YUGI VS. MAI

Yugi stood in the stadium, waiting for Mai to arrive. As he waited, he decided to look through his deck. Since Battle City, he had made a few small adjustments, and for this tournament, he had removed the Egyptian God Cards; besides the fact they were far too powerful for most duelists, he was sure it would be pretty difficult to bring them out, as each one required at least three tributes. Besides, in most tournaments, cards that powerful would be banned.

As he flipped through his deck, checking his cards, he heard a familiar voice.

Yugi, are you going to need my help with this duel?

"I don't think so, Pharaoh," Yugi said mentally. "I've dueled Mai before; I know how her deck works. But then again, she's full of surprises, so who knows what to expect with her."

Just remember, I'm here if you need me.

"I know. Thanks. And here comes Mai."

Mai Valentine stepped into the stadium, duel disk strapped to her arm. "It's been a while since we last dueled, hasn't it, Yugi?" she asked.

"Not since Duelist Kingdom, I think," Yugi answered as he put his deck back into his duel disk. "Honestly, I've been looking forward to a rematch. I did enjoy our last duel, even if you had me on the ropes most of the time."

"And this time, I might be the one taking home the victory," Mai said as she activated her duel disk. "I think we agreed you'd be going first, Yugi?"

Yugi activated his duel disk. Both duelists set their Life Points to 8000. "Okay." He drew five cards: The Trap Card Seven Tools of the Bandit, the Spell Card Lucky Iron Axe, and three monsters – Double Coston, Curse of Dragonfire, and Yellow Gadget. "I'll start this duel by summoning Yellow Gadget in Attack Position." A small, yellow robot with a large gear attached to its back materialized on the board. "His special effect lets me search my deck for Green Gadget." He found the appropriate card and shuffled his deck. "Next, I'll equip my Yellow Gadget with Lucky Iron Axe, increasing his 1200 Attack Points to 1700. Finally, I'll put one card face down and end my turn."

Mai drew a new card and looked at her hand. "I'll set one card face down as well," she announced as she set a card face down in her Spell and Trap Zone, "and then I'll set a monster in Defense Position and end my turn."

She's not attacking? Yugi thought. I was certain she'd have a Harpie monster out by now. He drew a new card, the Spell Card Riryoku. "I summon Green Gadget in Attack Position." A smaller green robot appeared next to Yellow Gadget. "His special ability lets me search my deck for a Red Gadget." He added Red Gadget to his hand and shuffled. "Next, I overlay my two monsters to XYZ Summon Heavy Armored Train Ironwolf!" He overlapped his two gadget cards, represented visually by the two monsters coming together in a bright flash of light, which, after it faded, revealed a large train with a dog's face attached to the front. "I don't trust your face-down, so I'll pass my turn to you."

"How generous," Mai said as she drew a new card. "I summon Harpie Queen in Attack Position!" The monster she summoned looked like a tall, lovely woman with flowing green hair and dressed in a dark blue leotard, but with the addition of feathered wings for arms and eagle talons for feet. "Next, I Flip Summon my face-down monster, Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon." This monster was a small red dragon wearing a gold chain around its neck. "Both these monsters have special abilities of their own. Harpie Queen is treated as a Harpie Lady when on the field and it lets me add a Harpie's Hunting Ground Field Spell from my deck to my hand." She searched her deck for the right card, then shuffled. "As for Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon, it has different effects depending on how many Harpies I have on the field. If I have one Harpie, you can't target it, and since so far I only have one, you can't hit her. Its other effect is that I can destroy one monster on your side of the field once per turn, and I choose to use that effect to destroy your little tank engine!" Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon launched a fireball from its mouth. The fireball hit Ironwolf, incinerating it. "Next, I play Harpie's Hunting Ground. With this card, all Winged-Beast monsters gain 200 Attack and Defense Points, so my Harpie Queen goes from 1400 Attack Points to 1600. Now, Harpie Queen, attack Yugi directly!"

Yugi cried out as Harpie Queen's talons clawed at him, dropping him to 6400 Life Points. "My turn," he said as he drew a new card. It was the Ritual Monster, Magician of Black Chaos. This card wasn't going to do him much good until he got the Black Magic Ritual Spell Card, and he had no idea of knowing where in the deck that card was.

It was moments like this that made him wish he had invested in a card like Manju.

He did have three cards in his hand that could help him right now, though.

"I summon Double Coston in Attack Position," he announced. The monster that appeared on the field looked a small black ghost. "He can be used as up to two tributes for a DARK monster, but I only need to use him as one to Special Summon Curse of Dragonfire in Attack Positioin." The little ghost faded away, being replaced with a long, beaked dragon that looked like it was wreathed in flame. "Its special ability allows it to destroy a Field Spell, so I'm going to use it to destroy your Harpie's Hunting Ground. Next, I'll play the Spell Card Riryoku, to take 700 Attack Points from your Harpie Queen and add them to my dragon, increasing his Attack Points to 2700. Now, Curse of Dragonfire, destroy her Pet Dragon!"

"Not my Queen?" Mai asked.

"Your Pet Dragon's effect makes it the bigger threat," Yugi answered as the little dragon was immolated, and Mai's Life Points dropped to 6500.

"Wow, talk about a close game so far," the commentator announced to the spectators. "Mai's got 6500 Life Points, while Yugi has 6400 Life Points. Mai's leading by only a margin of 100 Life Points."

"My move," Mai said, ignoring the announcer. She drew a new card. "I play the Spell Card Harpie's Feather Duster to destroy your face-down." Harpie Queen waved her winged arm, sweeping away the face down card Yugi had in his Spell and Trap Zone.

"That was my Seven Tools of the Bandit!" Yugi gasped as the card was moved to his Graveyard.

"Next I'll play the Spell Card Elegant Egotist," Mai continued. "Since my Harpie Queen is treated as Harpie Lady, that allows me to use this Spell Card to Special Summon another Harpie Lady from the deck." Another Harpie woman appeared next to Harpie Queen. "Next, I'll perform my own XYZ Summon by overlaying my two Harpies to XYZ Summon Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon!" The two Harpies came together, fusing into a larger, darker red, more feral looking version of the previous Pet Dragon that was on the field earlier. "He may have the same amount of Attack Points as your dragon now that Riryoku's effect has worn off, but my Pet Phantasmal Dragon has another special effect: It can attack you directly! Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon, attack Yugi directly!"

Yugi winced as the dragon clawed at him, dropping his Life Points to 4400.

It's not looking good, he mentally said to the Pharaoh.

"Do you want me to join in?"

Kind of what I was implying, yeah.

His Millennium Puzzle glowed; the glow surrounded Yugi, and when it faded, Yugi was slightly taller and much more confident looking.

The spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, the Pharaoh, had taken over.

"A brilliant strategy, Mai," he complimented her.

"I'm not quite finished yet," Mai said. "At the end of my turn, I have to detach one XYZ material from my dragon and send it to the Graveyard, so I detach my Harpie Lady."

"Is it my move now?"

"Yeah."

Pharaoh drew a new card. He grinned when he saw what it was. "I play the Ritual Spell Card, Black Magic Ritual!" An altar appeared in the middle of the playing field, a large ring with two flaming torches on either side. "By using my Curse of Dragonfire and the Red Gadget in my hand as tributes, I Ritual Summon the Magician of Black Chaos!"

The two monsters – one on the field and one in Pharaoh's hand – were pulled into the ring, and out of it rose a tall man in tight black leather, wielding a long, thin scepter. Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon just stared at it while the audience gasped, oohed and awed, and applauded.

"Magician of Black Chaos, attack and destroy Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon!" A ball of dark magic was thrown from the Magician's scepter; the ball hit the dragon, obliterating it, and dropping Mai's Life Points down to 5700. "And now, Mai, I believe it's your move."

Mai didn't like the card she just pulled. Sure, at least one of the monsters in her hand could have helped her – Harpie's Pet Dragon in particular, since it gained 300 Attack Points for each Harpie Lady on the field, though at the moment there were none, so that was a bust – but they were too powerful; unless she pulled a card to help her Special Summon one of them from the hand, there was no way to get it or Harpie Empress out to the field. The card she drew was another Harpie Queen, and all it did was act as another Harpie Lady variant.

"I set a monster in Defense Position and end my turn."

Pharaoh picked up a new card. "I play the Spell Card I just pulled, Poison of the Old Man. This card has two effects I can choose from – either add 1200 Life Points to me or take 800 Life Points from you. I think I'll increase mine." His Life Points rose from 4400 to 5600.

He still couldn't believe how close this game was. Sure, that 5600 Life Points was thanks to the Spell Card he just played, but much like earlier, they were separated by a margin of only 100 Life Points, with Mai sitting at 5700.

"Next, I'll destroy your face-down monster," he continued. The Magician of Black Chaos slammed its scepter down onto the face down card, destroying it. "It's your move, Mai."

Mai pulled a new card. It was another Elegant Egotist, which wasn't going to help her much. "I hate my hand, so I play the Spell Card, Card of Sanctity, to banish all cards in my hand and then draw two." She moved the four cards in her hand to the Graveyard – making a mental note that they were now banished and therefore out of the game unless a card effect said otherwise – and drew two new cards, Harpie Harpist and the Spell Card Hysteric Sign. "I play Hysteric Sign to bring back the Harpie Lady and Harpie Queen from my Graveyard." The two Harpie monsters reappeared on the field. "And then I summon Harpie Harpist to the field." Another Harpie appeared, this one with long red hair and holding a harp. "When she's Normal Summoned, I can add one Winged-Beast monster and one monster you control back to the hand, so I'll return my Harpie Queen and your Magician of Black Chaos to our hands."

"That's going to leave me wide open!" Pharaoh gasped.

"That's the idea," Mai said as the two monsters left the field. "Now, Harpie Lady, attack!" Harpie Lady clawed at Pharaoh with her talons, dropping his Life Points to 4300. "Your turn."

With Black Magic Ritual in the Graveyard, there was no way for Pharaoh to bring Magician of Black Chaos back to the field, and as far as he was aware, there were no other ways to bring it out. But the card he just drew, the Trap Card Mirror Force, that might help. "I set one card face down and end my turn."

Mai picked up a new card. "I summon Harpie Queen back to the field, and attack you directly with all three monsters! So long, Yugi!"

Pharaoh grinned, that cocky grin he usually wore when an opponent walked right into a trap he had lain. "I don't think so," he said as he revealed his face-down – Mirror Force.

"No!" Mai cried as all three Harpie monsters hit the invisible force field around Pharaoh, obliterating them.

"My Life Points are safe."

"For now," Mai grumbled. She looked down at her hand, then noticed the card in her Spell and Trap Zone. How? she silently scolded herself. How could I forget that I had Trap Jammer down?

Pharaoh drew a new card. "I summon the monster I just pulled, Magician's Robe, in Defense Position!" An empty magician's robe appeared on the field.

"Where's the magician?" Mai asked.

"You'll find out soon enough," Pharaoh said. "I end my turn."

Mai drew another card from the top of her deck. "I summon another Harpie Harpist in Attack Position." Another Harpist appeared on the field.

"And on that, I'm going to answer your question," Pharaoh said. "During your turn, I can activate my Magician's Robe special ability to Special Summon an old friend from the deck." He searched his deck for the proper card; added it to his hand; shuffled. "And the monster is the Dark Magician!" The Dark Magician appeared next to the Robe, a tall, pale, blonde-haired man in purple magician's robes.

"Dark Magician is Yugi's signature monster!" the announcer called, speaking loudly to be heard over the cheers and applause of the audience. "Looks like Mai's in a bit of a bind here!"

"I can still attack your Robe," Mai said. "Harpie Harpist, attack and destroy Magician's Robe!" Harpie Harpist strung a tune on her harp; the sonics were enough to cause the Robe to crumple into nothingness.

"Because it was in Defense Position, I don't lose any Life Points," Pharaoh said as he moved the card to the Graveyard. "Now, it's my turn. I draw. And I play the Spell Card I just pulled, the Equip Spell Magic Formula, to my Dark Magician, increasing its Attack Points to 3200. Next, I'll use my Magician's Robes other ability to Special Summon it back from the Graveyard, though it's banished when it leaves the field again. Now, Dark Magician, attack and destroy Harpie Harpist! Dark Magic Attack!"

The crowd cheered again as the little Harpie was struck by the Dark Magician's dark magic, dropping Mai's Life Points from 5700 to 4200.

They were still separated by 100 Life Points, with Yugi in the lead 4300 to 4200.

"Your move, Mai."

Mai grimaced as she looked at the card she just pulled. "You may as well finish it, Yugi," she said. "I don't have anything in my hand or on the field that can save me now."

Pharaoh smiled – not that usual cocky smile, but a friendly, sportsman smile. "It was a great duel, Mai. One of the closest I've ever played." He drew a new card, the Trap Card Divine Wrath. "I switch my Magician's Robe to Attack Position, then attack you directly with both monsters."

The two magical attacks hit Mai directly, dropping her Life Points down…to 300.

"Well, look at that," Pharaoh chuckled. "You're still in this game."

"If you can even call it that," Mai said as she drew a new card, her third Harpie Harpist. That wasn't going to help her at all. Sure, it could destroy Yugi's Magician's Robe – assuming he didn't use its effect to bring out another Dark Magician; she knew he ran three now, plus at least two Dark Magician Girls – but one attack from even Magician's Robe would bring her down to 0 Life Points.

She set the card back on the top of her deck, and lowered her duel disk.

"The duel is yours, Yugi," she said. "There's simply nothing that I can do against your Dark Magician."

The light from the Millennium Puzzle surrounded Pharaoh, replacing him with normal Yugi. "Like Pharaoh said, Mai, it was a great duel. I honestly thought I was going to lose there for a few minutes."

Mai smiled at him. "You really are a great duelist, Yugi," she said. "Congrats on this win."