The God's Game Begins (Part 3)

DIMENSION: MANGA (The One That Saves the Day)

///Yuugi: Why did Bakura not take a turn, Atem?///

///Atem: Most likely preparation. He might not be lying about high cards. Ryou didn't play much and the occult selection was slim at the place we looked at. However, he might have one that he wants to use later, when no one suspects it.///

///Yuugi: It won't make much difference. Set and Zorc probably have nothing but huge attack level cards. Even we aren't equipped to handle that.///

///Atem: Don't assume anything, Yuugi.///

Set looked at the globe, then back at Zorc. He glanced toward Bakura, then back at Zorc. "Nothing but high cards. I might pierce through."

"True, but Honda and one other is at the school," Zorc reminded him. "You have two enemies to conquer."

"There is a better chance of running out of lower cards with team one." Set looked at the globe.

"Don't even, Black Magician can win against you," Jounouchi warned him.

"But it would be wasteful. You need to take down Zorc even more than me." Set smiled. "Domino High School. Machina Force. Attack 4600."

"No! We can't, we need another high card. Seto?"

"I summon Dark Necrofear In defence mode!" Bakura shouted.

///Yuugi: Defense mode? That was only 2800, it wasn't enough for Set's card!/// "Stop, let Kaiba han-"

///Atem: Yuugi, you must trust in your teammate. Bakura doesn't want thrown out of the game. You know that.///

"Honda though, it isn't-"

A Blue explosion appeared on the globe.

"Next." Zorc said it so cold.

"No," Bakura insisted. "Take us down to see again. You did it once. Why not now?"

Zorc only grinned. "There is nothing to see."

"Then prove it," Bakura demanded, "because I think you explained the globe colors wrong on purpose. I am very good at lying, so of course I can smell the shit on you from here. Natural defense points, what were they for him?"

///Yuugi: Natural defense points?///

///Atem: The boost a battleship gets from an area. You see? Zorc has been trying to trick us.///

Zorc laughed. "I never explained the blue, you assumed it's meaning yourselves. I just said yellow meant no one accepted blowback, and orange meant there was blowback."

"What does the blue mean?" Bakura insisted.

"It means . . . safe. No serious damage taken." Zorc laughed. "My pawns gain a defense of 2500 for choosing their location. It's about memory and meaning to the soul, not the actual structure."

"That means Honda is safe," Jounouchi noted.

"But he only received an extra boost of 2000," Shizuka noted.

"Enough to make it through," Jounouchi declared.

"Actually, he's fine. It was Miho that took a small brunt, but nothing major," Zorc corrected them. "Now if we may go on?"

"We may," Kaiba declared, "Location is Domino Museum. Blue Eyes White Dragon!" He pulled out a blue eyes from his deck and placed it around the globe. "Attack!"

"Why you little lice," Set cursed him, "take this. Flower Guardian Lightflare! 5000 Attack points."

///Yuugi: You know, I know this is a game made for gods, Atem. But? How. How can we really summon creatures that have no sacrifices, special summons, and nothing fusing to create them? It seems wrong. Also, a little boring without strategy, not that that matters. It's just. How? Why?///

///Atem: I don't know, but I do understand the meaning. How do we bring such fierceness with nothing in return. Special summons and fusions are being thrown around like a deck of poker cards. Zorc is using its power to make it all happen, in this game, it's not considered a god. That is all I can assume.///

///Yuugi: There won't be a single battleship lost until we reach the end of our cards. The environmental bonuses are too strong.///

"Bakura, try it now!" Kaiba yelled at him.

"I summon Doomkaiser Dragon, in attack mode!" Bakura yelled as he inserted his card.

Yuugi watched. So did Jounouchi. Set nor Zorc said it was cheating.

The board showed blue, blue, and orange.

"Someone's figured it out," Zorc laughed.

What?

///Atem: Zorc conveniently forgot another rule he wanted us to figure out. Every player has to take a turn, but we can apparently supplement our cards to another teammate's turn.///

"I knew it. This card game the way it's built would be too boring for gods." Kaiba looked toward Jounouchi. "After a teammate's turn, and an enemy counters, get back on board with your own card as a supplement. You guys did it once, when you failed to summon because you didn't know the rules."

"Oh! I thought we got like a second chance when you jumped in." Jounouchi shrugged. "I didn't know."

"Of course not. I didn't either, it was just something to try out," Kaiba said. "If it broke the rule, they would have spoken up."

///Yuugi: With that kind of a power, we should be able to defeat Zorc and Set! They don't have other team members to rely on, just high level cards.///

"Hey, direct question from the player," Jounouchi said as he rocked Mana back and forth. "Can we do that with all the players?"

"Only between enemy counterattacks," Set said. "Which means since I and Zorc are our own team? No."

"Right. Figured. Okay, had to know," Jounouchi said as he pulled out his cards. "I feel like I'm disrespecting my cards playing this way." He held them in one hand, scattering his top five slightly over Mana. "Throwing out big names with no work involved. Is this going to have consequences later?"

Yuugi knew that feeling Jounouchi was describing. He looked toward Zorc. No answer. Whatever the price, they would just have to pay it when it came. ///Yuugi: Jounouchi is pulling at cards. He's getting lower levels. We'll have to do that soon too. We were equipped to fight without traps, and rules limiting spells. Not just full on attack power with no rules.///

///Atem: We can combine forces and attack with lower levels now. If need be, Kaiba and us can attack together with our living cards. That's a force of over 12,000 Yuugi.///

///Yuugi: We can break through the environmental defenses, depending on what a teammate does. Then, we can defeat Zorc and Set, and get everything back.///

///Atem: Keep it in sight as your goal, but don't forget, the battle is not won yet.///

Jounouchi continued to fumble through the cards while Mana picked one up and held it. "Oh, careful there." He took it gently away. "That's your daddy's Red Eyes Black Dragon. It means a lot to me, don't want anything to happen to it." He looked at the card. "Unfortunately. As soon as I play it, poof. Win or lose."

///Yuugi: Is that the highest card left for Jounouchi?///

///Atem: I think so, Yuugi. He'll have to play it or risk Black Magician and himself.///

"Will you just figure it out?" Set complained to him.

"I'm going, okay? I'm not stalling." Jounouchi looked at his red eyes for a few seconds longer. "I gotta believe that the Ishtar's want to do what's right, no matter the cost. Pick a place we would know. I choose the location of Domino's Museum in Domino City. I use Red Eyes Black Dragon." He inserted his card on the globe. "Do what's right, Red Eyes!"

"Counterattack him, Dystopia the Despondent. 5000 points." Set said it like he was almost bored. "Environmental benefit, 500, but 5500 minus 2400 leaves a lot more than their-"

"Attack, Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Kaiba yelled, bringing out one of his best cards.

Red ran across the entire globe for a moment.

"What?!" Set glared at Zorc. "How?!"

Jounouchi stared at the globe and his card, waiting for it to poof. It didn't burn away though, while Kaiba's card did. "Hey, what gives?"

Zorc rolled its eyes. "Never change, do you, Jounouchi? You own a monster. You're holding it right now, and it was holding your red eyes. Did you think that would have no effect on the game? You gained the traits of a living card."

"The traits of a living card?" Jounouchi looked back at his card. "So, 2400 plus 1600, and no burn out?"

"No, your monster is a monster holding a card. It was 2400 plus 2000 plus 1600. 6000 verses a 5500 total," Zorc pointed out. "Then, with Kaiba's little slaughtering? You slaughtered a soul."

"Well, I wasn't gonna summon my daughter ever, so I guess it's a good thing she played with my card." Jounouchi looked at Mana and picked his Red Eyes Black Dragon back up. "Did you do that for me? Thanks, I appreciate that."

"I wouldn't get too used to it, it's a final game kind of move," Zorc warned him. "For each card you choose to take the traits of a living card? Your daughter's life force burns away slightly, and it can't be recovered."

"What?!" Jounouchi yelled. "By how much?"

"Only 100 points out of 1600," Set said. "Nothing much to worry about."

"There is for me. I'll never use her again in this game," Jounouchi promised. He looked down at her. "Sorry, but this is the final time you're ever touching one of daddy's duel cards."