“So Peasant you seek to betray me?” Gilgamesh said as he sipped a glass of wine, his expression a mixture of fury but also amusement “You forget your place! You may have once been a great figure of France but soon enough like all those supposed great ones…you shall be forgotten. Whereas my legend will continue”
Yugi grunted from where he was as Gilgamesh elbowed him “hmm you won’t….get away with this”
“You are mistaken former Pharaoh! Like you were when you destroyed the Millennium Items! You assume that destroying them will ensure their evil is destroyed…how childish” Gilgamesh gloated as he reached into his portal and pulled out a copy of the Millennium Puzzle “In my world you failed…you’re little host lost the duel against Marik that day in the warehouse and was burned to death!”
“You lie!” Atem growled through Yugi.
“Lie do I? I was there the moment little Yugi died…I even took his cards as a trophy! In some worlds you exist Yugi…Atem whatever…but in others you don’t. In some worlds you failed to rescue your grandfather, in others…Kaiba defeated you during that first duel. I know this because the god of destruction showed me all…in fact that’s how I knew how to win! I’ve spend the last month hopping universes and evaluating their strengths. Their wishes seem so trivial to me” Gilgamesh gloated as he grabbed Yugi’s hair and pulled him up to his lips “Over there is Monkey D Luffy…his wish is so pathetic…he wants his brother back. Over there is Applejack…I already know her wish, when she threw out one of Universe 6's fighters. I saw it happen…she wants her parents back…it’s almost laughable!”
Fluttershy suddenly slapped Gilgamesh hard across the face shaking in rage “How dare you!? That dream is not pathetic!? It’s not Laughable! You sick demented….!”
“You need to learn your place, slave!” Gilgamesh rose to his feet and approached Fluttershy pulling her hair harshly and throwing her to the ground before putting his foot on her head “You are mine now…You are a spoil of conquest! And when I win this tournament…well you will know what a great wish looks like”
“Sounds like a load of hot air to me” Jiro snarled
“It would except it’s hot air with some purpose because when I win this tournament…I will make a wish of great worth! I will wish that all of Existence will be mine! The Grail cannot grand me such a wish but the Super Dragonballs will grand me an eternal existence…to do with as I see fit! No more pain…no more injustice…all people given enough…and those unworthy of serving me eliminated”
“But no freedom! No choices!” Artoria suddenly called out from where she sat “Your delusions are only matched by your frightening arrogance”
“So long as I win…what care have I for the opinions of one of my slaves?” Gilgamesh asked slowly as Joan took her first turn of the duel.
Joan sighed as she looked at her hand and then said “Right! It’s my move so I play the spell! Banner of Courage! During our battle phases our monsters will gain 200 attack points and you’re out of luck because I have two! So I’ll play it!” Joan looked behind her as the two banners appeared and she then said “I’ll then set a card face down and summon Silent Swordsman Level 3 in attack mode! Finally I play Level up! So now my Silent Swordsman becomes Level 5! That’s my turn”
“I don’t know what I expected from a witch like you” Shakespeare said clearly trying to mock Joan as he drew “Hmm now I play the Field Spell, Centre Stage!” the area changed to look like the inside of the Globe Theatre “Ah yes so many memories here but now to give one amazing performance! That’ll ensure our audience are given a show for the age!”
“Is this guy for real?” Krillin asked from the side lines but Whis nodded “I’m guessing that field spell has a power?”
“Let’s put it this way….any spell or trap played by his opponents can be used by Shakespeare…For example that Banner of Courage” Whis explained as he then added “Traps like Mirror Force wouldn’t be affected but say a trap adds attack points to Twilight’s monster…then the same attack points would be added to Shakespeare monsters that goes for Equip spells too”
“Would that mean the girls could benefit from the cards effects?” Goku asked but Whis shook his head “So he really is…”
“The leading man” Whis finished sadly “That deck seems perfectly designed to face more than a single opponent…” he glared at Gilgamesh “I’m guessing he planned for it” Gilgamesh’s smirk only seemed to grow “It’ll mean if he’s chosen his team well and aren’t more Joans…his entire team will have ruthlessly strong decks”
“Now I summon our first leading man…V Tiger Jet in attack mode…next I play Frontline Base! This spell allows me to special summon any Level 4 or lower union monster so I summon w-wing catapult! Now let our two leads come together to summon VW- Tiger Catapult!” he then pointed at Silent Swordsman “Now I discard a card and it allows me to force your monster into defence mode! And since this is a 3 on 1 duel I can attack! VW-Tiger Catapult attack Silent Swordsman!”
“Not so fast I activate the quick play spell Emergency Summon!” Twilight yelled as a monster appeared on the field “Meet my Ghost gardna and I’ll activate my quick play spell Shrink! So VW is attacking my 1900 Gardna with a mere 1400!”
“Hmm interesting how the witch protects her coven” Shakespeare said amused as he looked at the card in his hand “But I activate my own quick play spell called Shakespearian Tragedy! Now this card has two effects that work together! First step is I check my hand…and if I don’t have five cards…I draw till I do but for every one…my VW gets 200 extra attack points!” Shakespeare drew five cards “Ah! So now my monster has 2400!” VW launched missiles at Ghost Gardna who tried to dodge the attack but finally the missiles found their mark “Well I guess I’ll end my turn…Your move Miss Akiza”
Akiza drew a card and said “I really don’t like you…So I’ll start this turn by playing Monster Reborn! To Revive your V Tiger Jet! I then normal summon Copy Plant!” her plant appeared as she then added “I next play the spell Brain Control! I give up 800 life points to take control of your monster! Now since VW is a level 6 I’m going to use Copy Planet to give him a tune up! I now summon Black Rose Dragon!” the dragon roared as it appeared on the field “Now you have no cards left so Black Rose Dragon attack!”
“Battle Fader!” Shakespeare said as he showed the monster who appeared on the field and ended Akiza’s battle phase “Is that it?”
Akiza snarled “No…all I have left is this. I set one card face down”
“My move! I’ll use this spell, Cost Down! To discard a card and now I sacrifice Battle Fader to Summon Perfect Machine King! Next I play one card facedown and then play double Summon! To Summon X Head Canon!” Shakespeare said as he marvelled at his field “So since I now control a second Machine monster my Perfect Machine King gains an extra 500 attack points! That’s 3200! Now to test how strong your bounds are in this little performance…Perfect Machine King attack Miss Sparkle directly!”
“Silent Swordsman! Block the attack!” Joan suddenly ordered as the missiles of the Perfect Machine King were launched and the swordsman intercepted the attack “Sorry”
“Why?” Twilight asked “I owe you one!” Joan smiled as Shakespeare ended his turn and Twilight began her turn “That monster maybe strong but he…”
“Oh I forgot to mention but I activate my trap DNA Surgery so now I select Machine!” Shakespeare said as he laughed “Oh Miss Sparkle your decks are so predictable…I saw what kinds of decks you have and…why are you laughing?”
“Oh sorry” Twilight said as she couldn’t help but laugh “When you asked to face us in a fresh game I saw through your plan…so I decided to switch my decks to my second deck”
Jaden Yuki sitting on the side lines laughed and said “Reminds me of someone doesn’t it, Alexis?”
“Yeah Bastion” Alexis confirmed “I’m guessing Twilight there also has other decks”
“So I swapped to my Warrior deck to help Joan out…it’s true Dark Magicians are my favourites but I have other decks in case they’re not able to win. Besides with a brother like Shining you know sticking to one deck is just silly” Twilight admitted as her brother laughed from the side lines. Shakespeare’s face seemed to sink as Twilight held up two cards “And now I play my first spell Pot of greed to draw two cards, then I play Mystical Space Typhoon to take out your DNA Surgery! And now for my next card I play two copies of the A forces Spell! This card means that all our warriors will gain 200 points for each warrior in play on our side!”
“Which would mean…Well this may very well be a tragedy” Shakespeare murmured
“Here’s hoping! I play Monster Reborn to Revive Silent Swordsman LV5 and now I summon Obnoxious Celtic Guardian! Now I have one card left and as bad an idea as it is…I play the equip Spell Mage Power And Equip it to my Celtic Guardian!” Celtic Guardian smiled back at her “So unless your math skills are as bad as your obnoxious tones! Both My monsters gain 400 from each A forces spell, so that’s 800, Celtic Guardian also gains 3000 because I have three spells, Joan has two and Akiza has 1…and the banners add an extra 400! So Giving Celtic Guardian a total of 5600 attack points!”
“Ummm oh dear…” Shakespeare said as he gulped “Don’t suppose I can ask you not to attack?”
“No” Twilight said as she said “Look at it this way…you’ll still have points after this. Go Silent Swordsman attack, Perfect Machine King! Your monster has 3200 and mine has 3500! So you lose 300!” Silent Swordsman cut the machine in half and Shakespeare’s points dropped from 12000 to 11700 “Now Celtic Guardian attack with Silver Sword Slash on X-head Canon!” X-head cannon’s resulting destruction dropped Shakespeare’s points to 8100 “With that done I’ll end my turn”
Shakespeare stood up from the pain his face no longer smiling or even charming, he just looked mad and yelled “How dare you!? I will not be upstaged by a bunch of witches!” he stroked his beard trying to calm down and drew “I will not be made a fool of! By a pack of…” but the Grand Minister cast him a warning look to which Shakespeare took the hint “Right…Oh this is good…I just drew the cards I needed!" his face lit up with a mad gleam to it "I was given a rare card by Gilgamesh to take you all down…But first I play Heavy Storm! To wipe every spell and trap off the field…I need a fresh set for this act” Shakespeare smirked as he then played the next card “I play the spell! Spell Revival! This spell allows me at the cost of 300 life points for each…to revive any spell destroyed this turn! So Revive the A forces Spells and one of the banners!” his life points dropped to 7200.
“Oh no!” Jaden screamed from the sidelines “He’s not! It can’t be!”
“Oh I heard that Young man…you know what’s coming now?” Shakespeare said as his smirk grew to an evil size “Now I sacrifice the three continuous spells to summon…YOUR DOOM!” the air was filling with thunder and lightning as Shakespeare placed the monster on the duel disc “Come fourth! Hamon lord of striking thunder!! Hahahahaha!” the massive Sacred Beast appeared on the field “Now who should I take out first?” he turned to Joan “I’m afraid my dear, it is time for you to exit stage left…Hamon strike her down!”
Hamon roared as it prepared to attack but suddenly Celtic Guardian charged in front of the blast “Sorry but I can’t let you leave just yet” Twilight called over
“Well then your lifepoints will be the ones to go! Because I activate the spell Shrink” Shakespeare cackled “Now you’re Gilgamesh’s!” the attack struck the guardian and he disappeared in a cloud of smoke “Now…you take 1000 points since your monster has been destroyed…”
“I don’t think so…I may be down to 700 points but my Celtic Guardian can’t be taken out by monsters stronger than 1900” Twilight wheezed as she fell to her knees “It’s why I ordered him to take the blast”
“So you’re smarter than you look” Shakespeare said as he then added “But next turn I’ll take you all out in a single blast!!”
“I don’t think so! It’s my move!” Joan yelled as she drew and said “I won’t let you hurt her! Hmm Hey you two do you mind if I borrow your monsters?” Akiza and Twilight nodded “Alright! I sacrifice V Tiger Jet, Celtic Guardian and Silent Swordsman to summon Gilford the Lightening! This all mighty monster can destroy every monster you have in play including your Hamon!”
Hamon was destroyed as Shakespeare snarled “Damn it! You witch of a traitor!”
“Well I guess what’s done is done” Joan joked causing Shakespeare’s face to grow even more cold “Oh sorry that was one of yours wasn’t it?”
“You joke again, witch and I’ll…” Shakespeare growled but the Grand Minister “Well is that your move?!”
“Oh goodness no! I still have my attack…Gilford! Lightening Sword!” Joan ordered as Gilford charged Shakespeare “So let’s see that’s 4400? Isn’t it that you have left? I’ll set a card and end my turn!”
“My move! I….have nothing” Shakespeare snarled as his eyes went wide “I…I…I…play Giga Tech Wolf in defence mode. I end my turn”
“My move! I summon Lord Poison in attack mode!” Akiza said and then added “Now I use Black Rose’s Special effect, by removing a plant monster from my grave I can force your puppy into attack mode and drop its points to zero! So I remove my copy plant and Now Black Rose attacks!”
“And I activate my trap….Life Point Transfer! I transfer 3900 life points to Black Rose Dragon!” Joan declared, her points dropped to 100 and Black Rose’s attack shot up to 6300 “There Twilight…that should get you through to the next round”
“Joan…” Twilight said in surprise “But I don’t understand”
“If it weren’t for you I would have lost! Thanks to you! I can go out with honour!” Joan called over “Thank you” the attack smacked into the Giga Tech Wolf and the duel was over with Shakespeare’s points hitting zero. Joan walked over to Twilight and smiled as Twilight hugged her thankful for her help “You make me proud to…”
“Don’t give me that! You should be the one to go through! Not me!” Twilight snapped “Why did you…”
“You ask that but you fail to understand…I’m a slave of Gilgamesh it’s taken all my strength to defy him” Joan explained as she smiled “If the duel had finished the way it had….Twilight you would have been made Gilgamesh’s slave too”
Akiza nodded “It’s true…points stood me 3200, Joan 4000 and you Twilight, 700”
“So you tried to save me?!” Twilight asked
“No I want Akiza to save me” Joan said as she turned to Akiza “Is that okay?” Akiza nodded as Twilight hugged Joan “You should be pleased you showed that…man...the spirit worthy of…why are you crying?” Twilight was crying as she held Joan closer “You won?”
“But you deserve to go through…not me! I’ve heard your story and…” Twilight sobbed but Akiza stroked her hair gently “And for you to do something noble just for my sake! And when facing Gilgamesh’s control…I don’t feel worthy of it!?”
“You are worthy…that’s my call to make and you are smart, brave and wonderful” Joan soothed as she turned to Akiza “So what’s your decision?”
Akiza sighed “I don’t suppose I can ask for Yugi and Fluttershy back?”
“No sadly I don’t think so” Joan said kindly
“Well then I request your freedom and you can serve whichever team you want!” Akiza declared happily as Joan smiled “I’m guessing you’re joining Twilight?” Joan nodded “Yeah with what she did…I would too” Akiza then turned to Shakespeare “You will be joining my team! You will tell us everything you know!” Akiza said firmly.
The Grand Minister coughed “Well that is all agreed it’s time for the next match! Red team first!” the red lights shot up and circled around before landing in Universes 1 and 8 “Selections made! Universe 1’s Princess Jasmine and Universe 8’s Nico Robin selected! Now for the Blue Team!” the blue lights shot up and again it was long time before they came down “Universe 11’s Momo Yaoyorozu and Universe 9’s Rukia Kuchiki are the Blue Team Members!”
“Miss Yaoyorozu…you’d better win this one…we’ve already lost two players” Belmod said sadly as he looked down sadly “We’re currently in last place…we haven’t got a single duellist through to the next round and we have two players eliminated”
Midoriya nodded “It’s a pretty bad position all round…but Momo is one of the best we have” he said as Momo nodded as she walked out to the duelling area.
Momo approached Rukia who smiled and shook her hand “Hey my name is Rukia…hope you’re ready for a duel? Looks like we’ve got one of the less insane duels” Rukia joked and Momo nodded “It could get more insane I suppose”
“Yeah well let’s hope we can all just have a nice quiet duel” Momo said sadly “Yeah right”