Yugioh - Unlimited Boundary

Episode 3 - The Embodiment of Fear, The Dreaded Dark Armed Dragon!

"Ladies and gentlemen, it appears our new student is in for a very hard time!"

"Go! DARK ARMED DRAGON!" Alek cried, slamming the card into its proper position. And so my sanctuary was torn to pieces, with the entrance of this fallen angel...

The crowd seemed to tremble as this beast's name was simply uttered. With a powerful roar, darkness began to flood the heavens. Arising from a spiral of light and dark bands, this creature began to appear. The first thing I could see from the spiraling lights were talons, attached to the dark flesh of the beast. Its talons ripped apart the clouds, and wings soon appeared, carrying its massive body higher into the heavens. No... I wanted to yell, No! Something like that, a creature of such darkness, did not belong in my heaven!

The creature stood several men high, its black flesh adorned with sharp, menacing armor, tracing his outline in blades. His talons laid at rest, flexing at its sides. When its large body finally touched the ground, all of us who shared the same earth seemed to tremble. It gave me a gaze with its crimson eyes, as its maw began to open, unveiling its horrid, black flame, building...

"Dark Armed Dragon...(2800/1000, Dark/Dragon/Effect, Level 7)" Arata mouthed. She knew of the creature, but not of how Alek acquired it... This was not his deck at all, nor his play style. Arata began to think she set me up with more than I could handle...

I watched in fear as the creature took its place, letting another, howling screech flood the room. "Dark Armed can only be summoned when I have three Dark monsters in my graveyard. But now that my beast is on the field, I can use this later on" Alek exclaimed, pulling a card from his hand as if he were going to show me. "For now, however, I activate my Dragon's effect! So long as I have dark monsters in my graveyard, I can remove one from play to destroy one card on the field. You have three cards I want to get rid of, and it just so happens that I have three Dark monsters in the grave..."

My eyes soon widened.

"Now, I remove from play Krebons, Sangan, and Destiny Hero - Malicious, to destroy The Agent of Wisdom - Mercury, Majestic Mech - Ohka, and Sanctuary in the Sky!"

"No..."

The dragon's blaze began to build in its maw, flooding from the creases. Within seconds, with nothing to stop its rampage, the creature extended its body out, its maw to the sky, unleashing a hellish tower of darkness into the sky. The crowd flinched and cheered, watching the destruction before their eyes like animals. The dragons flame came raining upon, not only my sanctuary, my heaven, but my monsters as well... Fire rained from the sky like a nightmare, engulfing everything on the field. When all had subsided, I was left with nothing... We were back at the arena, the floor stained with ashes, with only Synthetic Seraphim to occupy my field. He was coming for me...

"Go, Dark Armed Dragon! Attack her Life Points directly!" Alek demanded, and the creature obeyed...

Arata called for me, several times, but I couldn't muster the strength to respond... The dragon's flame was now aimed at me, unleashing the same hell on me as it did on my heaven... I soon felt the torrent surround my body in heat, and I found myself screaming in an attempt to contain the pain. The flames left me standing there, hunched over my legs, panting with fatigue. My clothes stained with ashes and my body smoking, I found it the hardest task just to stand up. I watched the screen as my points decreased. I was furious.

Alek - 4100

Enzeru - 1700

And I was going to make sure he knew it...

"I end my turn with that," Alek smiled, watching his dragon settle back into its position. "It was a good game, for the most part," He made sure to add.

"You'll pay... My turn now... I draw!"

Before pulling my next card, I closed my eyes. I was going to lose, I was going to lose in front of everyone... I could hear Arata in the background of my thoughts, and finally, I looked over at her.

"Come on, Enzeru! You can turn this around easily! Don't let that overgrown boot intimidate you! Prove your worth and strength to everyone here, don't take shit from him or from anyone else in this crowd! Pull your next card and Beat His Ass!" She screamed at me, forcing a small smile across my lips.

"Inspiring words from our very own, Arata Muteki... Her encouragement of her friend seems to know no end. Can Enzeru turn it around after Alek gained both field and point advantage? All we can do is wait and see!"

"Arata was stupid to think you could stand up to me, Novice... What kind of friend sets her friend up for such a powerful defeat?" Alek questioned, glancing to Arata in the stand, then back to me. But once his eyes connected with mine, I could see the fear in his eyes. I was smiling...

"The kind of friend..." I started, pulling my next card. I knew exactly what it was, it couldn't be anything else, and I was about to unleash my own kind of hell... "Who knows I can win!" I yelled, pulling the first card from my hand and slamming it on to the field.

"I summon The Agent of Creation - Venus(1600/0, Light/Fairy/Effect, Level 3), in attack position!" My creature took its place on the field, the beautiful woman of gold, both wings and gown complimenting her aura. She spread her arms wide, stars forming in her palms.

"And what do you plan to do with that useless creature?" Alek demanded. He knew I had something... He knew to expect something... I could feel it...

"I plan to beat you! I activate my creatures effect! By paying 500 of my Life Points, I can Special Summon one Mystic Shine Ball from my deck in attack position. Since I have 1700 Life Points, I can use this effect three times..."

"What...?" Arata questioned. I think she knew what was coming too...

"Isn't that one of those Agent creatures you were talking about?" Eniya asked her, her eyes stuck on the duel.

Arata simply nodded.

"I sacrifice 1500 of my Life Points to Special Summon three Mystic Shine Balls(500/500, Light/Fairy, Level 2)," I brought the three creatures to my field, three small, crystal balls, not a feature to make them unique. I pulled the final card in my hand, and kissed the front, before rising it above my head.

"They aren't going to last, Slifer! Reveal face-down, Solemn Judgement!" Alek quickly added. "At the cost of half of my points, I negate the summon of your last Mystic Shine Ball! Whatever you were planning, a Synchro Summon is no longer possible for you!" I planned for that. I welcomed that... I summoned one extra Mystic Shine Ball than I needed, forcing him to Solemn Judgment my last one to stop my move... He thought I was trying to Synchro Summon. I made him think I needed three...

"Because of your Counter Trap, my Synthetic Seraphim activates once more! I Special Summon another of my tokens in attack position," I smiled.

Alek looked dumbstruck... His eyes locked on to the screen.

Alek - 2050

Enzeru - 200

Arata instantly smiled.

"Now, because a Counter Trap's effect has been resolved, I'm allowed to use a very important card to me... Something that, no matter how many Solemn Judgments you use, you will never be able to stop it... I sacrifice my Two Mystic Shine Balls, my Seraphim Token, and The Agent of Creation - Venus, all creatures I control..." I placed the cards in the grave, fading their images from the field. "To Special Summon my bond with Arata, and the card that will bring me to victory!"

"Voltanis, The Adjudicator!(2800/1400, Light/Fairy/Effect, level 8)" Arata and I yelled in unison, summoning the creature in place of all of my others. Large, mechanical wings spread apart, their steel glistening in the lights reflecting off of them. It was a tall creature, violet, constructed of the same material as its synthetic wings. A single eye was traced across the creatures face, and as its wings began to fold, its arms were lowered to its waist, holding within its grasp, a violet scepter. It hovered along the ground, waiting my command. The crowd remained silent, Arata too flustered for words. Everyone was on their toes, announcer included.

Alek laughed. "All of that commotion for a weak monster like that? I got mine for free, you had to sacrifice your entire field for yours!"

"Well, I'm about to sacrifice yours too!" I yelled, extending my arm towards his field. The eye on my monster began to glow.

"What kind of card is that, Arata?" Akeru asked, poking at Arata's shoulder, refusing to look away from the duel.

"Voltanis the Adjudicator... Enzeru can Special Summon it when a Counter Trap card's effect resolves. She counted on psyching Alek out. She put the entire game on the slight chance he may have a Counter Trap down... She's something else," She tried to explain throughly enough. "Voltanis can destroy an amount of cards on the field equal to the number of cards used for his summon, so long as you sacrifice every monster you have on the field to do it... Enzeru can destroy up to four cards now, but she only needs a few," Arata laughed.

"You mean...?" Eniya was almost afraid to ask.

"Alek has lost..."

"What?! No!" Alek screamed. The entire crowd was struck without a word to say. Even the Slifers began to calm down.

"Go, Voltanis! With the might of my angels, unleash the power of heaven! Destroy Alek's field!" I commanded. My creature took to action immediately, its scepter in hand, prepared to strike at Dark Armed Dragon. The dragon prepared a heavy blast of flame, and Alek looked desperately for something to stop the assault. Nothing he could do could ever stop me... Voltanis raised his scepter high above its head, slamming it down upon Dark Armed Dragon's maw, unleashing from that very impact, a powerful wave of violet light, swallowing his field into an abyss. No more dragon, no more darkness...

"And now, finish the game, Voltanis! Attack Alek directly!" I made my final command. With nothing to stop me, and only 2050 Life Points... He was a helpless target to my creatures wrath. From where it stood, my creature prepared an identical blast, brought the scepter to its side, and once ready, unleashed everything it had at Alek's Life Points with a swing of the weapon. Alek couldn't believe it, not for the slightest of moments.

Akeru couldn't believe it...

Eniya couldn't believe it...

The announcer couldn't believe it...

The crowd couldn't believe it...

I couldn't believe it...

But as all of us watched the screen, watched as Alek's Life Points dropped to zero, we were all forced to believe it. I won...

Arata believed it...

Alek fell to his knees, unable to even look at me. He looked sad... I couldn't take my eyes off of him, and because of it, I didn't notice the screaming crowd cheering, or Arata chanting my name to start the crowd up. Soon enough, the entire crowd was doing it, and when I finally divided my attention, I smiled to Arata. Even her friends were cheering... Arata gave me a quick, thumbs up, and I returned the favor. There was no way I could enjoy this victory... at least not yet. After putting my deck back together, I detached my disk and decided on a bold move. Once my disk landed on my bag, I ran across the field, in my heels, to reach Alek. When I finally got there, I felt my heart pounding in my chest...

"U-Um..." I started, trying my hardest to get his attention. The entire room was silent now, as if totally confused at my actions... I didn't care right now, they didn't matter. At least my stuttering got his attention. He looked up at me, confused with the rest of the crowd. He didn't know what to say. I hardly knew what to say... I was just going to wing it...

"You..." I took a deep breath. "You dueled very well! You... You were really mean, but... I don't think you are really like that... I don't even think you were using your real deck... And I'd love to duel you sometime with you and your real deck..."

"And you'd be right, Enzeru," Arata said from behind me, her arms crossed, as if disappointed. "What the hell was that all about, Alek?! Where did you get any of those cards from?"

Alek shifted his gaze to Arata, as if I didn't even exist. He stood to his feet. "Believe me, if I did use my real deck, I doubt she'd be able to stand," He scoffed. "I was supposed to beat you with it, Muteki, but because of your idiotic match-up change, we didn't even duel!"

Before Arata could speak, I cut in. "I want to do it properly... My name is Enzeru Adokenai... do you want to be friends?" I asked him, mimicking Arata's words to me on the boat. She looked at me like I was crazy, like he'd never accept and offer like that. He looked at me like I was foolish, and so I felt that way...

"Although I could have played it better, you did beat a Tele-DAD deck... With a deck I've never seen played properly. Synthetic Angels... You've got something, I'll give you that much..." He said to me, sparing me the eye contact before turning on his heels, making his way out of the entrance he came. I couldn't stop smiling if I tried.

"Grr... Stop trying to play it off like you're so cool! You lost because she beat your ass! Not because you made a faulty move! Hey! Listen you pompous asshole!" Arata screamed at him as he walked. I could see his shoulders shaking in laughter. He flashed us a peace sign on his way out.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen! What a historic duel we have had the honor of witnessing today! A Slifer Red student fought and defeated one of our best students in the academy! This girl has shown much promise, let's all give her the hand she deserves!" The announcer almost demanded. The room erupted with applause once more, and Arata forced me to raise my arm in victory.

An hour or so later, the stadium began to clear of students and spectators, lead by their respective official depending on what color they wore. I found myself once again pulled over by Arata as everyone left the room. When the room was empty, we were approached by the judge of the duel, whose eyes locked on me the entire time. I tried to inch behind Arata, who decided to tease and inch away every inch I crept closer. I tried multiple times before I figured this trend out, giving up on it.

"Congratulations on your victory, Miss Adokenai. It was a very powerful performance," The judge smiled at me, offering to shake my hand. After an elbow in the ribs by Arata, I took his offer. "The Chancellor would like to see you, Miss Muteki will show you to his office."

"I knew he would change his mind after seeing her play," Arata boasted. "Come on, Enzeru!" She demanded after taking my hand, pulling me like dead weight outside of the arena. Who was I to argue with her?

Arata took me to the back exit of the arena. According to her, it wasn't quite finished yet, just a big dome with seats as far as she was concerned. The real sight to behold, and the real thing to experience, was up ahead. The school... When we had exited the forest paths, it was like walking into a totally different world. The trees seemed to just... end... and from where they stopped, beautiful grass and concrete made up the walkways. A building that seemed taller than every other I've seen so far stood ahead, along with several, second or third year students, enjoying themselves in one way or another. The school itself could be accessed by students, but according to Arata, classes wouldn't start until the next day. The closer we walked to the building, the better my look of it became...

The school was massive, a word I found myself using a lot when trying to describe this place. It was like my life before the academy never happened... Everyone stared at Arata and I, some of them even clapped. Others, however, began to talk...

"Hey, that's the Slifer girl who beat Alek!" One man said to his friend, standing off by the welcome sign not far from the door.

"How do you think she cheated?" The man's friend asked him, trying to act like I couldn't hear them. Arata didn't seem to notice.

"Maybe she didn't cheat? Maybe she's just that good?" Another person was heard remarking.

"But she beat Alek! That's almost impossible!"

"He wasn't using his real deck, maybe the outcome would have been different."

"Maybe."

"She's kinda cute when you look at her."

That was a conversation I wish I would have stayed around for. Arata and I were inside the school before I could hear anything else. My face flushed deep pink, trying to hide it by looking away. Whether these people believed me or not... I did it. Everyone watched and let the record books show... I won.