Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Altered Destinies ❯ Chapter 13 ( Chapter 13 )

This is my first attempt at a Yu-Gi-Oh fanfiction so please be kind in your reviews, if you review. I might not have many of the characters in character. On another note I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh and never will. I don't know whom it is that owns Yu-Gi-Oh and besides giving these unknown parties credit for making such a kickass manga/anime, I don't really care. Also, I don't have any money right now so, no one can benefit at all when it comes to suing me.

I came up with this idea when I read a couple of stories that I have read on fanfiction.net. One was recently taken off for some reason but it had been a good story. The other focused on the series if Yugi had been born a girl. I decided to take my shot at this kind of story but using Seto Kaiba. I will only mention this once so <B><U>pay attention</B></U>:

/Backslash/ - a conversation between a person and their spirit. i.e.: Yugi to Yami and vice versa.

//Double Backslash// - the person is thinking.

-Altered Destinies, Chapter 13-

//This is not good.// Seto thought as she took damage from the Gravekeeper Gunners special ability. //I didn't get to take a turn yet and I am now down by 700 life points.// "Now I get to start," Kaiba said as she drew her first card. "I'll set this card face-down in defense mode and place this face-down as well."

Shadi (I just don't want to call him stranger all of the time now) drew his next card. "I'll set this face down and play Sleeping Valley of the Pharaoh: Necrovalley." The holographic screen walls changed scenes to simulate an Egyptian valley.

"What's going on here mister," the brunette now. //This can't be good. A Field Magic card.//

"This is the valley in which the Pharaohs of Egypt millennia ago," Shadi explained. "It is my Gravekeeper's duty to protect this sacred valley from trespassers. As such, any card with the name Gravekeeper in it gains a 500 attack and defense point boost. Giving my Gunner who, I now have switched to attack mode 1900 attack points and I also summon Gravekeeper Spearman who also gains the power boost and attacks your face-down monster." A man with similar garb to the Gravekeeper Gunner appeared (4/2000/1500.) The monster's spear impaled the card to reveal a pink little bug. "Needle Worm, good thing my Spearman does damage to you even if your monster is in defense mode (K: 5900 S: 8000.) "Now, it's my Gunner's turn. First, he'll attack directly (K: 4000) and now I'll sacrifice the Spearman to damage your life points (K: 3300.)" Shadi took the top 5 cards in his deck and sent them to the Graveyard.

//I down to less than half of my life points in a matter of two turns. I better turn this around now. I can't lose to some freaky person with a bath towel on his head.// Seto drew her next card and played a magic card from her hand. "Good, now I'll bring back Needle Worm to call forth Emerald Dragon with Early Burial. This Equipment Magic card forces me to give up 800 Life Points." Needle Worm did not show up. "What's going on now? That face down card can't be Magic Jammer, could it?"

"There's reason Necrovalley is the home of the Gravekeepers Kaiba," the other blue-eyed person said. "The treasures and corpses in this valley are not meant for thieves and tomb robbers. Because of this, if an effect is played that so much as mentions Graveyard in it, the effect is negated. The Gravekeepers are meant to further protect these tombs."

//Great, I can't special summon any monster's from the Graveyard as long as this valley surrounds us. The good thing is that he can't do the same either.// "I'll activate my face down trap card now," Kaiba mentioned as he flipped over her facedown card. "Careless Avarice. This card will let me draw two cards now." She saw the two cards on that she just drew. //Jar of greed and Angel's gift. Just my luck as I'll have to skip my next two draw phases and I have just the two cards that will buy me time.// "I summon the leader of the Black Scorpion's, Don Zaruuq and I'll equip him with the Unicorn's Horn giving him 700 attack and defense points." A guy with a patch eye, gray hair and two handguns appeared on the field (4/2100/1700.) "Attack his Gravekeeper Gunner now." Shadi stood calm as Kaiba's monster pulled the trigger. The attack approach his monster and he took a card from his hand and sent it to the Graveyard. //It was Magic Jammer.// The attack hit a charm-like object.

"Shabti's Charm," Shadi explained. "The Gravekeeper's Koribo. When my opponent attacks, I just discard this from my hand and all of my Gravekeeper's will be protected from all damage."

//Just great.// Kaiba thought. //I can't hurt him this turn. I have Emerald Dragon, Jar of Greed, Angel's Gift and-, wait a minute. That trap card will help me right now. He has used Infiltrator, Spearman, Necrovalley, Gunner, and a face down card along with the charm and the five cards in his Graveyard. He can't get those back no matter what and is left with two cards.// "I set this face down and end turn."

Shadi took his next card. "Before I draw and during your second main phase, I activate Avatar of Apophis. A trap monster." A snake-like monster pooled out onto the field

//Trap Monster. That means he summoned a monster during my turn, he must be going for the kill.//

"Now I'll draw," Shadi took a look at his next card. "Now, I'll sacrifice my Apophis card to summon Gravekeeper Leader." A man with charismatic wisdom appeared (5/2400/2000.) "This monster makes my Graveyard immune to Necrovalley."

//WHAT!?// Seto nearly lost her composure. //That means cards like Raise Dead are useful on his Graveyard. Keep a steady face.// The tall lady almost lost it when she saw a new monster on the field (3/1300/1300.)

"I forgot to mention that when this monster is sacrificed summoned, it brings back one Gravekeeper monster in my Graveyard to the field and I choose Gravekeeper Chanter which had been discarded by Needle Worm," Shadi answered the unasked question. "I also use Raise Dead to bring back my Spearman." The Spearman appeared and with Gravekeeper Chanter, disappeared due to Gravekeeper Gunner's ability. Kaiba didn't flinch as he lost 1900 life points. "Chanter does 500 life points of damage as soon as it hits the field. Your turn and you can't draw thanks to Careless Avarice." (K: 1400 S: 8000.)

//He bought my bluff.// Kaiba sighed mentally. "I play Jar of Greed to draw two cards." //Thunder Dragon and Mystical Space Typhoon. I just need Fusion for one of my best monsters.// "I play Mystical Space Typhoon and remove your Necrovalley. Now your Gravekeepers can't draw any more power from that card." The display on the screen disappeared and Needle Worm appeared. //Of course. Sleeping Valley of the Pharaoh on negates the effect of the card and since Early Burial is an equipment card, it remains on the field unless destroyed.// "I'll sacrifice Needle Worm to summon Emerald Dragon." A large green dragon took flight. "Emerald Dragon take out the leader while Don takes out the Gunner." Both monster sent out their attacks as told, but both attacks were blocked. "Shabti's Charm again. I end my turn after playing Angel's Gift which lets me draw three cards, then discard two." Seto placed her hand on the deck with her eyes closed. //Let one of these be the fusion card so that I can summon Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon.// Seto took the top three cards and saw, //Coins from the Heavens, a Cyber pod and another Needle Worm. I'll keep the magic card.// Seto discarded the other two of the three cards.

"I draw," Shadi drew his next card. "And I'll play my own Jar of Greed to draw two more cards. Then I'll sacrifice my Gravekeeper Leader to do 700 life points of damage (K: 700) and then I'll sacrifice my gunner to bring forth another Gravekeeper Leader. Since Gunner has to wait one turn to use it's effect after being summoned from the Graveyard via the leader, I'll bring back my Chanter and do 500 life points of damage automatically (K: 200 S: 8000.) I'll just set this and wait for your move and you still can't draw."

"I play Coins from the Heaven's," the blue-eyed girl said as she took five cards in her hand. //Please let this work because he'll be getting six cards as well.//

"I activate Ritual of Spirits," Shadi said flipping up his face down card before drawing. "This trap card allows me to special summon a Gravekeeper from the Graveyard in I choose my Gunner once again. It was designed for Necrovalley in play. When you end your turn, I'll finish you with my monster's effect and I just got Shabti's Charm thanks to your card."

//Which is why I should've had Life Shortening Cards in it's place. Cause you might have gotten Shabti's Charm again and stop my attack, but if I can destroy your monsters with an effect, it won't matter.// Seto still had her eyes closed. Raising her right eye, Kaiba saw her new hand. //White Dragon Descent, Fusion, Burst Stream of Destruction, Raise Dead, and Manju God. Those aren't what I need. I can't-, wait perfect.// "I summon Manju God who won't be around for much longer any ways. I just need him to fish out a certain card for me and I also discard this card in my hand to fish out two more cards that I can use." Seto took three cards from her deck and shuffled her deck before setting it down. "I now use these two magic cards, White Dragon Descent and Fusion. I sacrifice Manju God to summon The Knight of White Dragon and I fuse the two Thunder Dragons in my hand to summon Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon." An armored knight riding a Blue Eyes White Dragon flew into the arena and jumped down to the ground (4/1900/1200) followed by a red two headed dragon (7/2800/2000.) "Now I use my Knight's effect to sacrifice him to summon a Blue Eyes White Dragon from my deck." The dragon knight turned into the familiar dragon that Kaiba is famous for (8/3000/2500.)

"You forget that your dragon can't attack until it's next turn," Shadi said. "You will pay for your mistake as I draw."

"I didn't end my turn yet," Kaiba replied. "I use my Raise Dead to bring back my Knight and since my white dragon can't attack until my next turn I'll use Burst Stream of Destruction." Shadi's eyes widened. "That's right, Shabti's Charm only stops attacks on Gravekeeper's, but this is an effect. With my dragon face up on the field, I could use this card to destroy all enemy monsters on the field. Now my other four monster can attack without worry of your charm." The Blue Eyes White Dragon fired its breath weapon and wiped out all of Shadi's monsters to clear the field for her other monsters (K: 200 S: 0.) "The fury of my Blue Eyes White Dragon has turned this around."

"Very good Kaiba Seto," Shadi said while Seto had her smug look. "You have met my expectations." //Now, your only two weaknesses are your anger and hatred to the past and how self-destructive your deck can be because of that anger and hatred. When you next duel the Pharaoh by the end of next week, let that be the last time you allow your negative emotions to rule you.//

"I guess that's what you get for underestimating me," Kaiba said, hiding her anger at the development of her almost being defeated by an unknown duelist. "I will admit that I was worried for a moment." //Great now, I have a second rival. My company can't afford me to have another rival. I have to end my rivalry with Yugi soon so that I can't have anyone hold back my greatness.// Seto looked at her opponent to find out that Shadi was gone. "What the!? I didn't even get his name." She left the arena to turn off the lights to the room and head back to the mansion.

A few days have passed since Seto's duel with Shadi, and she was now in her office working on the design of her company's latest product on her laptop. The duel inspired her to work on a solution to the problem of duelist who wants to duel each other during the night but none the places that have the arenas were open and how many people want to duel without the holographs anyway nowadays. "This will make it so that I can duel Yugi anytime Mokuba," Seto said with great confidence. "The design is the same principal as the original Duel Disk that I dueled both the makeinu and Yugi at Duelist Kingdom, but with the more traditional rules. Instead of a measly five spaces for the cards, four that also functions as a hand, 11 slots have been added. Five monster spaces, five magic/trap spaces, and a field magic space."

"That's all good and well Neesan," Mokuba replied. "But I have been seeing this news report on an upcoming Egyptian exhibit." The brunette stopped immediately at the young boys words.

//That duelist was Egyptian and he said that he had some bad news hunting him down. I wonder-.// Seto thought. //No, it couldn't be.//

"Neesan," the longhaired boy asked in concern. "I was thinking about us going there at some point. This exhibit is about games that have been played in ancient times and what these games were played for. I thought that might catch your attention being a top gamer yourself."

"I don't have the time or the patience for mummies or folk tales Mokuba," Seto said. "I have a business to run and by the time I could afford a break, the exhibit would have moved on." //Whatever happened to kids wanting to go to the beach these days.// A ringing of a cell phone caught Kaiba's attention. She motioned to Mokuba to leave the office for a moment. "Kaiba here."

"You really should take you brother's advice and visit my exhibit Kaiba," a female voice said. "Especially since I know you want to."

//Who is this psycho and how did she know that?// "How did you know that my brother was talking about the exhibit?"

"All will be revealed in time Kaiba," the voice said. "You also shouldn't tune out the next part of my press conference right this second." Kaiba looked at the screen to see the image of an Egyptian woman with long black hair, blue eyes, and a necklace with a familiar symbol on it. On the bottom of the screen was Isis Ishtal.

"Tonight, I am personally inviting Kaiba Seto to a private exhibition and I am certain that her life won't be the same afterwards."

"If you are interested in a card stronger than Exodia, you'll be here at 9 tonight," Isis said before hanging up. The businesswoman closed her phone.

//What kind of crack has she been smoking?// Seto mentally asked. //A card that is stronger than the Forbidden God Exodia, impossible.// Images of her public loss to Yugi many months back still haunting her.

A KaibaCorp limo pulled up in front of the museum at 9pm. The back door opened and Seto stepped out dressed in a red blouse beneath a blue jacket and a black business skirt that went to mid-thigh. High-heeled shoes clicked on the cement of the sidewalk, she walked up to the front of the limo, where the window rolled down and spoke, "This shouldn't take me to long." Turning around, Seto made her way to a meeting that will be the catalyst for a change in her life.

-To Be Continued-

I couldn't have timed this duel better even if I had planned it myself. I made a grave, no pun intended, mistake with Gravekeeper Infiltrator and its effect. To correct this mistake, I made it so that triggered effects cannot be used when a Gravekeeper was brought to life via the leader's effect. This change was inspired by the fact that Yugi had used Critter (Sangan) and it had a different effect in the Manga, never was listed what the effect was itself. Next Chapter has Kaiba testing out her new card and going over whom to invite to Battle City. This chapter's featured card is what turned the whole duel around.

As to the analysis of Kaiba's weaknesses as a duelist, it was simple. In the manga, he has heard of the Exodia cards, but never knew that they existed. Cards that he has never seen give him trouble big time. Toon World, Reversed Worlds (Exchange of the Spirit), and even Exodia Necros (in the anime) have all proven to be most troublesome to him. As for anger and rage, it's what he duels with ever since duelist kingdom and it has had his deck self-destruct on him. Pegasus, Isis, Lector, Noa, and Gozaburo all took early leads on him and dictated the match, despite the life point situation. With Kaiba, it's easy for him to lose control of a match, and very hard to regain that control.

Burst Stream of Destruction
Type: Normal Magic
Spell Speed: 1
Effect: Use with a face-up attack position Blue Eyes White Dragon. Destroy all monster on the opponent's field. During the turn in which you have activated this card, the chosen Blue Eyes White Dragon can't attack.