2 Chapter 2
The first duel shown to the myriad worlds of Yu-Gi-Oh! is now starting to heat up.
"Obelisk attack Stronghold the Moving Fortress. Fist of Fate!" Atem commanded.
A large blue fist shot through the gigantic mech on Yugi's side of the field and with an explosion, the Red, Green, and Yellow Gadgets were sent flying with Yugi himself not much better.
Yugi: [2400 LP] - [1400 LP]
"I set a card and end my turn." Atem
This is too much, many viewers complained.
A blow from an Egyptian God carried damage even during a regular duel and the screen they were viewing made sure to show it as a portion of the Egyptian God's divine might was felt across the screen. Some even wondered if they would be able to stand up if they were in Yugi's place.
Yugi however, was not them. He stood back up with a smile on his face. This was his chance to finally show the Pharoah that he was not the little Yugi who stood behind the Pharoah and watched the action unfold. He is now a legitimate duelist who can stand toe to toe with him.
"Draw. I set three cards and summon Silent Swordsman to the field."
A small man carrying a sword appeared on Yugi's side of the field in a way that surprised viewers. Attack position?!
Silent Swordsman: [1000 ATK]
"Yes, it's the monster that kicked Bakura's butt!" Joey cheered, not remembering that Bakura was right next to him. "Not you, the evil one." Joey corrected.
Yami Bakura gritted his teeth as he thought to himself that there was no way some itty bitty swordsman was going to beat him.
Atem set a card face-down before activating Cards of Sanctity making both players draw until their hands held six cards.
Yugi's draws were uneventful but Atem's made his eyes widen. He began to declare the duel's possible conclusion as if nothing goes wrong, the duel was already in his hands.
Why the need for suspense? Obelisk can end the duel with just one attack as Silent Swordsman was just too small.
Yugi was ready however as he activated his two set cards, Ground Erosion and Turn Jump. Thanks to the magical effects of Turn Jump, three turns went by unimpeded allowing a variety of things to happen.
The first is Silent Swordsman leveling up three times to a suave young man with 2500 ATK.
The second one came as a surprise to everyone as Ground Erosion bypassed Obelisk the Tormentor's apparent immunity to trap cards by targeting the Monster Zone he was on. Thanks to that, his ATK dropped down to 2500.
Many duelists applauded Yugi on his ingenious play. It was not easy to counter an Egyptian God from the position Yugi was at. Yet, he has done it.
In front of the screen, Marik shivered as he wondered what he would do in front of Yugi's strategy.
When everyone thought things would end right there, Atem revealed he had activated his own time-based trap card Summoning Clock!
For each turn, he was afforded a free summon allowing him three new monsters to come to his field!
The cost is one Tricky token but it is well worth it as his first two summons, King's Knight and Queen's Knight summoned a third monster Jack's Knight for no extra cost.
Then, he made the viewers' eyes widen as he summoned his second Egyptian God card, Slifer the Sky Dragon!
For no extra cost, a divine beast shrouded in red descended onto Atem's field.
The amount of divine might that was exuding through the screen had made several younger and older viewers begin to drop to the ground.
In the ARC-V world, Reigi Akaba motioned for the people under his employ to hit the streets and help innocent civilians who started to be affected by the duel's intensity.
Other worlds were not so lucky as their political systems had no truly selfless individual to take command and help the unfortunate.
Fortunately, the screen was not malicious enough to truly harm anyone as the weaker viewers would only enter a short coma if they were unlucky and be spared any further effects of the duel.
"As you know," Atem continued. "For each card in my hand, Slifer gains 1000 ATK. I am currently holding three."
Slifer the Sky Dragon: [3000 ATK]
"I activate my trap card, Ambush Shield. I sacrifice Red Gadget to add its DEF to Silent Swordsman's ATK raising it to 4000 ATK," Yugi responded.
Impressive. Thanks to Yugi's play, he was able to protect his strongest monster the Silent Swordsman. Unfortunately, his other two gadgets were not so lucky as Atem's knights made quick work of them.
With no other moves needed, Atem seemed ready to end his turn...
...If he didn't have the last Egyptian God card in his hand!
Sacrifice King's, Queen's, and Jack's Knights to summon the Egyptian God card The Winged Dragon of Ra!
The Winged Dragon of Ra was no ordinary Egyptian God either as its summon must be accompanied by an ancient chant that Atem was more than ready to provide.
A golden radiance exuded from Atem's field as a golden beast came down from the heavens above. The resonance was so breathtaking that the ceremonial ground began to shake.
Many duelists trembled as this was a feat they were lucky to be watching.
Even the current wielder of the Winged Dragon of Ra, Marik Ishtar dropped his Millenium Rod in sheer amazement.
Sure, he could summon the Winged Dragon of Ra but the quickest method available to him was graveyard resurrection. There was no way for him to summon The Winged Dragon of Ra so quickly using the standard tribute method, let alone the three Egyptian God cards as Atem had just done.
Back to the duel, Slifer the Sky Dragon was supposed to lose 1000 ATK because Atem used a card from his hand but he had a Pot of Greed ready to replace itself and The Winged Dragon of Ra in his hand.
Yugi was in a very egregious position facing three Egyptian God cards and thanks to Slifer the Sky Dragon's ability to inflict 2000 damage to the ATK and DEF of any monster he summons, Yugi might not even be able to put forth a reliable defense let alone a counterattack. In the case that he does, The Winged Dragon of Ra can sacrifice everything to raise its attack and gain back the upper hand.
Even late-era duelists have a hard time figuring out a way out from this position!
Seeing the disastrous situation Yugi is in, Seto Kaiba on the screen was ready to walk away because there was no way for him to see Yugi making a come from behind victory.
"Looks like you're not going anywhere Pharoah but if there's a bright side, with you sticking around we can finally have that rematch," Seto Kaiba said to Atem.
"That remains to be seen."
"Kaiba, wait!" Yugi called. "You have an obligation to watch this through with your bond that stretches thousands of years."
The screen then flashed back to a scene in ancient Egypt of Atem giving Set his Millenium Puzzle before leaving this world.
Wow.
Seto Kaiba and Atem's backstory stretches that far in the past.
Not to mention the viewers of the myriad of worlds, even Seto Kaiba had nothing to say about the scene they just saw.
"You have to stay and watch this duel. Especially to say goodbye to him when he loses."
Bang!
Everyone's brains were fried because they couldn't believe Yugi at this time still believes he is going to win!
Of course, it wasn't an easy thing to say let alone make happen.
Yugi himself doubted if he could really pull it off so Atem reassured him that whatever he wants to happen will happen as long as he gets past his self-doubt. That is the reason the two were brought together in the first place.
In front of the screen, Yugi smiled as he caressed the Millenium Puzzle.
Atem inside of the Millenium Puzzle shared his sentiments and smiled himself.
In ZEXAL, Yuma and Astral shared a glance and looked away as they were still too embarrassed to call each other comrades.
Atem and Yugi were always together so when one had a problem, the other would help teach them a lesson. That is why despite being separate, the two could still tell what the other was thinking.
With Yugi's turn, his Silent Swordsman leveled up again.
Silent Swordsman: [3000 ATK]
Yugi then sends his three magnet warriors from his hand to the grave to summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior.
Valkyrion: [3500 ATK]
Seeing a new monster, Slifer the Sky Dragon's second mouth opened and blasted at it.
What it couldn't expect was a response in the form of Mirage Spell.
Yugi protected his Valkyrion the Magna Warrior by turning the damage dealt by Slifer into life points.
Yugi: [3400 LP]
Everyone was ready to see Yugi launch a counterattack on the Egyptian God cards but he ended his turn with two set cards.
Is he worried about falling into a pitfall?
Or does he want Atem to be the one on the offensive instead?
Either case, Atem wasn't going to back down. He draws his card and declares an attack with Slifer the Sky Dragon.
Slifer: [4000 ATK]
"I activate my trap..."
"Traps don't work on Slifer!"
An intense divine might could be felt as Silent Swordsman was blown apart by Slifer's attack and Yugi takes 1000 damage.
"The Winged Dragon of Ra!"
With a golden blast, Valkyrion was turned to atoms by The Winged Dragon of Ra leaving Yugi with 900 LP left.
"You've done your best Yugi, but it's time to end this. Obelisk, fist of fate!"
Obelisk raised his fist to take away the remainder of Yugi's life points but suddenly Valkyrion appears to stop its attack.
"How? This doesn't make any sense," Atem exclaimed.
Everyone in the audience couldn't blame him. They all saw Valkyrion get blown away but now it's back and brought Silent Swordsman back with it.
"Remember the last trap card I used," Yugi answered.
The viewers then looked to see a face-up trap on Yugi's side of the field and his LP shooting from 900 to 3400.
It was as though Atem's turn did nothing!
The Mirage Ruler trap card was a miraculous trap card that could only be used if all of Yugi's monsters were destroyed in the same turn. It returned the state of the board to when the turn first began but at the cost of 1000 LP.
Yugi: [2400 LP]
"Worthy of being one of the best duels in all of the worlds," Reigi Akaba remarked.
"Never giving up even in the face of adversity," Yusei said to himself.
"Worthy of being the King of Games!" Jaden exclaimed.
Many duelists applauded Yugi's tenacity and will to never give up even against monsters like the Egyptian God cards.
Yugi may have been able to escape the onslaught of the Egyptian Gods but he still needs some way to defeat them.
Reviewing his options, Yugi noticed that Atem hasn't used a set card this whole duel.
If he knew the Pharoah as well as he thinks he does, that set card is the trap Mirror Force which can wipe out Yugi's board if he made one wrong move.
What Atem didn't expect was that Yugi was going to use that card to make his comeback!
Silent Swordsman: [3000 ATK] - [3500 ATK]
Yugi then made a play no one expected.
He sacrificed his Valkyrion the Magna Warrior to summon its three individual parts!
"Why would you do that?" Jaden cried.
"Could it be?" Astral mumbled absent-mindedly.
Reigi Akaba stared down his glasses, not wanting to miss what was about to happen.
Seeing the three new monsters, Slifer the Sky Dragon's second mouth opened and attacked each of them. Except that Yugi was ready!
When a rock or machine on Yugi's field is on the receiving end of a monster effect, his Magnet Force trap card would bounce it back to Atem's side of the field!
Use Egyptian Gods to defeat Egyptian Gods!
A cloud of dust bellowed as Slifer the Sky Dragon's three blasts were bounced back in the face of the Egyptian gods.
Slifer the Sky Dragon: [2000 ATK]
The Winged Dragon of Ra: [3000 ATK]
Obelisk the Tormentor: [500 ATK]
With all of the three Egyptian God cards weakened, Yugi declared an attack with Silent Swordsman.
Here's where Yugi's knowledge of Atem came into play as the Pharoah used Mirror Force exactly as he imagined.
All of Yugi's monsters were blown to smithereens.
The audience on the scene was devastated as they thought Yugi had lost but the viewers outside were excited because they knew Yugi planned ahead.
The question is: What is Yugi's plan?
