Points of Authority :: Chapter 10 -- Deja Vu! Double Duel!
.: most suitable screencap
.: most suitable quote
"That is your second mistake. Your first mistake was when you kidnapped Mokuba. Challenging me to a duel will lead to your own demise!"
.: Points of Authority
.: Chapter 10: Deja Vu! Double Duel!
A/N: Just a little author-y note -- I know this is the same duel, but it plays a crucial part in the rest of the story...so I decided to change the
dialogue to make it more interesting! YAY! Have fun now!
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"OW!" you hissed as you were released into a short but hard free fall.
"Don't get too upset," informed the tall, hooded man. You finally saw that half of his face was covered by a dark mask. "That's a glass slab you're on now. You break that and you'll free fall thirteen stories to the ground."
Your breath hitched in your chest as you peered down below where your legs were sprawled. It was almost dizzying to see moving people on the very bottom.
"I'm sure you'll make a nice center piece in the middle of the building floor," commented the other hooded figure who just arrived. He finished his comment with decorative [evil] laughter.
Suddenly, you spotted Yugi and Kaiba arriving as well from the same side that the shorter hooded figure popped up from just moments ago. Yugi waved a resolute hand to his side, starchy cape flowing.
"That's enough of the games," Yugi announced regally. "Now, tell me where my friends and Mokuba are!!"
The shorter of the figures chuckled. "We will...if you beat us in a duel."
"It must be a false confidence if you feel that you can match my dueling skill," Kaiba spoke up. You noticed that Kaiba's demeanor had changed... There was a different kind of cold aura about him, and he definitely was not in the mood for games. Maybe this was how he acted when--
"Kenzie! Are you alright?" Yami quickly made his way to the glass slab that you were on and helped you to stand.
"Yeah! Um...just fine," you responded mechanically.
"That's good," he said to you, and then faced the two figures. "If she had been hurt in any wa--"
"--It would have been no one else's fault but her own," Kaiba cut off in that familiar lecture tone you heard the other day. The one that made you feel stupid... "Honestly, how much of a brain could you have if you tried to follow a helicopter?"
Kaiba was just being unreasonable! It was like he was mad that you were trying to help him get his brother back!
"You act like it was 100 miles away!" You reasoned. "I was only trying to get a lead on where they were taking your brother!"
You could tell Kaiba's eyes narrowed, even from the distance between the two of you. "I told you not to come and look how you ended up? I don't think I need help from a nuisance to find my little brother."
"All you did was stand there when you saw they had him!"
"And look who still has the power to save him," Kaiba stated more cooly.
Almost forgetting the situation, you were cut off by the shorter of the two figures.
"Will you take this seriously!? Remember, I have the power to radio my accomplices to just kill your friends and family!"
There was a short, awkward silence. After you, Yugi, and Kaiba had been chastitized, he started again, "Now, I am Lumis."
"And you can call me Umbra."
"Wait," Yugi called softly. "You look familiar... Are you the duelists from the alleyway?"
"Yes, we are the same duelists from the alleyway," informed Umbra.
"But this time we won't be defeated so easily," Lumis concluded dramatically. All he needed was flashy lighting to complete his look.
"I'm going to give you one more chance before you wish you had never messed with me: hand over my little brother," Kaiba argued resolutely, hardly intimidated by the two masked figures.
The shorter chuckled again. "Where would the fun be in just giving you the hostages, Kaiba? Then you would have no incentive to duel us and hand over the god cards..."
"That is your second mistake. Your first mistake was when you kidnapped Mokuba. Challenging me to a duel will lead to your own demise!"
"Kaiba!" Yugi said increduously.
"Right. So we're all in aggreance...," Lumis said with no intention of reasoning. "It will be a double duel."
"Each player will start with 4000 Life Points," Umbra began. "The teams are me and Umbra against you two. Both members of a team must be defeated in order for the other team to win."
"If you look behind you, you will find electronic counters that have been placed near the corners of the glass slabs we're standing on," Lumis explained. "The counters are wirelessly tied to your duel disk and register the Life Point count from your duel disks once in range. When these counters reach zero they will explode, sending you to a thirteen foot free fall to your deaths!"
You began to walk the short distance off the slab you were on with Yugi. "Well, if that's the case, I'm out of here..."
"You may not want to walk off that glass slab just yet...," Lumis prompted. You stopped dead in your tracks, making eye contact with the half masked man.
"The counter also includes a weight sensor once it has registered the Life Points of a duel disk. If the weight shifts under or over 50 pounds once the duel has begun...it will explode." Lumis just seemed too happy about this setup...
You laughed hesitantly as Yugi commented, "To make sure we see the duel through to the end. How thoughtful."
"The turn rotation will commence with me, then Yugi, Umbra, and then Kaiba; this is how it will be set for the duel," Lumis explained while holding an anxious hand to his deck. "And now, I draw my first card!
"I set two cards face down and end my turn!" There were two face down cards that appeared in Lumis's magic/trap zone.
It was Yugi's turn. You were kind of glad to be stuck on Yami's square in all this -- he just gave you this feeling that he'd win.
"I'll summon Beta the Magnet Warrior in defense mode and end my turn."
"I'll start my turn by summoning Shining Abyss!" announced Umbra.
"'Start'...?" you queried allowed, knowing something else was going on.
Lumis raised his hand, not to speak, but to get attention. "Now it's time to see how Umbra and I duel together! Activate, my spell card! Mask of Brutality, equip to my partner's monster! Shining Abyss gains 700 more attack points!"
You, and you assumed Yugi and Kaiba were in slight shock from the move -- it left a monster on their side of the field with 2300 attack points!
"Well," Kaiba recovered quickly, confident smirk making it's way back. "You may have a monster with 2300 attack points on the field, but that magic card requires you to pay 1000 Life Points per turn to keep it on the field."
"Not quite, Kaiba," Umbra barged in. "I activate the magic card, Masked Doll*! It negates all the aversive effects of our cards."
"You'll soon see that out tag team strategy is unbeatable!" Lumis announced. It seemed that Kaiba and Yugi were soaking in what had happened, like they hadn't expected something like this to happen...or at least that fast. It made you feel sick.
Yugi probed the tense atmosphere bravely. "Kaiba, we can play off the strengths of each other's cards and work as a team as well."
Kaiba immediately responded, "My turn...," he announced arrogantly whilst glancing at his hand. It was like he hadn't even registered that Yugi had said anything!
"I think you may have lost the chance of a pact when you used the word 'team'," you informed Yugi.
Yugi gave you an indifferent stare before Kaiba announced what he was doing.
"I place one card face down and summon Vorse Raider in attack mode!" Kaiba's grin melded into condescension. "Let's see if you can handle the power of my deck."
"Your strategy is obvious, Kaiba," Lumis sneered. "How do you expect to beat us when your traps are so transparent?"
Kaiba's whole face narrowed in a nasty glower, all directed at Lumis. "It doesn't matter if you can figure out the strategy of my deck, Rare Hunter. What matters is if you can stop it."
It was amazing that the aura of death that Kaiba was trying to ram down Lumis' throat didn't puncture his fat head. All the hooded man did was recoil a little in the face -- he must have been made of even worse stuff than Kaiba!
"Then try this; a spell card! Mask of Accursed!" Lumis had recovered with much more fervor after Kaiba's ultimatum.
You gulped. "That doesn't sound good..."
"No, it doesn't," Yugi concurred.
Lumis's face twitched in an odd manner. "This mask was specially made for your magnet warrior, don't you think so Yugi? Your warrior can't attack and you have to pay 500 Life Points a turn for having it, what a deal!" He only paused to laugh in that incessantly evil way. "And I'll end my turn by placing another face down on the field."
Another card appeared on Lumis's magic/trap zone. Something about the way this duel was going was getting to you...eating away the insides of your nerves! If Kaiba didn't cooperate, at least, then something much worse was going to happen! You just knew it!
You arked your neck around Yugi from where you stood to peer at Kaiba's regal form. "Kaiba, you need to stop playing around. If you don't at least play off Yugi's strengths then you'll lose this duel!"
Kaiba didn't even feel the need to look at you to respond. "Don't underestimate me, little girl."
You sucked your teeth. "That's not the point--"
"Then don't talk to me."
"I sacrifice Beta the Magnet Warrior--," Yugi began but was cut off by Lumis's crazy laughter.
"You've activated my permenant trap, Mask of Restrict!" An aggressive mask appeared on the field, seeming to leer at anything that moved. "Now you can't sacrifice any monsters to summon higher level creatures! What a shame..."
Your jaw slacked and you instinctively looked to see how Kaiba and Yugi were taking this.
They didn't look much better.
With less confidence, Yugi began, "I play Kuriboh in defense mode and one face down card. I end my turn." Yugi paused for a moment, looked at you and then dared to peer over to Kaiba. "You know, she's right. Without the ability to sacrifice we cannot win this duel with our own seperate tactics. The only way for us to win now is to combine our remaining strength."
Nothing about Kaiba's body suggested that he had heard Yugi say anything. His eyes narrowed as he responded, "Hmph. Absurd."
You looked back at the dueling field, an exasperated breath escaping you.
"Now it's my turn!" Umbra started. He drew his card and studied them. He grinned. "Shining Abyss! Attack Kaiba's Vorse Raider!"
"Nice try...," Kaiba's hand went out defiantly. "My trap card is activated! Ring of Destruction will destroy your monster and let you feel 2300 points of direct damage."
A disgusting giggle was heard; it was Lumis. "Not quite, Kaiba. I activate my counter trap, Curse Transfer! Now your trap card will be the death of you!"
"No! Kaiba!" Yugi called desperately. Your stomach and voice had dropped without your notice. You glanced down, thinking of all the horrible possibilities Yugi would have to get himself out of if he couldn't play off Kaiba for the remainder of this duel.
"It looks like we'll be having a two-on-one duel here in seconds...," Umbra jeered. "Shining Abyss, attack Kaiba directly!"
When you looked back up when Umbra declared his attack you saw a mass of little brown creatures seperate two sides of the dueling field. A beam of light from Umbra's Shining Abyss shot to where Kaiba stood...except the "wall" of furry creatures seemed to absorb it. The creatures hit disappeared but almost right afterword, they came back.
"Now there's enough Kuribohs to protect both of us...," Yami announced to the two aghast foes. "And, Kaiba won't die."
"Grrr," came a muddled growl from Umbra. "How annoying..."
"I'll say," Kaiba said lowly as he turned his glare to Yugi. "Yugi! I don't need your help!"
"Kaiba--"
"Yes you do!" you interjected. "Or did you not notice that you almost got wiped from the duel this turn?"
Kaiba's head was slightly turned down, his eyes closed...trying to ward off any distractions.
"Stay out of this duel, or I will make you stay out of this duel," he warned lowly.
Apparently, you were too high on your horse to register that Kaiba was warning you not to mess with him.
"Kaiba, that was your wake-up call, idiot! You need to remember that there is only one thing on the line in this duel: friends and family. The fact that you're dueling with your rival doesn't mean you should get all egotistical and show-y. If you don't stop juggling your pride and your family you'll lose one of them," you warned, seriously. "And in cases like those, it's always your family that loses, Kaiba."
Kaiba's head turned to look at you, eyes trying to dig a hole. "Are you done yet?"
You crossed your arms, puffing out your chest knowing you had won this fight. Obviously you had if Kaiba only had that much to come back with. "Well, I guess I can spare you the rest."
"Then you listen to me, and you listen good, Kenzie." Your stomach dropped as Kaiba took this moment to turn his whole body around to face you. "If I needed any advice I sure as hell wouldn't ask you, nor do you have any entitlement to be giving it out. Any duelist with the slightest bit of sensibility would know to never take your advice because it's gotten you where?" he paused, only to let your curiousity peak.
"Being a hostage. And you know what that means?" That high horse had been taken away and your nerves were now jarred from the fall. "It means that when you try to help you become the one needing help; you're a parasite." He paused again for good measure, letting his words sink viciously into your skin. "Only a worthless creature could accomplish that disgusting feat."
It was awkwardly silent after that. Even the masked villians didn't know how to continue their charade. You just stood there, looking down like you could see the words Kaiba just branded on to you.
Yugi probed bravely into the invisible storm. "Kaiba," he paused softly. "That was completely unnecessary--"
"Keep your head in the duel, Yugi," he recovered faster than anyone. "If you lose focus you'll lose the duel.
"My turn! And I place one card face down and summon Gadget Soldier in defense mode! That ends my turn."
You looked up when Kaiba continued the flow of the duel. Right now, you were looking for anything to keep your mind off of how badly your self-esteem was aching. You saw that there was a burly, mechanical humanoid monster on Kaiba's side of the field and a face down card.
"It looks like Kaiba's having a pretty rough time just defending his own turf, wouldn't you say, Lumis?"
"That seems to be the case," Lumis chuckled. "I'll continue it by playing the magic card Mask of Dispel to your Mutiply card, Yugi.
A melted mask appeared on the field, then rushed and consumed Yugi's magic card like a bacterial infection. Gradually, the number of Kuribohs on the field returned to one. It looked at lot less intimidating when their was only one...
"Oh!" Yugi managed in surprise. "Kuriboh's back to one monster...!"
"And don't forget," Lumis expertly jeered. "You lose an additional 300 Life Points per turn from that nice mask! Looks like you're up to an 800 Life Point deduction per turn now..."
"Thanks for the reminder," Yugi replied dully.
"It's not over yet! I summon Grand Tiki Elder and attack your Kuriboh, leaving your defense wide open!"
Yugi looked kind of preturbed from the angle you saw him after Lumis ended his turn. It made you wonder if Yugi thought he had a chance...
"I'll start my turn."
And that's just what he did. After Yugi drew his card...he had only started his turn. He kept looking at his hand and then occasionally looking over at Kaiba.
'He's gotta have something that might have some impact on Kaiba...,' you thought, looking to and from Yugi to Kaiba. 'He just doesn't know how to play it because Kaiba's being a jerk!'
You were broken out of a deep pout when you heard a strange intention in Kaiba's voice.
"You look torn, Yugi. Ending your turn because you have so many high level monsters in your deck isn't that devastating...but it will leave you defenseless," Kaiba reasoned like a conscience. "But because we can't sacrifically summon those monsters...they may just be better off in the graveyard."
Kaiba finished with a peculiar chuckle. You couldn't figure out what he meant, but you saw Yugi's eyes light up and he finished his turn without hesitation.
"I'll play one card face down and end my turn!"
You looked at Yugi's side of the field with the biggest increduously face you could muster. All that for a face down card?! 'It better be the trap card of the century...!'
"I guess it can't be helped that two rivals would be at each other's throats during such an important duel," Lumis feigned a sad tone. "It almost brings a tear to my eye...!"
Umbra grunted derisively. "Yeah. Almost. I'll play Curse of the Masked Beast!" Umbra sacrificed his Shining Abyss and one monster from his hand for the ritual card. "Behold, the Masked Beast! And with 3200 attack points there's nothing in either of your decks to combat it! Well, except for your god cards."
"Oh! That's right!" Lumis added. "Because of us you can't summon them! What a pity!"
Umbra dropped the joke and got serious. "Since Yugi has no defense, I think I'll attack Yugi! Attack, Masked Beast!"
You saw the giant, masked man-beast gallop towards Yugi, poised for attack. Why hadn't he activated that trap card yet?! The beast was still coming toward Yugi when you thought that maybe it couldn't be activated until damage calculation--!
Just as the Masked Beast was about to strike Yugi, Kaiba's Gadget SOldier appeared and took the blow! The monster disappeared in a holographic data explosion.
"Kaiba--!"
"Don't mistake it, Yugi. Now we're even."
Yugi merely nodded, flipping his hand up. "Face down card, reveal! Card Destruction!"
You peered over to the enemies side of the field -- their faces suddenly looked pale.
"No...!" Lumis recovered in a near shock. "We have to discard our hands?!"
Kaiba made some kind of arrogant noise. "I'll gladly discard my entire hand to the graveyard... Normally, sacrificial summoning is the only way to bring high level monsters onto the field."
"Which you can't do!" Umbra reminded him, frustrated.
You could practically see fire building up around Kaiba when he dared speak out of turn. "But if you were any kind of duelist at all you would realize that advanced players have a variety of means to summon high level monsters to the field. Let me show you one -- Reveal, face down card!"
It was Monster Reborn!
"Be born again, my Blue Eyes!"
...
An electrical surge sparked through Kaiba's duel disk. No hologram of the legendary dragon appeared. In fact, nothing happened at all!
"Nothing is wrong with my Duel Disk System! Even the prototype didn't have any glitches!"
"Hehehe," Lumis giggled like a little girl! He genuinely found it funny! "Looks like you have a defective Duel Disk, Kaiba!"
"Ha ha! You'll have to put in for a recal--!!!" But Umbra was cut off.
There were suddenly giant waves of electricity slowly moving up the sides of the skyscraper, but they weren't hitting or touching the building. 'Electricity doesn't move so orderly like that...,' you thought.
"That doesn't make sense," Kaiba thought aloud. "Electricity doesn't move so structured in a free environment!"
You began to feel hot, but thought it might be the electricity build up.
"This can't be Master Marik!" Umbra defended. "He'd never get rid of us like this!"
"Fool!" Lumis scolded. "You heard what Master Marik said! If we didn't get the god cards..."
But you seemed to miss the rest of the conversation they were yelling. Your vision went black momentarily and your left side hit something as you slid down, feeling sluggish. Then you noticed Yugi had ahold of your upper arms and had knelt down so you could sit.
"Are you all right?" Yugi questioned quickly. "Marik's not doing this, is he?"
"No, I haven't even met that guy...," you said softly, like it hurt to talk. "I just, feel sick..."
Nausea had also crept up without your knowing, making it hard to concentrate on anything else. And if that wasn't enough, a firery, throbbing pain exploded in a huge streak around your head. You whimpered pathetically, alarming Yugi when you doubled over.
Your state wasn't that strange though. What was strange was that the electricity waves flowing at the side of the skyscraper exploded in a fever-rage when your headache started, flying up at a speed so great you couldn't tell if there were waves or one big wall of lightening!
In sync with your body, the fever-rage of the electrical waves quieted until there were "invisible" electric clouds sparking, daring anything to move. You, in the mean time had collapsed in an exhausted state. Yugi had propped you up, and was saying something... But that familiar blackness seemed safer.
Before you had let darkness take hold, you saw the back of what looked like a Blue Eyes White Dragon.
