CHAPTER 3: The Test of Heaven's Strength
"Tyler Topallian, please report to Arena 2" the announcer said.
Ben saw in the distance a tall and muscular boy approaching the Arena with a sly grin on his face.
"Oh, this ought to be fun." Ben thought to himself.
Ben began his descent down the stairs as Ryan walked into the balcony where he could get a better view and not be bothered by anymore "fans."
"It can't be!?!" Ryan noticed a familiar yet unrecognizably annoying voice coming from behind him, "Ryan! It's been such a long time! Oh, how I've missed you so!"
Ryan knew who this person was but turned around to face him anyway in order to stop the potential scene that could ensue from this.
"Hello, Shibai." Ryan replied in an even more annoyed tone.
Shibai Hayari stood maybe an inch taller then Ryan. He wore the standard Obelisk Blue outfit; a dark blue coat lined with white and black pants, though it was hard to miss the large purple rose pinned on his chest as well as his matching purple shirt underneath his coat. Shibai's hair was long and silver and flowed down to his waist. His build was like that of Ryan except he carried himself in a more feminine and elegant manner.
"Oh, so formal, Ry," Shibai said, "How would anyone know that we were relatives if you treat me with such formality?"
Shibai, being the drama queen that he was put his head into his hands as if Ryan's formal greeting was tearing him apart inside. Shibai was always the overly dramatic, egotistical, charmer of the group, and knew that with his good looks could get anyone that he desired. His parents ran a fashion boutique and Shibai sure liked to flaunt that. He always had on extremely effeminate outfits, and many of the boys in Obelisk Blue would accidentally hit on him by mistaking him for a girl.
"I told you, we aren't relatives." Ryan said. "Your mother married my uncle after she already had you. We are step-cousins!"
"Doesn't it all end up in the same place, anyway, dearest cousin?" Shibai said in a loud and obnoxious tone. "So, I saw your little test duel, quite impressive, I must say."
"Thank you, Shibai." Ryan said coldly. "Now if you don't mind, Ben is dueling in Arena 2 and I would like to watch the duel without being interrupted."
"Well, I feel hurt that you don't want me to be in your presence, but being the loving cousin that I am, I'll accept your request for some alone time." Shibai said jokingly, "I have my duel in Arena 4 in the next round, anyway. I hope you'll stay to watch me!"
Ryan simply nodded in a dismissive manner.
"Well I'll see you around, Ry" Shibai said, "You seem to have changed a lot over the past few years. I like what you've done with your hair! You look so cute when you are annoyed!"
Finally, Shibai walked down the stairs and out of Ryan's line of vision. Out of everyone in the school, Ryan loathed Shibai the most. Ryan focused back on Arena 2 and it appeared that the duel between Ben and Tyler Topallian had just begun.
"Duel, start!" the judge shouted out.
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"Allow me to start this off, Ben," Tyler said. "I summon Amazoness Paladin (1700/300) in attack mode!"
A tan-skinned, blonde, Amazon appeared on the field. She wore light tan rags that appeared to be strategically placed to cover all of her necessary areas. Everything about her looked peaceful and beautiful, but in her hand she wielded a large sword that spoke of death.
"My Amazoness Paladin increases its attack by 100 for every Amazoness card on the field, including herself!" Tyler said.
The beautiful woman bean to chant and her attack jumped to 1800.
"Next, I'll set three cards face down, and end my turn." Tyler said. "Show me what you've got, Ben."
Three facedown cards appeared behind the Amazon.
Ben stared on at Tyler as he said, "I summon Thunder Nyan Nyan (1900/800), in attack mode!"
From the field appeared a girl with a leopard printed outfit on and a set of drums around her waist. While the little oni didn't seem to be much of a threat from her outer appearance, her attack points argued otherwise.
"Next, I set two cards face down, and end my turn as well." Ben said with a smirk.
Two face down cards appeared behind Ben's oni.
"Smart move," Ryan said to himself as he looked on from the stands. "Very smart move."
"Why didn't you attack me?" Tyler asked out. "Oh well, your loss, I tribute my Amazoness Paladin for Dark Driceratops (2400/1500), in attack mode!"
The silent Paladin vanished from the field as a stamping, green Triceratops took her place. The large behemoth seemed to not care about anything but dealing damage as it huffed and snorted in place.
"You made a mistake by not attacking me when you had the chance" Tyler said, "Dark Driceratops, attack Thunder Nyan Nyan!"
The large dino seemed relieved that its master had let it attack something as it charged towards the Thunder Nyan Nyan.
"I activate my trap, Draining Shield!" Ben shouted out.
As the dinosaur came an inch away from hitting head on with the Thunder Nyan Nyan, a golden barrier over the oni and the Dark Driceratops slammed into it. The Barrier shattered and the Dark Driceratops returned to its place without leaving a scratch on Thunder Nyan Nyan. Suddenly, bright light shone down on Ben as he looked up at it with a smile of peace overcoming his face.
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"My trap card not only negates the attack of your Dark Driceratops, but also increases my Life Points by that monster's attack." Ben explained.
"Well, my turn is over." Tyler said.
"I draw, and I play my Field Spell card, Luminous Spark!" Ben shouted out.
The entire field was illuminated with divine light as Thunder Nyan Nyan looked up to the heavens with reverence in her eyes.
"This card increases all Light monsters' attacks by 500 and lowers their defenses by 400, raising my Thunder Nyan Nyan's attack power to 2400!" Ben explained. "Next, I activate my Spell card, Change of Heart!"
A half demon, half angel hybrid appeared on the field and seemed to possess Tyler's monster that lost all life in its eyes and slowly walked over to Ben's side of the field.
"Now, I tribute both, Thunder Nyan Nyan and your Dark Driceratops for Emes the Infinity (2500/2000)!" Ben shouted. "Pray that the heavens are gentle with you in your defeat!"
The two monsters were absorbed in bolts of lightning that came from the Earth to the heavens. As the above field grew brighter, a large beam of light slammed onto the field and a giant mechanical warrior, sent from heaven, materialized on Ben's side of the field holding a large white shield and sword.
"Your defeat has been chosen by the heavens." Ben stated. "With my Luminous Spark Spell card on the field, Emes the Infinity's attack is increased by 500 points making him 3000!"
The light graced Emes as it moaned in a tone resembling a whale's song and its attack jumped to 3000.
"Now, Emes, attack Tyler's life points directly!" Ben ordered.
Emes aimed its sword to the heavens and it began to glow with white energy. Then it aimed its sword at Tyler and a beam of light fired from it. The light soared across the field silently, like one was in the eye of a hurricane, yet its force was outstanding.
"I activate my trap, Negate attack!" Tyler shouted.
A giant barrier appeared before the incoming energy ray, its center appeared to be a black hole from which no light escaped.
"I counter with Trap Jammer!" Ben yelled. "When a trap card is activated during the Battle Phase, Trap Jammer, negates and destroys it."
Underneath the force field a pentagram appeared that shattered the barrier protecting Tyler. The beam of light hit Tyler hard as it exploded on contact and sent him off of his feet.
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"Next, I set two cards face down and end my turn." Ben said.
Two face down card holograms appeared behind Emes.
"I won't let you win." Tyler said regaining his stance, "I play the Spell card, Pot of Greed!"
A large green pot with an equally large grin appeared on the field. The pot laughed as two cards rose from inside of it.
"This card lets me draw two more cards," Tyler explained, "Now I activate the Black Luster Ritual!"
Two large metal pots with an emblem of two crossed swords appeared on the field, flames emerging from them.
"I discard, Gigantes and The Rock Spirit from my hand to summon the Black Luster Soldier (3000/2500)!"
A large soldier with rock armor appeared on the field as well as a giant behemoth wielding a club. They vanished into the two pots and smoke rose from them. Suddenly, in a beam of light, a large soldier dressed in navy blue and golden armor appeared on the field. His large sword shimmered from the excess light of Luminous Spark and his helmet covered every aspect of his face except his eyes, which flickered with determination.
"Now, I play the Spell card, Heavy Storm!" Tyler shouted as he held up his card.
A huge hurricane took over the field and the Light from Luminous Spark ceased to exist.
"This card destroys all Spell and Trap cards on the field." Tyler explained, "Now your Emes' attack is lowered to 2500, Black Luster Soldier, attack!"
The large soldier leapt into the air and sliced down with its massive sword. A line of white light fired from his sword and sped at the large, mechanical, deity. The explosion caused the arena to shake as the massive beast crumbled to the ground.
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The audience couldn't believe that Tyler had pulled off such an impressive comeback. Ryan simply stared on at the duel without showing any emotion whatsoever. It appeared that he almost was deep in though pondering some hidden question in this duel. Shibai sat in the crowd surrounded by his 'fans' as he cheered out to the duelists.
"Wonderful show, my little dueling protégés!" Shibai shouted from the audience. "They are both adorable in the way that they look at each other with such drive and forcefulness."
Ryan simply grunted in disgust at Shibai's observation.
"How was that move for you," Tyler said. "It looks like there will soon be a new member of Ra Yellow."
"I'm far from done, Tyler." Ben said. "I set one monster in defense mode and I end my turn."
A face down, horizontal card appeared in front of Ben.
"I draw, and I play the Spell card, Nobleman of Crossout!" Tyler shouted. "This card removes your monster from play and if it is a flip effect monster, any additional monsters of that name are removed from both of our decks."
A soldier with long blonde hair and silver armor appeared on the field. He scoured the face down monster and a small plant was revealed. With that, it vanished from the field and Ben looked on in annoyance.
"The monster that you have removed was Fiber Jar." Ben said.
"Ha!" Tyler shouted out, "Lady Luck is on my side today, Black Luster Soldier attack Ben directly!"
The soldier, again, jumped so into the sky that his silhouette was all that one could see with their naked eye. He came crashing into the ground and sent a narrow wall of light at Ben who braced himself for the oncoming impact. Being directly hit, Ben skidded back a few feet, but quickly regained his composure and walked forward to where he was originally standing.
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The crowd began to roar at Tyler's direct attack.
"I end my turn." Tyler said becoming excited, "You better do something next turn, Ben."
"This turn will be the only one that counts," Ben said, "I summon the Agent of Creation-Venus (1600/0)!"
The field grew bright with sparkling lights as a woman with long blonde hair, a golden dress, and her hands open appeared on the field.
"I hope you don't think you are going to attack my Black Luster Soldier with that." Tyler said.
"No, Tyler," Ben replied, "That's not my intention at all."
Suddenly, Ben closed his eyes as an aura of light appeared around him. The aura fired off three beams of light that formed into three orbs on the field surrounding The Agent of Creation in a triangle.
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"By paying 500 of my Life Points for each, I can summon up to three Mystical Shine Balls (500/500) from my deck or hand to the field due to my Agent's effect." Ben explained, "Now to finish you off, Tyler."
"Good luck," Tyler replied, "Swarming the field won't win you this duel!"
"Actually it will," Ben retorted, "I set one card face down and end my turn."
"You are a weird duelist, Ben," Tyler said. "I draw!"
"Divine energy, purest light, show yourself!" Ben shouted, "I activate my trap card, Solar Ray!"
Venus began to radiate golden light as the three orbs were joined together through lines of white light completing the pyramidal shape.
"What is that?" Tyler questioned.
"This trap card deals 600 points of Direct Damage to my opponent for every Light type monster on my side of the field." Ben explained. "I count four, so that means you take 2400 points of damage!"
The golden agent aimed her hands out as a pyramid shaped beam of light hit Tyler, scorching his flesh.
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"The Divine Light has graced you," Ben said, "Be grateful that your punishment wasn't worse."
"The winner is, Ben, from Obelisk Blue!" The judge declared.
Ben walked out of the arena appearing to be calm and collected as he made his way back to the balcony where Ryan was.
"Nice match, Ben." Ryan said still in his almost stoic manner.
"Thank you," Ben replied, "I felt something special in that duel with my deck. I can't explain it, but it was a sort of connection that I haven't felt before."
"The philosopher Plato once said that…" Ryan said when he was suddenly interrupted.
"Oooh, speldid duel, Benjamin!" Shibai said as he ran up to Ben with his arms open.
As Shibai went to embrace him, Ben, simply put one arm out forcefully and shoved back Shibai.
"Oooh, my heart is forever broken," Shibai said allowing for his dramatic side to take over, "How will I ever continue to live on knowing that I am not loved."
Shibai dipped himself backwards with the top of his palm covering his forehead as his group of fans caught him. Suddenly, he stood up and smiled at Ben and Ryan.
"Well I'm sure I'll find a way," Shibai said, "Maybe that Tyler boy will give me the attention that I desire."
Ryan and Ben both looked over quizzically at Shibai's comment.
"Well regardless, my duel is next." He said, "I do hope you'll enjoy it."
With a wink Shibai descended down the stairs to Arena 3.
"Would Allen Mebane please report to Arena 3 for your match." The announcer over the loudspeaker said.
A boy wearing all black standing about six feet tall, walked towards the dueling arena.
"Oh boy," Ben said, "Dark and somber versus Bright and happy; this should be interesting."
"I feel bad for that boy," Ryan responded, "Shibai takes pride in getting his type to crack."
To be continued…