yami responded. "This is the price you pay for using my little brother to get to me! Now maybe you'll think twice before disrespecting the Kaiba family! Now, come, my Blue-Eyes!" Kaiba declared before laughing in certain triumph.