"Uria, destroy his set monster!" Bogdan's opponent gave the command and Uria shot a beam of energy which hit the set card and a giant explosion took place.
"My set monster was another copy of Dekoichi, and again, his flip effect lets me draw a card." He reacted automatically, like a robot, only this time his gaze was down on the ground. He then snapped out of it, looked at his cards, and prepared for his turn, placing his hand on the deck in preparation for the draw. Bruno noticed this change in Bogdan's behavior and narrowed his eyes, gripping the metal bar in front of him tightly.
"You're just prolonging the inevitable. I set a card and end my turn." His opponent grinned with a confident smirk. Bogdan drew, saw the card, gave a look at the cards in his hand, and then looked his opponent dead in the eye.
"What is, according to you, the inevitable outcome of this duel?"
"You'll lose, of course. Uria has 8000 attack points. There's nothing you can do to stop it."
"But those attack points are the result of Uria's effect, right?" A faint smile danced on his lips again, invisible to everyone else.
"Right. What's your point?"
"And how high is the written attack on Uria's card?" The smile widened, and was noticed by the mobster.
"Zero." His opponent started to feel a little uneasy.
"I see. So that means, if Uria's effect is to be negated, wouldn't it lose all attack points and revert back to zero?" It was now a wide grin. Bogdan never broke eye contact with the mobster the whole time.
"That's true." The judge answered for him.
"Hold on, everybody, it looks like the champion found Uria's weakness! Will he be able to exploit it?" The commentator said.
"I activate my spell card Forbidden Chalice!" Bogdan put the card in the graveyard slot of the duel disk.
"No!" His opponent yelled.
"I can negate the effects of a card for the rest of the turn, but the target monster gains 400 attack points. That means Uria loses all but 400 of its attack points. And I guess it's only fitting that one legendary monster defeats another. Seeing as I have Geartown on the field, I can special summon Malefic Cyber End Dragon by banishing the original Cyber End Dragon from the extra deck."
"And a member of the Malefic series makes an appearance! It's a clash of the Titans!" Bogdan could see Bruno in the corner of his eye, screaming in happiness.
"Now I normal summon Machina Gearframe and with its effect I search out Machina Fortress from my deck to add to my hand. Now it's time to finish you off. Malefic Cyber End Dragon, attack Uria!" Malefic Cyber End Dragon's three heads charged up energy in their mouths and shot the enormous red dragon down, which disintegrated upon hitting the ground. "Now that you're down to only 500 life points, Gearframe will do short work of you. Gearframe, attack him directly!" The little robot tried to punch the mobster in the face, but the hologram projection went right through him.
"And the first challenger is defeated! Only two more left! But the way he defeated Uria! Incredible, ladies and gentlemen. Just incredible! While under pressure, he managed to find Uria's weak point, use it to his advantage, turn the tables by summoning his own legendary monster, and win! But, it's still too early to celebrate, as there are two more adversaries! Will he be able to defeat them all and defend his title? Or will he go down in flames? We're about to find out, as the second challenger takes his place on the other side of the field!"
"Judge, is it still my turn? It should be, I think." Bogdan asked the judge.
"Yes, it's still the battle phase, theoretically the duel is still in progress." He confirmed.
"Thanks. In main phase 2 I use the union effect of Gearframe and equip it to Malefic Cyber End Dragon to protect it from destruction. That's all. Your turn."
"Before I start, I want to say it's an honor to be standing here, dueling against you, the national champion himself. It's quite ironic that the Italian national champion is not of Italian origin. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is-"
"Asskiss McButtcheek. You might want to cut the crap and start playing, it's about to snow."
"That was rude. Anyway, I'm-"
"Nigga, I don't care if you're Berlusconi himself. Well, this is a mafia thing, so you might just be him. But still I'm not here to make friends, especially not with you because you look like the type of dude that would stab me in the face for a can of sardines in a zombie apocalypse." Many people from the audience were laughing, which added to the mobster's anger after those insults.
"What?! Do you realize who you're speaking to, you underdeveloped midget?!" The man lost his cool and got up in Bogdan's face, yelling.
"Whoa, killer, say it, don't spray it. I asked for the news, not the weather. P.S.: grab yourself a dictionary or google "breath mints", you'd be doing all of us a favor." Bogdan didn't flinch. The audience was roaring in laughter.
"Why you little shit, I'm gonna-"
"Physical contact between opponents is strictly forbidden and will result in disqualification, so please, behave yourself, Mr. Mancin." The judge warned him, and the mobster backed off.
"Suck it, bitch." Bogdan flipped him off, laughing.
"Fucking kid. Let's get this over with! I activate my continuous spell card Crystal Tree, then summon Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat."
"Pfft. Okay." Bogdan let a grunt of contained laughter escape his lips.
"Now what?!" Mancin barked.
"I'll tell you after you finish your turn."
"Amethyst Cat can attack directly, but its attack will be halved, so you only receive 600 life point damage. That should put you to 5900 life points. I set two cards and end my turn. So what was that grunt about?"
"My common sense is tingling. At least the guy before you was fun to duel against. I had no idea what was his win condition until the last turn. You, on the other hand, will bore me to death. Obviously you intend to use the ability of the Crystal Beasts to turn into continuous spell cards after they're destroyed so you can fulfill the summoning conditions of Hamon, the Lord of Striking Thunder. You probably have Rainbow Dragon or his dark counterpart as a secondary boss monster too. Maybe even the Malefic version of it. But none of it matters now. It became obvious to me the moment you played Amethyst Cat, so putting Crystal Beasts and the fact that the first challenger summoned Uria together is like summing up two plus two."
"And the national champion with his amazing prediction skills and knowledge of the game just ruined the duel for us by telling all the spoilers out loud! Way to go, kid. Way to go." The commentator said.
"Glad to oblige. It's also obvious that the last guy has Raviel in his fiend deck. How's this for a spoiler? There. It started snowing. I'll wake up with a cold tomorrow. If I ever feel my hand again I'll strangle Bruno in his cozy leather armchair. Then I'll shoot the mook who invented snow right between the - though it probably was a woman who invented it, who else could make it so damn cold. And you, be prepared, I'm going slap you around like a red-headed step-child. My turn. I normal summon Genex Neutron, then change Machina Gearframe back into a monster and special summon it from the back to the front row. Malefic Cyber End Dragon, attack Amethyst Cat!"
"I activate my trap card Last Resort, which lets me search my deck for the field spell card Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins and activate it immediately, destroying Geartown in the process and you get to draw a card because you already have field spell card in play. Unfortunately for you, Geartown's second effect to special summon an Ancient Gear monster loses its timing because it's not the last thing to happen, before that it's the draw effect and the activation itself of Ancient City. And because there is a moment between the destruction of your field spell and the activation of my field spell that there is no field spell present, Malefic Cyber End Dragon will destroy itself because it cannot remain on the field without a field spell present." The rusty metal buildings were replaced with the remains of an ancient civilization.
"Not too shabby. Okay then, I attack Amethyst Cat with Genex Neutron."
"I activate another trap card called Crystal Pair, which, when a Crystal Beast monster is destroyed in battle, lets me search the deck for a Crystal Beast monster and put it in the back row like a continuous spell card, and after that is done Crystal Pair negates the battle damage that I was to receive, so I choose Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle. And, like you said before, when a Crystal Beast monster is destroyed I can put it in my spell and trap zone like a continuous card, so Amethyst Cat goes from the front to the back row. And for each Crystal Beast monster that goes to the back row the spell card Crystal Tree I activated on the first turn gets a counter, so for Cobalt Eagle and Amethyst Cat I get two counters."
"Dude, can I play a little, too? Gearframe attacks you directly and you lose 1800 life points which puts you to 6200 life points. In the end phase when Genex Neutron was summoned I can search my deck for a machine tuner and add it to my hand, so I choose Genex Ally Birdman. I end my turn." Bogdan put his hands to his face and breathed in them in an attempt to warm them.
"I activate Rare Value which lets me draw two cards after you select one Crystal Beast monster-turned-continuous spell card and send it to the graveyard."
"Amethyst Cat. Get on with it."
"Now I activate the effect of Crystal Tree. I send this card to the graveyard and put two Crystal Beast monsters from my deck to the back row, one for each counter that was on the card, so I select Emerald Tortoise and Topaz Tiger. Now I set a monster and a card and end my turn."
"I special summon Genex Ally Birdman by returning Machina Gearframe back to my hand and tune it to Genex Neutron to synchro summon Genex Ally Triforce. Then Birdman banishes himself instead of going to the graveyard because he was special summoned with his effect."
"Trap card Crystal Raigeki activate! I send to the graveyard Topaz Tiger from the back row to destroy Genex Ally Triforce." The mobster smiled. Bogdan growled in annoyance.
"I summon Machina Gearframe again and search another Machina Fortress from the deck and add it to my hand. I discard Fortress and Meklord Emperor Skiel to special summon the Fortress I just discarded. Fortress can be special summoned from the hand or graveyard by discarding machines whose total levels equal eight or more. The cool thing is Fortress can be discarded for its own summon effect and it fulfills seven of the eight levels. Now Gearframe, attack the set monster!"
"Amber Mammoth, like every other Crystal Beast monster, when destroyed goes to the back row and becomes a continuous spell card."
"But now your field is empty! Machina Fortress, attack him directly! You lose 2500 life points." The orange tank pointed its giant barrel at the mobster and fired its salvo, but it shrunk half its size mid-air before exploding upon hitting its intended target.
"Actually, I lose only half of that. I activate the effect of Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins. When I have two Crystal Beasts in the spell and trap zone, once per turn I can halve the battle damage I receive from an attack. So now I have 4950 life points." The mobster explained after the smoke cleared.
"I set a card and end my turn."
"I activate my spell card Dark Hole!"
"Oh, shit! I completely forgot to union Gearframe to Fortress for destruction protection. Damn it!"
"What a maroon. I summon Sapphire Pegasus and attack you directly! You lose 1800 life points and now have 4100 life points left. Now I activate my second copy of the spell card Rare Value, which lets me draw two cards after you send a Crystal Beast from the back row."
"Ruby Carbuncle. Come on, dude! I'm freezing over here!" Is he using the snow against me? I tried to piss him off and make him misplay, but his tactic will be more efficient in the long run, I can't feel my fingers anymore.
"I set a card and end my turn." The mobster grinned as he noticed Bogdan shaking.
"The two duelists are exchanging blows, shaving down each other's life points slowly but surely. The champion's life points are already halved! In this toe to toe battle, just who will come out on top?" The commentator said.
"I set a monster and end my turn."
"Time to end this." Bogdan's opponent smiled confidently.
"They all say that." Bogdan rolled his eyes.
"It looks like something big is about to happen! Will we see the second Sacred Beast? Or maybe the great Rainbow Dragon?"
"How about both?" The second challenger responded. Bogdan braced himself.
"I activate the trap card Rainbow Gravity! This trap allows me to special summon Rainbow Dragon from the deck or graveyard when I have all seven Crystal Beasts on the field and in the graveyard!" A rainbow shot out from one of the ruins and a silhouette of a dragon flew up into the darkened cloudy sky, made a circle then landed behind the duelist. It was gigantic, almost the same size as Uria. It was kinda cool, Bogdan noted.
"And the first boss monster has appeared! Feast your eyes on the fabled Rainbow Dragon!" And then the beast disappeared.
"What the- Where did my monster go?" Bogdan's opponent was confused.
"Your monster never even hit the field." Bogdan responded.
"Explain!"
"I negated it's summon with the trap card Solemn Warning by paying 2000 life points, which lowered me to 2100 life points."
"Nice reaction, but that just made it safe for me to summon Hamon the Lord of Striking Thunder! I tribute Sapphire Pegasus to summon Kuraz the Light Monarch and activate its effect. I destroy Kuraz itself and Cobalt Eagle that's in the back row to draw two cards. There it is!" Bogdan's opponent exclaimed after seeing the cards he drew.
"Dude, you have only two Crystal Beast continuous spell cards. You need one more."
"That can be taken care of. I activate the spell card Crystal Blessing which lets me put up to two Crystal Beast monsters from the graveyard to the spell and trap zone. Just one is enough, the Cobalt Eagle I just destroyed. Prepare to meet your doom!" A lightning bolt struck the field and temporarily blinded everybody, and once their eyes adjusted to the light, they saw a huge yellow skeletal looking monster hovering above the Crystal Beast duelist.
"And there it is, ladies and gentlemen! The second Sacred Beast, Hamon the Lord of Striking Thunder! This monster can be summoned only by tributing three continuous spell cards, a summoning condition that makes the Crystal Beast deck perfect due to the ability of the monsters to turn into continuous spells, something you've all been witnesses to during the duel. This monster has 4000 attack and defense points and when it destroys another monster by battle it can inflict 1000 points of damage to the controller of the destroyed monster. Also if it's switched to defense position the opponent cannot attack any other monster but this one. So, what will the national champion do? Will he manage to find a weakness to this monster as well?"
"Hamon, attack that set monster!"
"The set monster is my third and final copy of Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and I get to draw a card due to its flip effect."
"But you also receive 1000 points of damage because Hamon destroyed your monster. That puts you to 1100 life points. I set a card and end my turn. You're finished."
"I don't think so. I just drew my fifth card and the combo that will take you and Hamon out is ready to be executed."
"Ladies and gentlemen, the champion just declared that he's about to win! Let's see what he has in store for us this time, when facing the second Sacred Beast!"
"First I activate the third and final copy of my field spell card Geartown, destroying your Ancient City. Then I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior, and upon summoning him I add a spell counter on him, which raises his attack from 1600 to 1900 attack points. But that doesn't matter as I immediately remove it to destroy a spell or trap card on the field. I'd very much like to destroy one of those two set cards over there, but I have to destroy Geartown so I can call Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon back from the graveyard to the field. Now I activate the spell card Enemy Controller and I choose its second effect. By tributing Breaker I take control of Hamon for the rest of the turn. Now Hamon and Gadjiltron, attack him directly, and finish this!" Hamon raised his skeletal arm and a thunderbolt struck the mobster where he stood, followed by a barrage of rockets, creating an explosion that again illuminated the field with its intensity.
"And he also takes out the second challenger! And with his own Sacred Beast no less! Only one remains! Will the champion be able to defeat him as well? Or will the third and last challenger be able to defeat him? Do remember that the champion used up more than half of his deck already, has only one card in his hand, just above 1000 life points and at the end of his turn he has to give up Hamon to his opponent! Even if he's the champion, it's a miracle he lasted so long and is in these conditions! The last opponent is taking his place where the first two had been before him, and the third part of this epic duel is about to start!"
"Ah, fresh meat." Bogdan smiled as the last challenger turned his duel disk on.
"Ready?" His opponent drew five cards.
"Straight to the point, huh? No thrash talk? It's just so much less fun making jokes if the person you intend to annoy doesn't bite. It's like having halitosis in an elevator with nobody to share it with. I just stinks to be alone." Bogdan complained. His opponent didn't react, even after the laughter from the audience. He just stood there with the cards in his hands, staring at Bogdan intently. "Dude, the bad-ass pose covers more insecurities than the Leaning Tower of Pisa's Rooftop Ming Vase collection." Bogdan tried again. No reaction. He sighed. "Alrighty then. Since it's still my turn, I'll end it with a bang. I activate the spell card Mystik Wok which lets me tribute a monster I control and select either its attack or defense points and add them as life points. I choose Hamon and since its attack and defense are both 4000 it doesn't matter what I choose, I get 4000 life points all the same. That brings me up to 5100 life points."
"Incredible! The champion tributed a Sacred Beast in exchange for life points! I've never seen anybody think outside the box like this! If this duel wasn't illegal it would've gone straight in history!" The audience exploded in applause. Even though it was an illegal duel, Bogdan still enjoyed the spotlight, and waved at the public.
"Thank you, thank you, you're too kind. That ends my turn."
"I activate my spell card Messenger of Peace. As long as this card is in play monsters with 1500 attack or more cannot attack, and each standby phase I have to pay 100 life points, otherwise the card will self-destruct. That should be all."
"Again with the lockdowns? Haven't you learned yet? These gay-ass strategies don't work on me. I set a monster and end my turn." Bogdan placed the card on the monster slot and pressed the end turn button on his duel disk. His opponent drew, looked at the card and let a faint smile curve the lips on his emotionless face. Bogdan didn't like that smile. It was one of those self-confident smiles that promise nothing good. A smile he knew all too well, after having it seen on countless duelists' faces just before they made some big combo.
"Perfect. I refuse to pay the life point requirement for Messenger of Peace, and because of that it is destroyed. Now I activate Flute of Summoning Kuriboh which lets me either special summon a Kuriboh or Winged Kuriboh from the deck on the field or add it to my hand, so I search out Kuriboh and special summon it on the field. At this point I activate the spell card Multiply, which, when Kuriboh is on the field, lets me special summon two Kuriboh Tokens."
"Here it comes."
"Exactly. I tribute the three monsters to special summon the third Sacred Beast, Raviel the Lord of Phantasms!" A circle of green flames formed on the field and a gigantic blue demon, kneeing and covered with the wings appeared in the middle of it. Then it suddenly stood up, let out a deafening roar and flapped itswings, producing a shockwave which put the flames out.
"As predicted, the third Sacred Beast makes its appearance! Raviel the Lord of Phantasms can be special summoned only by tributing three fiends, and that cute little two-card combo of multiplying Kuriboh provided the requirements in just one turn! Raviel's effect allows it's user to special summon a Phantasm Token with 1000 attack every time the adversary normal summons a monster. Then, before attacking, Raviel can tribute one monster to increase its own attack by the amount of attack points the tribute monster had. This chain of effects gives Raviel extra 1000 attack points every time the opponent normal summons a monster, putting it to 5000 attack points! Having no cards in his hand, the champion is in a real jam right now!" The commentator yelled in the microphone.
"Raviel, attack Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon! You lose 1000 life points and go down to 4100. I set a card and end my turn."
"I set the card I just drew, and flip summon the set monster to reveal that it's Morphing Jar. Its flip effect allows both of us to discard all cards in our hands and draw five new cards. I have no cards in my hand, so I just draw, while you replace the two you have with five new ones."
"And the champion makes a comeback by replenishing his hand with a well-timed Morphing Jar! But this means he has only 10 cards in his deck! This really is an exhausting duel!"
"I summon the tuner monster Black Salvo and activate its effect, which, when normal summoned lets me special summon a level four DARK machine monster from the graveyard, and I choose Dekoichi."
"Raviel's effect activates. Since you normal summoned a monster, Raviel can special summon a Phantasm Token to my side of the field."
"Now I tune the level two Morphing Jar, level three Black Salvo and level four Dekoichi to synchro summon Mist Wurm, which lets me return to your hand up to three cards from your hand, so say goodbye to Raviel, that Phantasm Token and the card you just set."
"And he does it again! He defeated the three Sacred Beasts in three different ways! This just goes to show that you don't mess with the national champion! Ladies and gentlemen, this duel is finally coming to an end!" The commentator was amazed.
"Now Mist Wurm, attack him directly! Your life points are now 5500. Your move."
"I guess it's time to stop the games and get serious."
"Now you decided to get serious!?" Bogdan scoffed.
"Yes, and it's the perfect moment. First I activate my spell card Dark Hole to destroy all monsters on the field."
"That's a first. A limited spell card being activated twice in a duel and still being a legal move. Shit just got real."
"Now I activate the set spell card my first team mate set for me, Monster Reborn, and special summon his Sacred Beast! Say hello again to Uria the Lord of Searing Flames! Again Uria gets 8000 attack points for each continuous trap card in the graveyard."
"Dude! Again?"
"Not just Uria! I activate the set trap card my second team mate left for me, Call of the Haunted! Be revived, Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder! Missed him?"
"Not really, no."
"And it's only fitting that the third Sacred Beast should join the other two. I summon Phantom Skyblaster which summons Skyblaster Tokens for each monster I control. I currently have three, but I can only summon two tokens and fill up the monster zone. Now I tribute Phantom Skyblaster and its two tokens to special summon Raviel, Lord of Phantasms again!
"Amazing! All three Sacred Beasts together on the field, and all of them summoned in just one turn! We'll be needing a new champion in a few minutes!"
"Do it!" Bogdan spoke to his opponent.
"I don't have to. You're about to lose. I activate Uria's effect and destroy your left set card. There goes your Mirror Force."
"Now you can do it, you took away my protection."
"Hm… You have a point there."
"Plus, nobody has ever done it in the history of dueling. You'd go down in history as the first ever duelist to do it. Then again so will I, though as the duelist who lost to it."
"Can we know what are you two talking about?" The commentator asked them.
"Ever heard of Armityle?" Bogdan responded with another question.
"But of course! How didn't I see it! Ladies and gentlemen, get ready, as we may be witnesses to the first ever summoning of a monster so powerful and difficult to summon, that it has never been achieved in the history of Yu-Gi-Oh! Armityle the Chaos Phantom is a fusion monster made of the three Sacred Beasts, but not by using Polymerization or stuff like that. No, ladies and gentlemen. It's far more difficult than playing a simple spell card and discarding the three monsters. You actually have to summon all three on the field, then contact fuse them together. Just like the situation before our eyes. And the third challenger has just destroyed the champion's trap card Mirror Force, before that the first challenger destroyed Magic Cylinder, and the champion already used Torrential Tribute and Solemn Warning so he didn't use that last set card to negate any of the three summons. We can also see that he has no monsters on the field, so if it's a Limiter Removal, it's useless. Even a Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness can't save him if his opponent attacks him, firstly because his field isn't empty, secondly because Armityle has 10 000 attack points! Ten fucking thousand, if you'll pardon my French! That set card can save him only if it's a Threatening Roar, but it will prolong the duel by just one turn. One other card that could save him is a Battle Fader from his hand, but just the same, it will prolong the duel by only one turn. I say do it, what say you?" After analyzing the situation for the public, the commentator spoke his mind on the matter.
"DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!" Everybody that watched the duel started chanting in unison.
"Give the people what they want, man." Bogdan said.
"Well, the commentator is right, the most you can do is postpone the duel by one turn, and even that is highly unlikely. Very well then. I fuse the three Sacred Beasts to fusion summon Armityle the Chaos Phantom! Armityle, attack him directly and end this duel!"
"Oh, he will end it alright. I activate my trap card Magic Cylinder! All 10 000 attack points are reflected back to you. It's finally over!" Bogdan yelled as he pressed the spell and trap activation button on the duel disk corresponding to the slot the card was inserted in. Good thing I caught everything on the duel disc camera, I have to send this to Ilena. She'll shit bricks when she sees this epic duel. He thought.
"Impossible! My teammate destroyed that trap card the first time Uria was summoned!"
"Magic Cylinder is semi-limited on the ban list. He can confirm it." Bogdan pointed at the judge, who nodded. As the great beast shot a beam of energy out of its arm which had the shape of Uria's head with an open mouth like a cannon, a big cylinder appeared before Bogdan and absorbed the attack. Then it turned the end facing Bogdan towards the third challenger and released the energy beam. A big explosion which temporarily blinded everybody present on the field took place. Bogdan shielded his eyes with his arms.
"Unbelievable! The champion destroyed each Sacred Beast one at a time, and even all of them fused together weren't enough to stop him! The third opponent was so blinded by the promise of glory that, in the worst wasted opportunity since someone asked a genie to get him a regular lamp, fused the Sacred Beasts in a single monster and ran head-first in a suicide trap. I am speechless, so I'll sign out now. Just incred-" Click! The commentator turned off the microphone halfway through the sentence. Bogdan walked out of the field and back to where Bruno was.
"You. Are. Awesome!" He hugged Bogdan.
"I'm also freezing." Bogdan smiled. "I'm heading home to have myself some juice, snuggle with my blankie, and go nap-nap."
