Skadi finally understood the maneuver when she found out exactly what monster she was attacking. Still holding the sword, Cyber Valkyrie shot a chilled orb of blue energy, revealing her target as a green child-like creature wearing the red robes and crown of a French king. (3000/3000) It was a creature Skadi had faced before.

“Goblin King gains one thousand attack and defense points from every Fiend on the field, and I count three.”

To add insult to injury, as Skadi’s life points lowered to 7000, she disdainfully sent her Snowfall Sword to the Graveyard. It could only be maintained as long as she had a Warrior in play, and right now she obviously didn’t.

“I set another card face-down then,” The woman completed, remembering her act, “and end my turn. Congratulations Taishi that was quite an impressive combination you just used.”

That’s all? Taishi noticed, relaxing considerably. I must be doing better then I thought.

Drawing up to six cards, Taishi tensed up more then relaxed. This could be just what I need, but if it doesn’t work… well, I’m better off at least trying. It’s just as likely to fail later as it is now, so if I’m going to be I trouble, at least now I have some solid advantage with my Goblin King.

“I activate the ability of King of the Swamp to discard it from my hand to the Graveyard, and add a Polymerization card to my hand.”

Oh great, Skadi slumped, knowing full well what the girl held in her hand.

Meeting the woman’s expectations, Taishi activated the product of her recent search. “Now, I fuse the three Ojama monsters in my hand, and summon Ojama King in Defense Mode.”

The three intruding monsters vanished into their portal with all manner of annoying noises following them through. Why a king of anything would use attire composed of a green sheet for a cape and two pairs of red underwear, Taishi would never understand. The monster was best described as a giant egg with eyestalks, a large nose, and a grin that made the Pot of Greed look trustable. The crown would have brought a minute level of respect had it not been made of paper. (0/3000)

Taishi held her breath to see what effect DNA Surgery had on her Ojama King, but to her surprise, nothing physical changed. The large being simply mumbled the same repeated phrase over and over.

“One, two three, four five, six… one, two, three, four, five, six…”

“Weird,” Taishi muttered, though she noted that the monster must indeed be a Fiend because her Goblin King’s attack and defense power had grown to four thousand apiece, and at the moment that was all that mattered.

“I switch Goblin King into attack mode,” Taishi commanded, “and attack Cyber Valkyrie with Red Stone Thumb.”

The childish monarch rose to his feet, a grin of enjoyment on his green baby-like face. Menacingly, he held up his right thumb, which was giving off a crimson aura, intent on using its touch to turn his target to stone.

“Activate Crystal Seal,” interrupted the masked woman, revealing a Trap Card bearing the picture of a woman trapped within a prison of purple shards.

Taishi suddenly noticed just how much the temperature had changed. Even though she was almost completely dry, she began to shift uncomfortably, and she began to notice her breath just barely visible.

Taishi’s Goblin King charged forward, blindly entering a newly formed cloud of swirling snow. Icicles formed on his limbs and clothing, and his skin changed from healthy green to a rotten looking gray. The fiendish ruler stopped cold in every sense of the phrase, now entirely cocooned in a solid structure of ice, mere inches away from striking the Cyber Valkyrie down.

“Nice effect,” Taishi mumbled, obviously impressed in the hologram. “I take it this thing is an equipping Trap that makes my monster unable to attack right?”

“Correct,” the woman in blue confirmed.

Taishi pressed further. “So what makes it any different from a Spellbinding Circle?”

“Well for starters, not only then your monster not attack, it can’t be sacrificed for any reason.”

At least I can still switch modes, Taishi noted, filing the information away, most of these sealer traps don’t leave that option. Not for the first time, Taishi found herself wishing that Duel Monsters cards had their effects written directly on them instead of having to search online or through instruction manuals. “Is that all?”

“Well no,” Skadi confessed. “Right now, the Crystal Seal’s structure is meant to imprison your monster precisely as it is right now. Any change will shatter that delicate design, meaning that if you can get the attack power of your monster to change, the prison will shatter.”

Taishi was now very confused. Given the current situation, Skadi obviously knew that she couldn’t rely on Goblin King’s attack power being stable for long. Still, there was nothing more that she could do this turn, and with that she passed control to Skadi.

“I’m curious,” Skadi asked with interest drawing into an empty hand. “Why didn’t you decide to seal off any of my monster zones?”

Taishi immediately groaned. She didn’t summon Ojama King every duel, but he definitely appeared enough that his effect should be instinctual. The moment Taishi had changed the position of her Goblin King, the timing was gone. The young woman was beginning to miss the far less distracting tabletop duels she was used to. “Just missed the timing I guess,” she admitted sheepishly.

“Ok,” the confused opponent replied, the word sounding more like a question then a confirmation. “Well then I activate this,” the woman in a mask explained, showing a Magic Card showing a Duel Monsters card being swept away by a river. “Treasured Cards of the Flow lets me draw two cards from my deck,” she explained, taking her extra draws. Skadi immediately activated another card from her hand with a speed that made Taishi more then a little nervous.

“Next I play Precious Cards from Beyond lets me draw two more cards whenever I tribute summon a level seven or higher monster, like the one I’m about to play.”

Blade Skater and Cyber Valkyrie vanished from the field along with the Penguin Sword. What arose was a monster Taishi had never seen, and she got the sinking sensation that few people ever had.

Skadi’s monster was obviously a dragon, and a fairly small one compared to the majority of dragons in the game. Taishi just wished she could see it more clearly through large gusts of blue snow. Crystals lined the monster’s numerous scales, and rather then the glowing eyes of most dragons, this one possessed clear crystalline orbs. (3200/2500)

The blue snowstorm obscuring the monster didn’t frighten Taishi at all. What she feared about the monster was the part that she could see, the monster’s stats, and they were the thing that mattered.

“Since you changed the number of Fiends on the field, my Goblin King’s attack power changes,” the young woman reminded her opponent. The Crystal Seal card shattered into a dazzling shower of ice, causing the prison to follow suit.

Skadi smiled gently, letting out a small laugh. “Miss Chisaioh, I know that. My main motivation for Crystal Seal was to be able to activate this other Trap Card.” The facedown card on her field lifted at her command. “With Crystal Seal destroyed, Driving Snow can now destroy one of your cards, DNA Surgery to be precise.”

“Wonderful,” Taishi remarked dryly, as the key to her strategy was blasted into digital dust.

0000000

“Come on, my Dad pays you guys to think, and you can’t even open a darn door?”

The boy who had been pondering would never forget that voice. “Isis?”

“Derik?” the girl turned in surprise. Immediately the boy blushed and took an interest in his shoes. The dousing of the sprinklers definitely had an effect on Isis’s neckline.

“I wish we could see each other under better circumstances,” Isis admitted, “but we need to get out of here.”

“I know,” Derik admitted, though he still took a moment to gaze. Isis had taken time to grow her hair out over the years, and though thick, it kept a professional shine. She wore a fancy white blouse with the top buttons casually open, and a knee length black skirt. Derik knew the dress was casual, but he couldn’t help but notice his lack of collar.

“Grr,” Isis grunted, once again making Derik feel quite ignored. Attempting to bring back conversation, Derik coughed to get her attention.

“Um, so, how’s Dueling been for you lately?”

“Now’s not the time,” she retorted, not interested in being bothered. “Aside from being a fire hazard, we’re all miserable. I haven’t been this wet since I faced that Water Dragon on the simulator.”

“Water,” Derik restated, knowing that was the very cause of their problems to begin with. Suddenly a light clicked on.

“Isis,” he pleaded, “this place is a gymnasium right?”

“Yeah,” the girl answered with interest, “why?”

Derik grinned. “I might have an idea.”

0000000

“So, getting back to the monster,” Taishi prodded, ignoring the cooling systems on her Duel Disk giving her goosebumps, “what exactly is that thing?”

Skadi waited to pull two cards from her deck before answering. “Phantom Dragon Blue-Ice. There are actually four types of Phantom Dragons, this one happens to be the strongest.”

“Couldn’t you have worked your way up through the theme and saved the powerhouse for last?” Taishi wondered. She was only half serious of course, when a duelist got a chance to use something powerful, they played it.

“Wishful thinking I’m afraid,” Skadi chuckled, “but I’ll try to use more of them later if you like.” Taishi didn’t respond as the woman in blue carefully scoped out the field. Goblin King was now a pitiful 1000 points strong and was an easy target, but Ojama King was far more difficult to get rid of.

“Phantom Dragon,” Skadi addressed. The large blue monster actually tilted its head in response. “Attack Ojama King with Cerulean Permafrost.”

The effect was instantaneous. A flurry of snowflakes colored in every pigment of blue rose in a battering wall. Through the hologram, Taishi observed her Ojama King flash-freezing, right down to a drip running out of his nose. Instead of shattering all at once, the battering storm broke the monster apart like sand, eroding until there was nothing left but a large impression in the holographic ice.

Taishi’s mind raced to comprehend how much her dangerously charged Duel Disk would shock her should she be attacked directly.

Skadi smiled, still giving off the feeling of a friendly match, as she set another card into her Duel Disk.

“Before I end my turn, I have a choice to make. My Treasured Cards of the Flow comes with a price. I opened the floodgates, so I can either close them by using one of my cards to block the way, or if I let the flood continue, destroying 3000 of my life points with it.”
Taishi expected it to be a hard decision, but was surprised when the choice was announced.

“I choose to keep my last card, and take the damage.” Immediately, a geyser erupted from underneath the duelist’s feet. Taishi winced a bit, but when all was cleared, began laughing. Someone being blasted from below by a pillar of water wasn’t something you saw everyday, even in the dueling world. Taishi paused to make sure that her opponent’s life points had indeed dropped to 4000 before doing anything else.

Since the damage obviously ended Skadi’s turn, Taishi nervously drew her hand up to three. Well, this is nice, she thought with a hint of sarcasm. “I play Graceful Charity,” she announced, revealing the well known image of a stoic angel.

She groaned slightly at her draws, all three of which were the same card.

Sure Taishi, organize the deck before you shuffle so the big combos are more likely to be closer together, she scolded herself. Fine lot of good it did you this time. It’s a nice setup, but it doesn’t matter if I don’t draw an attacker.

Taishi discarded two of her drawn cards before setting the third in defense mode. “I set a monster, and another facedown card,” the young woman finished, making sure her cards fit securely on her disk. “And I end my turn at that.” Taishi didn’t know if it was nerves, or the apparently dropping temperature, but she crossed her arms for warmth, fighting off the first waves of shivers.

Skadi drew up to a hand of two, which was quickly becoming the standard hand size of the duel. Then again every duelist made sure they at least had something to discard for a cost.

The masked woman smiled a bit before moving. “Looks like I’ll be able to show you more of those Phantom Dragons after all. This one’s called Phantom Dragon White-Snow.”

Like the larger Phantom Dragon, the new monster was obscured by a constant dusting of snow flurries. This one, though not small, was definitely outdone in size by its counterpart. The monster had no apparent feet, and bore the same crystalline eyes of its larger relative. (1300/700)

“This is one of my favorite combos,” Skadi admitted, “because all of my Phantom Dragons gain effects when multiples are on the field. White-Snow for example prevents you from activating Magic Cards without setting them, and they can’t be activated on the same turn you lay them facedown.”

Taishi’s face twisted with frustration, but she not panic. Still, she knew she was in more then a simple bind. A duelist’s best chance of turning a match around was always with a Magic Card. Skadi had not only forced her to defend at least one extra turn against a monster with more attack power then a Lava Golem, but she had completely eliminated the element of surprise that Magic Cards usually carried, and Taishi knew that her reliance on Magic was far greater then most.

“Now then,” Skadi continued, “I order Phantom Dragon Blue-Ice to attack your defending monster.

Taishi didn’t try to understand the logic of the situation; she just activated her face-down trap.

“I counter the attack with Magic Cylinder,” she announced, revealing the well know image. Before the pictured tubes even appeared on the field, the holographic card solidified within a prison of unforgiving crystal, and burst uselessly into pieces.

Taishi didn’t know what had happened, but she knew the result. The facedown monster was consumed by the blue storm, leaving Skadi clueless as to what she had attacked. She didn’t even manage to get a glimpse of the image when Taishi slipped the card into her graveyard.

“If I had to venture a guess, I’d say that your Phantom Dragon is immune to targeting Traps?” Taishi guessed.

“Close, I give you that,” Skadi commended. “Blue-Ice is immune to all targeting effects actually, but only if there’s another Phantom Dragon on the field.”

“Any other effects you care to share with me?” Taishi pressed, hopping her opponent would be generous.

Skadi thought for a moment. “The only other one that would affect the game play at the moment is that you can only attack it when I have something in my Magic and Trap zone.”

“Lovely,” Taishi slumped. Her situation seemed to only be getting worse with each passing turn.

Skadi nodded. “I didn’t attack your Goblin because I didn’t know exactly what I was attacking, and it proved a good thing too, but luckily I still have a monster that can destroy it. Phantom Dragon, attack with Phantasm Drift.”

Taishi watched as another one of her monsters was destroyed, this one after being buried alive in a contained snow pile. She looked at her life point counter dipping to 7300 and braced herself for another shock. This one still caused pain in her arm, but due to the cold, and/or the fact it was less damage it didn’t seem so severe. She regretted the loss, but knew that is switching her King to defense, her opponent might not have attacked. It was a good lure to trigger Magic Cylinder, but unfortunately, Skadi had gotten the drop on her.

Skadi ended her turn, and Taishi fought back the chattering of her teeth as she drew for her turn. Her eyes widened considerably at her draw.

“As much as I hate the circumstances, I have to admit you’re a good player.”

Skadi grinned in thanks. “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t. I know what you mean; I feel the same way about Jinzo. It’s a pain to go up against, but you can’t help but like it.”

Kind of makes me wish I had one, Taishi growled. Regaining her composure, the young woman smiled brightly. “Still, I’ve just drawn a way to defeat your Phantom Dragon even without Magic Cards.”

Skadi raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Well, let’s see it then.”

“All right,” Taishi granted excited. “How’s this for the unexpected, King of the Skull Servants in attack mode.”

At first there was only a dark shroud enveloping a pile of dragon bones and scraps of purple cloth. From under the pile, a skeletal hand rose to take a stand. Whereas a regular Skull Servant was about the size of a child, this one stood eye to eye socket with a tall man. It also held none of the lack of confidence of its counterpart, and stood on his pile with authority, surrounded by an aura of utter black. (4000/0)

Skadi was familiar with the monster, and though questions didn’t help the circumstances, she felt compelled to ask anyway. “Ok, I can assume that you discarded some monsters with Graceful Charity, but where did the others come from?”

“Well,” Taishi answered, “I had a King of the Skull Servants defending at the beginning of the game, since I couldn’t use it quite yet. That one was wiped out by Torrential Tribute.” Skadi nodded in understanding. “I sent two regular Skull Servants to the Graveyard with Graceful Charity, and you just attacked a third with your Dragon.”

“Huh,” Skadi replied with amusement, now that she understood the series of events. At a time like this, it was pretty much all she could say.

Taishi scanned the field, her eyes checking the presence of Skadi’s hidden card. It wasn’t as if she had a choice if she wanted to get the use of her Magic Cards back.

“Since I can only attack Blue-Ice, I’ll have to do that this turn.” Her King chuckled in anticipation, rubbing his boney hands together with an irritating scraping noise.

“Activate Frozen Soul,” Skadi countered, making sure to activate the card before her opponent ever declared an attack. “Since you have more then 2000 life points more then me, your entire Battle Phase is skipped.” Taishi fell back, protecting herself as best as she was able, as a chilling spectral skull rose from Skadi’s Duel Disk, and passed through her entire area. The sharp blast of the cooling system from her own duel disk made her even more uncomfortable.

This girl’s just one combination after another, Taishi realized. The Phantom Dragons, Crystal Seal and Driving Snow, she even took damage from that Treasured Cards of the Flow just to be able to use that trap when the time came. I’ll bet that’s why she didn’t attack Goblin King with that dragon either.

The young duelist was feeling more and more out of her league with each passing turn. Her opponent even had the elements in the room on her side. Without the distraction of the game, Taishi went into her first true bit of shivers, her teeth chattering uncontrollably as she wrapped her arms around her all the harder.

Skadi continued with her turn, apparently not noticing Taishi’s predicament, though it was impossible for the shivering girl to tell if it was on purpose or not.

Once again drawing to two, the woman in blue activated a Magic Card, thankful that she herself was not in Taishi’s shoes.

“I play Different Dimension Capsule,” she explained, as a strange sarcophagus bearing a clock shimmered into view in front of her.

This was a card Taishi as familiar with; as it had been used against her on several occasions. She had even tried using it herself at one point, but found the searcher took too long for it to make a difference in her game.

Skadi pulled a card out of her deck, and carefully placed it in a side pocket of her dress, making sure to keep the back to Taishi at all times.

For the first time in the duel, Skadi was the one forced into defending, which seemed ridiculous, as one turn earlier her current field seemed incredibly formidable. Keeping her pleasant smile, that Taishi easily recognized as forced.

“I’ll get my card back in two turns,” she stated, making Taishi wonder if it meant to explain the card, or reassure herself. The next move was obviously difficult for Skadi, as she moved the posture of her two dragons. “Phantom Dragon Blue-Ice and Phantom Dragon White-Snow are both changed to defense position,” she confirmed with a hint of pain, knowing that her very good position wouldn’t last. “I end my turn at that.”

“Well this should be a simple turn,” Taishi remarked, drawing her card for the turn. “I’ll just have my King attack your Blue-Ice, and call it a move.” Taishi looked over to see her monster already prepared for battle. “Skeletal Tyranny.”

Black and purple flames jetted from the monster’s eye sockets with more force or accuracy then any human invention had yet achieved. The monster didn’t burst into triangles as much as it shredded, becoming almost indistinguishable from the icy storm clouds that covered it. Skadi couldn’t help but wince.

True to her word, Taishi ended her turn, leaving Skadi to draw for herself. Groaning, the woman thought about just how much fun it would have been to have drawn her Cold Wave.

“I set one monster in defense mode,” the duelist in blue declared, causing the brown back of a holographic card to fade into view before her, “and unfortunately, that’s all I can do.”

Taishi drew up to three cards, but remained ever vigilant for an approaching comeback. Wishing she had drawn this particular monster sooner, the young woman put her next attacker onto her disk.

“I summon Goblin King in attack mode,” she decreed. The small fiendish ruler was far less powerful then her last one, but its 1000 attack points were still enough to take down Phantom Dragon White-Snow.

“Goblin King and King of the Skull Servants,” Taichi commanded, “attack her two defending monsters now!”

The green skinned fiend raced across the field with a speed quite impressive for a monster wearing such a bulky robe. The goblin raced into the billowing snow cloud, waving an intimidating glowing red thumb. The storm hid the actual attack from view, but Taishi could see the cloud of snowflakes drop to the ground as sand. The young woman regretted not being able to see the dragon in statue form. She never got a chance. As soon as the Phantom Dragon made a satisfactory statue, Goblin King promptly smashed its head apart.

King of the Skull Servants spat the same darkest blaze from its eye sockets. The hidden defender was revealed as an alien looking creature wearing a set of blue armor covered in domes. (1300/1200)

“Aww,” Taishi whined slightly disappointed. “I’m kind of fond of Ice Knight. Anyway, there’s nothing else I’m going to do, so you can move.”

And I finally get a chance to summon this thing, Skadi thought as she looked with annoyance at a card that had been in her hand for far too long.

Skadi drew her next card astonished. This was turning into an even better combo then she had hoped for, especially given what turn it was.

“Since it’s my second Standby Phase, I get the card back that I had searched for with Different Dimension Capsule,” Skadi reveled.

Taishi had actually forgotten she had used it, but braced herself for something she was not going to find pleasant.

“I take it you’re going to play it now?” Taishi asked, her eyes narrowing at the fact that her breath was in clear view. Taishi’s mouth was beginning to dry up, and every breath was becoming more uncomfortable.

“Of course,” Skadi responded politely, as if it was the first thing a person learned on the first day of school. “It’s a Magic Card, Icicle Sacrifice.”

“Haven’t heard of that one,” Taishi confessed, “but it sounds like a summoning spell to me.”

“In a way,” Skadi relented, as the card showing a Maoi Statue carved in ice rising from the middle of a glacier materialized in holographic form. “As powerful as the card is, few use it, because the price shuts down one of my monster zones for the remainder of the duel, with no way for me to get it back.”

True to Skadi’s word, a section of the floor in front of her burst into a growth of sharp ice crystals. Taishi seriously doubted that any monster would even want to stand there if they could. “The second effect,” Skadi continued, gesturing to a new monster on her field, the frigid Maoi featured on the card itself, (0/0) “summons an Icicle Token to my field.”

“Sounds expensive for a piece of tribute bait to me,” Taishi told her, though she had to admit, it was an easy summoning device.

“I agree,” Skadi confessed, surprising Taishi slightly, “but what makes this token worthwhile is that when summoning a monster it qualifies as two sacrifices instead of one.”

“Kaiser Seahorse for any attribute in spell form,” Taishi slumped. “That card just got a bit more balanced.”

Skadi took another of the two cards in her hand, and immediately traded in her token, revealing a sleek dragon made of shimmering diamond crystal, complete with sharp horns and golden highlights. (2100/2800) “Hyozanryu may have been summoned using one tribute,” Skadi addressed, “but he was still tribute summoned, and he still normally requires two. Therefore, I still get to draw two cards due to my Precious Cards from Beyond.”

“That’s why you went through the trouble with the Capsule?” Taishi realized. “Just for some extra draws to get you back in the lead?”

“That was the original intension yes,” Skadi admitted slightly sheepishly, drawing her hand up to three. “But as luck would have it, I just drew a combo that makes the deal even better.” The duelist in blue spun a Magic Card in her fingers, a very familiar one that Taishi recognized as another of her former cards. It bore the picture of a pitiful mutating humanoid. “I sacrifice Hyozanryu to activate Metamorphosis.”

“Seven stars,” Taishi franticly studied. “What Fusion monster has seven stars?” Speedily she made a mental note of what had been played so far throughout the duel. Remembering one of the monsters Skadi had used earlier, Taishi immediately knew what she was most likely to be facing. The discovery did not help her situation.

Chips of clear crystal began to chip away, eroding down to a crystal statue of a tall woman with flowing red blue hair, and a tight red and purple costume. The skater moved into a graceful glide, and then a dazzling spin, entrancing to Taishi’s eyes before she struck a dominating pose. (4200/800)

Taishi cursed her luck. Even her king of the Skull Servants was 200 points too weak to take down a Cyber Blader as long as she possessed two monsters.