Episode 4: A Sly Duelist

Less than an hour since the last episode Yuni and the gang have made their way into a forested section of the island. Yuni says, "Well, I guess we should just hang around here until the tournament starts. Then we'll look for some people to duel."

"Why don't we walk for a little bit?" suggests Tori.

"That's fine let's go."

They begin to walk through the forest. While walking Yugi asks, I was wondering, why did you get rid of dueling with actual cards? You seem to just use generated image stand-ins.

We started using the Duel Gauntlet system about 1000 years ago, or at least a basic form of it that was more of a glove, hence the name Duel Gauntlet. And we still, in a way, use real card decks. They just stay in the box so that they can be scanned by a computer. This way you can't set your deck since it's shuffled by a computer and you can't cheat since everything is computer monitored.

But what if someone hacks the computer?

One of the most secure computer systems is used; to date there is not one known successful hack.

I guess that makes since.

A siren then goes off, and a voice announces, "This marks the start of the Duel Sanctuary tournament. On your marks. Get set. Duel!"

Brutus then says, "Alright, who wants to duel me!"

A high-pitch voice says, "So you need someone to duel?"

Brutus turns around and says, "You bet I do, just who are you?"

A short kid walks out of the forest. He has pale skin and wears all black. He has the overall appearance of someone that you would not trust. "I am Sly and I am a duelist and I pick you to duel." He points at Yuni.

"Hey what about me?" complains Brutus.

"Be silent, I want to duel this one. So, do you accept my challenge?"

"Umm…sure… I guess." Yuni replies.

"Alright then, let's duel."

Yuni and Sly both attach their deck boxes to their Gauntlets. The computer voice says, "Scanning decks…decks accepted. Begin duel." The duel screen along with five cards appears in front of both players.

What! Yuni thinks as he looks at his hand. These are all spell cards that I can't use without monsters.

Everyone gets a bad hand every once and a while, comments Yugi.

"I'll wager one entry card," says Sly.

"Same here. Duel on!"

"I'll take the first move," says Sly as he draws a card. He then thinks, Like a fly to a spider's web. This duelist is stuck in my trap. "I can discard two cards from my hand to special summon my Fiendish Huntsman." He then proceeds to discard two cards (Sly's hand: 4) and Fiendish Huntsman is summoned (Dark/Level 6/Fiend/Effect/ATK 2300/DEF 0). It looks like a monstrous humanoid wearing hunting gear. "One of the cards I discarded is known as Fiendish Servant. His effect allows me to summon him when he is discarded (Dark/Level 2/Fiend/Tuner/ATK 200/DEF 0)." The monster comes to the field. It is a very short with no neck, so its head and body are the same. "Now my level 2 Fiendish Servant tunes mylevel 6 Fiendish Huntsman. I Synchro summon Fiendish King (Dark/Level 8/Fiend/Synchro/ATK 3000/DEF 0)!"

Yugi then exclaims, Synchro what?!

Hmm…I guess you're too old to know about Synchro. A Synchro is a type of monster that stays in the extra deck, like fusions. You summon them by having one tuner monster and one or more non-tuner monsters. You get rid of both and add their levels together to summon a Synchro monster of equal level.

Oh, so basically they are cheap, easy to summon knock-offs of fusion monsters.

Well, if you put it that way, yeah, they pretty much are.

Fiendish King lowers on to the field. It is a tall, lumbering fiend. It wears a organic looking crown on its head and has a similarly organic looking cape. "I end my turn now (Sly's hand: 3)."

"That means it's my turn!" Let's hope this works. "I draw!" Yuni draws his card. Upon seeing it a look of extreme disgust appears on his face. Not another spell card!

Maybe you're not believing in the Heart of the Cards.

You know I don't believe in that concept.

Sly says, "Is something the matter? You look horrific."

"I am fine. I end my turn (Yuni's hand: 6)."

Tori, who is watching the duel with Brutus says, "This looks bad. Why didn't Yuni make a move?"

Brutus says, "Don't worry about it; Yuni is the best duelist I know. I'll bet that this is just phase one in some master plan he made."

"I hope so, for Yuni's sake."

Sly says, "What? Can you not make a move? That's just too bad. I'll have to make a move good enough good enough to make up for your lack of one." Sly draws his card. "In my previous turn I discarded a card called Fiendish Knight. During my stand-by phase when this monster is in the graveyard, I can discard one card to summon it from my graveyard. I discard my Fiendish Archer to summon my Fiendish Knight (Dark/Level 7/Fiend/Effect/ATK 2500/DEF 0)." On the field appears another monstrous creature. This one has armor that seems to be a part of him, as if it was grown from him and it holds a sword. "Also when I discard Fiendish Archer I can special summon it from my graveyard (Dark/Level 7/Fiend/Effect/ATK 2500/DEF 0)." Fiendish Archer revives itself. It looks similar to the last monster but it holds an ornate bow and arrow. "Now I overlay my two level seven monsters to build the overly network. I Xyz summon Fiendish Overlord (Fiend/Rank 7/Fiend/Xyz/ATK 0/DEF 0)!"

Yugi asks, Exceed, what is he exceeding?

I guess you're a little old for those guys also. It is not exceed, it's ek-seez and it is spelt X-Y-Z.

Well…that's…strange.

Yeah, I know. Anyways, you summon a Xyz monster by getting two or more monsters of the same level and place them on top of each other. This is called overlaying. The Xyz monster comes from the extra deck also and instead of having levels they have ranks. In addition, most Xyz monsters require that you remove one or more of their overlay units in order to activate their effects.

Somewhat more original, but still just a rip-off of fusions.

Basically.

On the field appears the Fiendish Overlord. It is even larger than Fiendish King. It also has a crown and cape like the king, but both are much larger and more regal looking. It also has a similar "organic" armor as Fiendish Knight, but it is golden. It also holds a scepter. "Now I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards!" Sly proceeds to draw his cards. "Now I use the effect of my Overlord. By detaching one of his overlay units I can discard as many cards from my hand as I wish; he gains 1000 attack points for each one until the end of your second turn after I activate this effect. I discard four cards." Fiendish overlord absorbs one of its overlay units through its scepter and Sly discards his four cards (ATK 4000). "Lucky for you, I cannot attack the turn I activate the effect of Fiendish Archer. So you survive one more turn. Your turn." I might not be able to finish him this turn, but it is worth it to pull off my ultimate three turn combination. No one will ever know.

Yuni prepares to draw his card, Here goes nothing, thinks Yuni. "Draw!" It is another spell card. No! Impossible! It is one thing to get unlucky, but this isn't right. And Sly continues to pull off amazing combos. It almost seems like he's…

The thought comes to both Yuni and Yugi at the same time. They both exclaim in Yuni's mind, Cheating!

Yugi asks, I thought you said that you couldn't cheat the Duel Gauntlet system.

There's a first for everything, isn't there? What should I do?

If you believe in the Heart of the Cards anything is possible.

Even if that was the case, this is different. He has hacked the duel computer; there is nothing that can be done. The duel is completely stacked in his favor.

Let the duel play out. I bet you figure something out.

Well, there is one thing I can do to survive for now.

I enter my end phase. Since my hand exceeds the six card limit I discard a card. I discard my Shield from a Different Dimension. When this card is sent from either my hand or deck to my graveyard I can banish it. I end my turn."

Brutus says, "You see Yuni has something planned. I told you."

Tori replies, "It seems to me that he's just trying to do whatever he can to survive."

The castle in the middle of the island is shown from an overhead view. The scene then changes to a room that is presumably in that castle. It is a throne room and sitting on the throne is the man from the invitation, his hood is still up. The man says, "Lux, Nox, what do you have to report?"

Suddenly two ninjas appear in the room. One is dressed black and the other in white. The one in white, Lux, says, "My Lord, we have been watching the one known as Yuni, like you requested."

The ninja in black, Nox, continues, "And it has come to our attention that the duelist he is currently dueling has hacked the duel mainframe and is cheating."

The mysterious man replies, "Interesting. I did not know that such a feat was possible to anyone outside of the society."

Lux asks, "What shall we do my Lord?"

"You stop the duel and disqualify young Yuni's opponent, of course."

Nox says, "It will be done my Lord." The two ninjas then disappear in a poof of black and white smoke.

The mysterious man says to himself, "I can't have you losing just yet Yuni, you are vital to my plans."

"Is that all you can do? Such a shame," says Sly, "Oh well, this duel was fun while it lasted." Sly draws his card. "Now Fiendish Overlord attack Yuni directly!" The monster unleashes a blast of energy from its scepter. The energy flies towards Yuni.

Brutus shouts out, "No! Yuni's going to lose! He can't lose, that's impossible!"

Tori says, "No, Brutus look."

A barrier of energy is surrounding Yuni. Sly cries out, "What happened, you had no face down cards. How did you stop my attack?"

"My Shield from a Different Dimension happened. You see when you declare an attack when that card is banished, I can return it to the graveyard to end your battle phase. Despite your efforts, I'm not completely helpless."

Brutus says to Tori, "See, I told you Yuni wouldn't lose yet, you just need to stay calm."

Tori responds, "Sure. What do you think Yuni meant when he said despite your best effort?"

"Who knows?"

Sly says, "Alright fine, you managed to survive one more turn. It won't happen again. I end my turn (Sly's hand: 1)."

Yuni draws his card. And it's another spell card. What am I supposed to do I have nothing on the field and a now worthless spell card in the graveyard…wait…that's it!

You have a plan?

Yes, and I think it might just work.

Suddenly the two ninjas, Lux and Nox, appear in a smoke cloud. Lux says, "By order of our lord this duel is to be immediately terminated."

Sly cries out, "On what grounds!?"

Nox says, "On the grounds of cheating by the duelist known as Sly."

Both Brutus and Tori gasp.

Yuni says to the ninjas, "Let the duel continue."

All at once, Brutus, Tori, and Sly all say in surprise, "What!?"

"I want to defeat this cheat myself. I do not want to win by default."

Lux turns to Nox and says, "What should we tell him brother? We do have our orders.

Nox responds, "Let them duel. This Yuni kid seems confident that he can win. Besides, I'm interested to see this kid duel."

Lux then proclaims, "The duel may continue."

Sly says, "I don't know what you are all talking about with cheating, and I am quite offended that you would even suggest such a thing, but you should have gotten out of this while you could have."

"No Sly, I plan on winning. Let me show you how. You might have made it so that I can't draw a monster, but you can't seal effects that happen in my deck. When I control no cards and have only spell cards in my graveyard, I can use the effect of my Cyber-Tech Mechanic to discard all the cards from my hand to summon him from my deck (Earth/Level 4/Machine/Effect/ATK 0/DEF 0)." Yuni discards his hand and from his deck comes Cyber-Tech Mechanic. This monster looks like a typical mechanic, except he is a cyborg and he holds a giant wrench as a weapon. "When this card is summoned I can banish all spell cards in my graveyard to give him 500 attack for each. I banish all eight cards in my graveyard (ATK 4000)!"

"Impressive, but it is still not enough to beat me."

"I'm not done yet." Let's see how you like this type of card. "Technology advances, and with those advances come evolutions in cyber technology, these evolutions help form new monsters. I evolve my Cyber-Tech Mechanic into to Cyber-Technician (Earth/Level 5/Machine/Evolution/ATK 0/DEF 0)!" A silvery, reflective card appears on top of Cyber-Tech Mechanic and a harsh light enshrouds the field. When it goes away Cyber-Technician appears. It looks like its base form, except it is larger, more muscular, and it has a larger wrench.

Yugi exclaims, What was that!?

That, Yugi, was an Evolution summon. Like Fusions, Synchros, and Xyzs they come from the extra deck, but that is where the similarities end. Like the name suggests, Evolution monsters are stronger forms of other monsters. To summon one you first have to have a monster that meets the proper requirements, in this case I need the specific monster Cyber-Tech Mechanic. You place the new monster on top of the old. The new monster often has some kind of powered-up version of the original monster's attack and or effect. You have to be strategic about when to use them though, because at the end of the turn the monster devolves, returning to its base form. Also a devolved evolution monster doesn't go to the grave, it is instead sent to a new location known as the Devolution Zone. (Note: Yes, this is my own made up type of card.)

That is actually somewhat original.

I thought you would like that.

"The effect of this monster makes his attack equal to the number of my spells that are banished multiplied by 500 (ATK 4000)."

"That is still not enough!" says Sly.

"I'm not done yet! My Technician has an extra ability. Once per turn I can select one banished spell card and return it to my graveyard. If I do this I may summon one Cyber-Tech monster from my deck whose level is equal to the amount of my banished cards. In addition that monster gains 1000 attack, but is banished when Cyber-Technician leaves the field and I take damage equal to its original attack. So I activate this effect and return my Cyber-Tech Factory to the grave in order to summon my Cyber-Tech Magician (Dark/Level 7/Spellcaster/Effect/ATK 2500/DEF 2100) (ATK 3500)!" Cyber-Technician pulls out a device and throws it into the air. A portal opens, and out of it emerges Cyber-Tech Magician. "Now my Technician attacks your Fiendish King!" Cyber-Technician runs to the giant monster and whacks it with its wrench (Sly's LP: 3000).

Sly shouts, "It looks like you didn't think your plan fully through! My monster, thanks to his effect has 500 more attack then yours!"

Yuni replies, "It is because of your effect that I can win right now. Cyber-Tech Magician, activate your Effect Sealing Magic and attack with Cyber Magic Attack!" Cyber-Tech Magician launches its attack and in the process negates the attack gaining effect of Fiendish Overlord (ATK 0). Fiendish Overlord is destroyed (Sly's LP: 0). Yuni wins.

Brutus says, "That cheat got what's coming to him! I told you Yuni was in the middle of a master plan!"

Tori responds, "Something tells me that he didn't think about that until that last turn, besides I'm not the one who freaked out when Yuni almost lost."

"Freaked out? What are you talking about?"

Sly demands, "What is this madness, what happened?"

"My monster's effect allows it to negate the effect of your monster, causing it to lose all of its attack points."

"No fair, you must have cheated."

The two ninjas appear behind Sly and Lux says, "There is but one cheater here."

Nox continues, "And that would be you." They both grab one of Sly's arms and pull him away, but first Nox turns towards Yuni and throws him a card. It is an entry card. He then says, "Our Lord is looking forward to seeing you Yuni. He has great expectations of you." They then disappear with Sly.

Brutus and Tori walk up to behind Yuni. Tori says, "That was a great duel Yuni. You really are a great duelist. And the fact that you won even though your deck was stacked against you is amazing. I wonder where they're taking him."

Brutus says, "Who cares, probably just too where all the other losers go."

Yuni is just standing there as if he didn't hear a word either of them said. Brutus says, "Hello, Earth to Yuni, come in Yuni."

Yuni finally looks at Brutus and says, "Sorry, I just can't help but shake a suspicion. Those ninjas seemed to take a special interest in me; I mean why come way out here. Also they said their leader had an interest in me."

Brutus responds, "You're over thinking things, it's probably their jobs to track down cheaters, and I'm sure that the operator of this tournament shows interest in any promising duelists."

"Yeah, I guess you must be right, don't worry about it. Come on let's go find someone for you to duel."