Episode 2: The Blackwings Take Flight!

Jinx and his best friends strolled leisurely through the streets of Neo Domino City. Even though it was an illustrious place that dwarfed the city of Satellite, that didn't mean that it didn't have its share of run-down areas. Jinx, Rick, Vincent, and Mitch were all kids that had originally been abandoned in Satellite. But when they were all old enough (except for Mitch, who they managed to bring along), they snuck aboard a trading ship bound for Neo Domino, where they had been since.

But as they prepared to round the corner to their favorite hangout, they found their path blocked by a group of thuggish-looking brutes. Mitch instantly ran behind Jinx. "AUGH! J-J-Jinx! It's those guys from yesterday!"

The thugs burst out laughing at Mitch's cowardice. Rick immediately punched the nearest one and the laughing stopped. "Shaddap, all of you! We already beat you chumps yesterday, so why are you here again? Back for more?"

"Not from you, trash-boy." The voice belonged to a taller version of the thugs, in leather clothing from head to toe, his face riddled with yellow scars from encounters with security. "I'm here for another duel with your cheating little friend Jinx."

Jinx met his gaze angrily. "Who are you calling a cheater, Kravin? I beat you fair and square. Your deck was just stuffed with too many holographic cards that didn't work together. Most of them were banned anyways."

Kravin stepped forward until his face was inches from Jinx's. "Shut up! There's no way a trash-boy like YOU could beat ME! I've never lost, so the only way a Satellite like you could win is through cheating! But I'm here to remedy the situation with my new deck!" He held up a deck of cards as if it were a bar of gold.

Jinx immediately brought out his dueldisk with his deck inside. "So it's a duel you're after? Okay Kravin, under one condition! If I win, then you and your little gang leave me and my friends alone for good!"

Kravin and his thugs burst out laughing. When Kravin regained his breath, he said, "Fine! Then if I win, then I burn your cards and we take your hangout! Sound fair?"

Before anyone could protest, Jinx shouted, "I accept! Let's go!" Their disks lit up as they backed up to give appropriate room. Kravin drew his starting hand first. "I draw! And I'll start things off by playing the spell card, Fires of Doomsday! This gives me two Doomsday Tokens on my side of the field!" The two flaming tokens appeared with 0 DEF. "Then I'll set two face-down cards."

"Playing defensively, are we Kravin? Not gonna work against me! I draw, then summon my Blackwing- Shura the Blue Flame in ATK mode!" The navy-feathered monster appeared with 1800 ATK. "But since I control a Blackwing of a different name, I can special summon Blackwing- Bora the Spear in ATK mode as well!" The orange-feathered warrior appeared with 1700 ATK.

Kravin scowled at the Blackwings' swarming capabilities. "And unfortunately for you, Bora the Spear inflicts piercing damage! So he'll be the first to attack one of your tokens!" Jinx's monster plowed easily through Kravin's token, reducing his lifepoints to 6300.

But before Shura the Blue Flame could attack, Kravin opened both of his face-down cards. "Simultaneous activation! First I'll play the trap card Burst Barrier, which ends your battle phase when you destroy one of my monsters. And my second face-down is another Fires of Doomsday, giving me two more tokens!" Jinx calmly set a face-down card as Kravin now had three Doomsday Tokens.

Kravin drew from his deck. "Now I release all three of my Tokens to special summon Raviel, the Lord of Phantasms!" Everyone gasped as the massive demonic gargoyle creature descended from the skies, landing with a tremendous 4000 ATK! "How did you get your hands on a copy of that Sacred Beast?!?!?" Jinx stammered.

"You'd be surprised at what you can get from an opponent under the right terms of dueling!" Kravin cackled, referencing to his habit of ante-dueling. "But now back to the festivities. After I special summon Raviel, I'll play the continuous spell card Triangle Gate! This activates two other copies from my deck, but then I'll send all three to the graveyard to special summon Hamon, the Lord of Striking Thunder!"

Lightning crashed as the golden skeletonized demon appeared and roared its 4000 ATK points. "Damn! This guy's playing with more than one Sacred Beast!" Jinx commented as the two monstrosities loomed before him.

"Ha! You must think that face-down card can save you, but I'm gonna play the spell card, Nobleman of Extermination! This'll eliminate your pesky trap card!" The giant knight slashed through Jinx's Mirror Force and removed it from play. Jinx cursed under his breath bitterly.

Kravin, however, was happier than ever. "Ha ha ha ha! See? After you cheated to beat me, I practiced with my cards and now I have an unstoppable strategy going for me! Raviel and Hamon attack your monsters!"

Raviel crushed Shura in an inescapable grip, while Hamon blasted Bora with brutal lightning. Jinx screamed as his lifepoints shot downwards to 3500. "And let's not forget Hamon's special ability! When he destroys one of your monsters, you take 1000 points of damage!" Jinx cringed as his lifepoints fell further to 2500.

"Ha ha ha ha! I told you! When you're not cheating, you're busy sucking at dueling! You'll never become a Deck Lord before me!"

At that sentence, Jinx seemed to become infuriated. "Don't you ever say that, Kravin! I'll become a Deck Lord no matter what's standing in my way, even if that 'what' in question is you!"

Kravin seemed momentarily taken aback by his words. "Big talk for someone who's losing really badly! Before I end my turn I play the spell card Hand Destruction! This makes us both discard 2 cards, then draw two more. I'll set one face-down card to end my turn."

Jinx drew from his deck. He smiled at the card he drew. "You're in for it now, Kravin! I summon Blackwing- Sirocco the Dawn in ATK mode!" The crow-like warrior screeched 2000 ATK. "Since you control a monster and I have none, he can be brought out with no tributes!"

"And since I have a Blackwing of a different name, I can special summon Blackwing- Gale the Whirlwind in ATK mode as well!" The impish avian appeared with 1300 ATK. "And then Gale's effect activates! I can permanently halve the ATK and DEF of a monster you control!"

Gale let loose with a cyclone that smashed into Raviel, reducing its ATK and DEF to 2000. "And then Sirocco the Dawn adds the ATK of all my Blackwings to himself for the turn if only he can attack!" Sirocco's strength rose up to 3300.

"Now he attacks your Raviel!" Sirocco charged, but Kravin opened his trap card. "Go Delta Barrier! Since I have 2 copies in the graveyard, I can activate them as well, and when I have all 3, once per turn I can negate battle damage!" Sirocco's attack fizzed out before Raviel.

"Fine. I'll set three face-down cards to end my turn" Jinx said. Kravin drew from his deck. "Now I'll send my 3 Delta Barriers to the graveyard to special summon Uria, Lord of Searing Flames!" The snaking dragon roared with 3000 ATK points.

"Then I'll shift Hamon to DEF position, making him the only monster you can attack! And then I'll use Uria's effect to destroy one of your face-downs!" Uria shot a beam of fire at the one on the right, turning out to be Parasite Mind. "Now Uria attacks Sirocco, and Raviel attacks Gale!"

Uria's attack burned Sirocco to pieces, and that's when Jinx opened one of his remaining trap cards. "Go Fake Feather! This card lets me discard my Blackwing- Elfin the Raven to duplicate the effect of your Burst Barrier, ending your battle phase!" But Jinx's lifepoints still had fallen to 1500 as Kravin ended his turn.

Jinx looked at his opposition, then his field. Come on, deck; I need a miracle right now! He shut his eyes and drew! Upon seeing the card he gave a faint smile.

"Okay Kravin, here I come! First I'll play the spell Card of Demise! This'll refresh my hand to 5 cards. Then I'll play the spell card Black Whirlwind! When I normal summon a Blackwing, another one with less ATK can be added to my hand from my deck."

"So now I'll normal summon another Blackwing- Sirocco of the Dawn in ATK mode, which triggers Black Whirlwind! I'll add Kalut the Moon Shadow to my hand. Then I'll special summon another Bora the Spear and Gale the Whirlwind!" The army of monsters had renewed itself.

"But now I play Monster Reborn to resurrect my Elfin the Raven from the graveyard in ATK mode!" Elfin appeared with 2200 ATK. "And then Gale's effect activates, halving Hamon's ATK and DEF." Kravin growled as Hamon now had only 2000 DEF.

"And once again I'll trigger Sirocco's effect, adding the ATK of all Blackwings I control to himself!" Sirocco glowed as he grew in power until he had 7200 ATK! "But by discarding Kalut the Moon Shadow, I can give him an extra 1400, making the total 8600!"

Jinx shouted for Sirocco to charge, but before his attack connected with Hamon, Jinx opened his final trap card. "Go Ebon Arrow! This reduces Sirocco's ATK by 500, but now he inflicts piercing damage, and when he destroys a monster, you take the destroyed monster's DEF as damage!"

Sirocco's attack blasted Kravin down to 1900, but then he lost 4000, bringing him to 0! Kravin screamed in rage as his field vanished. "You now the deal, Kravin. Now beat it" Jinx said.

Kravin turned and motioned for his thugs to follow, but not before letting loose with one last threat. "Don't think this is over, Jinx! I'll beat you someday; just you wait!!!"