Chaos Effect

Chapter 95 - 95

Chapter 95: Chapter 95

Pharaoh,' Yugi said softly in their shared mindscape, 'what we just saw...'

'Yes Yugi. It is... concerning that Edwin's past self might have been a threat to my people. But what we must remember is the man he was then is not the man he is now. I can not see Edwin doing the things that this Endymion was said to have committed in his quest for power.'

He shut his eyes. Back in Duelist Kingdom? Yes... yes he might have believed that. Back when he questioned Edwin's honor and thought him to be a scoundrel thanks to the arrival of Selene and his more underhanded tactics. But he had fought with him in Battle City to try and save Cabal and seen his drive to protect someone who was guilty of many things but didn't deserve the dark fate that had nearly been handed her. Edwin had killed, yes, but he had also seen the horror written on his face when he had seen the results of his actions. His friend had felt far more grief than the Pharaoh had for his actions when he'd first joined with Yugi. And twice they had braved the insanity of the multiverse and he had seen, time and time again, that versions of Edwin would fight to the bitter end to protect others.

'We will have faith in Edwin,' the Pharaoh told Yugi. 'We will not allow those visions to blind us.'

'Of course!' Yugi said quickly. 'But I was talking about something else, Pharaoh!'

He stared at his partner and raised an eyebrow. 'Oh? And what is that?'

'That man we saw... the Pharaoh?'

'Yes?'

'Pharaoh... I think that was your father.'

The Spirit within the Millennium Puzzle froze at that.

'My... my father?' he whispered. 'I...'

It was such a strange concept to him. He had never thought about the fact that he must have had parents. It just... never occurred to him. With his lack of memories his focus had been upon dealing with the gaps in his mind and dealing with the threats that were coming at him. But now that Yugi had said the words... it was all he could think about. He had a father. Had seen him. He could not remember him but he desperately wished he could. Was he a good man? Had he held him close and read him stories like Yugi's grandpa did to him when he was a child? Had he come to his father when he had nightmares or skinned knees? What was the man's favorite things to do? His favorite meals and drinks? So many questions!

And... if he had a father... he must have a mother. It sounded stupid the moment he thought it because of course he had to have a mother too but who was she? What was she like? How could he find out? He longed to know her, to remember her. To remember them both...

'Pharaoh,' Yugi said gently, placing his hand on his partner's shoulder. 'Let me finish the duel, okay?'

'I can-'

'No... no you can't,' Yugi said but it was with most gentle of tones that he denied him.

'...very well,' the Pharaoh said softly. Yugi nodded and disappeared while the Pharaoh sat down in his mind palace... and pulled up the vision once more, watching it play again.

~MC~MC~MC~

Yugi took a breath, settling himself as he took back control of his body. It was always a strange sensation but it had gotten better as he and the Pharaoh had learned to basically co-exist rather than one being shunted to their mindscape while the other was in control. None of the startling confusion at finding himself in a situation he had no knowledge of. Still... it always felt odd.

"Alright!" he called out, deciding it was time to get back to the duel. "Now with my two spellcasters on the field I can deal with your Executor of the Underworld-Pluto! My Mahad gains 1000 attack when it faces a dark-type monster, meaning it will easily steamroll right over that fairy!"

Tea though smiled. "And it won't do you any good with my Sanctuary on the field. That reduces all battle damage take to 0."

Yugi though shook his head even as Mahad leapt forward and sent a wave of ancient magic at the Executor of the Underworld, shattering it completely. "Battle Damage... when there's a monster on the field! You have no more Agents on the field but I still have my Apprentice Illusion Magician! And so now I'll have her attack you directly."

"I was hoping you'd forget that," Tea muttered before shielding herself, letting out a cry as the blast of magic from the female mage sent her lifepoints tumbling down. (Tea-500)

"Told you," Edwin said with a touch of smugness. "Never count Yugi out."

"Tea is in trouble," Renard admitted. "Yugi has two powerful monsters on the field and she just lost some heavy hitters."

Yuri though wasn't as concerned. "Yugi isn't the only one that can pull off some sudden big moves. I know my sister and her deck and trust me when I say that when she wants to she can make a duel go a complete 180! Don't count Yugi out? Well, don't counter a Gardner out either!"

Tea glanced at her sister and smiled before narrowing her eyes and drawing her next card. "She's right, of course. You shouldn't count me out of this Yugi. I promised you that I would give you the best duel I could, to make sure we are both ready for the likes of Ishizu and Marik."

"Aw, isn't that cute," Marik taunted. "They are thinking about us dear sister."

Ishizu didn't say a word, too busy staring at Yugi.

'She doesn't like that I'm the one dueling and not the Pharaoh,' he thought to himself. 'To her this is a dangerous move... I can't be trusted. But she forgets that it was the last card I laid on the field in our duel against Pegasus that allowed the Pharaoh to defeat him. I've not been a mere observer... the Pharaoh and I are partners, working together. Right now he needs time to deal with what we all saw in that vision so I am going to stand up and win this duel!'

But... it wasn't his turn.

"So far I've shown you what my Agents can do," Tea stated as she looked over her hand. "How they can call upon the lesser angels to aid them. The ways they can combine their powers in order to allow greater Agents to appear... even those whose tasks mean that can't merely use the title of Agent. But now..." she held up a card, "its time I show you their master."

"Oh this is going to be good!" Yuri cheered.

"I banish from my graveyard Executor of the Agents-Pluto to summon forth the lord of the Agents... MASTER HYPERION!"

A giant sun appeared above the combined field of the Sanctuary and the Magician's Salvation, shining its rays down upon all gathered.

"The sun. The life giver but also the destroyer. Its light can illuminate or it can blind. Give life... or burn it up. That is the Sun... and that is the leader of the Agents!"

The burning sphere sucked in on itself, forming into Master Hyperion who settled onto the field, staring out at Yugi's magicians who both tensed and readied for battle.

"Wait," Edwin whispered, "why did she banish Pluto... oh."

"Next I normal summon the Agent of Miracles-Jupiter!" On Tea's side of the field the planet Jupiter briefly appeared before it to transformed into an Agent, this one a large, muscular Agent who bowed to his master before turning towards Yugi's side of the field. "And now I use his special ability: by sending one Fairy monster from my hand to the graveyard I can bring back one of my banished monsters!"

"Pluto!" Renard exclaimed.

Yugi's eyes widened as the Executor of the Underworld appeared once more on the field, moving to stand with Master Hyperion and Jupiter. 'Tea has already gotten three monsters back on the field! She went from having nothing to having a fully stocked field!' Out loud he called out, "Tea... that is amazing!"

"Thanks Yugi!"

"Ugh," Marik complained. "If they begin to talk about how amazing the other is I think I'll just kill them both and forget about the revenge against the Pharaoh."

"...no Edwin," Mai said quickly.

"What?"

"You were thinking about the deal."

"I was not."

Renard huffed. "None of us believe you."

"...okay so if we get to pick the way they die there are ways we could kill them, give them CPR and defib them, and they are okay and Marik disappears forever. Its worth looking into if he's willing. I'll throw myself into the mix even."

"No you won't," Renard commented.

"No I won't," Edwin admitted.

"Oh no!" Brom said with a laugh. "I hate that style of therapy. No... I'll try and guide you as best as I can so we work together. Now, parents do influence their children... nature and nurture, no matter how you look at it, means that parents play a large role. But you aren't robots that have instructions programmed into you. Both of you are your own people! You Joey, for one, deserve all the praise in the world!"

"Me? What for?"

"For breaking the cycle!" Brom declared. "You admit yourself that you were a bully only a year or so ago. You picked on Yugi." Joey ducked his head at that. "But you have changed. Greatly so. Do you think if I could bring that Joey to us right now people would confuse the two of you?"

"Well... I mean we look alike... but I guess if people talked ta us...." He trailed off.

"Exactly," Brom praised. "You changed yourself. Decided you didn't like the person you were becoming and decided to be different. That is something that is to be applauded. It shows your strength. Now then, let's examine that, shall we? Let's see how you made those changes so, perhaps, we can help both of you make changes you want to make as well as reinforce those parts of you that you wish to remain..."

~MC~MC~MC~

'Tea has gotten so amazing at dueling,' Yugi thought to himself. 'I know she probably thinks that its just what Edwin's counterpart on Earth-2 did to her that's letting her duel so well... but I don't think so. I think that might have opened the door but the ability for her to duel like this? That's her.'

He looked over his side of the field carefully. 'The only problem is... how do I get out of this? I have a few cards I can use to fill up my field but she has shown that she can just keep destroying what I set up... she isn't going to wait and allow me to just counter her. I am going to have to battle back.' In his mind he imaged Tea as a great windstorm, pushing against him, forcing him to dig in his heels as he raised his arm up to try and shield his face. 'It will be a struggle... but I can do it.' He paused though as he looked at the card that would net him the win.

Slifer the Sky Dragon.

'If I summoned my Egyptian God Card I would be able to win this duel. Slifer's effect would reduce the attack of any monster that she summoned. And since she has so many of them with less than 2000 lifepoints that means they'd be instantly destroyed. And it grows more powerful each turn. And the God Cards can't be targeted with effects like Master Hyperion's destruction effect.'

He saw himself summoning Slifer, the great Egyptian God Card coiling around the blimp, looming in front of Tea... and then attacking against his own orders, Yugi screaming as Tea was reduced to nothing just as Bakura had been.

'No... I can't do that. I can't risk it. The Egyptian God Cards... they are too powerful to be used like that. As much as I want to win this duel and help the Pharaoh defeat Marik we can't risk Tea. If I am going to win this duel it will have to be without my Egyptian God Card.'

"And I'm not done yet!" Tea declared. "I activate Master Hyperion's effect, removing from my graveyard two Shine Balls in order to give Master Hyperion the strength needed to banish your Apprentice Illusion Magician and Mahad from the game!"

"That' leaves Yugi with nothing!" Duke exclaimed as Master Hyperion fired off two flares of power, causing the two mages that were on Yugi's side of the field to turn to dust before being blown away. "The duel is over!"

"I don't think so," Edwin muttered though Yugi did his best not to react to that.

"That's right, Edwin!" Yugi declared with a grin. "I activate my Palladium Mahad's final ability! When he leaves the field he is able to special summon his future self. So come forth my Dark Magician!"

From his graveyard there was a flash and on the field the Dark Magician appeared, arms folded over his chest and a cheeky little smile on his lips.

"I should have known that you'd have a way to get him out," Tea said with her own smile. "But I can still power right through him... what?" She stared in shock as Master Hyperion fell to one knee, gasping on in pain.

"You were focused on my monsters, Tea... and forgot about what I had set up on my side of the field. A good magician knows how to lay out everything for the best performance... and the same is true of my Dark Magician. With the Dark Magic Circle on the field still when he is summoned he is able to banish your Master Hyperion from the game!" The lord of the Agents let out a final cry before the Dark Magic Circle finally formed around him, wrapping around his body before flashing... then separating into two, one rising up and the other down, and as they moved Master Hyperion disappeared from sight. "And Tea? I'm not done yet!"

One of the portals on the field began to glow.

"Magician's Salvation isn't just a cute name for my field spell. It speaks of exactly what it is. The very air is charged with magic... and it lets me pull off tricks that are no illusion!" The Dark Magician suddenly stuck his hand into one of the portals, arm jerking slightly when he did so. "I brought forth Mahad's future self... why not the same for his apprentice? I summon back from my graveyard my Dark Magician Girl!"

The Dark Magician gave a hard tug and from the portal came the Dark Magician Girl who tumbled into his embrace, letting out a sigh of relief before resettling herself, looking embarrassed over what everyone had seen. She quickly moved to stand on her own but the Dark Magician merely smiled, allowing her to hide her embarrassment.

"And for every Dark Magician on my field or in my graveyard I am able to increase my Dark Magician Girl's attack by 300, making her a match for your Executor of Pluto."

Tea frowned at that before nodding. "Then there is little I can do this turn." She smirked. "But next turn Yugi? You aren't going to enjoy what happens next."

'And I believe her,' Yugi thought as he looked over his hand and field. 'I can destroy her Agent of Miracles and her Executor of the Underworld but that won't do much to her lifepoints... and with how quickly she has shown she can build back her field I can't risk it.' He looked to his deck, hand slowly going towards it. 'My only hope if I want to win this duel is to defeat her THIS turn! And there is only one card that can do that... I must believe in the Heart of the Cards...'

Yugi drew, lifting the card up in the air, staring at it for only a moment before he narrowed his eyes, a smirk forming on his lips.

"Tea... you can hold your head high. I don't think I've faced anyone in this Tournament that pushed me harder than you have during this duel."

"Well, she's boned," Edwin muttered only for Yuri to smack him.

"I activate Secrets of Dark Magic!" Yugi declared, slapping the card onto his duel disc. Before his Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl two ritual urns appeared, letting off faint smoke. "This card allows me to perform one Ritual or Fusion summon this turn!"

"Yeah, definitely boned," Edwin said again only to yelp when Yuri hit him once more.

"I was wrong before, Tea. I said that the Dark Magician was the future. And while he is Mahad's future... he isn't the final destiny of the Dark Magician. There are so many possibilities, so many different outcomes that he can take. And I will show you one now! l fuse together the Dark Magician in my hand-" the ghostly form of the Red Dark Magician appeared on the field, "-and my Black Luster Soldier to summon from my extra deck the true future of the Dark Magician: The Master of Chaos!"

Black and white lightning began to shoot down from the sky, striking the field seemingly at random but soon began to focus on a single spot. That area charged with energy until, with a burst of power, the Master of Chaos appeared. He was the Dark Magician but his skin was a pale greenish-blue and his hair was a pale orange. His robes had become far more armored, gilded in gold. A long cape with golden trim and a red inside flowed behind the monster, waving in the breeze caused by his summoning. In the monster's right hand was the Chaos Sword, the weapon of the Black Luster Soldier, while in his left hand was the Luster Shield, gleaming and ready for any attack that might come.

"Yugi's two strongest monsters have been merged into one!" Tristan declared.

"And for something that powerful it has to have an amazing effect!" Koyo added.

Yugi tapped his duel disc. "When the Master of Chaos is summoned I am able to special summon from my graveyard one Light or Dark monster. So I bring forth once more Mahad!" The ancient Egyptian magician appeared on the field once more, standing with the Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, and the Master of Chaos. "But he won't be staying for long. Because The Master of Chaos can gather the energy of the Light and the Dark and use them to create an energy surge that will cause all your monsters to be banished! So Master of Chaos, convert the Dark Magician and Mahad into the power needed to remove every monster on Tea's side of the field from the game!"

The armored mage nodded before thrusting his sword into the ground and hanging his shield upon it before holding out his hands, the Dark Magician and Mahad beginning to glow; one light, the other dark. The two of them turned into pure energy that gathered into his open palms, crackling and burning before, with a sudden slamming of his hands together, he merged the two conflicting powers together.

There was a great explosion that threw everyone back, sprawling on top of each other. It was only when the light generated from the blast faded away that they saw that Tea's field was entirely empty.

"Dark Magician Girl! Attack Tea directly!"

Tea refused to back down, head held high as the Dark Magician Girl fired off her attack, the enchanted flames burning all around her as her lifepoints turned to ash. (Tea-0000)

"Tea Gardner has been defeated!" the ref declared. "The winner of this match and the first duelist to head to the Semi Finals is Yugi Muto!"

"Hmmmpf," Marik muttered, turning away and stalking off. "While I would have enjoyed watching you fail, Yugi, there is something to be said about destroying you with my own hands. Enjoy your little victory here... you will not be gaining another one!"

Yugi moved to give his congratulations to Tea, not wanting to dwell on Marik's comment, only to find his way blocked... by Ishizu.

"Why did you risk the world?"

"Excuse me?" Yugi asked, confused by her sudden comment.

"That duel... I know that you drew Slifer the Sky Dragon but refused to use it. You nearly lost because you feared its power."

"I won, that's all that matters," the teen said, moving to try and get past Ishizu only for her to block his way once again.

"We face a growing darkness. You know this. The Spirit of the Millennium Ring remains."

"You brother-"

But Ishizu let out a laugh. "You believe my brother could defeat the Dark One? Even with a god card he is too great. You know this too, you just don't want to admit it. The Spirit chose to disappear, to allow the Shadow Realm to claim him so he might return when you least expected it. We must be ready for him and the only way to do that is by defeating my brother and claiming his Egyptian God Card. And the only way to do that is to win the Battle City Tournament. And yet you once more allow your feelings to get the better of you, Yugi Muto. Your caring for this meaningless child led you to take control over the Pharaoh, refuse to use Slifer the Sky Dragon-"

The Millennium Puzzle flashed and the Pharaoh was in control. "Yugi is my partner. We have warned you time and again that he has my trust and yet you still degrade him. I will not stand for this any more, Ishizu."

"I will not allow him, or anyone else, threaten this world, my Pharaoh." Her eyes began to glow. "I do what I must."

Her hands grasped the puzzle and there was a flash of light.