Through the still smoldering fire that had been her Regenerating Mummy, Eri could see the inner fire that Resshin was emitting. ("This guy isn't human…") "What are you?"
"It's your turn." Resshin's tone was forceful, showing he had no intention of answering her questions until he thought higher of her.
"Very well, then I'll beat the answers I want out of you!" Her hand rested on top of her deck. "I will show you the power of the Dark Demoness of Duelist Academy right now!"
The Infinity Chronicles; Second Semester Arc
Chapter 11: Resshin's Inferno (Part 2)
Glancing at her drawn card, Eri quickly evaluated the field. She had no monsters in play and one face-down trap that would protect one of her zombie monsters from one targeting magic or trap card.
Resshin had no cards in his hand but his strongest monster, Burst Brawler, was in play. (2100/1600) Also, he had the face-up continuous trap Inferno Revival in play, which would revive his Burst Brawler during his standby phase every time it was destroyed. Finally, there was one set card on his field.
"I play the magic card Pot of Greed, letting me draw two cards from my deck." Adding two cards to her hand, Eri grinned. "Alright, now the big monsters in my hand will get a piece of you! I play the continuous magic card Call of the Mummy!" A card appeared on her field, with a picture of a group of mummies awakening from their tombs. "This card allows me to special summon a zombie monster from my hand once per turn when I have no monsters in play! Emerge, Ryu Kokki!" A giant bone snake appeared on her field. (2400/2000) "Attack Burst Brawler now! Death Poison Blast!" Her monster sprayed Resshin with a purple poison that exploded against his body.
Eri- 4900
Resshin- 2900
Resshin frowned and drew. "It's my turn then, and during my standby phase I will activate the effect of Inferno Revival. By discarding one card from my graveyard, I can special summon my Burst Brawler from my removed from play pile to my field!" The kanji sign for fire appeared on his chest once more. (2300/1800) "End turn."
Eri drew. "I activate the magic card Dimensional Disappearing Act!" Her Ryu Kokki shimmered and disappeared. "During this phase, my Ryu Kokki is removed from the game. During the next phase, it returns. Since I have no monsters in play I will activate Call of the Mummy to special summon my Vampire Lord!" (2000/1500) A blue-skinned vampire dressed in finery appeared on her field and laughed. "I proceed to my battle phase!" Her Ryu Kokki reappeared. "Attack Burst Brawler now, Ryu Kokki!" Her monster sprayed Resshin with poison and the kanji symbol on his chest disappeared.
Eri- 4900
Resshin- 2800
"And then Vampire Lord attacks directly!" Eri sneered as her Vampire Lord waved his hand and a storm of bats appeared, swallowing up Resshin for a moment. "I place one card face-down on my field and end my turn."
Eri- 4900
Resshin- 800
Resshin emerged from the cloud of bats appearing to be unharmed. "It seems I've let you gain more than enough of an advantage." He drew. "I choose not to trigger the effect of Inferno Revival."
Eri blinked at that. "You don't intend to return your Burst Brawler to the field?"
"Of course I do, but I don't need that effect when the card I drew will do it much better." He pointed at his set card. "I reveal my continuous trap card. Its name is Gas Canister and when a Pyro type monster is special summoned it is destroyed and I draw two cards. Now I play Monster Returned! This magic card special summons one monster from the removed from play pile!" The kanji reappeared on his chest and his Gas Canister exploded. "Now I draw two cards." (2700/2200) "Now then, I attack Ryu Kokki with Burst Brawler!" A blazing scythe of fire exploded out of his arm. "Shin En!" Leaping across the field, he slashed the weapon through the snake's body and it exploded. (2900/2400)
Eri- 4600
Resshin- 800
Standing only a couple of inches from Eri, Resshin brushed himself off again. "Well, now that I've let you gain the advantage for a couple of turns I hope you can offer a bit more of a challenge, my dear number one." Then he back-flipped all the way back to his spot on the field. "I place two cards face-down and end my turn."
Eri snarled darkly and drew. "You're full of crap. You think to treat me like I'm weak and nothing to you, eh? Then let me show you the full power of my deck, since you only have 800 life points left! I summon Black Heart Reaper!" A cloaked reaper appeared on her field. (800/1600) "When all the monsters on your field are in attack mode, this monster may attack you directly! Black Assassination!"
"Reverse card open!" Pointing at one of his set cards, Resshin smirked. "The quickplay magic card Dragon Mark Madoka sends itself to the graveyard. Like Saiha, it cannot be removed from the game. However, unlike Saiha, while it is in my graveyard I may send two cards from my removed from play pile back into my deck to negate an attack! Kekkai En!" A glowing barrier of fire appeared between him and Eri's monster. "Your attack is negated." (2500/2000)
"That's fine!" Eri pointed at her set card. "I activate my Dark Vampiric Touch trap card!" She discarded two cards from her hand. "By offering cards from my hand, I can select a monster on your field and reduce its attack by 800 for the turn that I activate this card!" A black mist exploded from the card and bathed Resshin from head to toe. (900/2000) "Vampire Lord, attack Burst Brawler!"
Resshin snickered. "You must have forgotten about the power of Madoka. Or then again…" He pointed at his set card. "I reveal the quickplay magic card Dragon Mark Setsuna! This card activates when Burst Brawler is attacked and destroys one monster in play!"
Eri sneered and her face-down Tutan Mask flipped up. "Denied! Tutan Mask is a counter trap that activates when a zombie type monster on my field is targeted by a magic or trap card. It negates that card and destroys it!" The card exploded. "And since you cannot chain Madoka's effect to my counter trap, the game is finished!" Her Vampire Lord leapt in…and suddenly gasped in pain as it exploded into flames. "That's…impossible…"
"Impossible?" Resshin sighed. "Far from it, my dear number one. The effect of Setsuna triggers while it is in the graveyard." From behind him a giant serpentine dragon made of flame appeared. It roared and slowly lowered its head to point its snout at her. "When he is in the graveyard and my opponent would defeat Burst Brawler in battle, once per game I may destroy that monster and deals its attack in damage to my opponent." The dragon roared once more and a large eye opened on its forehead.
Eri could only stare at that eye in fear. Through it, she could see flaming death…and then that flaming death came to life as she was swallowed up by a blast of fire.
"Those who look into Setsuna's eye suffer the consequences…" Resshin chuckled. "Sorry dear. Anyway, while Setsuna is in the graveyard Burst Brawler gains 400 attack points. However, his graveyard effect lets you draw three cards." (1300/2000)
Eri- 2600
Resshin- 800
Eri gasped for air as the fire finally extinguished. Shakily, she drew three more cards. "I place one card face-down and end my turn."
Resshin drew. "At this time, Burst Brawler's attack returns to normal." (2900/2000) "And now I attack your Reaper! Shin En!" That flaming scythe appeared on his arm and he leapt across the field, slashing through the undead monster and destroying it. (3100/2200)
Eri- 500
Resshin- 800
Resshin inserted one of his hand cards into his duel disk. "I place one card face-down on the field and end my turn."
Eri looked down at her duel disk. ("My life points are only 500…since his Burst Brawler can deal damage through defense this may be my last turn to make a difference.") Up above her, she heard the cheers of the crowd. ("I cannot fail here. It's not a matter of losing or winning now, but it's a matter of proving that I'm not number one just by default!") She drew. "Reverse card open!" Her face-down card flipped up. "Haunted Carol's special ability allows me to sacrifice a magic or trap card on my field besides itself to special summon a level six or lower zombie type monster from my graveyard to the field regardless of summoning requirements!" A howling long-haired monster appeared on her field. "I special summon Dark Dust Spirit from my graveyard to the field!" (2200/1800) "This is a spirit monster that normally cannot be special summoned, but the special ability of my Haunted Carol bypasses that. And when Dark Dust Spirit is summoned, all monsters other than itself in play are destroyed! Dark Curse of Dust!" The zombie howled and Resshin's kanji symbol shattered.
Resshin pointed at his set card. "I activate the trap card Fire Wall. During the turn that a Pyro monster on my field is destroyed, all battle damage to me is zero."
Eri just smiled. "I'm ready for you now." She flipped one of her hand cards up. "I activate the magic card Flute of Calling Life. This card allows me to select one card from your graveyard and add it to your hand. My choice is your Bunsen Burner trap card!"
Resshin scoffed and removed the card from the bottom of his graveyard. "That's fine with me. Just because I can't remove my graveyard anymore doesn't mean that I cannot crush you next turn by discarding a card and reviving Burst Brawler."
"That won't happen!" Eri flipped up another card and her Dark Dust Spirit dissolved away. "I tribute one zombie monster on my field to activate the magic card Dead Eternity! This card sends all removed from play cards back to their owner's graveyards!" She tapped the side of her nose. "That means your entire deck just got shut down. I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."
Resshin just stood there…and suddenly he started to laugh. It was the kind of laugh one made when they saw someone make a fool out of themselves. "Shut my deck down?" He drew, and looking at the card he sneered. "I place one card face-down on my field. And then I'll show you just how stupid you are for thinking that my deck is shut down because I cannot revive my Burst Brawler! Go Inferno Soul!" His Inferno Revival card shattered. "This magic card sacrifices one magic or trap card on my field. During my next turn I may special summon a Pyro type monster from my graveyard. End turn."
Eri snapped the top card off of her deck and growled at the sight of Despair from the Dark. (2800/3000) "I end my turn." Then she remembered her face-down trap card, which she had placed in her deck for occasions such as this one. ("A Hero Emerges activates when the opponent attacks, and it forces them to select a card from my hand at random. If that card is a monster card, then it is special summoned.") This meant that when his weakened Burst Brawler came back, he would lose.
Resshin drew. "My Burst Brawler returns." (900/0) The flaming kanji appeared on his chest. "And your face-down A Hero Emerges doesn't frighten me either."
Eri's eyes widened. "What did you say?"
Resshin sighed and crossed his arms across his chest. "If you thought that kind of half-hearted protective measure would stop me, then you're wrong! I activate the magic card Flare Cyclone! This card, when Burst Brawler is in play, removes one magic or trap card from the game and also removes three cards at random from your graveyard!" A tornado of fire burned Eri's field card and three cards out of her graveyard into dust. (2100/1200)
Eri's eyes closed slowly and she took a deep breath. "You're not…" Her eyes cracked open just in time to realize he was already in front of her. Then the breath was blasted out of her as he punched her right in the midsection as hard as he could, holographic fire around his hitting fist.
Eri- 0
Resshin- 800
"Oh, I'm sorry." Resshin noticed that the crowd had gone silent, and a lot of them were staring at him in fear. "Were you about to say something?"
Eri couldn't reply, as she was too busy trying to regain her breath. That punch had hurt as if his fist had really been on fire.
"I guess not. If you can stand, then I'll see you tommorow…" He turned and started to walk away. Suddenly he stopped as he noticed a flicker of light from the crowd he was facing. After a few seconds he sighed. "That's sad…Pilkington lost to Mitosha…"
"W…what?" Eri stumbled to her feet, trying to ignore the smell of burnt flesh and blood that was coming from his midsection. "Y…you have to lying! There's no way he would he lose!"
A few seconds later Resshin made a little summoning motion with his hand and the beautiful blond-haired girl from before dropped down from the stands and walked over to him. "Tell her what happened exactly. I'd like for her and this school to hear it." Then he glared at the announcer. "Bring your microphone here now!"
The announcer gulped, but was quick to respond by running up and handing the microphone to the orange-haired duelist. "Here you go."
Resshin handed it to Mitosha. "Begin, but avoid the parts I'm sure the audience wouldn't understand."
The girl nodded and started speaking. "Ichigo Pilkington had recently gotten sick, and was unable to duel properly. I arrived to challenge him, and as a gesture of good faith brought a friend who had some medicine for Pilkington's illness. After he was feeling better, he and I dueled." She giggled to herself, as if the mere mention of the duel was amusing. "He spouted some stupid nonsense about not tolerating something, and actually was impressive for a turn or two. Then he lost though." She sighed. "Honestly…what problems had all of you been having with him? I beat him without having to use any drastic measures either."
Up in the stands, Adriel's fists clenched tighter and tighter. "Quit screwing around with your lies!"
"Oh, a non-believer?" Mitosha grinned, as she already knew exactly who it was. "Adriel Zaytel, you can't believe that your rival was defeated by me?" She could hear the different reactions of the audience. Many of the Osiris Red students couldn't believe, and many of the Obelisk Blue students who had lost to Ichigo last year were not so silent with their cheering. "Come on down and see my proof."
Adriel dropped down from the stands and ran over to Eri's side. "Alright, let's see your proof!"
Mitosha grinned and snapped her fingers. From the entrance to the dueling arenas, Forward came walking in carrying something the size of a small television, its body covered by a blanket. Stepping up to Mitosha, he offered the item to her. Taking it, she turned to face Eri and Adriel and pulled back the blanket slightly. "Is this proof enough?"
Adriel's eyes widened and his pupils contracted to slits, fangs bared in anger. "Impossible…unless…unless…"
Eri had her mouth covered with her hands, trying to control her eyes so she didn't let the emotions that were flowing in her mind come out.
Mitosha released the blanket and bowed gently. "If you'll excuse me, I must be off. It will be fun to duel one of your tommorow." She turned and walked off.
Resshin took the microphone and motioned to the two stunned Obelisk Blue students. "If you doubt what had occurred here, just take a look at their faces. There is no way they could hide it…Ichigo Pilkington lost. So the real question is…" He walked away, stopping at the entrance to the arena. "…can either of you possibly stop me?" When neither of them replied, he sighed and threw the microphone back to the announcer. "See you tommorow…if you even show up."
To be continued…