Disclaimer! All fictional entities featured belong to Kazuki Takahashi and were rented by me. Except Sara Scinner and Silpheed the cockatoo; they're mine. This story has been beta-read by Pidge-san, AlukaKaiserin, and ChazzyLuverGurl.
You might have noticed that I have edited several chapters of this story. It's one of my habits: I keep changing the material so it's better—even after it's published—and I might edit more in the future. Please bear with me; I'm just striving for excellence (the Lord of Laughter knows I can't be perfect).
"CHEAP LAUGH"
ACT TEN
Self-preservation can be a rather dull business. If he were in a healthier state, Zane would probably be out there, kicking ass and scratching names, squeezing out all the strength he had. Instead, there he was, cooped up in his apartment. He'd dueled just about everyone in the league, and as far as he could recall, none of them had been worthy…save Aster Phoenix. Although those two hadn't dueled each other since last year. What he was looking for was a new guy, someone whose strength rivaled Jaden's, Aster's, and his own.
But since there were none, he did the only thing he could do to occupy his time while he waited.
He dueled online. Personally, he didn't think Dream Dueling was as rewarding as the real experience. But it beat sitting in a chair all day, watching flashbacks of past duels; even if they were memorable ones, it got boring watching them over and over after a while, even for him. He always played with a different deck whenever he was on. That way, he could hone his manipulation of various strategies and techniques. Plus, it didn't make his heart curl up in agony.
On top of that, their database didn't have information on most of the cards from his deck.
Anyhow, this time he had assembled a new virtual deck, called the Aggro Deck. It wasn't quite as advanced as his real deck, but he sure didn't mind the style: savage, yet strategic. In two hours, he'd kicked ten virtual butts and had just begun his eleventh duel. His opponent called himself "Thunder Prince 10000," as everyone on Dream Dueling went around with usernames. Zane had won the virtual coin toss, giving him the first turn. Six cards, his "hand," were displayed at the bottom of the screen: Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level Four, Level Up, Sakuretsu Armor, Pot of Greed, and Torrential Tribute.
He moved the mouse over to Horus's image and clicked on it. A tiny gold window immediately popped up and gave him several options to choose from: Face-up Attack Position, Face-up Defense Position, and Set. He selected, Attack Position.
ATK: 1600
DEF: 1000
In a puff of black flame, a tiny, white sprite of the monster materialized on the "field." Next, he clicked on the Spell, Level Up.
Do you want to activate this Spell, or set it face down?
He selected, Activate. With it, he could tribute Horus for its Level Six version. The Level Four sprite fizzled out, and a larger, leaner version of it took its place.
ATK: 2300
DEF: 1600
He selected to set both Torrential Tribute and Sakuretsu Armor face down. Finally, he clicked on the red icon at the top-right corner of the screen, Turn End, before leaning back in his chair to wait for his opponent, a scowl adorning his lips.
"Thunder Prince 10000" summoned a small, black, grinning sprite of Ojama Black in Defense Mode.
ATK: 0
DEF: 1000
Thankfully, he ended his turn by setting three cards face down. The "deck" at the bottom-left corner of the screen automatically added a new card to Zane's hand, Horus's Servant. He clicked on the monster and selected Face-up Defense Position.
ATK: 100
DEF: 100
With Horus's Servant on the field, Horus the Dragon was immune to the effects of Spells, Traps or monsters. With that in mind, he played Pot of Greed to obtain two new cards: Dust Tornado and Marauding Captain; a decent draw, if he said so himself. He set Dust Tornado face down, and clicked on the Dragon. A small, gold window popped up with two options: Attack and Defend. He chose Attack. Another window popped up and showed him an image of his opponent's monster. He clicked on it. From his Dragon's beak, a jet of black flame fired across the "field." Ojama Black flashed electric blue before fizzling out like a dying cinder.
Time to evolve Horus.
In exchange for Level Six, Level Eight stormed the field, silver wings outstretched.
ATK: 3000
DEF: 1800
Instantly, one of Thunder Prince's face-downs shattered to slivers like a crystal plate. Thanks to Level Eight's ability, Zane guessed that it had been a Spell card. Child's play. He clicked on Turn End, leaning back in his chair.
Just then, words appeared in the chat-box at the top of the screen:
Lucky shot, punk! But that's gonna be your only one!
Of course, no duel would be complete without a dose of trash-talk. If this kid only knew who he was talking to, he would've taken it right back.
Thunder Prince summoned Armed Dragon, Level Three in Attack Mode.
ATK: 1200
DEF: 900
After setting a face-down, he declared battle on Horus's Servant. The stout, orange beast almost made it to Zane's side of the field, but his reflexes were quicker than the Dragon's. He clicked on his Trap, Sakuretsu Armor, with the intention of destroying the assailant.
But Thunder Prince had a trick of his own.
HA HA!
He revealed his face-down, Trap Jammer, to negate and destroy the Armor. Sure, Zane could've used Dust Tornado to stop it, but he deemed it a waste to do this. He would have to let the Servant go; that was what Servants were for, after all. The Armed Dragon slammed the Servant with its spiny, blade-like arms.
His instinct proved to steer him right. Right after Thunder Prince had made his attack, he activated the Trap, Ring of Destruction. By attaching it to Horus, he would destroy the creature and inflict the number of Attack Points it had to both of their Life Points as damage. Not if he had something to say about that. He clicked on Dust Tornado. A broad, swirling vortex formed on his side and skimmed to his opponent's side, shaking the screen.
What happened next had Zane raise an eyebrow. Another whirlwind formed on Thunder's side, colliding with his own. The screen quaked like a kite caught in a storm.
The Tornadoes neutralized each other, and faded out in two wisps of dust. Unfortunately, Zane had no more Spells or Traps in his hand to set in response to his Dust Tornado's special ability. Thunder did, however. Zane gritted his teeth.
BOOM!
Zane's LP: 1000
Thunder's LP: 1000
All he had left were Torrential Tribute, and 1000 Life Points. Big deal. Just then, Thunder's Armed Dragon faded away, leaving its larger, redder Level Five form in its place.
ATK: 2400
DEF: 1700
It didn't stand a byte of a chance. Just before Thunder ended his turn, Zane clicked on his face-down, Torrential Tribute. Not only could he wipe out Level Five, but he also wouldn't have to worry about Level Seven or Ten; that was probably what his opponent was going for, the cad. The moment he activated the Trap, a foamy surge of water gushed from it, engulfing the monster.
...Another fluke! It takes more than flukes to win a duel, Fluke Boy!
Thunder could do nothing more; thus, he ended his turn. Zane received a new card for his hand. Imagine his mild contentment when he discovered that it was his golden beast, Cyber Dragon! With nothing on his side of the field, he could summon it without having to make any sacrifices.
ATK: 2100
DEF: 1600
Unfortunately, the only other cards in his hand were Marauding Captain and Zaborg. The only other thing he could do was select to make a direct attack. On his command, the sprite threw back its head to charge a ball of white energy in its metallic jaws.
Suddenly, just as it fired, four tiny sheep appeared on Thunder's side of the field. The energy ball bulleted across the field and swallowed the red sheep on the far left. His opponent must've activated Scapegoat, in order to protect himself with four Sheep Tokens.
ATK: 0
DEF: 0
Zane scowled. This kid was only trying to delay the inevitable. Too bad he couldn't do any more.
On Thunder's turn, he set a card face down and summoned Ojama Yellow in Defense Mode.
ATK: 0
DEF: 1000
From his hand, he played the Spell, Quick Summon, using it to summon another monster in Defense Mode, Ojama Green.
ATK: 0
DEF: 1000
"Hn."
For his draw, he gained a Quick Summon card for himself. Time to utilize what was left in his hand. Whenever he dueled, no card would be wasted. He summoned Marauding Captain in Attack Mode.
ATK: 1200
DEF: 400
The warrior wouldn't be around for much longer, though. With Quick Summon, he bought himself an opportunity to make another Normal Summoning. By giving up the Captain, he was able to summon the Thunder Monarch, Zaborg.
ATK: 2400
DEF: 1000
Since Zaborg had been summoned successfully, its ability could destroy one of his opponent's monsters. Thunder had three Sheep Tokens and two Ojamas; he would have to tear down his defenses, piece by piece. He chose to obliterate the blue Sheep Token on the left with a golden flash of lightning.
SSSSH!
Zane's lips creased into the tiniest of smirks; now for the onslaught. Onslaughts were his favorite part in any duel. Figuring that his opponent could've been planning something with those two Ojamas, he decided to wipe out Yellow with Zaborg, and Green with Cyber Dragon. Both creatures charged up—one in its arms, one in its jaws—and make quick, electrifying work of the shrieking Ojama sprites, though Thunder would take no damage.
SSSH! SSSH!
For a moment, the screen went white. Zane's smirk crumpled into a scowl. He had nothing left in his hand and had to call this a turn. With nothing to defend him but two monsters, that could be a problem, however slight.
Thunder began his move with the notorious Spell, Pot of Greed, to draw two more cards. One of them turned out to be Poison of the Old Man, a Spell that gave him two options: either increase his Life Points by 1200, or inflict 800 Points of damage to Zane. He chose the former.
Thunder's LP: 2200
Zane's LP: 1000
HA! I expected you to blow up my Ojamas! Everyone does!
Next, he revealed his face-down, Ojamandala. His Life Points receded to 1200, and instantly all three of his Ojamas were back on his side of the field, as pitiful as ever.
His second card was Polymerization. For five seconds, an image of a vortex dominated half the screen, swallowing the three Ojamas. A giant, grinning sprite version of Ojama King, in Defense Mode, remained when the screen stilled.
ATK: 0
DEF: 3000
Zane gritted his teeth as three red X's slashed out three spaces in his Monster Zone. Thunder ended his turn.
I've punched out three of your Monster Zones, and all you have are two. Not feeling so hellish now, are we?
Zane grunted. If this kid insisted on insulting him, the least he could do was cut down on the redundancy. Normally, he wouldn't bother responding to trite chatter, but for just this once throughout the whole duel, he clicked into the box and entered a reply:
And in other news, water is wet. My move.
The card Zane drew wasn't something that could eliminate Ojama King, or pump up his monsters' powers, but it would help keep him in this duel. He played Don Keto the Cure Master, giving himself an extra 1000 Life Points.
Zane's LP: 2000
Thunder's LP: 1200
The only other thing we could do was select his monsters to attack the remaining Sheep Tokens. At least he'd be chipping away Thunder's defenses further.
SSSSH! SSSH!
"Hn." Zane didn't particularly like brief turns, especially ones that felt half-assed.
On Thunder's turn, he drew a new card…and ended the move by setting it face down. Was he planning to trap him?
Frowning, he gained a new card: Mystical Space Typhoon; not a bad card. Whatever Thunder was planning, he'd at least be ready for it. He selected to set it face down, and ended his move.
Thunder simply drew another card. Another thing Zane detested was inertia; he was, after all, a man of action. But as much as he hated waiting, sometimes it was better to wait. Thunder was cooking up something, and he didn't like the smell of it.
Anyway, Zane's new card was another Cyber Dragon. As he already had two monsters out, he couldn't use its effect to summon it without sacrificing. He'd have to save it. With a deeper scowl, he clicked End Turn.
Finally, Thunder took some real action again. From his hand, he played the Spell, Monster Reincarnation. With it, he could take a monster from his Graveyard and add it to his hand. A quivering feeling in Zane's gut told him that that monster was Armed Dragon, Level Five. That was all he did.
On Zane's turn, he drew a monster card: Raiza the Storm Monarch. If his intentions were to bring forth Armed Dragon, Level Ten, he needed to get Cyber Dragon out of the way. And if he could summon Raiza successfully, he could do just that.
So he paid Zaborg as a tribute in order to summon the breezy beast.
ATK: 2400
DEF: 1000
Sure, he could've used the Monarch's ability to send Ojama King back to the top of Thunder's deck, but he still had that face-down to contend with. It certainly wouldn't solve the problem with Armed Dragon, either. So he selected to put his Cyber Dragon on the field back to the top of his deck, instead. He ended his move.
Thunder only summoned Masked Dragon in Attack Mode and set two cards face down.
ATK: 1400
DEF: 1100
On Zane's draw, he received the same Cyber Dragon he had returned to his deck by Raiza's effect. He knew very well that Masked Dragon had an effect that could be utilized, should he destroy it in battle. But it wasn't a very significant one, and if he attacked, he'd reduce Thunder's Life Points to 200. Just another step closer to victory.
He clicked on Raiza's image and selected to attack Masked Dragon. However, Thunder had a Trap waiting for him: Gravity Bind! Raiza stopped in his tracks.
No matter. Zane had set Mystical Space Typhoon for a reason. Upon activating it, the Trap disappeared in a cyclone of wind, letting Raiza resume his gusty assault as though nothing had happened.
Well, almost. Thunder revealed the second of his face-downs, Threatening Roar. Ojama King opened its wide, grinning mouth and let loose a shrill shriek. Raiza stopped again, but not to attack again for the rest of Zane's turn, due to Threatening Roar's second effect. Zane's lips curled into a sneer. This kid may not have been as easy as he had thought. With nothing else to do, he ended his turn.
After drawing a card, Thunder then revealed another face-down, Reckless Greed. At the cost of skipping his next two Draw Phases, he could two draw two more cards. Next, he used Masked Dragon as a tribute to summon…Armed Dragon, Level Five!
ATK: 2400
He probably could've gone after Raiza with his Dragon, but he instead ended his turn, what with both monsters having the same number of Attack Points.
You better hope that you can pull a miracle out of your ass.
The new card Zane drew was another drawing card with a bonus: Pot of Avarice. It was just like Pot of Greed, but with the ability to also take five monsters from his Graveyard—Horus: Levels Four, Six and Eight, Zaborg, and Horus's Servant—and put them back in his deck. His new cards?
Cyber Kirin and Power Bond! Excellent.
Zane wasted no time in fusing the two Cyber Dragons in his hand with Power Bond to create the Siamese metal snake, Cyber Twin Dragon.
ATK: 2800
DEF: 2100
And because of Power Bond, Twin Dragon's Attack Points doubled!
ATK: 5600
Not seeing any need for Raiza any longer, he selected it to attack Armed Dragon. What with their being equally matched, both would be blown away. His Monarch unleashed a massive whirlwind that blurred the entire screen, while Armed Dragon charged head-first into the din.
BAAAM!
No sooner had the screen cleared, did Zane initiate to attack Ojama King with his Dragon. Even if it was in Defense Mode, and Thunder would not take damage, it did not matter. For Twin Dragon could attack twice in a round: one for Ojama King, another for his Life Points. The entire screen flashed in a spectrum of colors.
SSSSSSSH!
Zane's LP: 2000
Thunder's LP: 0
YOU WIN!
For a fleeting moment, Zane made the tiniest of smirks, which quickly gave away to a frown. If he could win eleven duels in a row, twelve was surely no challenge. "Thunder Prince 10000" was just another worthless maggot. The adrenaline rush he received for this victory was not quite as exhilarating and electrifying as it would've been had this been a real duel, but then, that rush never lasted long enough anyhow. At least he hadn't felt any chest pain.
When the rush died down, Zane felt bored again, and headed for the Log Out button. He felt it best to call it quits on Dream Dueling.
Somewhere on the other side of town, Chazz Princeton sprung from his chair and began to tug on his spiky hair, his face as red as a radish.
"What? GAAAAAH! How can this be?! I'm not supposed to have a blemish on my record!"
The Ojama trio appeared on either side of their human partner, trying to console him. "Come on, Boss! It's just one little duel online!" squeaked Ojama Yellow. "It shouldn't count on your record."
"Yeah, you're still a champ to us," piped Ojama Green.
Chazz rubbed his temples, leaning in to scowl at his computer screen that blinked: You Lose! "D'oh, who asked you chumps? More importantly, who the hell is 'Hell Kaiser'?! I'll--I'll find him and kick his ass!"
"You mean like the way you're gonna do Jaden?" growled Ojama Black.
With the reflexes of a cougar, Chazz whirled around and swiped at his monster friends as though they were gnats. "Shut up!" he panted through clenched teeth. "No one messes with the Chazz—"
"Or Thunder Prince 10000…?"
"…or Thunder Prince 10000, and gets away with it!" Somehow, every time Chazz had one of his moments, a bolt of lightning struck out of the blue, or in this case, ceiling. Sure enough, a lightning bolt cracked the atmosphere in Chazz's room, proceeding to shatter his computer screen in half!
ZZZZZZZZZT! CRASSSSHHH!
Sparks flew halfway across the room, while smoke fogged up the windows. The hissing voices of this brothers emitted from downstairs:
"Chazz, you crazy punk! Did you conjure up another lightning bolt?!"
"Yeah! The TV's not turning back on! I was just getting to the good part of my cosplay porn-flick!
Silence.
"Excuse me?"
"Ah, nothing!"
TO BE CONTINUED…