Chapter 1: - Same Old Same Old
"Blue Eyes!" A female voice rang out, delight obvious, from a group of witches and wizards three and a half weeks out of their second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Joey looked around sharply at his girlfriend's cheer. She was cheering for Kaiba's dragon?
There was no mistaking the look on her face. She revered that dragon just as much as she loved Red Eyes.
How could Kari love Blue Eyes as much as she loved Red Eyes? It made no sense to him. The pure delight in her eyes as Kari watched Blue Eyes blast her enemy away with White Lightening, made Joey wonder just what went on in his girlfriend's head.
Wait, when had he started thinking of the holograms by gender?
It was all Kaiba's fault.
Tobias, his Red Eyes Black Dragon, was sat in the rafters, watching the duels from above, and Joey could sense some sort of pride coming from his dragon. Was everyone in on the conspiracy?
Tobias wasn't the only one in the rafters, most of the Duellist's monsters were hiding up there and the blonde had been unsurprised to find that Tobias and Mana were hanging out, on the rafters' right above their heads. What had surprised him was Mana moving over to make room for Kisara, who normally kept herself aloof of the rest of the monsters, as the Blue Eyes White Dragon joined them in their Duel watching.
Joey's attention switched back to the duel as Kari jumped to her feet, a huge grin gracing her face as Kaiba merged his Blue Eyes White Dragon on the field, with the two in his hand and summoned Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.
"Yes!" Kari cheered, as Blue Eyes Ultimate blasted the last of Kaiba's opponent's life points away with its Nova Attack.
Yami gave her an odd look, one that Joey interpreted as 'Kari's cheering for Kaiba why?'
Kaiba and his opponent left the arena and the announcer started up again, "Will Yami Muto and Kari Ironhide please report to the arena."
Yami and Kari grinned at each other, and then went to their respective places.
"This should be good." Joey said, with a small smile.
"Ready Kari?" Yami asked with a grin.
"Whenever you are Yami." Kari was acting more confident then she felt. This was a Duel Disk Tournament, which meant her usual tactic against the Gods, which was avoid fighting them and go directly for the players life points, which was allowed in Duelling Platform Tournaments, was in fact illegal here and she hadn't been able to come up with a way to beat them yet.
"Duel!" The two shouted their life points and holoprojecters starting up at their call.
"Lady's first." Yami half bowed.
"In that case I make this first move a good one," Kari grinned, looking at her hand, "Skilled Dark Magician, attack mode and three cards face down, for later. It's your move!"
The cards and her monster appeared, she could feel Mana's approval, and Ombre's pride, as Yami drew his first card of the game.
"I play two cards card face down and summon my King's Knight, in attack mode. It's your move Kari."
"I attack with my Skilled Dark Magician!"
Yami's life point's dropped and Kari frowned, it shouldn't have been that easy. "Because my Spellcaster attacked, I can activate my Magician's Circle, to summon the Dark Magician Girl!"
Mana was practically cheering down their link as a holographic version of her appeared on the field, "And in my second main phase, I can activate these! My two Sage's Stone!" Two Dark Magicians joined her Dark Magician Girl and Skilled Dark Magician, "Next turn I end this."
Kari watched as Yami drew, "I play Monster Reborn!" His King's Knight came back, "And activate Ultimate Offering, allowing me to summon my Queen's Knight and by special effect Jack's Knight, from my deck too." Yami's life points went down by five hundred, "Sorry Kari, this duel isn't over already, but it's in my favour."
"Oh no." Kari took an involuntary step backwards, "Not already!"
"I sacrifice my three knights, for Obelisk the Tormentor!"
Kari stared in horror as the Egyptian God arrived on the field. She knew she had to think fast but all she could think of was a certain English word beginning with f that Hermione would wash her mouth out with soap for using.
"Obelisk, attack her purple Dark Magician!"
Kari threw up an arm impulsively to shield herself from the shock waves of the attack, and felt Mana and Ombre's sympathy down the link.
Her life points dropped to 2500.
"T…tha…" Kari stammered.
"It's your turn, Kari."
"Tha… that's not fair…" Kari managed to say, her mind stuck somewhere between "F!" and I have to draw my next card.
Yami smirked slightly, admittedly it felt a bit cheap, but if he was able to do it, then summoning Obelisk this early was a viable tactic.
Kari drew and switched her monsters to defence mode. "I play one card face down and end my turn."
Yami drew and Kari took another step back at the grin that plastered itself on the Pharaoh's face, "Oh you've got to be kidding me."
"No, it's over. I summon Kuriboh to the field and use my Brain Control to steal your second Dark Magician, and sacrifice them to activate Obelisk's effect, destroying all your monsters and dealing 4000 direct life point damage."
Kari threw up both her arms in her defence, but it didn't do much as Dark Magician Girl and Skilled Dark Magician were destroyed and the arm carried on and hit her.
The blow knocked her backwards, and she hit the ground, hard, as her life points hit zero.
"Yami Muto defeats Kari Ironhide to win the quarter finals!" The announcer shouted.
The crowd cheered but Yami hadn't stayed in his Duelling box. The moment Kari's points had hit zero, he'd raced forward and was now helping her to her feet.
"You alright?"
"Which one of you wants to know?" Kari growled at him, her head spinning.
Yami looked worried and let Kari sit down, receiving a glare from Ombre and an odd look from Joey.
"Ombre, stop fussing over me and go duel Yugi." Kari growled at her yami, who wouldn't stop hovering.
Yugi had already taken his place, knowing that Kari would be alright once the initial attack damage had worn off, and Ombre quickly raced to her place.
Ombre lasted almost as long as Kari had, as Yugi took the Duel with a combo they'd never seen before.
"How is it?" Ombre asked, as Joey went up against Denpa Kawayama, a local Duellist, "We can spend a year at school learning their tactics and strategies and still get wiped out in a matter of turns?"
"Ombre, how you feel if I gave up on the professional Duelling Circuit?" Kari asked, watching as Joey played Red Eyes Black Chick in attack mode and three cards face down.
"What do you mean?" Ombre asked as Kawayama attempted to attack Joey's Black Dragon Chick and was stopped by Joey's new Gambler's Debt card, which removed the attacking monster from play.
"I'm thinking about not Duelling in tournaments anymore." Kari replied, as Joey sacrificed his chick for a the fully grown version, "I'm not that good a Duellist anymore and I just don't have time to get that good again and keep up with both school work and Kaiba Corp work." Red Eyes blasted Kawayama's warrior monster into next week.
"I don't think I'd mind that, not with you know what." Ombre said, "You'll have even less time in a few months time."
Kari snorted. She had no idea how she was going to handle Hogwarts, Kaiba Corp and parenthood. Kawayama summoned a card in defence mode.
"You are sure that Duelling won't harm the…"
"Se…Kaiba and I did extensive checks before the tournament," Kari replied, "And Kaiba even turned up the safeties." She snorted again, "That was Obelisk going easy on me!"
Ombre shook her head as Joey used a magic card to summon two more monsters and used them and his Red Eyes to win the duel. If knocking her hikari halfway across the stadium was Obelisk's idea of going easy on someone, she'd hate to see it really get pissed off.
Joey came back over and Ombre scowled as Kari kissed her boyfriend on the lips. "Well played."
"I just want to know who I'm fighting in the Semis." Joey said softly, knowing full well that whoever it was wasn't going to be easy to defeat.
The holographic display appeared in the middle of the stadium and the pictures started flashing up randomly.
"Oh come off it!" Joey complained, and then looked over at Yugi, "How am I supposed to beat him today? He's on top form!"
"Doesn't that mean Yami gets to duel Kaiba?" Ombre asked.
"Yes." Joey still sounded mad, "At least Yami's on top form too." Joey sounded slightly mollified at the thought that Yami was going to pound Kaiba into tiny little pieces.
"Will Yugi Muto and Joseph Wheeler please take their places?"
"Ok, I swear if Kaiba's getting his goons to use my full name on purpose I'm going to kill him." Joey scowled again as he took his place in the arena.
"You can go first, Joey."
"Then I open with Card Destruction!" Joey growled, "You know as well as I do what it does."
Yugi frowned as he sent his five card hand to the graveyard and drew a new one, not liking the look on Joey's face. "I play one card in face down defence mode; two cards face down and end my turn."
Yugi drew, "Two cards, face down and a card in defence mode. It's your turn Joey."
Joey frowned and drew, "I summon Garoozis and switch my face down monster to attack mode." Flame Swordsman appeared, "And they attack!"
Garoozis attacked first, the face down card appearing and then exploding.
Flame Swordsman attacked Yugi, who flinched but didn't lose any life points.
"What was that?" Joey asked. He knew what it had looked like; it had looked like a Kuriboh with wings.
"It was a new card I got in the last Booster Pack you gave me." Yugi laughed, "A Winged Kuriboh."
"Fine, but what does it do?" Joey asked.
"When Winged Kuriboh is destroyed, it protects me for the rest of the turn from any life point damage."
Joey rolled his eyes; Yugi was getting good at shielding himself, "Fine, your move."
Yugi drew and Joey blanched, he knew that look, why did he get all the bad luck in the draws? "I play Monster Reborn to bring back Winged Kuriboh and sacrifice it…" Yugi paused, giving his monster a look that said 'forgive me?'
Winged Kuriboh looked back with an 'of course' look and Yugi continued, "For this card, Summoned Skull! Attack with Lightening Strike!"
Joey growled as his Flame Swordsman was blown away.
"It's your move."
Is it me, or is Yuge getting a little too much like Yami? Joey wondered as he drew. "I play a card in defence mode and end my turn."
Yugi went to draw and Joey saw something flash in his eyes. He frowned, and then twigged as Yugi looked at the card like he wasn't quite sure how it got into his deck. "Oh sh…." Joey swore, the English swearword coming to him easily.
Yugi quickly read the field, took one look at his yami, one Joey took to mean I want to talk to you afterwards, and flipped over a trap card called Mage's Call allowing him to summon any number of normal type Spellcasters from his deck.
"Yuge?" Joey asked as Yugi took a deep breath. "You have a God don't you?"
"Uhhh." Yugi paused.
"You do realise I'm going to be pissed off if you hold back?"
"I sacrifice all three of my monsters for Slipher, the Sky Dragon!" The huge red serpent like dragon appeared, filling the Stadium and wrapping part of its body around its summoner.
Why didn't I keep my mouth shut? Joey wondered as Yugi ordered his God Card to wipe out his Garoozis. I can't beat that thing anymore then Kari could beat Obelisk…
"Joey, it's your turn."
Joey drew, and then stared at his hand and at the field. He had traps; he had traps that would save him against anything that Yugi had, except Slipher.
Yugi and Yami had never spilt the Gods before; they had always belonged to one or the other, never spilt like this…
"I play Little Winguard in defence mode!" Joey played the card, then realised what he'd done as Slipher's Second Mouth effect blew his monster to Kingdom come. "Turn end."
"Slipher, attack!" Slipher had four thousand attack points; Joey had nothing to defend himself with. Joey consoled himself with the fact that losing to a God Card was no shame and the fact that Yami had both Ra and Obelisk to kick Kaiba's arse with.
Yami and Kaiba glared at each other from opposite ends of the arena. Yami hadn't waited for Yugi to ask why he'd slipped Slipher into his deck but instead had come straight up after Joey's duel.
"You wanted a rematch Seto Kaiba, you got one." Yami growled.
"And this time it's going to end differently, you pompous windbag!" Kaiba growled back.
"Duel!" The two shouted at the same time.
Kaiba drew, smirking inwardly at his hand, "Lord of Dragons, attack mode, and Flute of Summoning Dragon, to summon two Blue Eyes White Dragons!" Kaiba grinned, "It's already over Muto!"
"What!" Joey yelled from the stands.
Yami actually blanched before he drew, then his face went back to normal. "One card, face down defence mode, and three cards face down." Yami said, thoughtful, "Your move."
Kaiba actually grinned, though admittedly it did look more like a smirk, "It's over Yami; I use another Flute of Summoning Dragon to summon my third Blue Eyes and a Luster Dragon number 2." Kaiba's smirk got bigger, "Luster Dragon, attacks your face down card!"
Yami's Double Coston exploded.
"Now, my Blue Eyes! Wipe him out!"
All three dragons fired their attacks at Yami.
"I activate Sakuretsu Armour!" Yami yelled.
"You can't use it on my Dragons!" Kaiba yelled but it was his Lord of Dragons that exploded.
The attacks hit.
"Yami!" Yugi bolted out of his chair.
Yami's points didn't drop.
"What?" Kaiba bellowed.
The smoke cleared and Kaiba growled.
Yami's face down card was active, Waboku.
"My trap card negates the damage from your Blue Eyes White Dragons' attacks!"
"You saved yourself, for now." Kaiba growled, "Your move."
Yami drew, "I play a card in defence mode and place one face down. It's your turn Kaiba."
Seto Kaiba didn't look so smug this time, "Luster Dragon! Attack!"
"Mirror Force!" Yami yelled, as one of his face down cards flipped up.
Kaiba growled as his dragons exploded.
"Your move." Kaiba growled.
Yami drew and grinned.
Kaiba didn't like that look.
"I sacrifice my face down card…" Another Double Coston, "For the Dark Magician!"
Yami's purple robed Dark Magician appeared on the field and the Pharaoh's smile grew slightly at Mahado's comment that it was nice to be observing this for a change.
"Dark Magician, attack Kaiba directly!"
Kaiba looked furious as his life points dropped to 1500.
"I end my turn."
"This isn't over yet, Yami." Kaiba growled, drawing.
"Monster Reborn!" Kaiba smirked, as Yami's Dark Magician was blasted away by a returning Blue Eyes White Dragon.
Yami winced and Mahado felt sorry for the destroyed Magician.
Yami's life points dropped to 3500.
"One card face down, and it's your move Yami."
Yami drew and his smirk returned, "Brain Control!"
Kaiba stared. Every time, every single bloody time. He thought with a growl as Yami ordered his Blue Eyes to attack her Master.
Kaiba's life points hit zero and the CEO stormed off.
There had to be a way to beat the Muto twins, but he hadn't yet found one. It should have been impossible for Yami to beat him like that, and that had been without the God Cards…
Yami rejoined his friends with a small grin at Yugi.
"How do you do it?" Joey asked with a grin, "Kaiba thought he had you there!"
"I thought he had me," Yami admitted, "If he'd been able to destroy my Mirror Force, he'd have beat me." Yami shook his head in amusement, "I think Blue Eyes is mad at me."
Yugi looked up into the rafters where Kisara was glaring at Yami.
"Yugi…" Yami murmured. Yugi looked at him, "I'm not going to go easy on you."
"I know, but be warned if I can play Slipher, I will." Yugi nodded.
"As long as you understand the same about Ra or Obelisk." Yami nodded back.
"Will the Finalists please report to the floor?" The announcer called.
Yami and Yugi grinned at each other and walked into place to the roar of the crowd.
"I'm going to beat you this time." Yugi grinned.
"No way." Yami grinned, "I'm not gonna lose."
"The Finals will be held between Yugi Muto and Yami Muto, the new King of Games."
Yugi frowned then remembered Yami had defeated Kari.
"Yugi Muto to go first. Ready?"
"Duel!" Yugi and Yami yelled at the same time and the crowd and their friends roared their approval.
Yugi drew, both his first hand and his first card and quickly decided, "Two cards face down and one in defence mode." Yugi smiled, "It's your move Yami."
"I summon my Queen's Knight and play two cards face down." Yami said, after drawing and thinking, "Queen's Knight Attack!"
Yugi's monster flipped, revealing a Man Eater Bug much to Yami's surprise.
His Knight exploded.
"I guess it's your turn, Yugi."
Yugi drew, "I play Marshmellon in defence mode and end my turn."
What's he up to? Yami wondered as he drew.
"I summon King's Knight, and attack your Man Eater Bug!"
"I activate Marshmellon Glasses!"
Yami growled as his King's Knight attacked Marshmellon instead of Man Eater Bug and he lost 1000 life points.
"I play Monster Reborn and bring back my Queen's Knight, allowing me to summon Jack's Knight. It's your move Yugi."
Yugi drew and grinned.
Uh oh. Yami thought, glad that Yugi only had one other card in his hand since Yami was certain that Yugi had just drawn Slipher.
"I activate Card of Sanctity." Yugi called, "Allowing us to draw till we have six cards in our hands."
Damn. Yami thought as the first two he drew were useless. The last one made him grin though.
Obelisk.
"I summon a card in defence mode and play one card face down, your move Yami."
"Yugi," Yami drew and smirked slightly, "I sacrifice my Knights for Obelisk the Tormentor."
Yugi just grinned, "I activate Cease and Desist, stopping you from having a Battle Phase this turn."
Yami snorted, trust Yugi to be prepared.
"I guess I have to play this face down and end my turn."
"Yami, you're not the only one with a God Card." Yugi grinned, "I sacrifice my Man Eater Bug, Marshmellon and my face down card for Slipher, the Sky Dragon!"
Two Egyptian Gods faced each other down, glaring at each other over their Master's heads.
"Nice move Yugi, but we both have 4000 attack points." Yami said, "They'll just destroy each other."
Yugi looked thoughtful for a second and then ended his turn.
Yami drew and thought fast, at the end of this turn, Yugi would draw another card and Slipher would be stronger then Obelisk…
"Obelisk!" Yami made his decision, "Attack Slipher the Sky Dragon!"
"Counter attack!" Yugi yelled.
The various camera men around the arena swore as their equipment blew up as Obelisk's fist and Slipher's lighting blasted across the arena.
A huge explosion issued from the point the two attacks hit, the light from it blinding everyone.
As everyone's vision cleared, Yugi and Yami got back to their feet, looking at the devastation their attack had caused. "Oops." Yugi face faulted.
Slipher and Obelisk were gone, and Yami summoned Skilled Dark Magician in attack mode and ended his turn.
Yugi drew, still flushed in embarrassment that their attack had pretty much destroyed the arena floor.
"I repeat; that's the Gods going easy on someone?" He heard Ombre's shocked whisper.
"I play a card in defence mode!" Yugi called, setting the card, "And end my turn."
Yami grinned, Yugi was on the defensive now… "I summon Double Coston and Skilled Dark Magician attacks your face down card!"
It was a Winged Kuriboh.
Yami groaned. Yugi was playing so defensively today that Yami would need a pickaxe to get to his life points.
He knew what his hikari was up to, trying to buy time to either find a way to attack back or bring back one of the Gods.
Yami wasn't going to allow it to happen.
"I end my turn."
Yugi drew, thinking quickly before groaning mentally. Yami had the advantage now.
"One card face down, and it's your turn."
Yami drew, "I sacrifice Double Coston for the Dark Magician. Magicians attack him directly!"
"Mystic Cylinder!"
"Dust Tornado!"
The two Magician's attacks hit for 4400, wiping Yugi's life point's out.
Yugi stared… then smiled and shook his head, "Good game Yami."
"Ditto, Yugi." Yami smiled back.
Then they were swamped by the usual end of Tournament press and ceremony.
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Seto Kaiba had stayed around long enough to see which of the Muto twins won the finals and then gone to shout at his tactics division on the ninth floor.
There was no way Yami Muto should have been able to come back from the edge of defeat like that, to win the entire thing!
At least, Kaiba thought, A Muto had the grace to win it. I think I'd have to kill someone if the mutt had won it.
The problem was that even if his Tactics Division found a way to defeat the Mutos, there was still the problem of the Egyptian Gods, which were only defeatable by each other or an incredible run of sheer dumb luck.
Kaiba made up his mind, sending a memo to Ironhide, about something unrelated, and speaking to Mokuba before he left, he was going to make a courtesy call to one of the men he never wanted to see again, but had to deal with on as a business partner.
Three days after the tournament, Kaiba took his Blue Eyes White Dragon jet to see Maximillian Pegasus.
Joey looked around sharply at his girlfriend's cheer. She was cheering for Kaiba's dragon?
There was no mistaking the look on her face. She revered that dragon just as much as she loved Red Eyes.
How could Kari love Blue Eyes as much as she loved Red Eyes? It made no sense to him. The pure delight in her eyes as Kari watched Blue Eyes blast her enemy away with White Lightening, made Joey wonder just what went on in his girlfriend's head.
Wait, when had he started thinking of the holograms by gender?
It was all Kaiba's fault.
Tobias, his Red Eyes Black Dragon, was sat in the rafters, watching the duels from above, and Joey could sense some sort of pride coming from his dragon. Was everyone in on the conspiracy?
Tobias wasn't the only one in the rafters, most of the Duellist's monsters were hiding up there and the blonde had been unsurprised to find that Tobias and Mana were hanging out, on the rafters' right above their heads. What had surprised him was Mana moving over to make room for Kisara, who normally kept herself aloof of the rest of the monsters, as the Blue Eyes White Dragon joined them in their Duel watching.
Joey's attention switched back to the duel as Kari jumped to her feet, a huge grin gracing her face as Kaiba merged his Blue Eyes White Dragon on the field, with the two in his hand and summoned Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.
"Yes!" Kari cheered, as Blue Eyes Ultimate blasted the last of Kaiba's opponent's life points away with its Nova Attack.
Yami gave her an odd look, one that Joey interpreted as 'Kari's cheering for Kaiba why?'
Kaiba and his opponent left the arena and the announcer started up again, "Will Yami Muto and Kari Ironhide please report to the arena."
Yami and Kari grinned at each other, and then went to their respective places.
"This should be good." Joey said, with a small smile.
"Ready Kari?" Yami asked with a grin.
"Whenever you are Yami." Kari was acting more confident then she felt. This was a Duel Disk Tournament, which meant her usual tactic against the Gods, which was avoid fighting them and go directly for the players life points, which was allowed in Duelling Platform Tournaments, was in fact illegal here and she hadn't been able to come up with a way to beat them yet.
"Duel!" The two shouted their life points and holoprojecters starting up at their call.
"Lady's first." Yami half bowed.
"In that case I make this first move a good one," Kari grinned, looking at her hand, "Skilled Dark Magician, attack mode and three cards face down, for later. It's your move!"
The cards and her monster appeared, she could feel Mana's approval, and Ombre's pride, as Yami drew his first card of the game.
"I play two cards card face down and summon my King's Knight, in attack mode. It's your move Kari."
"I attack with my Skilled Dark Magician!"
Yami's life point's dropped and Kari frowned, it shouldn't have been that easy. "Because my Spellcaster attacked, I can activate my Magician's Circle, to summon the Dark Magician Girl!"
Mana was practically cheering down their link as a holographic version of her appeared on the field, "And in my second main phase, I can activate these! My two Sage's Stone!" Two Dark Magicians joined her Dark Magician Girl and Skilled Dark Magician, "Next turn I end this."
Kari watched as Yami drew, "I play Monster Reborn!" His King's Knight came back, "And activate Ultimate Offering, allowing me to summon my Queen's Knight and by special effect Jack's Knight, from my deck too." Yami's life points went down by five hundred, "Sorry Kari, this duel isn't over already, but it's in my favour."
"Oh no." Kari took an involuntary step backwards, "Not already!"
"I sacrifice my three knights, for Obelisk the Tormentor!"
Kari stared in horror as the Egyptian God arrived on the field. She knew she had to think fast but all she could think of was a certain English word beginning with f that Hermione would wash her mouth out with soap for using.
"Obelisk, attack her purple Dark Magician!"
Kari threw up an arm impulsively to shield herself from the shock waves of the attack, and felt Mana and Ombre's sympathy down the link.
Her life points dropped to 2500.
"T…tha…" Kari stammered.
"It's your turn, Kari."
"Tha… that's not fair…" Kari managed to say, her mind stuck somewhere between "F!" and I have to draw my next card.
Yami smirked slightly, admittedly it felt a bit cheap, but if he was able to do it, then summoning Obelisk this early was a viable tactic.
Kari drew and switched her monsters to defence mode. "I play one card face down and end my turn."
Yami drew and Kari took another step back at the grin that plastered itself on the Pharaoh's face, "Oh you've got to be kidding me."
"No, it's over. I summon Kuriboh to the field and use my Brain Control to steal your second Dark Magician, and sacrifice them to activate Obelisk's effect, destroying all your monsters and dealing 4000 direct life point damage."
Kari threw up both her arms in her defence, but it didn't do much as Dark Magician Girl and Skilled Dark Magician were destroyed and the arm carried on and hit her.
The blow knocked her backwards, and she hit the ground, hard, as her life points hit zero.
"Yami Muto defeats Kari Ironhide to win the quarter finals!" The announcer shouted.
The crowd cheered but Yami hadn't stayed in his Duelling box. The moment Kari's points had hit zero, he'd raced forward and was now helping her to her feet.
"You alright?"
"Which one of you wants to know?" Kari growled at him, her head spinning.
Yami looked worried and let Kari sit down, receiving a glare from Ombre and an odd look from Joey.
"Ombre, stop fussing over me and go duel Yugi." Kari growled at her yami, who wouldn't stop hovering.
Yugi had already taken his place, knowing that Kari would be alright once the initial attack damage had worn off, and Ombre quickly raced to her place.
Ombre lasted almost as long as Kari had, as Yugi took the Duel with a combo they'd never seen before.
"How is it?" Ombre asked, as Joey went up against Denpa Kawayama, a local Duellist, "We can spend a year at school learning their tactics and strategies and still get wiped out in a matter of turns?"
"Ombre, how you feel if I gave up on the professional Duelling Circuit?" Kari asked, watching as Joey played Red Eyes Black Chick in attack mode and three cards face down.
"What do you mean?" Ombre asked as Kawayama attempted to attack Joey's Black Dragon Chick and was stopped by Joey's new Gambler's Debt card, which removed the attacking monster from play.
"I'm thinking about not Duelling in tournaments anymore." Kari replied, as Joey sacrificed his chick for a the fully grown version, "I'm not that good a Duellist anymore and I just don't have time to get that good again and keep up with both school work and Kaiba Corp work." Red Eyes blasted Kawayama's warrior monster into next week.
"I don't think I'd mind that, not with you know what." Ombre said, "You'll have even less time in a few months time."
Kari snorted. She had no idea how she was going to handle Hogwarts, Kaiba Corp and parenthood. Kawayama summoned a card in defence mode.
"You are sure that Duelling won't harm the…"
"Se…Kaiba and I did extensive checks before the tournament," Kari replied, "And Kaiba even turned up the safeties." She snorted again, "That was Obelisk going easy on me!"
Ombre shook her head as Joey used a magic card to summon two more monsters and used them and his Red Eyes to win the duel. If knocking her hikari halfway across the stadium was Obelisk's idea of going easy on someone, she'd hate to see it really get pissed off.
Joey came back over and Ombre scowled as Kari kissed her boyfriend on the lips. "Well played."
"I just want to know who I'm fighting in the Semis." Joey said softly, knowing full well that whoever it was wasn't going to be easy to defeat.
The holographic display appeared in the middle of the stadium and the pictures started flashing up randomly.
"Oh come off it!" Joey complained, and then looked over at Yugi, "How am I supposed to beat him today? He's on top form!"
"Doesn't that mean Yami gets to duel Kaiba?" Ombre asked.
"Yes." Joey still sounded mad, "At least Yami's on top form too." Joey sounded slightly mollified at the thought that Yami was going to pound Kaiba into tiny little pieces.
"Will Yugi Muto and Joseph Wheeler please take their places?"
"Ok, I swear if Kaiba's getting his goons to use my full name on purpose I'm going to kill him." Joey scowled again as he took his place in the arena.
"You can go first, Joey."
"Then I open with Card Destruction!" Joey growled, "You know as well as I do what it does."
Yugi frowned as he sent his five card hand to the graveyard and drew a new one, not liking the look on Joey's face. "I play one card in face down defence mode; two cards face down and end my turn."
Yugi drew, "Two cards, face down and a card in defence mode. It's your turn Joey."
Joey frowned and drew, "I summon Garoozis and switch my face down monster to attack mode." Flame Swordsman appeared, "And they attack!"
Garoozis attacked first, the face down card appearing and then exploding.
Flame Swordsman attacked Yugi, who flinched but didn't lose any life points.
"What was that?" Joey asked. He knew what it had looked like; it had looked like a Kuriboh with wings.
"It was a new card I got in the last Booster Pack you gave me." Yugi laughed, "A Winged Kuriboh."
"Fine, but what does it do?" Joey asked.
"When Winged Kuriboh is destroyed, it protects me for the rest of the turn from any life point damage."
Joey rolled his eyes; Yugi was getting good at shielding himself, "Fine, your move."
Yugi drew and Joey blanched, he knew that look, why did he get all the bad luck in the draws? "I play Monster Reborn to bring back Winged Kuriboh and sacrifice it…" Yugi paused, giving his monster a look that said 'forgive me?'
Winged Kuriboh looked back with an 'of course' look and Yugi continued, "For this card, Summoned Skull! Attack with Lightening Strike!"
Joey growled as his Flame Swordsman was blown away.
"It's your move."
Is it me, or is Yuge getting a little too much like Yami? Joey wondered as he drew. "I play a card in defence mode and end my turn."
Yugi went to draw and Joey saw something flash in his eyes. He frowned, and then twigged as Yugi looked at the card like he wasn't quite sure how it got into his deck. "Oh sh…." Joey swore, the English swearword coming to him easily.
Yugi quickly read the field, took one look at his yami, one Joey took to mean I want to talk to you afterwards, and flipped over a trap card called Mage's Call allowing him to summon any number of normal type Spellcasters from his deck.
"Yuge?" Joey asked as Yugi took a deep breath. "You have a God don't you?"
"Uhhh." Yugi paused.
"You do realise I'm going to be pissed off if you hold back?"
"I sacrifice all three of my monsters for Slipher, the Sky Dragon!" The huge red serpent like dragon appeared, filling the Stadium and wrapping part of its body around its summoner.
Why didn't I keep my mouth shut? Joey wondered as Yugi ordered his God Card to wipe out his Garoozis. I can't beat that thing anymore then Kari could beat Obelisk…
"Joey, it's your turn."
Joey drew, and then stared at his hand and at the field. He had traps; he had traps that would save him against anything that Yugi had, except Slipher.
Yugi and Yami had never spilt the Gods before; they had always belonged to one or the other, never spilt like this…
"I play Little Winguard in defence mode!" Joey played the card, then realised what he'd done as Slipher's Second Mouth effect blew his monster to Kingdom come. "Turn end."
"Slipher, attack!" Slipher had four thousand attack points; Joey had nothing to defend himself with. Joey consoled himself with the fact that losing to a God Card was no shame and the fact that Yami had both Ra and Obelisk to kick Kaiba's arse with.
Yami and Kaiba glared at each other from opposite ends of the arena. Yami hadn't waited for Yugi to ask why he'd slipped Slipher into his deck but instead had come straight up after Joey's duel.
"You wanted a rematch Seto Kaiba, you got one." Yami growled.
"And this time it's going to end differently, you pompous windbag!" Kaiba growled back.
"Duel!" The two shouted at the same time.
Kaiba drew, smirking inwardly at his hand, "Lord of Dragons, attack mode, and Flute of Summoning Dragon, to summon two Blue Eyes White Dragons!" Kaiba grinned, "It's already over Muto!"
"What!" Joey yelled from the stands.
Yami actually blanched before he drew, then his face went back to normal. "One card, face down defence mode, and three cards face down." Yami said, thoughtful, "Your move."
Kaiba actually grinned, though admittedly it did look more like a smirk, "It's over Yami; I use another Flute of Summoning Dragon to summon my third Blue Eyes and a Luster Dragon number 2." Kaiba's smirk got bigger, "Luster Dragon, attacks your face down card!"
Yami's Double Coston exploded.
"Now, my Blue Eyes! Wipe him out!"
All three dragons fired their attacks at Yami.
"I activate Sakuretsu Armour!" Yami yelled.
"You can't use it on my Dragons!" Kaiba yelled but it was his Lord of Dragons that exploded.
The attacks hit.
"Yami!" Yugi bolted out of his chair.
Yami's points didn't drop.
"What?" Kaiba bellowed.
The smoke cleared and Kaiba growled.
Yami's face down card was active, Waboku.
"My trap card negates the damage from your Blue Eyes White Dragons' attacks!"
"You saved yourself, for now." Kaiba growled, "Your move."
Yami drew, "I play a card in defence mode and place one face down. It's your turn Kaiba."
Seto Kaiba didn't look so smug this time, "Luster Dragon! Attack!"
"Mirror Force!" Yami yelled, as one of his face down cards flipped up.
Kaiba growled as his dragons exploded.
"Your move." Kaiba growled.
Yami drew and grinned.
Kaiba didn't like that look.
"I sacrifice my face down card…" Another Double Coston, "For the Dark Magician!"
Yami's purple robed Dark Magician appeared on the field and the Pharaoh's smile grew slightly at Mahado's comment that it was nice to be observing this for a change.
"Dark Magician, attack Kaiba directly!"
Kaiba looked furious as his life points dropped to 1500.
"I end my turn."
"This isn't over yet, Yami." Kaiba growled, drawing.
"Monster Reborn!" Kaiba smirked, as Yami's Dark Magician was blasted away by a returning Blue Eyes White Dragon.
Yami winced and Mahado felt sorry for the destroyed Magician.
Yami's life points dropped to 3500.
"One card face down, and it's your move Yami."
Yami drew and his smirk returned, "Brain Control!"
Kaiba stared. Every time, every single bloody time. He thought with a growl as Yami ordered his Blue Eyes to attack her Master.
Kaiba's life points hit zero and the CEO stormed off.
There had to be a way to beat the Muto twins, but he hadn't yet found one. It should have been impossible for Yami to beat him like that, and that had been without the God Cards…
Yami rejoined his friends with a small grin at Yugi.
"How do you do it?" Joey asked with a grin, "Kaiba thought he had you there!"
"I thought he had me," Yami admitted, "If he'd been able to destroy my Mirror Force, he'd have beat me." Yami shook his head in amusement, "I think Blue Eyes is mad at me."
Yugi looked up into the rafters where Kisara was glaring at Yami.
"Yugi…" Yami murmured. Yugi looked at him, "I'm not going to go easy on you."
"I know, but be warned if I can play Slipher, I will." Yugi nodded.
"As long as you understand the same about Ra or Obelisk." Yami nodded back.
"Will the Finalists please report to the floor?" The announcer called.
Yami and Yugi grinned at each other and walked into place to the roar of the crowd.
"I'm going to beat you this time." Yugi grinned.
"No way." Yami grinned, "I'm not gonna lose."
"The Finals will be held between Yugi Muto and Yami Muto, the new King of Games."
Yugi frowned then remembered Yami had defeated Kari.
"Yugi Muto to go first. Ready?"
"Duel!" Yugi and Yami yelled at the same time and the crowd and their friends roared their approval.
Yugi drew, both his first hand and his first card and quickly decided, "Two cards face down and one in defence mode." Yugi smiled, "It's your move Yami."
"I summon my Queen's Knight and play two cards face down." Yami said, after drawing and thinking, "Queen's Knight Attack!"
Yugi's monster flipped, revealing a Man Eater Bug much to Yami's surprise.
His Knight exploded.
"I guess it's your turn, Yugi."
Yugi drew, "I play Marshmellon in defence mode and end my turn."
What's he up to? Yami wondered as he drew.
"I summon King's Knight, and attack your Man Eater Bug!"
"I activate Marshmellon Glasses!"
Yami growled as his King's Knight attacked Marshmellon instead of Man Eater Bug and he lost 1000 life points.
"I play Monster Reborn and bring back my Queen's Knight, allowing me to summon Jack's Knight. It's your move Yugi."
Yugi drew and grinned.
Uh oh. Yami thought, glad that Yugi only had one other card in his hand since Yami was certain that Yugi had just drawn Slipher.
"I activate Card of Sanctity." Yugi called, "Allowing us to draw till we have six cards in our hands."
Damn. Yami thought as the first two he drew were useless. The last one made him grin though.
Obelisk.
"I summon a card in defence mode and play one card face down, your move Yami."
"Yugi," Yami drew and smirked slightly, "I sacrifice my Knights for Obelisk the Tormentor."
Yugi just grinned, "I activate Cease and Desist, stopping you from having a Battle Phase this turn."
Yami snorted, trust Yugi to be prepared.
"I guess I have to play this face down and end my turn."
"Yami, you're not the only one with a God Card." Yugi grinned, "I sacrifice my Man Eater Bug, Marshmellon and my face down card for Slipher, the Sky Dragon!"
Two Egyptian Gods faced each other down, glaring at each other over their Master's heads.
"Nice move Yugi, but we both have 4000 attack points." Yami said, "They'll just destroy each other."
Yugi looked thoughtful for a second and then ended his turn.
Yami drew and thought fast, at the end of this turn, Yugi would draw another card and Slipher would be stronger then Obelisk…
"Obelisk!" Yami made his decision, "Attack Slipher the Sky Dragon!"
"Counter attack!" Yugi yelled.
The various camera men around the arena swore as their equipment blew up as Obelisk's fist and Slipher's lighting blasted across the arena.
A huge explosion issued from the point the two attacks hit, the light from it blinding everyone.
As everyone's vision cleared, Yugi and Yami got back to their feet, looking at the devastation their attack had caused. "Oops." Yugi face faulted.
Slipher and Obelisk were gone, and Yami summoned Skilled Dark Magician in attack mode and ended his turn.
Yugi drew, still flushed in embarrassment that their attack had pretty much destroyed the arena floor.
"I repeat; that's the Gods going easy on someone?" He heard Ombre's shocked whisper.
"I play a card in defence mode!" Yugi called, setting the card, "And end my turn."
Yami grinned, Yugi was on the defensive now… "I summon Double Coston and Skilled Dark Magician attacks your face down card!"
It was a Winged Kuriboh.
Yami groaned. Yugi was playing so defensively today that Yami would need a pickaxe to get to his life points.
He knew what his hikari was up to, trying to buy time to either find a way to attack back or bring back one of the Gods.
Yami wasn't going to allow it to happen.
"I end my turn."
Yugi drew, thinking quickly before groaning mentally. Yami had the advantage now.
"One card face down, and it's your turn."
Yami drew, "I sacrifice Double Coston for the Dark Magician. Magicians attack him directly!"
"Mystic Cylinder!"
"Dust Tornado!"
The two Magician's attacks hit for 4400, wiping Yugi's life point's out.
Yugi stared… then smiled and shook his head, "Good game Yami."
"Ditto, Yugi." Yami smiled back.
Then they were swamped by the usual end of Tournament press and ceremony.
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Seto Kaiba had stayed around long enough to see which of the Muto twins won the finals and then gone to shout at his tactics division on the ninth floor.
There was no way Yami Muto should have been able to come back from the edge of defeat like that, to win the entire thing!
At least, Kaiba thought, A Muto had the grace to win it. I think I'd have to kill someone if the mutt had won it.
The problem was that even if his Tactics Division found a way to defeat the Mutos, there was still the problem of the Egyptian Gods, which were only defeatable by each other or an incredible run of sheer dumb luck.
Kaiba made up his mind, sending a memo to Ironhide, about something unrelated, and speaking to Mokuba before he left, he was going to make a courtesy call to one of the men he never wanted to see again, but had to deal with on as a business partner.
Three days after the tournament, Kaiba took his Blue Eyes White Dragon jet to see Maximillian Pegasus.