Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh!-Kazuki Takahashi/Konami
CFGX: "This story is posted as a present to whoever reads it, as well as to promote some recently-created cards. Please enjoy and Merry Christmas..."
The Slifer dorm was never the best place to live, but the seasonal change made it more clear. Thanks to the lack of insulation, it became harder to focus on anything but the cold, especially at night when even when the thin blankets could do little to protect them from the freezing air. It was know to be the worst season to be in Slifer Red.
Here Jason was in front of his small wall-mounted mirror putting on today's clothes. Before he came here he planned ahead for the Winter with a blue sweater he brought with him. Along with is daily attire, he was ready for today.
Strangely it was less colder outside than it was inside when he went out the door. After going down the second-story steps, he could hear a small fluttering sound overhead. A small weight on his left shoulder told Jason it was his new dormmate White.
This is the albino fruit bat Jason took in while she was hiding inside his room. Since then she was made a home in the Slifer Dorm, making her the newest class pet after Pharaoh. And today she's going to join her favorite Slifer in today's events. With the holidays closing in, the class would soon be sent home to spend it with their families. Until then, they're gathering together for a special event…
The gymnasium was decorated for the holidays, with the walls decorated with cutouts of snowflakes, candy canes and stockings among others. But the bigger attractions are the booths lined around the area with various games. Unfortunately, he wasn't there to play any…
"You're late," came a growl from the school's disciplinarian Anais, who was leaning against the nearest vendor, not taking her glare off her stopwatch. White was quick to scamper under Jason's jacket before she could be seen. Anais holds a very strict 'no animals indoors' policy.
Jason blinked before looking down at his watch, "But it's still noon…"
"Late is late," the jackal-eared faculty barked, shutting her watch, "Consider that another point off your final grade. Now get busy," she then marched off and left Jason at the stall.
From there Jason played the role of a vendor. His job was basically watching people play this strange roulette machine with a spider in the middle. By the first few times he saw it being played, the aim seemed to be spinning the spider and receiving a small pack of cards at the bottom. And it's been heard that its rarity depends on the result, while one in particular marked 'LOSE' means they give nothing. Few students left with a gleeful expression while some were disappointed at being given a bunch of common cards. Some threw cards to the side that they thought were worthless while some nearly burst when spotting a super-rare card among them. One student in particular received a bad spin and accused Jason of cheating. He was close to being forced out of the gymnasium because of that.
Lying around on an empty field was a giant box wrapped in red paper and green ribbons. The only one guarding it was a female Obelisk Blue wearing an opened Santa's jacket, with frosted-tipped red hair and green eyes.
"Hey, Blaineley!" a shout came from two more girls who came over to her territory, the Obelisks Jasmine and Mindy, "You're still helping out with the lottery, right?"
"That's the grand prize you're giving out, isn't it?" Mindy asked, eying the giant red parcel Blaineley was sitting one, "Ooh, what's inside? Can you give us a hint? You know, just between us girls?"
"Hm?" Baineley darted her eyes for a moment towards the girls, "Oh, sorry, that's something only the winner gets to find out."
"Are…you feeling okay?" Jasmine noticed the spaced-out expression Blaineley was giving. She then traced her eyesight across the field towards a specific vendor… "Please tell me this isn't what I think…"
"Huh? What is it?" Mindy followed Jasmine's gaze towards the same place, "Isn't that Jason over there? He's volunteering too?"
"Blaineley, you mind telling me what's going on inside that head of yours?"
"Oh?" Blaineley turned her attention back to the girls, "Tell me, do either of you know who that handsome guy is over there?"
Jasmine recoiled, "Handsome?!"
"You mean you don't know who Jason is?" Mindy asked, "He's quite famous on the dueling field. Remember the duel-off finals from a while back?"
"Oh yeah," Blaineley swooned, "He really knew how to keep a girl on her seat."
"Right…" Jasmine muttered, "Now think about the School Duel. Remember him from then?"
"Oh, like you never had an off-day before."
"And the fact that he lost to an ape? Which I of all people should know."
"For all we know, you made that up just to make him look bad. What did he ever do to you, anyway?"
Jasmine groaned, "…Just tell me this: what do you see in that guy, anyway? You do know he's a Slifer, right?"
"And that should matter, why?"
"I also heard he barely showers and he picks his nose…which, now that I think about it, is kinda what most Slifers do, don't they?"
"Oh Jasmine, that just give me a project to work on. After a few adjustments, he'll be the perfect boyfriend."
"…You know what…" Jasmine shook her head, "I'm not even gonna argue. Do what you want. Let's go, Mindy."
"Good luck," Mindy waved before following Jasmine away.
"Hmph, I don't need luck…" Blaineley smirked as she went back to staring over to Jason's booth.
"Alright everyone, gather 'round!" Crowler called out from one of the dueling fields. Everyone gathered to see a large machine being brought over to him, "This is the moment you've all been waiting for! Time for the festival's main attraction: Holiday Roulette! Blaineley, the honors…" the Obelisk named Blaineley strutted over to the machine and pulled the lever, which caused the eight dials to spin, "Now remember, anyone with a card matching the eight numbers at the bottom corner wins this year's grand prize!" the dials then stopped one by one:
Crowler then pushed a few buttons on his personal organizer, "Now just to make sure, I'll just cross-reference it with the card database and…" a few dings later, his eyes practically bugged out, "Impossible! …Ahem, will the duelist with winning card number, please come to the duel-field!" Jason was surprised as well, because he has the card that matched the winning numbers on it. So he hurried over to the field, which earned a lot of gasps from the crowd, "Well, I guess we have a winner. Aren't you lucky. Who would've thought you'd be able to win a lottery, much less a prize like this…" Crowler gestured over to Blaineley, who greeted Jason with a sweet smile and a twiddle of her fingers, earning a heavy blush from Jason.
"Oh, come on!" Chazz exclaimed, "That lottery's gotta be fixed!"
"That should've be me up there!" Syrus groaned, "Some people get all the luck…"
"Oh, if only he were that lucky," Crowler said, "The reward for this lottery is a duel with this lovely lady. And by winning, only then will he get the grand prize!"
After clearing the field, everyone went to the gym's seats to watch the upcoming duel.
"I guess it's time to duel, lucky winner," Blaineley chimed, "Let's see if your luck holds up," Jason said nothing as he armed his duel-disk and activated it, "Huh, the strong and silent treatment. I can deal with that," she then activated her own duel-disk.
"Alright, everyone! Now that you're all seated and our two competitors are ready I say we—"
But Crowler was pushed off the field by Anais, who took his place, "As this event's master of ceremonies, I officially declare this winter festival's duel to begin!" with a tap of the floor with her staff, the duel went underway.
Blaineley: 4000
Jason: 4000
She then drew her first card, "Just do me one teensy little favor: let's put on a good show for the audience. It'll be our early Christmas present from us to them. I play a monster face-down and end my turn," a set monster appeared.
Meanwhile, White peeked her head out from under Jason's jacket to watch what happens next.
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I summon Element Saurus in ATK mode," the bronze-scaled dinosaur appeared with a roar (ATK: 1500), "Attack the set monster!" the raptor snarled and dashed towards the set card. It flipped over and was revealed as a decorative white bird before being stomped under the dinosaur's foot.
"Looks like you destroyed my (1) Blizzed, Defender of the Ice Barrier(1/ATK: 300/DEF: 500)," Blaineley said before drawing a card from her deck, "And since it was destroyed in battle, I get another card."
"I place one card face-down and end my turn," Jason concluded.
"My turn!" Blaineley drew her next card, "I activate the spell card called Cost Down! By sending one of my cards from my hand to the graveyard, the levels of all my other monsters go down by two. Which means I get to summon this: Neo Aqua Madoor!" the white-haired masked water sorcerer appeared (DEF: 3000), "I think that'll be all for now," Blaineley concluded.
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I summon Phantom Magician in ATK mode," the skeletal caped spellcaster appeared (ATK: 600), 'If I can't get through her monster, then maybe I can trick her into summoning a weaker one…' "I end my turn," he concluded.
"My move, then," Blaineley drew her next card, "I summon (2) Blizzard Warrior(3/ATK: 1400/DEF: 400) to the field in ATK mode!" a knight appeared wearing an armor made head-to-toe in styled ice. In one hand held a double-bladed sword made of ice as well (ATK: 1400), "Next I equip him with spell known as Fighting Spirit! This card gives Blizzard Warrior 300 ATK points for each monster on your side of the field. So I wanna thank you for the 600 ATK points (ATK: 2100). Now attack, Blizzard Warrior!" the knight obeyed his master and struck down the Phantom Magician with a swing of his blade.
Blaineley: 4000
Jason: 2500
"When Phantom Magician is destroyed in battle, I can summon an Elemental Hero monster from my deck with 1000-or-less ATK points! So now I summon Elemental Hero Woodsman in DEF mode!" Jason searched his deck until he found the card he needed. Then, after playing it, the said wood-limbed hero appeared (DEF: 2000).
"I guess your last move wasn't a bluff after all," Blaineley's smile grew brighter, "You even gave me the chance to do this: (3) Dragon Ice(5/ATK: 1800/DEF: 2200), come out to the field!" from a plume of icy smoke from a spot on the field, a draconic humanoid appeared with icy-blue scales and large wings neatly shrouding its sides. Icy breath can be seen exhaling from the creature (DEF: 2200), "This special friend of mine can be summoned from my graveyard when a monster is summoned on your field by sending a card from my hand to the graveyard. But that's not all; when Blizzard Warrior destroys a monster, I get to draw another card," she drew once more.
"So that's what Blaineley discarded for Cost Down," Zane muttered, "Not only that, she also has the ability to draw more cards the more monsters she destroys."
"I guess now I'll place it face-down to end my turn," a reverse-card appeared.
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "During my standby-phase, when Elemental Hero Woodsman is on the field, I can add Polymerization from my deck or graveyard to my hand," he added the spell card to his hand, "Next, I activate the equipment-magic card Scroll of Bewitchment to change the attribute of my Element Saurus to FIRE!" the dinosaur roared as its spines lit aflame, "Next, I activate Polymerization and send Element Saurus to the graveyard, along with the Elemental Hero Poison Rose from my hand," the two monsters were absorbed into a multicolored vortex, "Then I can summon Elemental Hero Nova Master from my fusion-deck!" from that same portal came the armored fire hero in red-and-gold (ATK: 2600), "Elemental Hero Nova Master, attack Blizzard Warrior!" Nova Master charged forth and met the knight with a blazing left hook. The ice warrior managed to survive as he held his spot on the field.
"It's a good thing my Blizzard Warrior had Fighting Spirit in play," Blaineley said, bringing up her card, "This spell card acts as a shield protecting him from destruction. By sending it to the graveyard instead, my Blizzard Warrior stays on the field (ATK: 1400)."
Blaineley: 3500
Jason: 2500
"I end my turn," Jason concluded.
"It's my turn," Blaineley drew her next card, "I summon (4) Blizzard Dragon(4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1000) in ATK mode!" a blue dragon appeared standing on its legs and winged arms (ATK: 1800), "Now to show you a very special-ability! Go, Ice Breath!" the dragon then unleashed a massive gust of cold air that blew over Nova Master. When it passed through, Nova Master was frozen in place in a shell of ice, "With the power of Blizzard Dragon's Ice Breath, I can stop any monster in its tracks until my next turn! That means no attacks, or switching battle-modes! And, after one more face-down, I guess that's about it for my turn."
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "First, I activate Woodsman's effect to add Polymerization back to my hand. Next, I summon Homunculus, the Alchemic Being in ATK mode," the humanoid plant appeared on the field. But the moment its feet touched the floor, the slipped and caused the monster to fall off (DEF: 1600). Jason was surprised and confused at the display until he took a closer look at the floor, and because just confused as he saw that it was covered in a sheet of ice.
"Surprised? It's all thanks to my Eisbahn trap card!" Blaineley revealed her set card, a continuous-trap with a portrait of monsters learning to ice-skate, "And with it any monsters you summon is forced to DEF mode; and it'll stay that way as long as I have a water-attribute monster on my field."
"…I activate the Alchemic Being's effect and change it's attribute to WIND," Homunculus's hide gained a green hue, "Then I place one card face-down and my turn," Jason concluded, in which Nova Master thawed off afterward.
"It's my turn!" Blaineley drew her next card, "I equip Blizzard Warrior with the spell card, Razor Shell! This gives my monster 400 extra ATK points, while lowering his defensive power by 200 points!" the knight was given a spiked, blue turtle shell to act as a shield (ATK: 1800/DEF: 200), "And now that you're fully equipped, go, Blizzard Warrior! Attack Homunculus with Ice Shard Slash!" Blizzard Warrior charged forth with his blade in hand.
"I activate my trap card, Spiritual Wind Art!" Jason opened his reverse-card, and the attack was pushed back by a tornado surrounding Homunculus, "By releasing a wind-attribute monster from my side of the field, I can return one card from your side of the field to the bottom of your deck, and I choose your trap card!" the tornado lunged over and blew away the Eisbahn card.
"Impressive. Oh, before I forget, I'll activate Blizzard Dragon's ability and keep your Nova Master on ice!" Blizzard Dragon froze the hero once again with its Ice Breath, "Finally, I summon another monster face-down to end my turn," a set monster appeared.
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I activate the magic card Monster Reincarnation. By sending one card from my hand to the graveyard, I can add one monster from my graveyard to my hand," he replaced a card in his hand with one from his graveyard, "After adding Element Saurus to my hand, I summon him to the field," the dinosaur returned with its blazing spine (ATK: 2000), "Element Saurus, attack Blizzard Dragon!" Element Saurus fired a stream of flame from its maw and destroyed the dragon.
Blaineley: 3300
Jason: 2500
"I place one card face-down end my turn," Jason concluded, then Nova Master thawed out.
"It's my turn!" Blaineley drew her next card, "I summon (5) Snowman Creator(4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1600) in ATK mode!" a large, blue machine appeared on the field with a mouth opened for a conveyor belt. Two dots for eyes were placed on it to give it personality (ATK: 1600), "I bet you've never seen anything like this before, have you. Well, let me show you what it can do!" a warning light on the machine blared as it came to life. It seemed to create snow while shaping it with mechanical arms from inside, forming snowmen which came to life as they jumped off the moving conveyor belt. When it was done, the field was invaded by four smiling snowmen, "Like it? This nifty machine can create a snowman for each water-attribute monster on my field. And that's not all…" the snowman inhaled before blowing an icy mist that covered the field. Woodsman then felt numb as he was soon being covered in ice. By the time the fog parted, he was already encased halfway, "For each snowman I made, one of your monsters get this little thing called an ice-counter. But that's the least of your worries. Since I made more then three snowmen, I can destroy one of your cards on the field. And who better than your strongest monster out, Nova Master! Snowmen, take aim, and blow!" the snowman took a deep breath and blew another gust of freezing wind at Nova Master, covering him from sight in the thick fog. A moment passed before the snowmen stopped and the fog lifted, revealing a large ice shard that soon shattered into tiny crystals. …But Nova Master still stood on the field, "What just happened?! Why's Nova Master still standing?!"
"I activated my trap card, Shift!" Jason opened his reverse-card, "It can chance the target of an attack or card-effect to another monster. So the monster I chose to be destroyed was my Element Saurus!"
"A machine that can destroy other monsters and Jason still managed to save his Nova Master!" Mindy said.
"Yeah, I wonder where that kind of skill was all those other times he dueled…" Jasmine said.
Blaineley pouted, "Fine. I'll end my turn at that…after switching my Blizzard Warrior to DEF mode, of course," the knight knelt down on one knee with his shield in front (DEF: 200).
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I summon Elemental Hero Voltic in ATK mode," the violet-armored, lightning-streaked hero appeared (ATK: 1000), "Elemental Hero Voltic, attack Blizzard Warrior! Nova Master, attack Snowman Creator!" Voltic destroyed Blizzard Warrior using arcs of electricity while Nova Master punched a hole in the snow-making machine, causing it to explode with its snowmen.
Blaineley: 2300
Jason: 2500
"And when Nova Master destroys a monster, I can draw one card," Jason drew, "Then I place one card face-down and end my turn."
"It's my turn!" Blaineley drew her next card, "I activate the spell Card of Demise! This lets me draw until I hold five cards in my deck, as long as I discard my entire hand during my fifth turn," she then drew five cards from her deck, "Next, I activate the spell card Swords of Revealing Light!" a series of large, glowing swords embedded themselves around Jason's field, "That should keep your monsters in line for three turns. Next I summon Aqua Madoor in DEF mode," a masked spellcaster similar to Neo Aqua Madoor appeared (DEF: 2000), "And with one card face-down, I end my turn."
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I summon one monster in DEF mode and end my turn," a set monster appeared.
"Not much to do there, is there?" Blaineley drew her next card, "I sacrifice both Aqua Madoors to summon a new monster: the (6) Ice Queen(8/ATK: 2900/DEF: 2100)!" in place of the two spellcasters came a life-like sculpture of ice in the form of a young woman, her attire decorated mostly with ice crystals. In her hand was a staff made of crystal ice (ATK: 2900), "And she has more than enough power to snuff out that giant matchstick on your field! Do your thing, Ice Queen!" the Ice Queen raised her staff and fired a beam at Nova Master, covering him completely in a shell of ice before it shattered afterward.
Blaineley: 2300
Jason: 2200
"And that'll do for now," Blaineley concluded.
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I summon Elemental Hero Stratos in ATK mode!" the jetpack-wearing hero appeared (ATK: 1800), "And when this monster is summoned, I can destroy a magic or trap card for each other Elemental Hero on my field. And since Woodsman is on my field, I can destroy your Swords of Revealing Light!" Stratos fired a tornado that ripped through the spell card and the swords themselves vanished, "Next, I place one card face-down. Then I summon Morphing Jar from face-down to face-up on my field!" the living clay jar appeared (ATK: 700), "And when this monster is flipped face-up, both players must send all cards from their hand to the graveyard and draw 5 more cards," both players replenished their hand, "Next, I activate the magic card Rain of Mercy, which gives both players 1000 life-points," the field was then covered with a light drizzle.
Blaineley: 3300
Jason: 3200
"Next I release Morphing Jar to summon the Millennium Shield!" the jar was replaced by the large red-and-gold shield (DEF: 3000), "Next, I activate the face-down card Polymerization!" the set card opened, forming a vortex attracting Stratos and a flowerbud monster, "With it I send Elemental Hero Stratos to the graveyard along Knospe from my hand to summon Elemental Hero Gaia!" the two monsters merged and the earth-armored hero appeared (ATK: 2200), "And when Gaia is summoned to the field, one monster on the opponent's field have their ATK points cut in half!" Gaia smashed a fist into the ground and sent down a Fissure that struck the Ice Queen with a powerful shockwave (ATK: 1450), "Then half of those ATK points are added to Gaia (ATK: 3650)! Elemental Hero Gaia, attack the Ice Queen!" Gaia reeled back one of his giant fists an swung it into the Ice Queen, smashing her to pieces.
Blaineley: 1100
Jason: 3200
"Impressive you managed to destroy one of my most powerful monsters. But you also managed to trigger my Ice Queen's effect. You see, when she gets sent to the graveyard, and there are three or more spellcasters there, I can add a spell card to my hand that's in my graveyard," a card was then added to Blaineley's hand.
"I switch Voltic to DEF mode, and end my turn by placing one card face-down," Jason concluded.
"Then it's my turn!" Blaineley drew her next card, "Oh! I was wondering when I'd draw this! Now the real fun can begin! I activate the spell card, Cursed Twin Dolls!" the continuous-spell card came to life, and a pair of creepy-looking dolls, each on carrying a wrapped box. One was red with a black ribbon while the other was black with a red ribbon.
"Cursed Twin Dolls…?" Alexis muttered under her breath, nearly jumping off her seat.
"What, you heard of it?" Jaden asked.
"I heard that it's a powerful, super-rare card that never made it past the first edition for being too powerful. It looks like Blaineley has a hold of it as well."
"Here's how it's done: you get to pick a box one of the dolls is holding, and you get an effect it comes with. As for me, I can get the box that's left."
"Then…I pick the red box," the box then suddenly popped it's lid, where a shapeless specter floated out and hovered around Jason's duel-disk. Suddenly, several phantom-like orbs appeared over his head, each one holding a monster he thought were supposed to be in the graveyard.
"I guess you're just not the lucky type," Blaineley giggled, "The gift you just accepted, it completely obliterates your graveyard! Meaning every spell and trap card there is removed from play, and every monster comes back to the field as spirits! As for me, I get 200 life-points for every card I send to my graveyard."
"So wait, Jason can't use his graveyard anymore? How's that supposed to be a problem?" Rock wondered.
"You know what fusion is, right?" Aspen asked, "What's the most basic thing you do while fusing?"
"Easy! You take Polymerization and send the monsters you need to the graveyard…oh…"
"Now for another surprise! I sacrifice Gaia to summon the monster known as (12) Santa Claws(6/ATK: 1200/DEF: 2500)!" Jason was still processing the logic of that move as his hero vanished and was replaced by a new monster: a ferocious, red, horned fiend with large purple wings and stag antlers, its shoulders holding mistletoe leaves, its waist and collar wearing a white-and-green boa. Carried over its shoulder was a large burlap sack (DEF: 2500).
"But why did she summon it to my field…?" Jason wondered aloud.
"Oh, sorry! You were under the impression that I summon him for you. My Owner's Seal spell card should change that," the monster then hovered over from Jason's to Blaineley's field, "Since he's my card, it only makes sense he stays on my field. And with two cards sent to the grave, that means 400 go to my life-points."
Blaineley: 1500
Jason: 3200
"Finally, one card face-down. And during the end of this turn, Santa Claws gives me a special present: one card from my deck," Blaineley concluded after drawing one card.
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I activate the magic card Heart of Clear Water and equip it to Woodsman," a translucent liquid aura appeared around Woodsman, "I end my turn."
"Uh, before you do, I play the trap Solemn Wishes," Blaineley opened her reversed continuous-trap card, before drawing for her turn, "So every time I draw a card, I also get 500 life-points."
Blaineley: 2000
Jason: 3200
"With that done, I summon (7) Snow Dragon(4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1400) to the field," a light-blue baby dragon with red eyes appeared (DEF: 1400), "And during the end of my turn I get another card, and 500 more points," Blaineley concluded as she drew her card.
Blaineley: 2300
Jason: 3200
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I summon Elemental Hero Ocean in ATK mode," the merman hero appeared (ATK: 1500), "Now attack the Snow Dragon!" the dragon was struck down with the swing of Ocean's lance. Its destruction afterward released a flurry of snow throughout the field.
Blaineley: 2500
Jason: 3200
"Why thank you, you've just triggered Snow Dragon's special-ability," Blaineley said, "It gives your monsters on the field a special present: more Ice Counters; as many as there are monsters on the field. And thanks to Cursed Twin Dolls, since all the monsters going to your graveyard come back as ghosts, that applies to them as well! So since there's thirteen monsters in total, you have fifteen more counters!" Woodsman became covered in more parts of ice (CTR: 19).
"Girl must really love her counters," Rock whistled, "Is she thinking of making ice sculptures later?"
Aspen scoffed, "It shows what you know; nothing's done for no reason. Those counters…I remember something that can use them…"
"I place one card face-down and end my turn," Jason concluded.
"It's my turn!" Blaineley drew her next card.
Blaineley: 3000
Jason: 3200
"Next, I summon (8) Cold Enchanter(4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200) to the field in ATK mode!" the latest monster that came to the field appeared as a young teenage girl, wearing a costume and headdress of white and blue, with a similar-colored scepter in hand, both styled with ice crystals (ATK: 1600), "This is one of my most favorite monsters. Know why? See for yourself," Cold Enchanter raised her scepter and the field was suddenly invaded by an ever-growling flurry of snowflakes, that soon began to form a tornado cloud overhead, "Cold Enchanter's power relies on Ice Counters. The more counters there are the stronger she is!" the cloud then surrounded Cold Enchanter in a sparkling ice tornado, "And with 300 ATK points per counter, that makes her the strongest monster on the field!" the tornado parted and revealed a giant ice golem in Cold Enchanter's place (ATK: 7300),
"Now that's one life-like hunk of ice…" Rock gulped.
"And there's more where that came from! Her special-ability also allows me to create more Ice Counters for each card I send to my graveyard. And with two of my cards as a generous contribution, that makes 600 more points!"
Cold Enchanter: (ATK: 7900)
Blaineley: 3400
Jason: 3200
"And there's more: remember the spell card I got thanks to my Ice Queen? I activate the spell card Fighting Spirit and equip it to Cold Enchanter! And with ten monsters on your field, that's 3000 more ATK points for her!"
Cold Enchanter: (ATK: 10900)
"Now Cold Enchanter, it's smashing time!" the ice golem raised its giant club and swung it down towards Ocean.
"I activate my trap card Waboku!" Jason opened one of his two reverse-cards, and the large club was deflected by an invisible barrier, "Now I won't take any damage, and my monsters can't be destroyed in battle!"
"I guess you saved yourself this time," Blaineley giggled, "I'll call this one a turn, after I get another little present…" she then drew another card.
Blaineley: 3900
Jason: 3200
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat in ATK mode!" the female flame hero appeared (ATK: 1300), "Next, I activate the trap card Reverse Trap!" the set card opened, and the card's spirit phased from it, "When this card is activated, any effect that increases ATK and DEF points decreases them instead!"
Cold Enchanter: (ATK: 0)
"Elemental Hero Lady Heat, attack Cold Enchanter!" Lady Heat formed a large fireball and hurled it towards Cold Enchanter, who was sent flying from the exploding sphere's force.
Blaineley: 2800-3000
Jason: 3200
"Nice one but remember, my Enchanter had Fighting Spirit equipped," Blaineley said, "So this spell takes her place being destroyed."
"Elemental Hero Ocean, attack!" the merman nodded and thrust his lance against Cold Enchanter, this time destroying her.
Blaineley: 1500-1700
Jason: 3200
"I end my turn," Jason concluded, "Then during the end-phase, Lady Heat's effect activates and inflicts 200 points of damage for each Elemental Hero on my side of the field. And since the monsters in my graveyard count as being on the field, that includes Knospe, Poison Rose, Stratos, Nova Master and Gaia as well!" Lady Heat had nine small fireballs hovering around her before she sent them flying towards Blaineley.
"So that makes 2700 points of damage!" Syrus said.
"Then it this attack makes it then it's over!" Chumley hoped.
"I activate my trap card, Gift of the Mystical Elf!" Blaineley opened her reverse-card, this card gives me the gift of 300 life-points per monster on the field. And thanks to my Cursed Twin Dolls, that gives us sixteen cards!" the obelisk was shrouded in a soothing green aura before being pelted by Lady Heat's fireballs.
Blaineley: 6500-4700-4900
Jason: 3200
"Now that you're done, it's my turn," Blaineley drew her next card.
Blaineley: 5400
Jason: 3200
"I sacrifice my Dragon Ice to summon my Frostosaurus(6/ATK: 2600/DEF: 1700) in ATK mode!" the ice dragon vanished and was replaced by a massive titanosaur-like creature covered entirely in mountains of ice (ATK: 2600), "This big guy out-matches your Lady Heat in both power and size! Attack!" Frostosaurus whipped out its tail and swatted Lady Heat off the field, destroying her.
Blaineley: 5600
Jason: 2100
"I'll just place a card face-down and let Santa take care of the rest," a reverse-card appeared and Santa Claws' effect activated.
Blaineley: 6100
Jason: 2100
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I activate the magic card, Card of Demise!"
"Nice one!" Syrus said, "Now Jason can draw until he's got five card in his hand!"
Now, I can draw until I hold three cards in my hand," he then drew two more cards, "But I can't inflict any damage for the rest of the turn, and I have to send all the cards from my hand to the graveyard during the end of my turn.
"...Uh, okay, I'm lost," Syrus blinked, "Did anyone else miss something?"
"Yeah, did he just read the card wrong?" Jaden wondered, "What kind of card is that?"
"I'm not surprised you don't know about this…" Bastion spoke, "Industrial Illusions got this idea to retrain Card of Demise to make things more challenging. Unfortunately, everyone preferred the old model as it is, so it was pretty much a complete failure after the first public release, and no more were ever created."
"Next, I summon Elemental Hero Heat in ATK mode!" the fire-armed hero appeared (ATK: 1600), "And as long as he's on the field, he gains 200 ATK points for each Elemental Hero on my side of the field. Since there are 10 Elemental Heroes on the field, he gains 2000 ATK points (ATK: 3600)! Elemental Hero Heat, attack Frostosaurus!" Heat charged forth with both superheated arms. He shot like a rocket through Frostosaurus and caused it to shatter in a fiery explosion.
Blaineley: 6300
Jason: 2100
"I think Blaineley actually did Jason a favor," Aspen said, "Thanks to that Cursed Twins spell, he was able to bring out Heat and Lady Heat's powers more that he could before."
"So it's like a power-up for certain monsters, huh?" Rock said, "I need to get me one of those…"
"I place 2 cards face-down and end my turn," Jason concluded.
"My turn!" Blaineley drew her next card.
Blaineley: 6800
Jason: 2100
"I summon the monster I've been keeping face-down: (9) Snowman Eater(3/ATK: 0/DEF: 1900)!" the set monster revealed itself as another snowman (ATK: 0), "And by summoning him this way, I can destroy one face-up monster on your field, like your Elemental Hero Heat!" some kind of creature's maw opened from under the snowman and blew a gust of icy wind over the Millennium Shield, freezing it in a shell of ice before it shattered into pieces, "Next "I play my face-down card Call of the Haunted to bring back my old friend, Snowman Creator!" the snowman-making machine returned (ATK: 1600), "And as soon as he shows up, he makes two more Ice Counters!" the machine whirled to life and created two more snowmen, who then blew another layer of ice around Woodsman (CTR: 23), "With that done I sacrifice both Snowman Eater and Snowman Creator to summon my top favorite: go, (10) Blizzard Princess (8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2100)!" the two monsters left the field and were replaced by a young, blue-haired teenage girl in white-and-blue regal attire. She wore ice-crystal shoulder-pads and makeshift pigtails for her crown. Sitting beside her was a large chunk of ice attached to the staff she was holding (ATK: 2800), "And on the turn her royal highness steps onto the field, you can't play any spells or traps in her presence," both of Jason's reverse-cards were frozen in a sheet of ice, "But I can. Activating the quick-play spell card, Forbidden Chalice! Not only does your Elemental Hero Heat lose 400 ATK points because of it, it also cancels his special-ability as well!" Heat stumbled to his knees as a venomous blue aura hovered around him (ATK: 1200), "Now even your all-powerful Heat bows before royalty! Show him your appreciation, your highness!" Blizzard Princess swung her mace and smashed her giant ice Rock against Heat, destroying him.
Blaineley: 7400
Jason: 500
"And that ends my turn," Blaineley concluded, drawing another card.
Blaineley: 7900
Jason: 500
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I activate my face-down card, the quick-play magic card Spell-Shattering Arrow! This card destroys every magic card on the field, and inflicts 500 points of damage for each one!" Jason's opened reverse-card fired a large golden arrow that pierced through Blaineley's continuous-spell card and destroyed it.
Blaineley: 7400-7600
Jason: 500
"Next, I release Voltic to summon (11) Tongue Twister(6/ATK: 400/DEF: 300) in DEF mode," Voltic was then replaced by what seemed to be a giant monster tongue with a single glaring eye (DEF: 300), "I end my turn."
"It's my turn!" Blaineley drew her next card.
Blaineley: 8100
Jason: 500
"I equip Blizzard Princess with the Fairy Meteor Crush spell card! Not even your life-points are safe from her mighty mace! Attack!" Blizzard Princess swung her mace towards the tongue monster.
"Jason, if you got a trick up your sleeve then you better pull it out!" Rock warned.
"I activate my trap card, Enchanted Javelin!" Jason opened his reverse-card before Tongue Twister shattered into pixels against the princess's mace.
Blaineley: 8100
Jason: 3300-800
"This card gives me life-points equal to the ATK points of the attacking monster. And when Tongue Twister is destroyed in battle after being advanced-summoned, I can remove it from play to draw 2 card from my deck!" Jason drew two more cards.
"Then I'll a card face-down, end my turn and activate Santa's ability," Blaineley concluded.
Blaineley: 8600
Jason: 3300-800
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I activate the magic card Miracle Fusion!"
"Hey, that card looks just like mine!" Jaden said.
"By removing monster cards in my graveyard from play, I can summon an Elemental Hero monster from my fusion-deck! So by removing Elemental Heroes Voltic and Stratos to summon Elemental Hero The Shining!" the two monster were pulled through a glowing multicolored portal, where a taller monster of white appeared (ATK: 2600), "And for every Elemental Hero that were removed from play, The Shining gains 300 ATK points (ATK: 3200)! Now attack Blizzard Princess!" the blades floating around Shining's back-ark pointed towards the princess and shot forth.
"I activate the trap card Negate Attack!" Blaineley's reverse-card opened and shot out a vortex that deflected the blades, "Your attacks have no effect this turn!"
"Then I summon a monster face-down, and another card face-down and end my turn," Jason concluded.
"It's my turn!" Blaineley drew her next card.
Blaineley: 9100
Jason: 800
"I'll have Princess Blizzard attack your face-down card!" the princess swung her mace down on the set monster, revealing it as Elemental Hero Flash (DEF: 1600) before being destroyed.
Blaineley: 9100
Jason: 300
"Funny, I thought you'd lose a bit more than 500 points."
"I activated my face-down card, the Reliable Guardian," Jason revealed his set reverse-card, "This card increased Elemental Hero Flash's DEF points by 700, making it 2300 DEF points combined. And when Elemental Hero Flash is destroyed in battle, I can banish him with 3 other Elemental Hero cards to add a magic card from my graveyard to my hand," Jason removed his three monsters from his graveyard before adding another card to his hand.
Elemental Hero The Shining: (ATK: 4400)
"Fine, then. I equip Blizzard Princess with the Mist Body equip-spell! Now she's indestructible in battle!" Blaineley's spell card came into effect around Blizzard Princess, "That should keep her on top of things. Now I'll end my turn, and Santa's and Solemn Wishes effect activates."
Blaineley: 9100
Jason: 300
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I activate Miracle Fusion again, by removing Elemental Heroes Ocean from my graveyard, and Woodsman from my field!" both heroes were pulled into the vortex, "By doing that, I can summon Elemental Hero Absolute Zero!" from the portal came the ice-armored hero (ATK: 2500), "And for each other water-attribute monster on the field, Absolute Zero gains 500 ATK points (ATK: 3000)!"
Elemental Hero The Shining: (ATK: 5000)
"Elemental Heroes, attack!" both heroes charged forth across the field. Absolute Zero struck down Santa Claws with a swing of his ice sword while Blizzard Princess was struck with The Shining's blades.
Blaineley: 6900
Jason: 300
"I end my turn," Jason concluded.
"It's my turn!" Blaineley drew her next card.
Blaineley: 7400
Jason: 300
"I play a couple of spell cards: Nightmare Steelcage and Different Dimensional Capsule!" a spiked, iron cage appeared over Jason and his monsters, while a large, sarcophagus-like capsule appeared in front of Blaineley, "Now for the next two turns, your monsters stuck inside are unable to attack. As for my capsule, I can take a card from my deck and place it inside," a larger version of that card appeared and lowered itself inside the capsule before it closed and sank into the floor, "And after my next two standby-phase, that card is added to my hand. Finally I switch Blizzard Princess to DEF mode and end my turn," the princess knelt down on one knee.
"It's my turn," Jason drew her next card, "I place one card face-down and end my turn," a reverse-card appeared.
"It's my turn," Blaineley drew her next card.
Blaineley: 7900
Jason: 300
"I play the spell card Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards from my deck!" Blaineley drew twice more, "Next I play the equip-spell Flint on your Absolute Zero!" a three-sectioned bolo shot out from the card and wrapped itself around Absolute Zero, restricting his movements, "Now not only is your hero down 300 ATK points (ATK: 2700), he also can't attack or switch to DEF mode! That ends my turn," Blaineley concluded.
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I won't play anything, so I end my turn," the cage then dissolved from the field.
"It's my turn, then!" Blaineley drew her next card.
Blaineley: 8400
Jason: 300
"And two turns had already passed. So I get to add the card I placed into the capsule to my hand," the capsule returned and released the card to add to Blaineley's hand, "Now I get to activate it: the equip-spell card Megamorph! And since I have less life-points, the ATK points of the monster equipped with this card has their original ATK points cut in half. And your Absolute Zero is the perfect target!"
Elemental Hero Absolute Zero: (ATK: 1450)
"With that, I end my turn," Blaineley concluded.
"Not good," Alexis cursed, "With that Flint card, Absolute Zero can't defend himself, especially with its power more weaker than Blizzard Princess."
"So what's taking so long to attack?" Syrus wondered, "I'm glad she's waiting at all but…"
"Well, there is a face-down card on Jason's side," Chumley said, "Maybe she's being careful."
"Duelist with that big a lead aren't normally 'careful'," Alexis said, "There's gotta be a reason behind it…"
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I activate the magic card Legacy of a Hero! If I have 2 fusion-monsters in my graveyard, I can return them to my fusion-deck to draw 3 cards!" he returned Nova Master and Gaia before drawing three cards, "Next I activate my face-down card, Unity!" the set card opened before vanishing, "Next, I activate the magic card Yu-Jo Friendship! Since my Unity card is in the graveyard, both of our life-points become half of the total!"
Blaineley: 4350
Jason: 4350
Elemental Hero Absolute Zero: (ATK: 2700)
"Oh, I get it now!" Jaden realized, "Since there's no difference between their life-points, Megamorph no longer takes effect!"
"Next, I activate another magic card!" after Jason played the card, Absolute Zero began to struggle, this time with little resistance, until he was finally able to break free.
"My Flint was broken?!" Blaineley gasped.
Absolute Zero then leap into the air wearing a blazing blue aura, before diving down to ram into Blizzard Princess, causing a big explosion that caused Blaineley to cover her eyes, "The magic card I played was called Skydive Scorcher! By choosing an Elemental Hero fusion-monster on my field, I can destroy every monster on my opponent's field with more ATK points, then inflict damage equal to that monster's original ATK!"
Blaineley: 1550
Jason: 4350
"Now this is what I call a turnabout!" Rock said, "After all this time Blaineley's in control, Jason's took it back with the strongest monster in his arsenal!"
Blaineley lowered her shield in time to find The Shining hovering right in front of her. Her eyes widened as The Shining glowed into a bright light that hid them both.
Blaineley: 0
Jason: 4350
The floor was tapped once again by Anais, "Life-points have been reduced to zero and the duel is now complete!" she then raised her staff forward, "Victory goes to Jason Hutchins!" as the holograms vanished, everyone cheered for the show that was brought to them.
But Blaineley was in a different mood as she sank to her knees, staring at the last card she held, 'Why did I have to be so careful?! If I had known that last face-down was a bluff, I wouldn't have waited to play my Cold Wave instead of attacking when I had the chance! I can't believe I fell for it…'
"Blaineley!" the Obelisk jumped at the referee's bark, "As per this duel's rules, your opponent wins the right to this festival's grand prize."
'That's right, I almost forgot about the prize!' Blaineley stood up and went to the edge of the field to deliver the prize but something was out of place. The spot where the prize was supposed to be is empty. Blaineley became alarmed, "It's gone!"
"What?" Anais matter over to Blaineley's side and saw what the Obelisk saw, "What do you mean it's gone?!"
The prize in question was in the meantime being carried off by someone else, away from the festival. When they were far enough away, they decided to take a break and set the box down before leaning against the wall, "I can't believe I put my trust in that girl! And to think she knew what she was doing!"
Flashback…
"So, what's in it for me?"
"I don't know. Whaddaya want?"
"I heard you've been getting some rare cards from an undisclosed source. I want in."
"Fine. I'm sure my 'source' won't mind another 'opportunity'. Then it's a deal?"
"Deal."
…End Flashback.
"That's the last time I rely on someone I can't trust. It's easier to look out for number one," they looked back down to the prize, "This should make up for her failure. I know you're not supposed to open presents until Christmas morning but…" they knelt down and removed the ribbon, so they can open the box…
Blaineley ran as fast as she can down the halls looking for whoever stole the prize. Time was running out for her knowing if that box was opened…
"POP!"
"GYAAAAHHH!"
Blaineley tumbled over to the next corner finding the thing she was most afraid of. The walls down the next hall were spattered with red, green and white paint, along with the ceiling and floor. And the person standing in the middle of it over scraps of torn cardboard couldn't be distinguished by the paint, but she was wearing an obelisk girl's uniform, "Uh, I may not have told you, but that what meant for—" but she had to stop there as she was being chased down the nearest hall by Xiki Nomura.
"GET BACK HERE SO I CAN RIP THOSE EXTENSIONS OFF!"
After the duel Jason found himself back where he first started, at the back of his booth waiting for someone else to try it. But it was highly unlikely since most of the students have gone through it. But still he had to wait until this whole festival is over to stop, not even giving him a chance to join in on the festivities. And even with the prize gone missing no one seemed to make a big deal out of it and just moved on to the rest of the festival. It seemed that Jason went through all this trouble getting nothing when being promised something.
He was then alerted to the sound of White fluttering down to his table, dropping something in front of Jason. Staring back at Jason were the blue frosting eyes of a gingerbread man, in his liking; right down to his black-and-grey cowlick. Although he wondered how that's possible, he was also touched by the gift he was given by White. He doesn't have much to give back aside from the sub-par non-red fruit from Banner, but he could give her another petting. He can figure out the rest later.
It's small moments like this that lets him forget about all the bad stuff…
DUEL-MON DATABASE
(1) Blizzed, Defender of the Ice Barrier
Stats: [Aqua/Effect] Level 1 ATK/300 DEF/500
Attribute: WATER
Description: When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, draw 1 card.
(2) Blizzard Warrior
Stats: [Warrior/Effect] Level 3 ATK/1400 DEF/400
Attribute: WATER
Description:
If this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, look at the top card of their Deck, then return it to either the top or bottom of their Deck.
(3) Dragon Ice
Stats: [Dragon/Effect] Level 5 ATK/1800 DEF/2200
Attribute: WATER
Description:
When your opponent Special Summons a monster (except during the Damage Step): You can discard 1 card; Special Summon this card from your hand or Graveyard. There can only be 1 "Dragon Ice" on the field.
(4) Blizzard Dragon
Stats: [Dragon/Effect] Level 4 ATK/1800 DEF/1000
Attribute: WATER
Description: Once per turn, you can select 1 monster on your opponent's side of the field. The selected monster cannot change its battle position or declare an attack until the end of your opponent's next turn.
(5) Snowman Creator
Stats: [Machine/Effect] Level 4 ATK/1600 DEF/1600
Attribute: WATER
Description:
When this card is Summoned: You can create a number of Ice Counters equal to the number of WATER monsters you control, place them on a face-up monster(s) your opponent controls, then, if you placed 3 or more Ice Counters by this effect, you can destroy 1 card your opponent controls.
(6) Ice Queen
Stats: [Spellcaster/Effect] Level 8 ATK/2900 DEF/2100
Attribute: WATER
Description: This card cannot be Special Summoned from the Graveyard. When this face-up card you control is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, if you have 3 or more Spellcaster-Type monsters in your Graveyard, you can select and add 1 Spell Card from your Graveyard to your hand.
(7) Snow Dragon
Stats: [Dragon/Effect] Level 4 ATK/1400 DEF/1400
Attribute: WATER
Description:
When this card is destroyed by battle or by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard: Place 1 Ice Counter on each face-up monster on the field.
(8) Cold Enchanter
Stats: [Aqua/Effect] Level 4 ATK/1600 DEF/1200
Attribute: WATER
Description: You can discard 1 card to place an Ice Counter on 1 face-up monster. This card gains 300 ATK for each Ice Counter on the field.
(9) Snowman Eater
Stats: [Aqua/Effect] Level 3 ATK/0 DEF/1900
Attribute: WATER
Description:
When this card is flipped face-up: Target 1 face-up monster on the field; destroy that target.
(10) Blizzard Princess
Stats: [Spellcaster/Effect] Level 8 ATK/2800 DEF/2100
Attribute: WATER
Description:
You can Tribute Summon this card in face-up Attack Position by Tributing 1 Spellcaster-Type monster. After this card was Normal Summoned, your opponent cannot activate Spell/Trap Cards for the rest of that turn.
(11) Tounge Twister
Stats: [Fiend/Effect] Level 6 ATK/400 DEF/300
Attribute: DARK
Description:
If this card was Tribute Summoned, when it is sent from the field to the Graveyard, draw 2 cards and remove this card from play.
(12) Santa Claws
Stats: [Fiend/Effect] Level 6 ATK/1200 DEF/2500
Attribute: LIGHT
Description:
You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) to your opponent's side of the field in Defense Position, by Tributing 1 monster they control. If Summoned this way, during the End Phase of this turn: You can draw 1 card.
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