Clash in the Coliseum Part II

'Thank you, Kaiba.' It was the Pharaoh's turn to have a gloat. 'My Egyptian God Card was buried deep in my deck, until your magic card brought it out.' He held up the card in question. 'And now Slifer the Sky Dragon is in my hand, waiting to be summoned to the field so it can destroy you.'

Kaiba looked reluctantly impressed.

I'm in a tough spot, Yugi mused. The good news is I was able to get Slifer the Sky Dragon into my hand. The bad news is I had to use my Exchange magic card, which helped Kaiba also. It allowed him to pick any card he wanted from my hand. And he chose my Life Shaver card. Now, Kaiba's holding a really dangerous trap card. When he plays it, depending on how many turns it stays face down on the field, I could have to discard most of my hand. And, judging from that smirk, Kaiba was also thinking of that. That would give Kaiba a serious advantage. Since Slifer's attack points depend on how many cards I'm holding, if he wipes out my hand my Egyptian God Card will be worthless.

'Yugi!' Kaiba called. 'Are you gonna stand there contemplating your next move all day? I'm getting bored. And so are my fans.'

It was on the tip of Yugi's tongue to point out Kaiba's "fans" were holographic projections. The Pharaoh, on the other hand, knew better than to voice such a fact. 'All right. Here goes!' He drew. 'I summon Big Shield Gardna in defence mode!'

His monster appeared on the field.

'Then I shall place one card face down.' The Pharaoh set the card. 'That ends my turn.'

The Pharaoh narrowed his eyes as Yugi's thoughts echoed through his head. My Big Shield Gardna should hold off his X-Y Dragon. At least for now.

Kaiba, of course, took the chance to goad him. 'That move seemed pretty desperate to me, Yugi! All the defensive monsters in the world can't save you now!'

YGO

'I can't stand waiting like this.' Serenity, though, didn't tear her eyes from her brother's face.

'Hang in there, Serenity,' Téa told her.

'But Joey needs help!'

'And I promise you he's gonna get it.' Téa looked towards the door. 'Tristan and Mokuba are working on it now.'

'Yeah,' Duke agreed, 'but if they've been gone this long I'm sure Sharee's right and they're having trouble getting through to the mainland.'

Téa looked at him, annoyed. 'Duke, you're not helping!'

'Ah, leave him alone,' Sharee said. 'A touch of realism is a lot better in a crisis than the whole "keep your chin up" pep talk thing.'

'You mean you don't think an emergency chopper's on the way yet?' Serenity asked, worried.

Sharee looked out the window. 'Tough to say.'

Téa glared at her and cleared her throat.

'Yes, let's lie to her,' Sharee sassed her. 'That'll make things better.'

YGO

Ishizu returned to Odion's bedside. 'Odion, I wish you were awake to witness this moment with me. The Pharaoh's ancient struggle is playing itself out once again…5,000 years after the conflict first began. Everything happening just as the ancient scriptures predicted.'

Ishizu thought back on her first meeting with Kaiba.

Then she looked out at the tower. It is both Yugi and Kaiba's connection to the ancient past that allows them to wield an Egyptian God Card. However, the outcome of this ancient feud is still uncertain. For nowhere is it written how the conflict between the Great Pharaoh and the mystical sorcerer finally ended. No one living today knows which one of these two ancient leaders was victorious. So all I can do at this time is wait. She pressed a hand to Odion's forehead. And hope that light will shine once again, and mankind will be saved by the impending darkness.

Ishizu knelt by Odion's bedside.

YGO

'Looks like I've got you backed into a corner!' Kaiba gloated.

'Looks can be deceiving,' the Pharaoh responded. 'Now make your move.'

'What's your hurry?' Kaiba asked. 'Anxious to lose? Suit yourself!' Kaiba drew.

The Pharaoh did not like that smirk on his face.

Kaiba chuckled and he took that card, and another card from his hand, and he played them both. 'I place one card face-down.'

I'll bet Kaiba just played the Life Shaver trap card he got from me! Yugi declared.

'And the worst part comes now. The worst part for you, that is!' The second card appeared on the field. 'I summon Z Metal Tank in attack mode!'

The Pharaoh ground his teeth.

'That's the final creature I needed to complete my ultimate machine monster!' Kaiba declared as it and his X-Y Dragon crackled with electricity and fused. 'Now my beast will be unstoppable!' He lowered his voice. 'Just watch.' The beasts came together like magnets. 'Behold my X-Y-Z Dragon Cannon! Say farewell to your Big Shield Gardna! Now, X-Y-Z Dragon Cannon, attack his monster!'

With a roar, the Dragon Cannon blasted Gardna away. The Pharaoh raised his arm to shield his face.

'That's one monster down and one to go,' Kaiba said. 'Then I can sacrifice my Dragon Cannon to unleash the fury of my Egyptian God Card.'

But the Pharaoh just smirked at him. 'Thank you. Destroying one of my defensive monsters is exactly what I was hoping you would do, Kaiba.'

'Why's that?' Kaiba demanded.

'Because you allowed me to play this! Behold! I reveal my face-down card: Soul Rope trap!' The card flipped up in front of him.

Kaiba gasped in surprise.

'At a cost of 1,000 of my life points,' the Pharaoh's life points dropped form 4,000 to 3,000, 'this card allows me to summon any four-star monster directly to the field whenever one of my creatures is destroyed.' He took his deck and took the card he wanted from it before replacing it. And I choose…King' Knight!' He played the card and it appeared on the field. 'Observe, Kaiba. Now I have both King's and Queen's Knight.'

'It's not possible!' Kaiba insisted. 'Both cards?'

'That's right,' the Pharaoh said. 'Which means I can now summon Jack's Knight to the field.'

'Then you'll have three monsters!'

The Pharaoh lifted his next card. 'I see you're paying attention, Kaiba. I'll soon have exactly what I need to summon my Egyptian God Card. Jack's Knight, come forth!' The final monster appeared on the field. 'Thanks to you I now have three monsters to sacrifice.'

The blood left Kaiba's face. 'You can't play your Egyptian God Card before I play mine! I've been in control of this duel from the start!'

'Not anymore,' the Pharaoh retorted. 'And now…I sacrifice all three of my monsters!' They vanished from the field. 'Begone now!' He raised the Slifer card over his head…and he played it. 'And, next, I summon my Egyptian God Card: Slifer the Sky Dragon!'

There was a bright flash of light. Electricity crackled all around them. A bright purple portal opened up overhead and the sky grew dark with thunderclouds. It shot down and struck the ground on the Pharaoh's side of the field. A huge gust picked up. Then…the serpentine monster appeared. It curled and weaved all over the coliseum that Kaiba had put there. It extended its wings and then lifted his head.

…And it gave a mighty roar.

'Stare into the face of defeat, Kaiba!' the Pharaoh stated.

YGO

Téa was standing at the window of the med bay. 'Hey, guys…check it out.'

Sharee was the first to stand up and walk over. 'Ah. Yeah, that's Yugi's Egyptian God Card. I wondered who'd be the first to summon their Egyptian God Monster.'

YGO

'Summoned by the hand of the Pharaoh,' Ishizu mused as she observed Slifer coiling around the tower. 'The first Egyptian God Monster has arrived.'

YGO

Kaiba, it seemed, decided to go for bravado. 'I'm not impressed, Yugi.'

'And why not?' the Pharaoh asked. 'I managed to summon one of Duel Monsters' most powerful creatures.'

Kaiba smirked. 'That may be. But it does have its weaknesses. For instance, Slifer the Sky Dragon's attack points are equal to 1,000 times the number of cards you're holding in your hand, Yugi. And I count three, giving your Egyptian God Card only 3,000 points.'

'That's right,' the Pharaoh retorted. 'Which makes it 200 points stronger than your X-Y-Z Dragon Cannon. So I can eliminate your Cannon right now, leaving you without a single monster and preventing you from summoning your God Card.'

Kaiba chuckled. 'If you're so sure, then attack.'

The Pharaoh was instantly suspicious. He's definitely up to something, Yugi mused. Kaiba seems pretty confident that his X-Y-Z Dragon Cannon can survive an attack by my Egyptian God Card. But his monster only has 2800 attack points. And my Slifer has 3,000. The Pharaoh looked down. I bet I was right, and his face-down card is the Life Shaver trap he took from me. Since its been on the field for one turn, Kaiba can use it to eliminate one card from my hand. And since my Slifer's attack points depend on how many cards I'm holding it'll go down to 2,000, making it weaker than Kaiba's monster.

Kaiba gave a deep smirk. 'Don't you realise you're going to lose whether you attack me or not, Yugi.'

If I don't attack Kaiba right now, he'll sacrifice his monster and summon Obelisk. And if I do, he could destroy my Slifer. And, without it, I'll never win this duel. What should I do?

'What's wrong, Yugi?' Kaiba goaded him. 'Is the pressure getting to you? I told you! It doesn't matter if you attack me or not. Either way I've got you beat, thanks to my face down card! So go ahead and make your move.'

Maybe I should just play it safe and end my turn, Yugi muttered, but the Pharaoh refused and his refusal must have influenced Yugi. No! Interesting phenomenon there. He hadn't previously been aware of it. I can't back down!

The Pharaoh gave the order. 'Slifer, attack his monster now!'

Slifer opened his mouth and charged up his attack. Then he fired.

'Not so fast, Yugi! Take a good look at my face down card!' The card flipped up.

It wasn't Light Shaver.

'What is that?' the Pharaoh demanded.

'It's called Interdimensional Matter Transporter,' Kaiba said. 'Just watch what it can do.'

X-Y-Z Dragon Cannon vanished and Slifer's attack missed entirely.

Kaiba laughed.

YGO

In the cockpit, Mokuba and Tristan looked up as all the screens lit up.

'What was that flash of light?' Tristan asked.

'I'm not sure,' Mokuba said, 'but our transmission signal is stronger now.'

A voice came through. 'This is KaibaCorp Headquarters responding. Over.'

Mokuba and Tristan both gasped in relief.

'We received your distress signal and an emergency helicopter's being dispatched momentarily.'

'Oh, yeah!' Tristan cheered.

'It worked! It's on its way right now. Joey's gonna get help!'

'I'll go tell Serenity!' With a relieved laugh, Tristan ran from the cockpit.

Mokuba refocused on the screens. 'I wonder if I can transmit video. Guess it's worth a shot.' He hit a few buttons and then smiled. 'Hm. Looks like I can watch Seto's duel now.' The image took form on the screen in front of him. 'And so can the entire city.'

YGO

In Battle City, Dennis sat with Solomon Moto looking up at the screen that now showed the duel and Slifer.

'All going well,' the younger man said, 'Yugi should come home with the three absolute rarest cards in the world.'

'I've never heard of that card,' Mr. Moto said. 'How have you?'

'When Pegasus wanted to make them, I was the first archaeologist he approached,' Dennis answered. 'Long story, short: their powers nearly overwhelmed him and he only made one of each of the Egyptian God Cards. And now everybody knows about them.'

'How exciting!' Mr. Moto remarked, staring up at the screen.

'And worrying.'

Mr. Moto looked at him.

'They're the only one of those cards in existence, because they are the most powerful cards in existence,' Dennis looked out across the crowd watching the duel. 'And I can think of more than one duellist who might take it into their minds to steal them.'

Mr. Moto frowned. 'So what do you suggest?'

'I know a guy,' Dennis said. 'He can replace all your window panes with tempered glass. At the very least, that'll limit the access points of any would-be thieves to the front door.'

'…Not a bad idea.'

YGO

'What happened to your Cannon, Kaiba?' the Pharaoh demanded. 'Tell me!'

Kaiba laughed. 'My trap card was able to take it out of play for one turn.' The Dragon Cannon reappeared on the field.

The Pharaoh smiled. 'Very clever. It looks like your plan to save your monster from my attack worked.' He took a card from his hand. 'Well, I've also got a plan so I'll play this face-down.' He set the card and it appeared on the field in front of him. 'Now, go ahead and make your move if you dare.'

Kaiba's eyes widened slightly.

'What's wrong, Kaiba?' The Pharaoh took the chance to do his own goading. 'Did I confuse you?' He held up his cards as Slifer's attack points dropped down to 2,000 as he was only holding two cards. 'Well, what are you waiting for? It sounds like your adoring fans are eagerly waiting for you to make a decision, Kaiba. Slifer is weaker than your monster now.' He let a smirk cross his face.

'What's your point?' Kaiba demanded.

The Pharaoh chuckled. 'I'm wide open. You can attack me with your Cannon, right, Kaiba? Unless…you're afraid to attack?'

Kaiba recovered and smirked right back. 'Ha! Your scare tactics won't work, cause I know what I have to do.' He drew. 'The time has come. And your time's up. Your Lightforce Sword is no longer in effect,' and the Sword vanished, 'so my Egyptian God Card is free now.'

The Pharaoh smirked. If Kaiba summoned Obelisk here and now…he wouldn't be able to attack him this turn.

Kaiba raised a particular card. 'I think you know what's next.' His monster glowed and then dissolved. 'Now I sacrifice my X-Y-Z Dragon Cannon!' Three lights shot into the sky – blue, red, and yellow – and Kaiba raised his card above his head. 'So I can summon this! Come forth now…Obelisk the Tormentor!'

Kaiba stuck the card onto his duel disk.

The dark clouds overhead swirled and lightning struck out again.

'Use your infinite power to bring me victory!' Kaiba commanded. 'It's over, Yugi!' Kaiba laughed maniacally, even as his duel disk crackled with electricity. Had they been anywhere but a duel, it would have been concerning.

The lightning vanished.

'Where is it?' the Pharaoh asked.

'Look closely,' Kaiba responded.

The shadow appeared overhead.

Here it comes! Yugi declared as the Pharaoh stared up at it.

With a bright flash of light it hit the field. The Pharaoh covered his eyes and grunted. Obelisk rose up, eyes glowing red and wings unfolding from around his form.

And Kaiba was riding the high. 'My mighty Egyptian God Card is here at last!'

The Pharaoh stared up even as Yugi spoke in his mind.

I hope I can hold my own against the power of Obelisk. It's definitely not going to be easy. He's twice as strong as my Slifer!

'Yugi!' Kaiba called across the field. 'The Egyptian Gods are about to clash. But only one monster will remain standing! Now it's time to find out which one!'

From Australia...Merry Christmas or Happy Whatever Holiday you celebrate this time of year.