Yu-Gi-Oh! The Magician's Journey

[Dr. Cakey]

In the not-too-distant future, those who knew the ways of magic were discovered living in the shadows of society. They could measure the hearts of men and read the course of fate.

To secure the freedom and prosperity of humanity, wars were fought across every continent to purge these magicians from existence. These tumultuous years were called the Witch Hunts.

Humanity has been liberated from the curse of destiny. The metropolis unfolds into a future overflowing with light. Time flows like a never-ending river.

But on the artificial island of New Himuka...

History will repeat.

 

* * *

 

Hi. You don't know me.

Last year, I delved into the archives and read a whole slew of old YCM fan fiction. It was a very 'unlocking core memories' kind of situation, and it got the creative juices flowing, and so in the months that followed I outlined, shelved, re-outlined, and finally starting writing the fanfic that you now hold in your hands. Or, that your personal computing device holds in its RAM.

Out of respect for this place that I once called home, I've decided to post it here, even though there's almost nobody around anymore. I don't expect any comments. Here's a toast to the fanfic-ers of ages past.

And let's get started on The Magician's Journey.

Oh, there is one thing. The interface has gone through some changes since the last time I posted here. I'd like to enclose chapters in spoilers to make scrolling through the thread easier. Spoilers aren't on the UI, but I can still use

[spoiler]

to make them, but they don't seem to work properly. If anybody knows anything about that, please say so. Until/unless that's sorted out, this first post is going to be more cluttered than I'd have liked.

The Rules of the Game
The duels in The Magician's Journey take heavy inspiration from those that appeared in the manga and Duel Monsters anime. Thus, there’s a certain ‘looseness’ to how the games are played, the sense that there’s a little more to each card than what is recorded on its text. But I also play the TCG, and I’m pretty good at it — for a certain definition of good — so I’m seeking a balance between various extremes.

In short, the duels are played under the New Expert Rules (the rules immediately prior to 5D’s), with the following exceptions:

• Monsters can be Normal Summoned in face-up Defense Position.
• As in the manga and early anime, if an attack target leaves the field, the attack fails.
• There is no Ignition Effect priority (if you don’t know what Ignition Effect priority is, don’t worry, it was removed in Master Rule 2 and it was always stupid).

And also...

Ritual Monsters
I wanted to make Ritual Monsters a focus of The Magician’s Journey, but to do that in this retro (or pseudo-retro) format, they needed an overhaul. For that reason, I have placed Ritual Monsters in the Extra Deck (you're welcome). In exchange, most Ritual Spells can only Tribute monsters from the field, not the hand. The end result is halfway between Fusion and Synchro, I suppose.

Speed Duels
Duels with both 4000 and 8000 Life Points will appear over the course of the story. For convenience, within the story I call the 4000 LP duels ‘Speed Duels’, but other than the lower starting LP their rules are the same as typical Master Duels. The exception is that most burn damage effects and LP costs are reduced during Speed Duels, with the exact reduction decided on a case-by-case basis. If I were to pick a median, I’d say most burn has been reduced by a third.

 

Chapter 1: Follow Wind

On the other side of the window was a caterpillar. It had fallen from the cherry tree in the yard, and was now climbing a thread back up, wriggle by painstaking wriggle. It was slow going.

On this side of the window was a snug living room. Yonaka — the hero, or at least the principal figure, of this tale — and her younger sister Rui both lounged on the sofa, theoretically watching TV, but it was commercial time and the volume was low. Between the TV and the sofa was an antique coffee table, covered by a jumble of video games, comic books, and Duel Monsters cards. The remote was there somewhere, too.

A sparrow flew by and ate the caterpillar.

On the screen appeared a Duel Monsters card, which started to spin. It was joined by the text “NEW HIMUKA DUEL OPEN”. Yonaka found the remote and cranked up the volume.

“...once again for the annual New Himuka Duel Open,” the machine announced. “Duelists from across the country and around the world will gather to prove their skills. Many will rise to the challenge, but only one can become...”

“Do you think Sarah’s in this commercial?” asked Rui, as clips from previous years’ matches rolled by. Sarah was their older sister, and she had made it to the Top 16 last year. No sooner had she spoken than Sarah, tall, tanned, and hard-eyed, was on screen with her proud ace monster, Black Luster Soldier, about to wage an attack. Unlike most people, who would have been pleased by a Top 16 finish, Sarah had immediately left for Japan, home of many past champions, on a mission of self-improvement.

“...time to register is running out,” the ad was wrapping up. “No tournament experience necessary.”

“You should enter,” Rui said.

“But Dad won’t let me, and I’m not good enough anyway,” Yonaka replied, employing the psychologically suspicious two-proposition self-canceling structure mentioned by Philip K. Dick (whom she had never read). “Maybe you should enter,” she added, deflecting.

“I’m definitely not good enough,” Rui said. She and Yonaka played often — Yonaka had almost no one else to play with — but Rui was rarely the winner. They both had the same pool of cards to pick from (mostly hand-me-downs from Sarah), but whether through aptitude or practice Yonaka had ended up on a different level.

“But what if...” Yonaka said slowly, allowing the idea to become attractive, “...I played against Sarah in the tournament.”

“That would be fun.”

“We now return,” the TV chattered, “to the NH City Showdown. Sponsored by Pann Microsystems, engineering the road to tomorrow...”
 

* * *

In the evening, their dad called them in for dinner.

By the way, the three sisters — Rui, Yonaka, and the off-screen Sarah — were not actually sisters in the genealogical sense. Through events that may be abstractly surmised from the prologue, they had at different times come into the care of a man named Abraham, who was now their father.

And now a paragraph at least may be spared on him. Abraham was the kind of man a historian would describe as “most likely a homosexual”, though being fictional, he will forever escape the gaze of history. He taught literature at a small university (a subject even less popular in the nonspecific future in which this tale takes place than it is now). He had never married and preferred books to people, but honored his familial obligations, and had raised the three sisters as best he could.

“Sarah called,” he said as they started to eat. “She said she’s finished in Japan. Her plane is arriving at midnight. She’s going to be staying a few days before she leaves for America.”

“She wants to train at the origin place of Duel Monsters?” Rui asked. You may recall that Industrial Illusions, the company that manufactures Duel Monsters, is based in America.

“Exactly.”

On the wall of the dining room was mounted a silver Duel Disk, so old it was almost an antique. Their dad didn’t duel, but there it hung like a coat of arms or a mounted katana, as if waiting for something. Yonaka toyed with her green beans. She didn’t like green beans much.

“Um... she began, “I was wondering... I mean, next month I want to play in...in the Duel Open.” Since the afternoon, she had grown infatuated with the idea of playing in the Duel Open. Not for something so prosaic as a reason. But there was the urge.

“You know that isn’t possible,” he said.

“It doesn’t have to be the Open,” she added hurriedly, continuing to find the vegetables fascinating. “I could try a local tournament—”

“You know the size doesn’t matter,” he said.

“No, I don’t know,” she retorted, more sharply than she’d meant to. She was looking up now.

“The Witch Hunts—”

“That all happened before I was born!” The liquidations had officially been terminated fifteen years ago, so it was a little more recent than that. But it was true within a rounding error. “It doesn’t matter anymore! No one cares anymore!”

“You weren’t there,” he replied firmly. “There are people who care quite a bit. You can’t hide that you’re from a witch bloodline, not from those who can recognize the signs. We’ve left the house together from time to time. But not where you could be recognized. And not to duel.”

“I’m almost an adult,” she protested. “I have to leave sometime.”

“Maybe. But not now.”

Her fingers squeezed the table, expressing the feelings she couldn’t turn into words. Then she pushed away her plate.

“I’m not hungry any more,” she said, and left the table. Her dad could have called her back, but he didn’t.

Rui bit her lip. “Um...” she started, but had nothing to add.
 

* * *

Yonaka went to her room fuming. She had gotten angry, really angry, which was unusual. She lay back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. After a few minutes, her head had cooled off, but that didn’t mean she’d stopped caring.

She opened the window, letting in the cool night breeze. Right outside her window was the cherry tree in the yard, which hadn’t been properly trimmed and grew right up against the house. She moved her VR headset (which she used to go to school) off the desk, then clambered over the desk and onto the windowsill. From there, even from that awkward position, it wasn’t hard to push herself out the window and grab onto the nearest branch. She had done this before.

She shimmied down the length of the branch, doing her best not to scratch or dirty her clothes, which could give her away tomorrow morning. When she reached the trunk she dropped down, landing with a shock to the ankles.

“Ow,” she said to the night air. She wasn’t exactly the athletic type. She looked around and saw Rui was already there, a bulky backpack in tow.

The two of them followed the night wind.
 

* * *

They lived in New Himuka City’s picturesque residential district. From there, the mosaicked boulevards — lined with palm trees and sea grasses and lit by LED streetlamps and moonlight — led into the city proper, where the tops of the buildings climbed up, up to the sleek skyscrapers of the city center, and up still more to the vast hydroponic greenhouses that fed the population of an artificial island, and beyond them the desalination plants, and then the sea.

But they weren’t going that far tonight. Not too far away were some warehouses and a parking lot that were between leases. To most people that place meant nothing, but the young duelists of the area called it Battle Square.

“Dark Blade, attack directly!”

Yonaka and Rui arrived just in time to witness the conclusion of a duel. Dark Blade, the black-armored swordsman from the demon world, crossed the gap between the two players and swung his twin scimitars, and the defeated duelist fell back from the impact.

“Nice one, Keiji!” someone shouted. There were almost a dozen onlookers standing or sitting on the asphalt. The victorious Keiji was tall and exuded a fierce pressure even in the poor street lighting.

“Who’s next?” someone else asked.

Rui unzipped her backpack, uncovering the Duel Disk inside, and held it out to her sister with a meaningful glance. She and Yonaka had come a few times before, but only to watch, not to play. But tonight something had jarred inside.

“I’ll go!” Yonaka said, with a confidence she didn’t feel.

She took the Duel Disk and stepped up to the makeshift duel field, remembering as she did that this was her first time playing with a Disk rather than on a table. Now that she was closer, she could get a better look at her opponent. He was about her age, maybe a little older. His jeans were fashionably tattered, and he was very good looking, which wasn’t the kind of thing she usually paid much attention to. He watched her with an intensity that made the back of her neck prickle. She fumbled a little putting the Duel Disk on, and almost forgot to put her deck in the slot.

“Finally,” he said, raising his own Duel Disk. “Let’s go already. Speed...”
 

DUEL!
Yonaka LP 4000
—VS—
Keiji LP 4000

Music To Duel By: Cipher Peon Battle (XD)

“You can go first,” he said. “Seems like you need it.”

“Um...fine,” she said as she drew. Her head was swimming with performance anxiety. What a jerk! What should I do? I have to focus! She stared at her hand. Oh, that would work.

“I set a monster in defense mode,” she began, placing the card on her Duel Disk. A hologram of the concealed card shimmered into existence in front of her. It was Magician’s Valkyria, which had 1800 DEF. It should take him at least a turn to play something stronger. “And one card face-down,” she added, as a second card appeared in her back row. That was Mirror Force. It wouldn’t trigger until he had three monsters, but it would be useful later. “I end my turn.”

“Then it’s my turn!” Keiji said. “I summon Dark Blade.” (ATK 1800)

The knight that had won him the last game appeared on the field, a red cape swirling about his shoulders. Yonaka was glad to see his ATK didn’t surpass Magician’s Valkyria’s DEF.

“Also,” he continued, and held up another monster, “if Dark Blade is in play, I can special summon Jetblack Dragon (ATK 900) from my hand.”

This dragon wasn’t large (as dragons go), but as it flapped its wings and descended to stand next Dark Blade, Yonaka noticed how its heavy scales resembled Dark Blade’s armor. There was a connection between the two — a connection that was about to be made obvious. Dark Blade’s eyes glowed red, and he leaped up and landed on the dragon’s back. The dragon’s eyes flashed the same red. (Dark Blade ATK 1800 + 400 = 2200)

“Dark Blade has the power to command dragons,” Keiji explained. “By using a dragon as a mount, his attack power rises, and he gains a special ability. Now go!”

Jetblack Dragon surged forward with a flap of its wings. As the mounted knight passed by the set monster, he swung a scimitar, slicing the card in two. The blue-clad Magician’s Valkyria emerged from the card and shattered into pixels, destroyed by the attack. The impact from the Solid Vision was harder than Yonaka had expected, and she was thrown to the ground.
 

Yonaka LP 4000 - 400 = 3600

“Ow,” she complained. That hurt. “Hey, I lost Life Points! That means...”

“Jetblack Dragon gives Dark Blade the ability to pierce enemy defenses,” he finished. “I set a face-down card of my own and end my turn.”

She drew. Unfortunately, her hand had too many monsters, and none with the strength to overcome the empowered Dark Blade. “Uh...I set a monster and a face-down again. That’s it.”

“Try doing something!” somebody from the crowd heckled.

“I would if I could!” she shouted back.

“Then this will be a short duel,” Keiji said as he drew. “I play Reinforcement of the Army, searching my deck for —” the Duel Disk automatically shuffled through his deck and ejected the appropriate card, which he slapped down on the field, “— Twin-Sword Marauder.” (ATK 1600)

His newest servant was a masked warrior with a triple-bladed katar in each hand. This was, as far as Keiji could see, game over on board. Not only did Twin-Sword Marauder also have piercing, but after attacking a monster in defense mode, he could attack a second time. If her monster’s DEF was too high, his set card was Rush Recklessly, which would make the Marauder strong enough to run over almost anything. Now he just had to put theory into practice.

“Go, Twin-Sword Marauder!” he ordered. “Slice her monster to ribbons.”

The masked warrior dashed forward and, just like last time, Yonaka’s face-down card was sliced in two.

She grinned. “I got you.”

From out of the shattered card rose not a creature but a gilded oil lamp. Smoke poured from the nozzle of the lamp. Within those mystic vapors could clearly be glimpsed the form of Dark Blade. With a contemptuous swing of one scimitar, the Twin-Sword Marauder was slashed in two.
 

Keiji LP 4000 - 600 = 3400

“What happened?” Keiji demanded.

“When Ancient Lamp is attacked while face-down,” Yonaka explained, “it redirects the attack to another of your monsters.”

“Not a bad trick,” he said, “but it only works once. Dark Blade, go!”

The dragon knight advanced once again, but this time his sword hit nothing but empty air. One of Yonaka’s face-down cards flipped open.

“I activate Soul Barter,” she said, “exchanging Ancient Lamp with the Magician’s Valkyria in my graveyard.”

The Magician’s Valkyria (DEF 1800) returned to the field. She was clad in sky blue and wore a helm patterned on a witch’s hat. In one hand was a silver staff. She floated in the air out of the reach of Dark Blade and wagged a finger. The dragon knight retreated to home ground.

“You scraped by for one turn,” said Keiji as he ended. “That’s all.”

Yonaka wasn’t sure when it had happened, but somewhere along the way she had gone from anxious to exhilarated. It was like the pain had cleared her head. It was a cool night, but she was sweating. She drew.

“I start by playing Magical Mallet,” she said. “I shuffle it and all but one of the cards in my hand back into the deck, and draw replacements.” She drew three fresh cards and looked at them. Yeah, these were pretty good.

“I’ll place a card face-down, and I’ll summon a second Magician’s Valkyria, in defense mode!” she continued, and a twin of the warrior witch already on the field appeared beside the first. The two Valkyrias crossed their magic staffs, and energy crackled between them.

“Magician’s Valkyria guards my other spellcasters from your attacks,” Yonaka explained. “Since I have two of them, each one protects the other, forming an impenetrable barrier. This is the Valkyria Lock!”

“You’re so annoying. All you do is defend,” said Keiji as he started his turn. But the game had his full attention now. “If I have Dark Blade out, I can summon the Level 5 Hellride Dragon without making a sacrifice.”

A new dragon, this one larger, sleeker, and bright red, swooped down to join the first (ATK 2000). Yonaka was alight with anticipation. What was he going to do next? Could he do it? Was he about to break through? Unfortunately, she would never get to find out.

“Yonaka! What are you doing?”

She turned to the source of the voice and discovered with shock, followed by mounting horror, that it was her dad. Next to him, in the flesh for the first time in over a year, was Sarah.

“Hi,” said Sarah.

“Oh,” said Yonaka.

OP: kiseki (nirgilis)
 

* * *

Closing Thoughts
I put a lot of work into this chapter, but despite that I can’t claim it’s my best work. These are not the kinds of scenes and character interactions I’m good at writing to begin with, and on top of that this chapter and some that follow aren’t my own exactly, they’re derived from the first chapter of a very old fanfic called Key of the Mind. As the writer I’m willing to accept that it has to be this way and that writing it was a learning experience that took me out of my comfort zone, but that doesn’t make the meal any tastier for the reader.
 

* * *

Card of the Day
Today’s card is Jetblack Dragon. This is a remake of Pitch-Dark Dragon, made to be at least moderately playable. You will see each time I feature a custom card that I’ve tried to write the card text not as if it were a real TCG card, but in a shorthanded and somewhat vague way, as if it were a card from the manga.

Jetblack Dragon (DARK)
(☆) x 2 [Dragon/Union/Effect]
Can be Special Summoned from your hand if Dark Blade is on your field. As an Equip Card, has these effects:

• Can be Union equipped to a Warrior. The equipped monster gains 400 ATK. If equipped to Dark Blade, it gains piercing.

ATK 900 / DEF 600
 

* * *

Master of the Cards
A list of all cards played in this chapter, grouped by card type (Monster, Spell, Trap, Extra Deck) and sorted alphabetically. Next to the name of each card is, for OCG/TCG cards, the first TCG set they were printed in; for anime/manga cards it is the series they debuted in; any custom cards are marked as such. If a card has been modified for this tale, it will be labeled (modded), though the line between a modified and a custom card can be surprisingly blurry. After that is the year the card was first printed (TCG or OCG) or first debuted.

Ancient Lamp (SP2, ‘01)
Dark Blade (MFC, ‘02)
Hellride Dragon (Custom)
Jetblack Dragon (Custom)
Magician’s Valkyria (CP08, ‘03)

Magical Mallet (GX, ‘04)
Rush Recklessly (MRL, ‘00)
Soul Barter (R, ‘05)

Mirror Force (MRD (modded), ‘00)

Chapter 2 will be posted some time tomorrow!

[Dr. Cakey]

It hasn't quite been 24 hours since my last post, but I don't think the mods will mind.

The chapters for TMJ are more like anime episodes than book chapters in terms of scope, and they're generally about 4000 words long. Around chapter five (by my original numbering) I realized this is too long, so from that point on I started splitting chapters in half. I'm going to do that here starting from chapter two, but because this was originally meant to be a single chapter, the stopping point may be awkward, but I think it's worth it for the improved readability.

 

Chapter 2: Trial of the Princesses, Part I

The sky was dark, and the clouds seethed as if stirred in a vast cauldron. Below them was a high place, like an upraised table of stone. In the center was a jagged pinnacle, as if the top of a mighty tower had been broken off. About this pinnacle churned a mass of figures, figures that seemed human but were wreathed in unnatural darkness.

Into the pinnacle were carved steps that led up, up to a great throne hewn of stone. Upon the throne was seated some being, utterly wrapped in shadow, with no feature visible but long ivory hair. The being raised a hand, and the surrounding throng roared and broke into a chant. A single word, repeated over and over:

KING! KING! KING! KING! KING! KING! KING! KING!

* * *

Yonaka woke up drenched in sweat.

Morning sunlight filtered through the curtains. The details of the dream were already melting away, but its irrational terror clung on, so fierce that her hands were shaking. Gradually, physical reality reasserted itself over the world of the mind. She got dressed and stealthily descended the stairs in search of breakfast.

She didn’t know what to feel. Last night, there had been a silent car ride home, and Dad had said they would “discuss this in the morning”. She hadn’t slept well. There was guilt, and regret, and anger and indignation, and other feelings she couldn’t have identified even if she’d wanted to, and they all sat in her stomach, waiting like cards in a deck for her to pick one. But she didn’t want any of them. She didn’t want to have to feel anything.

Nobody was in the kitchen, and the lights were off. She hadn’t checked her phone before coming down; maybe it was earlier than she’d thought. Over in the dining room, stray sunlight gleamed on the antique silver Duel Disk. She found the bread and put two slices in the toaster. There was no need to wait until they were ‘golden brown’, right? She’d just wait a minute for the toast to crisp up a bit, and then she’d go back to her room. That seemed like a good plan. Actually, maybe there was no need to toast the bread at all. She could just—

“Good, you’re up.”

It was Dad, of course, standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Sarah stood behind him like a bodyguard in a yakuza movie. Yonaka crumpled slightly at the need to face reality.

“What happened last night,” he began, but that was as far as he got in his prepared speech, because at that moment Rui — who had slunk into the room with such anxious stealth that no one had noticed — burst out:

“It wasn’t her fault! It was my idea! It was always my idea, and, um...”

“Oh, come on,” Yonaka sighed. She had seen this scene in movies before and didn’t want to be a part of it.

Dad held up a hand. “Honestly, I don’t care whose fault it is. What’s important is that it happened. I’ve thought about it, and Yonaka, I’m going to give you...an opportunity.”

“An opportunity?” What did that mean?

“A chance to prove yourself. To prove you’re ready to face the world, and can handle whatever might come. And since you’re a duelist, you will prove yourself in a duel.”

“A duel? I’m going to duel you?” she asked.

“No,” Sarah spoke up for the first time. “You’re going to duel me.”

Yonaka stared across the gap between them. A match with the sixteenth-best duelist in the country. She was caught between exhilaration and trepidation. Her hand clenched into a fist. Sarah yawned.

“Fine,” Yonaka said. “I’ll do it.”
 

* * *

The two of them squared off in the yard, Yonaka borrowing Rui’s Duel Disk once again. Rui and Abraham (that’s their dad’s name, if you remember) stood on the sidelines.

Sarah and Yonaka both raised their Duel Disks. “Speed...”
 

DUEL!
Sarah LP 4000
—VS—
Yonaka LP 4000

Music To Duel By: Colosseum Round 3 Battle (Colosseum)

“I’ll go first,” Sarah declared. “I set a monster, and a face-down card.” The two holograms glowed into being in front of her. A patient start. “It’s your turn, Yonaka.”

Yonaka gripped the cards in her hand more tightly. She was starting to feel nauseous. Sarah had the intimidating aura of a pro player, and it was nothing like Keiji’s. It was colder, and clung like fog.

“I draw,” she said, “ and I’ll do the exact same thing.”

Two hidden cards laid out in a T-formation. One of them was going to have to make the first move, but it wasn’t going to be her. Acting made you vulnerable. “I end my turn.”

Two sisters, and two identical fields. On the sidelines, Rui fidgeted, unsure whether to sit or stand, stay silent or cheer.

“Yonaka uses a Ritual Deck, right?” her dad asked suddenly.

“Huh? Uh, yeah. She does.”

“As does Sarah,” he said. “The two of them are mirror images in many ways. It’s the differences between them that will determine the outcome.”

“And...who has the advantage?” Rui asked. She wanted to believe in Yonaka, but the difference in experience was huge.

Her dad probably thought the same, but he just said, “In a battle between Ritual-users, the winner is whoever can assemble their offerings first.”

Meanwhile, Sarah had started her turn, and was considering how to apprach the next round. Yonaka it seemed was still a cowardly player. She would have to be drawn out, or the duel would take forever.

“I play Pot of Duality,” she began. A tall, ornamented vase appeared on the field. Half of the vase was light and upon it was carved a face with a placid expression. The other half was darker and sported a grinning mouth. The mouth opened and disgorged three cards — the top three cards of her deck — which flipped over and revealed themselves to be Dynamis Valkyria, Michizure, and Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands.

“I’ll take Manju,” she said, and the other two cards slid back into the pot, which faded away. “And I’ll summon it.”

The enigmatic being, patterned on a Buddhist statue, appeared before her, floating in lotus pose. It had the face of a wrathful deity, while its myriad hands each made a different sign of benediction.

“When Manju is summoned, I can add any Ritual Spell to my hand,” she explained. Her Duel Disk automatically shuffled through her deck and ejected a card. “I’m taking Sprite’s Blessing.”

Sprite’s Blessing could be used to summon any LIGHT Ritual Monster. It seemed that in the past year Sarah had abandoned Black Luster Soldier and adopted a new strategy.

“That’s all for now,” she concluded.

On the sidelines, Rui asked, “Why didn’t she play it?”

“She can’t special summon the turn that Pot of Duality is played,” Abraham replied.

“I draw,” Yonaka said. She had one turn to make sure Sarah couldn’t gather the necessary sacrifices. There was no choice; this was the time to act. Fortunately, she had just the cards to do it.

“First, I activate Angel Baton. With it, I draw two cards, and then I discard one.” She already knew what she wanted to throw away, and quickly made the exchange. “Now I activate Monster Reborn, to bring the back monster I just discarded!”

The resurrecting light of her Spell shown down, and from the earth rose a skeletal demon with thick arms and clawed hands. It let out an eerie yowl, and electricity crackled between its horns. In terms of raw power, it was the strongest creature in her deck: Summoned Skull. (ATK 2500)

“Also, I switch my set monster to attack mode, and summon Twin-Headed Behemoth!”
Magician’s Valkyria (ATK 1600) emerged from concealment at Summoned Skull’s left, while the Twin-Headed Behemoth (ATK 1500), a gnarled, dragon-like creature with two coiling heads, appeared at the right.

“I’m waging a triple attack!” Yonaka declared. “Summoned Skull attacks Manju! Lightning Strike!”

The Summoned Skull spread its arms. The electricity arcing between its horns intensified. A bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking the demon, and it channeled the energy of the storm, firing it at Manju.

The moment before it made contact, the lightning stopped short, as if it were a flood running up against a dam.

“When you have three monsters and declare an attack, that triggers my Trap,” said Sarah, and her face-down card revealed itself. “The Holy Barrier, Mirror Force!”

The wrath of Summoned Skull’s attack rebounded, raining down death upon Yonaka’s field. In a series of scorching explosions that left her covering her face from their intensity, her whole army was obliterated.

“Mirror Force...” she gasped. “I knew it could be, but I...”

“But you had no choice?” Sarah finished. “That’s just an excuse. You always have a choice. Fear makes you reckless. You were afraid. Afraid of losing. Afraid of me. And that fear,” she said firmly, “is why you’re going to lose. Now, do you have anything else to play, or are you done?”

Yonaka just shook her head.

At the end of the turn, the turn the Twin-Headed Behemoth returned from the earth thanks to its ability, but reduced to a single head (DEF 1000). Sarah took no notice.

“Good,” she said as she drew. “I’m changing my set Shining Angel to attack mode.” The card flipped up and faded away, revealing a winged man in a snow-white tunic. “By the way,” she added, “I never needed to gather sacrifices for a Ritual Summon. I can summon my ace monster whenever I want!” she selected two Spell Cards from her hand and revealed them. “First, I play Level Award, promoting Manju to Level 8. Next, I activate the Ritual Spell, Sprite’s Blessing!”

A mystical seal inscribed itself in the ground surrounding Manju. The multi-armed being released eight shimmering stars from its body. Each one fell like a drop of rain, splashing upon the seal and creating new magic circles within the seal. All these circles began to turn like wheels, or interlocking gears.

“The highest boddhisattva arrives from beyond the wheels of samsara,” a pillar of light crashed down from the sky, engulfing Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands. “Lord of ten thousand heavens and master of supreme wisdom!”

The light faded, and there stood a towering divinity. Wings of gold, skin of blue, a third eye of bright red, and graced with a shining halo, a being neither man nor machine. The strongest Ritual Monster.

“Shinato, King of a Higher Plane!” (ATK 3300)

Rui cringed. Yonaka would survive this turn, but just barely.

“Time to battle,” Sarah declared. Shining Angel eliminated the Twin-Headed Behemoth with a blast of light from his hand, and then... “Shinato, King of a Higher Plane, attack directly! Rokudō Rinne!”

An immense ring of light came into being between the hands of the great deity and fired itself at Yonaka. Maybe it was her imagination, but behind the heavenly light of that attack she felt something more than competitive spirit. It was hostile; an emotion with a jagged edge.

“I activate Counter Gate!” she said desperately, and her face-down card flipped up. It morphed into a rectangle of blue light, like a doorway through space. “This negates the attack, and I draw a card. If it’s a monster, I can summon it.”

She drew. And the card was... “I summon Magical Undertaker!” (ATK 400)

A diminutive woman in a dark suit and wide-brimmed hat jumped out of the portal. She held up a briefcase to shield her veiled face from the oncoming attack, and the mighty ring of light splashed harmlessly off it.

Truthfully, Magical Undertaker had not been a good draw. Counter Gate summoned the monster in attack mode, and Undertaker had a useful flip effect. But it was going to have to do.

“Fine,” said Sarah. “I set a card face-down and end my turn.”

“My turn!” Yonaka said. She looked at the card she had drawn. It was Spider Web, which would let her take a card Sarah had played last turn. Underneath it was Contract with the Abyss, her own Ritual Spell. She had a sudden feeling — not an intellectual conclusion or even an intuition, but something else — that this was the card that would win the game. And she could play it right now...with a little help from Sarah.

“I play Spider Web,” she began, “to take Level Award from your graveyard.” A thread of silk emerged from the card, plunging into the Graveyard slot of Sarah’s Duel Disk and dredging up the chosen Spell. Sarah scowled at the intrusion. Yonaka grabbed the card and played it immediately. “I’ll use Level Award to promote Magical Undertaker to Level 7. Then I activate my Ritual Spell, Contract with the Abyss!”

A hole opened in the earth beneath Magical Undertaker. From it leaked an ether like blue fire or smoke. Around this portal into the abyss were arranged seven gold lamp stands, though none of the lamps were lit. Like when Sarah had performed her Ritual Summon, seven stars were released from the Magical Undertaker’s body. The first star floated to one of the lamps, becoming a flame and lighting it. The second star did the same, as did the third, and...

“I don’t think so,” Sarah interjected. “I activate my face-down: Stygian Dirge! This demonic song lowers all your monsters’ Levels by 1.”

The tremulous, spectral creature depicted on the card let out a wail that rippled the air. Yonaka could hear nothing, but the Undertaker clutched her head in pain. One of the stars faded. Only six of the seven torches were lit.

“You can still complete the ritual,” Sarah said. “If you have a Level 6 Ritual Monster that fits the criteria. But I don’t think you do.”

Yonaka did not, and even if she did, there weren’t any that could defeat Shinato. The ceremonial paraphernalia all faded, and Magical Undertaker was alone on the field. Yonaka stared at the last two cards in her hand.

“I switch Magical Undertaker to defense mode (DEF 400),” she said, “and I set a monster and a face-down card. I end my turn.”

Not only had Sarah summoned the ultimate Ritual Monster, but now Yonaka’s own Ritual Monsters were sealed away and her hand emptied as well. Abraham nodded to himself, as if this was exactly what he had expected. “Sarah had a strategy mapped out from the first turn. All Yonaka did was play along. The differences between them have been quite decisive.”

* * *

Card of the Day
Today's card is Level Award. Based on its effect you might think it's from Zexal or 5D's or something, but it's actually from the spinoff manga Yu-Gi-Oh! R. This makes any monster high enough Level to be the whole sacrifice for Shinato, although in TMJ one of the sacrifices for Shinato has to be a law-aligned divine being or a candidate for buddha-hood, like a monk or holy warrior. Sarah uses a Fairy deck not for aesthetics, but because it means all her monsters are compatible sacrifices.

Level Award (SPELL)
[Normal Spell Card]
Change the Level of 1 monster on the field to any number of your choice between 0 and 8.

 

Chapter 3 will again be some time tomorrow.

Edited July 17 by Dr. Cakey

[Dr. Cakey]

And now, the conclusion.

 

Chapter 3: Trial of the Princesses, Part II

Music To Duel By: Colosseum Round 3 Battle (Colosseum)

Not only had Sarah summoned the ultimate Ritual Monster, but now Yonaka’s own Ritual Monsters were sealed away and her hand emptied as well. Abraham nodded to himself, as if this was exactly what he had expected. “Sarah had a strategy mapped out from the first turn. All Yonaka did was play along. The differences between them have been quite decisive.”

“I think this game has gone on long enough,” Sarah said as she started her turn. “I summon The Calculator.”

Unlike the rest of her monsters, this was a machine rather than a spiritual being. It was indeed an autonomous four-function calculator, with buttons on its torso and the display on its head. The display currently read <ATK ????>.

“The Calculator’s ATK fluctuates. It gains 300 ATK for each Level on my field. It’s Level 2, Shining Angel is Level 4, and Shinato is Level 8, so...”

The Calculator ATK: (2 + 4 + 8) x 300 = 4200

More than enough to wipe out Yonaka’s Life Points in a single attack.

“Let’s wrap things up!” Sarah declared. “Shinato, destroy Magical Undertaker! Rokudō Rinne!”

Once more the ring of light was formed between the hands of the heavenly king, and once more it was fired. Only this time...

Yonaka grinned. “I got you.”

The giant ring stopped mere moments before it would have banished Magical Undertaker from this plane — as if, well, as if it were a flood running up against a dam. Yonaka’s face-down card revealed itself.

It was Mirror Force.

“I guess only a god can defeat a god,” said Yonaka, as the ring broke up into rays of energy that rebounded upon Sarah’s field. Shining Angel, The Calculator, and Shinato himself were all incinerated in an outpouring of divine wrath.

Sarah stared at the devastation that had just been wrought upon her field. “I end my turn,” she said quietly. There was nothing else she could do.

“You were overconfident,” Yonaka said. “It’s true that you’re better than me, and your cards are probably better, too. But everybody has Mirror Force in their deck.”

“Don’t lecture me,” Sarah spat.

“Okay,” Yonaka said. “I switch my face-down Learning Elf to attack mode,” an elf girl, wearing glasses and carrying a magical tome, rose up from under the card. (ATK 1400) “And she attacks you directly!”

The elf student leaped forward, tome tucked under her arm, and fired a magic bolt from her hand, striking Sarah. It was the eighth turn of the duel, and the first time either of them had received damage.

Sarah LP 4000 - 1400 = 2600

Even so, Yonaka’s advantage was far from decisive. She had Learning Elf and Magical Undertaker on the field, but the latter was too weak to battle, and she had just one card in hand. Sarah’s field was empty, but she had three cards in hand — four, as she drew for turn.

“I play Monster Reborn!” she declared, slapping the card she had just drawn onto the Duel Disk. “Return, Shinato, King of a Higher Plane!”

Light blazed from the card, and the divine boddhisattva returned to this realm of existence.

“Attack!” she commanded. “Erase Learning Elf from existence!”

This time there was no escape. Shinato launched his attack, and Learning Elf vanished in an enormous explosion.

Yonaka LP 4000 - 1900 = 2100

When the smoke cleared, Yonaka said, “When Learning Elf is sent to the graveyard, I draw a card.”

“Whatever. I end my turn.”

Rui looked back and forth between them. They both had over half their Life Points, but in this game state, it was unlikely either of them could survive more than a turn or two. Just as Yonaka hadn’t been decisively ahead last turn, Sarah somehow didn’t feel decisively ahead now, even though the King of a Higher Plane had returned to her.

Yonaka drew and considered the three cards in her hand for a long time. Finally she made her move.

“I place a monster face-down,” she said. Sarah scowled. “And one card face-down.” Sarah’s scowl deepened. “I end my turn.”

Sarah stared at the face-down card, trying to fathom its identity. Mirror Force was gone, but it could still be Michizure. And there was the monster to consider as well. It could be Mystic Tomato, giving Yonaka more resources for next turn. Or it could be Ancient Lamp. Or—

“What’s wrong?” asked Yonaka. “Are you afraid?”

“I’m not,” Sarah said forcefully, snatching up the top card of her deck. “I activate Magical Mallet, shuffling back my whole hand and drawing a fresh one.” She smiled. This would work well.

“I’ll start by summoning another copy of The Calculator,” she said. The two prongs of her attack force were together again. (The Calculator ATK: (2 + 8) x 300 = 3000) “Next, I discard a card to play Twin Twisters!”

A slender tornado burst up on Yonaka’s field, sucking up the card in her back row and tearing it apart.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Yonaka said, with a Sonic the Hedgehog wag of the finger.

As the twister dissipated, something was revealed beneath it. The insignia of a glowing, six-pointed star, inscribed within a circle.

“The hexagram of death, Spellbinding Circle!” Yonaka declared. “The one who attacks it receives its curse!”

Sarah could only stare in shock as the hexagram rose from the ground and ensnared Shinato, binding him with a karma he could not overcome. The monster that received the curse of Spellbinding Circle couldn’t attack or move or use its abilities, and it lost 700 ATK.

“I still have The Calculator,” she said, recovering. “Get that damn Magical Undertaker off the field.”

The machine typed out <400 DEF - 3000 ATK> on its chest, then fired a blast of electricity from its metal palm, and Magical Undertaker exploded. The situation was far from ideal, but it wasn’t bad either. She had two strong monsters out, even if one of them couldn’t attack, and was up on cards as well.

“I thought so,” Yonaka said. “You’re afraid of my set monster.”

“Afraid?” Sarah repeated. “It’s more advantageous to eliminate a known quantity than to risk an attack on something set. Dueling is about minimizing risk.”

“So you’re afraid of the unknown?” Yonaka shrugged. “All I know is, if you had attacked this instead, you wouldn’t have lost,” she placed a hand on her set monster and turned it over. “I flip summon the Magician of Faith!” (ATK 300)

From the card emerged a pale woman, dressed in violet and carrying a staff tipped with a crescent moon. The staff glowed and a ray of moonlight descended upon Yonaka’s graveyard. A Spell Card slid out of the slot.

“Getting back a Spell from your graveyard isn’t going to help you,” Sarah said. “Even if you use Monster Reborn to revive Summoned Skull, it can only tie with Shinato. You don’t have nearly enough attack power.”

“I’m not taking Monster Reborn,” Yonaka replied. “The card I chose is: Contract with the Abyss!”

The gateway into the abyss opened up once more beneath the Magician of Faith. This time rather than seven torches, there was only one.

“Stygian Dirge lowers the Levels of all my monster by 1,” she said. “But Magician of Faith is already Level 1, and a monster’s Level can’t go any lower than that. And Level 1 is exactly what I need.”

You’ve probably already guessed what she’s summoning. There aren’t a lot of Level 1 Ritual Monsters. The etheric flames rose up to engulf the Magician of Faith. They flowed like water and congealed into thick clawed hands, into bony plates like a beetle’s carapace, into a fleshy valve that opened into nothing, into a rigid stalk of a neck surmounted by the legendary Millennium Eye.

It was the master of Illusion Magic, Relinquished. (ATK 0)

“Oh, shit,” was all Sarah could say.

“Relinquished can absorb an enemy monster and take on their strength,” Yonaka said. Relinquished’s eye glowed, and the valve at the creature’s base opened wide, generating a mystic gale that could draw in even the titanic King of a Higher Plane. Spellbinding Circle’s hexagram faded away as it lost its target. Relinquished’s carapace swung closed, and the form of Shinato emerged, trapped within the bony matrix.

Relinquished ATK: 0 + 3300 = 3300
The Calculator ATK: 3000 - (8 x 300) = 600

“Relinquished, attack The Calculator! Sacrifice Blast!” Yonaka commanded. The illusion monster’s eye glowed once more, and it fired a beam of dark energy that wiped out the helpless machine. And with it...

Sarah LP 2600 - 2700 = 0

In the silence that followed, it took Yonaka several seconds to realize that she had done it. She had actually done it. She had—

“You won!” Rui cheered. She ran over and gave Yonaka a hug. Yonaka ruffled her hair.

“I won,” she agreed.

The moment of warmth was interrupted by a dull thud. Yonaka turned to see that Sarah had thrown her Duel Disk on the ground. She turned and walked away without a word.

Yonaka had a realization then, another unbidden certainty that was not the work of the mind. It wasn’t something she could put into words, but if there were words to it, they would be something like ‘Sarah hates me’. But why?

Maybe there was nothing so prosaic as a reason.

Her dad approached, wiping his forehead. This was an outcome he had neither expected nor wanted. As a Yu-Gi-Oh! player myself, the phrase ‘Never punished’ comes to mind. Yonaka had won the right to go out into the world. But was that really such a good idea?

A butterfly flew by.

ED: Wild Child (moumoon)
 

* * *

Closing Thoughts
This duel took an enormous amount of work to compose. I’ve gone over it over and over again, and at this point it’s been distilled to its bare essence. You can tell how much has been cut, because I ended up trimming out all the turns where anyone actually takes damage! Because I’ve worked over it so much, I’m a little concerned the story no longer makes sense to an outsider.

By the way, I had Sarah finish in the Top 16 of the Duel Open because it’s an impressive result that, in a fictional context, doesn’t sound that impressive. It gives Yonaka room for further growth.
 

* * *

Card of the Day
Today’s card is Mirror Force, which is the crux around which this duel revolved. In TMJ, Mirror Force has been mixed with Radiant Mirror Force. Like the latter, it requires the opponent to control three monsters, but unlike it they don’t have to be in Attack Position.

Mirror Force (TRAP)
[Normal Trap Card]
Becomes active when a player has at least 3 monsters. The holy barrier negates an attack and destroys all the player’s monsters that are in attack mode.
 

* * *

Master of the Cards
The Calculator (PTDN, ‘07)
Dynamis Valkyria [as “Dunames Dark Witch”] (TP8, ‘00)
Magical Undertaker (YS13, ‘13)
Magician of Faith (MRD, ‘99)
Magician’s Valkyria (CP08, ‘03)
Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands (IOC, ‘03)
Shining Angel (MRL, ‘00)
Summoned Skull (SDY, ‘99)
Twin-Headed Behemoth (LOD, ‘01)

Angel Baton (5D’s (modded), ‘08)
Contract with the Abyss (DCR, ‘03)
Level Award (R, ‘07)
Magical Mallet (GX, ‘04)
Monster Reborn (LOB, ‘99)
Pot of Duality (DREV, ‘10)
Spider Web (DM, ‘03)
Sprite’s Blessing (INOV, ‘16)
Twin Twisters (BOSH, ‘15)

Counter Gate (MVP1, ‘16)
Michizure (PSV, ‘00)
Mirror Force (MRD (modded), ‘00)
Spellbinding Circle (DM manga (modded), ‘98)
Stygian Dirge (SOVR, ‘09)

Relinquished (MRL, ‘00)
Shinato, King of a Higher Plane (DCR, ‘02)