Things were rather odd at New Domino this morning. It seemed that Glen had decided to give everyone the day off, which was very odd as there was certainly quite a bit that the soldiers could do. Even so, for some, it was likely for the best that they were not working today, especially Katherine.
Ever since Drake rejected her, she had been under the weather and Katie had been trying her best to cheer her up. But not even her best friend could help her out.
"Cheer up," the white-haired woman groaned, "So it didn't work out. I'm sure there's someone else for you out there!" Katherine groaning, "No! It has to be Drake! It's destiny!"
Katie took a deep breath and asked, "Alright, girl, tell me something. During the time you hung out with Drake, what exactly did you learn about him?"
"Well, I found out origami doesn't interest him," the blue-haired woman replied, "which is rather odd because I found it really fascinating when I did it with the others. I found out he really like fruit punch, though honestly I find it too strong, but that's okay."
"Stop," Katie remarked with a sigh, "Did you find out anything that you two have in common?" Katherine thinking hard about this and uttering, "We're both good duellists?" a light smile on her face as Katie face-palmed.
The blue-haired woman then let out a groan and barked, "It doesn't matter! It's meant to be! Haven't you heard of 'opposites attract'!?" Katie nodding and replying, "Yes, but usually for that kind of pairing to work, the two must have at least something really big in common or a huge understanding. It sounds to me like you don't really know Drake all that well."
Katherine looked down and sighed, "I guess you're right," before giving her friend a hug and adding, "Thanks, Katie. Taylor was right. I really do need to listen to you more often."
Katie smirked and jokingly remarked, "No, you think?" as both women shared a laugh. Now Katherine's spirits had returned and she felt ready for anything.
During this time, Aadil was spending time with Angela. In fact, both had spent a lot more time with each-other than their roommates as of late. And as it just so happened, both Taylor and Drake were discussing this in Taylor's room.
"They seem to click really well," Drake said with a light smile, "I've never seen Aadil get along with someone that well before."
Taylor nodded and replied, "Yeah, and Angela's less quiet around him than anyone else," before smirking and adding, "You know what this means, right?"
Drake's eyes widened briefly as he turned to the woman and said, "Well, I wouldn't put it past Aadil to feel that way. After all, he's gotten those feelings many times before," Taylor nodding and replying, "I'm not sure about Angela, though. She probably doesn't know how to fall in love."
"You're not thinking of getting involved, are you?" Drake asked as the woman shook her head and replied, "Nah. That's up to them. If they truly feel this way, they'll let each-other know eventually."
"That's very grown-up of you to say," Drake said with a smirk, "No offence, but when I first met you, I thought you were nothing more than a cold bitch."
Taylor laughed and replied, "None taken. I totally was," the woman sighing, "It really is amazing. All I cared about was being better than you. Now I just want to help my team as much as possible."
After a few seconds, Drake said, "Hey, Taylor, there's something I'd like to do, especially now that we have a chance."
"Alright, what is it?" the woman asked, the man saying, "I challenge you to a rematch."
Taylor's eyes widened as he added, "That's right. I'd like to face you in another duel, only this time we'll each have five thousand vitality, like my mech."
"Hey, that's all water under the bridge," the purple-haired woman remarked, "You can't possibly be butthurt about that!"
"I'm not," Drake remarked, "You won that fair and square. I just wanna see if maybe you would be worthy of my title under more difficult circumstances."
Taylor blinked and smirked, saying, "Well, I am kinda bored and honestly, I don't wanna interrupt Angela. Alright, let's do it."
During this time, Glen decided to check up on the mechanics as they were almost three quarters finished. The legs had been put in and the diamond had just been inserted into the torso. Sure, these parts may have already been made, but it was still difficult to put them all together.
"Looking good," Glen said with a grin, "Do you suppose you'll be done as soon as you planned?" the head mechanic stating, "As a matter of fact, we're making better progress than first expected. We should be done by nightfall."
The general nodded and replied, "Wonderful. I'll tell everyone to prepare for a full-scale attack tomorrow."
Meanwhile, Taylor and Drake were in the training facility. The blue-haired man set each mech to five thousand vitality as both soldiers entered their respective mechs. Sure, neither felt the least bit malicious toward the other anymore, but they were still determined to give it their all. After all, Drake wanted to prove that he was worthy and Taylor did not wish to insult his request by holding back.
"You can go first," Drake said with a grin as Taylor asked, "You sure? I'd be okay with you going first."
However, the blue-haired man seemed more than certain of his decision as the woman shrugged and drew a sixth card. She found this to be a rather iffy hand as she only had two monsters. But she also had four traps and one of those monsters could prove useful if she could survive the first turn.
With this in mind, Taylor placed her traps face-down in her spell zone and left it at that, Drake raising an eyebrow and asking, "Are you going easy on me?" the woman retorting, "As if! When you see what I'm planning, you'll understand everything!"
When Drake drew his next card, he took a deep breath and said, "Looks like I might just end up ruining your strategy."
Taylor blinked and asked, "What?" the blue-haired man activating a spell called 'Dark World Lightning'. The woman's jaw dropped as she spat, "Hey, I have that card too!" Drake saying, "Somehow I figured you would, so you at least know what it does."
Drake proceeded to discard one of the cards from his hand as a bolt of lightning came down and struck one of Taylor's traps. The woman was now worried as of all cards, the one that Drake's spell destroyed was 'Trap Hole'. Of all four spells, this was the one Taylor needed to avoid having a monster attack her this turn.
"Let me guess, that was your trump card, right?" Drake asked with a smirk as Taylor sighed, "Don't get cocky. This is a minor setback."
However, it seemed this setback was not as minor as it could have been as the monster Drake summoned was an oil lamp with spider-like legs named 'Ancient Lamp'. While it only had an attack power of nine hundred, its effect was very useful as it allowed Drake to special summon a more powerful monster.
A puff of smoke rose up out of the lamp as a green genie emerged and took form next to it. His name was 'La Jinn The Mystical Genie of the Lamp' and he had an attack power of eighteen hundred.
"Oh no," Taylor groaned as the genie proceeded to send a blast of magic into Taylor's mech. This brought her vitality down to thirty-two hundred while she thought, 'Not yet.'
Ancient Lamp added to the damage by firing a beam of light from the hole on the end of its tip. This reduced Taylor's vitality to twenty-three hundred as she thought, 'Now!'
The woman summoned a big black scorpion-like demon with a monstrous face named 'Tragoedia'. This monster could be special-summoned after the user took in damage and his attack power was six hundred multiplied by the number of cards in the player's hand, meaning he only had six hundred right now.
"Not bad," Drake said with a shrug, "But that doesn't help you much," the man's turn coming to a close as Taylor remarked, "Mark my words, this is only the beginning!"
Her next card was 'Pot of Greed' and she wasted no time activating it and adding two cards to her hand. This brought Tragoedia's attack up to eighteen hundred, but that was still not good enough. And unfortunately, while she could easily destroy Ancient Lamp, La Jinn was another deal all together.
However, her eyes widened as she realized something she could do. As a matter of fact, she had just drawn a monster that could easily turn this duel in her favour, one that Drake could have a lot of trouble dealing with.
"Alright, Drake, time to really test your skills," Taylor stated as she summoned a grey demon with a permanent wide smile on his face and hair made from finger bones. His body was transparent, so his organs could actually be seen. This demon was known as 'Brron, Mad King of Dark World' and he had an attack power of eighteen hundred.
"That is a powerful monster, but the only way you can beat my La Jinn is by destroying him as well," Drake stated as Taylor grinned and remarked, "That's why I don't intend to use him for that purpose."
She then had Brron target Ancient Lamp as the demon shifted his arms to control chains that bound them together. He then used to chains to whip the lamp hard, covering its body in cracks as it soon shattered into small pieces. Brron had the chains strike Drake's mech as its vitality dropped to forty-one hundred.
It did not end there, though, as Taylor said, "By the way, when Brron deals damage, I have the option to discard one of my cards, and I choose this one."
The card in question was actually Taylor's strongest monster, a dragon by the name of 'Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World'. Damien was rather confused by this decision until the dragon's spirit appeared and sent a burst of dark energy into La Jinn, the monster melting as his liquified remains sank into the floor.
"By the way, that's not his only effect," Taylor stated with a grin, "Though I can't activate it just yet. So I'll settle for this instead."
As such, she had Tragoedia crawl over to Drake's mech and pinch its arms with his claws thus bringing his vitality down to thirty-five hundred. And with that out of the way, Taylor smirked and said, "Now I can use Grapha's other effect."
She then returned Brron to her hand as the dragon rose from her graveyard and took form. He was made entirely out of bones and was covered in a silver armour. The only parts of him that were not bone were black feathers attached to his wings. He was certainly a fearsome beast as his attack power was twenty-seven hundred.
While Tragoedia may have been just as weak as when he was first summoned, Drake had to admit that he was terrified right now. What could he possibly do to get around this?
Whatever the case, he knew he had to at least prove himself. As such, the man drew his next card and took a deep breath. But just as he was about to look at it, he and Taylor turned away from their duel when they noticed a big group of soldiers had entered the training facility, including Katherine, Katie, Angela and Aadil.
"What the hell?" Taylor uttered as Aadil grinned and said, "Hey, you were right, Nathaniel. Taylor and Drake are having a duel right now."
"Yeah, I overheard them talking about it earlier," a young man with an eagle haircut replied, a woman exclaiming, "This is so cool!" another adding, "Though Drake looks like he's in trouble."
"Go, Taylor!" Angela squeaked as Aadil chuckled and said, "You'll have to talk louder than that if you want her to hear you."
Katherine, all the while, took a deep breath. She did not care who won this duel. She only wanted to see how it played out.
"Well, looks like we got an audience now," Drake said with a shrug, "I'm okay with that," Taylor smirking and saying in a joking tone, "Yeah, they'll watch me wipe the floor with you."
Of course, she no longer meant that maliciously, but even so, Drake could not help but wonder if this would happen. But when he saw his next card was his own 'Pot of Greed', his confidence rose a little bit as he activated it.
Upon seeing his next two cards, one in particular stood out. Drake grinned and said, "Well, I got something that might turn this around."
With this in mind, the blue-haired man proceeded to summon a young slender man with snow-white armour, a red mask over his mouth, blond hair and a huge sword. His name was 'D. D. Assailant' and he had an attack power of seventeen-hundred.
The warrior then sprinted toward Tragoedia and effortlessly used his sword with only one hand to slice the scorpion in two. Tragoedia's corpse sunk into the floor as Assailant struck Taylor's mech, dropping her vitality to eighteen hundred.
Aadil nodded and said, "Drake realized this is much more beneficial for him than Taylor," Angela uttering, "It still doesn't seem too smart. Now he'll take in damage this turn."
"He would have taken in damage either way," Katherine sighed, "At least this way, Taylor's numbers have been lowered."
Taylor drew her next card and smirked, saying, "So you defeated one monster. Big deal."
But as she looked over her hand, she was not too happy with it. Sure, Brron was worth keeping, but her other two cards were not. As such, she finally felt the need to activate one of her traps.
This was called 'Dark Scheme' and it allowed both duellists to replace two cards with two new ones from the tops of their decks. Drake could have countered this by discarding one of his cards, but even he felt the need to replace his hand as each soldier discarded two cards and drew two new ones.
Taylor grinned and said, "Much better," as she placed a card face-down in her spell zone and summoned Brron back to the field.
"Drake's gonna get it, isn't he?" Angela uttered as Aadil replied, "Hard to say. Unless Taylor knows what his monster's effect is, she could end up making the dumbest move possible."
And it seemed Taylor was unaware of D. D. Assailant's effect as she had Grapha send a burst of dark fire from his mouth into the man. The warrior's eyes widened as his body melted, his skeleton remaining as it collapsed into smaller fragments. The fire then spread until it touched Drake's mech, bringing its vitality down to twenty-five hundred.
However, Assailant's effect activated as a result, Taylor blinking as he rose up from the dead only for Drake's mech to destroy him thus removing him from play. But after he was destroyed, his sword flew out of his hand and pierced Grapha's armour, the dragon letting out a loud roar as he was also removed from play, his body falling backwards and sinking into the floor.
"My god, you're a genius," Taylor uttered as the other soldiers cheered wildly, one of them exclaiming, "I KNEW DRAKE WOULDN'T MAKE THINGS THAT EASY FOR HER!"
Even so, the purple-haired woman took a deep breath and said, "Oh well, I can still hit you," Brron using his chains to strike Drake's mech and bring his vitality down to seven hundred. Even with Grapha gone, it seemed Taylor was most likely to win this duel.
But when Drake drew his next card, a light smile formed as he had a very good hand, but he would not yet use the card that he drew. He had a different plan, but it would only work if Taylor had nothing to respond with. As such, Drake decided to take a big risk as he summoned a blond knight shrouded in a ripped up cloak to the field in attack mode. His name was 'D. D. Survivor' and he had an attack power of eighteen hundred.
"That's your plan?" Taylor scoffed, "I know you're smarter than this," Drake replying, "That's why I'm not attacking."
The purple-haired woman blinked and said, "Oh, you know I'll be taking a big risk if I attack, too. Well, I'm not giving you that satisfaction."
And as she drew her next card, she had another reason not to attack with Brron. None of her monsters were particularly powerful and as such, she summoned a single monster in defence mode and ended her turn.
And when Drake drew his next card, he grinned and said, "I think I've won this now," as Taylor gulped, Aadil saying, "That's a pretty bold claim. I wonder if he can back it up."
Angela bit her lip as Katherine sighed and exclaimed, "SHOW HER WHO'S BOSS, DRAKE!" Katie's eyes going wide as the blue-haired woman sighed, "He may have rejected me, but I still support him."
Drake nodded and activated 'Monster Reborn' as Taylor's eyes widened, the woman uttering, "Don't tell me..."
Drake then returned his Assailant to the field as Taylor figured he was planning on sacrificing his Survivor so he could attack her directly. With that in mind, she remembered her face-down monster, and this monster in question was 'Renge, Gatekeeper of Dark World'. This monster had a defence power of twenty-one hundred, so even if Drake was willing to part with his Survivor, he still would not be able to get at Taylor's vitality.
But deep down, she knew better. Drake had something else planned and this was made clear when he sacrificed both of his monsters in exchanged for a snow-white demon with big crow wings coming out of his back and dark-blue armour covering his body. This was 'Darklord Asmodeus' and he had an attack power of three thousand.
"YEAH, I CAN'T REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I SAW THAT CARD!" Aadil exclaimed with excitement as the others cheered wildly, the demon flying toward Brron and striking him hard in the chest.
Brron fell hard on his back and sunk into the floor as Asmodeus sent a punch to Taylor's mech, bringing her vitality down to six hundred. Now both were very close to failure as Taylor took many deep breaths.
With no other options at the moment, Taylor used this chance to activate the trap she had set earlier, 'The Forces of Darkness'. Now that she had two Dark World monsters in her graveyard, she could return them to her hand with the help of this trap.
Even so, this was hardly enough to help her as she drew her next card. Her eyes widened at the sight of the monster she had drawn, a mummy called 'Grave Squirmer'. Sure, he had zero attack and defence but his special effect was to destroy any monsters that destroyed him. If Drake was foolish enough to attack him as opposed to Renge, there was no doubt that the blue-haired man would lose this duel.
Taylor knew she had nothing to lose at this point as she summoned the monster in defence mode and ended her turn. Angela, all the while, bit her lip and hoped for the best while Katherine hoped none of Taylor's face-down cards would win her this duel.
After drawing his next card, Drake summoned a green zombie with grey hair on the sides of his head and rusted armour. He was aptly named 'Armoured Zombie' and had an attack power of fifteen hundred.
Taylor bit her lip as Drake had Asmodeus attack first. And it seemed the purple-haired woman's strategy had failed her as the target was Renge, a large grey demon with the build of a sumo wrestler, orange palms and armour covering his shoulders formed. Since Asmodeus greatly overpowered his defence, Renge was easily overpowered as he fell hard on his back, sinking into the floor.
Armoured Zombie proceeded to march toward Grave Squirmer, the mummy taking form as the zombie grabbed onto his arms and bit into his shoulders. But just as the mummy was about to go down, he let loose his bandages and bound them to Asmodeus, the demon's eyes widening as he was dragged into the graveyard with Squirmer.
"Oh yeah, I can picked any card and destroy it," Taylor said with a shrug as Drake sighed and ended his turn. As if that was not enough, he knew Brron was back in the woman's hand thanks to her trap earlier.
Taylor wasted no time as she summoned the monster, Brron using his chains to lob off Armoured Zombie's head. The rest of the zombie fell forward and sunk into the floor as the chains whipped Drake, dropping his vitality to four hundred. The others trembled as Aadil groaned, "Oh no, what's he gonna do now?"
"Well, you've been a great opponent," Taylor said with a grin, "Even if you lose this, don't think for a minute that you're not worthy of your title. I think you're more than worthy of keeping it."
Drake grinned and replied, "Thanks," as he drew his next card.
As it just so happened, Drake had drawn 'Jinzo Number Seven', the man saying, "Well, Taylor, it seems your winning streak is finally over," the woman's jaw dropped as he summoned his cyborg in attack mode.
"No offence, but how is that supposed to-?" Taylor asked before sighing, "Right, as Angela would tell me, there's always something else to moves like these."
"Wise words," Drake replied as he activated 'Yami', bringing his monster's attack power up to seven hundred as he added, "I've had this card for a while, but I chose not to use it because I knew it would help you too."
Taylor nodded and replied, "That does add up," as Jinzo sprinted toward her mech. Brron attempted to strike the cyborg with his chains but failed as Jinzo leapt over them and sent a downward kick into the head of Taylor's mech.
The woman's eyes widened as her vitality dropped to zero, the mech powering down as the duel came to a close. The area erupted into heavy cheering as Drake had won, the man taking a deep breath and climbing out of his mech.
Taylor soon joined him and sighed, "So at the end of it all, I was beaten by a weakling. Well played, my friend, well played."
Aadil grinned and said, "Honestly, I wasn't sure he'd be able to pull that off," Angela nodding and saying, "Drake's so cool."
Katherine let out a sigh and uttered, "I know, right?" Katie patting her friend on the back.
But just as the soldiers were about to head back to what they were doing before, the intercom came on as Glen exclaimed, "Attention, soldiers! I would like you all to report to the meeting hall immediately!"
The soldiers simply shrugged and did as told. After all, seeing even a fraction of a duel between New Domino's finest soldiers was a real treat. But what exactly did Glen want to discuss with them?
