A Whisper of Time || Yu-Gi-Oh Book 1 ||

Chapter 23

"Alright, take care of yourself," Téa agreed reluctantly to Atem's crazy idea.

"I will," Atem promised.

In the blink of an eye, Téa imagined where she wanted to be. Picking her necklace, Téa was gone. Atem let a sigh of relief. Atem had an idea of how to buy Téa some time while she fixed the necklace. Atem turned towards Gauntlez. He was no different from all the villains Atem had faced during his long existence. Right now, Gauntlez was no longer smiling but was rather angry.

"So, the bitch escaped in the past. How predictable, her predecessor did the same." His laugh was bitter. "However, she'll be back sooner or later."

"Why do you seek her powers? What do they mean to you?" Atem asked.

"I know what you're doing, but I'll answer you." Gauntlez was no idiot, he knew the former pharaoh was stalling for time. "I want to control the world; with her powers, I'll be able to change anything in the past in my interest. I'll rule the past, the present and the future!" Atem wasn't impressed. Atem had heard similar things over and over again in the past. Every villain aimed towards world dominance for some reason.

"And you believe you'll achieve this, truly?" Gauntlez looked him up disparagingly.

"I know you're doubting me, pharaoh. However, your girlfriend isn't you. She can't win." No, he was wrong.

"Téa will defeat you." Atem had to put his plan into action. "Meanwhile, I challenge you to a duel." Gauntlez raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Really? You don't think you can win as easily as you did against my minion. I'm not stupid as him and I know your tricks." Atem took out a duelling disk unfazed by his words.

"So, I get it you refuse my challenge," Atem spoke while mixing his cards.

"No, on the contrary, I accept. It'll be amusing to humiliate you," Atem had no intention of letting him win.

"Alright, let's duel." Atem started first.

The duel disks were activated, and the duel began. Each player drew six cards and Atem had a combination he was very familiar with.

"I summon Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts." Atem summoned the monster but he was not finished. "This allows me to summon Berfomet on the field but that's not all. I'll use polymerization to create Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast." Gauntlez looked at Atem's moves unimpressed.

"Is that it? You know you can't attack now." Atem's famous smirk appeared on his face.

"I'm afraid you're wrong, again." Taking another card from his hand, he placed on his duel disk. "I activate the magic card quick attack and my monster can attack immediately," Gauntlez's expression changed.

Gauntlez knew the pharaoh would be tricky but not that much. Atem started his very first move with an attack. His beast launched forward, getting a big chunk of his life points. The merged beast had the power of twenty-one hundred, taking more than half his points. That damn pharaoh would pay.

"Laugh it while you can pharaoh." Gauntlez wiped his face composing himself.

Gauntlez already had a plan of how to get rid of the pharaoh's monster. His fault was he was too confident. The pharaoh was too used of winning and being too fond of his title as King of Games. It was time to dethrone the king then.

"I summon Masked Dragon in attack mode, then I place this card facedown." Gauntlez was luring Atem to attack.

Leaving his monster in attack mode was obviously a trap. His dragon was weaker than Chimera, so the facedown card had to be a trap. Either way, he was going to use it. Deciding his next move, Atem chose to act.