Chapter 31
Grappling with a Guardian: Part 2
"Immortal! Guardian Dreadscythe"
"This time, the seal is under my command." Raf said as he felt the power of the Orichalcos course through him. "What have you done, Rafael? Now one of us is going to lose his soul." Yami said, still in disbelief that someone like him would play such an evil card. "That's the whole point, Pharaoh. The Great Leviathan needs power, and once I take you down, take both your championship and crown as King of Games for myself and capture your soul, that legendary creature will have the strength it needs to awaken." Raf replied.
"We'll see." Yami said. "That's the guy who beat Yugi last time in Death Valley!" Spike said in disbelief. "Yeah, and this time the championship title and his crown as King of Games are on the line." Rainbow added. "The power of the Seal of Orichalcos has no equal. Not even the mighty Egyptian God Cards can compare to it. You may have had a taste of its boundless energy in our last duel, but I'll show you what it can really do!" Raf stated as Backup Gardna's attack points increased to 1000, Grarl's attack points increased to 3000 and Elma's attack points increased to 2100, respectively.
"Now that you're infused with the power of the seal, Guardian Grarl, attack and destroy his powder puff!" he commanded before Grarl destroyed Kuribabylon and split it up into the five Kuriboh Brothers, greatly decreasing Yami's life points to 1000. "You've activated my trap, Rope of Life!" the ancient one declared as his trap sprang. "This allows me to bring back Kuribabylon once I discard my hand! Nice try, but you won't beat me THAT easily!" he declared before Kuribabylon returned, this time with 2300 attack points.
"I'll set this card face down and end my turn." Raf said, ending his move. "Man, we just got here and this duel is already tense. Yugi's down to his last 1000 life points." Mokuba said. "Who are you kidding, Mokuba? Yugi's won duels with WAY fewer life points than 1000. Such as his first duel against Weevil Underwood at Duelist Kingdom." Rainbow replied. 'So, that's the Duelist that beat the King of Games in a non-title match. I may not know just how powerful this Seal of Orichalcos field spell is, but if Yugi can conquer it and beat this challenger, he more than deserves his championship title I deeply crave.' Seto thought.
"Okay, my turn." Yami said before drawing. "I activate my Kuribabylon's special ability to split it apart into the five Kuriboh Brothers!" he declared before the one creature became five. "Next I activate Kuribeh's special ability to remove all five of them from play." he added before the five Kuriboh Brothers started bouncing around the enclosed area. "What's with the circus act?" Raf asked, suspiciously.
"Watch close, Rafael, as by five Kuriboh Brothers become, Kuribandit!" Yami replied before his new monster, a level three, Dark attribute fiend/effect monster with 1000 attack points and 700 defense points, appeared. But Raf just laughed. "If I were you, Rafael, the last thing I'd do is laugh, because I just activated my Dark Magic Curtain, which allows me to summon my ultimate monster in exchange for half of my life points. Behold, my Dark Magician!" the ancient one declared before his number one monster appeared while his life points lowered to 500.
"He may have had to give up half his life points to bring out his Dark Magician, but knowing what he can do with it, it was worth it." Tristan stated. "Dark Magician, attack Guardian Elma with Dark Magic Attack!" Yami commanded. "I activate my trap, Guardian Formation!" Raf said before his trap sprung. Next thing they all knew, Elma backflipped over the oncoming blast and landed in Raf's back row. "How did she manage to avoid my attack?" Yami asked.
"If you remember from when you dueled Gurimo and when Joey first dueled Mai, the Seal of Orichalcos allows whoever uses it to make their spell and trap zones into monster zones, so Guardian Elma moved to the back row. Now she can't be destroyed without going through my frontline, first." Raf explained. "I don't know if that's being smart or cowardly." Rarity admitted.
'I'd say that was an impressive move. It seems that those who work for Dartz know how to tap into all of the powers of the Seal of Orichalcos.' Seto thought. "It's time to bring out my own ultimate monster!" Raf declared. "And I start by giving my Backup Gardna this, my Celestial Sword!" he added before the sword appeared in his defending monster's hand, granting it 300 extra attack points and bringing its total to 1300.
'The Celestial Sword appearing only means one thing; he's about to summon Guardian Eatos.' Yami thought. "Now that its my move, the time has come to summon the monster that beat you last time." Raf said as he drew. "I summon forth Guardian Eatos!" he declared before his ultimate guardian appeared, now with 3000 attack points. 'I have to act quickly. With only 500 points left, I don't have much time to try and stop Eatos.' Yami thought. But right then and there, Eatos' wings changed from as white as snow, to as black as coal.
"Look at what you've done to your majestic guardian. Its wings have become black, clearly telling that its been consumed by darkness." he said, horrified. "Exactly, and its more powerful than ever now. Nothing can stop it." Raf replied as Eatos took up the Celestial Sword, lowering Backup Gardna's attack points back to 1000 and increasing Eatos' attack points to 3300.
"I beg to disagree. Observe!" Yami retorted before his Kuribandit was no more. "When Kuribandit is sacrificed, I can draw five more cards. However, I'm only allowed to keep any magic and trap cards I drew. Any monsters go straight to the graveyard." he explained as he discarded. "No, wait! All you'll be doing is making Eatos stronger!" Spike shouted. "That may be the case, but it could've been worth the risk if Yugi drew the right card. I guess we're about to find out." Seto pointed out. 'Let's see what you've got, King of Games.' he thought.
"I kept two and discarded three." Yami said. "Then the strength of those three discarded monsters gets added to Eatos." Raf replied. "Now, Eatos, raise your sword and drain the power of those discarded monsters!" he commanded before Yami's arm was forcefully raised and the life force of Gamma, Gazelle and Kuribandit were removed from his graveyard and entered the Celestial Sword, destroying it and decreasing Eatos' attack points back to 3000 before greatly increasing them to 7000.
"No way! 7000?!" AJ said in shock as Yami's arm lowered. "You're about to become a two-time loser and a former champion. And this time, you're gonna pay up, with your soul." Raf said, thinking victory was in his grasp. "Eatos, attack now!" he commanded as Eatos charged in. "Game over." he added. Everyone looked on in shock and horror as Eatos attacked, but that turned to surprise when an electromagnetic forcefield blocked the attack and saved the Dark Magician while Eatos' attack points returned to 3000.
"Say WHAT?!" Raf shouted in shock and disbelief. "Allow me to clear things up for you, as you remember, I sent three monsters to my graveyard by the effect of Kuribandit, but one of them saved me. And it was this." Yami explained before showing the Electromagnetic Turtle. "When my Electromagnetic Turtle was sent to the graveyard, it created an electromagnetic barrier, shielding my magician from your attack." he added. "No way! You had that planned all along?!" Raf said in disbelief.
"Yeah-ha-ha! Woo! In your face, Raf!" Rainbow shouted. 'The pharaoh will pay dearly for mocking the power of Guardian Eatos.' Raf thought, angrily. "I'll end my turn!" he shouted. "Perhaps you should've thought twice before poisoning your own monsters with the power of the Seal of Orichalcos. Take it from someone with experience." Yami said, looking right at Eatos' blackened wings. "Betraying your own monsters only backfires in the end." he added.
"You played the Seal of Orichalcos once and now you think you're an expert on it? Just make your move!" Raf replied. "As you wish!" Yami said as he drew. "I summon Big Shield Gardna in defense mode!" he declared before his best defender appeared. "Next I'll switch my Dark Magician to defense mode." he added. "Then I'll set one card face down to end my turn." he concluded.
"It's over!" Raf declared before drawing. "You should know you can't win a duel by defending alone, Pharaoh. All you're doing is stalling for time. Well, I'm afraid your time has just run out!" he declared. "Eatos, destroy his most precious monster, the Dark Magician!" he commanded before Eatos fired a blast right at the mighty mage. "Do something, fast!" AJ shouted. "I activate Magical Hats to hide my monsters!" Yami declared before the hats appeared and covered both monsters before two more also appeared and shuffled with the first two hats.
The attack landed, but instead of Dark Magician, Big Shield Gardna was destroyed. "What's going on here?!" Raf asked, angrily. "He clearly doesn't know that a good magician never reveals his secrets." Pinkie said. "Only one problem, Pinkie, he still has Grarl on the field. Meaning he can attack again." Mokuba pointed out. "Alright. One of the three remaining hats conceals my Dark Magician. So go ahead and hit me with your best shot!" Yami dared.
'Three hats and one monster. I know what I have to do, I'll use Elma to improve my odds and then have Grarl finish him off.' Raf thought, organizing his attack plan. "Go, Elma! Find his Dark Magician!" he commanded before Elma threw her Butterfly Dagger and cut one of the hats in half, only it was empty. "Now I've got a 50-50 shot." he said with a confident smile. "Guardian Grarl, attack!" he commanded before Grarl struck another hat, only that hat was also empty.
"Wrong hat!" Yami declared before the Dark Magician appeared from the last one, to Raf's horror. "What a shame. Seems to me that you used up all of your chances." Yami said. 'How could I have messed that up?! I was about to win the duel and capture the Nameless Pharaoh!' Raf thought. "My turn's not over yet! I activate the Rod of Silence and give it to my Backup Gardna!" he declared before the rod appeared and Backup Gardna's defense points increased to 2700.
"Now that the Rod of Silence is on the field, I can summon another guardian to the field! My all-powerful Guardian Kay'est!" he continue before his new guardian appeared, now with 1500 attack points. "That ends my turn." he concluded, bringing a sigh of relief to those watching on the sidelines. "It was close, but there's only one card that can save him now. Let's see if he has what it takes to draw and play it." Seto said.
"Let's move on." Yami said before drawing. "First I play the Graceful Charity magic card, allowing me to draw three new cards as long as I discard two." he said. 'This is my final chance. Please, Heart of the Cards, guide me.' he thought, tapping into the heart of his deck to make what could be the Final Draw of Destiny. Yami's eyes soon widened when he saw what he drew and smiled, worrying Raf. "Sorry to disappoint you." the ancient one said as he discarded.
"Don't tell me!" Raf said, worried. "I'm afraid it's true, I've drawn the Eye of Timaeus!" Yami replied before showing said card, horrifying the Swordsman. "Now, Timaeus, ARISE!" the ancient one shouted before, with a blast from the Dark Magician's staff pointed skyward, the Legendary Dragon appeared. "This is nuts! He did it!" Raf said in disbelief. "Now I merge my Legendary Dragon with my Dark Magician to create, AMULET DRAGON!" Yami bellowed before his new creature, a level eight, Dark attribute dragon/fusion/effect monster with 2900 attack points and 2500 defense points, appeared in the sky above the battlefield.
"My new dragon gains 300 attack points for every magic card in my graveyard. And in case you haven't kept count, that's eight, which means my dragon gains 2400 attack points!" he continued as Amulet Dragon's attack points increased to 5300. "Now THAT is the reason why I always love dragon-class Duel Monsters!" Spike said in excitement. "The time has come, Amulet Dragon! Destroy Guardian Eatos!" Yami commanded before one mighty blast blew Eatos away, GREATLY decreasing a shocked Raf's life points to 1200.
"EATOS, NO! I still need you! Come back!" the swordsman shouted. "You're gonna pay for this, Pharaoh! Nobody sends Eatos to the graveyard!" he said in anger as the dome created by the Seal of Orichalcos pulsated with energy generated by Raf's own anger. "Rafael, what are you up to?" Yami asked. "There's something off about the Seal of Orichalcos, I can feel it." Twilight admitted. 'I don't know if there's a glitch in the hologram or not, but Twilight's right, something's not quite right here.' Seto thought.
"What's going on?" Yami asked. "My Guardian Eatos is a Light attribute creature, a being of purity. And when its destroyed, its replaced by a different creature, a Dark attribute monster, a being of darkness." Raf explained as the seal on his forehead slowly flashed red. Suddenly, from the floor of the battlefield, a new creature arose, a level eight, Dark attribute fiend/effect monster with 2500 attack points, now increased to 3000, and 2000 defense points.
"What on Earth is that?!" Yami asked in shock. "I've got only one word to describe that thing, TERRIFYING!" Fluttershy said in fright. Rarity and Spike held each other closely while Pinkie's teeth chattered like a typewriter while she bit her nails horizontally as her hands moved from left to right. "I'll ask again, what is that thing?!" Yami asked, demandingly. "I told you, when Eatos goes to the graveyard, a new monster is summoned in its place. So say hello to Guardian Dreadscythe!" Raf answered.
"I'll be saying goodbye to it soon enough, because its no match for my dragon." Yami said, bluntly. "It will be." Raf replied. "First I'll boost its strength with the Reaper Scythe magic card." he continued before said weapon appeared for Dreadscythe to grab. "And here's the best part; thanks to its new weapon, my dark guardian gains 500 attack points for every monster in my graveyard." he added as Dreadscythe's attack points rose to 3500.
"But why? I thought you despised having your guardians in the graveyard." Yami pointed out. "I do, but I despise you even more. So what's a monster or two in the grave, if it means destroying you forever? And with only 500 life points left, you won't last long." Raf replied. "Try me! Your move." Yami dared. "You sound pretty anxious to lose your soul." Raf claimed. "I'm not worried." Yami replied. "Well, you should be!" Raf retorted before drawing.
"Now, Guardian Dreadscythe, I sacrifice every other monster I have to you so that you can absorb their strength!" he declared. "Rafael, don't! The power of the Seal of Orichalcos is clouding your mind and judgement!" Yami said, but his words fell on deaf ears as Backup Gardna, Grarl, Elma and Kay'Est were destroyed one by one, increasing Dreadscythe's attack points to 5500. "Rafael, do you have any idea what you've done?!" the ancient one asked, horrified at his opponent's disregard for his own monsters.
"As a matter of fact, I know exactly what I've done. I made Dreadscythe 2000 attack points stronger. Read it and weep, Pharaoh!" Raf answered. "No way, now Dreadscythe is the strongest monster in play!" Rainbow said in shock. "Well, Timaeus, it's been a blast." Raf said. "Just make your move." Yami said, bluntly. "Go, Guardian Dreadscythe, rid the field of the Amulet Dragon, now!" Raf commanded before Dreadscythe BEHEADED Timaeus, destroying the Amulet Dragon and lowering Yami's life points to 300.
"You've got no monsters left to defend what few life points you have." he concluded. "Now what's he gonna do?" Tristan asked. "Alright, my move!" Yami said before drawing. "Is it just me, or does his highness seem more confident after losing his Amulet Dragon?" Tea asked. 'How can he possibly win without Timaeus?' Seto wondered. "First I activate Card of Sanctity, so that we both draw until we're holding six cards." Yami said before he and Raf did so.
"Next I used the special ability of my Watapon to summon it to the field." he added before his puff ball appeared. "Next I sacrifice Watapon to summon Dark Magician Girl in defense mode!" he continued before his number one female monster appeared. "Then I'll set this face down to end my turn." he concluded.
"I think it's about time I put you out of your misery. So let's end this, shall we?" Raf said before drawing. "And I have the perfect card to do it, Obedience!" he declared. "Now, when Dreadscythe attacks, I can force your Dark Magician Girl to switch to attack mode. So when she goes, so do the rest of your life points." he explained. "Dreadscythe, let the fun begin! Attack and wipe out both his magician and his life points!" he commanded as Dark Magician Girl was forced into attack mode.
"Not so fast, I activate Magical Pigeon!" Yami declared as his card was revealed and a top had dropped down onto Dark Magician Girl, just before Dreadscythe's scythe struck. Once the hat was destroyed, two level one, Wind attribute winged-beast tokens with 0 attack points and defense points, flew away. "What happened to your Dark Magician Girl?" Raf asked. "Are you confused? This magic card can only be used with Dark Magician Girl. When she's about to be attacked, this magic card replaces her with two Pigeon Tokens for one turn.
"You're just stalling. I set two cards and end my turn." Raf said, concluding his move while the two Pigeon Tokens turned into the Dark Magician Girl. "Pharaoh, can't you see that you're out of options? It's pointless to drag this out." he claimed. "I'm well aware that the odds are in your favor. But that's no reason to give up. Rafael, you may have the power of the Seal of Orichalcos, but I have something stronger. A belief in both the Heart of the Cards, and myself!" Yami replied.
"How soon we forget, you were once controlled by darkness!" Raf pointed out. 'Yes, but I was able to conquer it. Now I must help Rafael conquer the darkness in his own heart.' Yami thought as he remembered his duel against Yugi. "This duel is far from over, Rafael!" he declared before drawing. 'Excellent. Now I can do for him what Yugi did for me.' he thought as he looked at what he drew. "I know first hand what the Orichalcos does to a person's heart and I can help you. Think. When Eatos was destroyed, you unleashed your anger on your other Guardians. You let the Seal of Orichalcos and the fragment of the Orichalcos Stone feed off your rage, like I foolishly did." he said, remembering what happened after Eatos was destroyed and sent to the graveyard and what happened after Dreadscythe was summoned.
"So? What's your point?" Raf asked. "That this isn't really you. The darkness within you has taken control, and now you must face it head-on. It's the only way for you to save yourself." Yami answered. But Raf scoffed. "You're the one who needs to be saved!" he shouted. "If you don't believe my words, maybe this will convince you." Yami replied. "What kind of card are you holding?" Raf asked. "A card that will force you to take a closer look at yourself. Underworld Circle!" Yami replied as he showed his card. "What on Earth does that do?" Raf asked.
"You'll see, because it's time for you to take responsibility for what you've done, Rafael!" Yami replied before playing the card. Suddenly, both monsters disappeared, shocking Raf. "Dreadscythe is gone!" Spike said in surprise. "And so is Dark Magician Girl." Twilight added, equally perplexed. "Now, Rafael, witness your TRUE darkness!" Yami declared as the border of the Seal of Orichalcos spun around rapidly while dark purple fog rose up from the edge to create a dome that surrounded both players.
"I don't like the looks of that dome." Fluttershy said, meekly. "Neither do the rest of us." Twilight admitted. "Now we can't see what's going on in there." Mokuba pointed out. "Let's just hope that when that fog clears, it's the King of Games that's still standing." Pinkie said, crossing her fingers for Yami to be the one who emerges victorious.