Yu-Gi-Oh! The Thousand Year Door (Act Two)

[Dark Sage]

Greetings fellow readers!

And welcome to Act Two!

You know the story…

One thousand years ago, an evil tyrant called the Shadow Queen strove for world domination, using armies of darkness and powerful Shadow Games. But she was opposed by three brave heroes…

One was known as the Dark Sorcerer, a wizard of unparalleled skill. Another was called the Warrior Queen, a master of the sword who could outfight any man. The third was the Dragon Master, a strange man who was rumored to have the blood of dragons, and who could tame these great beasts…

Together they invaded the island that was the Queen’s home, recruited a band of loyal Companions, and eventually, stormed her palace. After a great and terrible battle, the Shadow Queen was defeated, and a curse cast by the Three Heroes made her a prisoner of her grand abode.

Now, one thousand years later, still locked behind the Thousand Year Door, the Queen has only one escape route – defeat the blood heirs of her three heroes in a fair contest. As fate would have it, all three of the heirs are duelists, so she has lured them to a tournament in which they can be defeated in style.

Little does she know, the original Three Heroes almost hoped this would happen…

For they intended the Queen to perish forever, and only in a second defeat could that happen.

They couldn’t do it, so they planted the seeds of heroics in their bloodlines, and preserved the souls of their Companions in fine art, so that they could aid their descendents when the time was right.

The stage is set… And the Thousand Year Door is about to open…

Let the duels commence…

[Dark Sage]

[B][I]The Thousand Year Door…

Beyond those huge, iron doors lie nightmares beyond imagining… Terrors that a woman with demonic powers dreamt up…

In all my years on Monster Island, I’ve snuck into the Palace of Shadow a few times. I’ve never stayed long. I can mask my presence from the Shadow Queen for a short time, but not forever…

Yesterday, the last of my three allies gained the ability to enter that accursed place, and as much as I fear for their safety, I can’t stop them. They are the only ones with the power to topple the Shadow Queen.

I only wish I could say for certain that they’ll be successful…

Because the ancient prophecies foretold a battle between the descendants of the Three Heroes and the Shadow Queen…

…but the prophecies did not reveal who the victor would be…

So will Stan, Andy, and Francesca be able to repeat what happened one millennia ago?

All I can say is… I hope so…

[color=orange][size=5]YU-GI-OH!



The Thousand Year Door



Act Two

[size=3][B]CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR



False Start

Francesca woke up to find herself in a very nice bedroom, in a comfortable feather bed.

Memories of last night came back to her…

Using some sort of magic, Merlee had transported her, Stan, and Andy back to Rogueport, and booked them into the best inn in town. He said something about “a surprise” in the morning.

She looked at her Duel Disk on her bedside table. A note was attached to it.

She looked at it:

[I]Francesca,

Shower up, and meet me in the common room for breakfast at eight. I have something to tell you and your friends.

Trust me, you’ll want to listen.

- Merlee


Francesca shrugged and headed for the shower.

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

When she got to the common room, Stan and Andy were already there. Sticky buns, muffins, scones, and orange juice were set up at a table.

“You guys got the note too?” she asked.

“Uh huh,” replied Andy. “Wonder what he wants? We’ve got to get to the Door soon.”

“So how’s our three f-f-finalists?” asked Merlee’s voice.

He appeared, seemingly from nowhere, and sat down.

“So what’s this surprise?” asked Stan, suspiciously.

Merlee took a muffin and started to butter it.

“First,” he explained, “g-g-go to Marty’s General Store, t-t-two blocks east of h-h-here. Tell Marty that you w-w-want to buy two bunches of bananas, three t-t-tubes of toothpaste, and one b-b-box of salt.”

“Why the heck…” asked Francesca.

“Y-y-you’ll see,” replied Merlee. “After you’re done there, take the north r-r-road out of town. It l-l-leads straight to the Thousand Year Door.”

He paused for a minute as he chewed the muffin.

“My friends,” he said, “I’ll st-st-still be able to give you a little help, b-b-but from now on, it will be minimal. My presence in the Palace of Shadow m-m-might be dangerous.”

He got up.

“Good luck,” he said.

And then he left.

He turned back and grabbed a scone.

“One for the road,” he added.

The three teens paused.

“Should we check out this store?” asked Andy.

“When has Merlee ever lied to us?” asked Francesca. “Let’s go check it out…”

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

Marty’s General Store looked like an old-fashioned mom-and-pop store, with weather-beaten siding that was in need of a paint job. The three teens entered, feeling somewhat out of place.

An old man with no hair and thick glasses sat behind the counter, reading a newspaper.

“What can I do ya for, kids?” he asked, not looking up.

“Uh, yeah…” muttered Stan.

This is going to sound so embarrassing… he thought.

“We need… two bunches of bananas, three tubes of toothpaste, and one box of salt,” he said as quickly as possible.

The old man looked at him.

He put his paper down and adjusted his glasses.

“So…” he said softly. “You know the password…”

“Password?” asked Andy. “What…”

Before he could finish, the old man hit a button under his counter. The floor opened up in the middle of the store, and a stairway going down was revealed.

“Follow me,” he said, walking to it. “You can call me Marty, by the way…”

The followed the old man down into a cellar.

“What is this?” asked Francesca.

“A powerful magician who was part of a sect dedicated to overthrowing the Shadow Queen entrusted me with some things,” replied Marty. “He told me to open up this cellar to any duelist that had been given the password. Only a few members of his sect know the password, so I think you can be trusted…”

They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Marty turned on a light.

The three teens couldn’t believe their eyes! The basement was set up like a card store! There were bins and racks full of Duel Monsters cards everywhere!

“You three are free to take anything from here that you like to make your decks stronger,” explained Marty. “The cards are grouped by class and type.”

“Wow…” muttered Andy. “I’m like a kid in a candy store!”

He went to the Dragon cards first. One dragon caught his eye…

This guy might do good… he thought. And I heard he works well with Warrior Dai Grepher…

He went across the room and looked at a few Magic and Trap Cards.

He remembered his duel with Gerald Laxina…

This might work… he thought, taking it.

He took a few more Magic and Trap Cards, and then something hit him.

He went over to another Type of Monster, and looked through.

Bingo! he thought, pulling out three identical Monsters. I’ll replace my Troop Dragons with these, and then it’s watch out Shadow Queen!

Francesca went to the Trap Cards first, and found a few good ones.

This, and this, and this, she thought.

She went to the Warrior’s section.

Hello? she thought, looking at a female Warrior. This gal would feel right at home with my Amazons…

She then went to look at the Amazon cards, but she didn’t find any new Amazons…

But she did find a card that caught her eye…

Wow! she thought. This is much better than Gaia Power! I can’t wait to try it out!

Stan was looking though the Spellcasters section.

My mentor used this gal a few times, he thought. She might come in handy…

He paused.

Oh, this guy is rare! I can replace Mind On Air with him – he’s much better…

He found a few Spellcaster accessories he hadn’t even heard off. All of these could make his deck almost perfect!

He took a few more Magic and Trap Cards that he had heard about but never got the chance to own. Finally, he went to the bin for more general Monsters and took a very rare one.

This will help a great deal, he thought.

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

After thanking Marty, the three teens sat on the gallows in the center of town and remade their decks.

They now had a few more than the minimum of forty cards, but they weren’t too big to be unmanageable.

“One last thing,” said Stan, going to his spare cards.

He took a card out.

“I’m going to add that card that Aesop gave me now.”

They each gave their decks a thorough shuffle.

“We have powerful decks,” muttered Francesca. “Whatever the Queen throws at us, we can take.”

They all put their hands together.

“So, to the Thousand Year Door?” asked Andy.

“You bet!” answered Stan.

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

Inside her Nightmare Steel Cage, Melissa sighed.

There hadn’t been much to do for the past several days except count the cracks in the walls of the cavern (which she had: 3,569).

She looked over at her siblings. At least she was luckier than they were – they could barely move, if at all.

This was far from the first time her mother had punished her like this. The first time was when she was only nine. She had snuck into her mother’s private sanctum, a place that was completely forbidden. She had been “grounded” via Spellbinding Circle for a week.

And she was still lucky… Of all her siblings, she had been punished the least.

When push came to shove, the Shadow Spawn didn’t truly love their mother, and they doubted that she loved them; but they had never considered the possibility of leaving... After all, where were they to go?

And truth be told, they didn’t really want to leave their mother…

Because when she was freed of her curse, they would be the prince regents of her new empire, and their power would be a thousand times greater.

That would be when they stopped getting punishments and started dolling them out.

At that moment, the Shadow Queen appeared in the room.

Lovely, thought Melissa, our jailer’s here…

The Shadow Queen flicked her Duel Disk into position and produced a card…

Heavy Storm.

She fit it into a slot, and a fierce wind erupted around the room. The restraining devices holding the Spawn shattered!

They groaned and picked themselves up off the ground.

“All right kids, listen up!” snapped the Queen. “Stan, Andy, and Francesca are heading for the Palace as we speak. That means I need every available servant ready, including you six!”

They all looked at each other.

“So start reviewing what all your Monsters can do under the new rules,” she continued. “I don’t want any more screw ups!”

She turned and faded into the shadows.

“Those three kids are coming here?” asked Melissa. “Ooh, I wanna strangle that Francesca!”

“So do I…” muttered Maria.

“One thing matters now,” cursed Tyson. “Revenge!”

Vladimir sighed.

“People, control yourselves,” he warned. “are you that anxious to have to face mom’s hickory stick again?”

“They embarrassed us, Vladimir!” shouted Kurtis. “They embarrassed all of us!”

“And we’re going to show them what the Shadow Spawn can truly do…” growled Leopold. “Even if it means getting our hands dirty…”

Vladimir sighed again.

“I’ll have no part in this, people,” he said. “I’m going to go review my cards…”

He started to walk away…

“Vladimir!” shouted Leopold. “It will only work if we’re all in it!”

Vladimir turned to them.

“Then it doesn’t work,” he said with a shrug.

“Let the coward go,” said Maria, as they watched him walk off. “Once those three brats get here, we’ll show them that revenge is a dish best served cold…”

She gestured, and a beam of ice shot from her hand, coating the wall with frost…

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

The road north of Rogueport was barren and broken.

All around were weeds and dead trees. The mountain loomed ahead of them, and the three teens felt a strange presence around them.

They remembered Sydney’s warning at the start of the tournament:

“The north road leads directly to the Thousand Year Door. I advise you to steer clear of that one for now. If you don’t have a Crystal Star… well, we can’t guarantee your safety if you go near it.”

They did have Crystal Stars, but that didn’t make this hike any less unnerving.

After about three hours, with the clocks at high noon, they reached their destination…

A huge cliff-face was in front of them. And set into the face, was a huge set of iron doors, covered with runes.

When they looked at it with a second glance, they saw writing painted on it. Somehow, they knew it was writing that only a few could see:


[I][B]There is no treasure here. There is no glory to be sought here. All that lies beyond these doors is death and incredible evil. If you value your life, do not proceed.


They paused, and then the message started to change… A longer message appeared:


[B][I]We are leaving this message to our own blood, if our lineage has survived this long, for only you can see this. We urge you never to give up, and not to let the horrors beyond this door deter you. We did all we could, but more must be done. The Shadow Queen’s evil must be extinguished forever, and only you can make that happen.

Proceed. You, our heirs, are the Three Heroes now.


At that point, the last lingering traces of doubt were erased from their minds.

They held their Stars up the door, and they glowed. It slowly creaked open…

They walked in, and into a huge room. It was circular, with a tiled floor, and a domed ceiling. What really shocked them were the doors. There were doors all around the circular wall, each with a number on them. the door to their left had the number 1, and the door to their right had the number 60.

“Well, which door to take?” asked Andy.

“I wouldn’t take any door yet,” said a sinister voice. “It might be bad…”

A man-shaped form appeared in the middle of the room. He wore a purple tuxedo and derby. His skin was orange, and his ears were fiendishly pointed. His hair was long and white, and his teeth were fangs.

“Witty Phantom?” exclaimed Stan.

The three teens flicked their Disks into position…

The Fiend chuckled. He removed his hat and spun it on his finger.

“Now, now, children, I’m not here to fight…” he said. “I’m here to guide you through this room. Choosing the right door is part of a riddle…

“And you’d better get it…”

“A riddle?” asked Francesca.

“Indeed,” said the Phantom. “But first…”

The Life Point counters on their Disks all set to 8,000.

“Now, let me explain the rules of this little intro game,” started the Phantom. “As you might remember, there are new rules in effect for all contestants that get this far. I’m not here to tell you them – only the Mythic Dragon can…”

“The Mythic Dragon?” asked Francesca, shocked.

“You know it?” asked the Phantom, surprised.

“How could I forget…” muttered Fran. “It took out my D.D. Warrior Lady… and me with her!”

“Well, I promise you it won’t hurt you now,” chuckled the Phantom, “but you’ve got to find its lair.

“Only one of these doors leads to it… The other doors have Monsters behind them waiting to attack you.

“Now, you might want to write what I’m about to tell you on paper… This is hard to remember…”

Francesca paused. She pulled a notebook and pen out of her duffle.

“Splendid,” started the Phantom. “Now listen well, because I’m not going to repeat myself.

“As you can see, each door has a number… And Mythic Dragon has five heads.

“The Dragon’s head of Fire hates prime numbers, but only if its head of Ice hates the number 45; if not, the head of Ice hates numbers that are not prime.

“The Dragon’s head of Thunder hates odd numbers, but only if its head of Fire hates the number 57; if not, the head of Thunder hates even numbers.

“The Dragon’s head of Ice hates multiples of five, but only if the head of Darkness hates the number 24; if not, the head of Ice hates multiples of three.

“The Dragon’s head of Wind hates perfect squares, but only if the head of Thunder hates the number 18. If not, the head of Wind hates perfect cubes.

“Finally, the Dragon’s head of Darkness hates numbers containing two different digits, like 37 or 42, but only if the head of Wind hates the number 8; if not, the head of Darkness hates numbers with two of the same digit, like 33 and 44.

“Only one door has a number that is not hated by any of the five heads. The Mythic Dragon’s lair is behind that door.

“Got all that?”

“Yeah…” muttered Francesca writing the last clue down.

“One more thing – you only have two hours,” said the Phantom. “Is it all understood?”

They nodded.

“Then good luck, my friends,” said the Phantom, tipping his hat.

“You’ll need it…”

And then he vanished into shadows.


Continued...

[Dark Sage]

Continued from last post:


In another part of the Palace, Lord Crump was sneaking around.

He edged towards a door that said ”Alchemy Lab”. He nudged the door open and went in.

He eyed rows of tests tubes, beakers, and flasks, some of them containing colored liquid.

The Queen would punish me good if she caught me in here… he thought. But she’d reward me if I could take down those kids…

Only problem is, I don’t think I can! She’s right… I am a coward, I’ve always been a coward, and I always will be a coward!

But maybe there’s something that the Queen’s been working on that will help with that…

He looked at the test tubes.

Potion of stone skin, potion of flaming breath, love potion #10… Ah, these are no good for dueling…

Then a large flask of clear liquid caught his eye.

“LIQUID COURAGE”

Wow, liquid courage! he thought, picking it up. This is just what I need!

He paused.

Of course, it might not be wise to drink this…

He paused for a minute.

And then he drank the whole flask in three gulps.

“EEE-YUCK!” he shouted. “That tastes like my bowling shoes!”

And then he felt a change come over him.

He whipped a Duel Disk off of his back, and strapped it on his arm in one swift stroke.

“Watch out, you brats!” he said out loud. “This is gonna be the last duel you ever dueled!”

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

“I can’t make heads or tails of this silly riddle…” muttered Francesca.

“Well, we have to do something,” muttered Andy.

Francesca shrugged.

“Maybe we should try a door and see what happens…” she said.

She went over to door #10 and turned the knob.

The door opened, and a hulking Warrior in armor carrying an axe appeared…

Francesca screamed as Axe Raider struck her with his weapon and she fell backwards.

The Warrior slammed the door shut, and the counter on Fran’s Disk fell to 6,300.

“That didn’t go too well…” she groaned.

“All right…” muttered Stan. “We’ll just fight them like we used to…”

He drew a card from his deck…

Skilled Dark Magician.

He went to door #20, and opened it…

A large green genie appeared and glared at him…

“Oh, La Jinn, huh?” sneered Stan. “Well this Fiend’s no match for my Spellcaster…”

He threw the Monster Card on his Disk…

But to his surprise, Skilled Dark Magician did not appear…

“Huh?” said Stan in surprise.

La Jinn breathed forth a blast of flame from his mouth and Stan screamed!

He fell over, and the genie closed the door. The counter on Stan’s Disk fell to 6,200.

“Okay…” muttered Andy. “I think I see the rules now…

“We aren’t allowed to summon Monsters here… We open the wrong door, we get attacked and lose Life Points – and I’m betting none of these Monsters are weaker than those two.”

“And if we lose all our Life Points, the Queen wins,” muttered Francesca. “Even between all three of us, we can’t risk trying doors at random. One of us is certain to hit zero before we find the right one that way.”

“We only have an hour and a half left…” warned Stan.

“Either way, we’re dead…” muttered Andy.

“Either way…” whispered Francesca.

She looked at what she had written down.

“Either way! That may be the key to the riddle!”

“Huh?” asked Andy.

“Look,” said Francesca. “The head of Ice hates either multiples of three or five. So, either way, it will hate 15, 30, 45, and 60, which are multiples of both numbers.”

“Wow, beautiful and smart!” exclaimed Andy.

Fran wrote down those numbers. She looked at what she had written down.

“And therefore,” she continued, writing down numbers, “since the head of Ice does hate 45, the head of Fire must hate prime numbers. That eliminates 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, and 59.”

“Keep going…” urged Stan.

“And therefore,” she said, writing down more, “since the head of Fire doesn’t hate 57, since it isn’t prime, the head of Thunder must hate even numbers, eliminating 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, and 58.”

“Yeah, you’re on a roll, Fran!” shouted Andy.

Francesca continued.

“Therefore,” she said, “since the head of Thunder does hate 18, since that’s even, the head of Wind must hate perfect squares, eliminating 9, 25, and 49.”

“And therefore…” urged Stan.

“Yes, therefore,” continued Francesca, “since the head of Wind doesn’t hate 8, since it isn’t a perfect square, the head of Darkness must hate numbers with two of the same digit, eliminating 55 and 33.”

“Okay, what else?” asked Andy.

“Finally,” replied Francesca, “since the head of Darkness does not hate 24, since it has two different digits, the head of Ice must hate multiples of three, eliminating 21, 27, 39, and 51.”

She paused. She counted.

“The only door that hasn’t been eliminated is door #35,” she said.

They all looked to that door.

“Let me open it,” sighed Andy. “I’m the only one who hasn’t lost Life Points.”

He opened the door…

A bright light emitted from the room within.

There didn’t seem to be any Monsters blocking them, so they all went in.

They found themselves in a huge dungeon. Skulls and bones littered the ground, and more skeletons were bound to shackles on the walls.

Their Disks shut down, and the numbers vanished.

A sound that sounded like five beasts roaring at once echoed through the dungeon, and a huge form arose in front of them…

They gasped as the huge image of Mythic Dragon appeared in front of them!

They drew back in fear, as steam poured from the mighty Dragon’s five sets of nostrils…

And intimidating voice entered their minds.

“Welcome duelists,” it said. “Congratulations for getting this far. As you have already been told, there are new rules for all duels that occur within the Palace of Shadow – and I will do my best to explain them.

“These new rules are a complex system called simply… the Deckmaster System.”

“Deckmaster?” said Stan, in wonder.

“To start,” said the Dragon, “before you start any duel, you and your opponent must choose any Monster from your deck to act as a Deckmaster. Any Monster in the entire game can serve as one, and every Monster has a special ability while serving as a Deckmaster.

“To demonstrate, let’s watch Sonya and Calvin duel using this system…”

Two teenagers wearing Duel Disks appeared at the Mythic Dragon’s feet. One was a girl with blonde hair and a ponytail, wearing a schoolgirl dress. The other was a boy in jeans and a jean jacket.

The three teens guessed that they were holograms of some sort.

The two virtual duelists activated their Disks.

Sonya chose a card from her Disk.

“My Deckmaster is Total Defense Shogun!” she announced.

She held the card aloft, and the well-armored Warrior appeared… Standing behind her. (1,550/2,500)

Calvin chose a card from his own deck.

“My Deckmaster is Flame Swordsman!” he announced.

He held the card into the air, and the blue and orange-armored Warrior with his bronze sword appeared, also behind him. (1,800/1,600)

“LET’S DUEL!” they both shouted.

The numbers 8,000 appeared above them.

“And so the duel starts,” said Mythic Dragon, “and Sonya has the honor.”

Sonya placed a card on her Disk.

“I summon Vorse Raider in Attack Mode!” she shouted.

The wicked Beast-Warrior brandishing his axe appeared, as a Monster usually did. (1,900/1,200)

Calvin drew a card.

“I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in Attack Mode,” he exclaimed.

He put a card down, and the mighty Gearfried appeared. (1,800/1,600)

“And now…” exclaimed Calvin, “I use my Deckmaster’s special ability, lowering his Attack Score by 200 to increase Gearfried’s by 200!”

The three onlookers gasped, as Flame Swordsman’s Attack Score fell to 1,600 and Gearfried’s rose to 2,000.

“Attack her Vorse Raider!” shouted Calvin.

Gearfried charged forward, striking the Beast-Warrior with his blade and destroying it, dropping Sonya’s Life Points to 7,900.

“As you can see,” said Mythic Dragon, “Calvin used his Deckmaster’s ability, known as Warrior Support, right away. He can lower the Attack Score of his Flame Swordsman to increase the Attack Score of any of his Warrior Monsters by the same amount.”

Sonya drew.

“Uh, oh, it appears Sonya’s hand isn’t too good right now…” quipped the Dragon.

“I pass this turn…” said Sonya.

“You might think Sonya is crazy,” said the Dragon, “ending her turn without a single card on the field… Likely she’s in for a painful direct attack in a few seconds…”

Calvin drew a card.

“Gearfried!” he shouted, “attack her Life Points directly!”

Gearfried charged forward…

“I activate my Deckmaster’s ability!” shouted Sonya.

She discarded two cards, and Total Defense Shogun glowed…

Gearfried was thrown back, and was blasted into pixels.

“As you now see,” commented the Dragon, “Sonya’s Deckmaster has a useful ability as well. Total Defense Shogun’s Total Defense Barrier allows the duelist to destroy a Monster that tries to attack directly if she discards two cards.

“Now, take note of this fact. For the most part, a Deckmaster stays behind you on the sidelines. In this state, it’s indestructible, immune to attacks and any card effects. On the other hand, it can’t do anything in this state except its Deckmaster ability.

“Now back to the duel…”

They watched as Sonya made a draw.

“It seems that Sonya is still having bad luck with her draws,” continued the Dragon, “and she can’t keep discarding cards forever…”

“I summon my Deckmaster to the field in Defense Mode!” she commanded.

Total Defense Shogun moved onto the playing field, and took a stance.

“As you can see,” said the Dragon. “Sonya has summoned her Deckmaster. At all times, this is considered a Special Summon, and does not require any special requirements if the chosen Monster needs any to be summoned. You can even do so during your opponent’s turn.

“Now Total Defense Shogun has all his normal effects, which to him means the ability to attack while in Defense Mode…”

“Attack directly!” commanded Sonya.

The Shogun took a swipe with his sword, and Calvin fell backwards. His Life Points fell to 6,450.

“Unfortunately for Sonya,” continued the Dragon, “she seems to have forgotten about Calvin’s Deckmaster…”

Calvin drew.

“I summon Warrior Dai Grepher!” shouted Calvin, placing a card down.

Grepher appeared, holding his large sword. (1,700/1,600)

“And now I’ll take 1,000 of my Deckmaster’s Attack Points and add them to Grepher’s!” he yelled.

Flame Swordsman went down to 600 Attack, and Grepher went up to 2,700.

“Attack!” shouted Calvin.

Grepher struck Total Defense Shogun, and blew him into pixels! Sonya was thrown back, and her Life Points fell all the way to zero.

“This duel is over…” said Mythic Dragon. “You see, if a duelist’s Deckmaster is destroyed, he or she loses automatically.”

“That’s something to think about…” muttered Stan.

“A few more things to consider,” said the Dragon, as Sonya and Calvin vanished. “Once you choose a Deckmaster, you can’t change it. The only way to change a Deckmaster is to alter it in some way, such as through a fusion. A Deckmaster cannot be offered as a sacrifice – such an attempt simply will not work. Also, if a Deckmaster is on the field, there is no way for an opponent to control it.

“I’m afraid we can’t provide a manual of what each Monster does as a Deckmaster – after all, this game has more than two thousand Monsters. Some Deckmasters are more useful than others, but all have their uses. You’ll figure it out as you go along…

“Now that that’s out of the way…”

A large door appeared behind it.

“…the Palace of Shadow awaits!”

It disappeared, and the door creaked open.

The three teens took their decks and shuffled. They entered the door.

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

Stan, Andy, and Francesca looked around…

They were on a bridge of sorts, over water. The place was lit by eerie torches, and the water one hundred feet below was dark. The whole place was spooky.

“Keep on your toes, guys…” said Andy, as they started to cross. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this place was crawling with Monsters…”

As they reached the middle of the bridge, the water below started to churn. They looked down…

Five pairs of glowing eyes looked back at them!

“WHA!” shouted Stan.

Five figures burst up out of the water and flew over them!

The three teens looked at them. It was the Shadow Spawn, minus Vladimir.

“Well, well,” chuckled Francesca, “if it isn’t the Brady Bunch’s evil twins!”

“That’s right!” shouted Melissa. “And we’re here to get revenge!”

“Oh, save it…” muttered Stan. “You clowns couldn’t duel your way out of a paper bag!”

“You just don’t get it, do you?” laughed Leopold.

Flames surrounded Tyson’s hands, and he shot forth a stream of fire at the three of them!

“HEY!” screamed Francesca.

“Why should we duel you when we could just blast you to pieces?” laughed Maria.

The five of them raised their hands, and energy coursed around them.

“Now what?” gasped Andy, panicking.

“We run like crazy…” answered Francesca.

They fled across the bridge towards the exit.

“Get them!” shouted Kurtis.

Blasts of wind, fire, ice, and burning light trailed behind them, and the stone floor started to shake as the three teens fled from the angry Spawn.


Continued...

[Dark Sage]

Continued from last post:


Meanwhile, the Shadow Queen entered the same alchemy lab that Crump had broken into.

This was the place where she created her special magical cards, and currently, a very special one was being worked on.

A metal sphere was being heated by a Bunsen burner, and foul-smelling odors came from it.

This particular card was going to be her strongest one. She’d only be able to use it once, and it would be way too costly to make more than one…

But once Stan, Andy, and Francesca were defeated, she’d use it…

…and that would ensure that their defeat would be total, freeing her forever.

Right now, she only had to add a few mundane ingredients to the concoction. She placed in a few rare mushrooms and some ginseng juice into the sphere.

Then she took a Duel Monsters card and placed it in a brazier. To make a magical card, you always had to use one or more normal copies of the card.

She set fire to it, and it quickly burned to ashes. She poured the ashes in the mixture, and it glowed with eldritch energy.

Most of her magical cards needed only one at least, or five at most copies of a normal card. This one would be so powerful, it needed a hundred.

That was the ninety-seventh one. Of course, one of her rules for her servants was that they were required to exchange any copies of this card that they had for another until she had enough.

But she had acquired enough some time ago, enough for her servants to use it again, and in a few days, the key to her freedom would be complete.

As she left the concoction to simmer, she went to her “cookbook”. Maybe she could make a new servant before her victims needed to be viewed…

And then she noticed that the vial that contained the Liquid Courage was empty.

She growled. Her first thought was that one of her children had taken it, and when she found out who it was, he or she was going to be “dipped”…

Then she heard a voice.

“Uh, mom?” called Vladimir. “Can I come in? I have something to tell you…”

“What is it, Vladimir?” she sighed.

Vladimir walked in.

“Uhm,” he said. “I really hate to be a tattletale, but there’s something in sector A7 that you should look at…”

The Queen gave him a look. Then she motioned with her hand, and a globe appeared in it.

She gave a look of horror!

“THOSE IDIOTS!” she screamed.

She rushed out of the room.

“Vladimir, meet me at the dip pool!” she shouted as she rushed by.

Vladimir grinned.

“Well, I can’t say I didn’t warn them…” he said with a shrug. “This is gonna be great…”

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

Stan, Andy, and Francesca were running across a huge antechamber with a red carpet, lit by torches. Two doors were on the opposite wall.

“Think we lost them?” asked Stan.

Five globes of energy shot out in front of them, and formed into the siblings.

“Uh, frankly, no…” gulped Andy.

They turned and ran the other way.

“Melissa, rings!” shouted Kurtis.

Melissa gestured, and threw a set of rings made of light. They encircled the three teens, pinning their arms and legs!

Kurtis gestured, and they were blown against the wall!

Then Leopold raised his hand, and stony arms grew out of the wall and held them in place!

They struggled as the five Spawn walked up to them.

“Consider this payback, guys,” mocked Tyson. “We’re gonna fry you up like a canoli!”

“Uh…” said Melissa.

“Um… muttered Kurtis.

“A canoli…” sighed Tyson, “it’s an Italian pastry, very popular in New York bakeries! Doesn’t anyone here ever eat out?”

“I knew what it was…” said Stan with a nervous chuckle.

“I’d keep quiet if I were you!” snapped Leopold.

“So who do we kill first?” asked Kurtis.

“I wanna do Francesca,” said Maria. “Bet I can make her explode!”

“Explode?” gasped Francesca, struggling. “What are you…”

“Open wide, Fran!” laughed Kurtis, making a gesture.

Two windy hands forced Francesca’s mouth open…

Then Maria cackled, and water shot from her hands, directly at Francesca’s mouth!

“FRAN!” screamed Andy.

Then, suddenly, the room went dark, and it started to shake…

Maria stopped.

“Uh oh…” muttered Tyson.

The Shadow Queen appeared above all of them, her eyes glowing red!

She raised her hand, and a huge tornado made of darkness appeared. The Spawn were sucked into it screaming!

After a few seconds, they were gone.

The Shadow Queen landed and turned towards Stan, Andy and Francesca.

Her eyes glowed for a second, and the three of them shivered.

She snapped her fingers, and the light rings vanished and the stone restraints crumbled.

Her eyes stopped glowing and she smiled.

“Ah heh…” she chuckled. “Kids today… what are you going to do with them?”

The three of them were too scared to answer.

“Look kids,” said the Queen with a nervous laugh. “You must be really hungry… The room in the door to the left has a guy who’ll make you anything you want. Just refresh yourselves, and we’ll forget that this little… unprovoked assault ever happened, okay?”

They glared at her.

“Don’t worry…” she said, grimly, “I’ll discipline them…”

Stan was about to say something, but the Queen vanished.

“Did the Shadow Queen just save us?” asked Andy.

“And then offer us food?” asked Francesca.

“Well, I am pretty hungry…” muttered Stan. “We’ll figure it out later…”

They wandered towards the door she had pointed to.

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

The five Shadow Spawn were really dreading what was about to happen.

They were in a dark chamber full of chains and gears. And they were in a bad predicament. They were suspended by chains from their ankles above a large pool of green, putrid slime.

“Uh, guys?” muttered Melissa. “I’m getting that queasy feeling that I get whenever I eat… anything healthy…”

“SHUT UP, MELISSA!” shouted Kurtis.

“Cut her some slack, Kurtis,” moaned Maria. “Mom’s never done this to her before…”

“Well it’s high time she grew up…” said Vladimir’s voice.

He appeared out of the shadows.

“You told on us, didn’t you?” scowled Tyson. “You’re always sucking up to mom!”

“Let me put it this way, Tyson,” growled Vladimir. “I’m over here, and you’re up there. Where would you rather be?”

“Vladimir,” shouted Leopold, “the second I’m free of this I’m gonna…”

“You’ll do nothing, Leopold!” scolded the Queen’s voice, as she stormed in.

She gazed at the five prisoners.

“Are you five stubborn, or just plain stupid?” she asked, angrily. “I have to defeat those three in a fair contest to leave this dump! Do you realize what would have happened if you had killed even one of them?”

There was a long pause.

“I’d have been stuck here until the end of time, that’s what!” she shouted. “Why on earth did you try it?”

“Uh…” stammered Melissa. “We weren’t thinking clearly?”

“You weren’t thinking clearly?” yelled the Queen. “Well then, I’m just going to have to clear your head…”

She looked at the pool.

“I’m going to dip four of you for two hours…” she continued.

They moaned.

“…but one of you,” she continued, “is going to be punished for TWICE as long! Which one of you drank THIS?”

She held up the vial.

“Uh, what’s that?” asked Tyson.

“Liquid Courage,” replied the Queen. “A potion, looks like water, tastes like old sneakers… And someone drank about half a pint of it!”

“I think Melissa did it…” muttered Kurtis.

“Me? No!” protested Melissa. “I mean, I let those Kuribohs into Grodus’s bathroom… I set that Faith Bird loose on Twilight Town… I turned Lord Crump into a Turtle Bird… and I still say he was happier that way…”

She chuckled.

“I totally booby-trapped Maria’s bed with a Swarm of Scarabs…”

“That was you?” shouted Maria.

“Yeah…” chuckled Melissa. “But this… totally not me…”

All this time, the Queen was concentrating, studying the anatomy of the five of them.

“Fine,” she said, “it wasn’t any of you… But you still each get two hours…”

She walked to a lever.

“Mom, forgive us!” shouted Leopold.

“Have mercy!” screamed Maria.

The Shadow Queen paused.

“Didn’t say ‘please’…” she scolded.

“PLEASE!” begged all five of them.

“Mercy, huh?” sighed the Queen.

“I… don’t think so…”

She pulled the lever, and the five siblings screamed as they were lowered into the pit.

“Uh, mom?” asked Vladimir. “What’s so important about this Liquid Courage?”

“Let’s just say I pity whoever drank it,” scowled the Queen as they turned to leave. “It was a failed experiment. It makes whoever drinks it fearless – literally. Whoever drank it is now incapable of experiencing fear at all.”

“So?” asked Vladimir. “What’s wrong with that?”

“That can be incredibly dangerous,” responded the Queen. “If you have no fear, you lose your ability to defend yourself. You stop using your smarts, and act only on your impulses.

“Whoever drank that is going to rush headlong into danger and get more than he bargained for…”

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

The room that the three teens entered did indeed seem like a cafeteria, albeit a dark and sinister one. Tables and chairs with diabolic imagery were set up. Standing behind a counter among a stove and various utensils was a fiendish figure.

“The Bistro Butcher?” exclaimed Stan.

“Well, well, customers,” chuckled the Butcher.

They drew back.

“Oh, sorry,” chuckled the Fiend. “Did I scare you?”

“Uh…” muttered Stan. “The Shadow Queen said we could get anything we wanted to eat in here…”

“And that’s my job,” answered the Butcher. “Do you know any Duel Monsters who are better at gastronomy?”

They didn’t exactly know how to answer that.

“So what could I get you?” he asked.

“Uh…” asked Andy. “Do you have hamburger?”

“Sure thing,” said the Fiend. “Anything to go with that? Fries? Onion rings?”

“Three cheeseburgers and fries,” said Stan, quickly.

They were still a little afraid of this creature, but they didn’t exactly believe that the Shadow Queen would save them just to poison them.

“Give me five minutes,” said the Butcher, turning to his stove.

At that point, the door to the cafeteria was thrown open.

Lord Crump entered.

“So,” he laughed, “I’ve finally found you!”

“You!” shouted Francesca. “You’re that little creep that’s been spying on us this whole time!”

“What’s the matter?” sneered Andy. “You afraid to face us in person?”

“I’m facing you right now!” laughed Crump, holding up his Duel Disk. “I’ll take on each of you, one after the other!

“And don’t think about slipping by me! There’s no other way out of this room but the way you came!”

Stan sighed.

“Fine pal…” he said. “I’ve been wanting to teach you a lesson for some time… But let us at least eat before we duel.”

“Very well…” chuckled Crump. “Enjoy your last meal. I’ll be waiting in the chamber outside…

“And after I defeat you all, the Queen will finally give me the respect I deserve!

“It’s a pity that your first duels in the Palace of Shadow will be your last…”



[B][I]Coming up next:

It’s Crump versus Stan! And a burning question will finally be addressed – is Crump a competent duelist, or is he just blowing a lot of hot air?

See some of the new additions to Stan’s deck and find out, in a chapter called “Mage Versus Machine”, coming soon…

[Master of Paradox]

And so Act Two begins. Some will not like this chapter because it doesn't have a duel, but I rather enjoyed it. I do like well-written interlude chapters.

One wonders what cards the three snagged from that basement... but, knowing how your duels work, they're either powerful created cards or the sort of things that would cost me a fifth of my income to purchase in the real world. (No offense, mind you.)

Yes, I smiled when I saw the Witty Phantom come up - it is my soul card, after all - but it embarasses me to admit I had no clue how to solve that number puzzle. My hat's off to Francesca.

Hmmm... I could note how foolish the Shadow Spawn are (their mother's warned them how many times about that "fair fight" clause? You'd think they'd want her free just to get her off their backs), or how the Deckmaster System exactly matches the show (unlike some of the more lenient variations I've seen), but I won't bother.

Crump's dueling next chapter? I knew he'd be playing a Machine deck, but it'll be worth reading just to see if something resembling Magnus von Grapple shows up.

[sesshomaru]

“Unfortunately for Sally,” continued the Dragon, “she seems to have forgotten about Calvin’s Deckmaster…”

Isn't it meant to be Sonya?

[Silencer]

nitpicking are we?

Great chapter. Every time I saw that they walked through a door I was hoping "Let them meet the other finalists" (I GOT MY REASONS :p) But this seems better. In every Yu-Gi-OH story the hero(s) or the most likely to be the last of the finalists. I didn't really like the part when the shadow spawn attacked but it fits their characters as it fits Vladimirs to "save" Stan,Fran and Andy. You think those 3 would figure out that the shadow queen didn't want them dead when they can solve a riddle like that.

[Perfect Chaos]

Ah, damn, I didn't get a chance to review the last chapter for Act One, but oh well, no point in crying over spilled milk as they say

So, our three Heroes have finally gotten through the Thousand-Year Door with supposedly great improvements to their decks. And we finally see Grodus duel, hopefully he won't be a complete pushover for Stan. I liked how you had the Witty Phantom come and give the riddle for the Heroes. I personally like him as a fanfic character because of what his demeanor could possibly be. And the Mythic Dragon was as fearsome as he was supposed to be.

See you next chapter

[Dark Sage]

Uh, Chaos, I think you're confusing Crump with Grodus.

Lord Crump is the incompitent one whom the Queen has thusfar only used to spy on the kids. Sir Grodus is her right-hand man, basically Crump's boss. Crump is Stan's opponent next chapter.

And yes, Grodus is going to be dueling eventually, and the theme of his deck is a secret I will not reveal under ANY circumstances!

[Zcade0]

yay! act 2! yay! under no circumstances! yay! machine deck! ect. ect. ect.
I love filler chapters that there are no duels, I just do so this was one of my favoritye chjapters along with when merle explained the shadow spawn. Keep up the good work

[Shuppet Master]

What an awesome intro to the second act! I was expecting those kids to act that way, it reminds me of how the Big 5 tried to possess Joey and his friends in the Virtual World and Noah took them out and beat them up. Somehow, the Spawn(sans Vlad) will be like the Big-5 in this part.

And I can't wait for the first duel of Act Two. As for Magnus Von Grapple, well, my lips are sealed.

[Mystic_clown]

Hmm, I expected Grodus to have the machine deck. Anyway, let's see how Crump fares against Stan.

[Perfect Chaos]

Sorry DS, I did mean Crump. Speaking of Grodus, we haven't seen him make any cameos for a few chapters now huh?

-sean

[Dark Sage]

I have an announcement to make to my loyal readers:

Thanks to you, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Thousand Year Door has won Best Non-Pokemon Fic in the Golden Pen awards, by a landslide, in fact.

Thanks to everyone for making this possible!

Another note...

As soon as board admin Gavin Luper gets it done, Act One will be readable in the archives section. You can read it at your leisure!

Once again, a thank you to all loyal readers.

P.S.: I also won five other awards, including Most Dedicated Writer, and four for "Pokemonese".

[Pokemasterkatie]

Hey; congratulations, DS! You deserve those awards.

[Shuppet Master]

Yeah, congrats! I think your Yu-Gi-Oh crossover with Paper Mario is awesome. I used to love Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and the goofy characters(of course, my new GameCube love is going to be Pokemon XD: Gales of Darkness, which is out now) and the way you used Evil Peach's form for the Shadow Queen is pretty neat-o! The whole Shadow Spawn was also cool. I can't wait to see what Act Two has to hold.

Take a bow, you are an excellent writer!

[Mystic_clown]

Congradulations dude! You deserved them. I mean, your fics are the only reason I actually look around in the fanfiction forum anymore.

[ssj4supernerd]

Same as his.Before this fic, I used to look here also to read the adventures of Blank Myn, but those have stopped

[Dark Sage]

Hello everyone...

Sigh...

It was the first night on my new job. I was working the night shift on a construction site, at a post with no lights or electricity (yet). My shift was supposed to be twelve hours, and turned into fourteen because my relief was two hours late. I do hope the boss yells at him.

But, tired as I am, I decided to post the next chapter, because I left you hungering for more with no duel in the first chapter of Act Two.

At the end of all new chapters, there will be a new thing that describes the ability of Deckmasters used in detail. I know that many folks want to use my cards - now they can use my Deckmasters SA as well.

One more thing: To all fans of a certain supporting character in a certain spin-off series, I apologize in advance if this chapter makes his cards look bad.

- DS

[Dark Sage]

[B][I]Ever since we came to this island, the Shadow Queen has had a creep spy on us…

This weirdo in a funny suit has stayed just out sight, watching us, trying to learn about us, but never having the courage to face us. The one time Andy and Francesca caught him, he fled like a coward.

But it’s strange – somehow he must have gotten a good deal braver, because right now, he’s sought us out, and made a challenge to all three of us.

Well, I’m going to duel him now, as my first opponent in the Palace of Shadow.

I really don’t think this Lord Crump guy is anything more than a lot of hot air. Heck, I doubt he’s even a real lord.

At least, I hope he isn’t anything more than hot air…

[size=3][B]CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE



Mage Versus Machine

The three teens had to admit something…

For a Fiend, The Bistro Butcher made really great hamburgers.

They just really hoped that the beef he made them with came from a cow, and not a Battle Ox (which was a small possibility).

“Anything more I can get you kids?” asked the Fiend, as he wiped his counter with a rag.

“No, we’re fine,” answered Stan. “These are great, by the way…”

His mother had told him a simple tip about politeness – always compliment the chef, no matter what the food tasted like. He guessed that was especially true when the chef was a nasty-looking demon with a sharp hook for a hand.

He whispered to Andy.

“How do you suppose he can cook with only one hand?”

Andy shrugged.

“Thank you,” replied the Butcher. “Well, leave your dishes, I’ll clean up… And by the way Stan…”

“Yeah?” answered Stan.

“When you go out and duel that guy, be sure to kick his butt good,” sneered the Butcher. “No one in this Palace likes him very much…”

“Really?” asked Stan.

“Yeah,” snarled the Fiend. “Take this little cafeteria I have. I’m bound to cook for anyone who asks… But every time he comes in, he orders me around like I were some slave, eats like a hog, and leaves a big mess that I always have to clean up. If the Queen wouldn’t punish me, I’d…”

He raised his big cleaver menacingly…

“Don’t worry, pal,” answered Stan, “I’ll teach him a lesson…”

He wiped his mouth and got up.

He shuffled his deck again, and started for the door, his two friends followed.

Lord Crump was leaning against the wall of the large antechamber where the Queen had rescued them, near the door that they hadn’t taken.

“Well, well,” he snickered. “So, you’re finally finished. Now we can start.”

“I’m gonna take you down, fatso!” warned Stan.

“HA!” laughed his foe. “You’re hardly a match for…”

He paused.

“…LORD CRUMP!”

“Crump?” chuckled Stan. “So that’s your name? Figures. Well then, let’s get started…”

His Disk flicked into position, and the holo-imagers shot out.

Crump repeated the trick, and the Life Point counters set to 8,000 apiece.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” chuckled Crump. “Before we start, according to the new rules, you have to choose a Deckmaster!”

Stan paused. He took his deck out of its tray.

“It can be any Monster in your deck, so choose well!” laughed Crump.

So many Monsters… thought Stan. And I have no idea what any of them can do as a Deckmaster… Who to choose…

And then a card flew out on its own!

“What?” exclaimed Stan.

The form of Vivian the Shadow Siren appeared beside him!

Crump laughed.

“Well, that’s an interesting choice…” he chuckled.

“Wait!” protested Stan. “I didn’t…”

Then Vivian’s voice sounded in his head.

”Don’t worry Stan!” she urged. ”I can be a good Deckmaster! Honest! Just give me a chance!”

Stan paused.

”Okay, fine…” he replied, thinking out loud. ”What’s your ability?”

”Uhm, uh…” answered Vivian.

There was a long pause.

”I… I forgot…” she mused.

“You forgot?” shouted Stan out loud.

“Is there a problem?” laughed Crump.

”I just wanted to help!” sobbed Vivian.

”Vivian, don’t cry, please!” sighed Stan.

“Crump, I have to make a change!” he demanded.

“Tough darts, Stan!” laughed Crump. “You know the rules! Once you chose a Deckmaster, you can’t change it!”

Stan looked at Vivian.

”Well,” he said, sort of annoyed. ”Looks like we’re stuck together. For now, try hard to remember!”

“Vivian the Shadow Siren is my Deckmaster!” announced Stan.

“And I’ll gladly show you mine!” laughed Crump.

He held a card into the air, and a huge robot appeared behind him…

“Meet the mighty Machine King!” cackled Crump. “And I’ll gladly tell you what its ability is. It’s called Reserve Power! Every time I summon a Machine Monster, it will raise its Attack Score by one quarter of its Defense Score!”

“Man... That’s powerful…” muttered Andy.

“Now, let’s reshuffle and duel!” shouted Crump.

The two of them reshuffled their decks, and plugged them into the holders. They each drew five cards.

“Think Stan can beat this clown?” asked Francesca.

“Please…” muttered Andy. “This guy likely couldn’t beat a preschooler…”

“I’ll start this off,” chuckled Crump, drawing his first hand.

“My first card will be…”

He looked at the card.

“Graceful Charity!”

He played the card, and the angel flew out of the card, and handed him three cards.

And I know just what to discard… he thought, handing her two.

The angel flew into his discard slot with the two cards.

“And I’ll play this Monster in Defense Mode…”

He placed a card down.

“Meet Cycroid!” he laughed.

A weird Monster that looked like a red bicycle with fists on its handlebars and an eye in the center of them appeared. (800/1,000) –> (1,050/1,000)

“HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!” laughed Stan. “That’s a Monster? I’ve gotten better cards out of my store’s discount bin!”

“This Monster is a special Machine,” answered Crump, “known as a Vehicroid.”

“I don’t care what religion it is!” laughed Stan. “It’s still weak!”

“It’s your move…” muttered Crump.

“Is Crump serious?” asked Francesca. “That Monster is pathetic!”

“It must be part of a larger plan…” mentioned Francesca.

Stan made his draw.

”Good!” urged Vivian, looking at his hand. ”You have plenty that can fix his little red bicycle!”

“Let me show you a real Monster, Crump,” warned Stan.

He placed a card on his Disk.

“I summon the mighty Magician’s Valkyria!”

A light shone from above, and a Spellcaster appeared. She looked a little like Dark Magician Girl, but with a brighter, more ornate costume, and a fancier staff. (1,600/1,800)

“Valkyria!” shouted Stan. “Attack his Cycroid with bright rainbow blast!”

Valkyria aimed her staff and fired a stream of multicolored lights! Cycroid was blown into pixels.

“Now I’ll place one card facedown, and that will end my turn,” stated Stan.

He placed a card in a slot, and it appeared.

Crump chuckled as he drew.

“Good work, Stan,” he said, “but Cycroid was merely a decoy to draw out one of your stronger Monsters…”

He looked at the card he had just drawn.

“First I’ll play this Magic Card…” he said. “It’s called… 7!”


He played the card. A spinning wheel like that in a slot machine, appeared above him, and the number seven appeared on it.

“And just what does your Magic Card do?” asked Stan, surprised.

“You’ll see soon!” chuckled Crump. “And now I’ll summon yet another Vehicroid… the mighty Patroid, in Attack Mode!”

He placed another card down, and another cartoonish Machine appeared. This one looked like a humanoid police car with arms and legs, eyes in place of headlights, and a patrolman’s hat on its “head”. (1,200/1,200) –> (1,500/1,200)

Crump chuckled.

“With this guy,” he said, “I can see any one of your facedown cards once per turn! So, Patroid, show me what that facedown card is!”

Patroid produced a whistle and blew it! Stan’s facedown card lifted, showing it to be Spellbinding Circle.

It went back down.

“Well, can’t have that, can we?” snickered Crump. “So I’ll just play Mystical Space Typhoon!”

He played the Magic Card, and Stan’s Spellbinding Circle was shattered.

“Doesn’t matter…” sneered Stan. “Your Patroid is still weaker than my Valkyria…”

“Not for long…” chuckled Crump, choosing another card. “Because I play Rush Recklessly! This will increase my Monster’s Attack by 700 for one Battle Phase!”

He played the card, and Patroid’s Attack shot up to 2,200.

“Patroid!” he shouted. “Attack his Spellcaster with long arm of the law!”

The Vehicroid shot forward with its first and punched Valkyria, blowing her to bits!

Stan’s Life Points fell to 7,400.

”Stay strong, Stan…” urged Vivian. ”He just got a lucky start…”

”I hope so…” answered Stan.

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

It was at this point that the Shadow Queen was in her throne room, and decided to check up on her victims (a catch-all term that she was now using to describe all eight of the finalists). As she activated her viewing globe, she was quite surprised to see Stan dueling Crump.

“Grodus!” she yelled. “Get in here!”

Sir Grodus materialized before her.

“Yes, your excellence?” he responded, bowing.

“I seem to recall telling Crump that he was not allowed to duel those kids…” snarled the Shadow Queen.

“Uhm…” muttered Grodus. “He seems to have disobeyed you, my liege. Trust me, I had nothing to do with this…”

The Queen stared at him. She would know if he were lying, and clearly he wasn’t.

She rubbed her chin.

“You want me to go stop the duel and bring Crump here?” asked Grodus.

“No…” sighed the Queen. “Let him have his fun for now… This actually might be good for a few laughs…”

The Queen thought for a minute.

The way Crump is acting, there’s no doubt in my mind, she thought. HE was the one who stole the Liquid Courage. The jerk. Didn’t his mother ever tell him never to drink from strange bottles?

Well, once this duel is over, we’re just going to have to have a little talk…

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

“Who’d have ever thought that this blowhard would inflict the first wound?” muttered Andy.

“Don’t worry,” assured Francesca. “This duel is just starting.”

Stan drew a card.

“I’ll place two cards facedown on the field…” he stated.

He threw two cards into slots, and they materialized.

“Now I summon Gemini Elf in Attack Mode!” he shouted.

He placed the card down, and the two twin elves appeared. (1,900/900)

“Attack his Patroid!” yelled Stan.

The two elves shot forth bolts of lightning, blasting the Vehicroid into scrap!

Crump’s Life Points fell to 7,600.

“Take a permanent vacation on the junk heap, pal…” mocked Stan.

“Very funny,” snarled Crump. “Now it’s my turn…”

He drew.

He chuckled.

“I summon one of my strongest Vehicroids!” he exclaimed. “The powerful Steamroid!”

He placed a card down, and a huge Machine appeared. This one looked like a humanoid steam locomotive with eyes and arms, rising up on its hind wheels. (1,800/1,800) –> (2,250/1,800)

Stan gasped!

“Oh, and by the way…” chuckled Crump. “You might be interested in knowing… Not only does my Deckmaster make this guy stronger than your elves, but Steamroid gains 500 extra Attack Points when it makes an attack!

“Steamroid, mow down his elves with freight train rush!”

The huge Vehicroid’s Attack rose to 2,750, and it charged forward, plowing into Gemini Elf! They screamed and were blasted into particles.

Stan’s Life Points fell further, to 6,550.

”Vivian…” said Stan to the Spellcaster by his side. ”His Deckmaster is giving him too much of an edge. Are you SURE you can’t remember?”

”Not yet Stan…” answered Vivian, sadly. ”But I can give advice… His Steamroid may look strong, but maybe it has a weakness…”

“A weakness…” muttered Stan. “Hmmm…”

“I end my turn,” said Crump.

Steamroid’s Attack went back to 2,250.

Stan drew.

“I play Card Destruction!” he said, playing the card.

Crump shrugged. The two of them discarded the two cards they each had, and drew two more new cards.

“And now…” stated Stan, “I activate one of my Trap Cards… Disgraceful Charity!”

His Trap lifted, and a form flew out of the card. It was a female Fiend with black skin and black feathered wings, dressed in a peasant’s outfit. She flew above the arena.

“Huh?” whispered Francesca. “Marie the Fallen One?”

The demoness pointed at both duelists with her claws, and magical energy struck their Disks.

“Thanks to my friend Marie here,” explained Stan, “we both get back the cards we just discarded!”

Marie vanished, and two cards slipped out their discard slots.

Crump chuckled.

“Clever,” he said. “But to help yourself, you had to aid me as well!”

“Perhaps,” answered Stan. “But now I have a theory about your Steamroid, and I’m gonna test it!”

He placed a card down.

“I summon Skilled Dark Magician in Attack Mode!” he shouted.

Skilled Dark Magician appeared, brandishing his staff.

“Ooh, clever!” mocked Crump. “Do you actually think it will work?”

“Skilled Dark Magician!” shouted Stan. “Attack his Steamroid!”

“Stan, NO!” screamed Andy.

“Are you crazy?” yelled Francesca.

Skilled Dark Magician fired his dark spell…

And to everyone’s surprise, the Vehicroid blew up!

Crump’s Life Points fell to 7,450.

“I thought so…” muttered Stan.

“Huh?” asked Andy. “But Skilled Dark Magician was weaker!”

“Oh! I get it!” exclaimed Francesca. “Steamroid gets a 500-point bonus to its Attack Score when it attacks… but to make up for that power, it takes a 500-point penalty when it’s being attacked!”

“Congratulations…” said Crump, sarcastically. “You figured it out…”

He drew a card.

“Well, he chuckled, “since one was so good, I’ll play a second 7 card!”

He fit a card into a slot, and another slot machine reel spun over his head. A second seven appeared next to the first.

“Two of those cards?” gasped Fran. “What’s going to happen if he draws another one?”

“”Wouldn’t you like to know!” laughed Crump. “Now I’ll summon this guy in Defense Mode – Gyroid!”

He put a card down, and a cartoonish blue helicopter with eyes and arms appeared, hovering in mid-air. (1,000/1,000) –> (1,250/1,000)

“And that’s my turn…” he snarled.

Stan drew a card.

This little guy might help later… he thought.

“Skilled Dark Magician,” he shouted, “attack that whirlybird!”

Skilled Dark Magician fired a bolt of energy from his staff… An explosion burst at the point of impact…

But when the dust cleared, Gyroid was still there!

“What?” gasped Stan. “But my Monster’s Attack was greater than its Defense!”

“Doesn’t matter!” laughed Crump. “Thanks to Gyroid’s effect, you have to successfully attack it twice in one round to destroy it!”

Twice? thought Stan. What is it with these Vehicroids? How can defeat Monsters with such weird powers?

Vivian touched his hand.

”Stan,” she said. ”I assure you, we will defeat these creatures. All machines have a weak point… you simply have to find them…”

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

At this point, the Shadow Queen realized something.

“Grodus…” she said. “I just noticed that Stan is using one of his Companion cards as his Deckmaster…”

“So?” responded Grodus.

“First of all,” answered the Queen. “Those cards aren’t in our database. Their Deckmaster abilities were probably infused by whoever created them, and might be very powerful.

“And I’ve been watching those kids duel… These Monster Cards are more than just cards – every time I’ve seen them play one, I’ve felt a living soul residing in each. It’s as if those Companions have been brought back to life and sealed in cards.

“Since one of them is serving as Stan’s Deckmaster, Crump might be in bigger trouble than he thinks…”

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

“Can it be? My turn?” chuckled Crump, making a draw.

He chuckled as he looked at the card.

“I’m sure you’ll remember this move, Stan!” he laughed turning the card on his Disk. “I’m switching Gyroid to Attack Mode…”

Gyroid prepared to attack…

“…and then using another Rush Recklessly!”

He threw another card into a slot.

“Gyroid, attack his Skilled Dark Magician with downward draft!”

Gyroid’s Attack rose to 1,950, and it’s blade spun furiously! Skilled Dark Magician staggered against the windstorm, and he shattered!

Stan’s Life Points slipped a little, to 6,500.

“And I’m not done!” laughed Crump. “I’m playing a Magic Card called Recycling Plant!”

He slammed a card into a slot.

“This clever card lets me fuse together one Machine Monster on the field with one in my Graveyard, with no Polymerization required!” explained Crump. “So I’ll fuse together Gyroid and my destroyed Steamroid to summon Steam Gyroid, in Attack Mode!”

Steamroid appeared, and a portal resembling a giant gear flew into place behind them. The two Vehicroids were sucked through it…

And an enormous form trudged out! It looked, basically, like an evil combination of both Vehicroids, with a demonic face on the front, and the blades on it back spinning wildly. (2,200/1,600) –> (2,600/1,600)

“So,” mocked Crump, “what do you think of my merged Machine?”


Continued...

[Dark Sage]

Continued from last post:


“Actually, I’m happy to see him!” exclaimed Stan.

“Huh?” replied Crump.

“By summoning that monstrosity,” explained Stan, “you’ve enabled me to get the best use out of my Trap Card. I activate A Rival Appears!”

His Trap Card lifted, showing the image of White Magician Pikeru struggling with Ebon Magician Curran.

“Let me explain,” said Stan with a grin. “By activating A Rival Appears!, I can Special Summon from my hand any Monster who has the same number of stars as one of your Monsters. Since that thing has six stars, I can now summon this guy…”

He placed a card down.

“Meet my Cybernetic Magician!”

In a flash of light, a tall Spellcaster appeared. He was dressed in a pure silver coat with a mid-sized train, boots, and a peaked hat. He carried a silver punch-dagger. (2,400/1,000)

“Big deal!” laughed Crump. “Your fancy-pants Spellcaster is still weaker than my Machine!”

“We’ll soon see,” said Stan, “It’s my move!”

He drew.

“Now I’m enacting Cybernetic Magician’s effect,” he said. “By discarding one card in my hand, he change the Attack Score of any Monster on the field to 2,000 for one turn.”

Crump laughed out loud.

“I see two things wrong with THAT!” he laughed. “One, you haven’t got another Monster on the field! Two, even if you did, increasing one of your Monster’s Attack Scores to 2,000 wouldn’t be nearly enough!”

“You just don’t get it do you?” sighed Stan.

Crump paused.

“I said that he can change a Monster’s Attack Score to 2,000, not just increase it!” laughed Stan. “While he can indeed increase the Attack of one of my weak Monsters, he can also lower the Attack of one of my opponent’s strong Monsters!”

Crump was startled!

“Simply put, Crump, if the Monster you had in front of you was Kaiba’s Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, my Cybernetic Magician could still take it down.

“So I’ll just discard this…”

He discarded one card, and Cybernetic Magician chanted. Steam Gyroid glowed, and its Attack fell to 2,000.

“Cybernetic Magician, destroy his Machine with cyber magic!”

Cybernetic Magician raised his dagger, and sparks of eldritch energy flowed from it! Steam Gyroid sparked and then erupted into a fierce explosion!

Crump shielded himself as his Life Points fell to 7,050.

“All right!” screamed Andy.

“Blow those Machines to smithereens!” shouted Francesca.

“Okay, now I’m angry…” muttered Crump, drawing a card.

He placed it down.

“I’m summoning Jetroid in Defense Mode,” he stated.

Yet another Vehicroid appeared. This one looked like a cartoonish, red fighter jet plane with eyes on its cockpit and arms and legs. (1,200/1,800) –> (1,650/1,800)

“End turn,” he said.

Stan sighed.

”Vivian, anything yet?” he asked. ”I could sure use some help…”

”Sorry…” she moaned.

Her hands went to her eyes.

”Oh, I feel so useless!” she sobbed.

“What the heck is wrong with that Deckmaster of yours?” laughed Crump. “It seems to be throwing a hissy-fit!”

He laughed.

“Can it even do anything? Looks like you picked a real loser, Stan old chum!”

Now Vivian really started to cry.

”Vivian, calm down!” urged Stan. ”You aren’t a loser!”

”Yes I am!” she croaked. ”I can’t do anything right!”

”That’s your sisters talking…” replied Stan.

Vivian suddenly stopped short.

“Now let’s try to beat this creep,” he said.

“I draw one card…” he said, making a draw.

“And also, remember that card I discarded to activate my Magician’s effect? It was a little critter called Sinister Serpent. When it’s sent to the Graveyard by any means, I can get it back at any time.”

The card slipped out of his discard slot.

“Now then,” he said, “Cybernetic Magician, attack his Jetroid!”

Cybernetic Magician took aim.

Crump chuckled.

“Sorry, Stan,” he said, “but when Jetroid is attacked, I can activate any Trap Card from my hand that I want, and I want to activate my Shadow Spell!”

He threw a card into a slot, and a mass of chains bound Cybernetic Magician! His Attack dropped to 1,700.

Stan growled.

“I’ll place a Monster facedown in Defense and end my turn,” he said.

He put the card down, and the concealed Monster appeared.

Crump drew.

“HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!” he laughed.

“I think he got a good draw…” muttered Francesca.

“Look at this, Stan!” laughed Crump. “I just drew my third 7 card!”

He played the card, and another wheel spun, forming a third seven next to the other two.

“Now I can tell you what these cards do, Stan,” he chuckled. “When one of them on the field is destroyed, I gain 700 Life Points…

“And when all three of them are on the field, I can destroy all three, not only gaining 2,100 Life Points, but drawing three cards in the process!”

The three cards shattered, and his Life Points went up to 9,150. Three cards flew off of his deck.

He chuckled again.

“Now then,” he said, “to deal with your Monsters… I’ll summon Drilloid in Attack Mode!”

He placed a card down, and a loud rumbling was heard. A new Vehicroid burst out of the ground, this one shaped like a drilling machine with eyes and an evil smile. Its arms had smaller drills in place of hands. (1,600/1,600) –> (2,000/1,600)

“I’ll shift Jetroid into Attack Mode too!” he laughed, turning the card.

“Drilloid, drill the point home into Cybernetic Magician!” shouted Crump.

Drilloid’s central drill spun rapidly, and it sped forward on its treads. It plunged its weapon into Cybernetic Magician and he shattered!

Stan’s Life Points fell to 6,200.

“Ow…” muttered Francesca.

“That’s gotta hurt…” mumbled Andy.

“Jetroid, destroy his facedown Monster with air strike!”

Jetroid launched a barrage of missiles at the facedown Monster! Sinister Serpent appeared on the card, and was blown to bits!

“And I’m not done!” laughed Crump. “Now I play the Magic Card… Peace Offering!”

He played a card, and a Magic Card showing Mystical Elf handing a fruit basket to an unseen receiver appeared.

“Huh?” asked Stan.

“This Magic Card lets me take any card from my hand and place it in your deck!” laughed Crump, holding a card aloft.

The card flew from his hand, and struck Stan’s deck!

“What did you put in there, Crump?” demanded Stan. “A bomb?”

“I’m not telling!” laughed Crump. “I end my turn…”

”Stan, be careful!” warned Vivian. ”That card that he planted in your deck must be part of some sort of strategy!”

”I know,” answered Stan. ”But what?”

He drew a card.

“Don’t forget, I now get Sinister Serpent back,” he said.

The card slipped out of his discard slot.

“And now I play… Pot of Greed!”

The evil jar appeared, and handed him two cards.

Perfect, he thought.

“I’m summoning a Monster that a great duelist by the name of Aesop gave me,” he stated. “I summon Watapon!”

He placed the card down, and the tiny, furry Fairy appeared. (200/300)

“HA!” laughed Crump. “That Monster is useless!”

“No it isn’t,” said Stan. “Since I drew Watapon using Pot of Greed, summoning it is considered a Special Summon.

“That means I can sacrifice it to summon this guy in Defense Mode…”

He switched cards on his Disk and Watapon vanished.

“Meet Neo Aqua Madoor!”

A blast of ice and snow hit Stan’s side of the field, and the icy magician clothed in furs appeared. (1,200/3,000)

“He looks like a giant Eskimo!” sneered Crump.

“A giant Eskimo with 3,000 Defense Points!” laughed Stan. “You’ll never get by him!”

“Oh, really?” laughed Crump, making a draw.

He added the card to his hand.

“Drilloid, attack his Madoor!” he shouted.

Stan gasped as Drilloid charged at Neo Aqua Madoor, drill first…

The Spellcaster groaned and shattered!

“Wha… Buh…” gasped Stan. “But his Defense was 1,000 points greater than that thing’s Attack!”

Crump chuckled.

“Drilloid doesn’t care if a Monster has a million Defense Points!” he laughed. “Due to its effect, whenever it attacks a Monster in Defense Mode, that Monster is destroyed automatically! And I don’t even take any damage!

“Now where were we?

“Oh yes… You had nothing to protect you, and I was about to attack you with my Jetroid! Jetroid, attack!”

The Vehicroid fired a barrage of missiles at Stan, and he screamed as they exploded around him!

His Life Points fell to 4,550.

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

“I wouldn’t have believed this if I wasn’t seeing it,” mused the Queen. “Crump is actually doing a good job. Maybe that Liquid Courage actually gave him a lot of self-confidence as well…”

“So what should we do if he actually wins?” asked Grodus. “Will we still punish him?”

“Well, yeah…” muttered the Queen. “Breaking into my lab is a major no-no… But maybe I’ll give him a raise afterwards…”

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

“All right horn-head…” growled Stan, “It’s my draw…”

He drew.

Not bad, he thought.

“I’ll play a Monster facedown in Defense Mode, and that will be all,” he stated.

“You don’t fool me, Stan!” laughed Crump, making a draw. “You have a lousy hand, so you just set your worthless Sinister Serpent again.”

Stan stared at him.

Crump drew.

“Jetroid, attack his Monster!” shouted Crump.

Jetroid fired its missiles…

… and a bent old witchdoctor appeared on the card.

“Old Vindictive Magician?” shouted a shocked Crump.

“Yes!” exclaimed Stan with a smirk. “And since you flipped him, I can destroy any Monster on the field I choose, and I choose your Drilloid!”

Old Vindictive Magician cast his curse at Drilloid, and it shattered into pixels. Then the Magician crumbled into pixels himself.

Crump growled.

“It’s your move…” he stated.

Stan drew.

“I place one card facedown…” he said.

He threw a card into a slot, and it materialized in front of him.

“And I’ll summon Ebon Magician Curran in Defense Mode!” he stated.

Curran appeared, and shielded herself with her switch. (1,200/0)

“That ends my turn…” stated Stan.

“Defending with a Monster with zero Defense Points,” chuckled Crump. “Real bright…”

He made a draw.

“I’ll place my own card facedown,” he stated.

He fit a card into a slot, and it appeared.

“Jetroid, destroy Curran!”

Jetroid fired its missiles…

“Hold it right there!” shouted Stan. “I activate… Draining Shield!”

His Trap Card lifted, and an invisible barrier formed around Curran, stopping the missiles.

“Not only did I halt your attack,” sneered Stan, “but now I gain Life Points equal to that Monster’s Attack Points!”

His Life Points went up to 6,200.

Crump growled.

“I can’t take all the credit for adding this Trap to my deck,” chuckled Stan. “I was inspired by a friend of yours – Vladimir, the Shadow Spawn of Darkness!”

“Friend?” shouted Crump, obviously offended. “The Spawn aren’t my friends! They do nothing but boss me and the rest of the Queen’s servants around!

“Those spoiled brats know that the only one they have to answer to is the Queen herself, and if she isn’t around, their word is law! Do you have any idea what that brat Melissa did to me last month? She…”

“I’m not interested!” interrupted Stan.

But come to think of it, that explains a lot… he thought.

“Now it’s my draw…”

He drew one card…

Curran cast her spell, and dark magic struck Crump! He groaned, and his Life Points slipped to 8,850.

Stan placed a card down.

“I’ll summon Neo the Magic Swordsman in Attack Mode…” he exclaimed.

Neo appeared, holding his sword aloft.

“Now I’ll…” he started.

“I’m activating a Trap!” laughed Crump. “Activate… Just Desserts!”

The Trap Card lifted.

Two ghostly hands flew forward from Crump’s Disk and locked around Stan’s neck! He gasped and fell to his knees!

“STAN!” screamed Francesca.

Stan’s Life Points fell to 5,200.

Then Vivian reached down and offered him her hand.

”Stay strong…” she said. ”If all I can do is encouragement, then that’s what I’ll do…”

Stan got up.

“As I was saying…” he snarled, “I’ll shift Curran into Attack Mode…”

Curran got up and into attack stance.

Then Stan paused.

He remembered Jetroid’s effect.

If Crump has a Trap Card in his hand, he can activate it when I declare an attack. This might be risky…

But I have to take the chance!

“Neo, attack his Jetroid!” he shouted.

Neo the Magic Swordsman leapt into the air and brought his blade down on the demented plane! It was blown into scrap!

“Curran, attack directly!” shouted Stan.

Curran cast forth a dark spell that plowed into Crump! He gasped and fell over.

His Life Points fell to 7,600.

“I’ll end by placing this card facedown,” said Stan, fitting a card into a slot.

The card appeared.

Crump snarled. He got up and drew.

“I’m done fooling around…” he cursed.

He took three cards from his hand.

“First I’ll place two cards facedown…” he snarled.

Two cards appeared in front of him.

“Now I’ll summon… X-Head Cannon!”

A far more deadly-looking Machine than anything he had summoned yet appeared. It was a blue robot with a helmeted head, two powerful arms, and two huge laser guns on its shoulders. Below its torso was a unit that looked like it meant to connect to something else. (1,800/1,500) –> (2,175/1,500)

“Oh… my… God…” gasped Francesca. “That’s no Vehicroid… That’s one of Kaiba’s XYZ Machines!

“And that’s trouble…”

“X-Head Cannon!” ordered Crump. “Attack Curran with de-fission ray!”

The two cannons on the metal Monster’s shoulders glowed, and fired!

“I activate… Magic Cylinder!” shouted Stan.

“Eh?” said Crump, as the Trap Card lifted.

The two Cylinders appeared. One of them caught the blast, and the other shot it right into Crump! He howled and fell over!

His Life Points tumbled to 5,425.

He got up, gasping for air.

“Anything else?” asked Stan.

“No!” snarled Crump. “It’s your move!”

Stan drew.

“Oh Crump?” said Stan with a smile. “Curran would like a word with you…”


Continued...

[Dark Sage]

Continued from last post:


Curran cast her dark spell again, and Crump staggered back. His Life Points fell to 5,125.

“Now, I’ll place another card facedown,” said Stan, throwing it into a slot, “and move both my Spellcasters into Defense Mode.”

The facedown card appeared, and Neo and Curran shielded themselves.

“Make your move…” dared Stan.

Crump drew.

Excellent… he thought. My master plan is almost complete. Stan won’t know what hit him!

“I summon Y-Dragon Head!” he shouted, throwing a card down.

Another frightening Machine, this one looking like a robotic dragon painted red with more guns, appeared in a flash. (1,500/1,600) –> (1,900/1,600)

“Say goodbye to your Monsters!” yelled Crump. “X-Head Cannon, attack Curran!”

X-Head Cannon fired…

“You never learn, do you?” chuckled Stan.

His Trap Card lifted, showing Dark Magician standing in front of a magical circle pointing a staff.

“Magician Selection?” gasped a startled Crump.

“This Trap Card not only protects a Spellcaster from an attack, but it deflects the attack to your weakest Monster!” laughed Stan.

The blast bounced off a shield and plowed into Y-Dragon Head, blowing it to pieces!

Crump seethed as his Life Points hit 4,850.

Okay… he thought. Exactly when did I lose control here?

“It’s your move, you brat!” he cursed.

“Then I draw…” said Stan.

Curran cast her spell again, and Crump staggered back. His Life Points fell to 4,550.

“I play Graceful Charity!” he exclaimed.

He placed his card into the slot, and the angel flew out, handing him three cards.

Vivian looked over his shoulder as he looked at them.

”Let’s see,” he thought out loud, ”Dark Magician, Negate Attack, and…

He paused.

”Stan!” said Vivian. ”That must be the card Crump planted in your deck!”

”But why?” replied Stan, reading the description. ”If I use this, I could cripple him…”

He thought for a minute.

”I’ll bet he intends to use Dimension Fusion or Return From the Different Dimension…

“But I’ll be ready for him…

“First I’ll summon Dark Magician, who’s stronger than anything he’s summoned so far. And I’ll set Negate Attack, just in case. His plan will blow up in his face!”

“Stan, are you sure this is wise?” asked Vivian.

”Trust me…” answered Stan.

He handed two cards to the angel, and she flew into his discard slot.

“Okay Crump, get ready…” he said.

“First I’ll place this facedown…” he said, fitting his Negate Attack into a slot.

“Now I’ll sacrifice Neo and Curran to summon Dark Magician!”

The two Spellcasters vanished, and Dark Magician arose! (2,500/2,100)

“Now I’ll play… this!” he shouted, throwing the card into a slot. “System Down!”

The card revealed itself.

“I’ll pay 1,000 Life Points,” he continued, as his Life Points fell to 4,200, “and in return, all Machines on your side of the field and in your Graveyard are removed from play!”

X-Head Cannon shattered, and several cards fell out of Crump’s discard slot.

“Huh?” asked Francesca. “Why did Stan put that in his deck?”

“He… didn’t…” muttered Andy. “Oh no…”

Crump transferred the cards to his Removed From Play slot. A smile crossed his face…

“Dark Magician…” ordered Stan, “attack him directly!”

Dark Magician aimed…

“Activate Waboku!” shouted Crump.

A Trap Card lifted, and the blast was halted.

“Your move then,” snarled Stan.

“Heh, heh, heh,” chuckled Crump, making a draw. “Heh, heh… HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA! I can’t believe you fell for it!”

“Fell for what?” demanded Stan.

“This has been part of my plan all along!” laughed Crump. “All the pieces have fallen into place!

“I reveal my facedown card… Perpetual Motion Machine!”

The card lifted, showing a Magic Card with a wacky machine on it.

“Perpetual Motion Machine?” gasped Andy and Fran at the same time.

“A perpetual motion machine is believed to be impossible…” explained Crump. “And this card does something that is almost impossible. It lets me summon Monsters to the field that have been removed from play… with no cost at all!”

“That’s ridiculous!” shouted Stan.

“But there are three conditions…” continued Crump. “I can only summon three… They have to be Machines… And they have to have 2,000 Attack Points or less.

“So first I’ll bring back my X-Head Cannon!”

X-Head Cannon reappeared. (1,800/1,500) –> (2,175/1,500)

“Then I’ll bring back Y-Dragon Head!”

Y-Dragon Head materialized. (1,500/1,600) –> (1,900/1,600)

“And finally…” he said with a wicked grin, “the last piece of my master plan… Z-Metal Tank!”

A large, yellow Machine on tank-treads with metal spokes appeared. (1,500/1,300) –> (1,825/1,300)

“Wait just a second!” shouted Stan. “I never sent your Z-Metal Tank to the Graveyard!”

“You’re right!” laughed Crump. “I put it there myself on my first turn, when I played Graceful Charity, remember?

“And now, my metal Monsters… combine into XYZ-Dragon Cannon!”

Z-Metal Tank rolled to the center; Y-Dragon Head folded its winds and alighted on top of it; X-Head Cannon alighted on top of that, and the three Machines fused together in a burst of steam! (2,800/2,600) –> (3,450/2,600)

Crump chuckled as he lifted the last three cards in his hand.

“As you probably know, Stan, this Monster has the power to destroy any opposing card, so long as I discard one card from my hand!” he cackled. “So I’ll get rid of your Dark Magician by discarding THIS!”

He threw a card into his discard slot, and the Machine fired its guns, vaporizing Dark Magician.

“And now, your facedown card!”

He discarded another card, and the Cannon blasted his Negate Attack card to bits!

“And now,” said Crump, “for my moment of triumph…”

He slowly turned the last card in his hand around, showing it to Stan.

“LIMITER REMOVAL?” screamed Stan.

“That’s right!” cackled Crump. “This will double my metal beast’s Attack, which will be more than enough to finish you off!”

He threw it in a slot, and XYZ-Dragon Cannon glowed with purple fire! Its Attack went up to 6,900!

“NO!” screamed Andy.

“STAN!” shouted Francesca.

It’s over… thought Stan, lowering his head. I guess I couldn’t cut it where the real Dark Sorcerer could…

“XYZ-Dragon Cannon…” laughed Crump. “Prepare to fire…”

The Cannon aimed its guns at Stan. They glowed…

Stan closed his eyes…

”STAN!” screamed Vivian. ”Discard the card you have in your hand!”

Stan’s eyes opened wide!

“FIRE!” shouted Crump.

Hardly knowing what he was doing, Stan threw his last card into his discard slot…

As the horrible Machine fired, Vivian grabbed hold of Stan, and they both vanished into the shadows!

The blast from the XYZ-Dragon Cannon struck the ground where Stan had been standing, leaving a scorched burn twenty feet across!

“WHAT?” shouted Crump. “Where’d he go? You can’t just dodge a direct attack!”

Stan and Vivian emerged from the shadows.

His Life Points were untouched.

“How?” sputtered Crump. “How did you survive?”

Stan chuckled.

“My Deckmaster saved me,” he said. “She finally remembered what her ability was! If I’m about to be hit by a direct attack that would cause me to lose 2,000 Life Points or more, she can protect me from it, so long as I can discard one card!”

“All right!” shouted Andy.

“Hi five!” yelled Francesca.

“Thank you, Vivian,” sighed Stan, giving her a thumb’s up. “I would have lost if not for you…”

Vivian blushed and giggled.

“And now it seems you’re in trouble, Crump!” mocked Stan, “because in your effort to destroy me, you did something very foolish!”

“What do you mean?” snarled Crump, angrily.

“Well, because you used Limiter Removal, your mighty Machine will be destroyed as soon as you end your turn. And take a look at yourself – you used up every card in your hand to use its effect and double its power, meaning you’ll be completely defenseless when it’s my turn!”

Crump growled.

“Not quite…” he snarled. “I still have one Monster that I can summon… Machine King, I summon you to the field!”

Machine King trudged out to the center of the field. (2,200/2,000)

“I end my turn,” said Crump.

XYZ-Dragon Cannon exploded into pixels.

“You summoned your Deckmaster?” laughed Stan. “That’s even more foolish!”

“Not quite,” said Crump. “First of all, Machine King gains 100 extra Attack Points for every Machine on the field, itself included. Second, its Deckmaster ability still applies, and in case you didn’t catch it the first time, it’s a Machine itself.”

(2,800/2,000)

“I truly doubt that you’ll summon anything strong enough to defeat it…” mocked Crump.

“We’ll see…” said Stan. “I draw one card…”

He drew.

“And since I discarded my old friend Sinister Serpent to activate Vivian’s effect, he’s back again…”

The card slid out of the discard slot.

“And this duel is over Crump!”

He showed him the card he had just drawn.

Monster Reborn.

“Ha!” mocked Crump. “And just what are you going to bring back with that?”

Stan fitted it into a slot, and the holy ankh appeared, glowing in mid-air…

Cybernetic Magician reappeared! (2,400/1,000)

“Oh… no…” gasped Crump.

“Remember how this guy works?” chuckled Stan.

He discarded his Sinister Serpent again, and Cybernetic Magician cast his spell. Machine King’s Attack Score was lowered to 2,000.

“Cybernetic Magician…” ordered Stan, “destroy Machine King!”

The Magician raised his dagger, and shot forth his powerful blast! Machine King sparked and exploded!

Crump fell to his knees.

“Your Deckmaster is demolished,” stated Stan. “I think that means you lose…”

Crump seethed in rage.

“I won’t lose to you, Stan!” he shouted. “I demand a rematch! I…”

“There’ll be no rematches Crump…” said the Shadow Queen’s sinister voice. “You have some explaining to do…”

A dark portal opened, and he was sucked through it!

Stan sighed.

Vivian waved goodbye, and she vanished.

Stan removed the System Down card from his discard slot. With one swift motion, he tore it in half.

“Well guys,” said Stan, as he reassembled his deck, “let’s get moving…”

They headed for the other door.

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

Fifteen minutes later, Crump was on his knees before the Shadow Queen.

She knew how to dispel the effects of the Liquid Courage, and she wanted him scared right now.

“Crump, I don’t know what to say to you…” she scowled. “Breaking into my lab, stealing my potions, flagrantly disobeying me by challenging those kids…

“Up until now, the servant I hated the most was that handyman who smokes those nine-inch, Cuban cigars, but you’ve just beaten him!”

“Well, uh…” muttered Crump. “I almost won…”

“Oh, you ‘almost’ won…” sighed the Queen. “Well ‘almost’ only counts in horseshoes and nuclear strikes! And might I add, what was the first warning we gave you in the seminars on the Deckmaster system?”

“Uh…” muttered Crump.

He sighed.

“Summoning a Deckmaster is never a good idea…” he stuttered, with a nervous grin.

“Exactly…” sighed the Queen, flicking her Disk into position. “I wish I could say I was sorry for this, Crump…”

She placed a card into a slot.

“But the truth is, I never liked you much anyway…”

The Grave Arm burst out from the ground. Crump screamed and he was pulled under.

“Such a waste…” sighed the Queen. “Grodus!”

“Yes, my Queen?” asked Grodus.

“Is you-know-who in position?”

“She’s ready,” responded Grodus.

“Good,” sighed the Queen. “We’d best have her duel Stan quickly…”

She got up and waved her hand over the viewing globe.

“The last time I tried something like this, my enspelled victim was freed… Likely because Francesca’s Companion Monster dealt a direct attack in their duel. I still don’t know quite how those cards work… But likely the inherent goodness inside Flurrie was what shocked my spell out of Yumi…

“So this time we’ll be more careful. My slave has been instructed on the appearance and abilities of all three of Stan’s Companions, and the instant he summons one, her top priority will be to send it to the Graveyard and keep it there.

“I won’t lose my grip on this one so easily…”



MAGICIAN’S VALKYRIA (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Spellcaster/Effect
Attribute: Light
Level: 4
ATK: 1,600
DEF: 1,800

Card Description: Just as Dark Magician Girl was educated by her famous teacher, this young sorceress became the student of Dark Magician Girl. So long as this Monster remains face-up on your side of the field, your opponent cannot select another SPELLCASTER-type Monster as an attack target.

Note: “Magician’s Valkyria” is a Japanese promo card that has not yet been released in the United States. It was first used by Yugi in Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light.



DISGRACEFUL CHARITY (Trap Card)

Card Specs

Type: Trap
Attribute: –
Level: –
ATK: –
DEF: –

Card Description: Image of Marie the Fallen One’s visage, with a card hovering between her two claws. Each player returns to his or her hand all cards that were discarded from their hands to the Graveyard by card effects during the current turn.



MAGICIAN SELECTION (Trap Card)

Card Specs

Type: Trap
Attribute: –
Level: –
ATK: –
DEF: –

Card Description: Image of Dark Magician casting a spell in front of a glowing magical circle. You can activate this card when you have a SPELLCASTER-Type Monster face-up on your side of the field and your opponent declares an attack. Redirect the attack towards the Monster on your opponent’s side of the field with the lowest current ATK.

Note: “Disgraceful Charity” and “Magician Selection” were both used by Yugi in the multi-part anime episode “Clash in the Coliseum”. All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.



RECYCLING PLANT (Magic Card)

Card Specs

Type: Magic
Attribute: –
Level: –
ATK: –
DEF: –

Card Description: Image of a vast junkyard. Fuse one fusion material MACHINE-Type Monster in your Graveyard with one on the field to Special Summon the resulting Fusion Monster.

Note: “Recycling Plant” was used by Nezbitt in the two-part anime episode “Mechanical Mayhem”. All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.



PEACE OFFERING (Magic Card)

Card Specs

Type: Magic
Attribute: –
Level: –
ATK: –
DEF: –

Card Description: Image of Mystical Elf holding out a fruit basket to an unseen receiver. Take one card from your hand and place it in your opponent’s deck without him seeing it. Then, your opponent shuffles his deck.



PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE (Magic Card)

Card Specs

Type: Magic
Attribute: –
Level: –
ATK: –
DEF: –

Card Description: Image of a crazy-looking machine without any apparent purpose. Special Summon up to three of your MACHINE-Type Monsters that have been removed from play whose base ATK does not exceed 2,000 apiece in face-up Attack Mode.



“Machine King”: Machine/Earth, Level 6, (2,200/2,000)

Deckmaster SA: “Reserve Power”: Increase the base ATK of all MACHINE-Type Monsters you summon by one quarter of their base DEF.



“Vivian the Shadow Siren”: Spellcaster/Dark, Level 4, (1,800/1,000)

Deckmaster SA: “Vivian’s Veil”: When you are about to receive a direct attack that would cause a loss of 2,000 Life Points or more, you can discard one card from your hand to negate the attack.



[B][I]Coming up next:

One of Stan’s old opponents returns! And if you haven’t already guessed who it is, well, you have a short memory.

It’s a chapter called “In Blackest Night,” and it’s coming up soon.

Warning: The next chapter contains many cards from “Elemental Energy”, so don’t say I didn’t warn you. Do your homework. If you are by chance someone who dislikes “Yu-Gi-Oh GX” (if there are indeed such people) I recommend you skip this next chapter. :biggrin:

[Master of Paradox]

Never expected to see Crump use the Vehicroids. I suppose it makes sense, although I expected him to lean more towards humanoid robots, given Magnus von Grapple. Machine King makes an adequete stand-in.

But if the Companions are going to be the Deckmasters for the heroes in every one of these duels, I walk. It's too cheesy by even my standards.

The duel was up to par, especially when Crump started winning. (He was actually kind of tough when you fought him in the X-Nauts lair in the game.) However, most of your card pictures are broken. Just pointing out.

I haven't much else to say, since it was a pure dueling chapter. When I have a lot to say, it's usually bad, so that's a blessing.

"In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight!
Let those who worship evil's might
Beware my power - Green Lantern's light!"

Could it be any more obvious who's coming up next? (Apologies if you wanted to keep that chapter meaning under wraps.)

[goldenzigzagoon]

3 things
1. great chapter, I love vechroids! the only bad thing about it was why would an expert duelist like Stan discard a card from his hand just to decrease Steamgyroids attack by 200?
2.Can I use one of your made up cards for my fanfiction Yu-Gi-Oh! The Millenium Adventure?
3.can you give me help with my Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfiction?

[Dark Sage]

Master of Paradox,

Don't worry, the kids will not be using their companions for Dekcmasters for every duel. Far from it. They'll be using a variety.

- SM

[Zcade0]

ok, good chapter, though I did have one problem, it was probablt at my end but I couldn't see some of the pics. I rally wanted to see the zyx dragon cannon. darn. oh well
anyway, nice, go green launtern someone beat me to the poem though darn again kepp up the good work.

[Mystic_clown]

Master of Paradox: OH DEAR GOD NO!! Not her! Anyone but her!!

Anyway, nice chapter Brian. Hmm, never heard of Vechroids. Well, you learn something new everyday

[Shuppet Master]

Sorry for not reviewing so soon.

I apologize for the mistake. I thought Stan would be forced to fight Colette, his girlfriend. But then, we already had boyfriend-girlfriend dueling in Mandate of Heaven, one lover's duel is bad enough. I figured it out a bit later. Looks like a rematch is in the works. I wonder what her deckmaster will be?

Loved the deckmaster abilities. Machine King's deckmaster ability rocks. I like how Vivian couldn't remember her deckmaster ability until the deathblow was flung at Stan. I envisioned Stan freaking out as Vivian pulled her into her void. One person on the Paper Mario board said that whenever Vivian pulled Mario under, she was having sex with him.

Great chapter, keep it up.

EDIT: Forgot to add this...

YOU USED MAGICIAN'S VALKYRIA!!!!!

I fell in love with that brunette when Yugi used it against Kaiba in the movie. (Of course, she never got to use her effect...) Maybe I'll make her the keystone of one of my future character's decks...

EDIT 2: Thanks for the promo, DS. I'm going to leaving soon, so I'd better get that chapter up ASAP!

[Dark Sage]

I'd like to speak to promote SM's fic, which has reached a crucial point.

His next chapter will be reaching where he left off after he decided to start over. So soon, brand new chapters of "Sister of Anansi" will be up!

I'm asking everyone who likes his work to read it and review. Because it's going to get better.

- Brian

[Blademaster]

Dear Dark Sage/ Venusaur/ Cyber Commander/ Brian,

How have you been? You may not remember me, but I started reviewing your fic YGO JR: Mandate of Heaven at about Chapter 30 on ff.net. My e-mail there was UniversalDragonX@comcast.net, and my username was Super-Monkey3. Now, I've transferred to the PM forum because you guys are more updated here; here, you can call me Blademaster. I have been reading four fics here for awhile: your own Pokemonese and YGO: TTYD, Shuppet Master's Sister of Anansi, and mr pikachu's Shadow Realm: Fifteen, all of which are awesome stories. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to register here for awhile, but now I have, so I'll be reviewing all four stories a lot more often. I'm also familiar with all your friends, like starjake (Fire types ROCK!), Master of Paradox, and pokemasterkatie. It's nice to meet you all, and I'm glad to be part of the team...again, sorta. :smilie:
I won't review all the chapters I've missed in detail, but let me just say this about each one:
YGO: TTYD-I LOVE Paper Mario, and this game is SO nostalgic for me. Incidentally, will any cameo characters or villians appear, like maybe Vivian's sisters or Bowser? Just wondering...
Pokemonese- Even as a college student, I'm still a Poke-fan; in Pokemon Ruby, I caught all the Pokemon one person in the game could: 177 out of 200. This story is AWESOME...I just wish we could see more of it, like with your other fics. It's great, but it's also slow, which is agonizing at times.
Sister of Anansi-This is a good story, if not a little scattered and a little slow. I'm still waiting to see what your next creative deck idea will be.
Shadow Realm: Fifteen-It's an awesome premise, I'll admit, but it seems a little lacking in action. Nothing personal, just a comment...

I'll be sure to participate in any more contests or whatnot in the future, if there are any. It'd be really cool to see one of my ideas on the web. Just for the record, I got 13 of your 20 questions and the bonus one, and I voted for Lector in Act Two. Too late, yeah, but I'm just saying. Until the next chapter (Which could be soon, as I'm going to go read some more now.), I'll see you all later.

Blademaster

PS: I haven't come up with a signature yet, but I will soon. Ciao!

[Shuppet Master]

Nice to see you, kid. Welcome aboard!

[Zcade0]

Vwelcome, I've been expecting you.....

anyway, welcome aboard, stay away from the bobm shaped sailer over their, if he gets angery, he really blows.

[Dark Sage]

It's time for a new chapter, but first, a word of explanation:

The website where I get my pictures from had its account suspended, so until further notice, we're going to have to do without pictures.

Also, to fans of "Pokemonese," a new chapter will be up later today. It's a little short, but new, longer chapters will be up soon.

So enjoy.

- DS

[Dark Sage]

[I][B]In the comics, it’s a common theme for a villain, often one believed to be as mean as they come, to reform and become a good guy.

Maybe some terrible trauma happens to him during a battle with a hero, and the result is he does some serious thinking. He repents his crimes, and resolves to leave his evil ways behind.

It’s happened many times throughout comic book history.

It is incredibly rare, however, for the opposite to happen. I can’t even remember an instance when a hero has had something happen to him that turned him into a villain. At least, it never happened to one permanently.

But now, a duelist I know who uses heroes as her theme is under a spell, and her heroic Monsters are in danger of drifting into darkness…

I can’t let this happen… I won’t…

And the Shadow Queen will pay for this…

[B][size=3]CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX



In Blackest Night

The three teens were wandering down a hallway. The carpet was blood red, and the walls were lit by torches.

Their Disks were in place, and they were ready to draw a card in case anything appeared.

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

The Shadow Queen watched them with a smile.

She took a card from her deck of magical cards.

Maybe I’ll give them a little test to shake them up… she chuckled.

She tossed the card into her fireplace…

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

The team stopped short as a facedown card appeared in front of them.

“Get ready guys…” cautioned Andy. “The Queen is up to no-good…”

The card lifted, showing a Quickplay Magic Card with the image of a knight in shining armor on it.

“I know that card!” exclaimed Francesca. “It’s called Bronze Knights! It lets the user summon one Bronze Knight Token for every card he discards!”

And then, a battalion of knights in armor bearing swords started to appear! There must have been about twenty of them! (500/500 x20)

They marched towards the three teens.

“Yeesh!” shouted Andy. “The Queen must have discarded half a deck!”

“I hope this works…” muttered Stan, taking two cards from his deck.

He placed a card on his Disk, and Dark Magician appeared in a flash. (2,500/2,100)

“How’s he going to take down twenty Monsters?” gasped Francesca.

“I’ll show you,” answered Stan, throwing the other card into a slot. “Go, Diffusion-Wave Motion!”

Dark Magician took aim, and fired! One by one, the Bronze Knights were mowed down!

A smoking scorch on the carpet was all that remained of the tokens.

Stan looked up.

“We know you’re watching,” he sneered. “These tricks are starting to get annoying…”

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

The Queen chuckled.

“Well, isn’t that just too bad, Stan!” she laughed. “It’s only going to get worse from here!”

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

They finally got to the end of the hallway and came to a door. They tried the handle and opened it.

They entered another large antechamber. The lights from the torches made the place dim. A lone figure stood in the center…

“Uh…” said Andy.

The torches flared brightly, and they saw the figure clearly.

She was instantly recognizable, with her Wonder Woman costume, complete with her lasso. She glared at them as they looked at her.

“DIANA!” laughed Stan. “So you made it here too!”

“Yes, I made it…” hissed Diana. “No help from you, Stan. And now I’m here to defeat you…”

“What?” asked Stan. “Diana, you made it to the Palace, there’s no need for us to duel before we find the finals…”

“I’m doing what I was told to do, Stan,” answered Diana. “The Queen has told me to defeat you, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Stan drew back in fear.

“You’re working for the Shadow Queen?” he gasped. “But why?”

A voice reached Stan, Andy, and Francesca’s ears.

“My friends,” said the voice, “listen carefully…”

“Merlee?” asked Stan, softly. “Where are you?”

“I’m somewhere in this room, hidden,” Merlee replied. “And I’m afraid Diana’s soul has been enspelled by the Shadow Queen’s magic.”

“Can’t you break the spell like you did with Yumi?” asked Francesca.

“The evil magic of this Palace is too strong for that this time,” answered Merlee’s voice. “If you wish to free Diana, you must find a way to do so yourself…”

Stan paused. He spoke to Diana.

“Come on, Diana!” he said. “I saw your deck front and back when I defeated you the last time! You don’t stand a chance!”

“I’ve gotten some coaching,” replied Diana. “I now know more things about my Monsters than I did before. I can use them in far deadlier ways!”

Stan sighed.

“Fine,” he said. “If you want to duel, I’ll be happy to oblige…”

The two duelists swung their Disks into position, and the holo-imagers shot out.

“Now meet my Deckmaster,” stated Diana, holding a card aloft. “The mystical Goddess With The Third Eye!”

The card glowed, and a robed, female Fairy with a third eye on her forehead appeared behind Diana. She held her hands as if in prayer.

“All right…” muttered Stan, taking his deck.

So now who? he thought. Vivian was good, but I’m sure there’s someone better in here…

His eye caught his Dark Magician Girl.

Hmmm… why not?

He held the card aloft.

“I choose Dark Magician Girl!” he exclaimed.

In a flurry of hearts, the gorgeous female Spellcaster appeared beside him.

In his mind, a gentle female voice sounded.

”Stan, tread with caution,” said Dark Magician Girl’s telepathic voice. ”Our foe is formidable…”

”Okay…” answered Stan. ”I hope your memory is better than Vivian’s…”

”Once per duel,” she replied, ”I can enable you to draw one card for every Monster you have in your Graveyard. But remember, only once, so call on my power only when you have to.”

“Gotcha…” answered Stan.

Inside Diana’s mind, a conversation was taking place.

”Remember the warning I gave you, Diana,” warned the Shadow Queen.

”Yes, my liege,” she replied. ”His most dangerous Monsters are Goombella the Scholar, Vivian the Shadow Siren, and Ms. Mowz the Tease Thief.”

”Correct,” answered the Queen. ”If he summons one, do all you can to destroy it at once, or it might be bad.”

The two reshuffled.

“Let’s get started…” said Diana, drawing five cards. “The first move is yours…”

Stan drew six.

“I’ll summon Mystical Elf in Defense Mode…” he stated, placing a card down.

The holy elf appeared, kneeling in prayer. (800/2,000)

“That’s all for my turn…”

Diana drew a card.

She looked at it.

“I’m sure you’ll remember this card,” she said, opening her Field slot.

She placed a card into it.

“The incredible Skyscraper!”

Just like before, the dark city arose around them, but this time, they were at street level, apparently in an entertainment district. Flashing, colored, neon lights were everywhere – all that was missing was the cityfolk.

“Now I’ll summon Elemental Hero Clayman in Defense Mode,” she stated, “and end my turn.”

She put a card down, and the bulky hero made of clay appeared, shielding himself. (800/2,000)

“This isn’t going to be a very exciting duel if they only play Monsters in Defense Mode…” muttered Andy.

“I think Diana might be up to something…” sighed Francesca. “Don’t forget, Clayman is fusion material for a deadly Monster called Elemental Hero Thunder Giant, who can destroy any Monster…”

Stan drew.

The Illusory Gentleman… he thought. With Skyscraper in place, Clayman could destroy him… but I doubt she’d take him out of Defense Mode…

“I summon The Illusory Gentleman in Attack Mode,” he stated, placing a card down.

The colorful, one-eyed Spellcaster appeared, holding his cane aloft. (1,500/1,600)

“Your move,” he stated.

Diana drew.

“I believe I’ll pass for this turn…” she stated.

Stan drew again.

Still nothing that can break Clayman’s Defense, he thought.

“I’ll summon Magician’s Valkyria in Attack Mode!” he exclaimed.

He placed the third Monster Card down, and the beautiful Valkyria appeared. (1,600/1,800)

“And I warn you,” stated Stan, “So long as she’s on the field, you can’t attack any other Spellcaster!”

“Indeed…” muttered Diana, making a draw.

She looked at the card.

“I play Pot of Greed…” she said, playing the card.

The Pot handed her two more cards.

“Now I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix…” she stated, placing a card down.

The fiery, female heroine appeared. Flames appeared in her hands. (1,200/800)

“And now I invoke my Deckmaster’s special ability,” she continued. “Power of Fusion! If I discard one Magic Card, she can fuse two Monsters together with no Polymerization required! So I’ll discard this…”

She discarded a card. Goddess With The Third Eye glowed.

“And I’ll fuse Clayman and Burstinatrix together…”

The two Heroes melted into orbs of brown and red light, and merged together, forming a bulkier shape…

“…and I’ll use them to form Elemental Hero Rampart Gunner, and place him in Defense Mode!”

A powerful looking form arose. It was a man in grey, robotic armor with a huge gun for his right hand and a large shield for his left hand. He wore red shades. (2,000/2,500)

He crouched in defense.

Great, thought Stan. She put up a stronger defense…

“Also…” continued Diana, “due to my Goddess’s effect, a Monster she fuses can attack on the round it is summoned…”

Stan stared at her.

“He can’t attack when he’s in Defense Mode!” he laughed.

“Oh no?” said Diana with a smile. “Rampart Gunner, attack him… directly!!”

Rampart Gunner raised his gun, and fired a blazing burst of flames! Stan screamed as it hit him in the chest and he was thrown backwards!

His Life Points fell to 7,000.

“So long as Rampart Gunner is in Defense Mode, he can attack you directly for damage equal to half his Attack Score,” chuckled Diana. “If you can’t summon a Monster with more than 2,500 Attack Points, this duel will be over in seven more of my turns!”

“This is what I feared,” whispered Merlee’s voice. “The Queen has educated Diana, telling her secrets about the Elemental Heroes that she didn’t know before – and she likely informed her of the perfect Deckmaster to use as well…”

“Stan’s in for the fight of his life!” exclaimed Francesca.

Stan made a draw.

“Ooh, I have to pass for this turn,” he muttered.

“Splendid,” said Diana, drawing. “Rampart Gunner, attack him again!”

The Hero fired his gun, and Stan was thrown back again! His Life Points tumbled to 6,000.

“Your move,” said Diana with a grin.

Stan looked at his deck.

”Trust in your deck, Stan,” urged Dark Magician Girl. “You’ll draw the right card…”

Stan drew.

He placed a card down.

“I sacrifice Mystical Elf and The Illusory Gentleman to summon Buster Blader!” he shouted.

The two Spellcasters vanished, and the mighty Warrior appeared! (2,600/2,300)

“Buster Blader, attack Rampart Gunner with blade buster attack!”

Buster Blader made one mighty swipe with his sword, and Rampart Gunner shattered!

“Magician’s Valkyria, attack her Life Points directly with bright rainbow blast!”

Valkyria shot forth her multicolored beam! Diana cringed as it hit her.

Her Life Points fell to 6,400.

“Not bad…” she gasped. “But I’m only getting started…”

She drew one card and added it to her hand.

She fit a card into a slot.

“I play my Premature Burial card, to bring Burstinatrix back…” she said.

Her Life Points fell to 5,600, and Burstinatrix reappeared in front of her.

“It may have cost me 800 Life Points, but I’m about to gain a lot more.”

She took a card from her hand.

“Next I’ll summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman to the field!”

The put a card down, and the caped, cowled Hero armed with tanks and hoses appeared. (800/1,200)

“Now I’ll just discard this…” she said, discarding another card, “so that my Goddess can fuse them into Elemental Hero Steam Healer!”

Burstinatrix and Bubbleman melted into orbs of red and blue light and merged together…

And another large form emerged! This one was a hulking man in purple and red armor, with metal claws for hands and large tanks on his back. (1,800/1,600)

“As I’m sure you know,” added Diana, “when Skyscraper is on the field, my Heroes gain 1,000 Attack Points when they attack a stronger Monster. And need I remind you, due to the Goddess’s effect, he doesn’t have to wait to attack!

“Steam Healer, attack Buster Blader with steam blast!”

Steam Healer’s Attack shot up to 2,800, and he shot forth twin gusts of scalding hot steam from his claws! Buster Blader groaned, and he was eradicated.

No fair… thought Stan, as his Life Points fell to 5,800.

“And now we get to Steam Healer’s effect,” stated Diana, as steam rose around her. “When Steam Healer destroys an enemy Monster, that Monster’s Attack Score gets added to my Life Points!”

Her Life Points shot up to 8,200.

“Now I’ll play one card facedown…” she said, placing a card into a slot.

A facedown card appeared.

“Make your move,” she dared.

Stan drew.

“Diana, I don’t want to hurt you,” urged Stan, “but I cannot let you win this duel! Please, come to your senses!”

Diana just gave him a cold stare.

“Fine…” sighed Stan. “I summon Gemini Elf in Attack Mode…”

He placed the card down, and the twin elves appeared. (1,900/900)

“I know the limits to your Field Card,” stated Stan. “It powers up your heroes when they attack, but not when they’re being attacked! Gemini Elf, take out her Steam Healer!”

Gemini Elf shot forth bolts of lightning! Steam Healer sparked, and he exploded!

“Ergh…” muttered Diana.

“Magician’s Valkyria, attack directly again!” shouted Stan.

Valkyria shot forth her bright rainbow beam, and Diana shrieked as it hit her in the chest!

Her Life Points stood at 6,500.

“That’s my turn…” muttered Stan.

“Merlee, this is crazy!” muttered Francesca. “Isn’t there anything you can do?”

She saw Merlee in the corner of her eye, in the alley that had been formed by the hologram of the Field Card.

“The Queen’s magic is stronger than mine here, Francesca,” he said, sadly. “But maybe magic isn’t necessary…”

“Huh?” pondered Francesca.

Diana drew one card.



Continued...

[Dark Sage]

Continued from last post:


“Okay Stan,” she said. “I play a Magic Card… A powerful one called Dark Factory of Mass Production…”

She played the card.

“This card allows me to add two Normal Monsters from my Graveyard to my hand.”

Two cards slid out of her discard slot.

“Now I’ll summon Clayman in Defense Mode again, and end my turn.”

She set the card, and Clayman appeared in a defensive stance. (800/2,000)

Stan drew a card.

“I’ll summon Neo the Magic Swordsman in Attack Mode,” he said.

He placed the card down, and Neo appeared, brandishing his glowing blade. (1,700/1,000)

“That will end my turn,” he said.

Diana drew.

“I’ll place a second card facedown,” she said, fitting one into a slot. “And then I’ll summon Winged Kuriboh in Defense Mode.”

The facedown card appeared next to the other one, and then the fuzzy Fairy version of the more common Fiend appeared, fluttering in the air. (300/200)

“That’s all for me,” she said.

”Be careful, Stan,” warned Dark Magician Girl. ”I think she has a plan…”

Stan drew.

”A very good draw!” exclaimed the Spellcaster.

“I sacrifice Neo and Gemini Elf…” exclaimed Stan.

The two Monsters vanished.

“To summon Dark Magician!”

Dark Magician Girl looked overjoyed as Dark Magician appeared on the field! (2,500/2,100)

“Dark Magician, attack Clayman!” shouted Stan. “Dark magic attack!”

Dark Magician shot forth his lethal spell, and Clayman shattered.

“Valkyria, take out her Winged Kuriboh!” shouted Stan.

Valkyria fired her beam, and Winged Kuriboh was blown away.

“Clever, Stan…” chuckled Diana. “I didn’t think you’d fall for the same trick twice…”

“You mean…” gasped Stan.

One of Diana’s Trap Cards lifted…

“Activate Hero Signal!” she exclaimed.

The shining signal shone over the buildings of the dark city!

A card slipped out of her deck.

“As you know,” stated Diana, “this Trap lets me summon an Elemental Hero of four stars or less from my deck, and I’m choosing Elemental Hero Wildman!”

She placed the card down, and the savage-looking Hero appeared, holding his huge sword. (1,500/1,600)

“Then I end my turn,” said Stan. “But don’t forget, you have to take out my Valkyria before you can attack any other Spellcaster.”

“I’m well aware of that, Stan,” said Diana, drawing.

“So now I’ll activate my Deckmaster ability again…”

She discarded a card.

“Know why? Because I’m fusing Wildman with Edgeman!”

The golden-armored Hero appeared in the field, and the two Heroes melted into globes of light, which again merged…

“And by doing that, I can summon Elemental Hero Wild-Jaggyman!” she shouted.

An enormous form leapt onto the field. It was a muscular barbarian wearing a golden, horned helmet and gauntlet, holding a huge sword! (2,600/2,300)

“This Hero is very powerful,” laughed Diana. “He can attack all of your Monsters at once!”

“WHAT? screamed Stan.

“Wild-Jaggyman, attack his Valkyrion!” shouted Diana.

Valkyrion screamed as she was cut down.

“AND his Dark Magician!”

The Hero struck Dark Magician with his sword and he shattered.

Stan’s Life Points fell to 4,700.

“He’s like Asura Priest on steroids!” gasped Andy.

“It’s your move…” mocked Diana.

Stan drew.

Nuts! he thought. I have six cards, and not a single Monster I can summon!

“I activate a Trap!” shouted Diana.

Her Trap Card lifted.

“The lethal Life Shaver!”

“Life Shaver?” gulped Stan.

“This was a gift from the Shadow Queen,” chuckled Diana. “It forces you to discard one card for every one of both our Standby Phases that it’s been facedown on the field! There have been seven, so now you have to discard every card in your hand!”

Stan was dumbfounded. He discarded his whole hand of cards.

“You have nothing to play at all!” laughed Diana. “Just end your turn!”

Stan paused…

He looked at Dark Magician Girl…

“I beg to differ!” he shouted. “I call upon my own Deckmaster!”

Dark Magician Girl waved her staff.

”Soul Circle!” she chanted.

Images of Mystical Elf, The Illusory Gentleman, Buster Blader, Gemini Elf, Neo the Magic Swordsman, Magician’s Valkyrion, and Dark Magician appeared around Stan…

“What’s going on?” gasped Diana.

“Due to her effect, I can now draw one card for every Monster in my Graveyard!” laughed Stan, as seven cards floated off of his deck and placed themselves in his hand.

He looked at them as the images vanished.

“So I’ll place one card facedown…”

He placed a card in a slot, and it appeared.

“And I’ll play Monster Reborn, to bring back Dark Magician, in Attack Mode!”

The Magic Card appeared, and Dark Magician reappeared. (2,500/2,100)

“I think you’re bluffing!” accused Diana.

“Maybe, maybe not,” chuckled Stan. “I end my turn…”

Diana drew.

She thought for a moment…

“Wild-Jaggyman, attack his Dark Magician!” she shouted.

Wild-Jaggyman charged forward, swinging his huge sword…

“Sorry, Diana, you thought I was bluffing, and now you’re gonna pay,” said Stan. “Activate facedown card – Shrink!”

His facedown card lifted, and Wild-Jaggyman shrunk to half his size!

“You shrank my Hero down to the size of a sidekick!” shouted Diana.

“And that’s not all,” answered Stan. “I also cut his Attack power in half!”

Dark Magician blasted his dark magic, blowing Wild-Jaggyman away.

Diana’s Life Points fell to 5,300.

Diana angrily took a card from her hand.

“I’ll end my turn by summoning Wroughtweiler in Defense Mode,” she said.

The mechanical dog appeared, and sat. (800/1,200)

Okay… thought Stan. When Wroughtweiler is destroyed, she can retrieve one Elemental Hero and one Polymerization card from her Graveyard…

But I’m guessing that due to her Deckmaster, she removed her Polymerization cards to make room for other cards. So she likely has none of those Magic Cards in her Graveyard, making Wroughtweiler useful only as a shield.

He drew, and looked at the card.

A Trap Card…

“Diana, are you sure you won’t think this through some more?” he protested. “Search your mind! You don’t really want to hurt me!”

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

“Oh, but that’s the beauty of it, Stan!” laughed the Shadow Queen. “She really doesn’t want to hurt you! But the thing is, she just can’t help herself!”

She laughed wickedly.

“You are truly evil, your eminence,” chuckled Grodus.

“Why thank you, Grodus,” chuckled the Queen. “I do love your compliments. Incidentally, how are my kids doing?”

Grodus looked at his watch.

“Um, they’ve still got twenty minutes…” he said.

“Well, this duel shouldn’t last longer than that,” sighed the Queen. “And if it does, well, too bad for them…”

She chuckled.

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

“Okay Diana, I’m placing one card facedown,” said Stan, fitting the card into a slot.

“And then I attack with Dark Magician!”

Dark Magician fired, blowing Wroughtweiler away.

“Make your move…” he ordered.

Diane drew.

“I play Card of Sanctity!” she declared, playing it. “Now we must each draw until we hold six cards!”

They each made their draws.

“It’s almost over, Stan!” she warned. “I have what I need in my hands to call forth a great power…”

She took a card from her hand.

“First I’ll play a Magic Card called The Warrior Returning Alive,” she started. “This allows me to return one Warrior from the Graveyard to my hand…”

She played it, and a card slipped out of her discard slot.

“And I’ve used it to retrieve my old friend Bubbleman!”

She took another card from her hand.

“Now I’ll discard one more Magic Card to call upon my Deckmaster’s ability one more time…”

The Goddess With The Third Eye glowed…

“And I’ll fuse together three Heroes this time! Avian, Sparkman, and Bubbleman!”

The winged Hero of Wind appeared on the field, followed by the sparking Hero of Light, followed by the cowled and caped Hero of Water.

They melted into orbs, and fused together.

“With their three bodies merged, they form a mighty Warrior whose very name strikes fear into the heart of the underworld…” announced Diana. “Elemental Hero Tempester!”

A huge, humanoid figure appeared. It was a powerful, muscular man in a blue spandex costume and a visor with magnificent feathered wings! (2,800/2,800)

Stan was astonished…

“Tempester!” shouted Diana, “attack his Dark Magician with fury of the tempest!”

A gust of wind and bolt of lightning blasted forth from the Hero, and Dark Magician was blown to pieces!

Stan’s Life Points fell to 4,400.

“Hold on!” shouted Stan. “I activate my Trap Card! Activate… A Rival Appears!”

His Trap Card lifted.

“Since your Tempester is an eight star Monster, I can summon THIS guy to the field! Arise Dark Magician of Chaos!”

He threw a card down, and the master of dark magic arose! (2,800/2,600)

“And don’t forget, I now get to retrieve one Magic Card from my Graveyard because I summoned him…”

A card slid out of his discard slot.

“It appears we have a standoff, now, Diana,” he said.

“Or so you think,” said Diana, with her eyes narrowing.

At this point, Francesca had had just about enough.

“This is terrible!” she shouted. “Superheroes should not be used this way! This goes against… some sort of natural order!”

Merlee’s soft voice came out of the shadows.

“The Shadow Queen has clouded Diana’s mind,” he answered. “She has forgotten what it means to be a superhero… And how much she loves them. Right now, her Monsters are nothing but Warriors…”

He paused.

“But maybe she could use a reminder…”

Francesca thought for a minute at that.

She thought hard…

What did she tell us after her first duel with Stan? she thought.

Stan made a draw.

I don’t trust that Monster, he thought. Better safe than sorry…

“I’ll place a card facedown,” he said, “and end my turn…”

“Good,” said Diana, drawing.

“Now, I’ll summon another Wroughtweiler to the field…” she said.

Another of the mechanical hounds appeared.

“But he won’t be staying long,” she continued. “Now I’m going to show you Tempester’s effect.

“You see, if I sacrifice one card on the field during a round with Tempester present, one Monster of my choice cannot be destroyed in battle for the remainder of the round.

“So I’ll sacrifice Wroughtweiler…”

Wroughtweiler vanished.

“…and I’ll choose Tempester himself!

“Do you see my strategy Stan? Since our two Monsters have equal Attack and mine can’t be destroyed in battle this round, all I need to do is attack, and your mage will be destroyed, while my Hero will be spared.

“Tempester, attack!”

Tempester powered up his storm again…

“Activate… Shrink!” shouted Stan.

His Quickplay Magic Card – obviously what he had gotten from his Magician’s effect – lifted. Tempester shrunk to half his size, and Dark Magician of Chaos fired!

True to Diana’s word, the Elemental Hero was thrown back, but he was still there. But her Life Points fell to 3,900.

“Very well,” she replied. “I’ll place a card facedown, and end my turn.”

The Magic Card’s effect wore off, and Tempester grew to his normal size, gaining back his full Attack Score.

So now what? thought Stan.

He made a draw.

“I’m sacrificing my facedown card to use his ability again!” shouted Diana.

The facedown card shattered.

“You’ll never destroy him!”

Stan looked at the card he had drawn.

He placed it into a slot, and it appeared facedown.

At that point, an idea came to Francesca.

She looked up at a building that Diane’s Field Card was creating. A blue neon light was shining.

She took out her Crystal Star.

Yellow and blue make green! she thought.

She ran up to the light.

Hope this works… she thought, holding the Star up to the light.

As she hoped, the blue light shone through the Crystal Star, shining a green glow over the whole area!

“What are you doing?” demanded Diana. “Trying to distract me?”

“Think, Diana!” shouted Francesca. “Doesn’t this light remind you of something?

“Think back to the first comic book you ever owned, the one where you discovered your love of heroes!”

Diana paused for a second.

Francesca wracked her mind.

How does that chant go? she thought. Oh yeah…

Francesca started to recite:

[color=green][B][I]”In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil will escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil’s might
Beware my power… Green Lantern’s light!”

Diana looked dumbstruck.

“I end my turn Diana…” said Stan, slowly.

He looked at his facedown card.

I was going to use my Dust Tornado to destroy Skyscraper, but if I do that now, it would kill the light… he thought. I hope Francesca’s plan works.

Diana slowly drew…

“I place this card facedown…” she said slowly, placing a card into a slot.

The card appeared.

“And I’ll use it to activate Tempester’s effect…”

It shattered.

“Tempester, attack…”

Stan gritted his teeth as the hero prepared to attack…



Continued:

[Dark Sage]

Continued from last post:


“NO! Stop!” shouted Diana.

She paused.

“I end my turn…” she said.

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

“What’s this?” exclaimed the Shadow Queen. “Diana is resisting my control!”

She got up and fumed.

“I won’t allow this! I’ll enter her mind myself and confront her!”

She closed her eyes.

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

Stan drew one card.

Then he spoke up.

[color=green][B][I]”In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil will escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil’s might
Beware my power… Green Lantern’s light!”

He waited.

“Fight it, Diana!” he urged. “The Shadow Queen has clouded your mind, turning it into the true blackest night! But you can break free, and change it to the brightest day it once was!

“Here, I’ll encourage you…”

He fit a card into a slot.

“I play Magic Formula! This increases the Attack of my Magician by 500 points!”

Dark Magician of Chaos rose to 3,300 Attack.

“Since you neglected to sacrifice a card, I could wipe out Tempester now. But to prove my sincerity, rather than attacking, I’ll end my turn. It’s your move now…”

I hope this works… he thought.

Diana shakily drew…

“Diana!” shouted a voice in her head. "Your Skyscraper card is still in effect, and now his Monster is stronger than yours! You don’t even need to sacrifice a card now! Destroy his Chaos Mage!"

“Shut up…” she whispered.

”Do as I say!” shouted the Shadow Queen. ”I am your master, he is your enemy!”

Diana closed her eyes…

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

She was in the seat of her soul…

In the center was a huge contraption. It was a giant green thing that looked like a futuristic camper’s lantern, glowing green. But it was bound by chains, as if it was being held captive.

“No!” she shouted. “Let it free!”

The Shadow Queen appeared in front of her, between her and the lantern.

“You can’t hope to drive me out, little girl,” she said angrily. “Now pick up your cards and go back to the duel this instant!”

“NO!” shouted Diana. “You won’t tell me what to do! You can’t make the Elemental Heroes use their powers for evil! And making me do your dirty work for you – all you are is a coward!”

“You think you’re powerful enough to drive me out?” chuckled the Shadow Queen.

Diana made a slight smirk.

“Queenie,” she said, “how about a little game? That would prove you aren’t a coward. I win, you leave my mind forever. You win, I’ll submit to you forever.”

The Shadow Queen rubbed her chin.

“A contest for your very soul…” she pondered. “I’m intrigued. Pick your poison!”

“Uh, hundred-yard dash?” asked Diana with a shrug.

“Right…” scowled the Queen. “Like I’m going to get into a footrace with a teenager who’s a member of her high school track team! I’m twelve-hundred years old! What do I look like, stupid?”

“Okay, grandma, okay!” exclaimed Diana. “I see you have your Duel Disk…”

“Please…” muttered the Queen, looking at it. “You’ll never outduel me!”

“I’m proposing a game of luck…” said Diana, shuffling her deck. “We each take the top six cards off our deck, and we’re only allowed those six. We each have two turns. Whoever can summon the most powerful Monster in two turns is the winner.”

The Queen chuckled.

“Okay, I accept your challenge,” she said with a grin. “I’ll even let you use her if you want!”

Diana turned around, and saw that Goddess With The Third Eye had followed her.

They shuffled their decks. They each picked up the top six cards.

“Heh, heh…” cackled the Queen. “I’ll give you one last chance to surrender…”

“You take the first turn…” sneered Diana.

“Fine,” said the Queen, putting a card down on her Disk. “For my first move, I’ll summon Double Coston!”

A pair of black globs with faces, connected by a strand appeared. (1,700/1,650)

“Your turn…” she chuckled.

Diana discarded a card.

“I’ll discard this to use my Deckmaster,” she said, “fusing Avian and Burstinatrix together…”

The two heroes appeared and merged…

“Forming the incredible Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!” she shouted.

The merged Hero walked out, and glared at the Queen. (2,100/1,200)

“Not bad…” laughed the Queen. “But now it’s my turn. And you should know about Double Coston’s special effect…”

“If you use it as a sacrifice to summon a Dark Monster, it counts as two sacrifices,” interrupted Diana. “I know…”

“You got it!” laughed the Queen. “So I sacrifice it to summon Invader of Darkness!”

The creature vanished, and in its place arose a hulking man, dressed entirely in black, astride a black horse. (2,900/2,500)

“HA, HA, HA!” laughed the Queen. “Beat that!”

“You’re forgetting, I still have one turn!” shouted Diana.

She discarded another card.

“Now I’ll invoke my Deckmaster again!” she shouted. “discarding another card to merge Flame Wingman with Sparkman…”

“Forming Elemental Hero Shining Flame Wingman!”

The two heroes merged, and the shining Hero in brilliant white armor and glorious feathered wings appeared, his brilliance nearly blinding! (2,500/2,000)

“HA, HA, HA!” laughed the Queen. “That guy may be powerful, but my Invader is still stronger. You lose!”

“Check again…” chuckled Diana.

Shining Flame Wingman’s Attack went up to 3,700.

“HOW?” shouted the Queen.

“Didn’t I ever tell you about his special abilities?” asked Diana. “He gains 300 extra Attack Points for every Elemental Hero in my Graveyard! That means that just by summoning him, he gains 1,200 extra attack points!

“That means I win…

“Shining Flame Wingman, destroy her Fiend with ray of purity!”

The Hero blasted a beam of pure light and Invader of Darkness was vaporized!

The green energy battery shook. The chains binding it shattered, and pure, green light flooded the soul chamber!

The Shadow Queen gasped…

“LEAVE!” shouted Diana. “Begone before he attacks you!”

The Shadow Queen bowed her head. She vanished.

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

Diana opened her eyes. Only seconds had passed in the real world.

“Stan!” she cried. “What am I doing?”

She looked around.

“Time to end this…” she said. “Goddess With The Third Eye, I summon you to the field!”

“What?” gasped Francesca.

“She’s taking a dive!” shouted Andy.

“Attack his Dark Magician of Chaos!” yelled Diana.

The Goddess flew to attack, and Dark Magician fired to defend himself. Diana’s Deckmaster was blown to pieces.

Her Life Points fell to nothing.

The holograms shut down.

Diana almost collapsed. Merlee ran out of the shadows and caught her in his arms.

“Th-th-there, there, child,” he said. “You’ll be fine…”

“Thank goodness…” muttered Stan.

“Stan…” moaned Diana. “I’m so sorry…”

“Don’t be,” said Stan. “We gave you a push, but you drove that wicked witch out of your mind yourself. That isn’t easy to do…”

Diana sighed…

“You were taking a big risk there…” she noted. “You made your Monster stronger when I had Skyscraper on the field…”

“Actually…” replied Stan, taking a card out of his Disk.

He showed Diana the Dust Tornado card.

“If you had declared an attack, I would have activated this, destroying your Field Card, and Tempester would have been destroyed. And I also had this card in my hand…”

She showed her his Premature Burial.

“I could have brought back nearly anyone with this, and had I attacked directly with both Monsters, you’d have lost… And the Shadow Queen would clearly have punished you for it…”

Diana shuddered.

“My friends…” said Merlee. “I w-w-wish I could stay longer, but I m-m-must get Diana out of the Palace and to safety. I am certain now that the Shadow Queen h-h-has seen me, and my continued presence is not w-w-wise.

“But we will meet again…”

“Bye guys…” sighed Diana. “And pop the Queen a good one for me, okay?”

Merlee and Diana vanished.

[B]* * * * * * * * * *

The Shadow Queen walked down the hallway to where her children were being held.

Not a total loss, she thought. I discovered one important thing…

That accursed meddler Merlee has been helping those kids… Who’d have thought he was still alive?

Well not anymore. I’ll make sure the Palace’s security will keep him out specifically.

The last thing I need is that… jerk messing up my plans…

Not after what happened last time…



ELEMENTAL HERO RAMPART GUNNER (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Earth
Level: 8
ATK: 2,000
DEF: 2,500

Card Description: "Elemental Hero Burstinatrix" + "Elemental Hero Clayman"

This Monster can only be Special Summoned by Fusion Summon. As long as this Monster remains in face-up Defense Position, it can attack your opponent's Life Points directly (apply the ATK of this card for damage calculation). If this Monster attacks your opponent's Life Points directly while in face-up Defense Position, decrease the battle damage by half.



ELEMENTAL HERO WILD-JAGGYMAN (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Earth
Level: 8
ATK: 2,600
DEF: 2,300

Card Description: "Elemental Hero Wildman" + "Elemental Hero Edgeman"

This Monster can only be Special Summoned by Fusion Summon. This Monster can attack more than one Monster on your opponent's side of the field in one battle phase. This Monster cannot attack your opponent directly after attacking any Monsters.



ELEMENTAL HERO TEMPESTER (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect
Attribute: Wind
Level: 8
ATK: 2,800
DEF: 2,800

Card Description: Elemental Hero Bubbleman + Elemental Hero Avian + Elemental Hero Sparkman

This Monster can only be Special Summoned by Fusion Summon. Send one card on your side of the field to the Graveyard (not including this Monster), and select one Monster. So long as this Monster remains face up on the field, the selected Monster can not destroyed as a result of battle that round (damage calculation still applies).


Note: “Elemental Hero Rampart Gunner”, “Elemental Hero Wild-Jaggyman”, and “Elemental Hero Tempester” are real cards that will be released in the “Elemental Energy” booster pack. All three of these cards have been used by Judai in “Yu-Gi-Oh GX”.



ELEMENTAL HERO STEAM HEALER (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Fire
Level: 6
ATK: 1,800
DEF: 1,600

Card Description: “Elemental Hero Burstinatrix” + “Elemental Hero Bubbleman”

This Monster can only be Special Summoned by Fusion Summon. If this Monster destroys a Monster as a result of battle, increase the controller’s Life Points by an amount equal to the current ATK of the destroyed Monster.


Note: “Elemental Hero Steam Healer” is a card that has been used by Judai in at least one episode of “Yu-Gi-Oh GX”. All creative credit goes to the writers of that show.



LIFE SHAVER (Trap Card)

Card Specs

Type: Trap
Attribute: –
Level: –
ATK: –
DEF: –

Card Description: Image of an hourglass in the sky, its bottom half broken, with its sand spilling into the palm of a hand; cards float by in the background. When this card is activated, your opponent must discard a number of cards from his hand equal to the number of Standby Phases (yours and your opponent’s) that this card remained facedown on the field.

Note: “Life Shaver” was used by Kaiba (after getting it from Yugi) in the multi-part anime episode “Clash in the Coliseum”. All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.



”Dark Magician Girl”: Spellcaster/Dark, Level 6, (2,000/1,700)

Deckmaster SA: “Soul Circle”: Once per duel, you can draw a number of cards equal to the number of Monster Cards in your Graveyard.

Note: Tea used Dark Magician Girl as her Deckmaster in the two-part anime episode “Freeze Play”. All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.



”Goddess With The Third Eye”: Fairy/Light, Level 4, (1,200/1,000)

Deckmaster SA: “Power of Fusion”: You can discard one Magic Card from your hand to fuse together two or more fusion material Monsters without using “Polymerization” or a similar card. A Fusion Monster summoned in this manner may attack on the round it is summoned.

Note: Serenity used Goddess With The Third Eye as her Deckmaster in the two-part anime episode “Mechanical Mayhem”. All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.



[I][B]Coming up next:

Stan is going to take a well-deserved break, and Francesca is going to step up to the bar. This time, one of HER old opponents returns, but this one isn’t under the Queen’s spell – he’s serving her via his own free will. See some of the new additions to Fran’s deck in this thrilling chapter. Those of you with faulty memories might want to backtrack, because you won’t want to miss “Stone Cold”, coming soon!

[Master of Paradox]

Well, that was a bit of a waste of my time. You see, if there's one thing I loathe, it's a duel that's truncated because one of the participants, an unwilling one, breaks the control "due to the goodness of their heart" or some such twaddle. Of course, this was one of them.

And quoting the Green Lantern Oath twice only makes it look like you ran out of ideas.

But I should focus on the positive. This was a very nice duel, cardwise - I again admire your willpower to resist inventing Elemental Hero members, as the game itself provides all that you need for that. I like the Elemental Heroes, and any duel where they're used to the best of their ability is one I like. Stan's deck, unlike Francesca's, hasn't gotten repetitive to me, so this was a match-up I could enjoy...

...and then you cut it off with that "duel for the heart" bit. Sorry, I'm just bitter that you interrupted a good duel for that.

What makes it worse is that, even possessed, Diana's had all the character growth of a Happy Tree Friend (do yourself a favor and don't ask what that means - you do not wish to know).

I'm afraid this was a low spot for your story. Happens to us all.

Looking to the next chapter, I can already tell what's going to happen - Francesca will duel that guy with the Wave-Motion Cannon, the heroes can't lose, and he's going to suffer terribly. I have a bad feeling about the rest of this story.

[Shuppet Master]

I wish you would stop being so pessimistic, Paradox. I understand how you hate these "friend turns enemy" stuff. No offense, but I bet you REALLY wanted Yugi to crush Joey in that death-duel and watch Joey drown. Merlee couldn't have Stan win and then undo the corruption because the Shadow Queen was more powerful. Of course, if Brian does a third "friend brainwashed duel", I'm going to have to talk to him about his illogic(since Merlee is now out of the picture for good).

I think this is a good chapter, and the little game Diane played with the Shadow Queen was nice. The next duel is a big one, I knew Stonewall Jackson would return for revenge against Fran for making a fool out of him the last time. I hope he dies a horrible death in this rematch.

Great job, Brian, and I hope to see your work again.

[Dark Sage]

There won't be anymore "friend brainwashed duels".

And who said Merlee was out of the picture for good? I might still have plans for him. Remember, he has a Duel Disk, but he hasn't used it yet... You have to wonder if he ever will.

Anyway, I promise that from now on, duels will all reach a better conclusion.

- DS

[Silencer]

INo offense, but I bet you REALLY wanted Yugi to crush Joey in that death-duel and watch Joey drown.

I prefered that yugi drowned, I consider Joey and Kaiba the only true duelist since most others either have millenium items or their deck is beefed up by someone with a millenium item