And now, a word from your friendly neighboorhood Sailor Scouts:
Lita: Is there a reason he can't just do his own Author's Notes? And isn't "friendly neighboorhood" copyrighted? *sigh* Anyway, Jesse would like to note that for this upcoming Duel, Weevil and Rex will be using cards that they have not used in canon. This is due to the fact that they always get stomped too quickly to really see much of their decks. Also, we'd like to thank you for continuing to read through this and encourage you to leave reviews so that you can point out all the mistakes in these due- I mean, leave constructive feedback.
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"Weevil already gave Serena the first move," Atem reminded everyone as they drew. Serena nodded and drew a sixth.
"I'll play two cards facedown, a facedown monster and that'll be all," She announced as the cards materialized. Weevil nodded and drew.
"I'll start out with Pinch Hopper in Defense mode!" He said as a large praying mantis entered the field (1000/1200). "I'll place three cards facedown and it's your move, Yugi," He said.
"It's Atem," He corrected as he drew. "I'll start by playing Emblem of Dragon Destroyer, which allows me to bring Buster Blader straight to my hand from the deck!" He announced, fishing the card out. She's playing defense… is she being forced to or is she setting herself up? I'll place three cards down as well as playing the Skilled Dark Magician!" He said. The black-robed mage rose before Atem (1900/1700), ready for combat. "That ends my turn," He added.
Rex grinned. Since I'm going last, I get to attack! He thought excitedly. "Ah! Excellent! I play Balloon Lizard!" He said. A bloated iguana materialized before him (500/1900). "Next, I'll speed things up a bit with my Ultra Evolution Pill, which will make my Reptile evolve into a mighty Dinosaur! I Summon Super Conductor Tyranno!" He said even as the enormous, lightning-charged dinosaur made its presence known (3300/1400). "I'll play Jurrasic World to pump him up," he continued as the Field Spell turned everything into a lush forest with a volcano in the middle of the playing area (3300/1400 3600/1700). "I attack Skill Dark Magician!"
"Not quite, Rex! I activate Magic Cylinders!" Atem countered. Weevil smirked.
"Nice try! I'll activate my Trap Stun, Atem!" Weevil countered. A shockwave spread over the field and Atem grimaced. When the hit never came, he looked around, wondering why nothing had happened.
"What, did you forget about me?" Serena's voice drew all eyes to her. "I activated my Parry trap! I have to return a Gladiator Beast to my Deck from my hand, like this here Equeste, but in exchange I can nullify a Trap card! Looks like I stunned your stunner," She said smugly as the shockwave dissipated. The dinosaur's lightning strike went in and out of the Cylinders, striking Rex (8000 4400) who grunted as he took the blow.
"Excellent save, Serena!" Atem praised. Serena blushed as Rex shook his head to clear it.
"Two cards down and it's Rapunzel's turn," He said. Serena's eyebrow twitched as Amy and Rei winced from the sidelines. Meatball Head was one thing; they only called her that when they were mad at her or if she was being stupid. But Rapunzel was the one name that really pissed Serena off.
"You're gonna pay for that!" She yelled as she drew. She quickly eyeballed her hand. "Atem, you lookin' to use that down card anytime soon?" She asked. Surprised by the new aggressive attitude, he shook his head. "Good, 'cause I'm about to make a new decree on this duel. A Royal Decree, that is!" She said as she activated her Trap. "I couldn't use it earlier because it was the wrong Spell Speed, but now that it's up everyone's traps are hereby negated!" She said.
"Weevi?" Rex said. Weevil looked at him. "I gotta do it. If not now, then never," He told him. Weevil nodded.
"Do what?" Atem asked.
"Chain this to Royal Decree! Jurrac Impact! Since I control a Dinosaur stronger than 2500, this Trap will out every card on the field!" He declared as a massive earthquake shook the ground underfoot. "And now I believe Weevil has an announcement," He added.
"Sure do. My Pinch Hopper was sent to the Graveyard, so I can Summon any one Insect from my Deck! I'll play Brain Crusher in Attack mode!" He said. A blue and red large bug with nasty teeth and multiple wings hit the field (2400/1500). Serena made a face.
"One card facedown and that's it," She said. Weevil grinned and drew.
"One card facedown and I attack you directly, Serena!" He crowed. The Crusher flew at Serena, and to Atem's shock flung her a good three or four feet upon impact, sending her on her back.
"Serena! What just happened?" Atem asked to anyone who had an answer. Then he heard Rex snickering. "What have you done?!" He roared as he helped Serena to her feet. "Are you alright?" He asked. She nodded and dusted herself off.
"We didn't do anything except… 'enhance' the experience! You should be used to dueling with safeties off, you've had your share of Shadow Games," Weevil smirked. Atem growled. Safeties off was a VERY dangerous way to use the Duel Disks. "Your move, Atem," He said.
"Very well. Draw! I'll play Polymerization, fusing my Dark Magician and Buster Blader to form Dark Paladin!" He said. The two monsters appeared, conjoined, and from the two the Dark Magician descended with his staff and armor merged into that of Buster Blader's (2900/2400). "Attack Brain Crusher now!"
"And walking straight into a trap. Very good. I use Ego Boost! Since your monster attacked, I can have my Brain Crusher gain 1000 ATK!" He said proudly. Atem snarled as the insect obliterated his Magician (8000 7400).
"Like your ego needed any more inflation," He said venomously. I'll end my- what?" He was interrupted by Brain Crusher hatching an egg, and to Atem's disgust Dark Paladin emerged. "How?!"
"Whenever Brain Crusher destroys a monster, I can nab it from your Graveyard! Hee hee," Weevil laughed. Atem shook with anger. First Weevil cheated, then Rex AND Weevil cheated the Duel Disks, and now Weevil was taking his best card? He motioned to end. Rex, having no hand, drew and passed. He'd let Weevil pick up the slack with Atem's monsters while he reloaded.
Serena drew. Alright, you green little parasite. Time to lay down some salt "I'll play Fusion Reload! I choose Dark Paladin, round the Level to four, and since Atem is my teammate we'll both draw four cards. Next, I'll play Gladiator Beast Secutor in Defense Mode (400/300) and three face-down cards. Go," She ordered. Weevil drew.
"Brain Crusher, attack Atem directly!" He commanded.
"No! I play Staunch Defender! I'd normally use this card to redirect attacks from a weaker Gladiator to a strong one, but this time I'm using it to save Atem. I'll also Chain my Waboku," She added as the insect bounced off the barrier. "And my Secutor battled, so here comes Laquari (1800/300) and Murmillo (800/400). Their effects go off, so you Crusher is destroyed. In addition, Laquari gain 300 ATK (1800/300 2100/300)."
"No! My beautiful bug! You're going to pay for that little mistake. I end my turn for now, but next turn…" He let the threat hang. Serena turned to Atem.
"Atem, I believe it is YOU who has an announcement now," She said with a smile. Atem raised an eyebrow, drew, smiled at Serena and nodded.
"She's right. I'll offer Laquari, Murmillo and Secutor as Tributes!" Weevil and Rex's faces became very pale. They knew what that meant. Atem held his card high in the air. "I summon SLIFER THE SKY DRAGON! ATTACK MODE!" He roared. The massive Egyptian God roared into play, circling the skies as it stared down Weevil and Rex. Atem glared at his opponents; they'd hurt a friend, and now they were going to pay. "Slifer the Sky Dragon gains 1000 ATK per card in my hand. I count five cards!" He said. Slifer roared (5000/5000). "Slifer! Attack Rex now with Thunder Force attack!" He ordered.
Amy, Rei and Joey watched in awe as the God reared back to strike. And from afar, so did Neflite. "Neflite to Beryl. He's played the God. It gains 1000 atk per card in the user's hand, that's all I've got for now," She said into a walkie. A derisive snort and "I could have told you THAT" came from Bakura on the other end. Neflite gave the device the finger and pocketed it.
Rex was blown away by the attack (4400 0). Weevil gulped, looked at Rex, and ran as fast as his short legs could carry him, pulling Rex with him and screaming like a little girl the entire way (8000 0). The holograms faded and everyone kept their distance from Atem momentarily. He was seething, and Amy was sure her Mercury Visor would have overloaded from the emotional energy output coming from him.
"Not even a day into the tournament and already my friends are injured. Serena, you're sure you're ok?" He asked. Then he frowned. "Wait. Where's Joey? Or Rei for that matter?" Atem didn't have to wait long; the two in question came strolling back with far-too-happy expressions on their faces as they handed Serena and Atem a locator card. "You caught them, didn't you?" Atem asked, knowing the answer. They nodded and he sighed. "Do I even want to know?"
"With your whole 'violence begets violence' thing'? Probably not," Rei replied. Amy looked at Atem, Atem looked at Serena, and all three of them simultaneously pinched the bridge of their noses. "Anyway, either of you guys want these stupid things?" She asked, waving Brain Crusher and Super Conductor Tyranno in the air. Serena and Atem shook their head. "Alright," She said. Joey barely stopped her from ripping the cards apart, instead pocketing them for who-knows-what. He was good at making odd cards count.
"I must say, Serena, you are a remarkably talented duelist, especially considering your experience," Atem complimented her.
"Yeah, well, let's just hope that's enough. So to recap, Amy, Atem, Joey and I each have 3 locators. How about you, Rei?" She asked. Rei blushed and Serena face palmed. "You did your 'go big or go home' thing, didn't you? Put up both your locators?" Rei gave a sheepish smile. "And lost, I presume," Serena continued. Rei's eyes shifted to the side as she nodded. "So great. You're out. Rei, we're in this tournament to protect the people from Queen Beryl and-"
"And who, me?" Everyone's eyes shot up at the sound of a new voice. Neflite emerged from a nearby alleyway with an amused smirk on her face. The three Sailor Scouts present went for their Prisms, then realized there were people around. "Don't bother. You won't be able to handle me without your powers and you can't transform in public. As for you," She said, directing her gaze at Atem, "Fork over that Slifer. I'm being nice, asking first. I suggest you don't find out what nasty is," She warned.
"If you think I'm going to hand over Slifer, you're out of your mind," Atem shot back, pocketing his deck. Neflite smiled.
"Fine then. If that's way it's going to be," She said. Without warning, she lashed out with a powerful kick that sent Atem sprawling. She ran to make another move at him when…
WHAM!
Neflite found herself woozy, seeing stars as she tried to stop seeing three of everything. Joey had smacked her right across the face with his Duel Disk. He smiled for a moment as his good work before being jumped by another figure.
"Jaedite!" Rei growled. She launched into the air only to be brought down by a spell Jaedite slung at her. "Unh…" She groaned. Serena saw her comrade fall and shouted out to her.
Oh man! We can't transform! Those two are gonna kick our butts if we don't use our magic tho- wait… She stopped as a memory flashed through her head.
"Those were Duel Monsters brought to life by Bakura's shadow powers… back then we used dark shadow magic to bring the creatures to life…"
"Dark shadow magic? It might not be the exact same, but…" She murmured. Deciding to act on her instinct, she knelt next to Atem. "I have to borrow this," She said, despite Atem not being able to hear her due to being knocked out. She removed his deck from its pocket on his belt, fanning through it and picking out a few cards. This had better work, she thought.
"In the name of the Moon, I summon Slifer the Sky Dragon, Dark Paladin, Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, Chimera The Flying Mythical Beast and Royal Straight Slasher!" THAT got everyone's attention. Even more gaze-grabbing was the monsters that emerged straight out of the cards. "I'd suggest going back to wherever you came from. And I'm being nice, asking you," She mimed. Neflite and Jaedite looked at each other.
"Well? Summon the damn thing!" Neflite said.
"I can't! I left it with Bakura so he could do some deck-building around it for me!" He shot back. Neflite put a hand to her forehead. "And where's YOURS at?" He added.
"He hasn't even GIVEN me mine yet. He was too busy feeding his ego beating Beryl to fix the deck I'd made for it," She complained. Jaedite sighed. "We'll be back, brats," Neflite said. Serena smiled.
"Sure thing. And thanks for all the free info, Neflite," She added cheerily. Neflite cursed as the two disappeared. Serena shook her head. "They can be real idiots sometimes," She commented.
"OK, so we can't use our Sailor powers but we can call down ten-story tall dragons on people?" Rei asked.
"They blend in," Serena answered. Rei thought it over, realized she was right and shrugged.
"Ugh… what in the name of Ra happened?"
