Nexus 024: All on Zero
Vice's LP: 8000 Eric's LP: 8000
To start his turn, Vice revealed a new field spell. "Union Hangar! A large tower rose up from the casino floor, carrying a hangar on each floor like birdhouses. "First, I can add a light-attribute Union machine to my hand once I put this spell down!" He chose a card called 'A-Assault Core'. "And I normal summon Silver Gadget!" A round silver shape materialized and folded its legs and arms out to reveal its(4/1500/1000) true machine-nature. "When Silver Gadget is summoned, I can special summon a level 4 machine from my hand! I choose the one I added!" A-Assault Core was a yellow tank(4/1900/200) with a laser-cannon mounted behind it like a scorpions tail. "Is that another new-fangled card for your guildfriends?" It was a new card, like the Zoodiacs. "Call it a sneak peak! Just like this!" Vice drew another monster from his deck: B-Buster Drake. "When a Union machine is summoned, Union Hangar can equip another Union machine to that monster!" The Buster machine attached to Assault Core like an extra pair of turrets. "Now my A-machine is immune to your spells. Do like you what you see so far, kid?"
"The least you can do is remember my name. But I think I can fix that by beating your shiny new toys! Now it's my turn!" Eric grinned. "I activate A Wild Monster Appears to summon one monster from my hand that can't normally be summoned! Though it has to return to the deck on my next turn!" The field rumbled, Eric was stirring up the underworld. "I special summon Infernoid Nehemoth!" The inferno sent forth its greatest unfused demon, the royal demon dragon Infernoid Onuncu(10/3000/3000). "Nehemoth destroys all other monsters!" The sea of hellfire spread and came for the souls of Assault Core and Silver Gadget, whether they were mechanical or not. "So these are your new cards huh? Heh, they probably would have sold well. But we will never know now!" However only Silver Gadget fell into the depths. "I can negate the destruction of Assault Core by destroying the equipped Buster Drake instead! And when B-Buster Drake is sent to the graveyard, I get one more Union monster!" Assault Core survived, while the B-Buster Drake added another B-Buster Drake to Vice's hand.
"And I wonder, will we be able to turn virtual gold to real gold, once the guild completes their plans for the new world?" Silver Gadget possessed another effect. A different color of Gadget in Vice's deck would be called out once Silver was destroyed. "I special summon Gold Gadget! His effects are the same as Silver Gadget's!" Gold(4/1700/400) replaced silver. "So I special summon B-Buster Drake, and re-activate Union Hangar to equip him with C-Crush Wyvern!" The mechanical cannon dragon(4/1500/1800) now showed up in its monstrous mode. Right aftewards a third Union part flew out of the hangar tower; a purple wyvern bomber. "A, B and C? What is this?" Emily felt like she was back at grade school. The C-Wyvern equipped itself to the B-Drake, causing the machine to become immune to all trap cards. "Gold? Even I know you'll ruin gold if you make too much of it!" Eric placed a trap card down and normal summoned Kuribandit. "I end my turn and activate Kuribandit's effect!" The bandit kuriboh tributed itself, to excavate five cards from Eric's deck. Eric kept one spell/trap card (Void Seer) while the other four (Backup Rider, Infernoid Piaty, Infernoid Harmadik, Spiritual Swords of Revealing Light) were sent to the graveyard.
"Right you are. But there will always be something more valuable. Something the people want!" Like all union monsters, they could summon themselves one turn after they were equipped. C-Crush Wyvern(4/1200/2000) unequipped itself from B-Buster Drake. "Union Hangar!" And the field spell equipped a second Assault Core to the Wyvern, rendering it immune to monster effects. "You have what you want, dont you? Well.. I can give you more of it! It's time.." The ABC machines suddenly combined. "Contact fusion?" Emily and Eric recognized it as the fusion method June's ritual beasts employed. Crush Wyvern and Buster Drake coupled their bodies with Assault Core as the base, forming a two-headed multi-armed warmachine(8/3000/2800).
"Yes! Just like the XYZ Dragon Cannon you should already know. A, B and C can be banished to fuse ABC Dragon Buster Cannon!" Not only that; Vice could also add a second Crush Wyvern card to his hand, because the equipped Assault Core was forced into the graveyard once its wielder disappeared. Vice equipped the C-machine to his fusion. "Dragon Buster can banish one of your cards, if I discard one card!" Vice discarded an Frontline Base spell, and targeted Infernoid Onuncu. "I know it will die at the end of my turn. But.. that would mean I couldn't damage you!" The Crusher half of the fusion blasted a hole through the dragon. The burning wound grew worse by the second until all of Onuncu was erased by flames. "Direct attack!" Then the Buster cannons released their shots. "Kgh." Eric could not use the traps in his graveyard to stop the attack because of the C-Crush Wyvern equipped to the ABC Dragon Buster. His screams were overpowered by the roar of the gunfire.
Eric's LP: 5000
"Ha! Was that supposed to hurt?" Eric laughed. "Eric?" Despite the direct hit, he did not seem to be hurt. "What?" Vice sounded as confused as Emily. "Oh I got something money can't buy, Vice! Something very cool. I think my body didn't feel the pain because of that." Eric patted his chest. "Oh." Now Emily knew why; because of the mark. She could see one symbol burn underneath his sleeve. "What is it then?" Vice placed a trap card down and ended his turn. "Oh. If you can wait a minute, I will show you!" Eric normal summoned Infernoid Decatron(1/500/200). "I think I'll decline!" The opponent discarded a card from his hand. "ABC Dragon Buster can use its effect during both turns?" Emily gasped. The target was Decatron. "Ha! Good thing I grabbed this when I did! I activate Void Seer! My Infernoids cannot be harmed by your effects this turn, Vice! If that is even your real name!" The quickplay spell, Kuribandit's reward, deflected the missile barrage of the fusion machine. "Kgh. My old name no longer matters, kid."
"Pfft, whatever you say. I activate Archfiend Eccentrick in my pendulum zone! And sacrifice Archfiend Eccentrick to destroy that annoying field spell!" The Union Hangar came crumbling down, as the giggling trickster demoness launched a suicidal attack that took her own life as well. "And now, I discard Infernoid Beelzebul with Infernoid Decatron! Which lets Decatron use Beelzebul's effect against your monster!" The tuner sent the Infernoid Antra down into hell to absorb its level and power. Said newfound power was directed at ABC Dragon Buster. If the fusion could not be destroyed in one go, Decatron(3/500/200) would bounce it off the field instead. "Hmph! Then let me showcase my machine's final effect! ABC Dragon Buster can split into its materials whenever I tell it to!" The fusion returned to the extra deck; special summoning A-Assault Core, B-Buster Drake and C-Crush Wyvern back from the banished zone in defense mode. Meanwhile the unequipped Crush Wyvern selfdestructed and added a Z-Metal Tank to Vice's hand.
"Oh really? That's pretty generous of you, Vice!" Eric banished two Infernoids from his graveyard to special summon Infernoid Piaty(5/2200/0). "Eric, you're.." Enily could see what would happen to a level 5 monster and a level 3 tuner. "Of course! Vice! Watch this! I synchro summon Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend!" The Infernoids tuned together and formed the scarred demon dragon(8/3000/2000) on Eric's field for the very first time. "Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend?" Vice stammered. "Did I say the name of my new pal wrong?! Or is this a card you dont know yet? Let's see what he thinks about your machines?" Eric activated the effect of Scarlight, and destroyed all of Vice's special monsters while inflicting 500 points of damage to Vice for each casualty. "Oh. I guess all he saw was a few easy targets!"
Vice's LP: 6500
"A card is a card, no matter where it came from. And destroying mine only helps me, kid!" Vice activated the effects of the destroyed Wyverns, adding two Y-Dragon Heads and the last A-Assault Core to his hand. "Later yeah! But you can get him now, Eric!" Emily yelled. "That's indeed what I can do!" Eric clenched his fist and felt it burn with energy. "This will be a real solid vision, Vice! Scarlight! Attack with hellflame fury!" The dragon's mimicked Eric's movements and coated its claw in flames. "Gwaaahaa!" Vice got the wind knocked out of him by a swift infernal punch. He crashed into a nearby vending machine. "Sorry about that! But you asked for a real duel!" Before his turn ended, Eric placed one trap down and activated his other: Back to the Front. "I special summon Kuribandit from my graveyard and of course, I will use his effect again!" The Kuribandit was re-tributed for another excavation of five cards (Infernoid Sjette, Skill Prisoner, Mirror Resonator, Absolute King Back Jack, Pot of Acquisitiveness). Eric chose to add the latter to his hand and sent the rest into his graveyard.
Vice's LP: 3500
"Ugh.. Heheheh. That thing is certainly something." Vice crawled back up, and stared at the dragon with a strange look. "You'd never sell something like that. But, I can always claim it with force!" It was not fear that burned in his eyes, but desire. "I activate an Unexpected Dai! To special summon a normal monster from my deck to a field with no monsters!" The spell card special summoned a new letter; the hovering cannon robot X-Head Cannon(4/1800/1000). "Then I normal summon Y-Dragon Head!" A mechanical red dragon(4/1500/1600) formed the second part of the upcoming XYZ-combo. "And I activate the continuous spell, Frontline Base, to summon another union monster from my hand!" The final part, Z-Metal Tank, was a yellow crab-tank(4/1600/1500). "Fusion Summon!" Like the ABC parts before, the XYZ trio could contact fuse into one monster. "XYZ-Dragon Cannon!" This time it was a mechanical centaur(8/2800/2600), with the lower body of a dragontank and the cannon-armed torso of a machine. "Let's destroy that dragon of yours!"
"I 'decline'! Skill Prisoner activates from my graveyard!" As the fusion discarded the other Y-Dragon Head from Vice's hand and took aim, Eric banished his skill trap and targeted his synchro monster. "The effects of all monsters that target my dragon will be negated this turn!" Due to the trap, the XYZ Dragon Cannon became a prisoner of its own effect. The shot repulsed back into its cannons and depowered it. "Ha! In that case.. I activate my spell card, Pot of Parsimony. I will banish my A, B and C machines to draw a card!" Three monsters were cast into the other dimension, while their owner reaped the benefit. "Heh. And then I activate the trap, Union Scramble! I resummon three banished Union monsters!" Three bursts of light shattered the dimensional barrier. "We're back to this?" Emily cursed. A-Assault Core, B-Buster Drake and C-Crush Wyvern all appeared on the field. "Yes, we are.. miss." The three machines were banished all over again, combining into ABC Dragon Buster(8/3000/2800) through contact fusion. "But not entirely!" And then both of his monsters... vanished into a vortex.
Pot of Parsimony, Normal Spell
Target 3 monsters in the graveyard(s); banish all 3 face-up, then draw 1 card.
You can only activate 1 "Pot of Parsimony" per turn.
"What?" ABC Dragon Buster made contact with XYZ Dragon Cannon. "What is so surprising? If you go from A all the way to Z, you get something too! Banishing both these machines, will get me A-to-Z Dragon Buster Cannon!" Three draconic heads, four seperate wings, one robotic tank body, a dozen cannons; it was almost impossible to tell where one part began and the other ended. This was the ultimate dragon warmachine(10/4000/4000). "Attack!" Not even the red dragon would survive its firepower. "I activate Absolute King Back Jack's effect!" Eric would try. He banished the Absolute King to set the top card of his deck, Blazing Mirror Force, face-down on the field. "I will use Blazing Mirror Force to." "You wont get away with that now!" Vice shouted. "AtoZ can one negate an effect each turn!" He discarded his last card, A-Assault Core, to block Eric's trap effect with his monster's effect. "Then I activate Red Cocoon." Before the dragon died Eric activated his trap card that equipped itself to his synchro dragon like a cocoon. "Scarlight is dead either way!" The gunfire reached its mark and blasted Eric's mighty dragon to pieces along with the cocoon.
Eric's LP: 4000
"And now.. I will split my monster!" The six-parted Dragon Buster Cannon banished itself and reformed the banished ABC Dragon Buster and XYZ-Dragon Cannon in attack position. "It can defuse as well... Annoying." Emily was not entirely worried for now. "Spiritual Swords!" Because Eric could banish another trap from his graveyard to negate all direct attacks for a turn. "One more roadblock removed." But nothing was stopping Vice from refusing both fusion machines into a second AtoZ Dragon Buster(10/4000/4000). "Heh. You think I am out of cards now?" But Eric pointed his finger to the ceiling. "I bring my Red Dragon Archfiend back to life!" Behind him, the red cocoon started beating. "What?" The 'heart' popped open, and revealed a newly reborn Scarlight dragon. "Didn't you see the fineprint? Red Cocoon can special summon one Red Dragon Archfiend at the end of any turn in which it goes to the graveyard. And though he may be scarred, he is still called 'Red Dragon Archfiend'"
"You wont win with that, kid!" Vice ended his turn. "I activate Union Scramble again! It moves a light-attribute union machine back to my hand!" The A-Assault Core wound up back in Vice's hand. "You wont use anything against me!" Now Vice could negate one more effect, if Eric dared to use one. "Heh." In spite of that, Eric puit up his widest grin yet. "Wanna bet on that?" Infernoid Piaty(5/2200/0) resummoned itself to the field by banishing the Infernoids Decatron and Sjette from the graveyard. "You can stop effects. But you cant stop summons." Then Eric activated the effect of Red Dragon Archfiend. "You think I would spend a card on that? I can see that your dragons effect doesn't work if my monster has more attackpoints than it!" The destruction killed Eric's own Infernoid, while the Dragon Buster Cannon stayed intact. Though Vice did lose another 500 lifepoints because of that.
Vice's LP: 3000
"I was hoping you'd think like that." He moved another card from his graveyard to the field. "When I dont control an extra deck monster and you do, I can special summon Mirror Resonator! Though it will selfbanish once it leaves the field." A little tuner imp, with a tuning fork in hand and a mirror growing out of its back, special summoned itself(1/0/0) from the graveyard. "I figured.. if I would go for synchros, I could spice my deck up a little. Though Iria helped me a little with that. Just like the good old times." The mark on Eric was brighter than ever. "What are you doing now?" Even Vice could see it. "Isn't that obvious? I am going to synchro summon!" Mirror Resonator tuned with Scarlight. "I can hear a name, Vice. My dragon wants to evolve, wants to grow with his new boss. So, I am going to let him!" Nine stars formed a hellish blaze across the casino, melting all slotmachines and tables around them. "So say hello to my new friend! Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss!"
"Abyss?" The scars were gone, burned away. Blades protruded from its arms, a ghoulish face plate rested on its chest. The dragon(9/3200/2500) was one step closer to damnation. "Abyss can negate one monsters effect each turn. So go ahead, try to stop my spells now!" Eric activated one spell, Pot of Acquisitiveness, to return three banished monsters to the deck. "Tch." If Vice tried to negate it, the Abyssal dragon would just counter and negate its effect and make him waste his card. "No more splitting up for you!" So he had to let the Pot spell push the banished fusion materials (XYZ, ABC and one Crusher Wyvern) back into the deck all while Eric could draw one new card. "Nice!" He normal summoned the crimson beast Gren Maju Da Eiza(3/3200/3200), who gained 400 attackpoints for each of his eight banished cards. "And then? Both your monsters have less firepower than mine!" Vice protested. "Then? Then I will attack your monster, and use this during the battle!" Eric activated the spell he drew. "Clashing Souls!" And 1000 of his lifepoints disappeared like a dying flame. "Clashing Souls?" And immediately afterwards, a new fire lit up in the eyes of the Red Dragon(4200/2500). "You can pay lifepoints for attackpoints?"
Eric's LP: 3000
"We both can! Vice! We can pay 500 lifepoints at a time, until our monster grows stronger than the monster it is fighting! Neither player takes damage, but the one who loses their monster, has all their cards sent to the graveyard!" To surpass AtoZ, Eric needed to add 1000 points to his monster. "It's like you're fueling him with your own spirit." Emily noted. "Exactly! Now, how much are you going to pay, Vice?" Vice could pay 500 lifepoints, and his fusion would shoot up to 4500 attackpoints. "This is some twisted game." But once he did, Eric would just pay another 500 lifepoints to push Abyss to 4700 attackpoints. "I cannot win this, and you know that already." No matter what, Eric would always be on top again.. because Eric's had more lifepoints to lose. "I pay nothing!" So Vice did nothing and watched his mighty fusion monster get torn up by an ensouled dragon. "Bah. You are no fun. Guess I'll let end on a whimper!" Gren Maju handed a direct attack to the former shop owner, dousing him in flames. "Bah!"
Vice's LP: 0
"Now, will you let us get to the dang elevator? Or are there any more of you waiting for us?" Emily wanted to waste as little time as possible, now that they were done here. "Heh. Like I said, its just me down here. Dont know whats waiting for you up stairs, I didn't bother to check. Oof." Vice knew when he was beaten, his body did too. "Well done, kid." He was impressed too. "Didn't even break a sweat, Vice." Eric did not want any compliments from him. "Ha. I guess money isn't everything when you have a power like that. But I gotta warn ya kid. Even you should be affraid of what is around here. I have seen this Dame when she is mad, and she is not pleasant like that." He groaned. "Well, someone has to stop her." If Uno was not here, he was the next best choice. "Let's go Emily."
...
The war outside raged on and on. Despite their decreasing numbers, the guild was fighting to the last man. "No!" And Uno himself was just one man, he could not take on the entire force by himself. Even as he defeated one more elite from the XYZ-guild, a fellow duelist right next to him was turned into a card by another. "We can't keep going like this, Uno." Alice had thrown herself into the chaos as well, to no avail. Her hope only extended to herself, she won every duel while her allies kept losing. "You're right. We should just attack their leader." Uno knew who that would be. With Ichirou absent, it was likely Martha who commanded the troops. "But they can't keep doing this either." Alice shook her head. "Then what should we do?" Uno asked her. "...We should talk. We have to tell them.. what is really happening."
(To be Continued in Nexus 025: The Dragon and the Thorn)
New Cards used by Eric Stonewell
Mirror Resonator
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Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend
Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss
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A Wild Monster Appears
Clashing Souls
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Red Cocoon
New Cards used by Vice
Silver Gadget
A-Assault Core
B-Buster Drake
Gold Gadget
C-Crush Wyvern
X-Head Cannon
Y-Dragon Head
Z-Metal Tank
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ABC Dragon Buster
XYZ Dragon Cannon
AtoZ Dragon Buster Cannon
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Union Hangar
An Unexpected Dai
Frontline Base
Pot of Parsimony
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Union Scramble