Yu-Gi-Oh!: Prerecorded History
A story that chronicles Natasha's creation of Clan Prime as well as Lamar Vega's ascension to the title of King of Games
Author's note - Something compelled me to get around to publishing this old story that's come with the various computers and laptops i've owned over the years. As it states, this is a prequel to the story YuGiOh: Future History. This should get you knowledgeable about some of the other characters to my series. My stories generally don't get many reviews, but i think i write these days more for me than for fans or followers. Reviews and critiques are welcome and appreciated.
This story, insofar as its dueling, uses the anime rule of 4000 Life Points as opposed to 8000.
The teen rating is for some mild swearing. Hope you enjoy the story.
TWO YEARS PRIOR TO FUTURE HISTORY
Natasha stifled a mighty yawn that wanted to escape her lips and unleashed her morning breath on the pillow trying to plug her ears from the alarm clock. Seeing that it wasn't going to work, she slammed her palm down repeatedly on top of the digital alarm clock, hoping to slap some button to stop the noise. The morning newscasters she heard were far too awake for her taste.
"Hotel radios…" she mumbled, "…suck."
Five minutes later, since she hadn't moved and was welcoming sleep again, the radio blared with an advertisement for male enhancement. Her hand came down upon the radio again and with one slap, it was silent again.
"Where's the drug for male cranium enlargement…" she mumbled, laughing to herself, "With a side effect of reduced instances of stupidity?"
Untangling herself from the covers, Natasha slipped out of bed. Her blonde hair looked more like a briar patch and her face silently screamed for a hot shower, which is where she was heading. She wore a loose t-shirt and boy boxer shorts as her 'nightie' ensemble.
"Sweet bliss…" she murmured, pushing open the door. She'd taken one step onto the cool, white tile before she heard an odd sound above her and didn't even get to look up before icy water fell from a hotel icebucket and drenched her. If the male enhancement commercial wasn't enough to wake her up, this loud, shrill scream that blasted from her lungs was.
In the living room, this scream was heard by all.
"What the…?" went one voice sleepily.
"You actually did it?" went another voice with concern. Obviously for their health.
"Did what?" went a third voice, with a hint of mock sarcasm.
Nothing else got said before the door to the living room snapped open with a positively furious Natasha Chapel standing before her guests in an open white cloth robe that was supposed to help warm the body, but her irritation was doing wonders all on its own. She was still soaked, though at this rate, that water could turn to steam off her body.
"Somebody…is…going…to…die…today!"
Natasha growled, gritting her teeth and stomping forward with a dinosaur like pace toward a singular form on a couch that was standing still. Natasha pounced on the form and felt her body crush against something a lot softer than a human body should've been. She felt rather than saw that there was a couple pillows under that blanket. Rising over the edge of the couch, she saw her target stand before her. Natasha looking up at her, and Ginger looking down at her.
"Ginger…" Natasha growled, feeling her damp body start to soak the blanket and pillows below it.
"Good morning, girlfriend!" Ginger chirped. Ginger was a fairly young girl, only 15 but really sweet. But she was also quite the troublemaker, too. If she didn't have the dyed blonde hair and instead went with her natural red, then it'd make perfect sense. A couple of times, Natasha wondered why she didn't go with her natural look. She had short, wavy blonde hair that probably would refuse to move in a wind tunnel with the way she treated it. But she was on the short side and probably stood no higher than five feet tall without shoes on.
"Good morning, girlfriend." Natasha mumbled copying Ginger's almost melodic greeting. "I suppose you know nothing."
"That's right." Ginger quipped, clasping her hands behind her back and standing on her toes. She'd gone to bed in a light pink pajama set that had various types of fruits on it, mostly raspberries and strawberries.
"And I suppose you think I'm trying to kill you for no reason?" Natasha said, smirking slightly and trying to readjust her body without being noticed.
"Hmm…I think you have a reason." Ginger said with a bright smile.
Natasha lunged at Ginger from the couch, who put her hands up in mock defense as she fell to the ground but Natasha was half on top of her and half draped over the end of the couch. Natasha tousled with her like that for a few minutes, their giggles drawing her other guests out from under their covers.
"I was sure you would've killed her." Penny said, smiling at the two.
Natasha pushed herself up so she wasn't draped over the couch like a throw rug or a kid needing a spanking and looked over at Penny. "Like you didn't have a hand in it, Penny."
Penny was Natasha's second guest. Penny was a blonde kind of like Ginger but she was a natural. She was a bit taller than Ginger, but not by much, and had a sparse sprinkling of freckles around the bridge of her 15 year old nose. Nice hazel eyes and a ferocious mane of well cared for blonde locks. And almost with it came that blonde mentality. In short, Penny was boy crazy. She would always have her nose in a Teen Teen Cosmopolitan or Tiger Beat or any of those other magazines that did nothing but show off either celebrities or have pictures of men she drooled over.
"Well…no, but at least you got a head start on your shower!" Penny reasoned.
Natasha tried to blow a wet strand of blonde hair out of her face with little success. "Girl, you were the one needing a shower last night, hooting and hollering about WWE this, wrestlers that and…whoever."
Penny lost herself for a moment, her eyes becoming dreamy and glassy. "WWE is my fix…"
"Oh, Lord…" Natasha began, looking toward the sky, or in this case, the white ceiling of her hotel room. "Was I really once like that?"
Natasha looked at Penny and could see that her words hadn't reached her. Somewhere off in her mind, Penny and the flavor of the day were probably running through a field of white flowers together hand in hand. Or maybe something more lucid like heading for a hotel room of their own.
"Someone's being pretty quiet." Natasha said of her third guest.
"Huh? Oh, sorry." came the typically quiet reply.
"Come on, Jan. You're apologizing for being quiet?" Natasha laughed.
Janet Rush seemed to blush and try to lower herself into her chest. Janet was a 16 year old girl that seemed to have shyness like some people have diseases; incurable. She was the lone non-blonde in the room having short brown hair that she parted down the left side of her face, letting some bangs hang just over her eyebrows. Whereas Penny's eyes were hazel, Janet's were brown that almost matched her hair. She was second tallest in the group, standing taller than Penny and Ginger but just a notch lower than Natasha.
Natasha could see it on her face that if she could've, Janet would've apologized for apologizing. She let out a heartfelt sigh. "You know, Jan, I think I need to get some of Penny to rub off on you. Maybe a boyfriend would do you some good."
Janet looked up with a wide eyed look at Natasha, but saw her wink playfully at her. It still didn't stop the rapid beating of her heart any. They all knew of Janet's aversion to boys which was a complete flip-flop of Penny. Natasha joked, "But knowing Penny, she'd probably try to steal him from ya."
Penny stood up, feigned like she'd been shot with an arrow to the heart. She collapsed on the couch with her tongue dangling lazily off the side of her mouth and her eyes rolled up into her head.
Natasha covered her mouth with a small giggle. "Come on, Jan, you know I'm just teasing you."
Janet smiled a bit. "I know, but you guys know I don't do well with boys."
Natasha stood and stretched out a bit. "You keep beating them in duels, Jan."
Janet innocently asked what that has to do with it.
Natasha smirked, "Well, maybe eventually, you'll find a knucklehead that doesn't throw a girl fit when he loses to a girl."
After settling the argument that arose between the four about who'd get the shower first, Natasha was heading back to the bathroom hearing grumbles of 'I knew it was a bad idea,' and 'I hope the hotel ran out of hot water,' as parting shots.
The glamorous life of a tournament duelist, getting pranked on and arguing for first dibs on the shower, she thought to herself as she threw her soaked garments aside. C'est la vie.
About an hour later, they'd all gotten a chance to use the shower individually, get dressed and have some breakfast that they'd ordered the night previous via room service.
Now they were sitting around the living area. Natasha had disentangled her hair and tied it into a ponytail. It would normally hang a little ways past her shoulders behind her but she liked to have it hang off her shoulder in front of her body. She slipped on some comfortable white tennis shoes and a pair of loose tan capris. No belt, but she had looped a deck holder through one of the belt loops on her right hip. A form fitting sleeveless white t-shirt completed her tomboy-ish like outfit.
Penny decided to dress much like she had yesterday, like she was hunting for boys. She decided to let her hair flow free just past her neck. She'd decided to go with a pair of blue jeans that had small patches that let flashes of her legs peek through. Like Natasha, she'd gone for a sleeveless form-fitting shirt but hers had been tied into a knot so it exposed her midriff. It also had a stenciled in image of a lipstick print across her bust. She also had a small purse with her that carried, among other things, a variety of perfumes.
Ginger had picked out a light red basketball top that seemed to just hover on her small frame with a black tank top on beneath it that peeked through even with the smaller than normal armholes. She tucked that into a pair of cutoff jeans that hugged against her small body. It was the same with just about any outfit the girl put together, it elicited 'cute' before you thought of 'pretty'.
Janet had pulled out a modest blue jeans skirt that hung to mid-thigh and had pulled on a matching vest. The outfit was designed for the vest to be worn like a top but it would expose her midriff so she wore a tan shirt below it and kept the vest open. She fitted the skirt with a black belt and looped a deck holder through it. The tan in the shirt made one notice her brown eyes and short, collar length hair.
Natasha caught Janet looking and holding her deck while in the middle of their conversation.
"Still thinking about that first match from yesterday?" Natasha asked.
Janet looked up then dejectedly looked back at her deck holder.
"Well, don't let it get you down too much. You're certainly not the first to lose in the first round of a tournament, Jan." Natasha said, trying to comfort her with a small smile.
Janet had nodded meekly but then was mugged by Ginger, draping herself over the timid duelist. "But you're one of the first girls to make it to the national tournament level!" she exclaimed happily.
"And the first out of the two that got knocked out." Penny added with no sympathy. Ginger stuck her tongue out at her and looked down at Janet.
"Maybe I wish I could've breezed through the first day like Natasha did." Janet said. "I mean, I had to duel in a playoff because me and another guy were tied for one of the last spots in the tournament. And I won to only get knocked out in the first game."
Natasha let loose one haughty laugh to the winds. "Those duels weren't a breeze, Jan! A lot of those guys were good!"
Penny moaned, "Too bad they all look like dorks. Can't there be one grown and cute duelist in this whole thing?"
Ginger jacked her thumb at Natasha. Penny looked at Ginger then back at Natasha. She'd been lost for a second but when she picked up on the lame joke Ginger hit her with she scowled, "Ha ha, very funny. I mean a man, Ginger!"
Janet looked over at Natasha who was watching her two friends bicker a bit. "Natasha? Aren't you nervous?"
"Hmm?" Natasha hummed, crossing her legs.
"I mean, all you need to do is win your duel today and you'll be in the finals. How can you not be that tense? Aren't you scared?" Janet asked.
Natasha stood up to look at the three of them. "I guess I'm just a natural at not showing it. Truth be told? I am nervous. But being nervous won't help much when I go to my match. And speaking of which…"
Natasha glanced at a digital clock on the wall telling her it was time to head downstairs. She slung the small bag carrying her gaming mats, calculators, dice and tokens as well as some snacks over her shoulder. She headed for the door with Janet, Penny and Ginger following.
Upperdeck was a gracious enough host that they picked up the tab for the participants in the final rounds of their national championships, or Duel King Tournament as it was officially recognized. The final sixteen duelists got to stay for free, aside from their own charges, in a decent hotel while the competition played out over two days. In the day previous, Natasha had to beat out some stiff competition to make her way through. In her first match of the day, she easily overcame an early deficit by 2000 Life Points to beat her competitor using a burner-style deck. Sacrificing tokens and easily summoned monsters via cards like Cannon Soldier for quick damage while protecting themselves with Messenger of Peace and Gravity Bind. She beat her opponent by taking advantage of that deck's weakness, low hand cards and no quality attack worthy monsters. Her second opponent used a very unique deck type that she really couldn't put a name to. He used low level normal monsters and some of their power-ups and specialty cards like Triangle Power to punish duelists using higher level monsters, but they also combined it with cards like Level Limit – Area B and, similarly to her previous opponent, Gravity Bind. But once she managed to get one of her own strong monsters to the field, even her opponent's highly enhanced monsters couldn't stand against her.
This led Natasha to the second day. She and her friends entered the banquet hall which had been transformed into a large dueling area. As the day went on and the competition got thinner and thinner in ranks, you saw less tables and fewer duelists. Now, in the second and final day, there were only two tables set up. One for one pair of opponents and another for another pair of opponents, set up nearby each other.
Natasha approached the barriers that separated the duelists from the spectators. The man tending the divider remembered her and allowed her to pass. Natasha looked back at her friends and gave them a thumbs up before walking over to a small lounge area within the duelists' area but separate from the spectators. Her match was supposed to start a little later but she had arrived early. But then she noticed another guy heading for that same area.
She noticed him as one of the duelists that would be at the second table and not hers. A guy she'd learned who was named Will. In her mind, this guy Will was one fairly tough duelist. She'd been busy working her own duels but aside from his opponent, he was talked about as being the one to beat. A very strong machine deck was his choice and it had allowed him to get up to this point.
The two of them sat in the lounge but aside from greetings and casual small talk, they didn't speak. Natasha realized that Will might be thinking the same thing she was, there was a chance they would end up dueling each other within a few short hours. No point in throwing off your focus.
Another young man walked into the lounge and took a seat. This one, Natasha remembered, was going to be her opponent and silently tried to bite back any nervousness she'd felt.
"Hey, baby doll." the guy named Ken said to her, offering a cocky wink.
All of a sudden, as she felt the heat rising in her cheeks, it became less difficult for her to be nervous. She only glared at the kid, obviously younger than her. That wasn't much to say, since she was the oldest duelist left in the tournament. She also didn't say anything to him, not wanting to have it out with him.
Then a small hush came over a little part of the crowd. Natasha lifted her gaze and saw the same man that had let her pass allow in a young African-American kid that walked their way. It was Will's opponent, who would be at the table opposite her. His black hair was neatly stylized into cornrows. Natasha recalled his name as Lamar, but this kid had won a prestigious private tournament that she'd read about not long before now. The C.G. Invitational was a tournament that more than most hoped for entry to as it was invitation only. Some of the best duelists throughout the world were invited to attend. And he was basically an unknown; no one had known of him or what kind of skill he had to get in. But he won it handily, beating some of the world's best. More people called and recognized him by his last name than his first because of it. Lamar Vega.
She watched the kid stride past them all to take a seat for himself but before he could seat himself, the cocky kid named Ken uttered out, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…"
Natasha couldn't see Vega's face but as he took a seat and turned his face so he could see them all, he just smirked at Ken and said amusedly with a genuine smile, "You're unquestionably certain of yourself."
Ken threw his hands behind his head and relaxed into his chair. "I been here before. I even saw this other guy, Will, here before. But it's the first time I ever seen you at this level. Or a girl."
"Get used to seeing me here, and I'm not your doll." Natasha sassed.
"The same goes here." Vega added, looking at the girl and nodding with respect.
Ken shook his head in disagreement to Vega. "You're a flash in the pan, kid."
Now, what Vega took to be good-natured bickering turned a little more personal. With a steady voice, he asked just what he means by that. Ken hadn't seen his reaction, seemingly focused elsewhere, but he said, "It's just as I said, no more, no less. I mean, you're completely new to the Duel King Tournament. A first time registrant that made his way to the national level. Just where were you beforehand, searching for all the luck you used to get this far?"
Vega let his hand stray to his right side where a deck holder rested. "Training. Learning from a great duelist."
"Like who?" Ken scoffed. "Darrin Ledger?"
Vega countered with some venom saying, "He wasn't available. Me and my tutor went by your girlfriend's house. So nice of her to allow us in."
Natasha sat back, seeing that Vega and Ken were getting a little annoyed with each other. Natasha had certainly heard of that name before. As far as she and most others were concerned, Darrin Ledger was the closest thing the game of Yu-Gi-Oh! had to a juggernaut. But with his impressive tournament resume of winning both the Duel King Tournament and the C.G. Invitational, there had been talk of him entering a slump. That kind of talk was further fueled by the fact that he hadn't attended the very same C.G. Invitational that Vega won and he was also absent from this current Duel King Tournament as well. Even though she felt as though she'd lose in an instant, she'd love the chance to take on such a player like Darrin Ledger.
But before more could be said between Ken and Vega, a woman was motioning for them to come toward the two tables they'd set up for them. Natasha grabbed her sack and walked along with the other duelists. Before, the tables were just bare. Now they'd been covered with a nice white tablecloth for each and now some camera equipment was set up around the area. The first thing Natasha noticed about these cameras was that there were a pair that were suspended above the tables. This offered a bird's eye view and the more preferred viewing angle of watching a duel. Then there were three other for each table, making six in total. Four of those cameras were pointed squarely at the chairs they'd be sitting in. The other two were looking at an angled view of the table to compliment the aerial view.
Silently they were lead to their respective seats and Natasha sat down across from Ken, taking her deck mat out and laying it across her side of the table whilst Ken did the same. She noticed with a small bit of gratitude that he wasn't talking smack. Perhaps the situation was starting to sink into all of them. She'd been quiet, as well as Ken. Vega was as well, and his opponent Will hadn't said much of anything at all since she first saw him.
Natasha had noticed that there had been screens set up so that people that couldn't see over the crowd that were surrounding them could watch the duels. She assumed correctly that those cameras she'd noticed before were showing all their moves to them. As she sat down and set up her duel mat and deck, she saw her hands doing so on a few screens around the room. She looked up to see Ken sit down in front of her, who was doing the same on his side of the table. Natasha looked over to her adjoining table to see Vega and Will exchanging some small talk and gave each other a firm handshake and smile before sitting down.
As they had been told before, the organizers wanted them to shake hands before the duel started but over the table so everyone could see. A showing of good will and good character. So as they were given the go ahead to start, Vega and Will once again shook hands and somewhat grudgingly Natasha extended her hand to Ken who obliged her with that annoying smirk on his face. Natasha picked up the top five cards from her deck and set them to the side while she reached into her sack to pull out a silver dollar.
"Call it." Natasha said. She watched Ken lean out of his seat to his right and look at something on the floor. Natasha followed his gaze and just as she noticed he was looking at her hip, she heard him elect 'Tails'. Natasha rolled her eyes at the young boy trying to act suave on her and flipped the silver dollar with a flick of her thumb. It bounced slightly and landed on heads.
"I'll go first." she said, picking up her five cards and drawing a sixth. Ken nodded. Natasha couldn't help but notice that smirk he wore was gone. Good, maybe now he'll focus and stop being such a dick.
If she'd known, both she and him were sharing similar thoughts. Both had heard a bit of what their opponent's decks were about. Natasha had heard that Ken ran a gadget deck, and it was rumored to even have a couple of Ancient Gear Golems in there as well. Ken had heard about Natasha and her Shining Flare Wingman deck, which fit with the popular theme of E-Hero fusions of the time. But something he also heard was that it was more quirky than others. One person claimed she used the Trap Card Reckless Greed which, as its name suggested, was reckless. But the both of them also were aggressive players and shared another thought that they weren't about to play conservative against the other.
"I'll summon Elemental Hero Woodsman (1000/2000) in defense mode." Natasha said, placing the card down on her mat horizontally.
Elemental Hero Woodsman
Attrib: Earth
Type: Warrior/Effect
Level:4
Atk: 1000
Def: 2000
Once per turn, during your Standby Phase, you can add 1 "Polymerization" from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand.
Natasha placed another card from her hand into her Spell/Trap Card Zone. "I'll set one reverse card and end it."
Ken thought to himself, the best way to spring a trap is to attack it with another trap. He picked up a card from his hand, trying to resist the urge to smile. It'd give him away in a heartbeat.
"I'll summon Boot Up Soldier – Dread Dynamo (0/2000)…in attack mode." Ken said in as normal a tone as he could.
Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo
Attrib: Earth
Type: Machine/Effect
Level:4
Atk: 0
Def: 2000
While you have a face-up "Gadget" monster on your side of the field, this card gains 2000 ATK.
It hardly mattered that he tried to. The spectators watching all started to talk among themselves at this move, filling the once semi-quiet hall with chatter.
Does he plan to go offensive right now? Natasha wondered to herself. He might be thinking of special summoning a gadget. Even if he did, it'd only make Dread Dynamo tie Woodsman (1000/2000) in defense power. He'll need something else to overpower it. That's a lot of cards to use on the first turn.
Ken picked out two cards from his hand and laid them into his Spell/Trap Card Zone. "I'll set two reverse cards. Your move."
Natasha silently picked up her card, now feeling hundreds of eyes drill themselves on her and her cards, anticipating her next move. She shifted her hand toward her deck, announcing the effect of Elemental Hero Woodsman while she searched her deck for Polymerization. She found it, added it to her hand cards, gave her deck a shuffle and allowed Ken to cut it before placing it back in its proper place.
"I'll summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat (1300/1000) in attack mode."
Elemental Hero Lady Heat
Attrib: Fire
Type: Pyro/Effect
Level:4
Atk: 1300
Def: 1000
During each of your End Phases, inflict 200 damage to your opponent for each face-up "Elemental Hero" monster you control.
"I'll attack." She said, having turned Elemental Hero Woodsman (1000/2000) to attack mode as well. She was anticipating him to pull something and she wasn't disappointed when he flipped one of his reverse cards, Relieve Monster.
Relieve Monster
Group: Trap Card
Type: Trap
Activate only when your opponent declares an attack. Return 1 monster you control to it's owner's hand, then Special Summon 1 Level 4 monster from your hand.
"I'll chain your attack." Ken said, calmly picking up Dread Dynamo and adding it to his hand. "From the effect of Relieve Monster, I'll return Dread Dynamo to my hand and special summon Red Gadget (1300/1500) in attack mode."
Red Gadget
Attrib: Earth
Type: Machine/Effect
Level:4
Atk: 1300
Def: 1500
When you Normal Summon or Special Summon this card, you can add 1 "Yellow Gadget" from your Deck to your hand.
"And I'll use Red Gadget's effect…" pausing to pick up his deck and begin searching for his monster. He found it and after giving his deck a shuffle, he passed it to Natasha for a cut who declined. Ken shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'I don't care' and placed it back into position.
Natasha scratched her head. Okay, Lady Heat and Red Gadget both have the same attack strength. That'd be suicide to attack. And even if I know what's probably coming next turn with Dread Dynamo in his hand, I think i want to try to keep as many monsters on the field as possible. She had picked out a card from her hand when a loud 'whoop' went up from the crowd. She turned to look at one of the screens that showed the duelists' Life Points and whose turn it was and saw that between Vega and Will, Vega had managed to take Will for 2400 of his Life Points already. He was leading with 4000 compared to 1600.
Natasha shifted her eyes but kept her head facing forward so she could catch Vega out of the corner of her eye. I guess he is pretty good...
"I'll set one reverse card and in my End Phase, Elemental Hero Lady Heat's effect kicks in. For every Elemental Hero I have on my field, which is two, I can inflict 200 damage to my opponent. That's 400 damage."
NATASHA – 4000
KEN – 3600
"End turn." Natasha said, crossing her arms and waiting for Ken's move. Out in the crowd, she swore she could hear one of her girlfriends yelling something like 'kick ass'.
"Draw." Ken said aloud as he pulled one card from the top of his deck and seemed to eye the reverse cards on Natasha's field. For her part, Natasha followed his gaze and when he looked up into her eyes, she did and said nothing. Ken continued to eye those cards as he slowly picked up a card from his hand and, again, played Boot Up Soldier – Dread Dynamo but in attack mode. From its effect, whenever a gadget monster was on the field, it gained 2000 attack points, making it stronger (2000/2000) than any of Natasha's monsters.
"I'll have Boot Up Soldier – Dread Dynamo (2000/2000) attack Lady Heat (1300/1000)" he announced.
Natasha uncrossed her arms and let her hand in an intentional slow motion drift toward one of her reverse cards, which when she flipped it revealed Hero Counterattack.
Hero Counterattack
Group: Trap Card
Type: Trap
Activate only when an "Elemental Hero" monster you control is destroyed by battle. Your opponent selects 1 random card from your hand. If that card is an "Elemental Hero" monster, destroy 1 monster your opponent controls, then Special Summon the selected card.
"I'll chain with Hero Counterattack." Natasha countered, fanning her cards and setting them out in front of her. "Alright, Ken. How's your luck?"
Ken looked at the five cards she offered him and with little hesitation, picked the center card. Natasha obliged him and showed him the card he'd picked, Elemental Hero Burstinatrix. (1200/800)
Elemental Hero Burstinatrix
Attrib: Fire
Type: Warrior
Level:3
Atk: 1200
Def: 800
A flame manipulator who is the only woman among the Elemental Heroes. Her Burstfire burns away villainy.
Ken gave a small sigh, realizing he picked poorly and offered her his two monsters to choose from, Red Gadget and Dread Dynamo.
Natasha sat and thought about it a moment. If I destroy Red Gadget, Dread Dynamo's attack power will go back down to 0 and he'll not have anything that could take down Woodsman this turn...Or do I destroy Dread Dynamo and leave Ken with just a 1300 attack power monster, but one that could still deal me damage if he attacked?
"I'll destroy Dread Dynamo." Natasha said after a moment. She saw Ken's eyebrow raise slightly at that and he immediately looked to the other reverse card on her field. But he did place Dread Dynamo into the graveyard and, once again, a murmur went up from the crowd at her move. Natasha then placed her special summoned her Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in attack mode while glancing to see the damage she'd taken from the previous battle.
NATASHA – 3300
KEN – 3600
Ken motioned with his hands his intention for Red Gadget (1300/1500) to attack Woodsman. Natasha closed her eyes for a moment, letting her free hand go to her other card. She let it stay that way for a moment, but instead picked up Woodsman and placed it into her graveyard.
NATASHA – 3000
KEN – 3600
"I'll end my turn." Ken said.
Natasha drew and looked at her card, Miracle Fusion. Might be useful later on, she thought to herself. She slipped it into her hand and instead pulled out another monster that she summoned in attack mode, Elemental Hero Avian.
Elemental Hero Avian
Attrib: Wind
Type: Warrior
Level:3
Atk: 1000
Def: 1000
A winged Elemental Hero who wheels through the sky and manipulates the wind. His signature move, Featherbreak, gives villainy a blow from sky-high.
Ken and more than a few spectators that were watching all saw both Avian and Burstinatrix on her field and they all knew that Natasha had Polymerization in her hand which she also put down.
Polymerization
Group: Spell Card
Type: Spell
Send Fusion Material Monsters that are listed by a Fusion Monster Card from your hand or your side of the field to the Graveyard, and Special Summon that Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck.
The moment she did, another big whoop rang out through the crowd and off her peripheral vision, caught Will and Vega glancing at their table. Natasha made a quick search through her Extra Deck, found the proper monster and set it beside Avian and Burstinatrix.
"I'll play Polymerization to fuse Avian and Burstinatrix into Elemental Hero Flame Wingman. (2100/1200)"
Elemental Hero Flame Wingman
Attrib: Wind
Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect
Level:6
Atk: 2100
Def: 1200
"Elemental Hero Avian" + "Elemental Hero Burstinatrix" This monster cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. When this card destroys a monster and sends it to the Graveyard as a result of battle, inflict damage to your opponent's Life Points equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster.
Ken didn't show it outwardly, but just groaned long and low within himself, now seeing why she'd chosen to leave Red Gadget on his field from the last turn. Maybe a lot of people in the audience realized it too, there were more murmurs going around now.
"I'll have Flame Wingman (2100/1200) attack Red Gadget. (1300/1500)" Natasha said, eyeing the remaining reverse card on Ken's field. With a wave of his hand, Ken slid his monster toward the graveyard and calculated the damage.
NATASHA – 3000
KEN – 2800
"And I'll also use it's effect to deal you damage equal to Red Gadget's attack power of 1300." Natasha said, reminding him of the secondary, but no less powerful, effect of Flame Wingman. Ken, for the first time since the duel started, sneered down at his calculator.
NATASHA – 3000
KEN – 1500
"I'll end my-" Natasha tried to finish her statement but couldn't. A great yell went up through the crowd and knowing it wasn't from anything that she did, she automatically turned toward Will and Vega's table to see Vega standing, offering his hand to Will, who was sitting. A glance at the screen displaying their Life Points told the whole story.
WILL – 0
VEGA – 4000
"Unbelievable…" Natasha heard Ken murmur despite himself, as he too watched Vega shake hands with Will, collect all his cards and head back over to the lounge area where a couple of reporters were waiting.
"So much for flash in the pan…" Natasha said, allowing the crowd's noise to mask her voice so she barely heard it herself.
Natasha saw Ken turn back to face her and reminded him it was his move. He picked up his next card. Natasha saw the quick glance he gave to his reverse card and wondered what it was, and more importantly, what it would do to her.
"I'll set two reverse cards." Ken said.
The second he did, Natasha's heart leapt a few dozen feet. Natasha's mindset was that for a duelist to play reverse cards first in a turn was a defensive mentality. Like a duelist, without meaning to, said that he or she expected these cards to defend against their opponent.
Then her heart stopped fluttering as she saw his hand reach for that reverse card that was already on the field.
"I'll flip up Call of the Haunted." Ken said.
Call Of The Haunted
Group: Trap Card
Type: Trap
Icon:Continuous
Select 1 monster from your Graveyard and Special Summon it in face-up Attack Position. When this card is removed from the field, destroy the monster. When the monster is destroyed, destroy this card.
"I'll use it to special summon Red Gadget (1300/1500) back to the field." Ken slipped the card back to the field, but just as quickly put it back into the graveyard and instead placed another monster down from his hand in it's place as he explained, "And I'll sacrifice it to summon Ancient Gear Gadgiltron Chimera. (2300/1300)"
Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Chimera
Attrib: Earth
Type: Machine/Effect
Level:6
Atk: 2300
Def: 1300
If you Tribute Summon this card by Tributing 1 of the following monsters, this card gets the appropriate effect: Green Gadget: This card gains 300 ATK. Red Gadget: If this card successfully attacks your opponent directly, inflict 500 damage to the opponent. Yellow Gadget: If this card destroys your opponent's monster by battle, inflict 700 damage to your opponent.
Natasha's heart hit bottom.
"I summoned Gadjiltron Chimera with Red Gadget so by its effect, anytime it attacks you directly, I can inflict 500 damage to you. But for now, I'll have it attack Flame Wingman (2100/1200)"
Natasha desperately wanted her last reverse card to be something other than what she knew it was. Something that could negate this attack but she didn't have anything. With a sort of defeated sigh, she slid the card to her graveyard amid more whoops and hollers from the crowd at Ken's play.
NATASHA – 2800
KEN – 1500
Ken had ended his turn by flourishing with his hand toward her. She picked up her next card and looked at it.
Darkness Approaches
Group: Spell Card
Type: Spell
Discard 2 cards from your hand. Select 1 face-up monster and flip it face-down, but do not change its battle position.
Once she glanced at her hand cards, which consisted of Miracle Fusion, Elemental Hero Sparkman, Elemental Hero Bladedge and Elemental Hero Wildheart, she had an idea. Actually two ideas, a smart play and a wicked play. The wicked play she had in mind threatened to curl the sides of her mouth into a smirk. So she instead played her Spell Card Darkness Approaches.
She interrupted the 'what the' from Ken to say, "I'll discard Elemental Hero Sparkman and Elemental Hero Bladedge from my hand. I want to turn Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Chimera face down."
The move was perfectly legal according to Darkness Approaches' effect but all it did was to turn a face up attack position Gadjiltron Chimera to a face down attack position. That seemed to do nothing, but Ken was fairly quick to pick up that the intention might be more for the monsters she discarded than the effect of the Spell Card she used. What she was planning to do, he didn't know. But she made it clear for him when she played her next Spell Card, Miracle Fusion.
Miracle Fusion
Group: Spell Card
Type: Spell
Remove from play, from your side of the field or your Graveyard, Fusion Material Monsters that are listed on a Fusion Monster Card that includes "Elemental Hero" in its card name, and Special Summon that Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck. (This Special Summon is treated as a Fusion Summon).
"From the effect of Miracle Fusion, I'll remove from play Elemental Heroes Bladedge and Sparkman out of my graveyard to fusion summon Elemental Hero Plasma Vice. (2600/2300)"
Elemental Hero Plasma Vice
Attrib: Earth
Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect
Level:8
Atk: 2600
Def: 2300
"Elemental Hero Sparkman" + "Elemental Hero Bladedge" This monster cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. During battle between this attacking card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent. You can discard 1 card from your hand to destroy 1 Attack Position monster your opponent controls.
"What the…" Ken let blurb out of his mouth. He looked at this new card to read its effects and Natasha could see him immediately get pale in the face.
"I'll use the effect of Plasma Vice (2600/2300) and discard Elemental Hero Wildheart from my hand." She looked at the face up attack position monster card on Ken's field. "Face down or not, that's still attack position and fair game."
Ken didn't disagree and put the monster into his graveyard. "But at that moment…" he said, reaching for his reverse cards. "I'll flip Stronghold the Moving Fortress."
Stronghold the Moving Fortress
Group: Trap Card
Type: Trap
Icon:Continuous
After activation, Special Summon this card in Defense Position; it is treated as an Effect Monster Card (Machine-Type/EARTH/Level 4/ATK 0/DEF 2000). (This card is still treated as a Trap Card.) While "Green Gadget", "Red Gadget", and "Yellow Gadget", are all face-up on your side of the field, the ATK of this card becomes 3000.
"I'll summon Stronghold to defend this attack." Ken said.
Natasha let her hand go to the reverse card she'd been keeping in check for the whole duel and at last flipped it, exposing Reckless Greed.
Reckless Greed
Group: Trap Card
Type: Trap
Draw 2 cards, and after that skip your next 2 Draw Phases.
"I'll use Reckless Greed and draw two cards." Natasha said, having exhausted her hand to make her play but not expecting him to play a monster to defend her attack. Fanning the two cards, she smiled and then slapped down a monster. "I'll summon Elemental Hero Sparkman! (1600/1400)"
Elemental Hero Sparkman
Attrib: Light
Type: Warrior
Level:4
Atk: 1600
Def: 1400
An Elemental Hero and a warrior of light who proficiently wields many kinds of armaments. His Shining Surge Flash cuts off the path of villainy.
Ken saw the outcome become clear to him now. Plasma Vice (2600/2300) could attack and easily overtake Stronghold (0/2000), leaving him open to Sparkman's direct attack. Which is exactly what Natasha did to win her match.
NATASHA – 2800
KEN – 0
Natasha stood and extended her hand and the crowd once again erupted into a loud cheer for the second winner. Ken took it sheepishly.
"Hey, sorry about the ragging earlier." He said apologetically.
Natasha smiled, still grabbing his hand. She pulled back on it, forcing him to stand up to keep from falling forward. "Stand up. That's what a good duelist does. It's a good habit for men to have, too."
Ken smiled at her, "In other words, stop being a lowlife?"
Natasha had made her way over to the lounge area where the same reporters that had interviewed Vega interviewed her as well. She had a seat in one of the plush chairs and exhaled a deep breath. She saw Vega eyeing her curiously as she sat.
"Can I ask you something?" Vega said to her.
"Shoot." Natasha said.
"Why'd you do it? Not summon Shining Flare Wingman I mean?" Vega asked.
Natasha had had her eyes closed but then opened them and looked a little closer at the young man. Sure, she was his senior as far as age, but he was sharp as a razor to have picked that up.
"You noticed that." Natasha said in a rhetorical tone. He was right. When she summoned Plasma Vice, she had also had the option to summon Shining Flare Wingman as well. Both of it's fusion components, Flame Wingman and Sparkman, were in her graveyard at the time and Miracle Fusion would've worked on them as well. Even more so, if Natasha had the count right, there would've been 5 Elemental Heroes in her graveyard. For every Elemental Hero in her graveyard, Shining Flare Wingman would increase it's attack power by 300. That would've been a 1500 point boost, putting it at 4000. If she'd attacked with that, she wouldn't have needed to use Reckless Greed and have gotten lucky to draw Sparkman to end that game. In the end, she had gone with the wicked plan rather than the sensible one.
But to Vega, she said, "No need to use an ace if a deuce will do."
Keeping in character, Vega asked, "Hmm…but what if your opponent knows you have an ace?"
Natasha chewed on her lip a moment, then turned to Vega with the corner of her mouth turned up in a smirk. Her eyes said "If they know I have a ace, let them worry about when I'll play it."
Vega smiled back at her with the same look in his eye, "I can see this will be an interesting match."
Natasha sat up slightly, having reminded herself of something and asked Vega how he managed to beat Will by not losing any Life Points and so quickly as well. Vega looked down at his deck and shrugged. "Good training."
"Did he really help train you?" Natasha wondered, curious if Darren Ledger really had a hand in creating this duelist.
Vega seemed to lose sight of Natasha and was looking past her at something in the past. "Not Darrin Ledger, if you were wondering. A very good duelist I met in Japan that taught me a lot. What about you?"
Natasha laughed, "A knucklehead of a brother."
Natasha looked and saw something like a sad kind of smile come over Vega just then. She didn't mean for it to, but on that, the conversation ended between them. Some minutes later, an official from the tournament said they were going to be taking some time to set things up so if they wanted to leave for awhile, that was fine. They would likely finish the tournament in half an hour. Even as they were being told themselves, another official was announcing to the crowd the very same thing. It was about lunchtime anyway.
Natasha stood and among the thinning crowd, she could already see her friends. As she walked toward them, Penny pulled her in close.
"Natasha, who's the guy?" she said with a disneyland smile across her face.
Natasha looked over toward the lounge, "That's Lamar Vega."
Penny seemed to look between Natasha and Vega for a couple of seconds before she said, "Lamar Vega…it even sounds sexy…is he single?"
Natasha took two steps back from Penny with a shocked expression over her features. "P-Penny!"
All Penny did was to lick her lips and slink back toward the left so she could look past Natasha and at Vega. Natasha let out an exasperated sigh and just weakly smiled at her friend. She climbed over the barrier that separated the duelists' area from the spectators and started walking away with Janet and Ginger. Janet had looked back and wondered aloud about what to do with Penny.
"Aw, let her go." Ginger said with a giggle. "The Pope couldn't pry her away from that spot about now."