Chapter 42: Chapter 40 Muscles vs Curses.
Hearing Bakura would duel some random guy feels pity for him but even I know even with how bloodthirsty he is, he wouldn't risk blowing his cover this early against the pharaoh.
He might be maniacal and crazy, but he isn't an idiot, so he shouldn't pull him into a shadow game. . . I think.
Meh, it's not like I can do anything without causing him to form a grudge towards me. Yami Bakura isn't someone you want to have on your back, leave him for the pharaoh to banish for a while keeping his attention.
I just get a new plate and start stuffing my face, it isn't long before A pair of figures Who I never wanted to meet come walking toward me.
Pegasus and Patches come towards me while smiling, I start to converse with them massively curious how they got along, and I find out why quickly.
When they met Patches spun his Skulduggery and Thieving as Treasure hunting and misadventures, who Knew a man of many stories and a man who loves stories would get along.
The weirdest thing is that Pegasus while taking them with a grain of salt is believing them mostly since Patches is great at weaving a narrative while focusing on the key parts while using the rest to add flair.
Hell, I'm listening as well and if I didn't already know that his claim, that he fought Pinwheel in the catacombs was bogus I would have believed him, He's too smart to face the Cartwheel skeletons without sending some sap before him.
His stories are entertaining enough that they fill the time until the feed of the screens in the room presents the arena again, it doesn't take long, before the pair start their duel.
[Sergei's LP: 4000]
[Bakura's LP: 4000]
"Let's start this duel off with a Face down monster and a face-down, your turn."
The muscled man does a standard T formation for their first turn letting Bakura start.
Still feinting his possession in his natural voice Bakura speaks, "Ok then I'll draw, and from that Draw I'll change the scenery, I'll play Terraform."
[Terraform][Spell]
when it's played on the field the card is revealed and from it, a Holographic light net springs forth and encases everyone in the blimp in a Sphere made from the Net lines.
"From my deck, I'll find and then play Dark Sanctuary to the field."
At his words, the Holographic light sphere takes on a purple-like colour before each of the gaps of the net Flash that new purple light before revealing a new landscape of a Dark castle shrouded in a purple fog and a Red clouded sky which has eyes and mouths visible within.
[Dark Sanctuary][Spell/Field]
the sight of the field causes some of the younger people to shiver at the card's depictions but anyone aware of Lovecraftian horror would find it tame.
Oh, that just reminded me of the 6 entities cards, it makes me question their spiritual strength since their based on the Cthulhu mythos gods. . .
Back to the duel.
"To my field, I'll summon my Headless knight, in attack mode and have it go attack your face down."
A small portion of the purple fog pilfers onto the field and stepping from it like a phantom is a Silver armoured knight but with no helmet or head, the knight charges in fury and strikes down at the face down.
[Headless Knight ★★★★ Earth][Fiend/Normal][ATK:1450/DEF:1700]
the knight's blade strikes true but from its position it seems to become stuck in the body of something, it becomes apparent when an annoyed skittering sound is heard as a Large furry being appears from the face down, the sword hitting its belly but at the same time seemly not doing it any harm.
[Giant Rat ★★★★ Earth][Beast/Effect][ATK:1400/DEF:1450]
Internally I'm laughing at the chances of a pair of monsters battling while having that 50 point add on but the look on Bakura's face is one of bemusement.
"I'll just end my turn by playing 2 cards face down."
Sergei goes to start and draws a card but once he draws Bakura Speaks again. "I activate my Destiny Board" his starting card for his end game stratagem makes its appearance meaning this game has now got a major time crunch.
[Destiny Board][Trap/Continuous]
"That Just Means I have to end this quickly and with what I just drew this should do it. I Summon from my hand Monk Fighter."
Appearing from the fog on foot as if arriving at the outskirts of the castle is a Man in Orange Robes with white hair, he looks determined but his muscles seem not well developed.
[Monk Fighter ★★★ Earth][Rock/Effect][ATK:1300/DEF:1000]
The appearance of the monk confuses most since he doesn't seem remarkable, but Sergei starts to speak, "From my Hand I Special Summon my Master monk by 'Training' my Monk fighter for the fight."
As his words are said the Monk fighter on the field starts to age rapidly with their muscles bulging up and becoming hard as steel, when it seems he's at his peak he flexes, and his outfit explodes revealing a scared torso of abs.
[Master Monk ★★★★★ Earth][Rock/Effect][ATK:1900/DEF:1000]
"Lastly I'll hand My Monk a Legendary Black Belt to show off his Mastery of martial Arts." The rope belt of the Master Monk starts to darken and thicken before becoming a proper Martial arts belt which raps around his waist emanating energy.
[Legendary Black Belt][Spell/Equip]
"I'll swap my giant rat to attack position before having my Master monk go to take out your knight." The monk advances at rapid speed towards the knight, it even leaps into the air about to kick the knight's form but mid-air he becomes frozen in place as the many gazes of the Dark sanctuary leer at his form as if apprising him.
"Dark Sanctuary makes it so if you want to attack a coin is flipped if it is Heads the attack is stopped, and you take half the attack of your monster."
Bakura presses a button on his duel disk and a coin appears between the pair of duellists before going skyward, it flips too many times to count before settling on the ground with a result.
[Heads]
The eyes of the Dark Sanctuary glow and a shadow form of the Master monk appears, it turns towards Sergei and goes to tackle him which causes him some damage, once he takes the damage he knits his eyebrows before speaking. "I'll have my master Monk attack again due to his effect."
The Monk now free of the dark sanctuary goes to quickly recover speed towards the knight but the eyes of the sanctuary are everywhere, and his form is frozen this time an inch from striking the knight.
Bakura activates the coin function again; the coin is sent flying and this time lands quicker than before.
[Tails]
At this result, Bakura isn't happy but he's fine with the result of losing some minor life points since it doesn't matter much but the look on Sergei's face says otherwise as he speaks. "Due to the effect of the Black Belt, you take additional damage equal to the Defence of your monster"
The realization hits Bakura as he sees the Dark Sanctuary's eyes blink which releases the Master monk, in a blitz of speed and power the Headless knight is ripped limb from limb by the master and the last part of the knight is kicked straight at Bakura to inflict the damage.
[Sergei's LP: 4000 >3050]
[Bakura's LP: 4000 > 1850]
The harmful strike causes Bakura to recoil but he quickly watches as the muscular duellist points at his Giant Rat, "Now fur ball attack him directly."
His words cause the Rat to get on all four limbs before scurrying towards Bakura, again the Eyes of the Dark Sanctuary seem to gaze at the rat and makes it freeze in its tracks determining its fate.
Bakura presses the duel disk again for the third time and the coin is tossed, and the results come quickly.
[Tails]
Again the eyes of the Dark Sanctuary blink releasing the Rat from the suspension this allows it to continue to attack Bakura directly, with a slash of its claw it hits him before returning to its monster zone.
[Bakura: 1850 > 450]
Being reduced to such a low value I can picture the peanut gallery of Yugi and his friends commenting on Bakura's situation, oh yeah, they still think he's currently unpossessed.
But with Sergei's final monster attack he nods before ending his turn this causes Bakura's Destiny Board to materialize beside him and from the fog of the Dark Sanctuary a Pair of cyan flame spirits appear each carrying a flame depicting a letter.
Currently, only D and E are present but with their appearance Bakura draws, he quickly looks at his hand and forms a game plan for the tricky situation.
"From my hand,, I'll play Graceful charity."
[Graceful Charity][Spell]
He draws more and with the cards he draws his smile becomes prevalent on his face as he discards a pair of monsters from his hand. "Now with those in the grave, I can Special Summon from my hand my Dark Necrofear in Defence position."
From Bakura's Graveyard a trio of pale flames fly out as if in fear running away from their greatest fear, they wander in the fog of the dark sanctuary their positions obscured by the fog but visible due to the light they produce.
Without warning or indication, one of the flames gets snuffed out and a second later that patch of fog thins out to reveal nothing, the other flames become more erratic, but it happens again and again taking them out.
After a second the Fog increases in density becoming semi-solid, emerging from the fog is a pale blue-skinned bald woman with elongated features akin to a mix between a goblin and elf in unique and mismatched armour, she cradles the destroyed form of a doll in her hands and smiles maliciously at the monk and rat.
[Dark Necrofear ★★★★★★★★ Dark][Fiend/Effect][ATK:2200/DEF:2800]
Her appearance is daunting, and her defence is just as daunting to Sergei since he knows with her on the field his chance of winning in time is made much harder.
With her appearance on the field, Bakura has a small smile common to the normal Bakura but he places a card face down before ending his turn.
Sergei draws his card and frowns, but he shrugs before setting it face down as a monster on the field and placing 2 cards face down in his spell and trap zone leaving his hand empty.
Lastly, he repositions his rat into defence position before ending his turn, this makes another letter form on the destiny board making it now read out DEA.
Still with his smile, Bakura draws and looks at the card before playing face down his own spell/trap zone and ending his turn knowing he just has to wait to win.
Sergei draws, looks at his card and laughs this disturbs Bakura's smile but curiously Sergi places the card face down in his Spell/Trap zone before speaking.
"I flip the monster I played Last turn."
the card on the field slowly flips over like a trap door, when it is raised fully it now depicts a greyish-green sphere holding a creature with a dirty tooth gin and a single red Eye, in an unceremonious style the sphere just pops out of the card and rolls to the ground and is now looking at Bakura with its grin tilted 30 degrees being off centre.
In a chatter of Teeth, the creature within the Jar explodes from it as a Grey blur and jumps and bites at Bakura's hand coating the cards in an illusion of red slime before shooting over to Sergei's hand and then rebounding to return to its Jar grinning evilly but satisfied as if just had a snack.
[Morphing Jar ★★ Earth][Rock/Effect][ATK:700/DEF:600]
"Its effect makes us both discard our hands before drawing back to 5," he says this as he draws 5 cards since he was empty, this causes Bakura to grumble but discard and redraw.
"Now to take down the Castle I activate the field card, Catapult Zone"
Behind Sergei a militia of soldiers appear from the fog rolling a pair of Catapults, the pair of catapults are worked on by the soldiers and start slinging rocks skywards towards the Dark Sanctuary.
[Catapult Zone][Spell/Field]
In a siege against the castle, the walls crumple and collapse before the spires of the dark castle fall, with their removal the dark sky starts to fade clearing the sky of the nightmarish depictions of eyes and mouths.
Both Bakura and his Dark Necrofear become uncomfortable due to the loss of the field card.
Sergei continues though. "Now from my hand, I activate United We stand and equip it to my Master Monk" At his words Bakura thinks quickly and points to his face down. "In response, I activate My face-down Mystical Space typhoon and destroy your legendary Black belt."
In a flash of actions, a small storm appears and quickly goes and strikes at the Master monk, from the Lightning strike the Master monk's belt is the target so it burns up before fading away but the master monk looks like he's now empowered by the strike as his form is now coursing with red lightning becoming stronger and buffer!
[United we Stand][Spell/Equip]
[Mystical Space Typhoon][Spell/Quick-play]
[Master Monk][ATK: 1900 > 4300]
"Doesn't matter, I'll have my Master Monk attack your Dark Necrofear then attack directly for the win, Master Monk go."
At his words the massively Swollen Monk Charges forth like a force of nature and in a blur of speed it appears on the other side of the Blue skinned woman, it wraps arms around her waist from behind and German Suplexes the fiend into the field, she disappears from the blow in a show of lights.
He then stands up and then stares at Bakura with an evil grin on his face, he goes to tackle the possessed boy but as he goes to attack a trio of women in teal robes appear in a triangle formation around the boy, each woman wields a talisman and they form a barrier around Bakura protecting him.
"I won't be losing this turn since I activate in response to the second attack by activating Waboku to protect me from any damage this turn."
The appearance of the woman causes Sergei to be confused since doesn't that card also protect monsters so why didn't he play it to protect his monster, with little left to do this turn he goes to end his turn.
This causes the Destiny board to gain its 4th letter, now reading out DEAT, this catches everyone's attention, but another surprising thing occurs as the Master Monk on Sergei's field becomes still before walking over to Bakura's field.
This confuses everyone, but as the Master Monk turns around the face Sergei it turns out their eyes are now just black orbs with no pupil it takes a stance but it's very stiff as if mechanical.
The truth becomes apparent as like a ghost a figure of a blue-skinned fiend is present with a Puppet handle, from it thin transparent strings connect the fiend to the Monk as if a puppet and puppet master.
"The effect of Dark Necrofear, it allows me to take control of the monster which destroyed it at the end phase, so you monk is now working for me," Bakura exclaims in his victory.
Seeing the field situation with Bakura controlling his monk going into their turn, he knows his field and knows his situation but can do little to nothing as Bakura draws for his turn.
"I'll Summon a face-down Monster and have your Master monk Clear your field."
At Bakura's command, the puppeted Monk in a flash of speed and power grabs onto the Morphing jar and throws it like a Shotput at the rat, like a meteoric impact it causes a large impact, surprisingly from the strike the morphing Jar seems fine, but its eye is spinning in its jar from the blow.
"I activate Catapult zone, by sending a rock-type monster from my deck to the grave I can save a rock-type monster on the field from destruction, also you activate the Giant Rat's effect, allowing me to summon a monster from my deck to replace it."
Appearing is another Monk fighter; it looks ready for the fight but the appearance of the Master monk on the other side of the field causes it to flinch.
Seeing that Sergei's field is still populated Bakura is annoyed even though it's not the worst situation since the Master monk is still so powerful due to the board's presence, so he ends his turn, this allows Sergei to try and return.
He draws before analysing the cards in his hand he comes up with a way to get rid of the Mad Monk, but he realizes that's all he can do before losing.
If he takes out the mad monk yes it would remove the biggest threat on the field, but it would free up the last spell/trap zone for the destiny board since Dark Necrofear is blocking its completion so he can't remove it on his turn.
"I'll summon a monster face down before playing from my hand the spell card Kaminote Blow."
[Kaminote Blow][Spell]
"I'll next have my Monk Fighter take out your face-down monster" The monk looks at the field before charging towards the face down, it does a leap into a downward kick into the card, and from the card a pair of sickly hands a gaunt face appears as if partly fazed into the card and tries to claw at the monk.
[Earthbound Spirit ★★★★ Earth][Fiend/Normal][ATK:500/DEF:2000]
Seeing this the Monk uses the recoil of the attack to leap back to its monster zone on Sergei's field.
"Due to Monk Fighter's effect, I take no damage but due to Kaminote Blow it destroys your monster regardless." With his words the Spirit seems to start glowing as when the monk struck him, he filled the spirit with Ki setting it to burst out from it from within.
In a burst of light, the spirit is returned to the earth and with it gone, Sergei Ends his turn, this allows Bakura to draw, and with little fanfare he orders the Mad Monk to attack the Jar and the weaker monk on the field.
The jar is smashed into pixels quickly but when the Mad Master Monk initiates a flurry of blows with the Monk fighter which results in sending the monk fighter reeling but it's still alive a small distance away, the master goes to continue the battle but is blocked as from the sky a Block of stone appears to stop the Mad Master Monk ending the battle as Catapult zone was used to protect the fighter.
With little else to do, Bakura summons a face-down monster before ending his turn allowing Sergei to smile since he thinks he's won, "I draw, I'll Flip Summon My Golem Sentry which has an effect to return one of your Monsters on the field to the hand, I'll use it to regain my Master monk."
The card on the field flips over to reveal a cobblestone golem with its most distinct features being that its main body is that of a doorframe and it's wielding a two-handed poleaxe, once it appears it points at the Mad monk before throwing its Poleaxe towards the monk.
[Golem Sentry ★★★★ Earth][Rock/Effect][ATK:800/DEF:1800]
The poleaxe sails through the air and flies over the head of Mad Master Monk, its flight cuts through all the transparent lines holding the monk like a puppet, like a puppet once its strings are cut it starts to collapse towards the ground into a heap.
Its form disappears and is added to Sergei's hand, but it doesn't stay there as just as quickly he reveals it, "I tribute Summon my Monk fighter to Special Summon my Master monk back to my field."
Again, the Monk on the field gets buff and older turning from a Monk fighter into a Master monk.
With grand Gusto Sergei speaks more, "I'll have my Master Monk go and attack your face-down monster before attacking you directly."
The Master Monk with great power leaps into the air and punches down at the face-down monster, when it does though a Transparent Grasp rises from the card and catches the fist of the Master Monk.
Quickly he retreats as the Face Down Monster is revealed to be a spirit-like entity made up of glowing lines akin to the northern lights, it looks Golem-like, and it interlocks its fingers creating a barrier of interwoven lights as a rudimentary barrier.
[Protector of the Sanctuary ★★★★ Earth][Fiend/Effect][ATK:1100/DEF1900]
with just the appearance of this monster, all hope within Sergei of winning evaporates, he knows this since he knows he has no way to take it out in time until the end step in which Destiny board would complete ending the duel.
With resignation, Sergei lets out a sigh before nodding placing his hand on his deck and saying. "I concede."
The end of the duel is called, and the announcement is made on the screen.
[Sergei Ivanoff has Surrendered]
[Bakura Ryou Wins!]