Yugi Moto has had a few disappointments in his life, one being that he had not been able to be with his parents while he was growing up.  He adored his grandfather who had raised him, but it wasn't the same, sure he had a lot of good friends, but it was all he could do not to show his heartache over not knowing his mother. 

The second disappointment in his life was the fact that he didn't get very tall, he had a feeling that because Yami was shorter than Tea that maybe that was going to be his height limit.  It was trivial to care about how tall one became, but deep inside, he had wished to tower over others like Tristan or at least be as tall as his friend and in a way brother, JoeyBhe liked Joseph now...

 

Yugi wore a black, high-collared jacket and black pants, he also had black leather shoes upon his feet.  His Millennium Puzzle looked like an upside down golden pyramid with the ever-watching eye upon the center, and even with the heavy chain which he used as a necklace to carry it around his neck it didn't seem to be all that heavy.  He had red eyes and hair that was yellow, black and red, all of it was pulled back in a pony tail to keep it as adult as he could.  Yugi had once had his hair looking like a flash of raising lightning, he was too old for that now, now he had to be serious, now he had to let Duel Monsters be the fun thing in his life, and let the Kaiba Corporation be his future.

 

Yugi's home was the game shop that his grandfather had owned and ran, it was small, but it's revenue had always paid the bills even with Seto Kaiba and Max Pegasus being the front runners in the Duel Monsters business.

 

Yugi stood in the middle of the old wooden floor which creaked under ones feet as they walked around, he could see the walls plastered with promotional posters featuring him when he was young and also the many that Yami had posed for.  There were showcases wrapped around three walls with magazine racks on both sides of the door and near the register. 

  

Near the register were boxes of packs reading ALegend of the Blue-eyes White Dragon@, and AMagician's Force@ there were others like Metal Raiders and Labyrinth of Nightmare, Chaos Ruler and so on.  Inside the cases however many cards were shining from their foil pictures drawn by a nameless artist and then there was the cut-away which was once in Maximilian Pegasus's AIndustrial Illusions@ lobby when one would enter the huge building it was the first thing they would see.

The cut-away was half ABlue Eyes Toon Dragon@ and half clear plastic with paper thin circuitry inside which would allow the card to image upon the dueling field in three dimensions.  Yugi could remember that Joseph had lifted it after all of the pain and torment in which Yugi's grandpa and Yugi himself had gone through over Pegasus's insane Duel Monsters tournament... But, maybe Pegasus was just in a deep depression over losing his love and he would do anything to have Cecilia returned to him even if it meant hurting others, however Max was kind of too happy with enjoying his Toon monsters as though he were a child...maybe that was how he coped with his loss...Killing Keith wasn't a very sane thing to do either though, so enough with trying to make sense of the life that Maximilian Pegasus lived.

 

Yugi smiled and in a deep voice that was once reminiscent of Yami's he called, AGrandpa, I'm home, are you here?@

 

There was a stumbling coming from behind a door that led to a stock room and then the door flew open revealing a very short, old man who had long white hair and a beard, he wore tan trousers and a white dress shirt with a vest and an ascot at his neck, he almost clicked the heels of his black leather shoes when he saw Yugi, he smiled big and winced his eyes then extended his arms and said, AYugi, my grandson, how I missed you so much!@  The old man embraced Yugi as best as he could however Yugi backed away careful not to hurt his grandfathers feeling, and extended his hand in a friendly handshake, he continued to smile, but had a slight look of seriousness in his face.

            Grandpa straightened his ascot and cleared his throat and said as he gripped his grandson's hand, AYou are a man now Yugi, I am very pleased to see you againBbut you are still my grandson!@  He cried embracing Yugi once again, the man excepted his Afathers@ treatment, it wasn't out of disrespect, it was love...Speaking of which...

 

AYugi!  Hello Mr. Moto.@  It was Tea Gardener, and was she hot or what!  She was two years into dancing school and already performed in more than ten plays as a backup dancer, there was also a music video or two that she had participated in also.  Tea had long brown hair and big brown eyes, a very pretty smile and a beautiful face.  Her body was very slender with a slight bulk of muscle for stanima in dancing, she wore very short and tight pink vinyl shorts which the lights in the store reflected off of and a tight white cap-sleeve top with pink sleeves and pink accents on the sides.  On her feet she wore white sneakers with pink rubber soles.

 

Yugi had now comically pushed away his grandfather and embraced Tea who was slightly taller than he was, but he thought of it this way, he was very close to her chest...No, he couldn't think that way, she was his friend, probably closer to him than Joseph.

 

AYou look so good Yugi, how is school going?@ Tea said in her usual high-spirited way.

 

             ASchool is going great Tea, grandpa's money is going to good use,@ Yugi said with a laugh which was picked up by Tea and grandpa.

 

AEveryone is going to be here soon, they know that you are back in town, I just wanted to be the first to see you before you and Joseph did your manly hassling of each other.@  Tea said.

 

Joseph and I don't...@ Yugi started, but when the whole gang showed up outside the glass doors of the shop and began heading in, Yugi's retort about not hassling Joseph was turned into a lie as he found himself saying, AIt's Joey, the runner upBmister-no-posters himself!@

 

Joseph laughed and ran a flat hand through his short yellow hair and said in a pseudo-New-Yorkers accent, AI'm Yugi Moto, the king of games, no one can beat me, and if they ever do, they will automatically lose anyhow and I will be declared the winner!@

 

AYou were saying Yugi?@  Tea said to her friend in a joking way, Yugi replied with a shrug and met Joseph with a handshake.

Joseph had opened a company for teaching Duel Monsters to those who wanted to learn, he had also remained a professional player and had won many tournaments by doing so.  The others who had come to meet Yugi upon his return from school were Joseph's sister Serenity who was a beautiful woman with long brown hair and a very pretty face, she wore a sailor dress that was green and white denoting the uniform of the highschool she attended, she was in her last year and was going to become a teacher for the blindBdeciding this after she herself had almost lost her sight.

There was Tristan who had now worked for Duke Devlin the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters as a corporate interlink handling business between other companies who had wanted to take part in the world wide production of his dice game.  Tristan was very tall and built well, he wore a brown suit with a dark tie, He had short brown hair and at the moment he and Joseph's sister Serenity were dating each other. 

Duke Devlin the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters was near-by but had kept some distance between the man who worked for him and Serenity due to the fact that he had wanted Serenity for himself.  He had accepted his so called defeat to the point where he would drink himself to sleep on some nights wondering if a friendship with Tristan was the right thing to do.  Duke wore a red suit with a black tie and had his long black hair in a pony tail, there was a small golden die earring posted through the hole in his left ear lobe.

 

Grandpa had offered the group of friends to come into the living area of the game shop so they could all relax and he and Tea would get something for them all to eat.  The living area was so familiar to Yugi it was like a normal living room with sofa's and chairs, a nice dark carpet and a TV and video disk player on a rack.  On a far wall was a stereo with the CD, tape, and record players all in one with the tuner.  The wall across from the stereo was the entrance to the kitchen where grandpa and Tea had gone while the others sat.

 

Serenity leaned towards Joseph and said in a small voice, AJoey, shouldn't you go help Mr. Moto and Tea in the kitchen?@

 

AI'm sure they got it all under control, I'm trying to rest here, its not easy playing in tournaments and beating everyone that I face.@  Joseph replied.

 

AThat's exactly what you're doing Wheeler, your playing a game, now go help our host out.@  Duke said.

 

In almost a sulking manner Joseph dragged himself into the kitchen, he wouldn't listen to his little sister but Duke had something about him...what a jerk!

 

ANow, with the wanna-be duelist gone, I wanted to ask you something Yugi, there is a duelist going around by the name of Paladin...that's right after the card you used to use by fusing your Dark Magician with the Buster Blader, it seems to be his favorite card, he has a strong deck and dueling skill that surpasses Seto Kaiba.  He might also be as good as you...I won't say better though because you did beat me at my own game all of those years ago.  Let me get to the point, Tristan and I saw him play at an expo where we were selling DDM and he is very good.@  Duke said.

AYugi, this Paladin wants to challenge you and because you are known for accepting all challengers we kind of told him to come here today, I know you just got back from the university, but we figured you would be ready anytime.@  Tristan said.

 

AI will accept this Paladin's challenge, did you see what kind of cards he uses?@  Yugi asked.

 

AA lot of the same that you do, or did, he has a Dark Magician Girl which he can't accept seeing her die in the game, he kind of over-did his defeating of his opponent when they destroyed his Magician Girl, so watch out for that.  I saw him fuse Fallen Angel Mary and the Merciful Nun to make Saint Joan of Ark and with that and the Black Paladin Magician he turned 8000 life points into zero with the inclusion of his opponents dragons and a United We Stand magic card....But you have Slifer the Sky Dragon, you shouldn't have any problem defeating him.@  Duke said.

 

AThere is one more thing, Paladin said he was going to look for Arcana, you might remember him, he is still out there; he wanted to defeat Arcana before facing you, he said he needed a certain card.  He gambles, card for card, I guess he will want your Slifer, I don't know if you would want his Black Paladin, but the Saint Joan of Ark fusion is not bad at all.@  Tristan said.

 

ADo you really want to fight this guy Yugi?@  Serenity asked.

 

AI do, I have never turned down a challenge before, maybe he has something interesting that I would want, although I'm not that much into gambling for cards, that is; unless I have to.@  Yugi replied.

 

Suddenly Joseph came into the room from the game shop and with him were three people, one was Seto Kaiba, he was tall with short brown hair and dim eyes denoting an anger with-in.  He wore a white suit and a light blue tie, the shoes on his feet shined brightly from a fresh polish.  With Kaiba was his brother Mokuba who was slightly shorter than Seto and quite younger.  He had long black hair and dark eyes, he had a look of kindness but also a focus about him where he wasn't going to take anyone's crap, it could have been his teenage hormones or something unknown.  Mokuba wore a dark blue suit and a black tie, he also carried a silver briefcase which once was held by his older brother.

 

It was the third person who was one of fairytales, he was tall and slender and dressed in a black suit with a long jacket, he had long black hair which was woven into thin, tight braids, he had black make-up lining his dark eyes making them even darker and an almost grim look upon his face.  This was Paladin and in his hand he carried a black velvet drawstring closure pouch which must have held his cards.

 

Everyone had returned into the main room where a silence had filled the air and Yugi's eyes widened as he saw the card of the Black Paladin Magician come to life before his eyes, if this man had the magicians cap and sword than he would have been a spiting image of the unknown artists rendition of a Super Hero Paladin Mage Knight!

 

            AYugi, its good to see you again, I hope you have been learning the craft in which I am most proficient?@  Seto said in a soft and dark sounding voice.

 

AI have Kaiba.  Is this the man that I was told so much about?@  Yugi said in a focused and deep voice.

 

AMeet PaladinBnot to be mistaken for a hologram of the Duel Monsters card.  He has come to me in search of you.  He had told me that Duke Devlin and Tristan were of no real help to him, but everyone knows of the Kaiba corporation.@  Seto said.

 

AHey, we were of good help!@  Tristan said feeling a little upset.  ADon't worry about it Tristan, this is not the time!@  Duke said stepping in.  Yugi had noticed that Paladin remained in his cold state, it was strange...

 

APaladin wishes to challenge you Yugi and not the Yami spirit which you have always had fight your battles...@  Seto said, however Paladin stepped forward.

 

AEnough Kaiba, it is almost like by you talking for me that I am letting you lay forth the challenge in my place and that makes me no better than Yugi Moto and his Yami, I will do the honorable thing and request this myself.  Yugi Moto, I challenge you to a duel for your Dark Magician, and in equality, you may choose any of my most valued cards that you wish including my Black Paladin.@  Paladin said in a strong voice reminiscent of a former foes toneBhe was named Marik Ishtar, and Paladin seemed to almost be a reincarnate, however there was something different about him.

 

At the mentioning of Paladin wanting Yugi's Dark Magician over Slifer the Sky Dragon Kaiba almost screamed at what was to him stupidity, he said, AHow could you want Yugi's Dark Magician, when you can get his Egyptian God card Slifer the Sky Dragon!?@

 

AWhat use would I have for a Dragon in my deck, the value of the purple robed Dark Magician that belongs to Yugi Moto is far more valuable than an Egyptian God card...I do however fancy your XYZ Dragon Cannon or Obelisk the Tormentor, even your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is of no use to me.  No, it is his Dark Magician which I treasure and wish to possess.@  Paladin said, he then opened his pouch with everyone's eyes upon it and pulled out a stack of cards, he slid a few into his right hand and placed the rest into the pouch, he then spread them in his left hand revealing The Black Paladin Magician who looked almost as he did, the picture upon the card was a bust shot where the figure had a focused and nasty look upon his face and a tall ribbed, black pointy cap and in his right hand he held a serrated sword.  This was different from the one in which Yugi had once played, but it was something that he didn't want.  Next to the Paladin Magician was the Dark Magician Girl, it too was a close-up bust shot with the girl leaning to the left, a floppy blue and pink cap upon her head of yellow hair and a pretty face with big green eyes and upon her small frame she wore a blue and pink dress that fell over her shoulders and in her right hand was a scepter with a swirl at the top.

The next card made Yugi's heart sink, it was a Dark Magician, and he knew who it once belonged to, it also should have been hisBa prize he should have won in the Battle City Tournament so many years ago.  This Dark Magician was known as the Yami Dark Magician, he stood facing to the right with his arms crossed and his scepter low to his waist, he wore red and gold and had a dark evil face and a line of beard upon his chin.

 

AWhere, where did you get this card Paladin?@  Yugi asked in what sounded like fear.

 

AArcana, the masked magician, that freak show's face was so deformed that I had to get past that before I could concentrate on the game with him, besides that the man is totally insaneBhe sends his love by the way.  Arcana went into a stupor after my Black Paladin ended his magic card wave upon me.  I met him a week ago, you see I have never felt anything from my Dark Magician, he looked as though he were going to jump out of the picture and he had a tablet behind him, it was nice for a collection, but he was not a friend.  Look at him Yugi, he had once backed your Dark Magician Girl in the defeat of Arcana, this card has not been tampered with, Arcana had cut one of his down, this is not the one.  Although this is rightfully your card, I believe that since you forfeited it that I was allowed to take it as my own.  He and I have become friends and that was proven in the many battles I have taken part in, in my journey to you.  Even if it sounds crazy, the Yami Dark Magician is as good as a friend to me as my Black Paladin.@  Paladin said matter-of-fact.

 

ANo, Paladin, he is your friend, as my Dark Magician is my friend, and as hard as it is for me to put him up in a duel I will because I believe that he will always help me when I am most in need.  The Yami Magician is yours, I abandoned him, but I respect the fact that you told me your feelings on the situation.@  Yugi said.

 

The next card was a purple fusion card with a female knight in silver armor and short reddish-brown hair, she had a sword with the point facing down in front of her, this was Saint Joan of Ark and Yugi could tell that even though Paladin's Magicians were special to him, Saint Joan of Ark was his first, she was the one who got him the rest and Yugi knew that he would have to be careful. 

There were four more cards which almost scared all in attendance, they wereBthe Toon's!  Toon World, Toon Mermaid, Toon Summoned Skull and Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon.  These cards belonged to Maximilian Pegasus, and no one has seen them since Duelist Kingdom.  Everyone was in shock as they looked at the magic card Toon World which was a green book with a gothic town in-between the open pages.  The Toon Mermaid was a clam shell with eyes and a mermaid inside holding a bow and arrow.  The Toon Summoned Skull looked like a plasm-stretched boney demon with bulging eyes.  And finally the Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon looked like a small, cute, cartoon-like white dragon with big eyes and what looked to be a toothy smile upon it's lips.  These cards were thought to be long gone, but here they were in Paladin's hand and being offered to Yugi.

 

AHow about the Toon's, all four of them, you did defeat Pegasus, you should have them if you defeat me, four for one, sound like a good deal?@  Paladin said.

 

AI think I can speak for everyone when I say how surprised we are that you have the Toon monsters that belonged to Pegasus, I don't think I want to know how you acquired them, and as unfair this bet is to you, there must be something you have for my Dark Magician, so I will accept your challenge and duel with you without the help of my special friend.  Kaiba, can we get a pair of your duel disks?  Or do you prefer an arena?@  Yugi said.

 

Paladin thought for a second and said, AI think duel disks are more appropriate due to the fact that they allow us to fight along side our monsters.@

 

AI have a pair on me in the car, and after you win the Toon cards I will be more than happy to take them from you Yugi, and while I'm at it I will also win Slifer the Sky Dragon from you too.@  Seto said.

 

AThat remains to be seen Kaiba, so shall we duel Paladin?@  Yugi said.

 

AAfter you.@  Paladin said gesturing Yugi to the door of the shop and with cards in hand Paladin followed Yugi out with the rest in tail.  Yugi felt a little strange, maybe it was seeing Arcana's Yami Dark Magician, or maybe it was Pegasus' Toon cards.  Paladin was different than some of the others whom he dueled in the past.  Paladin was not going to be easy to defeat, but Yugi was the king of games, this will be another thought-filled duel with another victory for him and his Dark Magician would not let him down.

 

2

 

            The group gathered around in the middle of the street in front of the card shop; cars stopped to watch and others sounded their horns and found their way around the combatants.  The group looked around cautiously due to being in the middle of traffic, it seemed like the best spot to do this.  Paladin was sane so it seemed, but he wanted some action on the outside of the dueling circle.

 

Seto Kaiba had supplied a pair of his dueling disk's to Yugi and Paladin, these were not exactly disk's, they were made of white painted aluminum and attached to the wrist, the center was circular with an LCD display where the player's life points were visible in red digital numbers with a deck holder underneath.  The front edge was the monster card field and was made from a pair of interlocking panels where the cards could be read after they were slipped into notches so they wouldn't fall off of the platform.  To the rear of the platform were slots under each of the five monster zones where magic and trap cards were placed so they would be out of the way; the inside of the slots had a system for reading what the card was and each were activated by buttons above the slot.  To the side of the monster zone was a tip-out holder and reader for a field card and there was also a graveyard section.

 

Each duel disk had a detachable hologram projector which fired out of the disk and dug into the street giving a three dimensional field for a grid of the magic and trap zones.  Paladin and Yugi exchanged their decks and cut and shuffled them, with each player happy they handed each others decks back to one another and loaded them into the duel disk. 

The number 8000 appeared on the LCD display of both Yugi's and Paladin's duel disks and Kaiba moderated for them to begin.  Paladin was chosen to go first so he drew six cards and looked at them, they were: Mirror Force, Black Magic Curtain, Merciful Nun, Imperial Order, Royal Decree, and Dark Magician Girl.  It was a good draw, but he hated getting a lot of trap cards, so he decided to slide the three into the slots on his field where the back of the cards appeared holographically on the street before him, he said, AI will place three cards face down and one monster in defense.@  Paladin locked the Merciful Nun onto the field on its side, face down and the back of the card appeared on the street above the three trap cards.  Paladin knew that Yugi couldn't pull something larger than the 2000 defense points that his white and blue habited Merciful Nun had possessed, the 800 attack points would not work very well in any battle.  Paladin gestured to Yugi ending his turn.

 

AYou are going to hide behind your monster?@  Yugi said sounding a bit ignorant to Paladin's ears causing Paladin's relaxed and focused look to turn to a slight look of scorn, he replied by saying, AI guess I can always stand here and play a Petit Angel in attack mode and let you kick my ass.  Stop with the remarks and play like an honorable man, you're not a child anymore, so don't act like one.@

 

Paladin's words kind of surprised all who were assembled so instead of replying Yugi drew his sixth card which was Beta the Magnet Warrior, the other five were Mystical Ref Panel, Dark Magician, Monster Reborn, Big Shield Guardian and Alpha the Magnet Warrior.  Yugi decided to insert the Mystical Ref Panel into the first slot and then placed Beta the Magnet Warrior, who looked like a yellow robot, in attack mode on his field.

 

AI will play one card face down and Beta the Magnet Warrior in attack mode!  Beta, attack his face down card!@  Yugi cried and Beta began it's attack flipping Paladin's Merciful Nun face up.  The hologram of the Nun was kneeling with her hands folded in prayer, she easily blocked Beta's attack causing Yugi to take 300 points of damage to his life.  The Nun strangely looked over to Paladin and returned to her praying.  Yugi looked to Paladin who mouthed the word >oops!' to his opponent, Yugi kind of smiled and ended his turn.

 

With Yugi down to 7700 life points due to a failed attack, Paladin drew a card and looked at it, it was Polymerization, he was satisfied, but he was still short the other half of his fusions, he could summon his Dark Magician with the Black Magic Curtain but he would need his Buster Blader too for the Black Paladin Magician and in order to form Saint Joan of Ark he would need Fallen Angel Mary, so he looked at the few cards in his hand and choose to tribute summon his Dark Magician Girl, she was probably his favorite, so he figured he would get it on the field now.

 

With Paladin's eye on the trap that Yugi had face down on the field he pulled up the Merciful Nun and placed the Dark Magician Girl in attack mode on the field saying, AI tribute summon Merciful Nun for Dark Magician Girl...thank you for your protection...@  He said to his Nun as she vanished and the Dark Magician girl appeared on the field with some sounds coming from the speakers on the holographic pods of ooh's and ah's followed by a girlish giggle.  Yugi was in a little dismay over seeing one of his most used fighters on the opposite side of the field and the fact that Beta was not strong enough to survive the Dark Magician Girls attack.  It would be ok though, and Paladin knew that the trap that was set was nothing effective at this moment.  It was the three traps that Paladin had that worried YugiBwho knows they could be magic cards?

 

ADark Magician Girl, attack Beta the Magnet Warrior.@  Paladin said calmly and the yellow-haired Magician Girl obeyed her master and used her wand to destroy Beta causing the hologram to explode like shattering glass and for Yugi's life points to drop another 300 points due to the Dark Magician Girls attack being 2000Bwho needed the 1700 defense...

 

With Yugi's life points at 7400 he had a bit of respect for Paladin's skill in playing cards, but it wasn't enough to kill him, or even wound him, Yugi would come back strong and Paladin was waiting for it.

 

Yugi drew a card, it was Swords of Revealing Light, it would do to make time, hopefully something would come up and the Heart of the Cards would reign true.  Yugi placed the Big Shield Guardian in defense position and slid Swords of Light into the slot next to the Mystical Ref Panel, with the activation, long light swords appeared on Paladin's field and around the Dark Magician Girl who looked around in what looked to be fear, Yugi had said, AI play this monster in defense mode and I use the magic card Swords of Revealing Light!@ 

 

Paladin was not very surprised and when the Dark Magician Girl turned to him he whispered, AIt's alright,@ then said to Yugi, ANow you are not only setting monsters in defense but you are using Swords of Light to buy time; you don't hear me saying anything obnoxious to you about it.@

 

Yugi smiled and said, AI see you are more caring than you let on, thanking your Merciful Nun and telling your Magician Girl that things will be alright, its like you are their father not their master, but as all duelists know, there are always losses in a battle.@

 

AOf course, but there is no reason for your fighters to be used as pawns either.  Are you finished with your turn?@  Paladin asked.

 

AI am, go ahead,@ Yugi replied.

 

Paladin drew a card revealing Fallen Angel Mary, it was a little late for that, but he would have to see what happen's later, for now his field was protected and if he chose he could activate Imperial Order to negate Swords of Revealing Light and attack Yugi's face down card, but with no threat to him at the moment he would allow Yugi to continue and passed on the remainder of his turn.

 

Yugi drew a card and smiled to himself over the fact that it was Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, which meant for him to lay out his most powerful monster he would need Gamma the Magnet warrior and also he would have to retrieve Beta from his graveyard, for now he would set Alpha in defense mode upon his field next to his Big Shield who had 2600 defense points; Alpha had 1700 defense points.  On his next turn he would decide if he should tribute summon Alpha and Big Shield for his Dark Magician or if he got lucky and drew Gamma he could summon Valkyrion, he would have to decide on his next turn. 

 

Paladin drew and looked at what he had, an Axe of Despair, not bad, this magic card was a weapon attachment which would give the fighter he attached it to 1000 extra attack points, so he decided that his Dark Magician Girl needed to be as powerful as a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, so he slipped the axe into the magic and trap slot next to Royal Decree and activated it, attaching it to the Dark Magician Girl and causing a brutal-looking axe to appear in her left hand with her wand still in her right, the axe had an old wooden handle with a rotting face at the top and a huge metal blade with blood stains and cracks upon the metal, the Magician Girl smiled a little knowing that she was strong and had nothing to fear.

 

AI attach the Axe of Despair to my Dark Magician Girl giving her 3000 attack points and once again I end my turn, I believe that this is the last turn for Swords of Light?@  Paladin said.

 

AIt is, so I draw...@  Yugi said in thought as the swords remained on Paladin's field for the last turn. Yugi pulled a card looking at the red numbers that read 7400 upon his duel disk.

 

All who were gathered including the cars that stopped and parked on the street watched almost quietly as Paladin and Yugi were playing, with stakes so high, even Joseph and Tea were not being much of a cheering section.

 

Yugi looked at the card in which he drew, it was Pot of Greed which was a magic card that had a greenish jug with a grim smiling face upon the center.  Yugi activated the card and Paladin saw the pot appear on the field and laugh as Yugi drew two more cards and then vanish.  The two cards Yugi drew were Magic Cylinder and Gamma the Magnet Warrior!  The heart of the Cards was with him today he thought so Yugi placed the Cylinder in a slot and took Monster Reborn from his hand and activated it.

 

AI play Monster Reborn, to return Beta the Magnet Warrior to my field!@  Yugi said with vigor, however his glory was halted when Paladin activated Imperial Order, negating Monster Reborn and returning it and Beta to the graveyard, this card had also caused Swords of Revealing Light to negate, although it still remained on the field.

 

AImperial Order, try something else.@  Paladin said.

 

ANo, how can this be?@  Yugi said staring at the image of a king with his finger pointing down and a kingdom in the background, this trap stopped all magic on the field.  It was time to rethink his plan, so he decided to tribute both Alpha the Magnet Warrior and Big Shield Guardian for the Dark Magician.

 

AI summon my Dark Magician in attack mode, and I will also use my trap Mystical Ref Panel and take your Axe of Despair from your Dark Magician Girl and give it to my Dark Magician, you might have thwarted my attempt to summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, but now with my Dark Magician armed with the Axe of Despair he has an attack power of 3500 which is 1500 more than your Dark Magician Girl.@  Yugi said with pride, Paladin was not very amused and said, AI'm not the one who spent his childhood playing games when I should have been in school, so I know how to add and subtract, you don't have to explain it to me.  Good play though, at least I know what your trap was...the problem is however that with my Imperial Order on the field, the Axe of Despair is useless no matter who uses it, so I think your next move is obvious, your Dark Magician is stronger than my girl...so knock yourself out...attack me.@ 

 

Yugi felt like he was way off his game, how could he make a mistake like he just did.  He could attack Paladin