Yu-Gi-Oh! Eternal

A Fan-Fiction by Neomage

(DISCLAIMER: Chapter 120, already! This is reading more like a manga than a TV series, the format I’d originally intended…but it’s still okay, since it’s cool! Oh, and ahem, I don’t own Yu-Gi-Oh in any format except these fics.)

CHAPTER 120

KAIBA LAND, 7:20 p.m.

Drake stared, flabbergasted, at the TV screen as Janus’s body was bathed in bright light and his features were changed. “What…the hell…?” he managed to croak out.

Destiny Hero – Doom Lord appeared next to him in semi-solid form. “I sense…a magical influence at work here,” he commented. “It would seem Janus has somehow tapped into a hitherto unknown power of sorts…”

“But how? How DID he do that?” Drake protested. “He’s never done that before!”

“Perhaps that is the answer,” and Doom Lord pointed a dagger-like finger toward one of the other security camera shots available on the screen, where a close-up of Janus could now be seen as the mysterious light abated from the boy’s body. “That pendant he’s wearing…it is glowing.”

Drake leaned forward a little for a better look. “Hmm…I see what you mean,” he remarked. “And now that I think of it, I did see Janus wearing that thing this morning at breakfast in the hotel, but I didn’t think much of it.” He looked at Doom Lord. “Are you saying that’s what’s causing that weird change of his?”

“Perhaps,” said Doom Lord. “It would be wise to observe him, now that he’s undergone such a drastic change…see how much differently he duels now from how you’ve seen him duel before. There’s no telling, in fact, whether or not his dueling prowess HAS been altered in any way.”

“Why would his dueling change?” Drake looked skeptical.

“Let us watch…and see.” Doom Lord vanished after that statement.

“Huh.” Drake’s eyes narrowed. What HAVE you come into this tournament with, Janus—some sort of secret weapon? Let’s find out…

----------

DUEL ACADEMY OSIRIS RED DORM, IN THE MEANTIME

“…and that’s it, in a nutshell.” Principal Yuki sighed. At least I don’t have to explain HOW Yubel pulled it off…

“Okay, so…” Cassara frowned and tapped her finger on her cheek. “So Duel Monsters exist in this world as spirits—and they can interact with us humans?”

“Basically, yes,” said Mrs. Rhodes-Yuki. “But there are very few duelists in the world who can actually see Duel Monster spirits or converse with them. Maybe one in, say, twenty or thirty. Of course, we don’t go around telling random strangers about that—they’d truck us to the loony bin.”

“And you can see them, Principal Yuki?” asked Natasha, eyes full of interest.

“I can.” Principal Yuki nodded. “And many people who’ve come to Duel Academy over the years since it was first built have developed the ability to at least see them, if not talk to them. How able they are to do so vary…of course, some aren’t able to see or hear Duel Monster spirits at all.”

“How about you, Mrs. Rhodes-Yuki? Can you see them?” Ricardo queried.

“Only on the day of the year when we hold the Duel Monster Festival, when they’re able to take solid form and interact with us,” Mrs. Rhodes-Yuki admitted. “You kids should already know about that. It’s one of the yearly events that Duel Academy’s famous for.”

Jiro turned his gaze back to the TV, a thoughtful expression on his face. So…from here on out, it’ll be a lot more than just natural talent helping you in your duels, Janus…perhaps…

“So, question—back when we infiltrated the Zodiacs’ Ark during Dueltropolis, we used Duel Monsters’ holographic images to aid us…were those Duel Monster spirits, in any way?” Ricardo asked. “After all, holograms aren’t supposed to do what those did on that submarine, and at Tokyo Dome when we stopped the Zodiacs there.”

“It’s…difficult to explain in a way that makes logical sense,” Principal Yuki admitted. “But then again, when has anything concerning Duel Monsters ever made logical sense—especially on this island, in this school’s history?”

“Good point…” Mrs. Rhodes-Yuki chuckled.

“Still, he could’ve done without the light-show just now…” Jiro grunted.

Cassara looked quizzically at him. “What light-show, Jiro?”

“Huh? What do you mean, ‘what light-show’?” Jiro exclaimed. “When that pendant of his glowed, his whole body glowed! You can’t tell me you didn’t see that!”

“Uh—no,” Cassara countered. “Sure, the pendant glittered a little, but all I saw was that his jacket got a little longer, his eyes got more serious, his hair looked a little longer…there was no ‘light-show’ or anything about it!”

“There was a light-show, I tell you!” Jiro appealed to the others. “Guys, you saw a light around Janus’s body, didn’t you?”

“I sure did—back when Janus and I went to confront Park Fletcher a while back,” Ricardo spoke up. “Janus did something similar then, and it was a whole lot of light. And his voice was different, too.”

“Um…actually, I didn’t see any light from Janus on the TV,” Natasha shrugged.

Principal Yuki and Mrs. Rhodes-Yuki looked at each other knowingly. “Differing levels of spirit awareness,” Principal Yuki whispered.

“Give it time,” Mrs. Rhodes-Yuki nodded.

Then, as one, everyone’s attention was drawn back to the TV. “Hey—looks like they’re going to duel now!” Natasha said excitedly.

“Pass my fried rice!” Ricardo yelled. “Can’t watch a good duel on an empty stomach!”

----------

KAIBA LAND

While the banter between Janus’s friends and family had been going on back at Duel Academy…at Kaiba Land, Janus himself was eyeing Usagi out of now-serious eyes. “So, Usagi…” His voice sounded more mature, more determined. “Bring it on!”

Usagi blinked. It’s as if…his whole demeanor…no…his whole personality has changed, yet stayed the same…definitely like the stories of Yugi Muto in his prime! Then her eyes narrowed. Well, no matter now…as far as this duelist is concerned, it’s still the same Janus Yuki standing before me—and he will still fall!

“All right,” she said aloud. “Let us begin. And I find it fair to let you know…I have already prophesied your defeat.”

“Funny.” Janus snorted. “Let’s go!”

The two duelists held up their prepared Duel-Disks—and on TV screens around the world, their stats were displayed. First, Janus’s: Janus Yuki. Age: 14. Nationality: Japan. Professional dueling experience: 3rd place in the recently-ended Dueltropolis World Championships. Deck strategy: Elemental Heroes.

Then, Usagi’s: Usagi Saiou. Age: 22. Nationality: Japanese-Romanian. Professional dueling experience: Third place in Duel Monsters World Championships of 2015; consistently in the Top 3 ranking of all collective pro-circuit tournaments from 2015 onward. Deck strategy: Arcana Force monsters.

“I will take the liberty of going first,” and this Usagi did, drawing her opening hand and then drawing a sixth card to start. “And I choose to summon Arcana Force III – The Empress (ATK 1300, DEF 1300) in Attack Mode.” A moment later, her talon-fingered, transparent-caped monster appeared, the spikes protruding from its back shining at their tips. “When the Empress is summoned, I toss a coin; if the result is heads, then each time you Normal Summon or Set a monster, I can Special Summon an ‘Arcana Force’ monster from my hand—but if the result is tails, then each time you Normal Summon or Set a monster, I must discard a card from my hand to the Graveyard.” Here she paused. “I predict that the heads effect will prevail.”

A holographic coin appeared and was flipped; moments later, the coin landed, its face showing the heads result. “Next,” Usagi continued, “I shall set a card facedown, and hand over to you.” Here she looked up at Janus. “You said I should use my fortunetelling ability in this duel, yes? Well…in your hand right now, you are holding Elemental Hero Clayman (ATK 800, DEF 2000), Neo-Spacian Dark Panther (ATK 1000, DEF 500), the Elemental Recharge and Hero Signal trap cards, and the Neos Force magic card—and the card you will draw for your next turn will be another Monster card, Elemental Hero Bladedge (ATK 2600, DEF 1800).”

Janus frowned and looked at his hand—and all the named cards were indeed there. “Yeah…you’re right. And it’s my turn.” He drew—and the newest card in his hand was indeed the Elemental Hero Bladedge card.

“Having second thoughts?” Usagi queried. “I could stop predicting your cards if you wish.”

But Janus shook his head. “No. I set that stipulation—I won’t repeal it now that the duel’s started.” He glanced down at his hand. “I’ll set one monster in Defense Mode…”

“Which triggers my Empress’s effect—now I Special Summon an Arcana Force monster,” Usagi spoke up even as the holographic figure of Janus’s facedown monster appeared on the field. “And I choose to call upon Arcana Force VII – The Chariot (ATK 1700, DEF 1700) in Attack Mode!” And she brought forth an hourglass-shaped monster with numerous tentacles protruding from its body. “Plus, now that it’s been summoned, the Chariot has its effect activated…”

“Yeah…?” Janus waited.

“When the Chariot is summoned, I toss a coin,” said Usagi. “If the result is heads, then if it destroys an opposing monster by battle, I can Special Summon that destroyed monster to my side of the field. If the result is tails, however, then you gain control of the Chariot.” Her eyes flashed. “I predict that the heads effect will prevail.”

A coin was tossed for the Chariot; moments later its result proved to be heads, just as Usagi had predicted. “Right,” said Janus. “Well, I’ll set two cards facedown…and that’s it from me. Your move.”

“I draw.” Usagi did so, and now she held four cards in her hand. “Now you have only Neo-Spacian Dark Panther, Neos Force, and Elemental Hero Bladedge in your hand. You set Elemental Hero Clayman, Elemental Recharge and Hero Signal on the field.”

“Yeah. I may as well admit it, since you know already.” Janus nodded. “On the other hand, I can’t see your hand or your facedown card, so I don’t know what your strategy could be. That’s an obstacle I need to overcome, if I’m going to be worthy enough to face Drake at the end of this tournament.”

“But of course, you’ll have to defeat me first—which you won’t. And it is my turn now. So…” Usagi studied her hand. “I summon Arcana Force 0 – The Fool (ATK 0, DEF 0) in Attack Mode.” She brought out her tentacle-haired monster seconds later. “And since he’s been summoned, his effect activates—I toss a coin, and if the result is heads, then I negate the effects of my Magic, Trap and Monster cards that target the Fool, and destroy them. If the result is tails, I negate all of your card effects that target the Fool, and destroy them. Additionally, the Fool has two other effects of his own regardless of the coin toss result: he cannot be destroyed by battle, and he cannot be shifted to Defense Mode except by a card effect.”

“Okay. And which of the coin toss results are you predicting?” asked Janus.

“Heads.” Usagi’s expression didn’t change, even as the coin appeared and was tossed…and then came back, indeed, with a heads result. “But this coin result doesn’t bother me, Janus—for I’m holding my deck’s ace card…the card that will seal my prediction of victory against you. You said not to hold back…so I won’t.”

“Then don’t. Let’s see what you’ve got,” Janus replied.

Usagi picked one of the three remaining cards in her hand. “I shall now send all three of my Arcana Force monsters—the Fool, the Empress, and the Chariot—to the Graveyard in order to Special Summon my ultimate Arcana Force monster.” Then all three of the named monsters vanished in a flash of light. “Now, descend upon the field in Attack Mode…Arcana Force Ex – The Light Ruler (ATK 4000, DEF 4000)!”

All at once, Janus noticed a shadow enveloping the ground. Staring at it for one long moment, he slowly looked up…and his eyes just as slowly bulged. “Holy…” was all he could say.

Hovering there over Usagi’s side of the field was an incredible monstrosity: a dark metallic monster with what appeared to be tow long-necked dragon-heads protruding from its back, a long tail with a sharp blade at the end, and on its gigantic torso it had two cannon-shaped arms attached, and numerous round blue orbs where its chest cavity would be. Its main head had one single green eye in the center of its face, with which it now looked down at the far smaller Janus. “Now that this newest Arcana Force monster has been summoned, I toss a coin for its effect,” Usagi spoke up. “If the result is heads, then when the Light Ruler destroys a monster in battle and sends it to the Graveyard, I can add one card from my Graveyard to my hand. If the result is tails, then when a card effect that targets the Light Ruler is activated, I negate that effect and destroy that card, but in turn the Light Ruler loses 1000 ATK points. I predict the Tails effect.”

Again the holographic coin was tossed; when it landed, it indeed showed tails as its result. “Very well, then,” said Usagi. “Now, to finalize things, I activate my Trap card, Tour of Doom.” And as she said that, her facedown card flipped face-up, revealing the orange-robed Grim Reaper with his wicked-looking scythe-blade at the ready. “Now, as long as this card remains on the field, during each of your Standby Phases I get to flip a coin. If the result is heads, you cannot Normal Summon or Flip Summon until the end of that turn. If the result is tails, then I cannot Normal Summon or Flip Summon during my next turn.” She looked upward. “Now, Light Ruler, destroy his monster! Use your Illumination Cannon!”

The Light Ruler pointed both of its arms forward—and fired a thunderous blast of light energy at Janus’s facedown monster. The card was flipped face-up, revealing it to be a defending Elemental Hero Clayman, and he was swiftly reduced to nothing but dust as the blast exploded all over Janus’s side of the field. “Urgh!” Janus instinctively put up a hand to shield himself from the impact.

“You may have been the one to say that I should not hold back, but with my power of prediction coming at you full force…you will surely perish.” Usagi narrowed her eyes. “The only other option now is to surrender. There’s no disgrace in that.”

“Well, sorry if I don’t share that sentiment!” Janus pointed to one of his facedown cards. “I activate my Trap card, Hero Signal! Since my monster was destroyed in battle and sent to the Graveyard, I can now Special Summon a Level 4 or lower ‘Elemental Hero’ monster from my hand or deck to the field…and I select Elemental Hero Sparkman (ATK 1600, DEF 1400) from my deck, in Defense Mode!”

The iconic Elemental Hero searchlight shone out from Janus’s card even as it was flipped face-up—and from the end of the searchlight itself, a beam shot down on his side of the field, resulting in Sparkman materializing in the same spot where Clayman had stood only moments earlier, kneeling in a defensive stance. “A brave front…but not very helpful in the long-term,” said Usagi. “I end my turn…and by the way, I predict that the card you’ll draw next is the Trap card, Mirror Gate.”

Now frowning, Janus drew—and indeed he’d drawn the Mirror Gate card. Just as she predicted...and, as for this card…

“It is the Standby Phase, so my Tour of Doom’s effect activates,” Usagi’s words interrupted his thoughts. At once a holographic coin appeared and was flipped…and the end result was tails. “All right…during my next turn, I can neither Normal Summon nor Flip Summon.” In turn, the Grim Reaper turned and waved his scythe across Usagi’s field momentarily. “Now you may proceed with your turn.”

“All right.” Janus looked at the Mirror Gate card again. Hmm…all right. “I’ll set a monster in Defense Mode, set a card facedown, and end my turn.”

“You set your Neo-Spacian Dark Panther in Defense Mode, and your Mirror Gate card facedown. Now, all you have left in your hand are your Neos Force and Hero Mask cards.” Usagi shook her head. “I have already predicted what you were planning to do, Janus. Your Mirror Gate trap card can only be activated when one of my monsters targets a face-up Elemental Hero monster that you control; then, it switches control of those two monsters before damage calculation is performed, after which control of the monsters switch back at the end of the turn. So, you were hoping I would attack with the Light Ruler, then you would activate Mirror Gate, at which point Light Ruler’s currently-active effect would kick in, negating and destroying Mirror Gate in exchange for lowering Light Ruler’s ATK by 1000, thus making him even slightly easier to destroy later.”

“Hmph…so my fate is that much of an open book, eh?” Janus wondered.

“Unfortunately for you right now. Now, my turn. I draw.” Usagi did just that, so she held three cards in hand. “Thanks to the power of my Tour of Doom during your Standby Phase a little while ago, I cannot Normal Summon or Flip Summon any monsters, but I can still set a monster in Defense Mode…which I will do, by the way.” This she did. “And I’ll also set another card facedown,” and this she did as well. “Now, Light Ruler, disintegrate his facedown monster! Illumination Cannon!”

Arcana Force Ex – The Light Ruler blasted cannon-like beams from its arms, forcefully flipping the facedown monster into view and revealing it as a screaming Neo-Spacian Dark Panther even as it was blasted out of existence. “Not to worry, your Sparkman will eventually meet his end. I end my turn…and the next card you draw will be Armor Breaker (ATK 800, DEF 800).”

“My turn again!” Janus declared, drawing his next card—and it was indeed Armor Breaker. The Armor Breaker card that Cassara gave me…

“Again it’s your Standby Phase, so again my Tour of Doom trap card activates,” said Usagi, and once more the holographic card flipped…and its result was heads. “Now YOU can’t Normal Summon or Flip Summon during this turn.” The Grim Reaper promptly flashed his blade across Janus’s side of the field.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t set monsters, as you yourself pointed out,” said Janus. “And since you already know this card I just drew is Armor Breaker, I’ll set it in Defense Mode…and end my turn.”

Usagi wasted no time. “I draw,” and that she did. “Now, I activate my facedown Trap card, Lucky Chance! As long as this card remains on the field, each time an Effect Monster’s effect that requires only one coin toss is activated, this card lets me call heads or tails for that coin toss. If I call it right, I draw one card. So…I’ll Flip Summon my facedown monster, Arcana Force VI – The Lovers (ATK 1600, DEF 1600).”

Moments later the Lovers monster appeared as its representing card was flipped face-up. “Now, to resolve the Lovers’ effect,” Usagi went on. “When it’s summoned, I toss a coin, and if the result is heads, then the Lovers can be treated as two tributes for the summoning of an Arcana Force monster. If the result is tails, I am forbidden to Tribute Summon any Arcana Force monsters. I predict the heads effect will prevail.”

Yet another holographic coin was tossed, and the result of this one was heads. “Now the Lovers can be treated as two tributes to summon Arcana Force monsters,” Usagi announced—and the Lovers monster immediately seemed to split into two separate monsters trying to stand in the same space. “And additionally, since I called the coin toss correctly, Lucky Chance lets me draw a card,” and this she did.

Then Usagi held up one card from her hand. “And now…I will tribute the Lovers to bring forth yet another of my monsters…Arcana Force XVIII – The Moon (ATK 2800, DEF 2800) in Attack Mode!”

Both images of the Lovers vanished—replaced seconds later by an image of the full moon, which then morphed into a bizarre multi-tentacled mechanical creature with what appeared to be a small blue spaceman manning it from inside a cavity in its stomach. “As an Arcana Force monster, the Moon’s effect activates—I toss a coin, and if the result is heads, then once per turn during my Standby Phase, I can Special Summon one Moon Token to my side of the field, and it’s treated as a Light-attribute, Fairy-type, Level 1 monster with 0 ATK and 0 DEF. If the result is tails, then during each of my End Phases I must select a monster I control and give control of it to you. And my prediction is that the heads result will prevail.”

Once again a coin was tossed, and true to Usagi’s word the result was heads. “All right,” said Usagi. “I called the coin toss correctly, so Lucky Chance lets me draw another card,” which she did. Then she selected one card from her hand. “Lastly, I will equip the Moon with this Magic card—Fairy Meteor Crush.” As the card was activated, the Moon began to glow with bright red energy. “When a monster equipped with this card attacks a Defense Mode monster with an ATK higher than that monster’s DEF, the difference is calculated from my opponent’s life points as battle damage. So, Arcana Force XVIII – The Moon…destroy his facedown monster with Lunar Strangle!”

Its red energy from the Fairy Meteor Crush card mixing with a queer yellow energy from within its body, the Moon thrust one of its tentacles forward and gripped Janus’s facedown monster card hard. The monster, revealed to be Armor Breaker, struggled hard—but got swiftly and brutally crushed for his effort, while Janus’s life points dropped to 6000. “Only a little while longer, and your defeat will be assured,” Usagi informed Janus.

“Well, sorry if I postpone it a while!” said Janus. “You already know that I had this card facedown, but I’ll activate it now—the Trap card, Elemental Recharge! This will allow me to gain 1000 life points for each Elemental Hero that I control—and since I’ve still got Sparkman, that’s exactly 1000 life points!” And at once his score went up to 7000.

“Very well…not that it’ll do you any good in this duel, but I give you points for your endurance,” said Usagi. “I will end my turn now. By the way…the next card you draw will be the Hero Mask magic card.”

Now Janus sighed. No doubt about it not…Usagi Saiou’s definitely skilled, and with her power of prediction at her disposal, she’s an even tougher force to deal with. As far as her power goes, she can predict whatever cards I’m going to draw, and she’s prepared to counter any strategy I might cook up to deal with her—right now she’s not even taking the bait with my Sparkman and Mirror Gate combo. Her Light Ruler’s current effect could probably negate and destroy Mirror Gate if she attacked with that monster and I activated it, but she’s not going to risk losing 1000 ATK points off the Light Ruler in case I come up with something stronger…but on the other hand, if my Sparkman stays in Defense Mode and she attacks with the Moon, whether I activate Mirror Gate or not I’ll still lose a monster…and if I do activate it and control of our monsters gets switched, she won’t attack the Moon with the Light Ruler, but she’ll just wait till she gets back control of her monster—then my life points will be wide open and she’ll be able to blast me out of the duel. Man…what’ll I do?

Janus 1 to Janus 2! Hey, Senshuken, I KNOW you can hear me!

Janus’s mind snapped to attention. Huh?

What’s the matter—forgot we’re sharing the same body? You might be the one in control and using my name right now, but regular ol’ Janus is still here! The mental voice sounded peeved. I can’t believe you’re just itching to roll over and play dead just like that! Not while we’re sharing one body and one mind, you won’t! Get yourself in here and let’s have a little chat!

How? Aren’t we already talking here?

Just close your eyes.

Janus heeded the voice, and closed his eyes…

----------

Now Senshuken soon found himself in what appeared to be a yellowish-white room, with himself at one end and regular Janus standing up at the other. “Janus?” he queried. “Where is this place?”

“You mean you don’t know?” Janus cocked a skeptical eyebrow. “It’s a little room inside the Shadow Charm Pendant. It’s connected to our shared mind.”

“Hmm…” Senshuken glanced around. “How did you wind up here?”

“As I said, it’s connected to our mind,” Janus answered. “I still don’t fully understand it myself, but my guess is that when the Shadow Charm Pendant first woke you up from within me, it also created this room within itself and it got linked to our mind so you and I can better harness its power.”

“That would make sense…it certainly explains how we were able to use its power with such ease and knowledge back when we faced that Park Fletcher character at the abandoned dorm,” Senshuken reasoned.

“And it helps that you were created inside me from the essence of Yubel’s power back when I was still in Mom’s womb,” Janus added. “Yubel’s a strong character…just a small fraction of her power resulted in you.”

“But in any case, how’s the discovery of this aspect of the Shadow Charm Pendant going to help us?” Senshuken queried. “Right now, while I’m controlling our mutual body, Usagi’s outside giving us a sound thrashing. Are you really sure it was such a wise idea to let her use her full power of prediction for this duel? It’s starting to get quite unnerving…she was able to read our opening hand, after all…”

“Yeah, I’ve been seeing it through our shared eyes,” Janus nodded. “But there’s something we ought to remember, man. Usagi’s predictions might’ve been on the mark so far, but that’s all they are—predictions. She can’t read our mind—and that’s probably what can give us an edge. Even if she’s able to predict what cards we’ll draw, she shouldn’t be able to read our mind and figure out HOW we’ll use those cards.”

A light dawned on Senshuken’s face. “Of course!” he exclaimed. “The ability to predict the future is not the same as the ability to read one’s mind!”

“Exactly,” said Janus. “Now that that’s established, you don’t have to get too rattled about her predictions. And as for your little concern you were just thinking about, I have an idea…but it might be a pretty risky gamble, given what’s at stake in this duel.”

“Well, I’m willing to try anything to get back the edge in this fight,” said Senshuken. “What’s your plan?”

“It’s simple…” Janus winked.

----------

Usagi regarded Janus. “So, Janus?”

Janus snapped out of his stupor. “Oh…sorry. Just thinking. All right—now I’m ready to take my turn.” He drew his card—which turned out to be Hero Mask, just as Usagi had prophesied.

“And it’s the Standby Phase, so my Tour of Doom activates…and I predict the heads result,” Usagi reminded him, and a holographic coin was tossed. Moments later it landed…and the result was heads. “You will not be able to Normal Summon or Flip Summon during this turn.”

“That’s fine…it’s not like I can summon my Bladedge anyway,” Janus replied, looking at the Bladedge card he still held in his hand. “I end my turn.”

Usagi simply drew her next card so she held three in hand…and then did a general sweep of the field. What now…if I attack with Arcana Force XVIII – The Moon, the Fairy Meteor Crush card it’s currently equipped with can deal piercing damage through Sparkman’s defense…but if I do attack with the Moon, you’ll activate your Mirror Gate trap card, forcing us to switch control of our monsters and inflicting damage to me instead of you, and then you’ll probably bank on me not using Light Ruler to attack my own Moon.

She then looked from one to the other of her monsters. On the other hand, if I attack with the Light Ruler instead, and you activate Mirror Gate, Light Ruler’s mandatory effect will negate and destroy Mirror Gate at the cost of reducing its ATK by 1000 points—not enough to significantly weaken it, I’ll admit, but it’ll be enough so that the battle damage you’d get from that battle will be reduced considerably…

But then she shook her head. “It’s my Standby Phase now, so the Moon’s effect activates. I Special Summon a Moon Token.” And then, a small blue spaceman similar to the one piloting the Moon appeared on the field. “And now…I offer the Moon Token as a tribute to summon Arcana Force XIV – Temperance (ATK 2400, DEF 2400) in Attack Mode!”

The Moon Token disappeared in a flash, and moments later Temperance stood in its place, its long arms stretching outward as if to grab Janus. “Temperance’s effect activates—I toss a coin, and if the result is heads, all battle damage I take will be halved. If the result is tails, Temperance will halve all battle damage that you take, instead.” Her eyes flashed. “For the purpose of Lucky Chance, I predict that the tails effect will be the result.”

The coin was flipped—and sure enough, the result was tails. “So, now I draw a card for Lucky Chance,” said Usagi as she drew, “and your battle damage that you’ll get from here on out will be halved due to Temperance’s effect. Now, battle, Temperance! Attack his Sparkman!”

Temperance stretched its arms forward—but Janus announced, “I activate my Trap card, Mirror Gate! You know what this’ll do—it’ll switch control of Temperance and Sparkman from their respective owners to the opponent, so now Temperance is mine and Sparkman is yours!”

Two huge mirrors emerged on both sides of the field—and on Usagi’s side the mirror reflected Sparkman, while on Janus’s side his mirror reflected Temperance. The latter monster’s attack carried through, smashing Sparkman’s mirror and destroying the monster altogether. “Now you can’t possibly attack! You wouldn’t willingly sacrifice your own monster, would you?” Janus grinned.

“Arcana Force XVIII – The Moon…destroy Temperance.”

The grin vanished from Janus’s face. “Crap!” he yelped—seconds before the Moon sent its tentacle lashing out at Temperance, flattening it with one blow and lowering Janus’s life points to 6600.

“Now I have a complete tactical advantage,” said Usagi, “in that you’ve got nothing left on your side of the field to protect you. Now, Arcana Force Ex – The Light Ruler…attack directly with White Nova Judgment!”

And as Janus looked on with ever-growing apprehension, the two dragon-headed appendages on the Light Ruler’s back charged up white particle energy in their mouths…and fired…

----------

YUGO MUTO’S HOUSE, DOMINO CITY, AT THAT VERY MOMENT

BANG! The noise from the TV accompanied the blast of light that enveloped the dueling field even as, from the spectators’ point of view, Janus’s life points dropped drastically to 2600. “Merciful goodness…poor Janus sure took a heavy hit,” Grandma Muto remarked, sipping thoughtfully on her mug of lemonade.

“And Usagi hasn’t even gotten a scratch on her life points yet,” Mrs. Bakura added, sipping from her own glass.

“Come on, now, don’t count Janus out just yet,” Kyo admonished the two of them. “Janus is still in this duel—maybe he’ll pull off a strategy on his next turn.”

A little ways away from the three, Mr. Muto and Mr. Bakura were sipping from their glasses, filled with the same odd green liquid Grandma Muto had been pouring out earlier. “I say, Yugi, it seems we’ll be camping here at your house tonight…the duels don’t look like they’ll be going on hold for now,” Mr. Bakura remarked.

“Don’t sweat it,” Mr. Muto said warmly. “You and your family are always welcome here, you know that.”

“More importantly, though…” Mr. Bakura’s voice lowered and became serious. “I didn’t want to bring it up immediately, but…you saw that pendant Janus has been wearing all this time since the tournament began?”

Mr. Muto nodded. “I saw more than that,” he replied. “I saw the magical effect Janus was able to pull off with it…”

“Not unlike us and our Millennium Items, back in the day.” Mr. Bakura’s voice was grave. “And that pendant in and of itself…it’s one of several artifacts that I’d begun to study a couple of years ago. Do you remember me speaking of them?”

“Yes. I recall you’d mentioned them.” Mr. Muto nodded again. “The Shadow Charm Items…from what I remember, they were wielded by a group of duelists who called themselves the Shadow Riders…a well-known group in the underworld, if memory serves correctly.”

“It serves correctly,” Mr. Bakura assured him. “Five years ago, Jaden Yuki sent the items to me, in order to ascertain their age and origin. Just last week, I was able to complete my research on them.”

“I see. And…?” Mr. Muto looked expectantly at him.

“I’ll tell you more, after this duel is over…for now, it looks like Janus is getting back up.” Mr. Bakura smiled and took another sip from his glass.

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KAIBA LAND, AT THAT MOMENT

Janus slowly rose to his feet, smoke rising off his body from the Light Ruler’s attack. “Damn…what power…” he managed to whisper.

On the other side of the field, Usagi regarded him. “You say you want to face Drake, yet this is the best you can do against me?” she asked softly. “It makes no sense to fight against fate…I’ve already predicted that victory in this duel will go to me, and your struggling is only making my victory come closer and closer. Yield. It’s the best you can do in this case.”

Shrugging his shoulders a little to shake off the effects of the attack, Janus shook his head in response to her. “And if I do that…then I may as well forfeit this whole tournament,” he answered. “But you know why I won’t? Because if I drop out now, that’s exactly what Drake will want. And I won’t let him have that satisfaction.” His eyes narrowed. “The others who’re left in this tournament may have their reasons to get to Drake…but I…I’m the only one who can get through to him. That’s what I believe. And facing him is the only way I can do that.”

“Get through to him…you mean, regarding your shared past?” Usagi eyed him keenly. “Regarding…Racquel?”

Janus looked right back at her. “I’ll assume you saw that from your fortune-reading last night.”

Usagi shook her head. “I saw it from even before that…when I first read Drake’s fortune.” She sighed deeply. “As you know, Drake has a great deal of rage in his heart. After I first joined the House of Cards, I read the fortunes of the other members, just to see what fate had in store for each of them…and his fortune was, and continues to be, the blackest of the lot. If he does not change, his fortune will come to pass…and not for the better.”

Now a steely expression came into her eyes. “This whole tournament…you know its ostensible purpose already—to prove Drake Phoenix the best duelist in the world by defeating the top three Dueltropolis contenders. In reality, though, the entire enterprise, and all of Drake’s preparations leading up to it, have all been geared to strike a decisive blow of vengeance against you for what happened between you, himself, and Racquel when you were children. And he will not stop until he has crushed you right under his heel for that time.”

“Yeah.” Janus’s face looked dour. “I’d gotten so used to his disliking me all that time when we were kids, when Racquel was around…the two of us, always competing for her affection…” His eyes were overshadowed, though his expression remained visibly grim. “But after…that day…everything changed. We, he and I, we’ve only seen each other sparingly over the past eight years…and now, he’s gotten stronger as a duelist…but…”

“But also more bitter,” Usagi finished for him. “Eight years ago, your rivalry with Drake was established, but it wasn’t until a year later that the truly bitter blood feud was sparked. It has been seven years since that time…it is a very long period of time to experience, but more than long enough for grudges to fester in one’s soul, like a cancer that rots out the structure. And childhood slights and traumas, even if considered mere memories by others years later, are scarcely ever forgotten by he who experienced them in the first place. But unless a check is placed on his vengeance, that cancer will spread even further than it has.”

Janus closed his eyes and held up his head—then opened his eyes again. “I know. I’ve always known. That’s why…” His eyes narrowed. “…that’s why, no matter how much you may be overwhelming me now, in this duel; now matter how much of my moves you may be able to foresee and predict…I’ll keep going forward, not hesitating once till I get to my goal! No matter who my opponent is…it could be Yugo Muto, or Seta Kaiba, or whoever—so long as I have this one chance to settle things and make things right, nothing’s going to stand in my way—not the other contestants, not the eliminators, not the distance, not destiny, not fate, and…”

Suddenly, the Shadow Charm Pendant began to shine—then, to Usagi’s astonishment, a blaze of light energy seemed to explode from Janus’s feet and enveloped his entire body, causing even his hair to flail about wildly. “CERTAINLY! NOT! YOU!” Janus yelled. “So come on, Usagi Saiou—BRING IT ON!”

Usagi stared at this phenomenon, utter wonder on her face. Then she relaxed. “As you wish, Janus. My turn is now complete…and…the card I predict you will draw next will be—”

Suddenly her eyes flew open wider. What the hell…! His next card…I… A bewildered look covered her entire countenance. I can see what type of card it is…a Magic card…but—that’s ALL I can see! I can’t see which one it is! She looked up at Janus, who was still covered in his energy field. Is he…is he somehow blocking some of my ability to foresee what cards he’ll draw? But—that has never happened before!

“Now…my draw!” And Janus readied himself, preparing to draw…

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Neomage: Janus busts out the power of the Shadow Charm Pendant in his duel against Usagi, where so far he’s been pushed against the ropes while her life points remain relatively untouched! But what is the mystery card Usagi is suddenly having trouble predicting—and will it make any real difference for Janus at this stage in the duel?

Readers, much has been happening in my real life. I’ve been swamped with work assignments, one after another…and they’ve been hampering my ability to update regularly. I haven’t even had a chance to look at any of my other incomplete fan-fics, and frankly, I’m feeling quite strained by that. And then, to complicate things further, I have a week-long job training session to go to in a couple of weeks, and my grandmother died this past weekend and her funeral’s next week. So, yeah, stress in my life.

So all I’ll ask, for readers of this story and the readers of my other in-progress stories “Velocity” (Justice League) and “One Piece, Two Piece, Red Piece, Blue Piece” (One Piece), please exercise patience as I sort things out in real life. I apologize for not being able to update as regularly and as often as I used to, but as they say, life’s a bitch.

Another concern I’ve been having, regarding this particular story, even as I’m writing this now: I’m worried that it’s starting to get as campy as Yu-Gi-Oh GX was, to the point of stretching your suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. What I want to know from you folks out there, at this time, is simply this: Am I, in fact, doing a good enough job at the moment with the story arc, the pacing, the characters, and the structure of the various duels?

Encouragement is really, really needed! Review soon, everyone!