Edward LP: 3500
Vision HERO Vyon: Warrior-Type/DARK/Level 4/ATK 1000/DEF 1200
Vision HERO Adoration: Warrior-Type/Fusion/DARK/Level 8/ATK 2800/DEF 2100
James LP: 2100
Hadronic Protonian: Thunder-Type/Fusion/LIGHT/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0
"Awesome Fusion Monster..." Edward breathed, staring up at Protonian, which was several feet taller than any of his monsters, despite being inferior in terms of stats.
"Why thank you," James replied, starting to relax a little. "Now, to battle! Hadronic Protonian, attack Vision HERO Adoration!" The tiny yellow orb began to crackle with electrical energy.
"You're attacking with a monster that has 0 ATK?" Edward said. "Why?"
"Because of its effect," James explained. "When Hadronic Protonian battles a monster, I can banish up to two Thunder-Type monsters from my Deck, then I can choose the same number of its effects to apply. The first of these effects will prevent me and my monster from taking damage. The second one will destroy your monster at the end of the Damage Step. And the third will inflict damage to you equal to half your monster's ATK." James extracted two Monster Cards from his Deck – two copies of Thunder Dragon – and banished them. "Since I'm banishing two Thunder-Type monsters-"
"-then you can apply two out of three of its effects." Edward finished. "I'm not stupid you know."
James ignored the interruption. "I'll choose effect number one and effect number two. So my attack will be effectively negated, and your monster will be destroyed." The small orb's energy build-up ended as the attack was negated, but then waves of electricity shot from the orb and struck Adoration, annihilating it where it stood.
"No!" Edward cried out.
"Too bad kid," James grinned. "I place one card face-down, and end my turn." His face-down card appeared behind his Fusion Monster.
"My turn, draw!" Edward began his turn with fervour. "I activate the Spell Card, Ante!" The Spell Card materialized onto his field.
"Ante?" James wondered. "What does that do?"
"It's like a game of chance." Edward explained. "Both of us reveal one card in our hand to each other and compare their Levels. Then, whoever revealed the card with the lower Level takes 1000 damage, and sends their card to the Graveyard."
"I see..." James muttered. "But you said we can reveal a card, not just a monster. Does that mean we can reveal a Spell or Trap Card as well?"
"Yep," Edward grinned. "But it's a bad idea. You see, Spell and Trap Cards revealed by this effect will be treated as Level zero, so you're pretty likely to lose if you do."
"Ok, I understand," James said, and began examining his hand, trying to decide what to reveal. 'Obviously I want to reveal a really high Level monster. That way, I'll get rid of a card in his hand and inflict damage to him,' he thought to himself.
Proud of his quick decision, James chose a card from his hand and placed it face-down on his duel disk. Edward did likewise. The moment both cards were in place, a ghostly image of each card appeared behind their owners. First James':
Tribe-Shocking Virus: Level 4
Then Edward's:
Vision HERO Poisoner: Level 3
"HA!" James shouted triumphantly. "My monster has a higher Level! So your monster is sent to the Graveyard, and you take 1000 damage!" Edward sent his monster to the Graveyard, then gasped as a red light enveloped him.
Edward LP: 3500 → 2500
James, meanwhile, had returned Tribe-Shocking Virus to his hand. He was still grinning proudly at winning the game of chance, but the smile was wiped from his face when he saw Edward wasn't upset about it. Quite the opposite, he seemed pretty pleased with himself. "What're you grinning about?" James asked nervously.
"Don't you see? I wanted to lose!" Edward grinned. "So I could use the effects of the monsters in my Graveyard."
"The monsters in your... uh oh," James realised what he'd just done.
Edward raised his hand. "I activate the effects of Vision HERO Increase, Vision HERO Minimum Ray, and Vision HERO Poisoner in my Graveyard." The Graveyard slot on his duel disk flared with light. "With these effects, when I take damage to my Life Points, each of these cards can be moved to my Spell & Trap Card Zone!" All three cards materialized into his back row, where Ante had been only moments ago. Three phantasmic apparitions materialised above them, each mimicking the head and torso of one of the monsters.
James was practically kicking himself. 'Damnit all, how could I forget about the monsters in his Graveyard? They've already used their effects once! How could I not see this coming?' To make matters worse, a quick glance at his hand showed him a Spell Card that he could've easily revealed with Ante, which would've cost him 1000 life points, but would've prevented Edward from amassing all these cards.
"I Normal Summon Vision HERO Gravito!" James was startled out of his thoughts by Edward's Summon. This monster was a blueish-grey human with black armour, ridiculously oversized hands, and a colossal shield that guarded most of its body. Since the monster was in Attack Position, however, the warrior was standing up straight, with the shield hanging by its side. It had the same cyclops-like helmet that the other Vision HEROs had, with a single red 'eye' in the middle.
Vision HERO Gravito: Warrior-Type/DARK/Level 4/ATK 500/DEF 2000
"Now I'll use Vision HERO Gravito's effect!" Edward declared. "By Tributing it, I can Special Summon two Vision HERO monsters from my Spell & Trap Card Zone! I target Vision HERO Poisoner and Vision HERO Minimum Ray!" Gravito disappeared, and the two targeted cards in Edward's back row began to glow and shake. With the sound of breaking glass, both cards shattered, and two monsters leapt onto the field. The first one was a striking purple colour, with tubes instead of hands and a single red eye.
Vision HERO Poisoner: Warrior-Type/DARK/Level 3/ATK 900/DEF 700
The second was coloured black, white, and yellow. It had a heavy-looking metal box around each of its arms, and a pure white eye in the centre of its helmet. Tiny sparks of electricity flew from its body.
Vision HERO Minimum Ray: Warrior-Type/DARK/Level 3/ATK 1200/DEF 700
"Two Level three monsters?" James said, his eyes wide. "Oh dear lord, please no..."
"Yep! Now you get to see my new card!" Edward shouted. "Level three Poisoner and Minimum Ray, Overlay!" Both monsters morphed into fully purple amorphous masses of light, and spiralled upwards. Where they had stood, a portal opened up, shaped like a spinning galaxy. "I use these two monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" The two Vision HEROs flew into the portal, which erupted with light. "Come on, Number 14: Phantom Linker!"
A bright yellow number thirteen etched itself into the back of Edward's hand. Out of the portal rose a strange four-pronged metal structure. It looked like the letter X, except with large metal diamonds attached to each prong. The structure separated at the centre and seemed to fold outwards, hinged on the metal diamonds, until it resembled an octagonal gateway, which began to rotate on its axis, spinning faster and faster, until it was just a blur. Within that blur, a figure began to take shape – a human of some sort. Finally eight-sided gateway dissipated, showering the newly formed monster with light particles. It was a human-like monster, with deathly white skin and piercing red eyes. It was wearing a black cloak with red shoulder pads and a gold trim, and was carrying a long ornate staff. Its two yellow Overlay Units circled it.
Number 14: Phantom Linker: Spellcaster-Type/Xyz/LIGHT/Rank 3/ATK 1200/DEF 1800 – 2 OLU
"A Number..." James moaned, putting a hand to his forehead. "Just my luck."
But it was more than just irritation James was feeling. He was pretty nervous too because, of course, he'd never fought against an enemy Number before. Katie, Leah, Dan, Matt, even Skyler – they all made Number hunting look so easy. Did he really have what it takes to follow their lead?
"Phantom Linker's effect activates!" Edward declared. "Once per turn, by detaching one of its Overlay Units, I can Special Summon any Monster Card that's currently in my Spell & Trap Card Zone." The Number laid its staff down carefully, and put its hands together as though praying. One of its Overlay Units broke orbit and flew into its clasped hands.
Number 14: Phantom Linker: 2 → 1 OLU
"I target Vision HERO Increase!" Edward called, pointing at the card. The Number slowly separated its hands, and as it did so, a string of five orbs of light formed between them. With a flick of its hand, Phantom Linker sent them all flying over its shoulder at the targeted card. The five orbs pummelled the card one after the other, until the card shattered and the monster appeared from within. It looked a lot more regal than the others, with predominantly white and gold armour, and golden tassels dangling from its shoulders. Regardless, it still had the same soulless red gem in the centre of its helmet that all Vision HEROs had.
Vision HERO Increase: Warrior-Type/DARK/Level 3/ATK 900/DEF 1100
"This is definitely my favourite Vision HERO!" Edward said happily. "It looks the coolest, and it has the best effect out of all of them. When it's Special Summoned from my Spell & Trap Card Zone, I can Special Summon any HERO monster from my Deck. And that's any HERO, not just a Vision HERO, and not just a low Level one! Come on out, Vision HERO Witch Raid!" A flash of light from Edward's duel disk half blinded James, but through it he could still hear a woman cackling. When the light faded, a new monster was hovering just above Edward's field. It was a masked woman dressed in red and black, with flowing blonde hair, and a witch's hat sitting at an angle on her head. She was holding a broomstick, but it wasn't a traditional witch's broomstick – it was pure white, made of metal, and sported a small cannon in the front of it. It looked like more of a large rifle than a broomstick, but it was holding the witch in the air just the same.
Vision HERO Witch Raid: Spellcaster-Type/DARK/Level 8/ATK 2700/DEF 1900
"Witch Reid's effect activates!" Edward said, practically jumping up and down with glee. "When its Summoned, all Spell and Trap Cards you control are destroyed!" The witch drew her broomstick back, then swung it like a baseball bat, sending a wave of venomous red wind rushing towards James' field.
And for the third time that duel, James panicked and made a snap decision. "I chain the Quick-Play Spell Card, Dimension Explosion!" The Spell Card activated. "By returning one Fusion Monster I control to the Extra Deck, both of us can Special Summon as many of our banished monsters as possible! I return Hadronic Protonian to the Extra Deck, to revive both of my Thunder Dragons!" The ghostly Fusion Monster distorted and faded away from James' field, and was replaced by two green dragons coated in electrical currents.
Thunder Dragon: Thunder-Type/LIGHT/Level 5/ATK 1600/DEF 1300
Thunder Dragon: Thunder-Type/LIGHT/Level 5/ATK 1600/DEF 1300
The wave of poisonous wind swept past the two dragons and struck the Spell Card, which dissipated into pixels, its work done.
Edward scratched his head. "I don't get it. Why did you do that? That Fusion Monster's effect would've protected it from any of my attacks – it was pretty much indestructible. Why did you get rid of it?"
James put both hands to his face and groaned heavily. He couldn't believe he'd done it again. At least three times now he'd made a stupid move because he was panicking, reacting badly to the pressure, and generally behaving like a complete amateur. His only consolation was that his friends weren't around to see the depths of his utter failures.
Edward shrugged. "Whatever, it works out great for me anyway. I activate the Spell Card, Star Changer, which lets me increase OR decrease the Level of any face-up monster by one. I choose to increase Vision HERO Increase's Level!" Edward giggled at his own joke, as the Spell Card upped the monster's Level.
Vision HERO Increase: Level 3 → 4
"Level four Vision HERO Increase and Vision HERO Vyon, Overlay!" The two HERO monsters turned fully purple and shot upwards, away from a circular red portal that opened beneath them. "I use these two monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" The two monsters spiralled into the portal, which exploded with light. "Come on, Gem-Knight Pearl!" A basic, pure white humanoid leapt out of the portal's residue and landed between Edwards other two monsters, its orange Overlay Units spiralling around it.
Gem-Knight Pearl: Rock-Type/Xyz/EARTH/Rank 4/ATK 2600/DEF 1900 - 2 OLU
"You have to be kidding me," James lamented. "Two Xyz Monsters? Plus that Witch Raid thing?"
"You betcha," Edward grinned. "Battle time! Gem-Knight Pearl and Vision HERO Witch Raid, destroy both of his Thunder Dragons!" The Gem-Knight dashed forwards and struck one of the dragons with a rock-hard fist, while the witch launched a dark red energy blast from her broomstick at the other. Both went down without a sound.
James crossed his arms in front of his face and braced himself, waiting for the Number's attack.
"Number 14: Phantom Linker, direct attack!" And sure enough it came. With a battle cry, the Number hoisted its staff and ran at James. The red gem at the end of its staff crackled with built up energy, which it swung at James with blinding speed, striking him across the chest. The moment the staff made contact, a bolt of electricity blasted through James' body. He screamed and was thrown onto his back where he lay, dazed and shaking.
James LP: 2100 → 900
Author-made cards:
Hadronic Protonian
Thunder-Type/Fusion/LIGHT/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0
2 "Upwards Quarkonic" + 1 "Downwards Quarkonic"
Must first be Fusion Summoned with "Hadronic Fusion". Once per Battle Step, during either player's turn, when this card battles an opponent's monster: You can banish up to 2 Thunder-Type monsters from your Deck; apply these effects, up to the number of monsters banished. ●This card cannot be destroyed by that battle, and you take no Battle Damage from that battle. ●Destroy the opponent's battling monster at the end of the Damage Step. ●Inflict damage to your opponent equal to half the ATK of the opponent's battling monster on the field.
Number 14: Phantom Linker
Spellcaster-Type/Xyz/LIGHT/Rank 3/ATK 1200/DEF 1800
2 Level 3 monsters
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. Once per turn: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card, then target 1 Monster Card in your Spell & Trap Card Zone; Special Summon that target. If this card is in your Graveyard: You can send 3 Spell/Trap Cards you control to the Graveyard; return this card from the Graveyard to the Extra Deck.
Fun Fact #36: For those of you who aren't Particle Physicists, allow me to explain the theme behind my monsters. There are atoms. Atoms are made of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Protons and neutrons are, in turn, made of even smaller things called quarks. These quarks come in six 'flavours' - Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Strange, and Charm. This is the theory that my Deck is based on. For instance, a proton is made up of two up quarks, and one down quark. Hence, Hadronic Protonian is Fusion Summoned by fusing two Upwards Quarkonics and one Downwards Quarkonic.
Fun Fact #37: Science!
Fun Fact #38: Some people may have noticed that we've been listing all the Vision HEROs up to now as DARK Warrior-Type monsters, even though they were never officially given Types or Attributes in the manga. This Typing is the most logical thing we can assume, based on the fact that Vision HERO Trinity and Vision HERO Adoration (the only two Vision HEROs that were ever released) are DARK Warrior-Type monsters.
Fun fact #39: Some people may have also noticed that Vision HERO Witch Raid doesn't follow this trend at all. This is because she totally doesn't look like a Warrior-Type, so we decided to make her a Spellcaster-Type instead. And for those of you that would like to shout at us for breaking tradition, we wish to point you in the general direction of Elemental HERO Knospe, Elemental HERO Poison Rose, Elemental HERO Heat, Elemental HERO Lady Heat, Elemental HERO Voltic, Elemental HERO Inferno, Blackwing - Aurora the Northern Lights, Junk Synchron, Synchron Keeper, Underworld Dragon Dragonecro, Machine Dragon Power Tool, and Wattaildragon.