Yu-Gi-Oh: Virtual Disaster

[Shuppet Master]

Great chapter! You really tied up everything before the finals. Now comes the elimination duels. I can't wait to see what happens after the tournament is over.

[starjake]

What? A new chapter?

And you didn't even have to wait a whole month this time. Aren't I kind?

Chapter 27 – Petit Angel

Thinking quickly, I decided that it was time to change Deckmasters; Legendary Flame Lord seemed to be too powerful to use against a little girl. I drew the top card from my deck and smiled when I saw it. Holding it high, I saw Becky was holding a card in the air as well. Sara – now dressed in a referee uniform – swung her two green flags down as our Life Points set themselves to 8000 apiece.

“LET’S DUEL!”

“Alright, Becky, here’s my Deckmaster! It’s a powerful monster called Solar Flare Dragon!” Instantly, the card burst into flames, and the faithful, fiery dragon appeared by my side, growling threateningly.

“Not bad, Jake. But mine’s even more powerful: meet Shadow Ghoul!”

SHADOW GHOUL? Little Miss Kindergarten uses a creature as scary-looking as that?

The answer soon became obvious as a pillar of green smog erupted from the ground behind her. The smog dissipated, and a rather ugly creature with green, lumpy skin, four legs, sharp claws and fangs, and too many eyes stood behind the cute little girl.

Man…talk about irony!

“And the first move goes to…Jake!” yelled Sara, pointing at me with one of her flags. “Begin the duel!”

If you insist… I thought to myself. Becky and I each drew five cards, then I drew a sixth and looked at my hand.

Hey, I’ve already got one of my new monsters! “OK, Becky, I’m going to summon one of my newest allies: Familiar-Possessed – Hiita!”

A magic circle inscribed with runes formed on the field, and a bonfire erupted out of it. The fire died down, revealing an eleven-year-old (or so) girl in its place. She held a long staff in both hands, and she wore a black halter top with short khaki shorts, over which was a large tan shirt that flapped about in the breeze. Her red hair stuck out at wild angles, and by her side stood a fox. (1850/1500)

Picking a card out of my hand, I continued, “I’ll set this face-down for later and end my turn. Show me what you got, Becky!”

“Don’t mind if I do! First, I draw a card, giving me six cards to work with!” After looking at her new hand, she called out, “Now I play a powerful card known as Spell Absorption!”

A large crystal ball suddenly appeared on the field, hovering in midair.

I’ve heard of that…whenever either one of us plays a Magic Card when that thing is on the field, she’ll gain 500 Life Points! I’d better get rid of it quick.

“And I’ll start off my Life-boosting with this Magic Card: Graceful Charity!” The angel floated down out of the sky and drew three cards for Becky, who picked out two cards so fast that the angel did a double take. It shrugged, tossed the cards into her Graveyard, then vanished.

And, as I had expected, the crystal ball glowed, and Becky’s Life Points rose to 8500.

“Since I’m so nice, Jake, I’ll even show you what one of the cards was that I drew: it’s Watapon!”

Watapon? Someone actually uses that card?

Apparently, yes. A white cottonball with blue eyes and two antennae appeared on the field with a squeak. (200/300)

“Since Watapon was drawn with Graceful Charity, that was a Special Summon, so now I’m going to sacrifice Watapon and summon Millennium Shield!”

The stone altar that I was now quite accustomed to seeing rose from the ground and let loose a violent tornado of dirt and sand. Out of the altar floated a large red-and-gold shield complete with the Eye of Horus. (0/3000)

“Wait a sec…you summoned that thing? But that means it’s in Attack Mode, and it has an ATK of zero!”

“You’re pretty smart, Jake! Good thing I’m smarter; I have another Magic Card to play! Since there’s only one monster on my side of the field, and it’s a Level 5 monster, I can play this card: Five-Star Twilight!”

Five-Star what? I’ve never heard of that.

“Now I sacrifice my Millennium Shield,” she yelled, the shield transforming into an orb of white light, “to summon everybody’s favorite family: the five Kuriboh brothers!”

Her crystal orb glowed again, making her Life Points rise to 9000, and the orb of light that was once Millennium Shield divided into five star-shaped lights, each a different color. The stars separated from each other and spread themselves out over the field, then transformed into – of all things – five multi-colored Kuribohs! Each one was a different color (lavender, blue, pink, brown, and white), but they were identical to a regular Kuriboh in every other way, right down to their cries of “Kurikuri!” (300/200) x5

“Now, watch as my Deckmaster gets to work! Shadow Ghoul, Green Vapor Shroud!”

I was slightly surprised to see the giant…thing…behind Becky emit some kind of toxic green gas from pores all over its body. Soon, a layer of pale green smog blanketed her side of the field, and the Kuribohs’ stats started to rise! (300/200) -> (1100/1000)

“So what is it exactly that your Shadow Ghoul does as a Deckmaster?”

“It’s simple math, really. I discarded two monsters into my Graveyard with Graceful Charity, and since then I’ve Tributed two more for a total of four! My Deckmaster gives all of my monsters whose original ATK is 1000 or less 200 extra ATK and DEF points for each Monster Card in my Graveyard, so right now all my Kuribohs get an 800-ATK boost!”

Whoa! Talk about strategy! Both Shadow Ghoul and those Kuribohs are weak by themselves, but combine them together and you’ve got a seriously powerful combo. I’d better get rid of those Kuribohs before she can pump them up any further. “Are you done yet?”

“Nope! I have one more Magic Card to play: The Dark Door!”

As her crystal orb glowed yet again (now she had 9500 Life Points), ten doorframes sprang into existence on the field, one in front of each Monster Zone. All of them were currently open.

That’s odd…The Dark Door prevents either player from attacking with more than one monster per turn, but she’s the only one with multiple monsters out, so that card really only hurts her…

“Now I’m done.”

I raised my eyebrows. “OK, whatever. My move!” I drew a card…

…and nearly fell down!

WHAT? I didn’t put this in my deck! I don’t even have a good way to utilize it, even though it’s a Fire-ish card…man, what a waste of a draw!

As this was running through my head, I didn’t notice Sara smiling slightly.

Realizing that there wasn’t much I could do, I added the unwanted card to my hand and called out, “Alright, Hiita, let’s see what you can do! Attack one of her puffballs with Kitsune Flash Flare!”

Hiita raised her staff and began to chant, causing a magic circle of fiery runes to appear around her. The fox at her side then leapt into the air and transformed into a great fire spirit that flew towards Becky’s monsters.

“I activate the special ability of my Kuribih! Go, Star Defense!”

Kuribih? Star Defense? I wondered as the four doors on my side of the field that weren’t in front of Hiita slammed shut. Then, Becky’s pink Kuriboh held up its tiny paws and created a large shining star out of thin air. Each of the other Kuribohs followed suit, then they all combined their stars into one very large star that intercepted Hiita’s attack!

I knew it was impolite to stare, but stare I did. There may have been a little jaw-dropping, too, I’m not sure.

“If all five Kuriboh siblings are on the field together, Kuribih can block one of your monster’s attacks once per turn. In case you hadn’t noticed.”

Well that explains her Dark Door if she can only use that effect once per turn. No wonder she made it this far; she’s good! “Fine then, I’ll set a monster in defense and pass it over to you, Becky.”

She smirked slightly as she drew her next card. “I should probably tell you that each of my five Kuribohs have their own unique ability; activating my Kuribih’s hidden power was just scratching the surface.”

Great. I know Kuriboh’s ability, and it only activates in her hand, so I’m safe from that, unless she has another one in her deck. I’ve seen Kuribih’s, so that leaves three mystery effects for me to discover; and I’ll probably have to discover them by accident!

“But first, it’s time to gain a few Life Points…”

Another Magic Card?

Not this time. The image of a monster I had seen in my previous duel materialized over Becky’s head and started showering golden dust on her: Marie the Fallen One.

That must be one of the monsters that she sent to the Graveyard with Graceful Charity. Geez, this girl’s full of combos!

“And now to show you another of my monster’s abilities! Kuribah, take center stage!”

Her lavender-colored Kuriboh started whirling around the field in ever tighter circles, herding his four siblings into a tight group. Then, they all started glowing!

“Kuribah can combine himself with his brothers to form a monster of nearly limitless power!”

That doesn’t sound good.

The five glowing Kuribohs melded together to form…a bigger Kuriboh. This one had no arms, but it did have a horn and a mouth, and it fur was colored a grayish-blue. (5500/5000)

I nearly fainted when I saw those numbers. “FIFTY-FIVE HUNDRED ATTACK POINTS?”

Becky grinned a little-girl grin. “Yup. This is Kuribabylon, and his ATK and DEF are equal to the combined ATKs and DEFs of the five brothers. Since they each had 1100 ATK points when they were Tributed…”

She was right; that thing does have nearly limitless power!

“Now to put those 5500 Attack Points to good use! Kuribabylon, attack Hiita now!”

Oh boy.

Kuribabylon flew forward to attack as the Dark Doors in front Becky’s Monster Zones slammed shut. Hiita’s pet fox jumped in the way to defend his master, but Kuribabylon’s oversized horn ended up skewering both of them!

“Hold on, Becky; I’m activating a Trap called Backfire! Since you destroyed a Fire monster now you lose 500 Life Points!”

The card lifted and shot a fireball at Becky, singeing her slightly. However, her not-so-little-girly grin showed that she didn’t really care.

“Sorry if I’m not impressed, Jake, but I have Life Points to spare; you on the other hand, really don’t!”

She had a point. The score was now her 9200 to my 4350.

“I’m going to set this face-down and end my turn. Your move, Jakey.”

Jakey? I wondered, drawing a card. Where did that come from?

Legendary Flame Lord? I don’t have enough monsters to summon him… “I pass.”

“Excellent. My move!” She drew a card.

“And, just in case you forgot, I collect my 200 Life Points now thanks to Marie!”

Yeah, like she really needs more, I thought as Marie appeared and vanished and Becky’s Life Points rose to 9400.

“Now it’s time to activate my face-down card: Reckless Greed!”

A man dressed in a red vest and black pants suddenly materialized on the field. He drew two cards from Becky’s Deck, handed them to Becky, then folded his arms and stepped back.

“Oh, look at what I drew; it’s another Watapon!”

Again? I thought in exasperation. Sure enough, the white furball appeared on the field. (200/300) -> (2000/2100)

“Whoa, time out! 2000 ATK points?”

Becky grinned slyly. “Yup. See, since I summoned Kuribabylon, each of my Kuriboh brothers are now in the Graveyard; that’s five extra monsters!”

Well, that’s not cool. “Too bad you can only attack with one monster thanks to your own Dark Door!”

“Hold on a sec, Jakey. I haven’t gotten there yet. First, I’ve got a Magic Card to play called Pot of Charity!”

And, again, a card I don’t know. A large ceramic vase appeared on top of Becky’s Deck.

“To use this, I have to remove a Light monster in my Graveyard from play, like my Watapon. Then, I get to draw three cards!”

Sounds something like my Apollo’s Blessing. “But you’re removing a monster in your Graveyard from play, which means your monsters get weaker!”

As Watapon’s stats fell to (1800/1900) and the Spell Absorption crystal glowed (now she had 9900 Life Points), another Watapon shot itself out of the Graveyard and dove into the ceramic vase. The vase wobbled a bit, then shot out three cards, which Becky caught. Then the vase shattered and vanished.

“You have a point Jake. So, why don’t I just put another monster there to replace it, like this one I just drew!” She held out a card depicting a green dragon surrounded by electricity.

“Hey…that’s Thunder Dragon, isn’t it?”

“Yup! By discarding it, not only does my Watapon get back its 200 ATK and DEF points, but I get to draw 2 more Thunder Dragons from my deck!”

Two cards suddenly shot themselves out of her Deck and zipped around in the air before landing in Becky’s hand. And, just as she had said, Watapon went back to (2000/2100).

“Now to take care of these doors. I activate another Magic Card: Emergency Provisions!”

Oh great. Now she can send any Magic or Trap Cards on her side of the field to the Graveyard and regain 1000 Life Points for each one. And, since that’s a Magic Card, she gains another 500 Life Points from her crystal ball there; how many Life Points does she need!

A large lunchbox appeared on the field and proceeded to eat all the doorways. Shaking a bit, the lunchbox exploded into particles, which swirled around Becky and brought her Life Points all the way up to 11400!

“And there’s more! I drew Watapon with Reckless Greed, so it counts as a Special Summon, meaning now I can Normal Summon Cannon Soldier in Attack Mode!”

Who doesn’t know that monster? I thought as a blocky robot with a streamlined cannon for a head rose onto the field. However, I was rather surprised when its stats started to increase! (1400/1300) -> (2300/2200)

“Hang on a sec! I thought you said your Shadow Ghoul’s effect only works on monsters whose original ATK is 1000 or less! Cannon Soldier has an original ATK of 1400!”

“That’s right, Jakey! Shadow Ghoul also affects monsters whose original ATK falls between 1000 and 1500, but it only gives them a 100-point boost.”

’Only’, she says.

“Now for the fun part! Watapon, attack his face-down monster with Rainbow Pixie Blast!”

The cute little furball aimed its furry antenna in my monster’s direction and fired two rainbow-colored beams. They slammed into my face-down card, which produced the shadow of a shelled creature before shattering.

“That was my UFO Turtle! When it’s destroyed, I get to summon a new Fire monster to take its place, and I choose another new ally: Masked Dragon!”

The Turtle zipped out of my Graveyard and opened its spaceship shell. Out of the shell leapt a lithe red dragon with bone-white wings and a strange helmet-like mask covering its face. (1400/1100)

Becky didn’t look the least bit worried. “I know about those searcher monsters, Jake. I also know that the monsters they summon have to be in Attack Mode, so your Life Points are wide open! Cannon Soldier, open fire!”

Her robot shot a giant energy blast from its cannon, completely annihilating Masked Dragon.

“Masked Dragon has an effect too! When it’s destroyed, I can summon another Dragon to the field, and I choose a second Masked Dragon!”

Another dragon, identical to the first, zipped out of the sky and landed in front of me, crouching behind its wings.

“And, unlike UFO Turtle, a monster brought to the field by Masked Dragon’s effect can be in whatever battle position I choose! So, since this one’s in Defense Mode, my Life Points are safe.”

“But your monster’s not! Kuribabylon, attack!”

The oversized Kuriboh flew forward and skewered the new Masked Dragon, causing a third to take its place. (1400/1100)

“Good thing I have three in my deck.”

I thought back to when Fushi No Tori and I were looking through the new cards. It was this trio of Masked Dragons that she had suggested I add; it was a good thing I did, because they had just saved my Life Points.

Now it looked like Becky was starting to get annoyed. “Fine then, I’m going to activate my Cannon Soldier’s special ability! By sacrificing one monster on my side of the field, like Watapon, Cannon Soldier can blast you for 500 points of damage!”

The white furry cottonball loaded itself into Cannon Soldier’s cannon, and the robot aimed its head at me…

Brace yourself, Jake…

“Lock, load, and fire away, Cannon Soldier!”

The mechanical monster blasted a ball of energy at me, sending me sprawling on the ground while Masked Dragon and Solar Flare Dragon looked on helplessly. My Life Points fell further to 2950.

“I’ll set another card face-down and end my turn.”

Getting up, I replied, “Not yet! Don’t forget that my Backfire is still on the field, and you just finished destroying three Fire monsters!”

A succession of three fireballs from my Trap Card made Becky’s Life Points tumble to 9900.

“I still have plenty of Life Points, Jakey! I can take the hit!”

The sad part is she’s right! My Backfire is barely scratching her; she’s got over three times as many Life Points as I do! I drew a card.

Lava Golem…I could use this to take out her Kuribabylon and her Cannon Soldier and deal a good amount of damage…but this is a little harsh to use on a little girl!

I suddenly realized something. Turning to my Deckmaster, I asked, “Um, Solar Flare Dragon? What do you do?”

It growled at me in what I could only assume was its way of talking.

Hmm. I should brush up on my Dragonish. “Well, never mind. I’m sure I’ll find out eventually.”

Turning back to the duel, I took a deep breath to steady myself for what I was about to do. Forgive me, Becky… “I sacrifice your Kuribabylon and Cannon Soldier to summon Lava Golem on your side of the field!”

Two geysers of lava erupted on Becky’s side of the field, completely consuming Kuribabylon and Cannon Soldier. The geysers merged to form an immense molten being, and a large cage formed around Becky and connected itself to the golem, making it howl in pain. Understandably, Becky looked a little scared.

You know, these Fire/Fiend creatures are really a little much for me…I liked them much better when they were just cards. I thought as my Lava Golem card flew out of my hand, across the field, and onto Becky’s disk.

To my surprise, I heard Becky yell across the field, “Sorry, Jakey, but I’ve got a chain to that: reveal Mystik Wok!”

Her face-down card lifted, and she suddenly jumped free of the massive cage. An ENORMOUS cooking bowl appeared under Lava Golem, who melted into an equally enormous puddle of lava.

“This card lets me sacrifice any monster on my side of the field and add its ATK or DEF points to my Life Points; since it has more ATK points, I think I’ll go with those!”

I watched as the bowl and its contents started dissolving into fiery red particles, which swarmed around Becky and brought her Life Points all the way up 12900!

“And let’s not forget that Mystik Wok is a Magic Card, so I get 500 more Life Points!”

That’s…what…13400? As much as I hate to say, Voldemort’s Reversal Quiz card is looking really good right about now! “Fine, Becky it’s still my turn, so I’ll set this face-down and end my turn.”

As a face-down card appeared in front of me, the Reckless Greed man – whom I had completely forgotten about – suddenly reached over to Becky’s disk and cupped his hand over her Deck.

“Since I activated Reckless Greed, I can’t draw this turn. But that’s OK, because I have everything I need right here in my hand.”

Well aren’t you special.

Marie appeared and vanished yet again, raising Becky’s Life Points to 13600.

“Take Exhibit A: the Magic Card known as Restless Souls!”

She activated the card, and the ground in the middle of the arena suddenly split in two. Haunting noises starting sounding all over the arena, and wispy ghosts started floating out of the crack in the ground.

Geez…I don’t think this is a card that a little girl would play! “What are you doing, Becky?”

“Well, first, I’m paying 1000 Life Points in order to activate the card, and then I’m gaining 500 Life Points from Spell Absorption.” Sure enough, her Life Points fell to 12600, and then rose again to 13100.

“Now for the effect of the card itself. We are now both forced to summon as many monsters from our Graveyards as we have room for on the field…with a catch, of course. Since they’re coming from the grave, every monster summoned by this effect becomes a Zombie-Type!”

Take that back, I thought as the wispy ghosts started to solidify. That DEFINITELY isn’t a card that a little girl would use!



continued in next post...

[starjake]

continued from previous post...

“Can you guess who I’m bringing back?” she asked with a smug grin as five ball-shaped skeletons with short arms and legs formed on her side of the field, each a different color. (300/200) x5

Lovely; I get to deal with those things again… I thought a little bitterly.

“Oh, Jakey? Didn’t you hear me? I said Restless Souls forces us both to summon monsters from our Graveyards! So that means you get to bolster your defenses too!”

I can’t possibly thank you enough, I thought sarcastically. “Fine; I’ll bring back Familiar-Possessed – Hiita, UFO Turtle, and both Masked Dragons!”

The rest of the wispy ghosts haunting the field solidified into my four monsters, all in skeleton form. (1850/1500) , (1400/1200) , (1400/1100) x2

Ugh…thank God I don’t play a Zombie deck! “Just in case you pull something else I’m not expecting, they’re all in Defense Mode, so my Life Points are safe!” I yelled over the skeletons.

“Well, were you expecting this? I’m activating the effect of my Kuribeh!”

Which one is that? They all look alike; how can she remember who’s who?

Her blue skele-Kuriboh suddenly started bouncing around the field, knocking his brothers all over the place.

“What is this, a circus act?” I yelled over the commotion.

“I’ll show you what it is! Kuriboh brothers, combine again!”

Wait…last time, Kuribah transformed them all into Kuribabylon…but this is a different one…

The five skeletons suddenly all collided in the center of the field and exploded into smoke. When the smoke had disappeared, yet another Kuriboh wearing an eye patch and handkerchief on its head appeared, baring its fangs. (1500/700)

“How many of those cottonballs do you have in your Deck?”

“I wouldn’t insult them if I were you, Jakey! The effect of this particular ‘cottonball’ is what won me my duel against Weevil Underwood!”

Weevil Underwood? He’s someone from the anime, right?

“This is a monster called Kuribandit, and I’m going to activate its effect right now!”

The pirate-like Kuriboh suddenly glowed and split into five orbs of light, which resolved into cards and settled themselves into Becky’s hand.

“In case you haven’t figured it out, by sacrificing it, I’m allowed to draw five cards from my Deck and discard all the monsters I draw.” After glancing at the cards, she continued, “And I don’t have to discard anything since I didn’t draw any monsters!”

This has to be the luckiest girl on the face of the planet!

“I’m going to activate my Pot of Greed!”

Like she needs more cards.

The bizarre-looking jar materialized on her Deck, and she reached in and drew two cards as the Spell Absorption orb glowed and granted her 500 more Life Points. She looked at her two new cards as the Pot exploded.

“Jakey, did you miss my Kuribabylon?”

I grimaced. “Not particularly.”

“Well, too bad!” she snapped. “I’m playing Monster Reborn to bring him back!”

I felt my shoulders sag as the holy ankh appeared on the field and transformed into the blue-grey horned Kuribabylon. (0/0)

I was nervous about Kuribabylon’s stats until I saw what they were and I remembered a ruling. “Wait a sec…you said that Kuribabylon’s stats are dependant on the monsters used to summon it, right? Since you didn’t use monsters to summon it, it doesn’t have any stats to speak of!”

I couldn’t quite read Becky’s expression. “You’re right, Jakey! Good thing Kuribabylon has a second ability, allowing it to transform itself back into the five brothers!”

My eyes widened as Kuribabylon exploded in a puff of smoke and the five multicolored Kuribohs appeared in its place. (300/200) -> (1900/1800)

“Can you guess what’s coming? Kuribohs, combine again into Kuribabylon!”

Uh oh I worried as the Kuribohs started to combine yet again. If they each have 1900 ATK points now, that gets multiplied by five…argh, I was never good at math…

I got my answer as Kuribabylon emerged and its stats appeared over its head.

9500 / 9000

Several words ran through my head that I probably shouldn’t repeat.

“Now that I have some room on my field, I’m going to summon Fire Princess in Attack Mode!”

Before I had even gotten over the fact that I was facing an oversized dust bunny with over nine thousand ATK points, a blaze of fire erupted on Becky’s side of the field. The fire formed into a young woman with grey-blond hair and a flowing red robe. She held her wooden staff high. (1300/1500) -> (2500/2700)

And it’s weak enough to receive Shadow Ghoul’s bonus, of course.

“Now for the fun part! Fire Princess, attack his UFO Turtle with Royal Fire!”

The Princess held out her staff and blasted a fiery laser beam, blasting the skeletal UFO Turtle to shards.

“You remember my UFO Turtle’s ability, right?” I yelled in retaliation. “Now I get to summon another UFO Turtle from my Deck!” Right on cue, a second UFO Turtle hovered down from the sky; thankfully, this one was made of flesh and blood. (1400/1200)

“Of course I remembered! And, just like last time, it was summoned in Attack Mode! Since it has only 1400 ATK points, my Kuribabylon can wipe out both it and the rest of your Life Points! Attack now!” she yelled, pointing at my Turtle. Kuribabylon flew across the field, just like it had when it had attacked Hiita.

“Activate Firewall!” I called out, throwing my hand over the card I had Set during my last turn. It rose, and a circle of fire surrounded me.

When it had died down, UFO Turtle was no longer there, and my Life Points had dropped to 1550.

As my third UFO Turtle hovered down from the sky, Becky looked at me dumbstruck. “How – how did you – “

“Survive the attack? Simple: my Trap Card negates all Battle Damage done to my Life Points from a battle involving one of my Fire monsters. In return, I take damage equal to the destroyed monster’s ATK instead.”

Becky was clearly angry. I could understand; she had been about to win. “Fine then, I end my turn!”

“First, my Backfire will blast you for 1000 points of damage since you destroyed two Fire monsters this turn,” I interrupted, pointing to the upright Trap. It shot two fireballs at Becky, dropping her Life Points to a mere 14100.

“Like I said before, Jake: I’ve got plenty of Life Points! That barely scratched me!”

Trying to ignore the obvious fact that she was right, I drew a card.

Alright! “I activate a Magic Card: Mystical Space Typhoon!”

A dark vortex appeared under Becky’s Spell Absorption orb and started to draw it in.

“Hold on, Jakey! Spell Absorption has a Continuous Effect, so I’ll still get my 500 Life Points before it’s destroyed!”

It was true. The orb gave one last final glow before the dark typhoon destroyed it.

“And, since I just gained Life Points, Fire Princess’s effect kicks in and deals you 500 points of damage, like this!” she yelled happily, as Fire Princess held up her staff and blasted me with it. I skidded back a few feet from the blow. (J: 1050)

Steadying myself, I said, “I’ll switch UFO Turtle to Defense Mode and end my turn.” Obligingly, UFO Turtle retracted its legs into its ‘shell’.

Becky grinned. “I still have to skip my Draw Phase because of Reckless Greed, but that won’t stop me from winning! Remember Marie the Fallen One?”

Marie the Fallen One appeared over Becky’s head and showered her with gold dust again, bringing her Life Points up by 200.

“Don’t forget the second part of my combo, Jakey! Fire Princess, give him a royal butt-kicking!”

I almost fell to my knees as my Life Points fell again, to 550.

“Now to take down your line of defense! Fire Princess, attack his Turtle!”

The Princess shot her fire blast, shattering UFO Turtle.

I won’t survive an attack from that puffball if I use UFO Turtle’s effect. “Sorry, Becky, but I’m going to choose to not activate UFO Turtle’s effect this time!”

Becky looked upset. “I didn’t know the effect was optional, but it doesn’t really matter! Kuribabylon, destroy his Hiita again!”

For the second time, Kuribabylon’s horn skewered both Hiita and her pet fox, even though this time they were only skeletons. Personally, I was rather relieved to see them gone; I had no desire to see my monsters looking like that.

“Go, Backfire! Wipe out another 1000 of her Life Points!”

Again, Backfire shot two fireballs at Becky, who shielded herself as her Life Points fell to 13300.

“Your move, Jakey!”

“Don’t mind if I do, Becky!” I drew a card and saw that it was Apollo’s Blessing.

Finally I have enough Magic Cards! Adding it to my hand, I pulled out another and threw it into my disk.

“I activate the Magic Card known as Incandescent Ordeal!”

A very familiar-looking scepter suddenly appeared on my side of the field, suspended in mid-air.

“This is a Ritual Card that requires monsters with seven star levels to complete. Since each of my dragons has three stars, I’ll sacrifice all three of them!”

The top of the scepter glowed, and all three of the Masked Dragon skeletons became miniature bonfires, which the scepter absorbed.

All was silent for a second or two, and then out of the ground in front of me erupted an enormous pillar of flame!

“Take a look, Becky! I summon one of the strongest monsters in my Deck; the all-powerful Legendary Flame Lord!”

The pillar of fire suddenly caved in on itself, and I saw that Legendary Flame Lord’s scepter – now being held by its owner – was absorbing the flames. Once the fire was gone, the Lord of Fire landed on the field and held his scepter at the ready. (2400/2000)

“Big deal; he’s no match for either one of my monsters.”

“Not yet, but that’s about to change! I’m going to start the process by activating my Apollo’s Blessing Magic Card!”

The crowd surrounding us cheered as the bright afternoon sun shone even brighter and the sound of galloping hooves resounded over the arena. In a sudden flash, the God of the Sun had appeared with his fiery chariot in all his glory.

Handing him a Charcoal Inpachi from my Deck, he snapped his fingers and caused three cards from my Deck to transfer themselves into my hand. Then, he reached over the side of the chariot and put his hand on my shoulder.

Stay true to yourself, young master, I heard his powerful voice say, though it was only in my mind. Do not ignore your heart; doing so may not change the outcome of this duel, but it will certainly change the outcome of your future.

And with that, he vanished in another flash of light, leaving me rather confused.

That’s good advice…I guess. What does he mean, I need to stay true to myself?

I’m not entirely sure, came Legendary Flame Lord’s response. But I think that advice from the Sun God is advice worth heeding, hm?

Good point.

“Jakey? You OK over there?”

My attention snapped back to the duel. “I’m fine, just give me a sec.” I looked at the cards I had gotten.

Hm…Fushi No Tori is good to have, and so is Call of the Haunted… I thought to myself, trying to find the best way to use the cards.

I suddenly remembered Griphook’s words to me. ”No one likes to use their opponent’s moves against them more than you do.”

Whoa…I just got the craziest idea!

Well, replied Legendary Flame Lord, as the cliché says, ‘Fire away!’

Very funny. “Do you like birds, Becky?”

“Depends on how irritating their squawking is.”

Not the answer you’d expect a little girl to give. “Never fear, Becky; phoenixes are famous for their beautiful voices!” I replied, holding out Fushi No Tori’s card.

“Phoenixes?” she asked, looking puzzled.

“Yup, phoenixes! Let me introduce you to one of these mythological creatures right now!”

I laid the card next to Legendary Flame Lord’s, and the slightly translucent but still beautiful phoenix appeared on the field in a flash of fire. (1200/0)

“Sure, it’s pretty, but it’s way too weak!”

“Maybe so, but I’m not done yet! You see, the card I’m about to play requires a Fire/Winged Beast monster to be on the field in order to use it, so that’s why Fushi No Tori needed to be here. Go Phoenix Tears!”

Fushi No Tori hung its head and started crying softly. The shining tears floated through the air and gathered into a card in my hand.

“Phoenix tears have healing properties, and they’ve allowed me to resurrect one Magic Card from your Graveyard and put it into my hand.”

“What? What Magic Card did you steal?”

“I didn’t steal it! I have every intention of giving it back…after it helps me, that is. Does this look familiar?” I asked, flipping the card around with my fingers.

“That’s Spell Absorption!”

“Johnny, give the girl a prize!” I laughed, throwing the card into my disk. The crystal orb appeared on my side of the field, glinting in the sun.

I looked at Fushi No Tori, realizing that what I was about to do would require it to go to the Graveyard. Without a word, it looked back at me and nodded, knowing it had to be done.

“Hey, Becky, take a look at Legendary Flame Lord’s scepter. See how the gem on the end is gold?”

She looked and nodded.

“That means three Magic Cards have been played since Legendary Flame Lord has been on the field, so he can use his effect right now, allowing him to do this!”

He looked at Fushi No Tori, and then back at me. ‘You sure?’ he mouthed, obviously worried about the phoenix. Before I could respond, Fushi No Tori settled itself on the ground and waited patiently. Seeing this, Legendary Flame Lord looked back at me again, and I nodded. He walked out to the center of the field and held his scepter high, and it started pulsing with fiery energy.

“By using the power he’s absorbed from those Magic Cards, Legendary Flame Lord can destroy every monster on the field other than himself!”

“No! Kuribabylon!”

Legendary Flame Lord suddenly held his staff straight out in front of him, then spun in a full circle, leaving a circle of fire in the scepter’s wake. The circle shot out in all directions, destroying Kuribabylon, Fire Princess, and (much to my chagrin) Fushi No Tori.

“No! I’m wide open!”

“And for more than a direct attack! Since a Fire monster was just destroyed, Backfire’s effect activates again!”

Another fireball slammed into Becky as I selected another card from my hand.

“Before I attack, I activate a Magic Card called Salamandra, which gives any Fire monster an extra 700 ATK points!”

The fiery dragon spirit shot out of the card and wound its way around Legendary Flame Lord’s scepter, igniting it and bringing his ATK to 3100!

“And, in case you’ve forgotten what your own Magic Card does, Spell Absorption grants me 500 Life Points!” Sure enough, the crystal ball glowed, and I felt some energy return as my Life Points increased to 1050.

“Now, about that whole being-wide-open thing…attack her directly, Flame Lord!”

It’d be my pleasure. He shot a wave of fire at Becky, scorching her pink dress and causing her Life Points to tumble down to 10200.

Satisfied that I had managed to take control of the field, I said, “I’ll set one card face-down and end my turn.”

A face-down card appeared in front of me as the Reckless Greed man disappeared, allowing Becky to draw.

“First, I’m going to collect my 200 Life Points from Marie the Fallen One,” she started, Marie appearing and showering her with gold dust yet again. “Then, I’m going to activate Kuriboh-Calling Flute!”

A small, golden horn appeared in her free hand, and she blew into it; a sweet, pure note echoed across the arena, which somehow silenced the crowd.

As the note died out, a bright light suddenly shone down from the sky. “By using Kuriboh-Calling Flute, I’m allowed to bring a Kuriboh to either my hand or the field, and I choose to summon it right to the field for all to see!”

The light vanished, and in its place was another Kuriboh. This one was a light brown, and – unlike the others – it had a pair of white angel wings. (300/200)

Before I could say anything, there was a collective, “Awwwwwww!” from the crowd watching us.

Wow, I thought to myself, rolling my eyes. Is it me, or this getting out of hand?

“This is Winged Kuriboh, and in case you haven’t noticed, its ATK is more than low enough to receive Shadow Ghoul’s full benefit!”

The noxious gas spread over the field, and Winged Kuriboh’s stats skyrocketed! (300/200) -> (3100/3000)

“One small problem: your winged gerbil’s ATK is the same as my Flame Lord’s.”

“Not for long! I’m activating another Magic Card: Transcendent Wings!”

Winged Kuriboh’s wings suddenly started glowing and extended to ten times their normal size! Then, some sort of bodysuit-like thing formed around Kuriboh, making look somewhat dragon-like. (300/200)

“This transforms Winged Kuriboh into a Level 10 monster, and gives it a powerful new look! Not only that, but in order to activate Transcendent Wings I had to discard the two Thunder Dragons I added to my hand a while back, and sacrifice the Winged Kuriboh on the field, meaning three more monsters are in my Graveyard. So now Winged Kuriboh is strong enough to take on your Flame Lord and live to tell the tale!” (300/200) -> (3700/3600)

A Kuriboh with almost four thousand ATK points…I don’t know whether to laugh or cry!

“Winged Kuriboh! Attack his Flame Lord with Wrath of the Divine!”

Her Winged-Kuriboh-turned-dragon shot high into the air and extended its wings to their full length, then it shot hundreds of small white laser beams to the ground, leaving hundreds of small craters in the arena floor and forcing Legendary Flame Lord to shield himself.

I suddenly noticed that a pins-and-needles feeling was running up and down my skin. I rubbed my arms, trying to make it go away, but it wouldn’t let up. It was almost like I was the one being attacked…

I had little time to think about it, though. Legendary Flame Lord looked at me, as though begging for forgiveness, and ‘said’, I’m sorry, Jake… Winged Kuriboh shot one final laser beam that completely annihilated the Master of Fire.

Instantly, it was as though my entire body had decided to malfunction. My heart stopped, my throat locked up, and I collapsed on the ground, unable to stand. Pain – much stronger than mere pins and needles – coursed throughout my entire body, and I couldn’t even scream.

“Jake! Are you OK?”

I couldn’t respond to Becky’s cries; heck, I could barely hear her. Right now I was busy trying to start my heart and lungs up again.

As I was lying on the ground in complete turmoil, Sara was raising an eyebrow and thinking to herself.

Well, if anyone had any doubts about Jake’s powers…Legendary Flame Lord is destroyed and it practically destroys him in the process. Intriguing, to say the least.

Slowly, I managed to pull myself back together and pick myself up off the ground. I was slightly surprised to see Becky standing next to me, looking at me worriedly. “Are you OK? I didn’t know that would do so much damage!”

I raised a hand to quiet her. “Don’t worry; I’ll be fine. Just give a sec.”

Still giving me a worried look, Becky walked back to her original position while I caught my breath.

I don’t know what that was about…but, after this duel is over, I’m gonna start looking for some answers to all this craziness…

Jake! Can you hear me?

My head jerked up. None of my telepathic monsters were on the field… Uh, yeah, but where are you?

I’m in your Graveyard, smart one!

I looked down at my disk. Wha – Legendary Flame Lord?

Good job. I have to make this quick, but I think there’s some information you could use right around now… He told me what he wanted to say, and I smiled when I realized it was something I very much wanted to hear.

Shaking my head to clear it, I called out, “Sorry about that Becky.”

“No problem. I do have a question, though.”

I’m not sure if I can answer it. “What?”



continued in next post...

[starjake]

“What’s wrong with your Life Points? You should only have 450 after that last attack!”

I grinned. “But I don’t. Don’t forget that, in order to summon that furry dragon of yours, you had to play two Magic Cards, and I still have your Spell Absorption on the field!” (J: 1450)

She frowned, clearly upset. “Fine. I end – “

“Hold on! You destroyed Legendary Flame Lord, meaning my Backfire kicks in!” Sure enough a fireball slammed into Becky, knocking her Life points down to 8700.

“My move!” I yelled, glad that it was true.

Alright! I just drew Benu Phoenix, and he can sing that Kuriboh-thing to sleep for me! Now I just need to get him on the field…and thanks to Legendary Flame Lord’s advice, I can! “OK, Becky! Your Deckmaster has been helping you for the whole duel; now it’s time for Solar Flare Dragon to get to work!”

My Deckmaster growled eagerly as I suddenly found myself outlined in fire. The fire-me suddenly left my body and collected itself on my side of the field. My Life Points dipped to 1150 as I understood what was going on.

“In case you were wondering,” I explained to Becky, “Solar Flare Dragons hate being by themselves. So, by paying 300 Life Points, I can call one from my Deck right to the field!”

Right on cue, the fireball in front of me formed into an identical copy of my Deckmaster. (1500/1000).

“But he’s not staying around. Since that was a Special Summon, I can sacrifice him to summon the monster I just drew!”

The altar burst out of the ground, and the fiery tornado revealed my beautiful phoenix. (2300/1800)

“Meet Benu Phoenix! This fine, feathered friend of mine has a lovely singing voice; why not give Becky’s Winged Kuriboh a special performance, Benu Phoenix!”

He opened his mouth and started to sing his enchanting song. Soon, Winged Kuriboh had curled up on the ground and started snoring.

Becky was, unsurprisingly, shocked. “What did your phoenix do?”

“What does it look like he did? Benu Phoenix can put a monster to sleep until the end of your next turn, meaning it can’t attack, change it’s Battle Position, or use of it’s effects until then! Of course, Benu Phoenix isn’t strong enough to defeat it, so I’ll end my turn with that.”

Becky looked a little disgruntled…and a little impressed at the same time. “Not bad, Jakey. I’ll draw.”

She did so; her disappointed expression told me she either was unhappy with her draw or had a really good poker face. Marie appeared over her, raised her Life Points to 8900, and vanished.

“I’ll just set this face-down and end my turn.”

Definitely the first option, I thought as a face-down card appeared in front of her and Winged Kuriboh started to stir, blinking its enormous eyes.

OK…let’s see what I get this time. I can only stall for so long; Benu Phoenix’s effect works only on one monster at a time. Drawing a card, I looked at it and grinned. Awesome!

“The first thing I’m going to do is activate my Deckmaster’s second ability!”

“Another one?”

“Another one! In addition to bringing a Solar Flare Dragon from my Deck to the field, he can also bring one from my Graveyard to my hand; and that ability doesn’t cost me any Life Points!”

A small stream of fire shot out of my Graveyard and formed itself into Solar Flare Dragon’s card, which then settled into my hand.

“Now to activate the card I just drew: Flames of Renewal!”

Suddenly, the air around me filled with the ghostly holograms of all sorts of monsters. Fushi No Tori appeared over my head, then the trio of Masked Dragon to my left. Familiar-Possessed – Hiita materialized in front of me, and all three UFO Turtles did the same to my right. Finally, the gigantic form of Lava Golem rose behind me.

“You’re not the only one who can heal themselves, Becky! By removing Fire monsters in my Graveyard from play, I can increase my Life Points by 500 for each one; and, as you can see, there are nine!”

The ghostly images turned into an enormous bonfire all around me. And, just like the first time I had played this particular card, I felt the peculiar sensation of basking comfortably in the warm sun, as opposed to being burned alive.

“And,” I continued as the fire died down, “Since that was a Magic Card I gain another 500 Life Points from Spell Absorption, bringing me all the way up to 6150!”

I sighed with relief as my Life Points climbed. Being in the red for that long wasn’t a happy feeling.

One thing left to do… “Now, before I forget: Benu Phoenix, send Winged Kuriboh back to La-La Land!”

Once again, Benu Phoenix opened his beak and started to sing, making Winged Kuriboh close those large eyes and wrap itself in its feathery wings.

“Your move, Becky.”

She drew a card and grinned when she saw it. Marie raised her Life Points to 9100.

“That bird of yours might be able to handle one monster, but can it handle two?”

Oh boy, I thought.

“I summon Kuribit to the field!”

Kuribit? I thought as a sudden flash lit up the arena. Sara used when we dueled to deflect my Ring of Destruction…

This monster looked like a cross between Kuriboh and a bumblebee. It was – once again – cottonball-like in appearance, with two jet-black, stubby arms and legs. Its fur was bright yellow, and it stared at me with two large blue eyes. To complete the picture, two zigzagging antenna jutted out of the thing’s forehead, each tipped with a black ball of fur. And, just like all of her monsters, it got a huge power boost. (300/200) -> (3700/3600)

“Kuribit, show Jake why birds shouldn’t be out in bad weather! Pixie Spark Storm!”

Spark Storm? I wondered. This thing is Thunder-based?

Apparently, it was. Kuribit’s antenna started emitting sparks, as though they were shorting out. Suddenly, they let loose a barrage of lightning that zapped Benu Phoenix, shattering it.

Shielding myself with my arm from the resulting explosion, I yelled, “Go, Backfire!” Yet another fireball flew out of the card and slammed into Becky, knocking her Life Points down to 8600.

“I’d suggest bringing out something that can withstand my two Kuribohs, Jake. As soon as I end my turn, Winged Kuriboh LV10 will wake up, and you’ll have twice the trouble to worry about!” She waved her hand, and Winged Kuriboh rose back into the air.

Twice the trouble, I thought, looking at my hand. That gives me an idea… “My move!”

I drew Barrel Behind the Door.

I suddenly remembered using this to save myself from my own Ring of Destruction in my duel with Sara. Now that I thought about it, it seemed a little…well, wrong.

I should probably Set it anyway, just in case; I need all the protection I can get from those things! As it appeared in front of me face-down, I called out, “I’m summoning the Solar Flare Dragon I got last turn to the field!” It rose from the ground in a flash of fire and growled threateningly. (1500/1000)

“I’m not done yet!” I continued as fire outlined me once again. “I’m giving up another 300 Life Points to summon my other Solar Flare Dragon my Deck!” The fire formed into an identical copy of the other two. (1500/1000)

“So now you have two weaklings. What good will they do you?”

“A lot of good! First off, since they’re both Pyro-Type monsters, they protect each other, meaning you can’t attack either one of them; second, now that I’m ending my turn, they can do this!” I yelled, pointing at Becky. Both Dragons eagerly soared across the field, completely bypassing both Winged Kuriboh and Kuribit, and encased Becky in a column of fire! (B: 7600)

Shrugging it off, she drew another card and glowered at her hand. Yet again, Marie gave her 200 more Life Points.

“These cards aren’t doing me any good, so I’m going to set two of them face-down – “ she did “ – and then activate my Emergency Provisions to send all four of my face-down cards to the Graveyard and regain 4000 Life Points in the process!”

She doesn’t know when to quit! I thought, exasperated, as the four cards lifted to reveal Token Thanksgiving, Scapegoat, Threatening Roar, and...

Imperial Order? Why is she getting rid of that? I wondered as the cards were sucked into a lunch box, which exploded and surrounded Becky in golden dust. (B: 11800)

The Spell Absorption orb glowed again, bringing me up to 4950.

“Since I can’t attack, it’s your move, Jakey.”

“You can stop calling me that,” I muttered. I drew a card.

I almost dropped it when I saw what it was. Wha – how did – ANOTHER card I specifically didn’t put in my Deck? I can’t use this! It’s so…so…

Jake!

My head jerked up. Again? What?

You have to use it! The two cards you have are the only way to win!

It sounded like Legendary Flame Lord again. What? No way! I can’t use these; especially on a little girl! Who knows what these will do to her in a holographic simulation?

Is there anything else you can do?

I looked down at the two rather wicked-looking cards in my hand. Not really…

You have to, Jake! If she destroys your Solar Flare Dragons, you’re done! You have to play those cards!

Realizing he was right, I hung my head. Half of me wanted to desperately not play either of the cards, but the other half had to win.

Finally, I slowly pulled one of the cards from my hand and slid into my Disk. “I set this face-down. Your turn,” I whispered. Both Solar Flare Dragons leapt across the field and doused Becky with fire again for another 1000 points of damage.

Becky drew, causing Marie to appear once more.

“I’m activating my Sinister Serpent’s effect!”

I snapped back to reality. “Your Sinister Serpent? I know what that does: it can return itself to your hand if it’s in your Graveyard, but it isn’t in your Graveyard!”

“Not by your hand, no. Remember when I played Graceful Charity on my first turn?”

Talk about long-term planning! Come to think of it, that’s near-perfect strategy; she can just keep it in her Graveyard to power up her monsters until she needs it, then she can probably discard it again.

Out of her Graveyard shot a small green snake with a large hood and impossible tiny wings that somehow held it aloft in the air.

“Now I play the card I just drew: Lightning Vortex!”

My eyes widened. Oh no…not that!

The Spell Absorption orb brought me up to 5450 as Sinister Serpent rose high into the air and suddenly transformed into a ball of lightning!

“This lets me destroy all face-up monsters on your side of the field as long as I sacrifice 1 card from my hand. So say goodbye to your dragons!”

The ball of lightning started shooting electricity every which way, zapping both of my horrified Solar Flare Dragons and destroying them!

“And now you’re wide open, Jake! Winged Kuriboh, attack his Life Points directly with Wrath of the Divine!”

I covered my head with my hands and braced myself. Winged Kuriboh floated high into the sky as the fans on the sidelines chanted, “Becky! Becky!”

Winged Kuriboh fired its multiple laser beams, leaving more craters in the ground (this place really was starting to like a battlefield). I cringed and gritted my teeth as the barrage of lasers slammed into me, causing me to lose 3700 Life Points!

“That hurt!” I shouted as Becky’s Kuriboh stopped its assault, my temper starting to rise.

“Do you think it’s been fin being slammed by fireballs the whole duel?”

“But you’ve had Life points to spare,” I said through gritted teeth. “I’m barely hanging on over here. You’ll pay for that, Rebecca!”

“Don’t call me that! Who do you think you are; my father?”

Her angry expression, however, softened and turned to one of fear as the sky darkened. I grinned.

“I don’t know…can your father do this?”

The swirling clouds up above started turning red and orange and a fierce, hot wind picked up. Solar Flare Dragon beside me nudged me with its snout in question, but I pushed him away.

“By attacking me with that oversized stuffed animal of yours, you’ve activated one of the deadliest fire cards in existence!” I threw my hand out over my left face-down card, and it rose; immediately, fire started shooting down from the heavens, and the wind rose to hurricane force!

“This card can only be activated if I take 3000 or more points of damage from one attack,” I screamed over the howling wind. “Since you’ve done that, I’m allowed to activate this! Behold the incredible power of INFERNO TEMPEST!”

As soon as I called the name of the card, two pillars of fire completely enveloped both myself and Becky, causing her to scream in fear!

This’ll show her who’s boss.

After a final, fiery blast, the fire disappeared and the sky returned to normal. The ground, however, was charred and blackened from the intense flames. Becky, I noted with some degree of satisfaction, was sprawled out on the ground; her two Kuri monsters were nudging her, trying to help her up.

She slowly pulled herself to her feet with the help of her monsters. Regaining her balance, she asked in a timid voice, “What…what just happened?”

“Allow me to explain,” I said, very proud of myself for having pulled off what I had. “As I said, Inferno Tempest can only be activated if I take 3000 points of damage or more in a single attack. Then…well, look down, and you’ll see what I mean.”

She looked down at the ground and screamed again! “My…my cards!”

What must have been twenty cards were strewn around her on the ground. She quickly fell to her knees and started picking them up.

“Don’t bother,” I continued, my eyes narrowing. “Inferno Tempest takes every monster in both our Decks and Graveyards and removes them from the game.” I pointed down to my feet, where several of my own cards lay.

“What? My Graveyard!”

“Is now Monster-free. And you know what that means…with nothing in the Graveyard, your Deckmaster is useless!”

The ugly Shadow Ghoul who had been standing behind Becky during the whole duel suddenly sagged, resting on its four legs, its arms hanging limply by its sides. The toxic green gas was gone, presumably having been burned away from the inferno. And, much to my satisfaction, both of her Kuribohs were weaklings once again. (300/200) x2

Becky looked up at me, furious. “It might not be much, but Kuribit still has a few ATK points left! Attack him directly!”

The annoying furball shot a barrage of sparks at me, but I deflected them with my Disk as my Life Points sank to 1450.

“I have plenty of time to make a comeback, Jake! I have 11,000 Life Points!”

“Don’t speak too soon,” I said quietly, looking at the card in my hand.

She got back to her feet, her cards forgotten. “Make your move then, meanie!”

“Resorting to name-calling?” I asked in a mock-polite voice. “So the true Becky comes out…she may act tough, but she’s still just a scared little girl…”

“Hey, that’s not nice!”

Looking at the card I drew, I smirked. “And neither is this. Go, Molten Destruction!”

The earth shook as the card slid into my Field Card slot, and lava geysers erupted around us. The walls of the arena started to change from regular balcony seating to a large rocky cavern, with the entire arena being flooded with lava, leaving only two small rocky platforms for Becky and I to stand on. The biggest change was the crowd; we were no longer surrounded by a crowd of people, but by a crowd of fiery demon creatures. There was no more sky; the rocky cavern that surrounded us on the sides made a ceiling for our duel as well.

“Whe – Where are we?” Becky asked, clearly terrified and holding her teddy bear close. “This place looks evil!”

“Well then my last monster will feel right at home. I summon Gren Maju Da Eiza!”

The lava in front of me started to swirl, forming a whirlpool. Out of the whirlpool rose a terrifying creature, covered entirely with fiery red scaled armor. It had a regular human-esque torso, but with two large dragon wings on its back, and the torso extended into a long, almost snake-like body. The creature had no legs to speak of, but simply hovered in the air. (?/?)

“That…that…thing…it doesn’t have an ATK score!”

“Oh, but it does. You see, this fiery Fiend is from the Dimension of Chaos; the place that Inferno Tempest sent all our monsters, as a matter of fact. That being the case, when in this world, he is fueled by the burning desires of the monsters trapped in that dimension.”

“What do you mean by all that?”

“I mean that, for every card I have removed from play, he gains 400 ATK and DEF points!”

She looked shocked as Gren Maju’s ATK started to rise…and rise…and continue to rise…

“How many cards do you have removed from play, Jake?” Becky asked in a quivering voice.

“Nineteen,” I said proudly, as the demonic creature’s stats continued to rise. “But don’t forget where we are! Gren Maju Da Eiza is a Fire monster, meaning that Molten Destruction gives it 500 more points on top of its own effect!”

Becky was strangely quiet as the creatures stats stopped at 8100 / 7200.

“And now, as you like to say, here comes the fun part! Gren Maju Da Eiza, attack her Winged Kuriboh now!”

A triumphant grin broke out on Becky’s face. “You’ve activated Winged Kuriboh’s effect!”

I stopped short.

“I can sacrifice him to destroy all your Attack Position monsters and inflict their ATK points as damage to your Life Points.”

Winged Kuriboh started glowing, gathering energy for a final blast.

“Winged Kuriboh LV10, wipe him out! Celestial Devastation!”

The dragon-like creature exploded in a blast of pure light, annihilating my Gren Maju Da Eiza and engulfing me completely.

Then, the light started to get sucked in towards my hand…until it vanished completely.

Becky was, to say the least, startled. “You didn’t lose?”

I held up my hand, which now held an ornate Egyptian pistol that was shaking with so much energy I could hardly keep it steady.

“No, I didn’t lose. Barrel Behind the Door will take the damage I would have received…and blast it back at you!” I cried. Solar Flare Dragon bit onto my arm, trying to stop me, but it was too late; I had already pulled the trigger.

Instantly, an intense blast of energy tore through the air, picking Becky up into the air and catapulting her backwards! It was only thanks to her surprisingly nimble Deckmaster that she didn’t fall into the lava. (B: 2900)

“Tell me, Becky,” I asked as she and Shadow Ghoul settled themselves back to where they were. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

She held her teddy bear even closer. “Um…maybe?”

I smiled. “Let me confirm your beliefs by activating my final face-down card: Call of the Haunted!”

The lava started to bubble and froth like a pot on full boil. The demonic creature exploded out of the lava again, and this time it was angry!

“Of course, now that your Winged Kuriboh is in the Graveyard, your Kuribit has 200 extra ATK points, but between my Barrel Behind the Door and this attack, you’re through!”

“No…please!” she whimpered.

“Gren Maju Da Eiza,” I called out as the lava began to bubble again and the demons surrounding us started to hiss and yell, “attack her Kuribit! Chaos Inferno!”

The creature…my creature…inhaled deeply, then shot a blast of black fire at Becky as geysers erupted all around us. She screamed as the fire hit her and dropped her Life Points to 0.

Instantly, the cavern, demons, and monsters faded from view; we were back in the arena, only this time there was no crowd. Sara walked over to me, picking something up off the ground on the way.

“Well, that was certainly an impressive finish. Congratulations.”

I shrugged. “It was nothing special.”

She gave me a look I could not read, then held up the card she had picked up. “I think this fell out of your Graveyard.” She handed it to me, then said, “Go ahead to the outside of the arena; I have to see how Bryan and Joey fared.” And with that, she walked away. I looked down at the card.

Apollo’s Blessing.

Ignoring your heart may not change the outcome of this duel, but it will certainly change the outcome of your future.

My eyes widened as I looked over and saw Becky lying on the ground, dazed and exhausted, not to mention charred. I feel to my knees as I realized what had happened over the past five minutes.

Oh God…what have I done…






Anime-Only Cards

Five-Star Twilight
Normal Spell
This card can only be activated if there is only 1 monster on your side of the field, and it has exactly 5 Level Stars. Tribute 1 Level 5 monster on your side of the field. Special Summon 1 “Kuribah”, 1 “Kuribeh”, 1 “Kuribih”, 1 “Kuriboh”, and 1 “Kuribuh” from your hand or Deck. Monsters Special Summoned by this card’s effect cannot be Tributed for a Tribute Summon.

Kuribah
Dark/Fiend/1 star/ATK 300/DEF 200
Tribute this face-up card along with 1 “Kuribeh”, 1 “Kuribih”, 1 “Kuriboh”, and 1 “Kuribuh” on your side of the field. Special Summon 1 “Kuribabylon” from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard.

Kuribeh
Dark/Fiend/1 star/ATK 300/DEF 200
Tribute this face-up card along with 1 “Kuribah”, 1 “Kuribih”, 1 “Kuriboh”, and 1 “Kuribuh” on your side of the field. Special Summon 1 “Kuribandit” from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard.

Kuribih
Dark/Fiend/1 star/ATK 300/DEF 200
You can only activate this card’s effect if “Kuribah”, “Kuribeh”, “Kuriboh”, and “Kuribuh” are all face-up on the field along with this card. Once per turn, you can negate the attack of 1 of your opponent’s monsters.

Kuribuh
Dark/Fiend/1 star/ATK 300/DEF 200
You can only activate this card’s effect if “Kuribah”, “Kuribeh”, “Kuriboh”, and “Kuribuh” are all face-up on the field along with this card. Discard 1 Trap Card from your hand to decrease the ATK of 1 face-up monster on your opponent’s side of the field by an amount equal to the combined ATKs of “Kuribah”, “Kuribeh”, “Kuribih”, “Kuriboh”, and this card.

Kuribabylon
Dark/Fiend/5 stars/ATK ?/DEF ?
This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summon through the effect of “Kuribah”. This card’s original ATK and DEF are equal to the ATK and DEF (respectively) of the monsters Tributed to activate “Kuribah”’s effect. If “Kuribah”, “Kuribeh”, “Kuribih”, “Kuriboh”, and “Kuribuh” are all in your Graveyard, you can Tribute this card to Special Summon these 5 cards from your Graveyard.

Kuribandit
Dark/Fiend/3 stars/ATK 1500/DEF 700
This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summoned through the effect of “Kuribeh”. During either player’s turn, you can Tribute this face-up card to draw 5 cards. Discard all Monster Cards drawn through this card’s effect.

Note: The above seven cards were used by Yugi in his two duels with Raphael in the three-part episodes “Fate of the Pharoah” and “Grappling with a Guardian”. Brownie points to the writers of those episodes for creativity.

Made-Up Cards

Pot of Charity
Normal Spell
Remove 1 LIGHT monster in your Graveyard from play. Draw 3 cards.
Note: Pot of Charity was created by Shuppet master in his fic, “Sister of Anansi”. Brownie points to him for creativity.

Restless Souls
Normal Spell
Pay 1000 Life Points. Both players Special Summon a number of monsters from their respective Graveyards equal to the number of empty Monster Zones on their respective sides of the field. Monsters Special Summoned through this card’s effect are treated as Zombie-Type monsters for as long as they remain face-up on the field.
Note: Restless Souls was created by Dark Sage for his fic, “The Mandate of Heaven”. Brownie points to him for creativity.

Deckmaster Abilities

Solar Flare Dragon
Fire/Pyro/4 stars/ATK 1500/DEF 1000
DMSA: Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can select and activate 1 of the following effects:
- Add 1 “Solar Flare Dragon” from your Graveyard to your hand.
- Pay 300 Life Points. Special Summon 1 “Solar Flare Dragon” from your Deck. The Special Summoned “Solar Flare Dragon” cannot attack this turn.

Shadow Ghoul
Dark/Zombie/5 stars/ATK 1600/DEF 1300
DMSA: Increase the ATK and DEF of all monsters on your side of the field whose original ATK is equal to 1000 or less by an amount equal to the number of Monster Cards in your Graveyard x200. Increase the ATK and DEF of all monsters on your side of the field whose original ATK is higher than 1000 and lower than 1500 by an amount equal to the number of Monster Cards in your Graveyard x100.



Wondering why Jake suddenly has split personalities? Or why there are cards in Jake's deck he didn't put there? Good!

Next chapter...while 'Jakey' was dueling Becky, Bryan was up against a barrage of some of the strongest monsters in the game. right from the start, they had some sort of rivalry, and Bryan's going to see that Joey isn't as much of a Little Leaguer as he thought! Plus, we say goodbye to a friend...and hello to another! Watch as Bryan steps his game up a notch in Chapter 28 - Dragon Manipulator!

[Shuppet Master]

That was scary.

I have a feeling Jake's going to turn evil and Bryan has to defeat him to save him from his evil side. That's just me, though.

Great chapter, starjake, keep it up.

[Dark Sage]

I know what happened...

This is a classic case of "villain tries to corrupt the hero". Cerredwin planted those two cards in his deck!

That is really low. You do not try to sabotage someone's deck!

This story is getting intense. I didn't expect half of what is happening.

Keep it up...

[Master of Paradox]

Well... that was insanely long. And yet, despite being the longest duel I've read in many a moon, it didn't get boring even once.

Seeing an entire deck devoted to Kuribohs is a new experience to me, and Becky was the perfect player for it. It was rather interesting to see Jake on the losing side for most of the chapter; on top of that, you managed to make his comeback feel like it could actually happen, as opposed to the deus ex machina comebacks I've seen so often in other stories.

Jake's extreme reluctance to use Gren Maju Da Eiza also felt right; that thing's just plain evil.

In short, very, very good...

[Blademaster]

(comes running at full speed; slips and crashes headfirst into wall)

x_X

(gets up)

KU... KURI... KURI-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!

KURI, KURI!

I LOVE KURIBOHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KURIBOHS RULE! KURIBOHS ROCK! KURIBOHS FOREVER!!! KURIBOH! KURIBOH!! KURIBOH!!!

KURI, KURI!

I'm so happy! ^_^ (hugs Kuribohs)

...And yet, I'm ashamed that I've never heard of Kuribit before... May the LV10 Winged Kuriboh (AKA, Kuriboh God) forgive me... (anime vertical lines over forehead)

Anyway, this chapter was very good. Amazing description, and the whole good-bad-inner struggle was a nice touch. Reminded me of when Yami used the Seal of Orichalcos...

Yeah, the Inferno Tempest/Gren Maju da Eiza combo is very hard to pull off effectively (Lava Golem might work, but that's about all I can think of.), but if it works, you can get out a 6000-point Monster easily (I doubt most decks these days run many more Monsters than that...). Nobody in their right mind would wanna see that coming at them...

And as if that weren't enough, you posted this chapter only a few weeks after the last chapter! WOW!

(suspects starjake has been abducted by aliens and replaced by a kind, evil clone)

Anyway, keep it up!

Peace out!

-Blademaster

[starjake]

Don't beat yourself up too badly for not knowing Kuribit, Blademaster; it's a card I created. It was first introduced in Cerredwin's duel against Jake; see that chapter if you'd like a description of its effect (basically a Kuriboh for Effect Damage instead of Battle Damage, and it's Light/Fiend).

I'm glad that everyone seems to have liked this chapter; I lost count of how many times I had to rewrite the duel to work out the way I wanted it to. It was at least 10+.

Anyways, it's going to be another bit of a wait on the next chapter. I don't even have the duel outline completed yet (hope to finish that over Spring Break next week). But be patient; it will come!

[mr_pikachu]

Well, that was interesting. I sure didn't see that coming. Although I do like the metaphor there... just a little bit of corruption can destroy a lot of good...

You know, I can't help but wonder if this all has something to do with that one little clip you showed many, many chapters ago with Bryan and Jake sleeping in that room. If I recall, one of them was sleeptalking while the other was dead silent. I might have to go back and reread that part.

Anyway, this may have actually been the best chapter you've written so far this fic. You did a good job of keeping the action intense throughout the entire thing. Despite the obvious problem of that duel easily being the longest you've written (I'm not even going to go back and check... that thing was massive!), it never got tedious. You used various things to keep us interested, like Sara's and Jake's reactions to the unusual cards being drawn, all sorts of crazy combination strategies, completely overwhelming odds, the hint by Apollo, and the twist at the end. Even the setting felt evil, which was all the more surprising. Jake knew it wouldn't be right to attack Becky in that manner, but he did it anyway. You've got me curious to see how that will affect Jake's future... And why was Legendary Flame Lord telling Jake to go ahead with it? Even Solar Flare Dragon knew it was wrong... makes me wonder if you're pulling a Legacy of the Duelist... if you know what I mean.

Not too many weaknesses to note here. There were occasional problems with grammar, yes; they were mostly with commas (and sometimes lack thereof). However, that's forgivable and certainly understandable with a chapter of this length. The greater issue was the challenge of keeping it all interesting, and you did that quite nicely here. Excellent work with the characters, and good job in throwing a twist into the plot. A superb chapter overall, to be sure. Very nicely done, starjake. I'll be looking forward to the next chapter!

[Shuppet Master]

Wow, the great Mr. Pikachu, reviewing a Yu-Gi-Oh fic! I thought you stuck with Pokemon fics. *laughs*

[Master of Paradox]

Wow, the great Mr. Pikachu, reviewing a Yu-Gi-Oh fic! I thought you stuck with Pokemon fics. *laughs*

I recall him reviewing "Mandate of Heaven" back in my lurking days.

[Mookie]

*pokes fic*

I want another chapter.

ergo, bump.

[mr_pikachu]

Mookie, please don't bump fics. It's uncourteous to other writers, whose fics get knocked down the forum page because of the bump, and besides, it's against the Fanfic rules.

6) Do not spam (make completely pointless posts). The following are all spam :
-Posting only to advertise your fic
-Starting a fic topic only to say you'll post your fic later in the main forum
-Posting many minuscule fics at once.
-Bumping
-Posting very short (one or two lines of text) unhelpful, irrelevant, and substance-less replies

And I do actually read and review YGO fics, but I don't do it quite as often. (And a few fics in particular tend to move so fast that I sometimes can't keep up with them.)

[Mookie]

Aw crap. I really have to apologize. :redface:
I must've missed that.

Seriously, Im sorry. :redface:

[starjake]

I have an announcement to make.

Multiple life issues have decided to come up all at once. I won't bore you all by telling you them, but suffice to say that I have plenty of stress on my plate at the moment.

As a result, I have decided that it would be to put both this fic and The Dual Shadows of Time on hiatus until I can get my life back in order. I regret having to disappoint my loyal readers, but life comes before fun.

Until I next see you...

[mr_pikachu]

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, starjake! I hope things aren't too rough for you. Let us know if/when you'll be able to continue this fic and start up TDSOT again. We'll miss your writing for however long you have to remain on hiatus, but please stick around here if you can! After all, it's always nice to have a fanficcer like you around!

[Shuppet Master]

Oh, I'm so sorry for you. I know how hard it is to write when you have stuff going on. I wish you luck and hope you get your life in control soon. I'll be praying for you.

[Blademaster]

Sounds bad... Poor guy...

(places fist over heart)

Stay strong, friend - we've got your back.

[Rhand]

Starjake has been stayin at my house for the past couple weeks...and will be staying the rest of the summer, so i'll be makin sure that he gets his next chapter up soon. Plus i'll be havin my own chapter up soon.

[starjake]

He's back!

After quite a long waiting period, the next chapter to this fic is up and ready for reading.

There are plenty of things I'd like to say, but they can wait until after the chapter. So without any further ado, I give you...

Chapter 28 – Dragon Manipulator

“Duelists, present your Deckmasters!” came Griphook’s commanding voice.

“Keep your shirt on, Wrinkles,” Joey drawled in that accent of his. “I’m going with my good ol’ Knight of Dark Dragon!”

I watched with interest as Joey held a blue-framed card up high – high for him, anyway – and the card exploded into black fire. Out of the inferno stepped a muscular warrior covered in familiar-looking black armor.

Why does that thing look familiar to me? “I’ve seen that card before…what does it do?”

All I got in response was a smirk. “Why not pick your Deckmaster and get on with the duel so you can find out.”

I looked down at my Deck. Well, like I told Jake, this is how they do it in the show, so here goes… Whipping a card off my Deck, I looked at it and grinned.

“Kazejin, I choose you!”

The light breeze that had been whispering around the arena suddenly increased to a hurricane-force gale, sending dust flying and causing Joey to shield himself with his Disk. Then, a large green-and-yellow ball with two large arms materialized behind me, the Japanese symbol for Wind glowing on its front.

As the wind died down, Joey called out, “And what do you expect to do with that?”

To be honest, I don’t know myself. What do you do? I inquired.

A high and breathy voice reverberated in my head, as though the wind itself were talking to me.

You know that I possess 2400 ATK points. Should your opponent attack, you may use any number of those ATK points to weaken the attacking monster.

I blinked. Um…ok, I guess I understand

Joey stamped his foot on the ground with impatience. “Hey, let’s start this century, if you don’t mind!”

Before I could reply to his outburst, I was interrupted. “Indeed,” commanded Griphook. He pointed one of his flags at Joey and said, “Since he’s so eager, I pronounce Joey to make the first move.”

The newly-proclaimed starter smirked at me. “Fine by me. Now, as they say in the business…” he said, holding up his Disk. I held up mine in response.

“LET’S DUEL!”

“Let’s see what my first brilliant move is, shall we?” he announced, drawing a card with a flourish. Looking at his six-card hand, he grinned.

“You were pretty eager to see what my Deckmaster can do, so I think I’ll be nice and show you!”

Oh boy. This kid needs to chill.

He plucked a card from his hand and held it out, its back facing me. Suddenly, seven Level Stars shot from the card into the air! They seemed to somehow suck energy out of Joey’s Duel Disk, then they were absorbed into the large sword his Knight of Dark Dragon held, which was now glowing with black fire.

“See, I have to select any Dark Dragon monster from my hand. Then, I pay 100 Life Points for each Level Star the monster has, and I get to do this!” he explained, throwing the card on his Disk.

The black fire leapt off the sword and landed in front its master, growing and forming itself into a shape…

“Meet everybody’s favorite monster, my good ol’ Red-Eyes Black Dragon!”

The fire exploded, and formed itself into the black-armored dragon, which screeched and made several people in the audience cower! (2400/2000)

Now I remember…Joey Wheeler used his Knight of Dark Dragon as a Ritual monster to summon Red-Eyes from his Deck. That would be why that warrior’s armor looks so familiar; it’s Red-Eyes armor!

“Now, normally, a monster summoned with my Deckmaster’s effect can’t attack on the turn it’s summoned, and a monster normally can’t attack if the opponent hasn’t made a move yet anyway. But, thanks to this card, that can all change!” he continued, pulling a second card from his hand.

What? How can he make his dragon attack with all those restrictions?

“Thanks to this handy little Magic Card, Red-Eyes is allowed to use all of its original ATK points to give your Life Points a roastin’!” he called out, throwing the card into his Disk. “Go, Inferno Fire Blast!”

Before I could react, Joey’s dragon had inhaled and shot an enormous black fireball from its mouth! I shielded myself with my Disk as the blast sent me skidding backwards a good ten feet. I slowly lowered my arms as my Life Points dropped to 5600.

That…wasn’t fun. I’ve already lost a quarter of my Life Points and he hasn’t even had a full turn yet!

“Since that was a Special Summon, I can summon another monster this turn, so I’m bringing out my good friend Gearfried the Iron Knight!”

Yeah, this is Wheeler’s deck alright, I thought to myself as a Warrior completely covered in black-and-silver armor appeared on the field next to the black dragon, swinging its arm-blade menacingly. (1800/1600)

“And I’ll finish things off with a little face-down action,” he continued, and face-down card appearing behind Red-Eyes.

“So, still think I’m an amateur, tough guy?” he said haughtily.

“You make one good move and think you’re king of the world? You haven’t even seen what my Deck can pull off yet!” And, with that, I drew a card, filling my hand to 6.

The only problem, I thought worriedly as I looked at my hand, is that I don’t have anything that can beat his Red-Eyes…I’ll have to defend for now…

“OK, hot shot. I’m going to set a monster face-down and do the same with two other cards,” I called out, throwing three face-down cards onto my Disk. They surrounded me – one in front and one on either side – protecting my Life Points. “That’s all.”

Joey’s eyes widened. “That’s your big move? This is gonna be easier than I thought. My turn!” He pulled a card off his deck and looked at it.

“Time to take my luck for a spin, sporty-boy! Go, Roll of Fate!”

I know that card too!

A gentleman and lady walked out of the card holding hands. They threw their connected hands forward and threw a die onto the field, which started to spin.

Roll low…he doesn’t need any more cards than he already has…

It landed on…

“Jackpot! A six! Now I get to draw six cards!”

As he did so and the happy couple disappeared along with their die, I yelled back, “I know what the card does! I also know that you now have to remove that many cards from the top of your Deck from play!”

After drawing, he took six more cards and looked at them briefly before sliding them into his Graveyard.

“Hey, those should be removed from the game!” I called angrily.

“Keep your shirt on; the Graveyards in these Disks know which cards are removed from play. Didn’t you know that?”

These Disks can do that? Shows how much I know…

“As for my cards being removed from play…that’s not always a bad thing…”

I looked at him incredulously. What is he talking about? Wheeler doesn’t use cards that work when they’re removed from play…then again, he didn’t use Inferno Fire Blast either…

“But for now, I’d worry about what’s in my hand if I were you! These cards are gonna totally blow you away!”

“For example, allow me to activate my Deckmaster’s ability a second time…”

My eyes shot wide. “Another Red-Eyes?”

He smirked. “Oh no. Something even stronger than Red-Eyes.”

Uh…he said his Deckmaster only summons Dark Dragons, so Blue-Eyes is out of the question…what other Dark Dragons are there?

“You’re up on current events, right? Ever hear of Harry Potter?”

“Harry Potter? What the heck does he have to do a Dragon?”

Joey laughed. “Looks like you are! Remember in Goblet of Fire, he had to face a dragon?”

My eyes narrowed. “Yeah…go on…”

“Well then, it’s time for you to be put in Harry’s shoes, ‘cause now you’re gonna face that same dragon!”

What the – I thought suddenly as eight Level Stars shot into the air. They made that…THING into a card?

Joey’s Life Points fell to 6500 as his Knight’s sword shot a blast of dark fire onto the field.

“Here he comes: Hungarian Horntail, the Fierce Dragon!”

The resulting explosion nearly knocked me off my feet. Out of the smoke and fire stepped an extremely large, grey dragon that was covered in spikes. Its enormous bat-like wings spread at least twenty-five feet, and a line of spikes ran down its spine and ended with a particularly well-developed pike on the tip of its tail. Yellow eyes glared at me from the relatively flat face on which they sat. The creature flared its wings and waved its tail, screeching in hunger. (3400/1800)

Good thing it has to wait a turn before attacking since he summoned it with his Deckmaster! The only thing in my with that much attack power is my Gate Guardian!

“Now I activate Quick Attack!”

My jaw dropped as the Magic Card materialized on the field and sent a surge of power into the Horntail, who screeched even louder than before.

“Quick Attack allows me to bypass any ruling or effect that would prevent one of my monsters from attacking this turn, so I don’t have to worry about my Deckmaster! Pretty cool, eh?”

“Oh…yeah,” I muttered. “Marvelous.”

“But wait, there’s more! I activate my face-down Trap!”

NOW what is he doing?

“It’s called Dragon’s Rage, and it lets every Dragon monster I have punch through to your Life Points even if your monster’s in Defense Mode!”

This actually forced me to step back. And we have another card Wheeler didn’t use…

“Now, my Hungarian Horntail, attack whatever pathetic monster he’s trying to hide behind! Searing Stream of Fury!”

Steam poured from the beast’s mouth, then it inhaled deeply and blasted my my side of the field with white-hot fire! A flying squirrel appeared on my face-down card before it was blown away.

“A Nimble Momonga? Nice try, Bryan, but it only had 100 DEF points, so my Dragon’s Rage will – “

“ – do absolutely nothing,” I interrupted.

Joey’s eyes widened as the flames died down and he saw that my Life Points hadn’t budged. “Wha – how did – “

“I did it by activating my face-down Spirit Barrier!” I responded triumphantly, pointing to the now upright Trap. “It stops me from taking Battle Damage as long as there’s a monster on my side of the field, and since I technically take the damage before the monster is destroyed, my Spirit Barrier makes your Dragon’s Rage obsolete!”

I continued as the squirrel suddenly poked its head out of my Graveyard and started chittering. “Not only that, but now I get 1000 more Life Points and two more face-down Momongas!”

As my Life Points rose to 6600 and two face-down monsters appeared in front of me, I added, “Looks like your move backfired.”

This, apparently, was not making Joey happy. “Don’t insult my monsters with pathetic chew toys! Gearfried, Red-Eyes, take ‘em apart!”

The Iron Knight raised his blades and charged as Red-Eyes blasted another fireball at my face-down monsters. A split second later, my defensive line was gone.

“You may have gotten some extra Life Points,” he called out, as my Life Points rose all the way to 8600, “but you’re fresh outta monsters, and I’ve got three of ‘em waiting to destroy you!”

He may be annoying, but he does have a point there, I thought to myself. I’d better get a good card this turn or I’m dragon chow! “My move, Joey!” I called out, drawing a card and hoping.

Alright! This is one of those cards I got back on the mainland! I was never able to afford one in real life, but I guess virtual reality changes the rules! “OK, short stuff, I’m setting a monster face-down and another card face-down too.”

As the cards appeared in front of me, Joey yelled, “You know, you talk a good game, but all you’re doing is trying to hide behind lame defenses!”

“Hey, no team would be complete unless they had a good offense and a good defense!”

All I got in response to that was Joey rolling his eyes.

“I’d keep my eye on the field if I were you, ‘cause I’m not done; go Mystical Space Typhoon!”

Joey immediately turned his attention back to the field.

“I hope you weren’t attached to your Dragon’s Rage,” called out confidently as a black vortex appeared under the Trap, “because now I get to destroy it!”

The vortex suddenly shot out a mass of lightning, and the Dragon’s Rage card shattered.

“Is that a good enough move for you?”

Joey snorted. “Yeah, sure. Waste your cards to destroy one that I can’t use; your Spirit Barrier made it useless anyway!”

I stepped back a bit. Oh yeah…ok, that was dumb…

“Looks like this is gonna be a piece of cake…my move!”

Then, as he drew his card, something strange happened: his Graveyard started glowing! Squinting, I yelled, “What’s with the light show?”

“Remember how I said that removing my cards from play isn’t always a bad thing?” came Joey’s voice from somewhere behind the light. Here’s the reason why: two of those come back to my hand when I remove them from the game!”

The suddenly exploded, and when I could see again, two identical machines were hovering in the air behind Joey. They looked like some sort of futuristic time capsules, and they each held a card.

“I had to remove six cards from the top of my Deck from play to play Roll of Fate, remember? Two of those cards were called Card from a Different Dimension, and they activate at the beginning of my next turn after they’ve been removed from play, allowing both of us to draw two cards for each!”

My eyes widened as each of the strange contraptions shot two mechanical arms forward for a total of four: two towards Joey’s Disk and two towards mine. Each of the hands attached to those arms drew two cards and added them to our own hands.

I looked at the four new cards I held. Hey…I haven’t seen this card in a while…and this is one of my new ones…I really ought to thank this kid at some point…

“Now this is what I call a hand!” Joey exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. “To start things off, I’m going to play Polymerization…twice!”

Twice? He’s going to summon TWO Fusion Monsters?”

“First off, I’m fusing a second Red-Eyes from my hand with the Meteor Dragon I drew to form Meteor Black Dragon!”

As translucent images of the Red-Eyes and Meteor Dragons were sucked into an enormous vortex in the sky, I realized, Wait a sec…that’s the monster Jake summoned when we dueled Voldemort!

The vortex erupted into a massive inferno, out of which shot dozens upon dozens of flaming meteors. Then, the largest meteor yet soared out and transformed itself into a mighty black dragon covered in red lines of lava! (3500/2000)

Ugh…I liked it better when it was on Jake’s side of the field…

“Now for my second fusion, I think I’ll use two of the dragons I have on the field!”

What? I wondered as a second vortex opened. Meteor Black Dragon fuses with Red-Eyes again or something?

“I fuse Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Hungarian Horntail to form Inferno Dragon!”

Red-Eyes fuses with that…thing? I thought with a mixture of amazement and fear. Who the heck thought up that idea?

I didn’t know the answer to that question, but I soon forgot about it as Joey’s two dragons glowed with black light and melded together…or, should I say, melted together. Inferno Dragon was the perfect name: it was an enormous dragon covered from head to scaly toe in a never-ending bonfire. A single roar of challenge caused the walls of the stadium to shake! (4200/3000)

Forty-two hundred ATK points? That’s nuts! I thought openmouthed.

“And if you thought these two dragons are powerful, wait until you see the next monster I’m about to create!”

As he pulled two cards from his hand, I thought, Because two dragons that are both stronger than a Blue-Eyes aren’t strong enough I guess…

“I activate a Ritual card known as Red-Eyes Transmigration!”

Wheeler used that too; it’s how he beat Valon! How many Red-Eyes monsters does this kid have?

“Now I sacrifice a third Red-Eyes Black Dragon from my hand along with the Gearfried on my field to summon Lord of the Red!”

For the third time in the duel, Red-Eyes Black Dragon appeared in the air above Joey. It suddenly dive-bombed the field, transforming itself into a stream of – what else? – black fire the surrounded Joey’s Gearfried. In seconds, Gearfried’s normal black-and-silver armor had disintegrated, revealing the muscular Swordmaster underneath. In place of the old armor was a complete set of armor that looked something like a Red-Eyes Black Dragon costume, only this was on fire. (2400/2000)

(Continued in next post...)

[starjake]

I just sort of stood and stared at Joey’s rather impressive lineup of monsters: Lord of the Red flanked by a Meteor Black Dragon and an Inferno Dragon.

“OK, Joey, I’ll admit it. You’re pretty good at this.”

“If you thought that was good,” replied Joey, a gleam in his eye, “then my last monster is gonna blow you outta the water! Go, Shadow Wyrm!”

Now my mind was starting to go overload. OK, all three of those monsters were Special Summons, so this must be his Normal Summon for the turn…but what the heck is a Shadow Wyrm? And why is he summoning all kinds of monsters in one turn when I have two face-down cards?

My train of thought was interrupted as a strange-looking, serpentine dragon made of what looked like black fog materialized in front of Lord of the Red. Two glowing white eyes stared at me, sending chills down my spine. (1000/0)

“That thing’s got only 1000 ATK points; why bother with it?”

“Because it doesn’t have only 1000 ATK points, smart one! This little guy gets 500 more ATK points for every Dragon monster I have in my Graveyard, and in case you were wondering, I’ve got five!”

My eyes slowly traveled upward as the wispy dragon started tripling in size to match its rising ATK score. (3500/0)

“Don’t worry; there is some good news. I don’t have any more monsters to summon this turn.”

Oh, I’m thrilled. “Are you gonna end your turn sometime this century?”

Joey grinned. “Actually, I was planning on ending you right around now! And I’m gonna start with my Lord of the Red; attack his face-down monster now!”

Now it was my turn to grin. “Sorry, Junior, but you should learn not to rush into things without taking a few precautions. Sending a whole bunch of monsters in for an attack could backfire on you.”

“Really? How’s that?” asked Joey as his Lord of the Red spread its wings and soared into the sky, ready to pummel my defense.

“Because you might run into one of these! Meet my newest and most powerful Trap: Mirror Force!”

One of my face-down cards lifted and a shimmering reflective forcefield rose in front of me, defending me from the oncoming attack.

“Now every monster in Attack Mode on your side of the field is automatically destroyed!”

“Not if my luck holds out; you’ve just activated my monster’s special effect!”

Special effect? Which monster?

Lord of the Red suddenly stopped its attack and landed as Joey’s Inferno Dragon’s eyes started glowing red and smoke started pouring from its nostrils. It looked like it was about to go on a rampage!

“It looks like your dragon has some anger management issues; what’s going on?”

“I told you; you activated its effect by playing your Mirror Force! Whenever a Trap is activated, Inferno Dragon goes on a rampage; how angry he gets depends on how lucky I am.”

Wouldn’t a dragon getting angry mean you’re UNlucky? “What do you mean how lucky you are?”

“Just watch, would you?”

As much as I wanted to have the last word, I decided to be the better man and remain quiet.

Inferno Dragon, however, was doing anything but remaining quiet. It was stomping and thrashing around like…well, like an angry dragon.

Then, things got interesting. It suddenly jumped high into the air and slammed into the ground, causing four lava geysers to erupt and split the field in half. To my surprise, the lava from the geysers shot high into the air and started streaming towards my side of the field!

“What’s going on?” I yelled above the roar.

“Let me explain it for you. Depending on the number of geysers that erupt, I get to do different things. Since four of them erupted, I get to destroy every Spell and Trap Card you have!”

Yah! “Hold on there; I’m going to activate my Scapegoat so it doesn’t get destroyed.”

My final face-down lifted and four multi-colored sheep lined my side of the field as the fire destroyed my cards. (0/0) x4

“And since my dragon’s effect also negates and destroys your Mirror Force, I get to keep my monsters right where they are.”

Lovely.

“Let’s try this again, shall we? Lord of the Red, attack his face-down monster!”

Obligingly, his armor-clad warrior tore across the field to pummel my monster.

“Not so fast; I’ve got a backup plan! Kazejin: get ‘im!”

My Deckmaster held out its long arm and instantly started up a fierce windstorm, causing dust from the field to swirl about.

“See, my Deckmaster can lower its ATK strength to lower the ATK of your attacking monster by the same amount, so I choose to lower its ATK by 300 points!”

Lord of the Red suddenly slowed down as a robotic arm reached out of my face-down card and grabbed the warrior’s fist, blocking the assault.

“Since my Battle Footballer has 2100 DEF points and I just lowered your Lord of the Red’s ATK to 2100, I get to keep my monster!”

Lord of the Red jumped back to its side of the field as Joey glared at me.

“Whatever; that wasn’t the only monster I could attack with. Go, Shadow Wyrm; attack with Dark Spirit Shroud!”

His smoky dragon wavered around the field and shot a smoky stream of darkness at my Battle Footballer.

“I can do this Deckmaster thing more than once you know! Use up 1400 of your ATK to block that…thing!”

Kazejin started up another windstorm, this one much stronger than the first. Much like last time, the foggy dragon slowed way down as the fierce winds drained it of energy. And, much like last time, Battle Footballer grabbed the attacker by its head and held it at bay.

“Alright, Meteor Black Dragon, it’s your turn! Inferno Meteor Storm!”

As the giant black-and-red dragon soared into the air and started calling down a harsh rain of flaming rocks, Joey called out, “Let’s see your robot get out of this one!”

Dang it, Kazejin only has 700 ATK points left, which won’t protect my Battle Footballer if I use them!

Battle Footballer let out a mechanical groan as the meteors proved too much for it to handle. It exploded in a flash of electricity.

Good thing I got rid of that Dragon’s Rage, otherwise my Life Points would’ve taken a major hit right there.

“Now, Inferno Dragon, get rid of one of those sheep!”

Not even bothering to use an attack, Inferno Dragon simply stepped on the poor pink sheep, shattering it.

Grimacing, I asked, “Are you done yet?”

After looking at his five-card hand, he gave me a confident look and nodded.

Finally. “My move then!” I drew.

Alright; let’s give these new guys a test drive! “I activate Pinch Hitter!”

As my three Scapegoats glowed and dissipated into thin air, Joey called out, “What the heck does that do?”

“It lets me sacrifice any of my monsters on the field and replace them with low-powered ones from my Deck. And since I sacrificed three Scapegoats, I get to summon three new monsters…like these three!”

All of a sudden, strange music started echoing around the stadium. It sounded like…disco music?

Oh boy…I knew these guys won the Weird Monster Award…

And boy was I right. Down from the sky jumped three of the strangest-looking monsters I had ever seen. One was green and had a single eye and a long, pointed tongue that hung permanently out of its grinning mouth; one was yellow and had two eyes on eyestalks, and the third was black and looked like a muscleman that hadn’t had a workout in ages. (0/1000 x3)

“Hey, boss!” cried the yellow one in a high-pitched voice. “Nice to see ya! Whatcha doin’?”

My eyebrows rose. “Um, right now, putting you three in Defense Mode.”

Instantly, the three Ojama brothers each produced lawn chairs, sunglasses, and martinis complete with miniature umbrellas, and laid back and relaxed in the sun.

Uh…yeah…ok, I’m officially speechless. “Anyways…um, I’m going to use this Magic Card that I got from those Cards from a Different Dimension: Ojama Delta Hurricane!!”

I put the card into my Disk, and the three Ojamas leapt off of their lawn chairs and started dancing all over the place and shouting with happiness.

“Uh, guys?” I called out over the din while Joey was holding his sides laughing. “You mind actually doing something? I’m trying to win here!”

“Sure thing, boss!” came that aggravating voice. Instantly, the three Ojamas took up a large triangle position around Joey’s side of the field and their hands started glowing.

Now, this is a little more like it.

Beams of energy suddenly connected the three monsters, forming a large triangle. A dust devil started to swirl around…

Then, I noticed something weird about Lord of the Red. It was charging up its fist into a fireball! “Hey, what’s with your dragon costume over there?”

“He’s activating his special ability, that’s what! Since two Magic Cards have been played, he automatically destroys every other monster on the field!”

Oh man, that’s right; I forgot about that effect! Then, I suddenly remembered something Jake said about effects.

************************************************** ***********

”Effects happen in two parts, Bryan. First, there’s the activation of the effect, which is when you say, ‘This effect of going to happen’ and you pay any costs the card has. Then, there’s the resolution of the effect, which is when the effect actually happens. For example, there’s a ruling on my Legendary Flame Lord that says that it doesn’t get a Spell Counter until the after the effect of the Spell resolves. So I would have to wait until the effect of the card goes through in order for me to get a Spell Counter; I don’t get it as soon as my opponent says, ‘“I’m playing a Spell now.’ You got that?”

“Jake, I barely play the game. Why are you telling me all this?”

He shrugged. “Just in case.”

************************************************** ***********

’Just in case’ is right; thank you Jake! “Sorry, Joey, but I’ve got the rules on my side!”

I noticed Griphook grinning in his referee uniform out of the corner of my eye as Joey stared at me and his Lord of the Red powered down. “Whadaya mean, you got the rules on your side? What rules?”

“Two Magic Cards have been activated, yes, but your Lord of the Red has to wait until those two Magic Cards have actually done whatever it is they do before he fires off his effect. And, since the thing that Ojama Delta Hurricane does is destroy him, he won’t be around to use his effect!”

With three jester-like cackles, the three Ojamas leapt into the air and started spinning into a massive tornado that completely covered Joey’s side of the field. There was a series of roars and war-cries, and then four distinct sounds of things shattering. When the dust had settled, Joey’s side of the field was clear, and the three Ojamas were back in their lounge chairs, soaking up sun and chattering amongst themselves.

Hoo boy…note to self: have Ritalin available when I summon these things. “Now that you’re open for attack, Joey, I think I’ll put some attackers on the field…like this one!” I yelled, holding out a card from my hand.

Ojama Yellow glanced back at me and looked at the card. “Hey, wait a minute, boss! That thing’s got six stars! You’re not gonna sacrifice us are you?”

You’ve got to be kidding me. My monsters are trying to send me on a guilt trip? “I sacrifice Ojama Yellow to summon Jinzo in Attack Mode!”

A stone altar quickly rose from the ground; this one was different from the ones I had seen in the past in that it had stone guardrails. Once I saw Ojama Yellow trying to escape from the altar, I understood why the rails were in place.

Geez, it’s like I’m babysitting a whole group of Little Leaguers! I thought with a mixture of laughter and disgust as Ojama Yelow vanished into the purple fog that poured out of the altar. Seconds later, the tall, robed cyborg was standing in front of me with crossed arms. (2400/1500)

“Now, Jinzo, attack the runt’s Life Points directly!”

That was a bit harsh, came Jinzo’s reply as he fired off a Cyber Energy Shock in Joey’s direction, lowering his Life Points to 4100.

“Now I play another Magic Card: Tribute Doll!”

My remaining Ojamas’ eyes widened as a lifeless doll made of stone appeared in front of me and an altar rose beneath it (this one also with guardrails; apparently the designers of this system didn’t trust Ojamas).

“In order to use my Tribute Doll, I need to sacrifice one monster; any volunteers?”

Ojamas Green and Black clung to each other in fear for a split second, then scattered in separate directions, screaming as they ran.

OK, that’s it. Never use these things again! I saw a blur of movement out of the corner of my eye; instinctively, my arm shot out and grabbed at the air. In my hand appeared Ojama Green, who looked up at me with a frightened expression.

“Dude, what’s up with you guys? My other monsters don’t seem to mind all that much. Is it really that painful?”

Ojama Green looked down at the ground. “No, it doesn’t hurt…we just wanna stay out here and help you. The Graveyard ain’t a fun place to be, y’know…you just kinda sit around and wait for the duel to end…pretty boring.”

I grinned. “Don’t worry; this duel’ll be done soon enough. I need monster with some serious ATK power to defeat Joey though, and that’s not something you can offer.”

“Fine, fine. Sacrifice me.”

I held out my arm and Ojama Green walked down it and jumped onto the altar. Immediately, both he and the stone doll are absorbed by a brilliant flash of light.

“I use Tribute Doll to summon Sanga of the Thunder from my hand!” I called out as the golden deity of lightning appeared in front of me, electricity crackling around its body. (2600/2200)

“That’ll finish off my move, Joey.”

He gave me a look I couldn’t exactly read, but I could tell it wasn’t hostile. “OK, I’ll give you some credit for that one. Nice move.”

Woah. Maybe this guy has some good points after all.

He smirked. “Of course, it’s not as good a move as the one I’m about to pull off,” he said confidently, whipping a card off his Deck and looking at it. Grinning even wider, he said, “Bingo. This is exactly what I needed to even up the playing field a bit!”

“Even up the playing field? I have three monsters out and you have none! How are you going to summon something strong enough to defeat my team?”

“With this Magic Card,” came the response as Joey pulled a different card out of his hand. “Remember when I said that removing my cards from play with Roll of Fate wasn’t necessarily a bad thing? Here’s the reason: I play Dimension Fusion!”

Kaiba used that! It lets him summon any of his monsters that were removed from play…and Joey removed plenty of cards with his Roll of Fate!

“Now I pay 2000 Life Points,” he continued as his Life Points dropped to 2100, “to summon three monsters!”

Three swirling vortexes appeared in front of him, and out of the vortexes came three monsters: a warrior that was covered head to toe in black-and-silver spiky armor, a dragon that was colored black and was equally as spiky, and an orange serpentine dragon that let out a high-pitched screech as it emerged. (1800/1500), (900/600), (2000/1500)

“Meet Dark Blade, Pitch-Dark Dragon, and Kiryu! Normally, I use them as Union monsters to combine with each other, but that won’t get rid of all your monsters at once, so I’m going to sacrifice all three of them instead!”

Oh crap, I thought in horror as a very long stone altar rose out of the ground and a great flash of light absorbed the three monsters. There’s only one monster I can think of that involves destroying other monsters with three Tributes…and this kid seems to like Wheeler’s cards…

“Meet Gilford the Lightning!” yelled Joey.

Out of a clear blue sky descended what seemed like hundreds of lightning bolts, causing Ojama Black to cower behind me and my hair to stand on end. A single bolt, much larger than the rest, landed in front of Joey to reveal a tall, muscular warrior, clad in silver and red armor, and carrying an enormous sword across its back. (2800/1400)

“And since I summoned him to the field using three monsters, he gets to destroy every monster you have out!”

Not like I need to be reminded! I thought to myself as Gilford drew his sword and sent dozens of electrical streams at my monsters, surrounding them with lightning and destroying all of them!

“Now who’s open for an attack? Gilford, blast him outta the park!”

This is gonna hurt, I thought, bracing myself. And hurt it did; Gilford charged across the field and sent me flying with one electrically-charged slash of his sword.

(Continued in next post...)

[starjake]

After landing face-down in the dirt, I managed to pull myself together and stand up. My Life Points, on the other hand, were heading down really fast. (B: 5800)

OK, Bryan, keep your cool. You’ve still got almost three times as many Life Points as he does; you’re still in this game big time.

“Your move, hot shot!”

Shaking my head to clear it, I drew.

Another new card! Good thing I went through that tent place; my Deck got some major upgrades. This was the only one I found though; it must be rare. “First off, I’m gonna set one card face-down. Then, I’ll play Full House!”

A disembodied hand suddenly appeared out of thin air and drew six cards from my Deck. Looking at them, I was surprised to see six poker cards – three aces and three kings – instead of Yu-Gi-Oh cards. The hand then snapped its fingers and the cards transformed into their normal selves.

Hm…not the best hand, but not the worst. At least I have something to defend myself with. “I set a monster face-down, and end my turn!”

A face-down monster appeared in front of me as the disembodied hand vanished in a puff of smoke. Joey glanced at my less-than-impressive field and drew a card.

“Time for a little Graceful Charity action!”

The angel appeared in a shower of heavenly dust and drew three cards for Joey, then waited impatiently for his discards. He quickly gave her two cards and she vanished in an identical shower of heavenly dust.

“You’ll like this guy, Bryan. Give a warm welcome for Blue Flame Swordsman!”

A warrior wearing armor identical to Flame Swordsman’s – except the armor was blue, obviously – jumped into existence next to Gilford and pointed its rather large sword at me. (1800/1600)

“And that sword isn’t just for show; Blue Flame Swordsman, attack his face-down monster!”

Charging across the field, the blue-armored warrior slashed at the face-down hologram, which transformed into a large blob of…whatever it was Giant Germs were made of.

“Sorry, Joey, but my Giant Germ comes with a couple of nasty side effects when it’s destroyed. For example, it burns away 500 of your Life Points!”

Joey threw up an arm to shield himself from the germ pieces that were now flying through the air. An arm wasn’t enough to protect his Life Points from the 500-point hit, though.

“Then,” I continued, “as an added bonus, I get to summon two more Giant Germs to the field!”

Just like in my duel against Norman, the scattered pieces of my Giant Germ started quivering on the ground, then flew through the air and reformed into two new Giant Germs. (1000/100 x2)

“That’s a pretty neat trick, but from the looks of it, you summoned those globs in Attack Mode, right?”

I blinked. “Yeah…what’s your point?”

Joey laughed. “Did you forget that Gilford is still here? He’s got 2800 ATK points! Sure, destroying your Germ might cost me 500 Life Points, but it’ll cost you 1800!”

Without even waiting for an order, Gilford held its sword at the ready, charged it with electricity, then ran across the field.

He fell for it! “I activate my Deckmaster ability!”

“What do you mean, your Deckmaster ability? You drained most of its ATK points already!”

“True, but he regains 300 of those ATK points for each monster I summon! And I’ve summoned five monsters since I last used its effect, meaning it’s back up to full strength!”

Now it was Joey’s turn to blink. “Oh.”

“Kazejin, lower his Gilford’s ATK by 1800!”

As you wish, came the breathy reply as yet another windstorm forced Gilford to stop in its tracks (the arena field was looking pretty wrecked at this point).

“Now, Giant Germ, strike back! Attack with…uh, just attack!” I stammered, not knowing what to call the attack of a large ball of glop.

The glop, however, was no longer a ball. It had shapeshifted into some kind of battering ram, which proceeded to catapult itself into Gilford, splattering once it made contact. This proved to be too much for the weakened warrior, and Giant Germ’s acid proceeded to dissolve it into nothing. And, once again, several pieces of Giant Germ flew through the air and landed on Joey, causing him to cringe and his Life Points to drop to 1100.

I grinned. “Looks like that glob I summoned just got rid of your best monster.”

Joey scowled; he must’ve been counting on Gilford to stick around a little longer. “I’ll set a card face-down and end my turn, then.”

“Fine by me. My move!”

After giving the card a look, I pulled a card out of my hand. “Out of curiosity, Joey, do you play sports?”

“Not nearly as much as you do, Mr. I’m-on-every-sports-team-in-existence. Why?”

Ignoring the wisecrack, I asked, “Ever play baseball?”

He shrugged. “A few years ago I did Little League. What’s it to ya?”

“Baseball’s my favorite sport, and this is my favorite card: go Ultimate Baseball Kid!” I replied as my most trusted monster with the spike-studded bat appeared in a flash of fire and readied himself for a pitch. (500/1000)

Joey actually laughed out loud. “Please! That scrawny kid’s got only 500 ATK points; there’s no way it can stand up to my Swordsman!”

“Then why don’t I give it a new bat, like Axe of Despair!” I countered, sliding the card into a slot. Instantly, Ultimate Baseball Kid’s bat transformed into an axe that had a roughly-hewn handle and a very large blade. (1500/1000)

“In case you didn’t realize it, my Swordsman has 1800 ATK points. I’ll simplify it even more for you: that’s 300 more ATK than your little kid. Which means that, when my Swordsman attacks next turn, it’s going to defeat your monster,” he said with an air of one explaining that two and two made four.

“Look, kid, I understand how the game works. In fact, I know how better than you do, because you seem to have no idea about Ultimate Baseball Kid’s effect that gives 1000 more ATK points for every Fire monster on the field other than himself!”

Joey’s eyes widened as Ultimate Baseball Kid’s ATK shot up to 2500 since Blue Flame Swordsman was a Fire monster.

“Now, Ultimate Baseball Kid, attack his Swordsman with Fireball Slugger!”

Instead of slamming a home run with a fireball like he normally did, Ultimate Baseball Kid simply lit his axe on fire and slashed the blue-armored warrior in half. He walked back over to my side of the field and gave Joey a smug look. (J: 400)

“And I happen to know about Blue Flame Swordsman’s effect! When it’s destroyed, it automatically summons the original Flame Swordsman in its place, so Ultimate Baseball Kid keeps its ATK bonus!”

Just as I predicted, the orange-and-red-armored Swordsman appeared in a flash of fire and shielded itself with its sword to indicate Defense Mode. (1800/1600)

“I’ll end my turn by setting one card face-down. Your move.”

As Joey drew a card, I thought, I’ve got this duel in the bag! He’s down to 400 Life Points and I’ve still got 5800, plus I’ve got a monster with 2500 ATK on the field to beat up whatever monster he tries to defend himself with; I can’t lose!

It was then that I noticed Joey snickering at something. “What’s so funny?”

“You think my monsters have been powerful so far?”

Odd question. “Some of them have been pretty high up there, yeah. Why?”

Joey’s grin widened further. “Because you ain’t seen nothing yet! First I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards from my deck.” The freaky jar appeared in a magical POOF on top of his deck and he pulled two cards from it. “Next I play Monster Reborn to bring back my good ol’ Red-Eyes from the Graveyard!”

The holy ankh symbol appeared above Joey, and it twisted and reformed itself into the roaring, black-armored dragon that I was getting pretty sick of. (2400/2000)

What is this kid gonna do, bring out some other fusion that I’ve never heard of before?

“But he’s not staying for long, because I’m going to evolve him into his most powerful form!”

Most powerful? Does he need more power? “What do you mean, his most powerful form?”

“I mean that I’m about to make him all grown up! Meet the most powerful monster my Deck can produce: Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!”

Darkness Dragon? What the heck is that? I wondered as the sky darkened and Red-Eyes started glowing with black fire. It let out a high-pitched screech as it exploded into flames!

Geez…can we all spell drama?

Two glowing red eyes glared at me out of the raging black inferno in the sky. The bonfire suddenly exploded as a new, upgraded version of Red-Eyes with six wings and dotted with strange red gems revealed itself with a rather terrifying roar. (2400/2000)

Once I saw the stats, however, I had to stop myself from laughing. “You went through all that drama just to bring out a monster with the same strength as the one you just sacrificed? Even I know not to do that!’

“But what you don’t know is that my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon has a special ability, kinda like your Ultimate Baseball Kid’s. See, this guy gains three hundred ATK points for every Dragon in my Graveyard!”

That stopped me. ‘Oh,” I replied, not able to say much else. I couldn’t say much else because some kind of energy stream was flowing from Joey’s Graveyard and into Darkness Dragon, and the dragon’s ATK was rising…and rising…and rising…

“Joey…how many dragons are in your Graveyard?”

With an incredibly smug look, the kid answered, “Ten.”

Ten dragons? That’s…that’s an extra three thousand ATK points! And, sure enough, its ATK stopped rising at 5400.

“But I’m not done yet! Since I now have a dragon on the field, I get to play my face-down card: Stamping Destruction!”

About to ask what that was, I closed my mouth as Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon shot high into the air and landed heavily on my middle face-down card, shattering it. I was even more surprised as the resulting shockwave knocked me over and my Life Points fell to 5300.

“In case you hadn’t figured it out, Stamping Destruction allows me to destroy any Magic or Trap Card you have on the field and knock you down by 500 Life Points at the same time!”

Good thing I didn’t need that Amplifier, I thought as I pulled myself to my feet and Red-Eyes flew back to Joey’s side of the field.

“Now I summon Eric the Red in Attack Mode!”

Curious, I watched as a relatively small warrior sporting red hair and shiny black armor appeared on the field and raised its fists. Even more curious was the fact that, except for the armor, the warrior looked almost exactly like Joey himself did. (800/500)

“Since I’m in a good mood, I’ll let you in on a little secret. While Eric the Red stays on the field, any of my Red-Eyes Dragons can’t be targeted by your cards, and Eric can’t be attacked while one of those Dragons is on the field! Pretty neat, huh?”

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks for the advice, kid.”

“Don’t mention it. Now watch this card: Dragon’s Gunfire!”

A card with the image of a dragon shooting a fireball appeared on the field, and I watched as Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon charged up a fireball of its own. “Why is your Red-Eyes attacking if it’s not your Battle Phase yet?”

It was his turn to roll his eyes. “Because of the Magic Card I played. Dragon’s Gunfire lets a Dragon monster do one of two things: blast you for 800 Life Points of damage, or blast one of your monsters with 800 or lower DEF. And since that Germ of yours only hurts me when I destroy it with an actual attack, I’m gonna go with option B!”

Sure enough, the fireball incinerated Giant Germ completely,

“Now I’m gonna switch my Flame Swordsman into Attack Mode – “ the Warrior stood and held its flaming sword at the ready “ – and then I’ll have my Red-Eyes attack your Baseball Kid! Molten Darkfire!”

Thank God for Traps, I thought in relief as a jet-black inferno raced towards my favorite monster. “Go Waboku!”

Three blue-robed priestesses sprang up out of nothing and a large dome of white energy shielded Ultimate Baseball Kid, blocking the black fire.

“My Waboku Trap – “

“Yeah, yeah, I know what it does. I’ll set a card face-down and call it a turn.”

I saved myself, but barely, I thought. I need to find a way to destroy that dragon of his, but it’s even stronger than my Gate Guardian! What to do… I drew a card to start my turn. Well, this’ll help buy me some time at least. “First, I’m switching Ultimate Baseball Kid to Defense Mode. Then I’m setting this face-down and ending my turn.”

Ultimate Baseball Kid knelt and held its Axe of Despair up like a shield as a face-down card appeared directly in front of me.

“My move, then! Look out!” yelled Joey as he drew a card. “I’m gonna start out by activating my face-down card!” The card lifted and I was surprised to see a green border. Why did he set a Magic Card?

“This little number is called Wrath of the Great Wyrm, and it’s going to win me the duel!”

He pulled three cards from the top of his deck as I wondered, How is it gonna do that?

“In order to use this card, I have to send the top three cards of my Deck right to the grave. In exchange, I get to choose any Dragon with seven or more Level Stars and let it fly right over your monster for a direct attack this turn!”

WOAH! That’ll wipe me out!

Joey looked at the cards he was discarding and laughed. “And look at my luck! Two of the cards I’m discarding are Dragon-Type monsters!” He showed me Baby Dragon and Kiryu before sliding them into his Graveyard. “And you know what that means! Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon gets 600 more ATK points, bringing him up to an even 6000!”

I’m about to be attacked directly by a monster with 6000 ATK points, I realized as Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon took to the sky and let loose another Molten Darkfire attack. Fortunately, I have a card to help with that. As the inferno raged towards me, a small bottle topped with a skull cap appeared in my hand. I unscrewed it and drank the tangy liquid inside.

Then…well, I think I got a pretty good glimpse into what Hell might be like. I was surrounded by fire on all sides, and that fire was HOT! It felt like I was being cooked alive!

When the attack had stopped and the fire died down, I was on one knee, smoke rising from my clothes. (B: 3300)

Joey’s jaw dropped. “Say what? What’s up with your Life Points? Red-Eyes had 6000 ATK points; a direct attack should’ve finished you off!”

I slowly struggled to my feet. “Maybe it should have. But, thanks to my Nutrient Z trap, I got a quick 4000-point boost before the attack hit, so I had Life Points to spare.”

“Ergh,” muttered Joey. “Fine then; I still have two monsters to attack with! Flame Swordsman, attack his Ultimate Baseball Kid!”

Hoisting his sword high, the Swordsman charged across the field and slashed my Ultimate Baseball Kid; good thing it had been in Defense Mode.

“Now, Eric, attack directly!”

The small warrior followed suit, charging across the field and punching me hard, forcing me to skid back a few feet. (B: 2500)

“Now I play Draconic Offering, letting me Tribute a non-Dragon monster I have to gain Life Points equal to its ATK power!”

Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon swooped down and swallowed Flame Swordsman whole while Eric looked on in fear. There was a huge gulping noise as Joey’s Life Points rose all the way to 2200.

“Look at the field now, hot shot! I’ve got a monster with 6000 ATK points that isn’t affected by your cards, and your field has nothing on it. There’s no way you can win now; just be smart and give up.”

I had to admit the thought was tempting. But still…”No can do, Joey. I’m here to prove that I can duel with the best of them, and quitting doesn’t prove a thing. So look out, Joey, because I still have 2500 Life Points left, and I’m gonna fight till they’re all gone! Here goes!” I drew a card, inspired by my own pep talk.

“And here comes my Pot of Greed! I won’t bother explaining what it does,” I added, pulling two cards from the jar.

And what cards they are! “This is fortunate: go Graceful Charity!”

The angel appeared in a flourish of sparkles and handed me three cards.

Hey…I think I see a way out! I handed her Suijin and DNA Transplant, and she threw them into my Graveyard with a huff, then vanished.

“Alright, get a load of this game plan! I’m bringing my Deckmaster out onto the field; you’re up Kazejin!”

As you wish, came the breathy voice as Kazejin floated out in front of me. (900/2200)

“What’re you gonna do with that? You’ve used up almost all its ATK points with its Deckmaster effect.”

“That;s right, but it has TWO Deckmaster effect, remember? It can regain ATK points when I summon monsters, and I’m about to do that right now. First up is Premature Burial, which I’ll use to bring Sanga of the Thunder back from the Graveyard!”

The golden deity of lightning exploded out of the ground as my Life Points dipped to 1700…and as Kazejin’s ATK rose to 1200.

“Next I play Monster Reborn to bring back Suijin!”

“Suijin?” asked Joey as the ankh appeared before me. “How did that get in your Graveyard?”

(Continued in next post...)

[starjake]

“I discarded it just now when I played Graceful Charity,” I explained as the ankh formed into a blue face with thick, sturdy legs and Kazejin’s score rose again to 1500. (2500/2400)

Joey grinned. “I recognize these monsters. You’re gonna summon Gate Guardian, aren’t you? Here’s a hint: as strong as that is, it’s nowhere near strong enough to beat my Red-Eyes! And don’t forget that you can’t attack Eric while Red-Eyes is on the field!”

“I didn’t forget either of those facts, which is why I’m not going to summon Gate Guardian. In fact, I’m going to discard it!”

Joey’s eyes widened. “What? What do you mean?”

I showed him the Gate Guardian card in my hand. “I mean I’m going to send it straight from my hand to the Graveyard right now – “ I did so “ – so I can activate my Twin Swords of Flashing Light, which I’ll equip to Kazejin!”

The green embodiment of wind held out its hands as two electrically-charged rapiers appeared in them (1500/2200) -> (1000/2200)

“You made your monster weaker?”

“Yeah, that’s the drawback. My Twin Swords decrease the ATK of whatever holds them by 500 points. But that’s OK, because I’m still going to win this turn!”

If possible, Joey’s eyes widened even further. “Are you nuts? How’re you going to pull that off? None of your monsters can even scratch my Red-Eyes!”

“Not by themselves, maybe, but I’m not going to have them attack alone. See, my deck revolves around monsters that work as a team, and this is the perfect addition to that sort of playing style. So, now I play the Magic Card known as Brave Attack!”

Sanga of the Thunder suddenly exploded into bright golden energy, and Suijin did the same (his aura was blue). The two energies each surrounded one of Kazejin’s swords, and Kazejin’s ATK started to skyrocket!

“My Brave Attack lets me take Sanga’s and Suijin’s ATK scores and add them to Kazejin’s, which makes him just strong enough to overpower your Red-Eyes!” (6100/2200)

“Kazejin, attack his Darkness Dragon with Hurricane Sword of Lightning!”

A gale-force wind tore across the arena, buffeting Joey’s Red-Eyes and drowning out the screaming crowd. Kazejin held out one of its swords like a lance and charged toward the dragon, which tried to fly away but couldn’t thanks to the weather. It let out an earth-shaking roar as the sword skewered and shattered it.

“And,” I continued above the howling wind, “those Swords I gave to Kazejin let him attack twice per turn! And since there’s no Red-Eyes to protect your Eric the Red anymore, he’s not protected from attacks!”

“What? No way!” yelled Joey as one final slash from Kazejin’s second sword blasted away both Eric the Red and the rest of Joey’s Life Points. (B: 1700 / J: 0)

The wind instantly ceased as Kazejin vanished and Griphook – who I had completely forgotten about – walked over to me.

“The winner of this duel is Bryan Stormack!” he yelled, nudging me in my thigh. I had no idea why he was doing so until I realized something. I knelt down so he could reach my arm, and he pumped it high in the air (for him, anyway).

As the crowd cheered and screamed my name, I grinned and thought, If only Jake had seen that!

Suddenly, there was an explosion from the arena where Jake was dueling Becky. Everyone looked and saw an enormous volcano where the arena should have been.

Woah! This is gonna be good! I thought as I ran up the bleachers to see what Jake was doing.

“Bryan!” yelled a familiar voice. I looked over to see Norman a few feet away.

“Hey, you saw my duel! What did you think?”

“I thought you did superbly. That was quite the combo attack you pulled off at the end there; no wonder you’ve gotten as far as you have.”

“Thanks, Norman. I wouldn’t have gotten this far if I hadn’t beaten you, though,” I teased back.

“Hardy har har,” he replied. “So what do you think Jake’s doing?”

I shrugged.

“Wait a minute…I know you!” came a girl’s voice from somewhere in front of me and to my right. “You’re the baseball captain from school; Ryan, right?”

I looked towards the voice and saw someone I recognized by face but not by name. “It’s Bryan, and yeah that’s me…who’re you again?”

The girl – who was wearing a tan leather jacket and had hair tied into a ponytail – began talking very fast. “Oh, I’m sorry; how silly of me to not introduce myself. My name’s Heather, and I stayed over here to watch Jake duel. It’s been a really good one; he’s dueling some child genius named Becky who uses Kuriboh monsters and has a really scary Deckmaster to power them all up, and she keeps gaining more and more Life Points, which is really good since part of Jake’s strategy is Life Burn, and – wait, what’s going on now?”

Still processing what Heather had said, I looked down towards the volcano. There was a large opening in the side so we could see what was happening.

And what I saw made my blood run cold.

Jake had Solar Flare Dragon by his side – That must be his Deckmaster, I thought – and he was pointing what looked like a gun at the little girl who was his opponent; she had nothing but a small monster that looked like a Kuriboh colored with bumblebee stripes. After a minute, I recognized the gun as Barrel Behind the Door, but what scared me the most was the look on Jake’s face: it was an evil smirk.

“Jake, don’t!” I yelled, but it was too late; he had already pulled the trigger. Instantly, an enormous blast of energy exploded from the gun and sent the girl flying backwards into the arms of her very ugly Deckmaster, which I recognized as Shadow Ghoul.

Then I heard a voice come from Jake’s direction that didn’t really sound much like Jake’s voice at all. “Tell me, Becky: do you believe in ghosts?”

Becky’s answer was too quiet for me to hear. Jake continued, “Let me confirm your beliefs by activating my final face-down card: Call of the Haunted!”

The card rose, and out of the lava that served as their arena rose a terrifying creature that I had never seen before, and I didn’t ever want to see it again. It looked like some kind of red snake-like creature, but its head was twisted and demonic, and it had two long arms ending in sharp talons and two enormous bat-like wings. (8100/7200)

Eight thousand ATK points? How the heck did he get a creature that powerful?

“Of course, now that your Winged Kuriboh is in the Graveyard, your Kuribit has 200 extra ATK points, but between my Barrel Behind the Door and this attack, you’re through!”

Becky again whimpered something, but Jake ignored her. The lava began to bubble and froth and evil cackling resounded all around us as Jake commanded, “Gren Maju Da Eiza, attack her Kuribit! Chaos Inferno!”

I couldn’t bear to watch anymore. But I still heard Becky scream bloody murder as the fiery demon blasted away the rest of her Life Points.

Everyone around me was silent. Heather had her hands up to her mouth; Norman’s mouth was wide open. And me? I just kept thinking one thing.

What’s happening to you, Jake?



Anime-Only Cards

Quick Attack
Quick-Play Spell
You can only activate this card during your turn. During the turn this card is activated, all face-up Attack Position monsters on your side of the field are allowed to attack regardless of rulings or card effects, and this turn's Battle Phase cannot be skipped.
Note: Quick Attack was used multiple times in the Battle City saga to bypass the rather silly ruling Kaiba created that forbid Fusion Monsters from attacking during the turn they were Summoned. Kudos to whoever created a way out of that ruling.

Red-Eyes Transmigration
Ritual Spell
This card is used to Ritual Summon "Lord of the Red". You must also Tribute monsters whose total Levels equal 7 or more from the field or your hand.

Lord of the Red
Dark/Warrior/7 stars/ATK 2400/DEF 2000
This card is Ritual Summoned with the Ritual Spell Card "Red-Eyes Transmigration". Each time a Spell Card is activated, put 1 Spell Counter on this card (max. 2). If, at any time during either player's turn, there are 2 Spell Counters on this card, remove all of them to destroy all monsters on the field other than this card (this effect os not optional). During each player's End Phase, remove all Spell Counters from this card.
Note: Both Red-Eyes Transmigration and Lord of the Red were first used by Joey Wheeler in "Fighting for a Friend, Part 3". Kudos to the writers of that episode.

Blue Flame Swordsman
Fire/Warrior/4 stars/ATK 1800/DEF 1600
When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, Special Summon 1 "Flame Swordsman" from your Fusion Deck or Graveyard. At any time during either player's turn, you can decrease the ATK of this card by any number of points to increase the ATK of another face-up monster on the field by the same number of points.
Note: Blue Flame Swordsman was first used by Joey Wheeler in "Fighting for a Friend, Part 4". Kudos to the writers of that episode.

Brave Attack
Normal Spell
This card can only be activated if there are 2 or more face-up Attack Position monsters on your side of the field. Select 1 face-up Attack Position monster on your side of the field. Increase the ATK of the selected monster by an amount equal to the combined ATKs of all other face-up Attack Position monsters on your side of the field. Destroy all face-up Attack Position monsters on your side of the field at the end of the Battle Phase.
Note: This card was first used by Yugi Moto in "A New Evil, Part 2". Kudos to the writers of that episode.


Cards from other Fics

Hungarian Horntail, the Fierce Dragon
Dark/Dragon/8 stars/ATK 3400/DEF 1800
Note: Hungarian Horntail was first used by Terone in City of Souls by Dark Sage. Kudos to him for creation of this card.

Inferno Dragon
Fire/Dragon/9 stars/ATK 4200/DEF 3000
Whenever your opponent activates a Trap Card, roll 1 six-sided die. Activate 1 of the following depending on the number rolled:
- 1 or 2: Negate the activation and effect of the Trap Card and destroy it.
- 3 or 4: Negate the activation and effect of the Trap Card and destroy all Spell/Trap Cards on your opponent's side of the field
- 5 or 6: Destroy all Spell/Trap Cards on your side of the field.
Note: Inferno Dragon was first used by Terone in The Mandate of Heaven by Dark Sage. Kudos to him for creation of this card.

Shadow Wyrm
Dark/Dragon/4 stars/ATK 1000/DEF 0
Increase this card's ATK by 500 points for each Dragon-Type monsters in your Graveyard.
Note: Shadow Wyrm was first used by Tempes Vlad in City of Souls by Dark Sage. Kudos to him for creation of this card.

Full House
Normal Spell
Draw cards until the number of cards in your hand is equal to the number of cards you are allowed to hold in your hand at the end of your End Phase. If there is no limit to the number of cards you can hold in your hand at the end of your End Phase, draw cards until there are 7 cards in your hand.
Note: Full House was first used by Peter Ramset in City of COuls by Dark Sage. Kudos to him for creation of this card.

Eric the Red
Dark/Warrior/3 stars/ATK 800/DEF 500
While this card remains face-up on the field, all monsters with "Red-Eyes" in their card names cannot be targeted by the effect of a Spell, Trap, or Effect Monster Card your opponent controls. While a monsters with "Red-Eyes" in its card name remains face-up on your side of the field, your opponent cannot select this face-up card as an attack target.
Note: Eric the Red was first used by the Shadow Queen in The Thousand-Year Door by Dark Sage. Kudos to him for the creation of this card.

Wrath of the Great Wyrm
Normal Spell
Send the top 3 cards of your Deck to the Graveyard. Select 1 Level 7 or higher Dragon-Type monster on your side of the field. The selected card can attack your opponent's Life Points directly this turn.
Note: Wrath of the Great Wyrm was first used by Hooktail in The Thousand-Year Door by Dark Sage. Kudos to him for creation of this card.

Draconic Offering
Normal Spell
You can only activate this card if there is a face-up Dragon-Type monster on your side of the field. Tribute 1 non-Dragon-Type monster on your side of the field. Increase your Life Points by an amount equal to the ATK of the Tributed monster.
Note: Draconic Offering was first used by Andy Markova in The Thousand-Year Door by Dark Sage. Kudos to him for creation of this card.

Deckmaster Abilities

Kazejin
Wind/Spellcaster/7 stars/ATK 2400/DEF 2200
DMSA: When your opponent's monster attacks, you can decrease this Deckmaster's ATK by any number of points (in multiples of 100 points) to decrease to the ATK of the attacking monster by the same number of points until the end of the Battle Phase. For each monster you successfully Summon, increase this Deckmaster's ATK by 300 points (this Deckmaster's ATK cannot exceed 2400 through this effect).



The semi-finals are over, but the dueling sure as heck isn't! See what the two finalists have to contend with before the final match, and see some moving forward of the plot, too! It's all up in Chapter 29 - Mermaid Knight!

[starjake]

Now for the things that aren't directly related to this chapter.

I have not forgotten about my Pokemon fic, The Dual Shadows of Time. I have started work on the first chapter, but decided to do this one first since it was already half-completed.

I have limited access to the internet, so my chapters will be even less frequent than usual. Then again, I suppose y'all are used to that by now, no?

On a side note, I would highly suggest reading and replying to Rhand's fic, Mystic Tournament. It's based off the Magic: The Gathering cardgame, which is not that unlike Yu-Gi-Oh in its most basic form. Even if you don't understand everything that's happening, Rhand is still an excellent writer, and he (or I, for that matter) would be more than happy to explain the basic rulings via PM.

That's all for now. Until next I see you, this is StarJake, signing off.

[Shuppet Master]

Nice to see you're back on the story, starjake. That was a really fast-paced duel.

[Blademaster]

Where the heck did Joey get Terone's Hungarian Horntail?

Oh, whatever - I'm glad you've finally returned, Jake; that was a pretty good duel.

'Mermaid Knight?' I'm not gonna even try and guess... Water, obviously, but then...

Meh, never mind. I guess I'll just have to wait and see (in another 3 months or so )

-Blade

[Dark Sage]

Well, I'm glad to see that Starjake is back. And I was also glad to see so many of the cards I created put to good use.

(Truthfully, when my e-mail informed me of this post, I was afraid Starjake was officially cancelling it.)

It may be a while before Starjake puts up a new chapter, but I know a little about what's coming up. I hope he settles in soon and can start on it. Maybe he should do what I did and invest in a wirless modem.

By the way, I should say something.

In this fic, Bryan used a card I created call "Full House". Now, most of ther cards I created, I do not object to. This is an exception. I didn't know about the anime version of Card of Sanctity at the time, and I created a card that was incredibly broken.

I consented to have Starjake use it in this chapter, but I was reluctant. After he steadfastly refused to use the anime version of Card of Sanctity (he has a thing about changing the effect of a real card), I caved in because it would have ruined his outline.

But I will never cave in again. Other than the magical cards in TYD, this is one of two cards that I created that is forbidden to be used in any other Yu-Gi-Oh fic. (Fill-Up is the other. I was using a LP total of 2,000 when I created that, and I never dreamed it would be used for an 8,000 total. Sorry, Shuppet Master.)

Other than that, I liked the chapter. Although personally, I did not imagine Eric the Red resembling Joey Wheeler. But maybe that makes sense now that you look at it.

[Master of Paradox]

But I will never cave in again. Other than the magical cards in TYD, this is one of two cards that I created that is forbidden to be used in any other Yu-Gi-Oh fic. (Fill-Up is the other. I was using a LP total of 2,000 when I created that, and I never dreamed it would be used for an 8,000 total. Sorry, Shuppet Master.)

You forget the three fake Dark Scorpions. The total is five.

Personally, I can't say I liked this chapter very much. Joey was pretty annoying, reminding me of a snotty brat trying to impersonate Joey Wheeler (although I think that's what you were going for, so I'm not sure whether my disliking him was a failure on your part...). And his deck just didn't work for me - partly because we've seen Red Eyes decks before, partly because it felt too much like a mismash.

And I don't know how specifically to put it, but the pacing felt off. The duel swung around too radically, making it hard for me to build up any excitement or anticipation.

I freakin' loved how you wrote the Ojamas, though. Nice call-out to 3.0 with the disco music, too.

Maybe the long wait hurt it, but I can't give this chapter better than 6/10. I look forward to the next chapter, but given circumstances, I'm not holding my breath.

[Blademaster]

I freakin' loved how you wrote the Ojamas, though. Nice call-out to 3.0 with the disco music, too.

Gwah?

(looks back)

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that! Thanks for the reference, starjake!

Now, if only I could make some good custom cards that people'd want to use...

[mr_pikachu]

Hey, welcome back! It's good to see you writing again. I hope things are going better for you now.

Hmm, this was much different than Jake's duel. The life points of the duelists swung around pretty radically here, too, but a bit more respect between the combatants developed. Joey's combos were utterly insane; it seemed as if every card in his deck worked in perfect tandem with every other card. Crazy! The use of the Hungarian Horntail was also surprising, although I guess it would be feasible in a virtual world.

I thought that, for the most part, the monster descriptions were fairly good. Although some of them were a bit unusual, it wasn't too difficult to envision the majority of the monsters as well as their various attacks and effects. Good job there. Also, good job showing Bryan's feelings about his "special" trio of monsters. That's the problem with using your cards for the first time in such a huge match! You never know what'll happen. Although I hope he doesn't toss them just for that. After all, they did save his neck early in the match, even if they were a bit annoying.

The speed of the chapter did get a little fast toward the end, though. I was hoping you'd slow it down a bit, but it almost seemed as if you were in a hurry to get through the duel. (It was a long duel, but it still could've been really intense if you'd let the suspense build a little.) Also, your description of the field wasn't nearly as impressive in this chapter as it was in the last. While before you went into great detail using all the elements of the area, especially the volcano, here the only description we got was that of the stadium "not looking good," or something to that effect. (Frankly, I don't even remember an initial description of the stadium itself. That would've helped.)

However, it was still a pretty good chapter, even if it was lacking in a few areas. Great tactics, and nice finish with the Gate Guardian pieces. I'm glad you're getting back into Fanfic, because it's good to have you around!

[Dark Sage]

Since Starjake is a good friend of mine, I wanted to show him that his fic, and all other old fics, were not wiped out.

All you have to do to see them, is go down to the bottom, and use the option to view posts from a longer period of time. For most of you, it is set to view posts from one month.But you can see many more of them.

So no one lost anything.

[starjake]

Since I've had people on my tail about this fic recently, let me make a public announcement: I have not forgotten about this. Not by a long shot (or even a short one).

*thousands of people scream Prove it, you lazy slacker!*

*sighs* Fine...will a sneak peek into the next chapter sate you all for now? No?

Well, tough.

************************************************** ********

I could not believe what my eyes were telling me. She was wearing a white, full-length dress, but it never actually touched the snowy ground her bare feet were walking on. Whether it was magical or so light it moved on the slightest air current, I'm not sure, but it fluttered and blew about so much that it looked as though she were floating across the ground instead of walking. Her chestnut-brown hair fell just below her shoulders in thick waves, and her pale skin almost made her blend in with all the snow.

Her eyes were the most frightening, however; the irises were such a pale blue-grey that they were almost invisible - even the pupils seemed dark grey instead of black. They were eyes that, in my mind, no normal person should have.

And yet, even though the eyes and outfit were different that I was used to seeing her with, I still recognized her.

What the...that's Crystal, from school! What the heck is she doing here?

She walked / glided up to me and gave me her trademark bored glare. "Can I help you?" she asked in a voice that was anything but helpful.

"Well," I began, "for starters, you could explain why you're here."

She rolled her eyes. "You're not very bright, are you? I'm here to duel you. Or, actually, you're here to duel me; I mean, you came to me, right?"

And, as usual, she makes it all about her... "Alright, I'll duel you," I replied aloud. "But don't you think it's a little cold here for your Frogs?"

She smirked. I was never sure if I liked this expression more or less than her previous one - she gave both rather frequently.

"I guess you aren't very bright; I'm not using Frogs."

I wasn't sure if this was good or bad news. This was the very first person I had ever dueled, and her Frog deck had utterly destroyed mine. If her new deck was worse than her Frog one, I would probably do fine; if her new deck was better, I was in trouble.

She turned and walked back towards the icy building I had seen from the air, obviously expecting me to follow. My eyes narrowing, I did so.

Sara said she had four duelists for me to face before I could go to the finals...are they all going to be people I know? And did she have to pick someone I dislike as much as Crystal? I mean, she's so...well, if the surroundings are any indication, cold-hearted.

We entered the massive ice fortress; there was no door, but simply a grand entranceway that led into an even grander entrance hall. The entire structure glistened and sparkled in the wintry sunlight. I would have been more impressed had I not been shivering like crazy.

"Well?" she asked from about twenty feet away. "Are we going to get this overwith, or are we going to stand here and watch you turn blue?"

My temper started to flare, but I noticed it this time and did my best to steady myself. "I'll take option A; getting this overwith is exactly what I had in mind."

************************************************** ********

Don't miss Chapter 29, complete with a new title: "Frozen Soul".

[Shuppet Master]

Nice sneak peek.

[starjake]

Perhaps I should add "Take 3" to that title...

It's been so long since I updated this fic that some of you are too new to know much about it. Well, the first time I posted it was in 2002, and my interest in this has fizzled and re-kindled and fizzled and re-kindled again. I figure that, one of these times, my ADD will be subdued long enough for me to actually finish what I start, so I'll try again.

I still have all my old chapters stored on my computer. As I've re-read them, I've developed a well-reasoned and highly intricate synopsis of them.

They suck.

(Hey, I first started writing them six years ago; what do you expect?)

Anyways...I have had to repost this fic once before, but that was due to the server move and I didn't change anything about earlier chapters other than titles and effect clarifications. Not so now. Each chapter has been completely rewritten from scratch, though the general plotline has not changed much. For those of you who remember my original attempt, I hope you enjoy this version better than my last; for those of you who are newcomers to the psychotic mess of my imagination, I suggest that you buckle your seatbelts.

Oh, and that you bring lots of sunscreen.






Reality.

According to Webster's: "That which exists objectively and is fact."

We supposedly live in it. Those who are going crazy are considered to be losing touch with it, as if it were a tangible thing to be held in one's hand; to be tasted, smelled, heard, or seen. And, on some level, it has to be; how can you know about 'that which exists objectively' if you cannot sense it?

Oddly enough, there's a problem there. Because we don't all share a collective set of senses, we each are forced to perceive the world on our own. As a result, what you perceive ends up slightly different than what I do. How, then, can those things we perceive be 'fact'?

Facts are facts. They are true and unchangeable. 2+2=4, little seeds turn into big plants, and setting your fingers on fire will hurt you. All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten and that sort of thing.

So, if facts are undeniable and unchangeable, how can reality be fact if everyone views it differently?

Consider the world of a blind person. That world is vastly different from the world of a sighted person, no? A blind person's reality does not contain the words or even the concepts of 'color' or 'brightness'. Try explaining how red someone's shirt is to a blind person. Or how loud a siren is to a deaf person. I guarantee you will fail.

However, just because a shirt's redness is unseen or a siren loudness unheard, that doesn't mean that the shirt is blue or the siren is quiet. The shirt is red and the siren is loud; these are facts. The problem lies within the senses of the perceiver. Even to people with full hearing, that siren will sound louder or softer depending on where the person is, and even to people with full sight, the shirt will seem more or less red depending on the angle of the light and clarity of the air.

Our senses are awe-inspiring things. They allow us to absorb the reality around us and react to it. But, by their very nature, they limit and restrict us, for we cannot perceive reality through a sense we do not have. And, as the blind and deaf demonstrate, reality does not stop being the way it is just because we do not perceive it that way.

If reality really is the way it is, then, and its differences lie in our individual senses, it leads one to think: are there more senses? More ways of perceiving reality that we simply lack the senses for? More abilities that, if we were to gain them, would allow us to view reality in a whole new way...

...and, perhaps, alter it?

[starjake]

YU-GI-OH!: VIRTUAL DISASTER

Written by: StarJake

Chapter 1 - Generation Shift

I watched my opponent as he drew a card to start his turn. He had an attack position Ultimate Baseball Kid on the field, as well as a face-up DNA Transplant. On my side of the field were two Solar Flare Dragons preventing him from attacking, and a face-down card that I had just set.

My best friend’s eyes lit up as he saw what he had drawn. “I summon Des Wombat,” stated Bryan, placing the card on the cafeteria table where we were dueling. This had been our normal lunchtime activity for the past few weeks.

Des Wombat? “Since when do you have that?”

He laughed. “Since I’m constantly dueling someone who keeps locking me with Solar Flare Dragons. You told me about this card once, so I went out and found one. Your Dragons might stop me from hurting you, but since Des Wombat stops any damage that isn’t battle damage and it’s stronger than your Dragons, they can’t hurt me either.”

He’s really starting to get the hang of this game, I thought. I had been playing Yu-Gi-Oh for years, but Bryan – even though we had known each other since we were little – had finally cracked only a few weeks ago and asked me to teach him how to play. He said it was just out of curiosity, but I knew him too well to believe that; he was insanely competitive, and he probably couldn’t stand the fact that there was a game out there I could beat him at. Which was what I was currently doing quite soundly: he had 2500 Life Points to my 7600.

“Is it my turn?” I asked. Bryan nodded, so I drew.

Lava Golem…not a bad draw. “I can actually use that Wombat to my advantage; I’ll sacrifice it and your Baseball Kid for Lava Golem.”

The lunchroom was noisy, but that didn’t prevent me from hearing Bryan groan as he sent his two monsters to the Graveyard and I put Lava Golem on his side of the field sideways to represent defense position.

“So you’re just gonna burn me to death?” he asked, a little upset. He never seemed to like the fact that I could win a Duel without really doing anything.

I shook my head, pulling a second card out of my hand. “No, not when I can win right now. I play Incandescent Ordeal, sacrificing both Dragons, for Legendary Flame Lord.”

As I moved both Dragons to my Graveyard and replaced them with the Ritual monster, Bryan noted, “Couldn’t I just switch Lava Golem to attack position in my next turn? Your Flame Lord only has 2400 ATK and Golem’s DEF is 2500, so you can’t beat it with an attack…”

“Not yet, but I’m not done,” I countered, pulling the last card from my hand. “Molten Destruction boosts the ATK of all Fire monsters on the field by 500 and lowers their DEF by 400. Now my Flame Lord’s ATK is 2900 and your Golem’s DEF is 2100.”

Bryan still looked puzzled. “But Lava Golem’s in defense position, so you can’t wipe me out this turn.”

“Normally, you’re right. But Call of the Haunted will fix that,” I continued, flipping over my face-down card. “I’ll bring back one of the Solar Flare Dragons I just Tributed.”

I gave Bryan a minute to think. I assumed he figured it out when his face rearranged itself into a dejected look and said, “So Legenday Flame Lord wipes out Lava Golem, then Solar Flare Dragon attacks directly for 2000, then its effect blasts me for 500,” picking up his cards as the bell rang for fifth period. “Am I ever gonna beat you?”

As we walked out the cafeteria, I patted him on the shoulder, gave him a sympathetic look, and said, “Probably not.”

* * * * * * *

Three weeks later. School had let out for the summer, and it was cloudless, beautiful Saturday morning. I was doing what any self-respecting, healthy, teenage male would do on such a beautiful day: sitting in my room and playing Oblivion (with the curtains drawn, so as to prevent glare on the TV screen). I had nothing to do that morning except kill pixilated enemies with my favorite sword: Goldbrand.

Well, I would have had nothing to do if I didn’t have parents.

“Jacob Paul Forester!” yelled my mother from downstairs. “Are you planning on doing anything productive today? Sitting around playing cards and video games doesn’t count!”

My eyes narrowed. The first thing I’m going to ask God when I die is why the heck He invented parents. Couldn’t He have just thrown a bunch of test tubes all over the ground when He created the world?

I walked begrudgingly into the kitchen and was greeted by a glare. Neither of my parents was keen on my choice of hobbies, and they took every opportunity to find something else for me to do. Fortunately, I had been born with enough sarcasm to deflect their blows.

“Mom, don’t be ridiculous,” I said in response to her ‘question’. “You know just as well as I do that I also planned on breathing today.”

Resigning herself to the fact that she was not going to outwit me, she tried a different method. “Very funny. I need you to clean the pool before you burn your eyes out staring at that television in your room.”

I cringed. Not at the thought of burning my eyes out, but at having to clean the pool; it was by far my least favorite chore. Going over to the cupboard and looking for something to munch on, I asked, to no one in particular, “Why do I have to clean the pool? It’s not like I use it or anything.”

“And why you don’t I’ll never know. Your father and I put plenty of money into it; the least you could do is enjoy it.”

Ah. The old ‘you-will-have-a-good-time-or-I-will-break-every-bone-in-your-body’ guilt trip. She needs to get new methods of arguing.

I barely had enough time to grab an energy bar out of the cupboard and remove my hand before she closed the cupboard door for me and guided me out onto the deck.

“Do you smell that? It’s called fresh air. It’s good for you.” She said this as though she were talking to a three-year-old.

“Mom, relax, I’ll do it. I’m just giving you a hard time,” I added, brushing her hand off my shoulder and heading into the shed to find the net and vacuum. My mother headed back into the house to continue with whatever it was that mothers do to keep themselves busy.

Since skimming fallen leaves, dead insects, and other disgusting debris out of a cold, wet, uninviting pool was not something I enjoyed concentrating on, my mind wandered to something more enjoyable: mentally going over my deck and trying to think up new strategies I could use that afternoon. Every Saturday, the local card shop held a Yu-Gi-Oh tournament, and every Saturday, I went and participated. I had yet to place first, but I also had yet to place last, so I kept going in hopes that would eventually win someday. My parents – unsurprisingly – thought it a waste of my money, but I kept telling them that it was my money to spend and not theirs.

After skimming, sweeping, vacuuming, and a quick hot shower, I grabbed my deck and biked over to the card shop, where there were already a few people milling around. I recognized two people right off the bat. One of them was a girl who wore a tan jacket and longish sandy-brown hair tied into a ponytail; her name was Heather, and she was easily the fastest-talking person I had ever met. The second person’s identity was rather suprising.

“Bryan?” I called out incredulously.

He turned and saw me. “Hey, Jake! What’s up?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” I countered. “What’re you doing here?”

He shrugged. “Same thing as you. I wanted to see how well I’d do.” He grinned a little sheepishly. “That, and my granddad took me out shopping last night and I got some new cards.”

“Really? Can I see?” I asked, reaching for the deck he was holding in his left hand.

He promptly wisked said hand out of my reach. “Nope. I wanna surprise you if we end up dueling each other.”

“Oh come on, you know every card in my deck!” I protested.

“Yeah, but you’re better than me.”

“Better than I,” I responded automatically. This earned me the typical ‘do-you-really-think-I-care?’ look that Bryan normally gave when I corrected his grammar. It was a bad habit, but one I couldn’t seem to break. I shook it off, then asked, “Did you register already?”

The glare turned into a blank expression. “Register? I thought you just showed up and started dueling.”

I sighed, then remembered back to my first tournament when I had no clue what was going on. Plus, it wasn’t like I would know what to do if I showed up to play at one of Bryan’s baseball games.

I guided Bryan over to the counter and was greeted by a surprise. Josh, the usual clerk, wasn’t there. In his place stood a woman with long, brown hair and a slender build. Her skin was relatively pale, and there was something about her face that made her seem both plain and elegant at the same time.

“Hello,” she greeted. She spoke with the hint of an accent, but I couldn’t tell from where. “Joshua isn’t well today, so he asked me to fill in.”

I shrugged, then handed her the registration fee. Bryan looked surprised – did he think these things were free? – then pulled a five-dollar bill out of his wallet and handed it to the mystery woman. She recorded our names, then asked for our UDE numbers. I cringed; I had forgotten about that particular aspect of a tournament, and Bryan didn’t have a number.

The woman waved the situation aside with a “Not a problem” after I explained. She signed him up through the computer, then we both went over to the tables to wait for the tournament to start.

As more people shuffled into the store, I asked “So how well do you think you’ll do?”

“I think I’m gonna win.”

This overt display of confidence should have come as no surprise to me, knowing Bryan as well as I did, but I did a double-take nonetheless. “You just started playing a few weeks ago!”

He shrugged. “Coach taught us to go into every game thinking that we were going to win. I figured thinking the same thing here couldn’t hurt.” Then he grinned. “I mean, it’s better than going in thinking I’m going to lose, right?”

Well, yeah, I thought, but a little realism couldn’t hurt either. Out loud, I said, “Well, you might get paired up against me, and I’ve always beaten you.”

He held up his deck and waved it. “New cards, remember? You haven’t beaten this deck yet.”

I was about to retaliate when the sound of a woman clearing her throat caught my attention. Everyone in the store looked over to see the woman from behind the counter now standing in front of us.

“Hello, everyone. You may call me Kara – “ (she pronounced it ‘CARE-uh’) “ – and I will be filling in for Joshua for the day.

“As you may be able to tell from my accent, I grew up in Ireland, and I have run many tournaments like this in that country. However, all the tournaments I have run have been handled slightly differently than those run here, so I thought it would be enlightening for you all to experience a tournament with different rules.”

Different rules? I thought. That’s odd; I thought this game was played the same worldwide.

“Of course,” she continued, “the rules of the game itself have not changed; those rules remain fixed regardless of the country in question. No; the tournament itself will have slight alterations, and those alterations are as follows.

“First off, since I am not the owner of this establishment, we less time available to us than normal. Therefore, each Match will consist of only one Duel, so be sure to make every move count,” she added with a twinkle in her eye.

I heard some players groan slightly; this meant that side decks were basically worthless since we would have no second or third duels to switch out cards between.

“The second change…” she went on. “I believe Joshua normally holds his tournaments in the Swiss style, correct?” Several people nodded. “Today, and today only, mind you, the tournament will be held under single elimination rules.”

Everyone in the store except Bryan and Kara let out an audible gasp. Single elimination…if I lose once, I’m out! I thought, stressing slightly. Then, I calmed down when I realized that this tournament wasn’t exactly high-ranking; it was just a normal Saturday afternoon tournament at a normal card shop.

Kara held up her hand to quiet everyone and added, “Keep in mind that, while these are different rules, this is not a tournament of high caliber. A win or loss will affect your UDE standings no more or less than any other tournament you have attended at this store.”

My eyes narrowed slightly. Whoa…déjà vu much?

“That is not to say that there is nothing special to be gained by winning under these new conditions,” she continued quickly. “Each duel you win earns you the right to a pack of ten random cards, which you are not to open until instructed to do so.”

I looked over at Bryan, who looked as confused as I felt. His expression changed to a ‘let’s-just-go-along-with-it’ expression, and we both turned back to Kara, who was now taping up a hand-written tournament winnings chart on the back wall. She turned back to face all of us and said, “The timer for the first round will start in five minutes.” And she went back behind the counter.

Bryan and I glanced at each other, then went over to the chart. Conveniently, exactly sixteen people had signed up, making the chart very simple. I breathed a slight sigh of relief that I was not dueling Bryan in the first round, then realized I had never heard of my opponent; his name was Norman Romakov.

Russian much? I thought as I went over the table and sat in area seven. A few second later, a short, balding man in his late forties sat across from me and extended his hand. “Jake, I presume?”

[starjake]

I blinked, then extended my hand in response; I had not expected an opponent who was more than twice my age. “That’s what people call me. You’re Norman?”

He nodded, then took out his deck and started to shuffle it absent-mindedly. His outfit could not have plainer if he had tried: dull brown shirt and blue jeans, topped off by a rather bushy mustache and a pair of round glasses.

“So, Jake, how long have you been playing?” he asked.

Probably not as long as you have. “I don’t know…five years I guess? Basically since the game started.”

He nodded appreciatively. “Impressive. I’ve only been at it for a year or so; I picked it up when one of my nephews started playing. As with most young children, he quickly lost interest, but I liked it, and it provided a nice change of pace from work.”

“What do you work as?”

He paused for a second, then grinned and replied, “You’ll see.”

Ah, one of those dramatic types. This should be entertaining.

“High roll calls it?” he asked, holding out a black six-sided die.

I shrugged. “Sure.”

I was upset when he rolled a five; I liked to go first. It was a pleasant surprise, then, when I rolled a six.

Just as Norman responded with, “Luck must be on your side today,” Kara called out, “Time has started!”

We shuffled and cut each other’s decks, then I drew six cards.

Hmm…I want him to attack, but I also want to play it safe. “A face-down monster, and that’ll do,” I said, playing my UFO Turtle face-down and sideways.

“Very well, then,” he responded, drawing a sixth card of his own and examining his hand with surgical precision. Then…

“Kinetic Soldier,” he said, playing the Monster Card vertically (1350/1800).

I blinked. Excuse me? Who the heck uses Kinetic Soldier?

“I’m attacking your mystery monster,” he continued, pushing forward on his Soldier card slightly.

Mistake number one… “UFO Turtle,” I countered, showing him the card (1400/1200). He looked clueless, so I explained as I put it in my Graveyard pile and reached for my deck. “When it’s destroyed in battle, I get to summon a Fire monster from my Deck in Attack Position, provided it doesn’t have any more than 1500 ATK points. Which is exactly what my Solar Flare Dragon has,” I added as I put my new card on the field and shuffled my deck (1500/1000).

“Well, it’s still my turn,” he said, looking slightly dejected, “so I’ll set two face-down cards and end it.”

I drew another card, but barely looked at it as I already knew what my next move would be. “I’ll summon another Solar Flare Dragon, then set a card face-down,” I said, doing so. “I’ll end it at that, and when I end my turn with a Solar Flare Dragon on the field, you lose 500 Life Points per Dragon.”

“So I’m down to 7000,” he replied, drawing.

Unless one of those cards has a destruction effect, I should be safe, I thought. Both Dragons protect each other from being attacked –

“I’ll play Card Destruction,” he interjected, laying the Spell on the field and revealing his three-card hand, which consisted of…

“Three Mokey Mokeys?” I asked incredulously. What kind of deck was this guy running?

I sighed and discarded my five-card hand to draw a new one as he drew three cards. Again, he studied them extremely carefully, and I started to study him a little more carefully. So far I had only seen five of his cards, but none of them were cards I was accustomed to seeing.

“OK, this move should impress you,” he started, laying out a monster. “First, I’m summoning Magical Scientist in Attack Mode, and I’m immediately going to use his effect.” (300/300)

He knows about the priority rule, so he must know what he’s doing…but what is he doing?

He reached to his left and produced a Fusion Deck which I had somehow not seen laying there. He leafed through it, picked out a card, and showed it to me: Mokey Mokey King. (300/100)

OK…he just paid 1000 Life Points to summon a 300 ATK monster that can’t attack directly and that goes away at the end of the turn?

“You look confused,” he continued. “You’ll see its use at the end of my turn. As for now, I’m going to play Metamorphosis to pull out another Fusion.”

Placing his Magical Scientist in his Graveyard, he revealed a Thousand-Eyes Restrict from his Fusion Deck, Summoned it to the field, and once again called priority (0/0).

Lovely, I thought. His Restrict can suck up one of my monsters, so my lock is broken.

I grudgingly gave him one of my Solar Flare Dragons, and he equipped it his Restrict, meaning its stats were now (1500/1000).

“Finally, I’ll play Book of Moon on my Thousand-Eyes Restrict,” he finished, playing the Spell and flipping his monster into face-down Defense Position.

And since nothing can be equipped to a face-down monster, the Solar Flare Dragon he took from me is destroyed, I thought bitterly as he handed me my card back and I put it in the Graveyard. At least he still can’t defeat –

“I’ll activate my face-down DNA Surgery,” he said, flipping his right-hand face-down card. “And I’ll call Warrior-Type.“

I blinked, trying to piece together his strategy. Then I remembered the first monster he summoned, which was still on the field: Kinetic Soldier.

“Since Kinetic Soldier gains 2000 ATK and DEF points when battling a Warrior monster, I’ll attack your Warrior-fied Dragon,” he continued, once again pushing his monster forward.

“Not bad,” I muttered. “But I can still protect myself with my Dust Tornado and destroy your DNA Surgery, so your Kinetic Soldier loses its bonus,” I countered, flipping my own face-down card.

“I counter your counter with Fake Trap,” he replied, flipping his other face-down card. “Now your Dust Tornado can’t destroy any Trap Cards, which DNA Surgery happens to be.”

Now I was hooked. This guy had taken a bunch of random cards and made them into an incredibly deadly strategy… though I was still confused as to how this related to a job of any kind.

“What the heck do you do?” I asked.

He blinked. “What do you mean?”

“You said I would see what you work as, but your cards are all random. I mean, they certainly work, but still…”

He grinned. “I’m a biologist. You know, genetic development, DNA, all that sort of thing?”

I thought for a second. DNA Surgery and Magical Scientist certainly fit that bill…and I guess the focus on Fusion monsters works, too. “I assume you used Kinetic Soldier because it works well with DNA Surgery?”

He answered, “Yes. Now, if I recall, that Kinetic Soldier has 3350 ATK and is battling with your 1500 ATK Solar Flare Dragon.”

I had to think for a minute to do that sort of uneven math. “That’s a difference of 1850, meaning I’m at…6150? And you’re at 6000.”

He nodded once. “Your math skills are decent enough. Now I’m ending my turn, which means Mokey Mokey King returns to my Fusion Deck,” he continued, picking up the Fusion Monster card. “And since Mokey Mokey King has just been removed from the field, his effect brings back every Mokey Mokey from my Graveyard in Defense Position.”

So even if I get past his Soldier, I have a bunch of Mokey Mokeys to plow through before I can actually get to his Life Points…if anything, this guy is pretty creative. Since he had just announced his turn was done, I drew.

I added the card to my hand, then announced, “I’m sacrificing your Thousand-Eyes Restrict and your Soldier and giving you Lava Golem.”

He blinked. “I’m unfamiliar with that card. I didn’t know you could sacrifice your opponent’s monsters.”

“Special effect,” I responded. “Otherwise, you’d be right.” He shrugged and put the two monsters I mentioned into his Graveyard and I handed him Lava Golem (3000/2500). Pulling another card out of my hand, I continued, “I’m also playing Premature Burial, giving up 800 Life Points to bring back Solar Flare Dragon from my Graveyard and equip it with this card.” I did so, making a mental note that my Life Points were now 5350 (1500/1000).

“I’ll enter my Battle Phase and have Solar Flare Dragon take out a Mokey Mokey,” I said, pushing my Dragon towards the Mokey Mokey I was attacking. Norman put it in his Graveyard. “I’ll set two cards and play Swords of Revealing Light to end my turn, and that means Solar Flare Dragon takes you to 5500.”

Norman looked at my Swords, said, “So I can’t attack for three turns, right?” and drew a card as I replied with a nod. “Well, I’m not too fond of that plan, so I’ll play this Giant Trunade to send our Spells and Traps back to our hands.” He laid the card on the table, and I grimaced slightly as I responded, “I’m chaining my two face-downs: Dust Tornado and Ceasefire, in that order.”

My opponent blinked, assessing the situation. “So, I take 1000 damage because there are two Effect monsters on the field, and then DNA Surgery is destroyed, right?”

I nodded. “Oh, and one other thing. Anyone that controls a Lava Golem takes 1000 points of damage during their Standby Phase. So you’ve actually taken 2000 damage so far, putting you at 3500.”

“I noticed that when you handed me the card. I’m switching my Mokey Mokeys into Attack Position,” he continued, turning his two Normal monsters vertical. “Since I blew your Swords away, I’ll attack Solar Flare Dragon with the Lava Golem you so kindly handed me, then I’ll attack directly with both Mokey Mokeys.”

I moved my Solar Flare Dragon to the Graveyard as I did some quick mental math. Lava Golem’s attack dealt me 1500 damage, then I took 600 more from the Mokey Mokey attacks…putting me at… “3250?” I asked Norman.

“That’s what I got. Your move.”

I drew a card, then looked at the three Spells which made up my hand. I thought for a second, then laid the first card in my hand on the field: Premature Burial. Norman nodded, muttering “2450” under his breath, and I pulled Solar Flare Dragon out of my Graveyard and placed it above the Premature Burial card on the field. I then took the card I had just drawn and activated it: Molten Destruction. He looked at me slightly quizzically.

“500 ATK bonus for all Fire monsters on the field; but they all lose 400 DEF. Solar Flare Dragon attacks one of your Mokeys.”

“Saw that coming,” he responded, moving his newly-destroyed monster to his Graveyard. “I take 1700, right?”

“Right,” I continued, pulling the last card out of my hand. “I’ll end my turn with Swords of Revealing Light. Solar Flare Dragon means you take another 500.”

“I’m at 1300,” he replied, drawing.

“Now you’re at 300,” I interrupted, pointing at Lava Golem. His only response was to show me the card he had drawn: Pot of Greed. He played it and drew two cards, then grinned.

“I’ll play Creature Swap and give you back your Golem. I assume you’ll give me your Dragon?”

Seeing as I had nothing else to swap, I nodded grudgingly and slid the card over to his side of the field. He accepted it, turning it around to face me, then laid down the other card he had drawn.

“I’ll use Mystik Wok to sacrifice your Dragon and gain 1500 Life Points,” he stated

He turned his one remaining Mokey Mokey sideways, indicating Defense Position, then folded his arms across his chest, which I assumed meant he was finished for the turn. I drew.

Last Will? That won’t help me! I thought, panicking slightly. The fact that this was a single-elimination tournament kept buzzing through my head.

Pulling my thoughts together, I announced, “I take 1000 damage from Lava Golem’s effect, and I’m going to have it attack your last Mokey Mokey.”

He moved the card to his Graveyard, and nodded for him to go, noting that he was reduced to top-decking.

This is close! I thought as he drew. I’d forgotten how much fun it was to go up against decks that aren’t plain old cookie cutters.

“One monster in Defense Position,” said Norman, jerking me out of my thoughts. “That’s all.”

I mentally winced; I was actually hoping he would’ve done something to get rid of my Lava Golem, but he was stalling. My own strategy had been turned against me!

I drew a card, remembering that I was now down to a mere 450 Life Points. Then, however, I smiled as I realized what I had drawn. But first… "Lava Golem takes out your monster.”

“Giant Rat,” Norman replied. “The Earth version of your UFO Turtle…and,” he continued, moving the destroyed monster to his Graveyard and rifling through his Deck, “since Giant Rat itself has less than 1500 ATK, I think I’ll summon another one.”

Yup. Stalling, I affirmed to myself as he placed a twin of his first Rat on the field in Attack Position. He probably plans to switch it to Defense Position during his next turn.

“I’ll set this face-down and end my turn” I concluded, setting the card I had drawn that turn.

“I draw – “ he started.

“And you lose,” I finished, flipping over the card I had just set.

“What is that card?” he asked quizzically.

I held it up. “It’s a Trap that’s a personal favorite of mine called Spiritual Fire Art – Kurenai, and it works very simply. I sacrifice a Fire monster, and you take damage equal to that monster’s original ATK.”

Norman’s eyes widened as he realized that I had only one Fire monster to Tribute, and it was one that he himself had let me have.

“Since Lava Golem has an original ATK of 3000, and you have only 2300 Life Points remaining,” I said, placing the Lava Golem in my Graveyard, “good game.”

“Good game indeed,” he replied, scooping his cards back into his Deck and shuffling again. “You have a respectable command of the Fire Attribute.”

“Um…thanks,” I responded; he was being a little too formal for me. Before I could respond further, though, and earsplitting yell rang throughout the store that caused everyone but me to jump in their seats.

“ALL RIGHT!!! I WON!!!” echoed Bryan’s voice. I groaned and massaged my temples as the other people in the store cast looks in his direction that ranged from amused to disapproving. Noticing my reaction, Norman asked, “Do you know him?”

I nodded. “He’s Bryan, my best friend. Please excuse me as I go beat him into a bloody pulp,” I continued cordially, getting up from my chair and gathering my cards. Norman grinned as I walked away from the table.

Truth be told, I was hoping I could see a piece of this mystery Deck Bryan was using, but he had already put his cards away. I was still shocked, though, to see who his opponent was: Krystal, a girl from school whom I did not get along with in the least. That didn’t prevent her from being a very good card player.

At the moment, her cloudy grey eyes were staring icy daggers at Bryan; whether it was because he had beaten her or because he was so loudly proclaiming the fact, I wasn’t sure. Either way, I hurried Bryan away from the table.

“You beat Krystal?” I asked when we were several tables away.

“Yeah, I did! I kicked butt!”

Apparently, the expression on my face warranted further questioning, because he then asked, “Why? What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is that Krystal was the very first person I dueled at school, and she utterly demolished me with those Frogs of hers. She’s really good, and you beat her on your first try!”

A grin slowly spread itself across Bryan’s face, and his brown eyes twinkled merrily. “You’re jealous, aren’t you?”

I bristled. “I am not!”

That maddening grin spread even wider. “Yes you are!” he continued in a singsong voice. Then came the chanting: “I beat someone that you didn’t! I beat someone that you didn’t!”

OK, I am officially not allowed to lose now! I berated myself. Bryan’s beating people who’ve beaten me, and he’s only been playing for three weeks? He’ll never let me hear the end of it if I get kicked out…

* * * * * * *

Across the room stood a young woman with cloudy grey eyes, both of which were closely watching my humiliation.

Oh, you think it’s bad now, Jacob? Just you wait…





Coming up...
Bryan wasn't the only person Jake recognized when he walked into the store, remember? Find out why Heather earned the description of 'fast-talker' in Chapter 2 - Queen of Autumn Leaves!

[Dark Sage]

I've been waiting a long time for this fic to come back, and I'm glad it has.

Keep going, SJ. We're all supporting you.

And we hope to see more of your new writing style in the future.

[Shuppet Master]

For those of you who remember my original attempt, I hope you enjoy this version better than my last

Well, it's been a while, but I still remember every duel. Hopefully that doesn't count against you.

(Reads the chapter)

The intro blurb was interesting philosphy, and I know for a fact that reality is not fact, nor fact reality. They are two different animals.

(Reads some more)

Okay, first off, why is Lava Golem summoned in face-up defense position? Is this the original anime universe where it was legal to summon monsters ni face-up defense position? If so, I have no objections. Otherwise, it has to be summoned in attack position to be face-up.

I understand Jake's disgust... my grandmother had a swimming pool and it was a hideous sight in the fall, because a large tree hung over it and leaves fell into it.

I like how you do the whole tournament registration thing. I remember when I went to my first Sneak Preview and got my UDE number. It was a horrendous time, but it was fun.

This is a pretty good chapter so far, and you really fixed up the characters and prose a bit. I could learn from you.

[starjake]

This fic will follow every rule set by the real-life game (with the exception of one, which will not come into play for quite some time). So, no, monsters cannot be Normal Summoned in face-up Defense Position.

Lava Golem's Summon is a Special Summon (it actually cannot be Normal Summoned at all, in any position). Unless an effect or condition specifically prevents it, when you Special Summon a monster, you always have the choice of Summoning it in face-up Attack Position or face-up Defense Position.