Sdrive: wow, so many updates at once, I'm getting good. But Ra Yellow is suffering because of it. I guess I'm just not a good time Manager. Also, sorry for the late update, first I was sick then I got better on Friday but my brother got sick so I was taking care of him. Well, you get a Saturday update, I guess that's cool.
All the duelists watched in anticipation as the next match up was shown. And Kokuro was in for one hell of a shock when the next pairing came up. The screens faded into pictures and Kokuro found himself in the next duel, and he was going to be dueling Stephanie!
Kokuro looked over at her, she looked over at him and gave him a small smirk. She walked over towards the arena and Kokuro gulped.
Yamato noticed and pulled him aside, "What's wrong?"
"Well, right before I got here I accidentally bumped into her and she got pretty upset. And just now I realized something."
"What was that?"
"When I first met Stephanie, she was this hyperactive girl who said she was invited by a friend. But I haven't seen her hanging around her friend once. And I don't think he lost because she probably would have been broken up about it." He paused for a moment, "I'm not entirely sure I trust her anymore."
"You don't have to worry about trusting her anymore," Yamato said. "Because now you are both dueling. The time for trust is over; it's time for action. We are about to see just how strong she is."
"That's the other thing, she's never once mentioned her dueling. She never even mentioned her deck type. I hate to say it, but Stephanie is starting to scare me."
"It does sound suspicious but I'm sure it's all merely coincidence," Yamato said trying to reassure Kokuro.
Kokuro looked up at Stephanie waiting for him at the arena, "I sure hope you're right," he said walking towards the field. He got up to the arena and pulled out his deck. He shuffled it a few times before placing it into the Duel Disk. He gave out a small gulp and looked over at her. "Well, good luck," he said trying his best to sound unworried.
Stephanie just gave a small chuckle, "well, since we are about to duel, I guess I can finally drop the act."
"And just what act is that?" Joey asked.
"The kind, gullible, girl act," she said. "Throughout this whole tournament you've known me by an alias named Stephanie, but in reality, I'm the Tournament Coordinator, Sega!"
"You're the tournament Coordinator…" Kokuro gasped. "But…that would mean you work for…"
"Yes, I work for Sayora," she said snickering. "It's been so funny, ever since we first met on the bus. Along with working at making sure the Tournament went smoothly, I was also in charge of spying on you and your friends."
"So then you were never really apart of our group?" Kokuro asked, but it sounded more like an exclamation.
"But see that's the beauty of it," she said. "I was the part of the group. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have been able to find out everything about your deck and use it to my advantage."
"You liar!" Kokuro yelled at her.
She simply pushed her hair back with her hand, "not entirely," she admitted. "I'll admit that I did grow attached to you all, but then I was reminded of my place."
Kokuro was growling, "I liked you…" he said. "You were a good friend…" Memories of him and 'stephanie' began to flow through his head.
Sdrive was sitting next to a girl who was wearing an orange shirt and blue jeans. "This is going to be so much fun. I can't wait. I hope I get to the finals. Who are you?"
"My name is Sdrive. You don't seem like the other duelists, there is something different about you. You don't seem as confident."
"I was actually invited by my friend. Do you know S.B.. Roba?"
"You were invited by Roba?"
"Hmm, oh no, I was invited by a really cool guy who won a small little tournament at a local card store. I was just wondering if you knew S.P. Roba. I think he's so cool. I heard he used to be a fraud but now he's gone strait. Oh sorry my names Stephanie."
"That's nice."
"So who are you? I mean I know your name but were you invited by a friend as well?"
"I had an actual invitation." Sdrive said.
"Oh wow, that's so cool. So you're a high ranking duelist huh?"
"You might sort of say that."
"That's so cool. I know a high ranking duelist."
"Right. Um, I'm trying to think. Do you think you could keep it down a bit?"
Just then Stephaine came in through the door and ran over to Sdrive. "Oh wow I can't believe it. I just heard the news. You really are a good duelist."
"Uh, thanks. You want to hang with us for a while?"
"Really, oh wow, thank you."
Sdrive growled and rushed towards Marik with his fist extended. Yamato grabbed him and held him back. "Don't," Yamato told him. "We don't need a magic fight in the middle of all these people."
Sdrive growled but loosened up. He looked around and noticed there were a lot of people in the area along with Stephanie.
"Hey Sdrive!" She called out jumping onto Sdrive hugging him. "I'm so glad to see that you are in the finals! We are going to have A LOT of fun," she said running her index finger along his chest.
"Um, ok," Sdrive said looking trying to keep his balance. Stephanie got off of Sdrive and looked around. "No challenge. A great duelist like you will easily beat everyone," she said with a wink in her eye.
"Um, yeah, lets go with that," Sdrive said blushing a lot. "There sure are a lot of people here," he said.
The bus came to a stop in front of them and they started walking on board. Seto Kaiba and Mokuba went on first and went straight to the back of the bus. Marik and the man in black went in next. Stephanie grabbed Sdrive's arm and pulled him with her towards the bus. They sat in the middle with Sdrive at the window and her at the aisle.
Sdrive and Ryou walked up the stairs and they stood there for a little while. "I gotta get going," Sdrive said. "Do your best to keep Bakura under control."
"I'll sure try," Ryou said. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Sdrive turned around and went back to the front deck where he saw Stephaine pulling her shirt on. He walked over to her and waited for her to finish pulling the shirt over her head.
"Hey Sdrive," She said running over to him and hugging him. "Were you trying to get a sneak peak?"
Sdrive started blushing but shook his head. "No not at all," he said. "Hey listen, I've got to talk to you about the finals. They could be very dangerous."
"Oh, I'm not worried at all," Stephaine said. "I've got you to protect me after all."
"Um...right," he said blushing. "Would you be freaked if I started saying weird words?"
"No, why?" Sdrive started chanting what he had been chanting with Selaya and Ricenemei. After he was finished he looked at Stephaine and she was there with a confused look on her face. "And what does that mean?" she asked him.
"It's a spell, I used it to try to keep you safe, just in case."
"See, your protecting me already," she said smiling at him. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Sdrive said blushing a bit.
"I'm going to go down to the hot tubs now. Want to join me?"
"I just got out of them. I'm not in the mood right now, how about a rain check?"
"Ok," Stephaine said smiling. "I'll hold it to you." She winked and then headed to the direction that Sdrive had come from.
Sdrive sighed and sat down one of the chairs. "She didn't seem to weirded out when I mentioned that I was chanting a spell." He shrugged and sat on the chairs.
Kokuro looked at Sega angrily, "You never needed that spell did you!"
She looked up at him and thought a moment. It then dawned on her what he was talking about, "If you mean the spell you put on me during the boat right, then you are right, I don't. But thank you anyway."
"Something else is bothering me too," Kokuro admitted. "How can you be the tournament coordinator? You're so young."
"Well," Sayora began. "It sure helps when the tournament coordinator is your own daughter," she admitted.
"You're daughter!" everyone in the audience gasped, even Kaiba and Yamato.
"You mean you trusted your daughter enough to flirt around with a 16 year old boy and his friends?" Yamato asked.
"I was keeping careful watch, but yes," she said.
Kokuro turned to Sega and sighed, "What's the matter Kokuro honey?" she asked sweetly. "Annoyed because you're girlfriend isn't what she appears to be?" Just then Kokuro remembered something Seirei had told him.
Kokuro, this whole tournament is not what it seems. There are people pretending to be people they aren't, and there are motives here that aren't entirely clear
Kokuro stared at her, "You aren't my girlfriend," he said. "You're an imposter, plain and simple."
Sega looked at him for a moment and looked kind of sad. If anyone had been watching Sayora they would have noticed a golden light coming from her Kimono. Sega shook her head, and her eyes narrowed, "an imposter I might be, but a good one. After all, I had you fooled."
"Enough!" Kokuro yelled as his Duel Disk activated. He drew his hand and then a 6th card. "I'm going first," he announced. "I summon Skilled White Magician," he called out as his white robed mage with its long silver staff appeared on the field. (1700/1900) "I also set three cards under the table and end my turn."
Sega drew her sixth card and chuckled, "for your sake those had better all be bluffs," she announced, "Cause I'm starting off with Heavy Storm." A large hurricane formed and blew away Kokuro's Shadow Spell, Dark Mirror Force, and Zero Gravity. "Kokuro Honey, you should know better than to set all those powerful cards at the beginning of a duel." She shrugged, "Oh well, better for me then. I set one card under the table and set one monster on guard. That ends my turn."
Kokuro let out a small growl and drew his next card, 'nothing I can really use,' he thought. 'I don't know enough about her deck, but maybe I can still get away with this next move.' "I summon White Magiican Pikeru!" he announced as a small girl with pink hair and a brown staff with an orb on the top appeared on the field. (1200/0) "Skilled White Magician, attack her face down monster."
"Sorry, but I kind of need my card to stay on the field," she announced as her face down card was flipped. She began to glow and then what looked like her spirit left her body and blocked the face down monster. Her spirit got blasted and then disappeared as her Life Points fell. (L.P. 6300)
"What did you do?" Kokuro asked shocked.
"I used my Astral Barrier," she announced. "It makes it so that I can make any of your attacks a direct attack on my Life Points."
"You must really want that monster," Kokuro guessed. "Fine, go White Magician Pikeru, attack the face down monster." Sega's spirit formed in front of the card again and her Life Points lowered again. (L.P. 5100) "I end my turn," he said.
"Fun for me," she said drawing her card. "Kokuro Honey, I know how much your precious magician's mean to you, but did you know they don't care for you the same way?"
"I highly doubt that," he said.
"I'm confused," Mina said in the audience. "Why does she keep calling him Kokuro?"
"You're guess is just as good as mine," Joey said.
"Who cares?" Kaiba asked angry. "It won't matter once he summons his Egyptian God Card."
Mina looked over at them, "I forgot he had that," she admitted. "I haven't seen him duel in a while."
Back on the field Sega was smirking on the inside as she looked down at the card she had drawn, "This plan isn't quite perfect, if it was I would get a pretty nice chunk of Life Points out of you. But alas, I'll do it anyway." She reached for her face down monster. "I reverse Dummy Golem," she said as suddenly a monster made of stone appeared on the field. (800/800) "Dummy Golem allows it to switch with one of the cards on your side of the field, so you get Dummy Golem and I get your Skilled White Magician." The golem ran over to Kokuro's side of the field and then rather rudely kicked Skilled White Magician over to Sega's.
"You just took my strongest monster!" he gasped.
"And now to destroy your others," she said. "I activate Share the Pain!" she announced as her card appeared on the field. "We now each destroy a monster on the field," she chuckled.
"So how is that going to get rid of my two monsters?" Kokuro asked. "Do the math, if we both sacrifice one, I'll still have one left.
"Wrong," she said. "Well, it will be wrong once I activate Soul Exchange," she announced as her card appeared on the field. "The real wording on Share the Pain says 'Tribute' and Soul Exchange allows me to tribute one of your monsters for mine. So I'm going to use Soul Exchange to tribute your Dummy Golem in place of mine," she said as Dummy Golem was destroyed. "And now, you have to choose a monster on your side of the field to be destroyed, and there is only one monster on the field so you have to choose her."
"He already knows that," Mina said. "So why point it out?"
"Because now Sdrive has to choose to destroy his own monster instead of hers," Kaiba answered. "It's a head game. Forcing the player to have to destroy their own monster, it's just what Pegasus did to me in Duelist Kingdom."
"Let's see your Toon escape this! White Lightning!" Kaiba announced as his Blue Eyes White Dragon wiped out the Toon Version of his Blue Eyes that Pegasus had stolen from him. "Now do you understand Pegasus? Nothing will stop me from rescuing my brother, even destroying my own Blue Eyes!"
"Pegasus forced me into destroying a card that meant something to me, just like Sega is forcing Sdrive to destroy one of his magicians."
"So Kokuro Honey, what will you destroy?" Sega asked sweetly.
"I tribute Pikeru due to the cards effect," he growled as he took Pikeru and slid it into the graveyard. "You said it yourself, it was a tribute, not a destruction."
"I'm sure it hurt just the same," she answered. "I set one monster on guard and end my turn," she said. "I'm sure you know that due to Soul Exchange I couldn't attack you with your magician."
"I'm well aware," he said drawing his card and looking down. 'Black Magician Girl,' he thought. 'I can't use you yet.' "I set a monster on guard and end my turn," he said as his face down monster appeared.
Sega drew and snickered, "This will be fun," she said. "I play Raise Dead, and I choose your White Magician Pikeru," she announced as Pikeru appeared on her side of the field. (1200/0) Kokuro had let out another growl. "Next I flip up my face down Jowls of Dark Demise!" she called out as an evil looking monster with a large mouth appeared on the field (200/100). "This card allows me to take control of one of your monsters, plus that monster can attack directly this turn." Suddenly Kokuro's face down card disappeared and it reappeared on her side of the field. Now I'll flip it," she announced as suddenly a girl in red robes carrying a brown staff appeared on the field. (1300/1500) "Ahh, Fire Princess," she said.
"So your whole deck is about taking others monsters?" Kokuro asked.
"Yes, this is the power of Soul Control," she replied. And guess what, all of these monsters are about to attack you!" All of the monsters on the field began to power up their attacks. Skilled White Magician and White Magician Pikeru both blasted out white energy beams. The Jowls of Dark Demise spit out acid and Fire Princess released fire from her staff. All the attacks hit Kokuro causing him to fall to his knees. (L.P. 3600) "I set one card under the table," she said as she placed the card she drew at the start of her turn. "And that ends my turn."
Fire Princess shook her head and then ran back over to Kokuro's side of the field. "Looks like your Jowls couldn't keep a tight grip on my Princess," he announced.
Sega shrugged, "But my Life Points are far higher," she said simply.
"Not for long," he announced drawing. 'Perfect,' he thought. "I offer up Fire Princess to summon the lovely Black Magician Girl," he announced as Fire Princess disappeared and the Black Magician Girl appeared on the field in her usual pose. (2000/1700) "Black Magician Girl, wipe out Jowls of Dark Demise!" He shouted. The Black Magician Girl had a ball of energy gather around her staff that she then fired at the monster.
"Reverse Spirit Barrier!" Sega announced. "And then I use Astral Barriers Effect!" she called out. Her spirit appeared in front of her Jowls of Dark demise when suddenly her Jowl's spirit appeared in front of hers and took the blast. "In case you are confused, Spirit Barrier protects my Life Points as long as one monster is on my side of the field. So in other words, every attack you make from now on will go straight to my Life Points but I won't lose any."
Kokuro just growled, "Tell me something, did you even duel once in this tournament? Or were you like your mom over there and just mess around until the finals and pretend to have cards?"
"Oh, I dueled, because by dueling I ended up helping her in her plans."
"I'll find away past you! You and your lies!"
"Kokuro Honey, you seem sad that I deceived you? Did you perhaps like me?"
"You were annoying and you wouldn't shut up, and even with all that, yeah, I found you nice, yes I did like you."
"More than your girlfriend?" she taunted.
Kokuro slapped a card down onto his disk, "I set one card under the table and end my turn!" he shouted at her.
"I'll take that as a yes," she responded drawing her card.
"Not even close!" he shouted at her.
"That's too bad," she said adding the card to her hand. "Not that it matters though, once this duel is over, you won't be around, shame." She gave off a small chuckle before continuing on with her turn. "As I'm sure you know because it's your card, since I have Jowls, Pikeru, and Skilled White Magician on my side of the field, I gain 1200 Life Points thanks to Pikeru," she said as her Life Points increased. (L.P.6300) "I have nothing to do this turn so I'll give it over to you," she said.
"Good!" Kokuro announced drawing. "I set one card under the table and end my turn," he said as the card appeared on the field.
Sega drew her card and looked at it, "I'll probably use this later," she said adding it to her hand. "But for now I gain another 1200 Life Points and that ends my turn," she said as her Life Points again increased. (L.P. 7500)
"When you gain your Life Points I reverse my Solemn Wishes!" Kokuro announced. "Now I'll gain 500 Life Points each time I draw a card," he explained. "Like right now!" he said drawing and his Life Points increased. (L.P. 4100) "How nice, I just drew Pot of Greed, so I'll play it to draw two new cards and gain another 500 Life Points," he explained as he drew his two new cards and did indeed gain more Life Points. (L.P. 4600) "I summon Skilled Black Magician," he announced as the black robed mage with the long silver staff appeared on the field. (1900/1700) "I set one card under the table and end my turn," he said as the card appeared on the field.
Sega drew and smiled, "Here's the next batch of Life Points," she smiled as her Life Points rose again. (L.P. 8700) "I set one monster on guard and end my turn," she announced as the face down monster card appeared horizontally on the field.
Kokuro drew his card and he gained more Life Points, (L.P. 5100) "I set one monster on guard and end my turn," he announced.
"This is getting boring fast," Kaiba said from the stands.
"Then allow me to change that," Sega answered. "It is my turn now," she said chuckling when she saw what she drew. "Kokuro Honey, it's been fun dueling you, but my mom really needs to get on with the tournament so I'm afraid it's over. As you know I have 4 monsters on the field so your Pikeru will give me 1600 Life Points," she said as her Life Points increased. (L.P. 10300) Next I flip up my second Jowls of Dark Demise!" she announced as her second aquatic monster appeared on the field, (200/100). "With it I take your Black Magician Girl," she said as Black Magician Girl was grabbed by Jowl's tongue and placed on her side of the field."
"I still have Skilled Black Magician," he said.
"Not for long," she chuckled. "I activate Final Ritual of the Ancients!" she announced as her ritual card appeared onto the field. "I have to offer up monsters whose level equal 8 or more, so I'll offer up both my Jowls of Dark Demise which each have two stars and then Skilled White Magician which will give it it's final four for a grand total of eight. Now I summon Reshef of Destruction!" she called out as a giant stone monster appeared on the field holding three orbs. (2500/1500)
"That monster is a joke," Kaiba said from the audience.
Sega looked up at Kaiba and chuckled a little before looking over at Kokuro again, "maybe you won't think it's such a joke when you see its effect," she said. "I discard one spell card from my hand to take control of one of your monsters for the turn," she explained. "So I'll simply drop my Black Illusion Ritual and then take control of your Skilled Black Magician!" she announced as Reshef began to glow. One of its three orbs began to glow and the Magician clutched its head. It finally stopped and walked over to Sega's side of the field. "You're defenseless."
"Kokuro is in trouble!" Yami cried out.
"He still has a face down card," Yamato pointed out. "He may not be out of this yet."
"Kokuro Honey, I've had a lot of fun in this duel, but it's time to end it. Skilled Black Magician, attack your former master!" The magician began to gather magic when Kokuro called out.
"Wall of Revealing Light!" he announced. "I give up 3000 Life Points to stop your monsters from being able to attack," he explained. (L.P. 2100) A barrier of light appeared on the field and it intercepted the attack from the Skilled Magician.
Sega was a little shocked, "I end my turn," she said annoyed.
Both Black Magician Girl and Skilled Black Magician shook their heads and returned over to Kokuro's side of the field. "I guess you didn't get to do what you wanted after all," he said chuckling. He drew his card and smiled as sparkling rain fell on him. (L.P. 2600), "I activate Spell Absorption!" he said. "This will allow me to gain 500 Life Points every time a Spell is activated. Plus, my Skilled Black Magician now has two counters. I reverse my face down Apprentice Magician in order to give him the last spell counter!" he announced. "Now I offer up Skilled Black Magician in order to summon Black Magician from my deck!" he called out as his Skilled Magician disappeared and the master appeared on the field. (2500/2100)
"It won't matter," Sega chuckled. "With my Spirit Barrier, Astral Barrier combo out, you can't attack me anyway."
"We'll see about that," Kokuro answered. "It all comes down to this next move."
"And what move is that?" Sega asked sweetly, obviously not worried.
"I offer up Apprentice Magician and Black Magician Girl in order to summon Black Magician of Chaos!" he announced as his Black Magician girl and Apprentice Magician vanished and the blue armored magician appeared on the field with the wild hair and long blue staff. (2800/2600) "Black Magician of Chaos allows me to take back a spell card from my Graveyard. And the card I choose is Pot of Greed!" he announced as the card came back to his hand. "I then play it drawing two new cards and gaining 1000 extra Life Points, both from Solemn Wishes and Spell Absorption!" He drew his cards and his Life Points rose. (L.P. 3600) He then smiled when he saw what he had drawn. "I activate Premature Burial!" he announced. "It costs me 800 to play but I gain 500 back so I only lose 300 Life Points, not bad when you think about it," he said as his Black Magician Girl came back to the field. (L.P. 3300)
"I don't understand the meaning of all this," Sega said impatiently. "Kokuro Honey, I love you, but seriously, speed it uuuup."
"If you wish," he said taking a card from his second pocket and holding it in his hand. "But you are seriously going to wish you hadn't asked me to do that. There is one special card in the world that requires all three of these specific magicians to be on the field in order to be fusion summoned," he said crossing his arms. "They can't be in the hand, and they are the only ones that can bring it out, no substitutions, and they have to be removed from play."
"What is he talking about?" Peace asked.
"I'm guessing it's one of those three cards he created," Yami guessed.
"Wait, what three cards?" Peace asked.
Yamato was about to explain when the three magicians began to glow. Kokuro began speaking again. "I like to tell this tale to people when I summon this magician. And it goes a little something like this. A long time ago there were two High Priests and a Priestess. The high Priests being Black Magician and his counterpart, the Black Magician of Chaos, and of course, the Priestess being Black Magician Girl. Each of them knew powerful spells, and each of them had a great deal of power within them. However one day there was a great evil that threatened the land they inhabited. Try as they might, the great evil was just too powerful for them to beat individually. They had one last chance; they knew that if they combined their powers, they could win. They were taking a big risk, because they knew they would be giving up their own bodies in doing this, but they knew they had to protect their home. So they combined their powers into one, and then created a new body. These three masters of magic were the best in the land, and combined they made one whole being…the Master Magician," he finished.
The three magicians on the field began to glow and slowly they disappeared. From the vortex came a tall figure. The figure had wild spiky hair that went down past his back. It was dark red and had black highlights. In his hands he wielded a long golden staff with a pink orb that rested on the top of the staff in the center. He wore dark red robes underneath red armor, similar to the Black Magician of Chaos' blue armor. His bright green eyes stared down at Sega, a stare that made her gulp. (3200/3000)
"Wha…what is that?" Sega asked.
"It is the Master Magician," he answered.
"So, its just got really strong attack power right?" she asked hopefully.
"In the similar words of Marik, do you really think it required those three specific magicians to be on the field and to be removed from play just because it has 3200 attack points?" he asked.
"Damn," she muttered.
"Master Magician has three effects," he explained to her. "And before I can activate any of them I must first pay 1000 Life Points. Each turn, I may only use one of the three effects. Here's what they are. For the cost of 1000 LP, I can bring a Spell Card from my deck straight to my hand, however I'm not allowed to activate it that turn. The second effect is for the same price of 1000 LP I can activate a Spell Card from my Graveyard. The last effect is, once again, for 1000 LP, I can activate a Spell Card during your turn."
"No way!" Sega said. "That is WAY too powerful."
"Not entirely," Kokuro responded. "I can only use one effect a turn, and each effect costs 1000 Life Points to activate. Also, let us not forget that in order to even summon it I must have Black Magician Girl, Black Magician, and Black Magician of Chaos on the field, no exceptions, and then remove them. The chances of summoning it are so slim, that it makes up for having such powerful effects."
Sega just stared at him and then looked at him sweetly, "Kokuro Honey, you wouldn't use that big scary Magician on me would you?"
"You bet I would," he said dryly. "I use his special ability," Kokuro called out as his Life Points began to fall. (L.P. 2300) "I activate Pot of Greed from the graveyard to draw two cards," he announced as he drew two cards and gained 500 L.P. from Solemn Wishes. (L.P. 2800) "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon!" he called out. "And I use it to destroy Spirit Barrier!" he announced as the Spirit Barrier Trap Card blew to pieces." His Life Points also increased again for using a Spell Card. (L.P. 3300) "Now you're little defense system is broken," he pointed out. "I activate Diffusion-Wave Motion!" he called out. Master Magician began to gather bright golden light around the top of his golden staff. "It costs 1000 Life Points to use but I gain 500 of them back," he said. (L.P. 2800) "Remember, if you want to protect your monsters now, you have to actually give up Life Points. And although the card says it attacks monsters all at once, the official's who made the rules say that it really attacks one at a time, so it's not about just losing one set of 3200, it's losing two sets of 3200. Go Master Magician, attack with Magical Mayhem!" The Magician let out his golden attack that rippled out in multiple waves.
The first wave went towards White Magician Pikeru, Sega didn't call out the activation of her Astral Barrier card so it hit Pikeru destroying her and causing Sega to lose 2000 Life Points. (L.P. 8300) As the magic went towards Reshef of Destruction that's when she called out that she was activating her Astral Barrier Trap. Her spirit appeared in front of Reshef and she took the blast. (L.P. 5100) Sega fell to her knees, looking down at the ground.
Sayora looked up at her daughter, "she's lost control of the duel. I also highly doubt there is anyway to get control back." The Sennen Rod began to glow behind her back.
Up on the field Kokuro stared down at her, "It's your move."
Sega slowly stood up, she looked like she could fall over at anytime. She weakly drew her card and almost fell back onto the ground. Kokuro's right eyebrow rose slightly. She looked down at her card and sighed. "I was hoping to draw a spell to take your Magician with, but I did not. I set a monster on guard and end my turn."
Kokuro drew a card and gained 500 Life Points. (L.P. 3300) "I pay 1000 Life Points," he announced as his Life Points dropped. (L.P. 2300) "I activate Diffusion-Wave Motion from the grave," he announced. Members of the audience gasped but they soon realized what he was doing. He was forcing her to take another direct 3200 Life Points. (L.P.1300).
"It is a very bold move," Yami said.
"Yes," Yamato agreed. "He doesn't gain 500 Life Points since it is activating in the Graveyard, and if she draws another Spell Card it's over for him."
The Magician began to charge up his blast when Kokuro called out, "I target Reshef first!" he announced. "Master Magician, attack Reshef with Magical Mayhem!" The Magician let out its waves of golden light.
"Activate Trap!" she called out. Her spirit appeared in front of Reshef once more. It took the blast of the attack knocking her backwards. (L.P. 1900)
"Magician, use your Magical Mayhem on the face down monster!" The magician blasted away a plant that appeared on the field. The vines of the plant wrapped around the Magician and forced it to Sega's side of the field.
"You attacked my Rafflesia Seduction, it takes your monster until the end of the turn."
"Then I'll set one monster on guard and end my turn," he said as his Master Magician freed itself from the vines and leaped back over to Kokuro's side of the field.
Sega just stood there, "no," she said. "I refuse to do this any longer."
Kokuro looked at her, he was a little surprised. Sega sounded just like the Stephanie he had come to know the entire trip, except this Stephanie wasn't as hyper, and seemed serious. "Refuse to do what?" he asked her.
"Refuse to continue the duel," she slowly said. "It's over, you've won."
"Not until you have drawn your card," he said. "It's never over until the final card is drawn."
"You don't understand," she said quietly. "You've won, because I refuse to fight you. I never wanted to fight you to begin with."
'She's different now,' Kokuro noted. "Sega…no…Stephanie! It's not over yet!" he said smiling.
"What's he doing?" Kaiba asked from the sidelines. "She's giving him the win, why doesn't he take it?"
"Maybe if you would stop interrupting we would find out," Tea said annoyed.
"Although I gotta agree with Kaiba on this one," Joey said.
"Me too," Donovan agreed.
"I need more female friends," Tea sighed.
"What about me?" Mina asked.
"That's why I said more. Before it used to just be, 'I need female friends.' Now its I need more female friends."
"What's with her?" Donovan whispered to Joey and Tristan pointing to Tea. They simply shrugged.
Meanwhile on the field Sega was looking up at Kokuro, "why? Why do you want to continue?" she asked him
"Because it's been a good duel," he said. "And whatever it was that got you out of that mean streak just now, is allowing me to duel the Stephanie I've come to know during this tournament. Even if you are the daughter of the person who's made my life hell this past week; it's been fun getting to know you. Just think about it, you finally get to duel that 'high ranking duelist,' you met on the bus. Do you really want to give up on that?"
She smiled, "No, I don't," she said. She drew her card, "I discard Sealing Swords of Light in order to take control of Master Magician!" she announced. Reshef's orbs began to glow and the Magician slowly walked over to her side of the field. "Master Magician, attack the face down monster!"
An old hunchbacked magician appeared on the field. It blew a red beam of magic that hit Reshef and destroyed him. "That was my Old Vindictive Magician," he said. "Whenever it's flipped it destroys one monster on your side of the field. So since your Reshef hadn't attacked yet I destroyed him."
She just smiled again, "I end my turn." Master Magician shook his head and then went over to Kokuro's side of the field.
He drew his card but didn't look at it, "Master Magician, attack the player with Magical Mayhem!" he announced. The Magician shot a golden ray of magic at Sega.
"Thank you…Kokuro Honey," she added as an afterthought just as the magic blasted her. She fell to the ground as her Life Points depleted. (L.P. 0) Kokuro ran over to her to help her up.
"Are you going to be alright?" he asked her.
She shrugged, "ask her," she said pointing weakly to Sayora.
They all looked at Sayora who simply said, "Kokuro is the winner. There will be a one hour break between duels for lunch," she then walked out through the two doors.
Kokuro waited a bit to see if Sega was going to fall limp but she never did, "I guess she has enough of a heart to keep her daughter out of the Shadow Realm," he said shrugging.
"My mom isn't a bad person," she responded. "Everything she's done so far, she has a reason for it."
"And what is that?" Yamato asked as him, Yami, and Peace walked up.
"Well, the reason she's done this is…" suddenly her eyes glazed over for a brief moment before resuming to normal. "…what was I about to say?" she asked.
"You were going to tell us why Sayora is throwing the tournament," Yami said.
"Oh yeah," she said weakly. "The reason is…I don't remember."
"What do you mean you don't remember?" Yamato asked.
"Just what I said, I don't remember," she said. "I remember, vague parts of it. I know why she invited Yamato and Kokuro, but I can't really remember the whole reason for the tournament."
"Looks like Sayora wasn't going to let Sega stay conscious without erasing her memory of the tournament," Yami sighed.
"But why allow her to keep some memories?" Yamato asked. They all thought about it for a moment before Sega spoke up.
"Um guys. I'm really sorry for everything that's happened, and for deceiving you all. Do you think we could still be friends?"
Kokuro nodded, "how could I turn down my number one fan?"
Sega smiled, "good, then from now on, I want to be known as Stephanie."
Kokuro chuckled, "alright Stephanie."
Stephanie smiled, "Thanks guys. Why don't we go have lunch, I'll tell you what I can remember." They helped her down the steps and then heading down the door while Peace demanded to know all about the Master Magician card.
Up in the audience seats Sayora watched the group departing. "I couldn't allow you to tell them the whole reason," she said. "But I think it's time that I let them know a bit more about the tournament. Besides, young Kokuro will need to know as much of his past as I can let him know if my plans are to work." She sat there and pondered for a moment, "maybe I'll let her change her name to Stephanie for good, she seems to like it." She stood up and then headed down the row of the seats, with a slight smile on her face.
Joey: Wow, that was one insane match! Though why does Tea keep talking about needing female friends? Oh well, that's not important. What is important is the next chapter. True information is finally released, this was just the lead up to it. Plus, my best bud duels. It's a chapter called, "The Strongest Seeker," don't miss it on the next episode of, "The Masters Tournament!"