-Chapter 20-
Release of Earthbound Prisoner
Everyone rested well tonight as the dawn arrived. Today was the first day of the match. Yusuke and his friends (especially Yusuke) were very excited for this day. Today's match begins with Group A, and one of the first duelists is Aiko, one of Yusuke's friends. After eating breakfast, everyone immediately headed to the arena to see the first match.
"Good morning, participants and everyone who's watching TV right now! It is me, Miko Neko, reporting live here on the S.S. Duel, where we will see the first match of the Duel City Quarter-Finals," Miko Neko said in front of the camera.
Aiko stepped into the arena, looking very proud and confident.
"Go, Aiko!" Yusuke cheered.
"You can do it!" Haruka cheered, too.
She looked at them and smiled as she waved her hand at them.
"And, a little bit early, Aiko has entered the arena! She looks very cheerful, yet determined. I can tell that she is ready for this duel!" Miko Neko remarked. "And her opponent has just arrived as well."
At the other side, opposite from where Aiko entered, a man in dark purple hood and shroud walked over near the center of the arena, and then stood more than foot away from Aiko.
"Uuuh, very mysterious entrance, but he has arrived! Please welcome a pro duelist from foreign country, Ankoku," Miko Neko said.
"Ankoku, huh? Well, it's nice to meet you," Aiko greeted. "Even though I may be a little girl to you, I am tough, so don't underestimate me."
"Hmph. I underestimate nobody," he replied strongly.
Aiko smirked back. "Aren't you sound tough, but I wonder how tough are you in dueling?"
She activated her Duel Disk, which was reddish pink in color, creating a red blade. Ankoku activated his purple Duel Disk, with purple blade appeared.
"It's time to begin the first official duel of the Quarter Finals!" Miko Neko declared. "D-Wave Field, activate!"
The projector activated, pulsing out few waves as it created the proper field.
"DUEL!"
Aiko vs. Ankoku: 4000 LPs
"And, according to the computer, Aiko will go first," Miko Neko stated.
"Sweet!" Aiko cheered. "Then, I will just do that! My turn!"
She drew her first five cards, and then looked over them before she chose one from it. "I Normal Inferno Battlin' Boxer Forward on the field!"
A humanoid boxer, wearing red boxer's gloves, appeared on her side as it posed with a punch as she did, too. "Since, I summoned Inferno Battlin' Boxer Forward successfully this turn, I can Special Summon Inferno Battlin' Boxer Kicker from my hand!"
A new monster appeared next to Forward. This one looked similar to Forward, except it wore blue boxer gloves. When it summoned, it kicked jabbed several times before it posed with a kick. Aiko did the same pose, like it.
Inferno Battlin' Boxer Kicker-Level 4, FIRE, Warrior/Effect, 700 ATK, 1400 DEF.
"Hey, she has two Level 4 monsters," Haruka noticed. "Is that means…?"
"Yes, I believe she will most likely do it," Mizar stated as he smirked.
"Now, with my Forward and Kicker, I overlay them together to summon my ace monster!" Aiko exclaimed, as her two said monsters turned into two red energies, diving into the spiral galaxy portal.
"Ladies and gentlemen, on my side, I present you the heavyweight champion of boxer in the ring of Dueling! Watch out for this monster's fist, or you will see stars if you let your own face get hit by his punch! I Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Come out, Inferno Battlin' Boxer Star Cetus Diphda!"
Her ace Xyz monster appeared as it roared for battles and punched with its fist few times, before finishing it off with a pose.
"Awesome! She summoned her ace monster in the first turn," Yusuke cheered.
"I set two cards and end my turn," Aiko said, placing few facedown cards before her turn ended. "Now let's see what you got, Ankoku!"
"Aiko started the first turn with a very strong Xyz monster and two facedown cards. I wonder how this would play out," Miko Neko said.
Ankoku just stared with narrowed eyes, looking very serious. "My turn. I draw."
He drew his card before he makes his move. "I play the Field Spell : Doom Cage Arena."
When he played the card, the arena changed into the said spell card. Now, they were inside a black cage with sharp needles outside, warning anyone dares to come in. It shaped a more or less like a bird cage.
Jesse whistled at it. "Wow. Now it's like a wrestling match than a duel."
Aiko, however, didn't look afraid at all. "Now this is more like it! I really like this new look. Now we can really duel!" She smirked.
"Don't feel too amazed," Ankoku said as he continued his move. "Next, I summon a monster from my hand. Come out, Earthbound Prisoner Moai Moai!"
A purple portal opened up, when suddenly, a moai statue rose up out of the portal. It had a glowing purple tattoo marking on its face.
Earthbound Prisoner Moai Moai-Level 4, DARK, Fiend/Effect, 1000 ATKK, 0 DEF.
"Earthbound Prisoner? I've never seen or heard that Archetype before," Jesse whispered.
"It looks kind of…eerie," Haruka commented, as he looked a bit cringed.
"Ha! That thing doesn't scare me at all!" Aiko exclaimed.
"That Archetype, its's the same one used by Sergey from the Synchro Dimension," Selena whispered.
"When Earthbound Prisoner Moai Moai is Normal or Special Summoned, I can Special Summon a second one from my hand," Ankoku said as another one appeared next to the first copy.
"Two Level 4 monsters," Yusuke noticed. "Is that mean he's gonna…"
"Yes, Yusuke," his mirror self said. "He's going to use his both monsters for Xyz Summon."
"With my two Level 4 Moai Moai's, I create the Overlay Network!" Ankoku declared as he raised his arm up high and his two monsters turned into purple streams of energy.
The two purple lights dived into the portal in the air above them, near the top of the cage. "Rule the sky with your dark power and shake the earth with single flap from your mighty wings! I Xyz Summon! Rise! Rank 4, Earthbound Servant Geo Pegasus!"
Out of the portal, first came a dark cloud covering above the arena, when suddenly, a huge neigh sound echoed through the entire dome. Then, a horseshoe came through the cloud until a head of horse appeared as well as the rest of the body. It was dark-skinned with glowing green markings over its body, face, and wings. It neighed loudly, yet strongly as if it looked blood-thirsty for battles.
Earthbound Servant Geo Pegasus-Rank 4, DARK, Fiend/Xyz/Effect, 2500 ATK, 1200 DEF.
"Woooo! That thing is huge!" Yusuke gasped.
Ankoku gleamed at Yusuke for a brief second and focused on the duel. "I activate Geo Pegasus' monster effect! By detaching 1 of its overlay units, I can destroy 1 Spell or Trap Card on the field, but luckily for you, since there is a field spell card face-up, I can destroy up to two cards instead!"
"Say what!?" Aiko gasped.
"You catch on quick. Geo Pegasus, destroy her two face-down! Thundering Howl!" His Xyz monster flapped its wings, creating a powerful whirlwind that blew away Aiko's cards as she covered her face. Everyone else in the spectators' bench also covered their face and hair, protecting from the strong wind.
"My cards," Aiko moaned.
"It's Battle Phase. I declare Geo Pegasus to attack your monster. Death Tornado!" Ankoku stated as his monster obeyed his command. It flapped its wings again, this time, creating a tornado. It hit Aiko's ace monster, spinning it before it turned into sparkles.
"Grgh!" Aiko grunted.
Aiko's LP: 3900
"Now the effect of Doom Cage Arena activates. When an opponent loses a monster on his or her side of the field, they receive 600 points of damage," Ankoku admitted.
"What!?" Aiko gasped. "Gaaah!"
The spike appeared inside the cage, getting staved by one as it drained her Life Points more.
Aiko's LP: 3300
"I set a card and end my turn here," Ankoku said, placing a card face-down in front of him.
They watched as Aiko was on her knee, with her eyes hiding under her hair as she was looking down.
"Is she OK?" Haruka asked as she looked worried.
"Heh…ha, ha…ha, ha, ha!" Aiko laughed, as she had a wide smile. "Now, this is kind of duel I wanted!"
Everyone, especially her friends looked confused. Sasuke, on the other hand, just smirked to this, since he knew Aiko for a long time.
"Alright, Ankoku, you want to play rough. Then, I will play rough," she said. "My turn, I draw!"
"Oh my! It looks Aiko is really fired up!" Miko Neko remarked.
"I activate the Spell Card, Grave-Shattering Xyz!" The said spell showed Utopia breaking out of a coffen as Gravekeeper had his eyes popped out, surprised to see Utopia being alive. "When this card is activated, I can resurrect one Xyz monster in my Graveyard and attach this card as its overlay unit. I bring back my Inferno Battlin' Boxer Star Cetus Diphda!"
Her ace monster reappeared from the Graveyard Zone, with one comet orbiting around it. "Then I play the Spell Card, Rank-Up Magic Burning Soul from my hand!" She showed the card, which showed a flaming, red silhouette of Number C105 Cetus Diphda, with glowing purple eyes.
"She's going to Rank-Up her monster!?" Jesse surprised.
"Hell yeah! I'm gonna rank-up my Inferno Battlin' Boxer Star Cetus Diphda!" Aiko declared, as her ace monster turned into red energy, diving into the Xyz portal. "Any who dares to oppose this fighter in the ring will taste true fear! With a single punch, all foes will be blown away! Rank-Up Xyz Change! Rise! Rank 5, Inferno Battlin' Boxer Comet Cetus Halley!"
The evolved form of her ace appeared, roaring for battles as it posed like One-Punch Man. The other participants of the tournament awed at Aiko's summoned monster.
"Wow, Aiko really got stronger since I last saw her in a duel," Anna said, amazed.
"My, I feel impressed," Mizar stated as he grinned.
"I activate the second effect of Rank-Up Magic Burning Soul! When this card is used to summon a FIRE Xyz monster, the summoned monster gains 1000 ATK," Aiko said, as her monster roared with red aura glowing, causing its ATK to increase to 3800.
"With that high ATK, she can destroy that Geo Pegasus," Jesse said. "This is so amazing!"
"Yeah! Go Aiko!" Yusuke cheered as his mirror counterpart just watch.
"It's battle time! I declare Comet Cetus Halley to destroy your Geo Pegasus! Burn it to crisp! Finishing Fist!" Her monster attacked with a burning punch, destroying its target very easily as the surrounding areas burned from the attack while Ankoku stood still.
Ankoku's LP: 2600
"Due to the effect of Doom Cage Arena on the field, I take 600 points of damage," Ankoku stated as he took more damages.
Ankoku's LP: 2000
"When my monster destroys your monster, you gain damage equals to half of that destroyed monster's ATK to your Life Points!" Aiko said.
Ankoku's LP: 750
"But, that is not all because I am going to activate my monster's other effect! By detaching one of its overlay units, I can remove 1 monster in my Graveyard from play, and inflict more damage to you! I remove my Inferno Battlin' Boxer Forward to inflict 1400 points of damage and win this duel! Finishing Fist!"
Her Xyz monster had its hand burned in fire again, and threw a single, powerful punch at Ankoku. It caused the spot where he's standing on fire. Everyone watched in astonishment, but when the fires cleared, they were even more surprised, including Aiko, too.
Her opponent was still standing, unscratched with his Life Points unchanged.
"Huh!?" Aiko gasped.
"What the!?" Yusuke gasped, too.
"Nya, nya!? How on earth are you still have a Life Points?" Miko Neko asked.
"I activated the Trap Card, Earthbound Shield," he said, revealing the said card, which showed Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu acting as shield in front of a male duelist. "When this card is activated, I can reduce all damage to zero, but in exchange, I have to send 1 'Earthbound' monster from my hand to the Graveyard. I sent my Earthbound Prisoner Tikiwiki from my hand."
"Damn it," Aiko said. "Oh well. I guess I end my turn here."
Everyone was astonished with the duel, except for Atsushi Kai, who weren't even present. The Four Horsemen were quite impressed for both duelists.
"That Aiko girl has attitude…very good one in my book," Potter smirked.
"She is pretty feisty, but strong-willed and full of freedom, like a fire," Archer remarked.
"She is quite a strong girl. I respect that," Drake said.
The fourth Horseman watched quietly, speaking no words or not saying any comments.
"My turn. I draw," Ankoku said as he draws his next card. He looked at it and then decided to play it without any hesitations.
"I Normal Summon Earthbound Prisoner Mouth of Truth!" A new monster came out of the portal. It had glowing red markings, as where the eyes and mouths were glowing in red.
Earthbound Prisoner Mouth of Truth-Level 3, DARK, Fiend/Effect, 600 ATK, 1600 DEF.
"Hey, I think I've seen that monster somewhere in a museum once," Yusuke said.
"I believe you are referring to Bocca della Verita," Haruka stated. " I think I've seen it too, even in one old movie I saw."
"So what does that thing will do?" Aiko asked in mockingly way. "That thing looks so weak compared to my Comet Cetus Halley!"
"Never underestimate your opponent," Ankoku said sternly, which caught her attention as she narrowed her eyes. "I activate Mouth of Truth's effect! When this card is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon 1 'Earthbound Prisoner' monster from my Graveyard, with its ATK reduced to zero! I resurrect Earthbound Prisoner Tikiwiki!"
The resurrected monster was a literal dark tiki statue with glowing orange markings over its face and body, holding two torches on its hands.
Earthbound Prisoner Tikiwiki-Level 4, DARK, Fiend/Tuner/Effect, 1600 ATK, 400 DEF.
"He has two monsters on his field! I wonder what he will do with them," Miko Neko asked.
"Oh, there won't be two anymore, but as one!" Ankoku exclaimed. "Now I will tune my Level 3 Earthbound Prisoner Mouth of Truth with Level 4 Earthbound Prisoner Tikikwiki!"
"Now, he's going to Synchro Summon!" Jesse gasped.
"So, this man can use more than one type of Special Summoning," Sasuke whispered.
Tikiwiki did some trick with its torches before turning into four green rings. His second monster flipped few times as it dived through the rings, turning into 3 spheres of light as a beam of energy pierced those spheres.
"Offer the souls of the dead and awaken the demonic beast under the Earth! I Synchro Summon! Rise! Level 7, Earthbound Servant Geo Chimera!" A dark creature came out of the portal, with face and body of a lion, tail of snake, and second head of a goat with two sharp, crooked horns. Like all Earthbound Servant monsters, it had glowing markings all over its body. This one had it glowing in orange color.
Earthbound Servant Geo Chimera-Level 7, DARK, Fiend/Synchro/Effect, 2700 ATK, 2000 DEF.
"Woo! Now that is one messed-up monster," Yusuke pointed out.
"Mm hm," Jesse nodded in agreement.
"Oh my," Ke Slither gasped dramatically.
"When Earthbound Servant Geo Chimera is Synchro Summoned, it can destroy 1 monster on your side of the field," Ankoku said as the snake tail hissed and strike at Aiko's Xyz monster.
"Not so fast! I activate my Trap Card, Burning Chains!" The said Trap showed flaming chains wrapping a warrior, burning him painfully as he cried in agony. "When this card is activated, I can negate the activation of monster's effect that targets FIRE monster I control on the field!"
"Unfortunately, Chimera is unaffected by the Spell and Trap card in response to the activation of this effect!" Ankoku countered.
"What!? That's OP!" Aiko complained as her Trap Card turned sparkles. The snake tail destroyed her monster by biting it.
"And since you lost a monster, you lose 600 Life Points!" He pointed out as she got staved by needles again.
"Gaaah!" She shouted in pain as needles pierced her skin.
Aiko's LP: 2700
"With only 2700 Life Points, I declare Chimera to direct attack you! Geo Chimera, attack her with Beast Fury!" His monster roared loudly as it rammed at Aiko. First, it used its claw to slash her, making her scream in pain. Next, it used its goat's head to ram her to the wall of the cage, making the needles pierced on her back. Finally, the snake tail bit her and wobbled her around as it was biting her.
Everyone watched in horror as she went through a gruesome lost, yet they felt something wrong about this.
"No…stop…PLEASE MAKE THIS STOP!" Haruka screamed.
"Hey, can someone stop the D-Wave Projector! This duel is going too far!" Miko Neko yelled. The tournament staff tried to turn off the machine, but for unknown reasons, they couldn't make it stop.
After ten seconds of screaming, the monster let go of Aiko, dropping her to the ground as the monster disappeared and the duel ended with Ankoku as the winner.
Aiko's LP: 0
Ankoku WINS.
Everyone was cringed and silent as they never witnessed such brutal loss in any duels before.
"Aiikkooooooo!" Sasuke shouted as Aiko laid the ground, motionless. The medic came in shortly, putting her on the cot and carried it with her to the medical room.
New Cards Cheat Sheet
Inferno Battlin' Boxer Kicker-Level 4, FIRE, Warrior/Effect, 700 ATK, 1400 DEF. Effect: When you summoned Inferno Battlin' Boxer monster, you can Special Summon this card from your hand.
Doom Cage Arena-Type: Field Spell, Effect: If either player loses their monster on their respective side of the field, 600 points of damage is dealt to their Life Points.
Earthbound Prisoner Moai Moai-Level 4, DARK, Fiend/Effect, 1000 ATKK, 0 DEF. Effect: When you Normal or Special Summoned this card: Special Summon another one from your hand.
Earthbound Servant Geo Pegasus-Rank 4, DARK, Fiend/Xyz/Effect, 2500 ATK, 1200 DEF. Effect: Two Level 4 monsters. Once per turn, you can detach 1 Xyz Material: Destroy 1 Spell or Trap Card on the field. If there is a Field Spell face-up in the Field Zone, destroy two cards instead.
Grave-Shattering Xyz-Type: Quick-Play Spell, Effect: Special Summon 1 Xyz Monster from your Graveyard. Then, attach this card as Xyz Materials to that monster.
Rank-Up Magic Burning Soul-Type: Normal Spell, Effect: Target 1 Xyz monster you control: Use it as Xyz Material to Special Summon 1 Xyz monster, with 1 Rank higher than the target Xyz monster (This Special Summon is treated as Xyz Summon. Any materials attached to Xyz Monster also become Xyz Materials for the Xyz Summoned monster).
Earthbound Shield-Type: Counter Trap, Effect: Discard 1 "Earthbound" monster: Reduce all damage to zero for this turn.
Earthbound Prisoner Mouth of Truth-Level 3, DARK, Fiend/Effect, 600 ATK, 1600 DEF. Effect: When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, Special Summon 1 "Earthbound Prisoner" from your Graveyard, with its ATK reduced to zero. When you Normal or Special Summoned "Earthbound Prisoner" monster, you can Special Summon this card from your Graveyard. You can only use the effect of 1 "Earthbound Prisoner Mouth of Truth" once per turn.
Earthbound Prisoner Tikiwiki-Level 4, DARK, Fiend/Tuner/Effect, 1600 ATK, 400 DEF. Effect: During your opponent turn, if this card is destroyed: You can target 1 "Earthbound" monster on the field, then use this card and the targeted monster to Synchro Summon 1 "Earthbound Servant" Synchro monster from your Extra Deck (Ths effect is Quick Effect).
Earthbound Servant Geo Chimera-Level 7, DARK, Fiend/Synchro/Effect, 2700 ATK, 2000 DEF. Effect: 1 "Earthbound" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters. When this card is Synchro Summoned: Destroy 1 monster on your opponent's side of the field. No Spell and Trap Card can be activated in response to this activation of the effect. If there is a Field Spell face-up in the Field Zone, destroy two monsters instead.
Burning Chains-Type: Normal Trap, Effect: When your opponent activates monster effect, negate the activation and destroy it.
Oh no! Aiko got hurt! It appears that the attack was...real. Is this some foreshadowing!?
Well...that is for you all to figure out. MWA HA HA HA (laugh evilly)!
Anyway, that is Chapter 20. Unfortunately, this may be the last one I will write for awhile. I want to focus another story that I am working on, so more or less, this story will have lesser update, but don't worry, folks. I have many exciting things in plan for this story.
Now, let me say an opinion of mine, which I don't do so often, but I just want to let it out. My opinion about Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V. I really like the anime. I like the characters, the cards especially, and the story, at least most parts. Although, it had a lot of potential in the beginning, and when I look back at it and just look at it in general, it was rushed, which a lot of people complained about the show and how it ended. I don't know why they rushed it when they have another month before the next series, Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS starts in May, but we will just never know. We just have to accept it, even though we wish the ending to be different than what it is. However, as much as I don't like how it ended, too, I think they could've done a lot worse than what they did, so I guess the way they ended is the best they could.
For characters, I really like Yuya and Yuzu, and their counterparts. Yuya is a good character, and his Entertainment Dueling is really fun to watch as well as I like his monsters and of course, his ace, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Yuzu, unlike some past leading female protagonists, has developed strongly, even though she started very stereotypical in the beginning, but after few first episodes, she became better. Selena is probably my most favorite of Yuzu's counterparts (or in this case, Ray's) because of her tomboyish personality. Personally, I think she can be sweet person, but she slowly opens up to people. She is basically the tsundere of Yu-Gi-Oh, basically. I wish we can learn more about Rin and Ruri, but at least they have some screen time in the last arc before the ending. For Yuya's counterparts, I think I like Yugo because he is just funny, and I really like the moments between him and Yuri. He may be a big mouth, sometimes, but underneath that, he is really good-hearted person who cares about his closest friend, Rin and tries to save her, even going through dimensions. I also like Yuto and Yuri because Yuto is very cool-headed and cares about his friends, like Yugo and Yuya, but of all four, he is the cool and calm one. Yuri, on the other hand, is the most sinister of the four and I really like that part of him. He was pretty crazy at the end, but he is pretty funny character since he was introduced, especially the moments with him and Yugo. Other characters I like from Arc-V is Gongenzaka for his respect of Steadfast Dueling, Shun for his cool Archetype, Shingo for his funny moments, and all the characters from older series who appeared in the anime.
In conclusion, I like Arc-V for the way it is, and that is the beauty of Yu-Gi-Oh I guess. There are good and bad for each series, but each of them are unique. However, one thing that never changes is this; It's time for, Duel, Duel, Duel, Du-du-du-du-du-duel! For bit of spoilers, both this and my Yu-Gi-Oh Muikai story relate with Arc-V since one, I have some characters from Arc-V already appeared in this story and two, for Muikai, it is a spiritual successor to Arc-V. I know one thing for both of these stories; the fun has only just begun.
So, what is your opinion about Arc-V? Maybe in next chapter, I will talk about Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS. Anyway, see you guys in the next chapter.