It was a normal day in Miami City. Well, almost normal. While for most people, things would go on as they always do, but things were not going well at all for one, particular eleven-year-old boy named Yuya Sakaki. Just a few days ago, his father, Yusho Sakaki, a world-renowned Action Duelist (a title that came with being the current champion) and founder of the Entertainment Duels, had a match with a challenger named Strong Ishijima, who would occasionally prefer to be known as "The Sledghammer", his stage name, when dueling. However, for some reason, with everyone at the stadium and the Duel set to start, Yusho didn't show.
In fact Yusho couldn't be found anywhere. Search teams looked and are still looking, but had no clue to where he has gone. It was like he completely vanished off the face of the earth, gone off to another dimension or something without telling anybody.
The man Yuya looked up to, his father, was gone. He wouldn't be there at the table this morning like other mornings, looking over the plans for the day as his mother cooked the family breakfast. He wouldn't be at the You Show Duel school, teaching other inspiring Entertainment Duelists of all ages (including Yuya) like he would any other day. He wouldn't be dueling in the stadium today, making everyone in the audience (always including Yuya) and even his opponent smile as he typically won the duel in a spectacular way. He wouldn't be there should Yuya feel particularly sad, knowing exactly what words would help him feel better and smile, like he did when Yuya lost the pendant that he gave him. He wouldn't be there today; he was gone without a trace.
Yuya began to walk down the steps to breakfast, practically dragging his feet across the carpet. He wasn't feeling like coming down today; he didn't even feel like getting out of bed, but he did anyway. It was a school day...he also didn't really feel like going to school, but he knew his mom wouldn't let him skip it, no matter how much he wanted to. It didn't help that when his dad disappeared, people started calling him a coward, since it was right before a match that a lot of people were thinking he could lose. As such, Yuya got picked on.
"Come on, Yuya," Yuya's mom, Yoko Sakaki, called out. "Breakfast is on the table, and you got school to go to."
"Right," Yuya responded halfheartedly.
Yoko frowned a bit as Yuya sat at the table and began eating. He didn't even smile upon seeing his favorite food, pancakes, on the table, something he was normally super excited upon seeing. She heard her phone ring, and looked at the called ID. It wasn't the police, so it won't have any more information on what happened to her husband, but she answered it anyway. The number wasn't in her contacts so no name was given, but it did look familiar, even if she couldn't place it yet.
"Hello? Yes, this is she...oh, so that's why the number looked familiar. How are you doing? Oh...well, thanks for offering, but I wouldn't want to trouble you just because Yusho vanished."
"Oh, there is no need to worry about that," the voice on the other end replied. "Yusho and I were great friends back in college; we even worked together in thinking up some of the tricks he used in his performances, and my schedule is clear for today with me being in the area. If there is anything I can do to help, it won't be any trouble at all."
Yoko then looked at her son, who didn't seem to be acknowledging the phone call as he ate his pancakes in an almost mechanical fashion. Then a thought occurred to her. "Well, maybe there is something. How good are you at delivering messages through duels?"
Line break
School was done...or, at least, part of it for today. Once the kids were done with the regular school, it was time to head out to the Duel School, the one Yuya went to, the You Show Duel school, started by his father. But since Yusho was still missing, his friend and apprentice, Syuzo Hiiragi, took up the teaching there. Yoko was currently walking Yuya as well as his friend, Yuzu Hiiragi, Syuzo's daughter, from regular school to the Duel School.
"So, Yuya, how was school today?" Yoko asked her son, to try and break the silence as they walked to the location.
"Huh? Oh. It was okay. I guess," Yuya replied. You didn't need to be his mother to tell that he still was really out of it.
"Anything interesting happen?" Yoko asked, trying to get something out of Yuya.
"Not really," Yuya replied.
"Unless you count Ankokuji picking on you," Yuzu cut in. "Come on, Yuya, you have been out of it for days now. Who knows what could have happened if Gongenzaka didn't step in when he did?"
Yoko made a mental note to check up on that and make sure it was reported. "Yeah, that sounds like something that should be talked about."
"It's no big deal," Yuya said, which made Yoko wonder just how frequent it had become such a short time.
"It can be very easily dealt with," Yoko countered. She saw the Duel School up ahead. "But I suppose there is a better time and place to talk about that than here. Now come on, kids, we have a special guest coming over at the Duel School today."
"Huh?" Yuya replied, lifting his head a little. That got his attention.
"Who is it?" Yuzu replied.
"A college friend of Yusho's," Yoko replied. "As a skilled duelist, he volunteered to give a small lesson through a duel today."
"Cool," Yuzu said, her interest peaked, before grabbing Yuya by the wrist and pulling as she sped up. "Come on, Yuya, let's go see him."
"Ah, Yuzu, slow down a bit!" Yuya protested as got dragged along.
Yoko laughed a small bit as she saw the two kids run into the school, even though one was only running to make sure he didn't fall over. She wasn't worried that much about them running ahead, as the destination was in her eyesight. She was just worried that the plan might not work out.
The regular classes went by as normal: a quick breakdown of noteworthy spells and traps, a few Action Card grabbing-themed exercises in the P.E. section, as well as some Duel puzzles, appropriate for the age group Yuya was in. He was able to bring himself to smile most of the time, as in the Duel setting he was able to forget about his dad's disappearance. But as his dad also taught there, the fact that he had vanished was not completely forgettable.
Then it was time for the guest to show. "Alright, kids," Syuzo said, "We're cutting the quizzes short today, because we have a guest today."
"Awesome, " Yuzu said, putting the stuff she had out away, "So who are we going to see duel?"
"How did you-?" Syuzo then turned his head toward Yoko."Did you tell them?"
"That we had a guest and that he was going to teach a lesson through a duel, then yes," Yoko answered, "but it's not like it would have really mattered. If I did or didn't. given the time you're introducing him, doesn't make it hard to figure out what he was going to do."
"Fair enough," Syuzo responded before turning to the duel. "You can come in now, Yugi."
Walking in from the doorway was a grown man wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt, dark blue pants, black shoes, and a blue jacket that the man seemed to like wearing as if it were a cape (Yuya made a note of that; it looked kinda cool). Though the most notable thing about him was his tri-colored, star-shaped hair; of all the crazy hair styles Yuya had seen, that one took the cake...and that was coming form a kid whose hair was naturally growing into something that seemed to resemble a tomato.
"Hello, everyone," the man, Yugi, said.
"Hello," most of the kids in the classroom replied.
"So, what what are you going to teach through the duel?" Yuzu asked immediately, "And who will you be dueling? Will it be Dad? Or Mrs. Sakaki? Or-?"
"Yuzu!" The girl's father cut her off, giving her a look.
"Oh, sorry," Yuzu quickly apologized, realizing her mistake.
Yugi laughed for a small bit before saying "It's okay. As for your questions. well, I think that if the intended recipient of a lesson-by-duel can't tell what it is from the duel alone, then I didn't deliver it well enough, so for the most part, you are going to need to watch the duel to find out. As for my opponent..." He then began to scan the crowd of kids. "It will be one of you," he said, with his purple eyes landing on one particular head with tomato-like hair.
The kids were practically jumping out of their seats volunteering, wanting to try and duel. However, Syuzo had to tone down their excitement. "Sorry, kids, but his opponent has already been decided."
A collective moan came out from the kids, with one of them even saying, "I hate it when a student gets preferential treatment for having a parent teacher."
Having heard that, Syuzo spoke up, saying, "We do not give preferential treatment here in this school... if we did, Yuzu would have an A on all her assignments and be joining Yugi here in the duel."
Yuzu had a big grin on her face upon haring that, but it quickly went to one of confusion. "So...who is dueling?"
Yoko then turned her her toward her son, asking, "So, Yuya, you brought your deck with you, right?"
Yuya gained a puzzled look, saying, "Yeah, but what does that have do to wi-?" He stopped upon realizing what it meant.
"Yep, Yuya, you're my opponent," Yugi said simply. "So, shall we head on out to the Action Field and have some fun?"
Yuya looked at the dueling guest, before saying, "I guess so."
At the You Show Duel School Action Field, the kids were waiting in the hallway for the duel to start, set to watch it out the window. Yugi and Yuya were walking up to their position on the Action Field, with Yuya feeling very nervous, and Yoko and Shuzo in the operating booth, ready to turn the field on.
"You sure this will work?" Syuzo asked Yoko.
"Not 100%," Yoko admitted, "partially because I haven't actually seen Yugi duel, and just have to go off of what I heard." She then looked at the field through the booth window. "But I do know that if you are not that boy's father, the best way to get something to stick to him is through or during a duel."
"So it is all down to Yugi, then," Syuzo summed up. "Well, let's hope that he has what is needed." He then hit the microphone button, saying, "Everyone ready? I'm all set to activate the Action Field."
"As ready as I am going to be," Yuya admitted, still feeling nervous.
"Then it is time to Duel," Yugi said simply.
"Okay, then," the teacher said as he turned the microphone off and hit another button, cueing the Action Field.
"Action Field on," the speakers shot out as the it hummed to life. "Acrobatic Circus, activate." The field then transformed into a round stage set for a circus show, complete with props for animals (or monsters) to interact with in a performance and several gravity-defying balls along the rim. Hovering in the center was a slew of Action Cards, orbiting in a sphere, ready for the duel to begin.
Unlike all the other kids, which were always in awe when the field transformed, Yuya didn't quite give any response to the transformed field, something that Yoko noticed. 'No response to his favorite Action Field? This is going to be tough.' She then looked toward Yugi, thinking, 'Good luck, Yugi, you are going to need it to get Yuya out of this funk he's in.'
Yuya took a quick breath as he started the standard Action Duel chant. "Duelists locked in battle!"
The kids, having heard many times before, said the next line in unison, "Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!"
Yoko and Syuzo said the next line (turning the microphone back on to do so), "They storm through this field!"
Yugi said the next line, knowing he had a responsibility as one of the duelists to say at least one, "Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of Dueling!"
Everyone pitched in at the last one, even more hyped up, "ACTION...!"
"DUEL!"
As the Action cards got dispersed, Yugi said, "Well, Yuya, would you like to take the first turn?"
Yuya blinked upon hearing that, "Really?"
"Sure." Yugi said simply, "this is your school after all, I'm just the guest."
"OK, then." Yuya said as he looked down at his hand, "I'll start things off by summoning by 'Preformapal Longphone Bull' to the field in attack position. " As he said that, an anthropomorphic Bull standing on two legs and dressed for a circus show appeared on Yuya's field.
Preformapal Longphone Bull...Attribute:Earth, Type:Beast, Level:4, ATK:1600 DEF:1200
"And now I'll play one card face down and end my turn." Yuya declared, placing a set card.
"Then it's my turn, I draw." Yugi declares, drawing a card. 'Preformapals' he thought to himself. 'Same archetype his father uses, guess that goes to show how much he idolizes Yusho, and with the man now missing, no wonder Yoko felt like he needed some help, you don't need to be the boy's mother to figure that out.' He then looked at his hand, "OK then, Lets start by saying hello to my 'Dark Effigy'." He declared, summoning what seemed to be a box made of smaller purple boxes to his field.
Dark Effigy...Attribute:Dark, Type:Fiend, Level:4, ATK:1500 DEF:0
Yuya cracked a small smile, not able to resist making the obvious joke, "Hello, 'Dark Effigy'."
Yugi smiled when he heard that, now knowing that Yuya can still lighten up during a duel like Yoko said, so all he needed to do what get all the cards he needed. "Now I'll set one card and end my turn."
"OK then, My turn." Yuya declared drawing a card, "To my field, I'll summon my 'Preformapal Whip Snake'." As he said that, a purple snake wearing a bow tie and a top hat appeared next to him, and coiled around Yuya's arm, staying loose enough that it was obviously not going to hurt Yuya.
Preformapal Whip Snake...Attribute:Earth, Type:Reptile, Level:4, ATK:1700 DEF:900
"Now I'll activate Whip Snake's effect." Yuya said as the snake moved away from his arm coiling up on the field in front of 'Dark Effigy', and pulling out some sort of pendulum, "Once per turn, I can switch the attack and defense of one monster on the field until the end of the turn, and by using it on your 'Dark Effigy' I can render it without any attack power." The snake then swung the pendulum in front of Yugi's monster as though it were trying to Hypnotize it, complete with translucent circles moving from the Pendulum to the fiend type monster, and a purple glow emitting from said monster signifying the stat change.
Dark Effigy...ATK:1500 - 0
Dark Effigy...DEF:0 - 1500
"Now Longphone Bull, let's see how well that Effigy can dodge." Yuma stated as the bull seemed to get the message as it began charging at Yugi's monster, horns first.
"Sorry," Yugi said with a smirk "but if you want to get my 'Dark Effigy' off the field, you are going to need to find it first." As he said that, smoke billowed out around his feet obscuring his monster forcing the Longphone Bull to stop it's charge, once the smoke cleared, three large Hats each with a Question mark on them were there on Yugi's field.
"This looks familiar." Yuya noted.
"Probably because you have seen something similar to this before." Yugi commented, "I activated my trap card, 'Magical Hats'! Inside all of these hats is one face down monster." Yugi began to explain, "In of them one is my 'Dark Effigy' that you were attacking, and the other two and some cards that were originally not monsters plucked from my deck that are being treated as monsters with no attack and defense points right now. To attack my Effigy, you will need to first figure out what hat it is in."
"Oh, now I get it, Dad has a card kinda like this one." Yuya noted. "Do it get a bonus for hitting the right hat?"
"Not with this one," Yugi stated. "This set of hats don't play as risky of a strategy as the other set, but failing to hit my monster will still mean that it will be left on the field afterward. Oh, and try not to miss will you, one of these hats might have a nasty surprise waiting inside it."
"Nasty surprise?" Yuzu asked herself, curious since she knew the card wouldn't allow the non-monster cards to be activated just because they were attacked, they would just get destroyed instead. "Hmm, wonder what it could be."
Yuya didn't really may much mind to Yugi's warning, figuring that no matter what hat he chose, his odds were the same either way, "OK then, Longphone Bull, go for the middle hat." The Bull charged again, aiming for the chosen hat, and going right threw it. "Oh well," Yuya replied seeing the hat vanish, and no Effigy inside it, "I still have Whip Snake ready to take another- " Yuya cut himself off when he saw the snake, hat now seemed to be struggling, trapped inside what appeared to him as some sort of glowing Frisbee. "Uhh, wait, what just happened."
"Like I said." Yugi began, "A hat may contain a surprise, this one was known as my 'Advanced Spellbinding Circle' trap card. When this said trap is destroyed while on my field, I am allowed to put it back onto the field activating it."
"You have cards that activate when destroyed?" Yuya asked.
"Yep," Yugi confirmed, "Though in the case of my Spellbinding Circle, that is the only way it can activate. And now that it has, I can use it's effect to bind up any monster you on the field, preventing it from attacking or changing it's battle position, while also negating it's effects and removing 700 of it's attack points. In case it weren't obvious, the monster I chose to bind was your Whip Snake."
Preformapal Whip Snake... ATK:1700 – 1000
"Well, not hard to see how good this guy is." Yoko commented, "It doesn't matter how that card is destroyed, so getting wiped out while it was a monster due to 'Magical Hats' works out well, especially as the Trap allowed him to grab the circle straight from his deck."
"Yeah," Syuzo added, "Based off of what we seen so far, and what we heard from Yusho, if he tried to take Yusho's Champion title, he might be able to do it."
"I end my turn," Yuya said, not having much else to do.
"Than my little Magical Hat game ends," Yugi said, "and the remaining card I pulled from my deck is destroyed, allowing me to use it's effect." As he aid that, the hats got dispelled, showing the image of a Face down monster, undoubtedly 'Dark Effigy', and a Stone Tablet, with a furry monster on it's image.
"Wait, both your cards had effects that active when destroyed?" Yuya asked surprised.
"Correct," Yugi said simply, "It dose help to maximize your card effects in any way possible." He said as the Tablet began to crack and break into 4 pieces "And when this card, my 'KuriTablet', is destroyed, I can special summon 'Kuriboh Token's to all of my open monster zones, though they cannot be used as Tributes for a Tribute summon." As he said that, a small brown furry monster with 4 green paws and 3 caws per paw came out of each piece of the Tablet, all of them accumulating on Yugi's field as the tablet pieces disappeared.
Kuriboh Token...Attribute:Dark, Type:Fiend, Level:1, ATK:300 DEF:200
"And, now it's My turn. I draw." Yugi said, Drawing a card. "First up, I'll play the continuous spell, 'Spell Absorption', with this, I can extract a bit of energy from every spell card played, both mine and yours, while this is out to boost my life points by 500 points per card."
"Every spell?" Yuya began thinking, then he remembered what type of duel this was, "Wait, dose that include action spells?"
"Correct," Yugi confirmed, "As well as this spell, I activate 'Clairvoyance'!" When he played this card, Yuya's face down card began to glow a bit. "Now my correctly guessing if that face down card of yours is a spell or a trap, I can get it shuffled back into your deck and draw 2 cards, however if I guess incorrectly, The card stays set onto your field and you get to draw 2 cards instead."
"Hey I know that card." Syuzo said, "Yusho showed it to me once, it's powerful draw effect based off of a 50/50 chance can easily leave the crowed in suspense to see if he guesses right or wrong."
Yoko then looked at the kids, who practically were glued to the glass separating the hallway from the action field. "Doesn't look like it is needed with these kids. Still, he may be trying to keep things more interesting for us I guess." She commented, before thinking 'Either that, or he has already figured out Yuya's dueling style and plans to exploit it.'
Yuya was a bit wide eyed at that card, seeing his dad play it a lot he knew exactly how it is used, now he was wondering if his opponent knew what he had face down.
Yugi then smirked saying, "Now to take my guess, I am assuming your face down card is a trap card, something like 'Command Performance' or 'Last Minute Cancel'. Am I correct?"
Yuya sighed a bit, "Yep." he replied as the face down revealed itself to be 'Last Minute Cancel' before disappearing, getting shuffled back into the deck.
"Which means I can draw 2 new cards." Yugi said drawing. "and since I played 'Spell Absorption' earlier, I also gain 500 life points out of this as well."
Yugi's Life points: 8000 - 8500
"Furthermore, I will also active another Spell card, 'Summoner's Art'." Yugi declared revealing one of the cards he drew. "With this I can add one level 5 or higher normal monster from my deck to my hand." He said, as his duel disk pulled up the screen for him to select his choices. All the while his other spell would give him more life points.
Yugi's Life points: 8500 - 9000
"A level 5 or higher normal monster." Yuzu stated, mumbling to herself, sorta glad the rest of the class were to focused on the duel to notice her talking to herself. Then her eyes widened as she saw what Yugi was going for. "And 'Dark Effigy's effect."
"Now," Yugi began "when I am to tribute summon a dark attribute normal monster, even if 'Dark Effigy' is face down, I can have it be used as 2 tributes for the tribute summon."
"That means," Yuya realized, now connecting the Dots. "It doesn't matter that your tokens can't be tributes."
"Correct," Yugi confirmed, "all I need to tribute is my 'Dark Effigy' in order to tribute summon, my 'Dark Magician'!" As he said that, his face down monster vanished, and in it's place, a powerful magician stood, wearing a purple cloak, and seemingly ready for action.
Dark Magician...Attribute:Dark, Type:Spellcaster, Level:7, ATK:2500 DEF:2100
"Now 'Dark Magician'! Attack Longphone Bull! Dark Magic Attack!" Yugi declared as the Magician complied, leaping up to fire a stream of dark energy from it's staff, and while it did occur to Yuya to look for an action card, by the time he started looking, the attack already connected, causing a small explosion in front of Yuya, sending him back.
Yuya's Life points: 8000 - 7100
"And With that, I'll play one card face down, and end my turn." Yugi declared. Setting a card.
All the kids were transfixed at the sight of the magician, something about it just seemed to demand respect, even though it didn't seem like it would care if you gave it some or not. Yuya got himself back up and looked at the magician. 'Man, that thing has a lot of attack points.' He thought, then looking down at the cards in his hand. 'and with Whip Snake immobilized, I'm going to need an action card fast in order to get over it.' "OK, I draw." He then declared, drawing a new card and looking at it, a smile appearing on his face as he saw it. "Now to my field, I'm going to summon out my 'Preformapal Hip Hippo'." As he said that, a pink hippo standing on 2 feet and wearing a Tux appeared on his field, saying it's name as a greeting.
Preformapal Hip Hippo...Attribute:Earth, Type:Beast, Level:3, ATK:800 DEF:800
"A Hippo?" Yugi muttered, "Well, I guess it fits in the circus theme your deck has."
"Yep," Yuya replied, "Now lets go Hippo." As he said that, the hippo actually got on all fours as Yuya got on it's back. "Time to get an action card." Once he said that, the hippo barreled off in a seemingly random direction, making a few jumps up on all the solid vision equipment and onto a higher location.
Yugi smiled and stayed in place, he had no intention of chasing after Yuya to stop him from getting the action card, nor did he have any intention of grabbing any himself. It's not like he would be able to reliably preform any of those two actions anyway (he never was he best when it came to Gym), so he figured it would be all the easier if he let himself be handicapped in this way. It's not like he needed to win the duel to deliver his message, he just needed to play the right cards, and he already had what he needed.
Yuya then found an action card on a platform several dozen feet in the air and picked it up. "Perfect." He said, getting of his hippo "I'll now activate Hip Hippo's effect. Since I normal summoned him this turn, I can now tribute summon one level 7 or higher monster this turn as well." From high up on the platform he was on, a thought occurred to him, as a big smile appeared on his face, liking the idea. "I now tribute my Hip Hippo and my Whip Snake, " He said as he jumped off the platform, surprising everyone, and continued saying "And tribute summon, 'Odd-Eyes Dragon'." Below him, a red dragon appeared, with diachronic eyes, ready for action. Oh, and to catch Yuya too.
Odd-Eyes Dragon...Attribute:Dark, Type:Dragon, Level:7, ATK:2500 DEF:2000
Unfortunately, the aim was a little off, and Yuya did not land on his dragon like he planned. Fortunately, the solid vision action field is in it's kid-friendly mode so instead of being a hard landing like concrete, it was soft and bouncy, so Yuya winded up bouncing right on back up into the air. "Ah! Not was I was going for!" Yuya declared as he was now bouncing around the field as his dragon followed his shadow, trying to get under him to catch the boy.
Many of the kids were laughing at the seine, and even the two teachers there were having to hold back some giggles at Yuya's predicament. However, Yugi had his thoughts on something else 'That dragon... Why is it still trying to catch him? While the solid vision system dose try to make the monsters more lifelike by animating them in a way to give them the allusion of personality, the standard personality for a dark attribute dragon type would not have it try to complete a circus-esq performance it's user was trying to do. If it was a Preformapal maybe, but that dragon isn't.' Once the dragon actually did catch Yuya, who is now riding on it's back, Yugi then poke up. "Because the monster targeted by 'Advanced Spellbinding Circle' has left the field, my trap goes to the graveyard, but this is not being treated as it being destroyed, so it will not re-activate as a result."
Yuya took a deep Sigh as he was now atop of his Dragon as opposed to bouncing up and down all over the field, as fun as it felt. "Okay," he said as he got into a better riding position on the dragon and declared. "Battle phase, Odd-eyes, lets go right at 'Dark Magician'. Spiral Flame!"
"There attack points are equal." Yugi pointed out.
"Not for long." Yuya stated as he held up the action card he grabbed while riding on the charging dragon, "Because with the 'Nanana' Action card, Odd-Eyes Get's a 700 ATK point boost."
Odd-Eyes Dragon... ATK:2500 - 3200
"I see then," Yugi observed, "But don't forget, action spells are still spell cards, so I gain another 500 life points."
"Won't change the battle outcome though." Yuya countered as the dragon got the better of the magician overpowering it and destroying it.
Yugi's Life points: 9000 - 9500 - 8800
"That's not all," Yuya stated. "due to Odd-Eye's effect, when it destroys a monster in battle and sends it to the graveyard, you take damage equal to half your monsters original attack points." After he said that, the dragon shot more fire strait at Yugi, the effects of the action field made it so he wasn't hurt, in fact he wasn't even singed, but his life points still fell.
Yugi's Life points: 8800 - 7550
"And as I end my turn, Odd-Eye's attack points return to normal." Yuya stated.
Odd-Eyes Dragon... ATK:3200 - 2500
"Good play, Yuya." Yugi complemented, "But don't think you got this duel won because you beet my magician once."
"Once?" Yuya repeated.
"During your end phase, I'll activate my continuous trap." Yugi declared, as his face down came up, and a stone tablet picturing the magician on it came into form. "Go! 'Eternal Soul'!"
"'Eternal Soul'?" Yuzu found herself asking from the crowed, as none of the kids have heard of that card.
"With this card's effect," Yugi explained, "I am allowed to revive my 'Dark Magician' in my graveyard once per turn."
"Say what?" Yuya asked surprised, as light came out of the Tablet, forming into the 'Dark Magician' that was just destroyed.
"And now, It's my turn," Yugi declared, drawing a card. "and 'Dark Magician' will now attack 'Odd-eyes Dragon', Dark Magic attack!"
"But there attack points-" Yuya began.
"Are equal, I know." Yugi cut in as the Magician clashed with the Dragon again, this time them both getting destroyed.
With no dragon underneath him again, Yuya began to fall, but he felt some things grab his shirt and stop his fall before he hit that ground and started bouncing again, looking at what grabbed him, he saw the Kuriboh tokens.
"As much fun as you may have had bouncing all over the place, It is probably better to save that for another time." Yugi said, "Because now you will find yourself in a very familiar predicament as I am using the effect of my 'Eternal Soul' yet again. Revive 'Dark Magician'!" As he said that (and the tokens laid Yuya gently down on the ground) another stream of light came form the tablet, as the 'Dark Magician' came into from yet again. "And, " Yugi added, "since he left the field and came back during the battle phase, he can get the privilege to attack again."
"That's a thing that can happen?" Yuya asked, only to be answered by the Magician launching an attack right at his feet blowing him back.
Yuya's Life points: 7100 - 5600
"And with that I'll end my turn." Yugi said simply.
Yuya picked himself back up and looked at the magician again, "So wait, no matter how many times, that monster goes down, it will just come back over and over again."
"As the best things tend to." Yugi confirmed, "When something goes missing they are almost never gone for good, wait long enough and it will come back."
"Like a pendulum," Yuya muttered, making a connection, "No matter how hard you push it, it always swings back."
"That something Yusho said?" Yugi asked, surprising Yuya as that was exactly where he heard it from, "I guess that is one way he would put it. Just keep in mind that things may not always return in the same form they did before, and some waits can extend for years." He then turned toward 'Dark Magician' saying, "'Dark Magician' once had to wait several millennia, either 3 or 5, I forget which, to see an old friend again. Obviously, neither of them were in the same form they were before once the wait was over, but they were still able to reunite nonetheless."
"That's a long time." Yuya noted, not quite so sure how long a millennium is, but knowing that it is a long time for someone to wait. A thought then occurred to him 'Wait, could that apply to Dad as well? That he isn't gone for good, and it will just be a long time for me to see him again?'
Yoko smiled in the operating booth, "Looks like Yuya may have just figured out the message."
"Well Yuya?" Yugi asked, "You going to go yet? It is your turn, and we don't want to leave our audience waiting to long now do we?"
Yuya blinked a bit as he got back into reality, before smiling and saying "No, we wouldn't want that. Sorry about that, I draw." He then declared, drawing a card. "I'll summon my 'Preformapal Friendonkey' to the field." As he said that, a dressed up donkey appeared to his field and Yuya wasted no time getting right up on it's back.
Preformapal Friendonkey...Attribute:Earth, Type:Beast, Level:3, ATK:1600 DEF:600
"Okay, Friendonkey" Yuya said to his monster, "We're going to need more action cards." the new Preformapal nodded as it began trotting off at a... decent speed (not quite as fast as the Hippo but still better then your average real world donkey would do) in search of an action card. "Friendonkey's effect activates." Yuya then declared. "When it is normal summoned, I can special summon one level 4 or lower Preformapal from my hand or graveyard. Come on back 'Longphone Bull'!" The 2 legged bull from turn 1 then showed up again, this time crouching in defense position... and somehow hovering so it is stays nearby Yuya as he rides on the donkey. "And when Longphone Bull is special summoned, I can add another Preformapal from my deck to my hand." A screen then showed up on his duel disk so he hit a couple buttons to select his search target. "So I'll add 'Preformapal Elephammer' to my hand. Next set on card face down and end my turn." He declared.
"Then it is my turn." Yugi declared as he drew a card, "I'll activate the second effect of 'Eternal Soul'."
"Second effect?" Yuya asked, "That thing has more effects."
"Yep," Yugi stated, "If I have no need to revive my 'Dark Magician' this turn, I can instead use it's magic to add one of two specific spell cards from my deck to my hand, so I'll add my 'Dark Magic Attack' card." At this moment Yuya spotted another action card and got moving in it's direction. As Yugi continued, "And by activating my 'Dark Magic Attack' Spell, not only will 'Spell Absorption' give me an extra 500 life points, but my 'Dark Magician' will be able to destroy all spell and trap cards on the field."
"Dark Magician is seeming kinda O-P." a random kid next to Yuzu said as the magician destroyed Yuya's set 'Command Performance' and Yugi gained life points.
Yugi's Life points: 7550 - 8050
"Do you even know what O-P means?" Yuzu asked the boy.
"Nope." he replied honestly.
"Now 'Dark Magician', attack Friendonkey, Dark Magic Attack!" Yugi declared as Yuya got of the donkey and dove for the action card. The attack connected and smoke billowed out from the area. Yugi went to the site to check if Yuya was okay. Only to see the attacked Friendonkey still okay once the smoke cleared.
"Whew, just in time." Yuya stated, "Thanks to the action spell 'Miracle', I was able to half the damage and stop my monster's destruction."
Yugi smiled some, "Good thing you found it then, but don't forget that you did still take some Damage and since 'Miracle' is a spell card, I gain more life points."
Yugi's Life points: 8050 - 8550
Yuya's Life points: 5600 - 5150
Yugi then looked back to his hand stating, "And now, I'll set one card face down and end my turn."
"My turn then." Yuya declared drawing a card. "And now that I have 2 or more Preformapals on my field, I can summon the Preformapal's leader 'Preformapal Elephammer' without needing a Tribute." As he said that, a big, blue elephant with a tuxedo, top hat and a hammer for a trunk appeared on his field.
Preformapal Elephammer...Attribute:Earth, Type:Beast, Level:6, ATK:2600 DEF:1800
"2600 attack points." Yugi observed.
"Yep." Yuya stated, "And when he attacks all spell and trap cards you control are bounced straight back to your hand."
"Not today Yuya," Yugi replied. "I activate my face down card, 'Skill Drain'." He then declared as a red aura surrounded him for a small bit. "By paying 1000 life points this card negates the effects of all monsters on the field."
Yugi's Life points: 8550 - 7550
"Ah phooey" Yuya replied, before shrugging "Aw well, Elephammer still has more attack points, so I'll switch Longphone Bull to attack position while Elephammer will now go on and attack 'Dark Magician'!" He then declared as the elephant complied, whacking 'Dark Magician' with it's hammer-trunk wiping it out before it even connects to the ground.
Yugi's Life points: 7550 - 7450
"'Dark Magician' may be gone for now, but he will be back soon enough and until then I still have my Kuribohs." Yugi reminded, "And you will have to get through them before you can get to my life points."
"Well I better start doing that then, huh?" Yuya replied, "Longphone Bull, Friendonkey, go at it." Yuya announced as his to remaining Preformapals wiped out half of Yugi's Kuriboh defense. "And now, I'll end my turn. Come on Friendonkey, we'll be needing some more action cards."
"During the end phase, I'll activate the effect of 'Eternal Soul' to resurrect 'Dark Magician' yet again." Yugi stated as his 'Dark Magician' came out of the tablet once more. "And now, I draw." He then declared as his turn started, "And with the other effect of 'Eternal Soul' I can add my 'Thousand Knives' spell to my hand."
"And with my 'Thousand Knives' spell, not only can spell absorption increase my life points," Yugi stated, "But my 'Dark Magician' will be able to take your Elephammer down." As he said that, several knives began to appear around the revived Magician, before flying toward Yuya's elephant and making it disintegrate in white light.
Yugi's Life points: 7450 - 7950
"And now I'll activate my 'Diffusion Wave-Motion' spell card, " Yugi declared "At the cost of 1000 life points, 500 of which will be supplied by 'Spell Absorption', I can have my 'Dark Magician' attack both of your remaining monsters."
"Say what?" Yuya asked surprised and a little scared, he had not yet found another action card to help him.
"Go 'Dark Magician', Double Dark Magic attack!" Yugi declared as the Magician complied, launching an attack that tore through Longphone Bull and caused Friendonkey to explode, this indirectly causing Yuya to stumble as his ride vanished and he wound up rolling straight off the action field's circus stage.
Yugi's Life points: 7950 - 6950 - 7450
Yuya's Life points: 5150 - 4250 - 3350
"And with that, I will end my turn." Yugi stated.
Yuya coughed a bit as he stood up, and looked at the monster he faced again. He almost couldn't believe it, he tried all of his best tricks so far and he always wound up in this exact position again, only with less and less life points, his lack of progress was making him very sad. "When you feel like crying, laugh." Yuya's eyes widened when he remembered that, it was something his Dad told him one day when he got really upset. "See, no matter how hard you push it, it always swings back." That was another thing he said, and that no matter how gone something might seem, it will always return... just like Yugi's magician! And maybe his dad as well. "OK then." Yuya said as he laughed a bit, doing what his dad taught him. "It's my turn. I draw!"
"So, do you have something else to help you get over my Magician?" Yugi asked.
Yuya looked don at the 4 cards in his hand, and smiled as he saw the card he drew, 'Monster Reborn'. "Yep." Yuya said, "But before I bring it out, I'll need to activate this, 'Mystical Space Typhoon'!" He the declared, unknowingly making Yugi slightly worried. "So with this, I'll free up my monster effects by getting rid of Your 'Sill Drain'." He then explained as a strong wind came in vaporizing the solid light representation of Yugi's card.
Yugi breathed a small sigh of relief, glad Yuya apparently didn't know about 'Eternal Soul's downside. "Don't forget about 'Spell Absorption'" He then replied, "That spell you played also boosted my Life points as a result."
Yugi's Life points: 7450 - 7950
"I know." Yuya replied, "But I got more then just that, I'll now summon my 'Preformapal Thunderhino'" As Yuya said that a new monster appeared on his field, this one being a rhinoceros with a bow-tie, a top hat, and electricity coming out of it's horn.
Preformapal Thunderhino...Attribute:Light, Type:Rock, Level:3, ATK:200 DEF:1800
"And now I play, 'Monster Reborn'!" Yuya declared, holding up the card.
"'Monster Reborn'? So what card are you going to bring back? Elephammer?" Yugi asked, while silently hoping that the named Preformapal was not the card Yuya was planning on bringing back as his life points increased again.
Yugi's Life points: 7950 - 8450
"Nope," Yuya replied, "I'm bringing back my 'Odd-Eyes Dragon'!" As he said that, the monster that first took down 'Dark Magician' came out again, roaring and ready for... something, it then seemed to say 'Hi' to Thunderhino once it noticed it had company on Yuya's field, so it was kinda hard to determine if it wanted to fight or play. "And now, by releasing the light attribute Thunderhino, Odd-Eyes can evolve!"
"Say What?" Yugi asked, rather surprised that the Dragon was one such a monster.
Thunderhino then turned into a ball of light that then went into Odd-Eyes and it glowed as Yuya chanted, "Come forth, dazzling light of salvation that shines in the darkness of despair! Odd-Eyes Saber Dragon!" Once the glowing stopped, Odd-Eyes Looked different, sporting metal armor all over it's body and blade like spikes out of the back armor, this dragon was undoubtedly ready to fight.
Odd-Eyes Saber Dragon...Attribute:Light, Type:Dragon, Level:7, ATK:2800 DEF:2000
"Now Odd-Eyes attack, 'Dark Magician'." Yuya declared, and the dragon complied, launching white fire at the magician, destroying it.
Yugi's Life points: 8450 - 8150
"When 'Odd-Eyes Saber Dragon' destroys a monster in battle, it's ability activates," Yuya continued, "allowing it to take out another monster." As he finished that, a Kuriboh token blew up, laving Yugi with only one left. "And with that I end my turn."
"During the end phase," Yugi states, "'Eternal Soul' can resurrect my 'Dark Magician' yet again." As he said that, the Dark Magician appeared yet again, this time in a crouching stance, signifying defense position. "And now it is my turn. I draw" Yugi then declared, drawing a card, then closing his eyes and saying "I'll pass this turn."
Yuya blinked, quite surprised that Yugi didn't have anything to play, "OK then, I draw." He then looked at his card and smiled,"'Preformapal Bowhopper', hit the stage." Upon saying that 2 Grasshopper like Preformapals showed up, one large and one small, with the small one riding the big one and the big one having some sort of Crossbow attached to it's head.
Preformapal Bowhopper...Attribute:Earth, Type:Insect, Level:4, ATK:1500 DEF:1000
"Now, Odd-Eyes, Take out 'Dark Magician' yet again!" Yuya ordered as the saber dragon did just that giving the magician a giant whack with it's tail to make it explode in yellow light.
"He'll be back." Yugi stated.
"But your life points will be taking a hit in the mean time." Yuya stated. "Because Odd-Eye's effect takes out the your last Kuriboh." As he said that, the Dragon shot yellow fire out at the Kuriboh, making it explode in a cloud of smoke.
"Oh Yeah!" One of the kids right next to Yuzu shouted... something she didn't appreciate that much. "Now Yuya can get in a direct attack."
"Heh," Yugi began, "sorry Yuya but that wasn't my last 'Kuriboh'." He then looked toward the smoke cloud from where his Kuriboh was, "In fact, as you can now see, it was far from my last one." As he said that, the smoke cleared, revealing 5 more Kuribohs had taken the spot of the last.
"Wait? What?" Yuya asked, baffled how the token monster multiplied on him.
"When a monster I control is destroyed," Yugi began explaining, "I can banish the 'KuriTablet' in my graveyard to activate it's second effect and once again fill my field with more Kuriboh tokens."
"Aww, Man." Yuya said before shrugging "Aw well, I'll just get rid of these as well, Bowhopper take out a Kuriboh." As he said that, the smaller of the grasshoppers pressed itself back on the bow of the larger one, shooting itself out like an arrow to make one Kuriboh vanish in golden light, before hopping back to to bigger one. "And now I'll use Bowhopper's ability, by tributing a Preformapal, I can add a different one from my graveyard to my hand. So Bowhopper can take a nice nap in the graveyard and Friendonkey can get all ready for a performance to happen next turn. Your up."
"Hmm," Yoko muttered to herself, "I wonder if Yuya realizes the combo he can pull off now."
"What do you mean?" Syuzo asked.
"Well, when Friendonkey is summoned, he can use it's effect to bring back Bowhopper," Yoko explained "Then after attacking, he can use both of Bowhopper's abilities to deal a little bit of burn damage and get Friendonkey back into his hand again, while also leaving no monster on his field for Yugi to attack other then Odd-Eyes."
"Oh, Now I see." Syuzo stated, "He could do that every turn if he wanted. That would be clever if he realized it." He then saw Yugi's smile off to the side. "Though judging by the look of Yugi's smug smile there, Yuya may not get the chance to do that." When Yoko then looked at Yugi and his smile, she saw what he meant.
"During the end phase, I will once again use 'Eternal Soul' to bring back my 'Dark Magician'." Yugi declared as his magician once again came out of the tablet, this time poised in a standing position. "And now, I draw! This was a good duel Yuya, but sadly we can't keep this going on forever." He then stated, "Everyone will have places to be, so I'll be ending the duel this turn, so I apologize to Friendonkey that it is preparing for nothing."
"You can end it this turn?" Yuya asked not quite believing it.
"Correct, with this card." Yugi stated, "The equip spell, 'United We Stand'! In addition to being a spell card and boosting my life points through 'Spell Absorption'. This card will increase the attack and defense points of the equipped monster, my 'Dark Magician', by 800 points, for every monster I have face up on my field."
"Wait, every monster?" Yuya asked "Dose dose that count-" his eyes widened as he realized the answer and the result.
"Yes." Yugi confirmed, "Token monsters, like my Kuribohs count toward this, and now your about to witness just how much strength they can give my magician." He then declared where upon saying that a white glow began to appear around all 4 remaining Kuribohs, as strings of energy came out of them and toward the 'Dark Magician', who also began to receive a bright purple glow around his body, as he then twirled his staff, before getting into an attacking stance, with the latter action creating a powerful wind gust that almost blew Yuya over.
Dark Magician... ATK:2500 - 6500
Dark Magician... DEF:2100 - 6100
Yugi's Life points: 8150 - 8650
Through the wind gust, Yuya saw an action card get blown around, and tried to grab it, but missed, "Shoot, Odd-Eyes?" He then asked. The Dragon gave a quick roar before letting Yuya on it's back and started racing toward the action card.
"'Dark Magician', end this duel, Dark Magic Attack!" Yugi declared as the Magician shot forth, launching a powerful burst of magic energy, the attack connected just as Yuya grabbed the action card, causing a giant smoke cloud to cover he area where Yuya and his dragon were.
Yuzu and all the other kids around her stood on speechless, unsure as to if Yuya was able to use the action card in time. Out of all the kids in the class, Yuya was the best at getting action cards, and most action cards he could have gotten would, at the very least, help him survive the attack, even if it was only to boost his dragon's attack points to cut the damage he would receive.
Yoko and Syuzo also didn't know what to make of this, they knew Yuya was good at getting just the right action card he needs... or at least 'Evasion' more often then not, allowing him to just outright negate the attack. But with the way the magician attacks went and with how little time there was between him getting the action card and the attack connecting, they weren't sure.
Once the smoke cleared, we saw Yuya laying on his front dragon gone, action card in in his hand right there by him, the other couldn't see what the action card was, but he did... it was 'Damage Draw' a card that lets him draw 2 cards, after he takes 2000 or more points of damage.
Yuya's Life points: 3350 - 0
"I win." Yugi states as he walks toward Yuya as the solid vision deactivated, returning the field to normal while the Kuribohs, magician and action card vanished. As Yuya began to pick himself up, Yugi knelt to offer Yuya a hand, "All, things considered, you did pretty well, being able to take down 'Dark Magician' as many times as you did."
Yuya looked up and took the hand, saying "To bad it didn't matter that much, you ended the duel with more life points then we started with."
"Perhaps but life points aren't everything, not to mention that you have a lot of potential and can get better very easily," Yugi stated, "Besides the goal wasn't to win anyway." He then saw the kids and teachers begin walking into the field, "it was to see if a lesson could be learned from the duel."
Syuzo looked at the kids and the duelists, saying "So, anyone pick up anything from that duel?"
One kid raised a hand and said "'Dark Magician' is an O-P card?"
The adults in the room... and Yuzu, all had deadpan expressions upon hearing that, "No." Yoko said, "'Dark Magician' is not O-P, it is a level 7 normal monster."
When no one else was saying anything, Yuzu spoke up saying, "Well, for one, if a monster is summoned in the battle phase it is still allowed at attack, even if it technically already did so earlier in the turn. Also, not all synergy is based around card archetypes. That's two that I can think of."
"There we go." Syuzo said, happy that at least his daughter was paying attention to how the plays work. "OK, since time is short, and no one else wants to answer, I'm thinking we end today's classes right about now." There was a collective cheer from the kids, "But you are all going to need to come back tomorrow with at least one thing written down on paper of something learned from this duel, except for one of the two things Yuzu listed." There was a collective moan from the kids.
Yugi then turned toward Yuya, "We Yuya, do you have something to put down on that paper? I don't think you'll get a free pass just because you were dueling."
Yuya then turned toward Yugi with a big grin on his face, "No need to worry about that, I got the perfect thing." He didn't know exactly how to word it, but he knew what it was. Sure it was one of the things his father taught him before, but it could... probably, be used here. Either way he was glad to be reminded of it. He will see his father again someday, he was sure of that now, even if it will take a long while for him to show up, Yuya can and will wait.
If only, by the time they did reunite, it was under better conditions.