"I can't believe you're this close to winning, Natasha!" Janet said excitedly, almost knocking over her iced tea into her lap.
"Well, like I told you, these guys are tough. Even that guy Ken was no pushover. But I just gotta stay focused, and stay lucky too." Natasha said, sipping on her iced coffee.
"Lucky? You had that match pretty much the whole way in my mind right up until you had to use Reckless Greed!" Janet cried out excitedly. "I might use that in my own deck…"
Just as Natasha was about to try to warn her off it, saying it was more luck than anything, Janet had opened her deck holder and was going through her own cards. Natasha let out a contented sigh and glanced at her watch.
"Still 15 minutes until I gotta go back…" she said aloud.
"You think you can win?" Ginger asked, throwing herself in the conversation. She was more engrossed in her own iced tea.
Natasha leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "I don't know. I didn't get to see his match. Did you guys see what his deck looked like?"
Ginger and Janet exchanged quick looks that showed, of all things, nervousness but it was Ginger that replied, "Yes and no." Natasha had raised an eyebrow but allowed Ginger to continue. "You saw it too. His duel was over in two turns, that's why everyone was so crazy when he won. It was that close to being a one turn kill."
Janet continued. "He played Graceful Charity to draw three cards, then when he discarded his two cards, he put Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Red-Eyes Wyvern in the graveyard."
"Wait!" Natasha said, holding up a hand to ask them to pause. "Red-Eyes?"
Ginger, who was versed and knew the game Yu-Gi-Oh! fairly well, didn't share in the surprise evident between Janet and Natasha. When she asked about why, Natasha explained that while Red-Eyes was a strong monster and had some good options around it, it wasn't a theme that was thought of as tournament-level strong. The machine deck that Will, his opponent, had was something of the level you'd usually see at this level. It had plentiful options, tons of available variations and Spell and Trap Cards that could help it out greatly.
"He ended his turn and removed Red-Eyes Wyvern from play to special summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Will couldn't do anything but defend in his turn but it didn't matter. When Vega's turn came again, he played Nobleman of Crossout to destroy Will's face down monster. He played Inferno Fire Blast to deal him 2400 damage and then played a monster to directly attack and win."
"So you saw him play…" Natasha surmised, "but you really didn't see much of anything."
"Yeah…sorry." Janet said, replacing her earlier enthusiasm with timid caution.
Natasha rubbed her chin in thought. Now I feel a little better about not playing Shining Flare Wingman in my own match against Ken. If he got away with only showing off five or six cards out of his deck, I'll take the knowledge that he might not know everything about my own deck.
"One of these days, I might have to make myself my own deck of cards." Ginger said out of the blue, swaying the topic.
"I keep trying to get you to do just that…" Janet said with an annoyed look.
"And I keep hearing you use excuse after excuse." Natasha said with a look that mirrored Janet's.
"I mean it this time!" Ginger pleaded, smiling with her hands clasped as if in prayer and looking over her head as if she expected a halo to appear. Natasha and Janet looked at each other and then back at Ginger. At the same time, they rolled their eyes and with a girly wave of the hand mumbled, "Whatever."
"And I want you guys to teach me." Ginger continued to plead but still smiling.
Janet had been sipping on her iced tea again and nearly choked when she heard Ginger. She waved her hands frantically like Ginger's statement was a speeding train bearing down on her. "No, no, no, no! Not me!"
"Why not, Jan?" Ginger asked.
Natasha leaned over in her seat and jokingly elbowed Janet in the ribs. "Yeah, why not you, Janet? You're plenty good."
Janet, the poor girl, lost a lot of her ability to put a sentence together without either stuttering or leaving it half done. She started rattling off a list of reasons that she couldn't do it that Natasha barely made sense of. Ginger buried her head into her crossed arms on the table, letting her blonde locks and forearms cover the sight and sounds of her laughing and snickering.
Natasha recovered a bit and made a straight face for Ginger. "Alright, I'll do it. You don't have to if you don't wanna, Jan. But I think you're plenty good enough to probably teach."
Janet blushed slightly, but didn't say anything more. She just seemed relieved to be off the hook for now. She was so relaxed that she didn't see or feel Ginger's mischievous hands reach toward her hip and pilfer her deck until she saw her laying out a deck of cards on the table that looked a lot like hers. She glanced down at her hip to only see an open deck holder and fumed at Ginger, holding out her hands as if she wanted to choke the little tyke.
"I ought to…" Janet had growled, only to gasp as Ginger had picked up her glass to sip from it but as she brought it to her lips she failed to notice the condensation from her glass starting to drip down and nearly spatter over Janet's cards.
"Lesson one…" Natasha said as she took the cards from Ginger. "Never take decks without permission. And lesson two is to never mix cold drinks and paper cards."
Ginger looked at the side of her glass and the drops of water that were still continuing to drop off of it and grinned sheepishly. But Natasha still held the deck from Ginger and gave her a sort of condescending look. She just repeated, "Lesson one."
"May I?" Ginger asked, totally serious and putting her drink well out of the way of her area. Natasha shook her head, saying that Ginger needed to be asking permission from someone else, not her. Ginger then turned to Janet and Janet nodded to Natasha who gently handed the cards over to Ginger.
"I guess I got no choice if you're going to manhandle my cards like that, Ginger, but to try to help teach you." Janet said, letting out a sigh and propping her head up in her cupped hands.
"I'll go first." Natasha said, drawing her sixth card and looking across the table at Lamar Vega. A small platform had been brought in to elevate the table that they were playing their duel on. They sat a good three feet off the ground, once again surrounded by cameras to their sides and above them. The table they were at was the real highlight though. Their chairs sat at a normal height, but the table was set slightly lower than average. It allowed them to play with a more comfortable height. Also, the tabletop itself was made of glass that must've had a opening in it somewhere. Below the glass on Natasha's side was her duel mat and on Vega's side was his. The glass was polished and allowed their cards to almost glide across it. Very nice. So Natasha glided a card from her hand onto her field.
"I'll summon Elemental Hero Avian (1000/1000) in defense mode."
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.
Natasha pulled another card out of her hand. "And I'll play this Field Spell, Skyscraper."
Skyscraper
Group: Spell Card
Type: Spell
Icon:Field
When a monster that includes "Elemental Hero" in its card name attacks, if its ATK is lower than the ATK of the attack target, increase the ATK of the attacking monster by 1000 points during damage calculation only.
The final duel. Shouldn't go offensive so early. He might know my deck better than I know his. Natasha thought to herself. "I'll end it there."
"My move." Vega said in a calm manner. "I'll summon Troop Dragon (700/800) in defense mode."
Troop Dragon
Attrib: Wind
Type: Dragon/Effect
Level:2
Atk: 700
Def: 800
When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard as a result of battle, Special Summon 1 "Troop Dragon" from your Deck to the field. Then shuffle your Deck.
Vega set a reverse card onto the table as well and ended his turn. Natasha drew, noticing that Vega seemed to want to play a slower opening as well. Especially with a monster like Troop Dragon out as his starting monster. But while she didn't want to fully tip her hand, she saw an opening with the card she'd drawn and planned to jump on it.
"I'll play this Spell Card, Soul Taker."
Soul Taker
Group: Spell Card
Type: Spell
Destroy 1 face-up monster your opponent controls. Then, your opponent gains 1000 Life Points.
"I'll destroy your Troop Dragon." Natasha said, shifting her card into the graveyard after it became apparent that Vega didn't intend to use his reverse card on Soul Taker. The scoreboard flickered with a change in their Life Points.
NATASHA – 4000
VEGA – 5000
"Next, I'll switch Avian (1000/1000) from defense to attack mode and summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat (1300/1000) in defense 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 you directly with Avian…" Natasha trailed off, not sure if Vega would try to use that reverse card. But he didn't. He just made a note of his Life Points returning to their starting levels.
NATASHA – 4000
VEGA – 4000
"Destroying Troop Dragon with a Spell Card instead of by battling to keep it from special summoning another to my field. Nice." Vega commented.
Natasha just nodded, something within her telling her that Vega was honestly impressed but also not hurt by the move. "I'll move to my End Phase and use Lady Heat's effect to inflict damage to you equal to the number of Elemental Heroes I have on my field, which is two."
NATASHA – 4000
VEGA – 3600
Unlike before when they inflicted damage on another opponent, the crowd was much more subdued. There was scattered applause but they seemed to be watching with more intense interest than before. Natasha ended her turn and watched Vega draw another card and look at his hand for a few moments. She watched him slip a card from his hand into his Spell/Trap Card Zone.
"I'll play Flint."
Flint
Group: Spell Card
Type: Spell
Icon:Equip
A monster equipped with this card can not change its Battle Position or attack, and has its ATK decreased by 300 points. If the equipped monster is destroyed, select 1 monster on the field and equip this card to that monster.
"I want Flint to target your Elemental Hero Avian. (700/1000)" Vega said and with Natasha's permission, laid his Equip Spell Card over the monster to let them both know the target of the card since its latter effect allowed it to become equipped to another monster when the currently equipped monster was destroyed.
"Now I'll summon Flint Lock (1500/800) in attack mode."
Flint Lock
Attrib: Light
Type: Machine/Effect
Level:4
Atk: 1500
Def: 800
Once per turn, you can equip 1 "Flint" on the field to this card. You can take any "Flint" equipped to this card and equip to another face-up monster. This card can only be equipped with 1 "Flint" at a time. While equipped with "Flint", it is unaffected by "Flint"'s effect and cannot be destroyed by battle.
Natasha regarded the new monster card with curiosity. She was under the impression that Vega was using a deck that centered around Red-Eyes, this didn't seem to support that. It didn't fit. But after thinking about it a little more, she realized that with some tweaking, it probably could work.
Red-Eyes' main weakness was that it was underpowered for being a level 7 monster that required 2 sacrifices that only had 2400 attack points. A Summoned Skull was 100 points stronger and only required 1 sacrifice. But by having a card that, like Flint does, remains on the field that can continually weaken monsters can make Red-Eyes better prepared when it hits the field.
This deck could be very well thought out against Red-Eyes' weaknesses. Actually, it'd have to be for Vega to make it to this level. Natasha thought and believed that this Flint and Flint Lock combo could be trouble if she decided to summon something stronger without removing it first.
"I'll have Flint Lock (1500/800) attack Avian (700/1000)"
Natasha looked ever so briefly at her Skyscraper Field Spell, wishing that it could give its attack increase to monsters of hers that got attacked. But it only worked when she was the one attacking. She handed Vega back his Flint Spell Card and moved her Avian to her graveyard, shaving off a few of her Life Points.
NATASHA – 3200
VEGA – 3600
Vega set his Flint card in the Spell/Trap Card Zone directly below Flint Lock. Now with Flint equipped to it, all she could do is damage him but it still wouldn't destroy Flint Lock. Vega could be content to take a little damage as long as in the following turn he could shift Flint to it and lock it down.
"I'll end my turn." Vega said.
"My turn." Natasha drew her card, already forming a plan in her mind to deal with Flint and Flint Lock. "I'll play Pot of Greed."
Pot of Greed
Group: Spell Card
Type: Spell
Draw 2 cards from your Deck.
Natasha slipped two cards from her deck and added them to her hand, then pulled another out. "I'm going to play this Spell Card, Future Fusion."
Future Fusion
Group: Spell Card
Type: Spell
Icon:Continuous
Send, from your Deck to the Graveyard, Fusion Material Monsters that are listed on a Fusion Monster Card, and select that 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck. Special Summon a Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck with the same name as the selected Fusion Monster, during your 2nd Standby Phase after this card's activation. (This Special Summon is treated as a Fusion Summon.) When this card is removed from the field, destroy the monster. When the monster is destroyed, destroy this card.
Vega nodded, showing he didn't intend to stop her from playing it. Natasha picked up her deck and started searching through it for two particular monsters, placing them face down. She shuffled her deck and offered it to Vega that gave it a three fold cut. She replaced her deck and now started searching through her Extra Deck for the Fusion Monster she intended to summon. She set the card with the other two she'd removed from her deck and flipped them all up for Vega to see.
"The Fusion Monster I selected was Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster… (2000/2500)"
Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster
Attrib: Earth
Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect
Level:6
Atk: 2000
Def: 2500
"Elemental Hero Clayman" + "Elemental Hero Burstinatrix" This monster cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. While this card is in face-up Defense Position, this card can attack your opponent directly. In that case, apply half the ATK of this card for damage calculation.
"So the monsters that I picked from my deck from Future Fusion's effect are its components, Elemental Heroes Clayman (800/2000) and Burstinatrix. (1200/800)"
Elemental Hero Clayman
Attrib: Earth
Type: Warrior
Level:4
Atk: 800
Def: 2000
An Elemental Hero with a clay body built-to-last. He'll preserve his Elemental Hero colleagues at any cost.
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.
With Rampart Blaster, I can evade his Flint and Flint Lock combo to be able to do some damage if I can't find a way to destroy it before by second Standby Phase when its summoned. But it also lets me put something out there for him to worry about right now. Natasha set another Spell Card down, 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).
Natasha saw Vega's eyes grow a little bigger when she set that card down and seeing that he didn't intend to use that reverse card again she moved to search for her intended Fusion Monster. That reverse card can't be anything that would negate my Spell Cards. I've given him two targets that he'd probably love to negate but he hasn't.
"I'll remove Elemental Heroes Burstinatrix and Avian from my graveyard from the game to Fusion Summon 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.
Now the crowd started to make a little noise, seeing the corner that Vega had been backed up into. Natasha announced her intention to have Flame Wingman (2100/1200) attack Flint Lock (1500/800) and Vega made no objections. The damage was inflicted, but Flint Lock's effect while Flint was equipped to it made it unable to be destroyed by battle.
NATASHA – 3200
VEGA – 3000
"I'll move to my End Phase and, again, use Elemental Hero Lady Heat's effect on you, Vega. Two Elemental Heroes mean 400 damage."
NATASHA – 3200
VEGA – 2600
"Your move." Natasha said, confident, but also wary of what Vega may try to counter her big move last turn. Vega drew his card, looked at it for a moment then set his cards on the table, leaned back into his chair and thought for a little while. Right now, Natasha had a good field set up. Flame Wingman was out and was the main threat, but it's effect was a killer in itself and with Lady Heat out as well, it could damage Vega bit by bit over time. Skyscraper was out as well, so that meant on her turn, Vega would have to deal with what was a monster that had 3100 attack points.
"I'm going to use Flint Lock's effect…" Vega said slowly, as if still mapping out his intended strategy in his mind. "to switch Flint to another monster once per turn, and I'll target Lady Heat.(1300/1000) At that moment, I'll flip my reverse card, Flint Missile."
Flint Missile
Group: Spell Card
Type: Spell
Icon:Quick-Play
Destroy 1 monster equipped with "Flint". You can return this card to your Deck instead of sending it to the Graveyard after it resolves.
Natasha obliged and slipped Lady Heat into the graveyard while Vega, once again, allowed Flint to become equipped to Flint Lock and shifted the monster from attack mode to defense mode. He also decided to return Flint Missile to his deck after using it. He gave it a shuffle and offered it to Natasha for a cut. Natasha just tapped the top of it with her index finger and passed it back. Vega set down a Spell Card, Graceful Charity.
Graceful Charity
Group: Spell Card
Type: Spell
Draw 3 cards from your deck, then discard any 2 cards from your hand.
Vega drew three cards and seeming to not even think about it, picked up two cards for its discard cost. Natasha thought he must have something planned, eyeing the remaining four cards in his hand. But surprisingly, all he did was pick one out of them and set it in his Spell/Trap Card Zone. It was his next move after that that was the real hook.
"I'll move to my End Phase…" he started and then pointed to the top card in his graveyard pile. "And I'll remove this card from the game…"
Red-Eyes Wyvern
Attrib: Wind
Type: Dragon/Effect
Level:4
Atk: 1800
Def: 1600
During your End Phase, if you did not Normal Summon or Set a monster that turn, you can remove from play this card from your Graveyard to Special Summon 1 "Red-Eyes" monster from your Graveyard, except "Red-Eyes B. Chick".
Now Natasha was slightly wide eyed, realizing now why Vega seemed so sure of the cards he intended to discard from Graceful Charity.
She listened as Vega continued, "to Special Summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon! (2400/2000)
Red-Eyes B. Dragon
Attrib: Dark
Type: Dragon
Level:7
Atk: 2400
Def: 2000
A ferocious dragon with a deadly attack.
Natasha looked down at the card and something caught her eye that made her double take. In the space between the picture of the monster and where its text resided was the words '1st edition' and the set label 'LOB' which was short for the very first set that was released in the United States, Legend of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The value of that card alone was probably more than what she paid for really nice shoes.
"That's a 1st edition Red-Eyes!" she exclaimed after a second.
Vega jumped up as if she'd shocked him with the statement. He smiled and said, "It is. It was a gift from my old mentor."
"Vega, no offense, but there are plenty of copies of Red-Eyes out there to use for your tournament deck. Why use such a collectable in your deck?" Natasha asked.
Vega shrugged and ran a finger down the side of it. "I don't look at it like that. I see it as a card that a friend gave me to duel with, not to hang over my fireplace."
Natasha nodded with understanding, "One of these days, you'll have to tell me about this mentor of yours. But anyway, it's still your move. Please continue."
Vega nodded, but said he had nothing more to do and ended his turn. Natasha drew, noting to Vega that this was the 1st standby phase since she'd activated Future Fusion.
"I'll use the effect of Skyscraper and have Flame Wingman (2100/1200) attack Red-Eyes. (2400/2000)"
"Chain!" Vega declared, flipping over his reverse card. "Imperial Order!"
Imperial Order
Group: Trap Card
Type: Trap
Icon:Continuous
As long as this card remains face-up on the field, negate the effects of all Spell Cards on the field. Pay 700 Life Points during each of your Standby Phases. If you do not, this card is destroyed.
"I'll use Imperial Order to negate the effect of Skyscraper." Vega said.
Natasha spoke a curse to herself in her mind but willingly put Flame Wingman into the graveyard and reduced her Life Points a little more.
NATASHA – 2800
VEGA – 2600
She now had a open field to Vega and his Red-Eyes and not one monster that she could use to defend herself with. She did have a few options, though, to not leave him with a totally naked field. "I'll play another Field Spell, Skyscraper 2 – Hero City"
Skyscraper 2 - Hero City
Group: Spell Card
Type: Spell
Icon:Field
Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can Special Summon 1 "Elemental Hero" monster from your Graveyard that was destroyed by battle. (Only this card's controller can use this effect.)
"That won't help me right now, though." Natasha conceded since she and Vega both realized that she was in her Main Phase 2. "I'll summon Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000) in defense mode."
Elemental Hero Clayman
Attrib: Earth
Type: Warrior
Level:4
Atk: 800
Def: 2000
An Elemental Hero with a clay body built-to-last. He'll preserve his Elemental Hero colleagues at any cost.
She ended her turn. Vega really is a good duelist. But so long as I can survive this coming turn, he'll need to be on the back foot again. In the next turn, not only can I use Skyscraper 2 – Hero City to revive Flame Wingman, I can also summon Rampart Blaster. They're not as strong as Red-Eyes and I still haven't dealt with Flint and Flint Lock but I still have my ace...
"My move. And I choose not to pay the Life Points for Imperial Order, so I'll destroy it." Vega moved the Trap Card into his graveyard and set down another reverse card it its place.
Natasha saw that Vega was noticing that aside from her Field Spell Card, she had no other reverse cards on her field. And Skyscraper 2 – Hero City wouldn't stop Red-Eyes from destroying Clayman.
Vega set his hands on his two monsters. "I'll turn Flint Lock to attack mode. I'll have Red-Eyes (2400/2000) destroy Clayman (800/2000) and then have Flint Lock (1500/800) attack you directly."
Natasha nodded, and heard some cheers and hoots come from behind her as her Life Points started to drop to critical levels.
NATASHA – 1300
VEGA – 2600
"I'll set one reverse card and end my turn." Vega said, seeming to suppress a shiver in his arm as he did so. Natasha noticed and frowned slightly. Shaking like that, from her experience, told her that a person thought they had a advantage. If you only knew, Vega.
"My turn." Natasha announced and at once, pulled Flame Wingman from her graveyard and Rampart Blaster from her Extra Deck and placed them on her field. "From the effect of Skyscraper 2 – Hero City, I'll Special Summon Flame Wingman (2100/1200) in attack mode and summon Rampart Blaster (2000/2500) in defense mode."
Vega nodded, but looked unconcerned since, as he probably figured, neither could touch Red-Eyes and Flint Lock couldn't be destroyed by battle.
"Remember our conversation about an ace, Vega?" Natasha said, setting a monster down onto her field and watching him tense up slightly and nod. "Well, a deuce won't cut it here, so you'll get to see the ace. First, I'll summon Sparkman."
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.
"Then I'll play Polymerization."
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.
"You know which monsters I want to fuse, Vega." Natasha said, removing Flame Wingman and Sparkman from her field and picking up the top card from her Extra Deck, where she liked to leave this monster at, and placed it onto her field. "I'll Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman! (2500/2100)"
Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman
Attrib: Light
Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect
Level:8
Atk: 2500
Def: 2100
"Elemental Hero Flame Wingman" + "Elemental Hero Sparkman" This monster cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. Increase the ATK of this card by 300 points for each card in your Graveyard that includes "Elemental Hero" in its card name. When this card destroys a monster as a result of battle and sends it to the Graveyard, inflict damage to your opponent's Life Points equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster.
Loud and, frankly, annoying whispers arose from the gathered crowd as a good many of them realized that Shining Flare Wingman could win this duel all on it's own with Vega's Life Points just low enough. Natasha, obviously, realized it too and Vega was starting to realize it as well. But he didn't stress out. He just looked down at Natasha's monster but she could tell from looking in his eyes that he didn't think he was going to lose just yet.
Natasha started going through her graveyard, filtering out some monsters and showing them to Vega as she explained, "For each Elemental Hero monster in my graveyard, I can add 300 attack points to Shining Flare Wingman. There are 5 of them; Sparkman, Flame Wingman, Lady Heat, and two Claymen. That makes it's attack power 4000."
Natasha tried to exhale a steady breath, trying to calm her nerves. "I'll have Shining Flare Wingman (4000/2500) attack Red-Eyes. (2400/2000)"
Vega and Natasha locked eyes for a moment and it seemed that the whole world had held it's breath. Unless Vega could do otherwise, this attack would win her the game and she'd be the national champion.
But the words she'd been hoping to not hear came from Vega's lips while he continued to stare at her. "Chain." Natasha was the one to break away to look at the reverse card he'd flipped.
Damage Polarizer
Group: Trap Card
Type: Trap
Icon:Counter
Activate only when an effect that inflicts damage is activated. Negate its activation and effect, and each player draws 1 card.
"I can't stop the damage that I'll take from the battle…" Vega started, ticking down his own Life Points to a dangerous level.
NATASHA – 1300
VEGA – 1000
"But I can stop the effect Shining Flare Wingman has to inflict damage to me equal to my destroyed monster's attack power. According to the effect of Damage Polarizer, I'll draw a card." He slipped a card from his deck and Natasha did the same. Now she turned toward Rampart Blaster. Vega's Life Points are at 1000. Rampart Blaster's effect is that while it's in defense mode, it can attack the player directly, but only half of its attack power is used in damage calculation. It's original attack power is 2000. If I attacked with Rampart Blaster, I could win.
"I'll…" she hesitated. "I'll attack directly with the effect of Rampart Blaster."
Again, she could feel her ears wince as she heard, "Chain."
Vega picked out a card from his hand, not the one he'd drawn from Damage Polarizer incidentially, and threw it into his graveyard, but allowed Natasha to see it.
Kuriboh
Attrib: Dark
Type: Fiend/Effect
Level:1
Atk: 300
Def: 200
During your opponent's Battle Phase, you can discard this card to reduce the Battle Damage inflicted to your Life Points from 1 of your opponent's monster's attacks to 0.
Natasha sucked her teeth, seeing how she'd been foiled, and ended her turn.
"My move. Draw." Vega drew his card and turned it so Natasha could see his Pot of Greed Spell Card. He drew two cards and very noticeably sat up a little straighter in his seat.
"I'll play this Spell Card, Swing of Memories."
Swing of Memories
Group: Spell Card
Type: Spell
Special Summon 1 Normal Monster from your Graveyard. It is destroyed during the End Phase of this turn.
As she read it's effect, it took Natasha no time at all to figure that the target of this Spell Card was Red-Eyes (2400/2000) but it didn't make sense for her because not only was it weaker than Shining Flare Wingman, (4000/2500) it was also not strong enough to destroy Rampart Blaster (2000/2500) either. And it would be destroyed at the end of his turn.
Vega, however, answered her questions about his motives with the next card that he played.
Megamorph
Group: Spell Card
Type: Spell
Icon:Equip
While your Life Points are lower than your opponent's, double the original ATK of a monster equipped with this card. While your Life Points are higher, halve the original ATK.
Natasha paled as she heard the crowd become louder around her.
"Megamorph…" Vega started, "will double Red-Eyes' attack power to 4800. I'll have it attack your Shining Flare Wingman. (4000/2500)"
Natasha, with some noticeable regret, carefully picked up Shining Flare Wingman and set it down in her graveyard, while simultaneously, watching her Life Points.
NATASHA – 500
VEGA – 1000
Vega then took the last card from his hand and set it down on his Spell/Trap Card Zone. Natasha just groaned and let her hands fall into her lap as she saw it.
Stamping Destruction
Group: Spell Card
Type: Spell
Activate only when you have a face-up Dragon-Type monster on your side of the field. Destroy 1 Spell or Trap Card on the field and inflict 500 points of damage to the controller of that card.
"Unless you can stop it, I'll destroy Future Fusion and inflict damage to you for the game." Vega said with a bit of caution.
Natasha sadly shook her head and reached across the table to offer her hand, smiling for him. "I can't. Congratulations, Lamar Vega."
NATASHA – 0
VEGA – 1000
It was a little less than 15 minutes later, after the crowd had erupted into cheers for Vega and he went around giving spectators high-fives and whatnot that she found herself on the same raised stage that she and Vega had dueled on. To her left was an announcer, a Upperdeck spokesman named Michael Sinclair and to his side was Lamar Vega. All three of them faced a row of cameras, reporters and spectators filed in behind them. As he prepared to give some kind of speech and awards ceremony for them, she felt a bitter taste in her mouth. The nasty taste of defeat, she surmised. It wasn't as strong as thought.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please give another round of applause for these two excellent duelists. They put up a great duel for us to enjoy." Sinclair started off, tucking his wireless mic under his arm and clapping himself.
"I'd like to welcome you all to the awards ceremony for the 200X Duel King Tournament. Standing besides me are the two duelists that before facing off against each other, bested a pool of duelists from around the country. Both in points amassed by winning local tournaments and by besting the best of the regions. They are the best our country has to offer!"
Another round of applause rung out for them as Sinclair waited for them to settle before continuing and turning toward Natasha. "A duelist that hailed from the city of Millstone, she came into the final stages of this tournament as one of only two women to make it to this level. She has made it to the grandest stage we can offer and dueled brilliantly. Natasha Chapel, I thank you, we all thank you for your effort."
Natasha liked to see herself as a girl with a decent sense of good judgment about people. And even though it sounded kinda corny, she felt that Sinclair really meant what he said. She was suddenly more acutely aware of the cameras around her and almost tried to hide her face from the embarrassing comment. But she recovered, stepped forward on the stage a bit and bowed to the clapping crowd and cameras, then she stepped back.
"Natasha…" Sinclair said, reaching for a table behind him that contained prizes. "For your dedication, I'm very proud to give you both a check in the amount of 1,000.00 dollars and a voucher for two free booster boxes of any Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game set. Congratulations."
The check was one of the types that were oversized and had her name in cursive and a bold print showing the check amount as well as a smaller paper that was the voucher that he'd mentioned. Natasha took the check and stood with her hand clasping Sinclair's while cameras rolled and flashes from cameras exploded in her eyes. After a few moments with a smile taped to her face, she took the check and stood with them leaning against her legs while Sinclair turned to Vega.
"Lamar…you've probably exemplified the spirit of the game with your presence here. You've taken a deck that most have only seen in the anime and made it into something worth taking note of. As well as making others take note of yourself. A first-year entrant into the Duel King Tournament, you beat out some of the nation's best to come to the top of the mountain. Lamar, for your hard work, I'm very proud to give you this check for 3,500.00 dollars, this championship trophy and of course, the title of North America's Yu-Gi-Oh! Champion. Congratulations!"
The crowd grew to its loudest since they'd been there and as Sinclair gave Vega a similarly sized check and the championship trophy, Vega hoisted both into the air and stepped forward. The crowd behind the reporters and cameramen began clapping in a chant as he bobbed his head to each 'note'. He set the check down behind him and with both hands raised the trophy above his head, then lowered it and stepped back into line with Sinclair and Natasha.
"Ladies and gentlemen, on the part of Upperdeck, I want to thank you for being with us to enjoy the 200X Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game Duel King Tournament. I hope to see you all with us next year, and hopefully…" as he looked between both Vega and Natasha. "Both of you may find yourselves on this stage again."
As they'd been told, at that moment, both Natasha and Vega turned toward each other and gave each other a handshake. But if one looked closely, they could see Natasha say something to Vega and Vega responded. They both wore smirks on their faces.