Whilst the Semi-Finals where going on and unbeknownst to the remaining Battle City Semi-Finalists, or anyone else in the city for that matter, Michael and the leader of the organization was watching the Semi-Finals of Battle City via a Widescreen TV in the bosses' office, the leader turned off the TV when Cyber End Dragon's blast hit Otto with a scowl on his face.
"It seems we are all that's left of this organization." Michael commented with a frown. "Should I take my remaining men and storm Madison Square Garden?"
"No, it's too risky." The leader said dismissively as he took a sip of his wine. "After that stunt Otto pulled the police will be on high alert for anyone who has duel disks similar to his, my suggestion? Lure them here."
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Michael asked and the leader grinned.
"Otto should still have Andreas's soul card on him, sneak into the hospital, steal it and when they come to claim it, let's face it they're bound to do that, call the boy on this number and tell them to meet you at the dockyards." The leader responded before handing over a piece of paper with the number on it, he quickly memorized it and turned to leave.
"I will have my men track their movements in civilian gear." Michael said as he left the room. "That way there's less chance of them arousing suspicion." Michael added before leaving the office.
*meanwhile at the arena*
"Excuse me, coming through, sorry!" Chloe said repeatedly as she made her way to were the other Duel Academy students were sitting and ignoring the odd looks that her rant towards the end of her duel with Otto had earned her; she eventually made her way over to them and sat next to Lance.
"Was your locker room to comfy for you?" Lance asked and Chloe shook her head.
"Nah, too boring more like it." Chloe responded as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Besides I want to see who I'm going to face in the next round up close and personal."
"Yeah, I guess that's fair enough." Lance admitted with a shrug as he checked his watch. "Only five minutes to go before Theresa's match with the undefeated Axel Loather."
"You mean formerly undefeated." Marcus pointed out as he folded his arms. "Or did you forget that Eddie won the Battle Royal?"
"You haven't been watching the news, have you Marcus?" Brandon asked and Marcus shook his head. "Axel made a statement to the press in between the Battle Royal and Chloe's match; he basically said that the Battle Royal was a formality and not a true match."
"He'd say anything to keep his streak alive in the eyes of the fans." Marcus scoffed as he shook his head. "I'd love to see him try to spin how Theresa beating him didn't count."
"Marcus, first of all Axel helped me rebuild my deck so can't you be a little easier on him?" Chloe asked and Marcus rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Second you'd probably say the same thing in his shoes."
"No, I wouldn't actually." Marcus said as he folded his arms. "My dad hammered into my head the saying "big egos lead to bigger disappointments" growing up, kind of a family motto I guess, what I'm getting at is that if I had an undefeated streak and it was broken I wouldn't spread bullshit about it, though you are right about the first part." Marcus explained.
"Yeah but you're not the National Champion of your home country." Brandon pointed out with a frown. "Axel was likely being told what to say by his agent, whether or not he actually believes it is anyone's guess."
"And I'd tell my agent to take those words and shove them up his ass." Marcus said plainly and the other students, to the mention the teachers, face palmed. "What? What did I say?"
"Err; we would like to apologize for the choice words from former Battle City Semi-Finalist Marcus Reynolds." A news reporter said nervously and Marcus's eyes widened when he realized that he said that on air, without a second thought the cameraman pointed the camera to Chloe. "Ms. Richardson, any further comment regarding your speech to your opponent?"
"Okay that's enough." Lance said as he placed his hand in front of the camera and pushed it away. "Ms. Richardson declines a comment at this time so please fuck off." Lance added and the other teens face palmed.
"Suddenly I'm glad he's eliminated from the tournament." Jeff thought with a frown before spotting the two duelists in the next match approaching the arena. "You want something to focus on? Focus on the match that's about to start and not my students!"
"Err; yes that's a great idea." The reporter agreed before running off, Chloe let out a sigh of relief and grinned at Lance.
"Thanks for that, I've always been camera-shy." Chloe thanked him and Lance grinned in response, whilst that was going on Theresa and Axel was shuffling their decks ready for the next match.
"I'd say that I'll be the one to break your streak Axel." Theresa started as she finished shuffling her deck and loaded it into the deck compartment. "But I noticed that duelists tend to jinx themselves by saying that just before they face you so I won't say it."
"Indeed, even though you have already said it." Axel pointed out and Theresa kept her cool as he loaded his deck into his slot after shuffling them. "However this deck will take me to the final round and eventually the championship so don't be surprised when I beat you." Axel added as the two duelists drew their opening hands. "In any case I will allow you to make the opening move." Axel announced and Theresa drew her first card. "Better I find out what deck she's using and formulate a strategy around it." Axel thought as Theresa looked over her opening hand.
"In that case I set two cards facedown and summon Axe Dragonite in attack mode!" Theresa played the cards and the purple, axe wielding dragon appeared on the field growling fiercely at Axel (4/2000/1200). "I end my turn at that." Theresa announced and Axel drew his card.
"So either Theresa's reusing her Kaiba deck from the Battle Royal or she's using her Dragon deck." Brandon mused to himself as he watched Axel consider his move. "Either way Axel's in for a hell of a fight if he wants to keep his undefeated streak alive."
"Well, I think it's time I took us to the home of the Gladiator Beasts!" Axel announced as the field spell slot on his duel disk opened up and he put the spell card in it. "I activate Coliseum – Cage of the Gladiator Beasts!" Axel announced as the scenery changed to the coliseum featured in Axel's previous duels.
"Do you ever get tired of being predictable?" Theresa asked and Axel chuckled in response before picking up a card.
"Not when my move is effective." Axel said as he played a card. "But for the sake of variety I activate the Spell Card Field Barrier!" Axel played the card and green dome covered the coliseum in its entirety. "This spell card allows me to protect my field spell from destruction as long as it remains on the field, however as a downside I can only have one copy of Field Barrier on the field at any given time but I have a way around that limitation." Axel said and Theresa raised an eyebrow.
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Theresa asked clearly confused, Axel chuckled before playing a third spell card.
"Why with this Spell Card, Magic Reflector Unit!" Axel played the card and a large machine that looked like a cross between a cannon and a spider appeared on the field. "This spell card allows me to add a Spell Counter to Field Barrier and as long as that Spell Counter is on Field Barrier it cannot be destroyed." Axel explained as he sent Magic Reflector Unit to the graveyard.
"In short, Field Barrier and Coliseum – Cage of the Gladiator Beasts are here to stay until I can get rid of that spell counter." Theresa said and Axel nodded to confirm it. "I knew Axel wouldn't go easy on me but the way he's protecting his field spell you'd have thought that he was dueling Eddie for the championship." Theresa thought as Axel picked up a fourth and fifth card and set them down.
"I set a card facedown and a monster in defense mode that shall end my turn." Axel announced as he set the two cards and Theresa drew her card.
"I don't like this, maybe he wants me to attack with Dragonite so that he can attack it when its effect forces it into defense mode." Theresa thought before looking at her hand. "Unfortunately Axe Dragonite is the only monster I got so I may as well see what he has in store for me." Theresa thought before pointing at Axel's defense monster. "Axe Dragonite, attack his defense now!" Theresa commanded and the dragon took flight before diving at the monster, what the monster was revealed to be puzzled Theresa as, rather than a Gladiator Beast like she was expecting, it was a small monkey (2/700/300) which was cut in half effortlessly by Axe Dragonite.
"My thanks Theresa, my destroying Test Ape you have allowed me to activate his effect." Axel announced as he picked up his deck. "This allows me to search through my deck for and Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Gladiator Beast monster from my deck, my card of choice is Gladiator Beast Andal!" Axel played the card and in Test Ape's place stood the one eyed bear from Axel's previous duels (4/1900/1500).
"And as a result of that Coliseum gets its first counter." Theresa added as Andal's attack increased to 2000, Axe Dragonite returned to Theresa's side of the field and knelt down quickly. "That was Axe Dragonite's effect, if it launches an attack it is forced into defense mode during the damage step."
"I am well aware of that." Axel said with a nod. "And before you ask me why I didn't summon one of the effect monsters with Test Ape's effect it's simple, it wouldn't have counted as tagging out."
"And you wouldn't be able to use that Beast's effect as a result." Theresa realized and Axel nodded. "He probably has something stronger in his hand though, likely something that requires a tribute." Theresa thought before looking at her hand. "I end my turn." Theresa announced and Axel drew his card.
"I activate Gladiator Beast's Respite, this allows me…" Axel started but Theresa interrupted him with her trap card.
"I know what it does by now Axel and you're not getting a chance to use it, I chain Respite with Dark Bribe!" Theresa activated her trap and grinned. "This allows me to negate the effect of a Spell or Trap card but in exchange you can draw one card."
"Valliant effort but not enough, I chain Dark Bribe with me own Counter Trap Card Parry!" Axel activated his trap and Theresa frowned as he returned the last monster in his hand to his deck. "By returning one Gladiator Beast in my hand I can negate the activation of Dark Bribe and destroy it." Axel explained as Andal charged towards the trap card's hologram and shattered it with a fist. "Now I can activate Respite…..oh…..it seems I used up the card I was going to use for Respite on Parry."
"And with no cards in your hand your spell's basically useless." Theresa added and Axel frowned before sending his trap and spell card to the graveyard.
"Doesn't mean I can't strike down your dragon, go Gladiator Beast Andal!" Axel commanded and the gladiator beast charged towards the dragon before taking its head off with a punch.
"Lucky for you my dragon was in defense mode, otherwise we'd both be out of a monster." Theresa pointed out and Axel nodded in acknowledgement.
"Indeed." Axel agreed as he instinctively went to look at his hand…..only to be reminded that he had unintentionally emptied it. "I end my turn." Axel announced and Theresa drew her card.
"Okay, since I'm feeling generous I'll activate my Card of Sanctity Spell card to allow us to draw until we have six cards in our hand." Theresa explained as she activated the card and both duelists drew until they had six cards in their hands, or in the case of Axel drew an entirely new hand due to previously emptying the hand, Theresa looked over her new cards and grinned. "Next I set another card facedown and I activate Heavy Storm!" Theresa activated the cards a storm brewed over the arena, due to the effect of Magic Reflector Unit however only the spider like cannon and Theresa's two facedown cards were destroyed.
"A wasted effort, all you ended up doing is destroying your own cards!" Axel pointed out once the storm passed, however once that happened two new monsters appeared on the field which strongly resembled Egyptian Statues. "That is unless that was your intention."
"You got it, the two cards I set where both copies of Statue of the Wicked and when that trap card is destroyed I am allowed to special summon a pair of wicked tokens (4/1000/1000)." Theresa explained before grinning. "Of course getting rid of Field Barrier's Spell Counter is an added benefit to the move." Theresa added and Axel raised an eyebrow.
"Hmmm, she used Synchro monsters in her previous duels so it's a good bet that she'll use one of those tokens in a Synchro Summon, either that or she'll use them to tribute summon a Level 8 monster." Axel thought with a frown before looking at his new hand. "Fortunately her spell card benefited me as well, she just doesn't realize it."
"I'm not done yet, as a follow up move I summon the Tuner monster Sword Master in attack mode!" Theresa played the card and the topless male swordsman appeared on the field (3/1200/0). "As Eddie would say, I think it's time I gave one of my statues a tune up!" Theresa announced as Sword Master and one of the wicked tokens leapt into the air, Sword Master made a circle motion with his sword which turned into three green rings that quickly surrounded the token. "I tune Sword Master with one of my wicked tokens to Synchro Summon Lightning Warrior!" Theresa played the card and a bright flash enveloped the field, once the flash faded the monster appeared on the field, it was a warrior in futuristic looking silver armor with blonde hair whose face was completely concealed (7/2400/1200).
"A Level 7 Synchro Monster with only 2400 attack points?" Axel asked as he raised an eyebrow. "Either he has an effect or you just wasted a powerful spell card."
"Oh believe me, he does." Theresa said with a grin. "Those six cards I just gave you? You're going to wish I never activated that Spell Card because when Lightning Warrior destroys a monster and sends it to the graveyard you lose three hundred life-points for each card in your hand, I count six so that's 1800 points of damage on top of the damage you'll suffer from my upcoming attack." Theresa explained and Axel's eyes widened as it dawned on him, she wasted no time in pointing too Lightning Warrior. "Lightning Warrior, attack Adal now!" The warrior charged towards the bear and punched it in the stomach, electricity passed from the two creatures and the bear was quickly electrocuted as was Axel but not to the same degree as the bear.
T: 8000
A: 5800
"You okay Axel?" Theresa asked as Lightning Warrior returned to her side of the field, the German teen winced still feeling the effects from both the attack and Lightning Warrior's effect, however once the pain passed he grinned broadly.
"Never better, in fact I believe you may be the one to break my streak." Axel explained in a tone of voice that thoroughly confused Theresa.
"Either I'm misinterpreting what you're saying or you actually want me to beat you." Theresa asked and Axel nodded. "But why do you want that? You're the undefeated champion of your home country."
"That's just it, back home in Berlin no one would give me this much of a challenge." Axel explained and Theresa raised an eyebrow. "My parents are quite wealthy, how else do you think that a teenager could get his hands on cards like the Gladiator Beasts? However when I started my dueling career two years ago my parents bribed my opponents offering them a sizable deposit in their bank accounts if they would throw the match and they always did."
"So let me get this straight, you won the title because your parents bribed your opponents?" Theresa asked and Axel shook his head.
"Not quite, I found out about it shortly after I won my first regional tournament as one of my opponents came clean to me after the duel, I confronted my parents as I wanted to earn my victories rather than buy them and after some convincing they agreed to stop the bribes." Axel explained before frowning. "However my opponents continued throwing matches left right and center, in fact the only person who didn't throw his match was, ironically enough, Otto Freshier back when the Freshier twins still lived in Berlin, my parents insisted that they had nothing to do with it so I did a bit of digging and found that that the majority of my opponents from the National Championships onward had parents who worked for my father's company and had thrown the matches out of fear that my father would dock the pay of their fathers, I assured them that that wouldn't happen but they never brought it."
"So no matter what you tried no one would give you a decent challenge?" Theresa asked and Axel nodded. "That must've been tough, especially since there is no way to better yourself if you win all the time."
"That is precisely why I chose to participate in this tournament, out of the hope that someone would defeat me and break my undefeated streak." Axel said with a frown. "And I don't mean any offense to my previous opponents by saying this but you are the only one that's come close to beating me."
"Well, in that case I'll be proud to be the one to break the streak." Theresa said as she picked up and set a card. "I set this card facedown and end my turn." Theresa announced and Axel drew his card without a second thought.
"What do you think guys? Do you buy Axel's story?" Chloe asked and the other students rubbed their chins in thought.
"Well he's not lying about his parents; my dad's company is business partners with their company." Brandon explained with a frown. "I doubt they'd dock the wages of any of their employees without good reason though, my dad's careful about who he enters a business relationship with."
"It's still a valid concern on their part though; let's face it the state of the ecomany is far from great." Marcus pointed out with a thoughtful look on his face. "If I was in his shoes I'd be looking for a decent challenge and someone to defeat me as well."
"Just because I want my streak to end doesn't mean I won't fight to keep it, I activate another Gladiator Beast's Respite!" Axel played the card and after returning one of his drawn monsters to his deck and shuffling it he drew three cards. "Now I set three cards facedown and activate Emergency Provisions, sending two of the cards I just set to the graveyard so that I may increase my life-points by 2000." Axel played the cards and two of the set cards disappeared as quickly as they arrived on the field increasing Axel's life-points to 7800.
"Not a problem, my Lightning Warrior will bring your life-points back down again." Theresa said confidently and Axel grinned before picked up another card and turning it around, Theresa's eyes widened when she saw it. "Lightning Vortex?"
"Indeed, primitive yes but it certainly gets the job done, especially when you have a hand as large as I do." Axel nodded before playing the card and after he discarded one of his cards lightning struck Lightning Warrior and the remaining Wicked Token destroying them both. "How ironic, a monster with lightning in its name got destroyed by Lightning Vortex." Axel chuckled as Theresa sent Lightning Warrior to the graveyard. "Now onto more serious matters, I summon Gladiator Beast Darius in attack mode!" Axel played the card and the horse like Gladiator Beast appeared on the field (4/1700/300) and its attack increased to 1800 thanks to Axel's field spell. "Darius, avenge your fallen brother by attacking her life-points directly!" Axel commanded and the horse galloped towards Theresa and struck her in the chest with his head.
T: 6200
A: 7800
Axel waited for Theresa to get to her feet before continuing with his move, once Theresa was on her feet Axel picked up Gladiator Beast Darius and the monster disappeared from the field. "And thus the cycle begins; I tag out Darius to Special Summon the beast I returned to my deck for Parry's effect two turns ago, Gladiator Beast Bestari!" Axel searched through his deck once he sent Darius back to his deck and played the card, the winged Gladiator Beast appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1500/800) and as the Coliseum got another counter the beast's attack increased to 1700. "I'm sure you're well acquainted with this card's effect by now!" Axel commented as the beast flew towards the facedown card Theresa set last turn and destroyed it with its sword.
"So much for Deck Devastation Virus, if I had been able to bring back Axe Dragonite this trap could've done some serious damage." Theresa thought with a frown as she sent the trap card to her graveyard.
"Now, just to be on the safe side I activate the Spell Card Terraforming, this will allow me to search through my deck for a Field Spell Card of my choice and I chose another Coliseum." Axel picked up his deck and searched through it, he found the card he was looking for and added it to his hand. "That shall end my turn." Axel announced once he reshuffled his deck and Theresa drew her card.
"Well in that case I'll play it safe." Theresa said as she set the monster she had drawn. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." Theresa announced and Axel drew his card, he looked at the card and added it to his hand.
"Suit yourself, Bestari I command you to attack her facedown monster!" Axel commanded and the winger beast flew towards the monster, which much to Axel's confusion was a robot bunny rabbit (2/800/400) which was quickly destroyed. "What on Earth was that?"
"That was Mecca Bunny; don't let its cute appearance fool you because his effects are quite lethal." Theresa explained as she held up the monster. "For starters I can target one card on the field and its owner takes 500 points of damage, my target is Field Barrier." Theresa explained and Axel winced as his life-points dropped to 7300. "Next when Mecca Bunny is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard I can special summon another copy of the monster face down in defense mode, in other words I get to use his effect again!" Theresa explained as the monster appeared face down on her side of the field.
"Don't forget the fact that since you Special Summoned a monster from your deck my Coliseum gets another counter." Axel pointed out as Bestari's attack increased to 1800, he then picked up Bestari and returned it to his deck and the beast disappeared from the field. "And whilst we're on the subject I tag out Bestari in order to summon Gladiator Beast Equeste in attack mode!" Axel played the card and in Bestari's place stood an armored centaur armed with a sword and a shield (4/1600/1200) and as the Coliseum got another counter the centaur's attack increased to 2100, once that was done Axel shuffled his deck and retrieved a card from his graveyard. "When Equeste is summoned by the effect of another Gladiator Beast I can take one Gladiator Beast in my graveyard and return it to my hand." Axel explained as he returned Andal to his hand. "I set a card facedown and that ends my turn." Axel announced and Theresa drew her card.
"Okay, setting Mecca Bunny was definitely not one of my brightest ideas." Theresa thought with a frown as she added her card to her hand. "Still, it's given me some decent tribute fodder." Theresa thought before flip summoning Mecca Bunny. "Mecca Bunny's first effect activates when it's flip summoned, this time I'm targeting your facedown card." Theresa explained and Axel winced as his life-points dropped to 6300. "And before you ask, no I don't intend to leave Mecca Bunny on the field because I'm sacrificing him in order to summon Prime Material Dragon in attack mode!" Theresa swapped out the cards and Mecca Bunny disappeared from the field, in its place an orange dragon with four wings appeared on the field (6/2400/2000).
"Impressive monster but your dragon is only slightly stronger than Equeste." Axel pointed out with a smirk. "Unless that thing has an effect I'm not impressed."
"Actually it has two effects, for starters any effect that would decrease your life-points instead increases it by the same amount, second if you activate any Spell or Trap Cards that would destroy Prime Material or any other monsters on my side of the field all I have to do is discard a card from my hand and that card's effect is negated and the card is destroyed." Theresa explained with a grin. "So don't think your facedown card can protect you, go Prime Material Dragon!" Theresa commanded and the dragon took flight before dive-bombing at Axel…
"I'm afraid you're wrong about my facedown card Theresa!" Axel cut her off as he activated his facedown card. "I activate my Quick-Play Spell Card Indomitable Gladiator Beast! How it works is simple, all I have to do is target Equeste and he gains 500 attack points until your end phase!" Axel explained as Equeste's attack increased to 2600, the centaur charged towards Prime Material Dragon and decapitated it with his sword.
T: 6000
A: 6800
"Let me guess, you're about to summon another monster from your deck?" Theresa asked and Axel nodded before returning Equeste to his deck and searching through it.
"Naturally, and the monster I chose is Gladiator Beast Sanmite in attack mode!" Axel played the card and a new Gladiator Beast appeared on the field, this one was a silver humanoid Sabre Tooth Tiger wearing jet black armor and carrying a sword and shield (3/1600/1200) and as the Coliseum gained another counter the monster's attack points increased to 2200. "I would tell you the effect his gains from being tagged out but it unfortunately won't come into play yet." Axel explained and Theresa frowned.
"I don't like the sound of that, the last time he said something along those lines his monster had the ability to attack twice." Theresa thought as she thought back to Axel's first Semi-Final duel against Mike, she quickly picked up a card and set it. "I set one card facedown and that will end my turn." Theresa announced and Axel drew a card. "I activate Thunder of Ruler, now for this turn only you can't conduct your Battle Phase." Theresa explained as her trap card flipped up, Axel frowned at this piece of news and picked up a card.
"Well in that case I'll bring back Gladiator Beast Andal to the field and end my turn." Axel announced as the humanoid bear reappeared on the field, almost as soon as he did Andal's attack increased to 2500 due to Axel's field spell and Theresa drew her card.
"I'm beginning to worry about Axel's field spell guys." Chloe admitted as she watched the duel. "Does that thing even have a limitation in terms of how many counters it can hold?"
"No, it doesn't." Hamden told her and Chloe turned to him. "That's part of what makes Axel's deck as lethal as it is, his Gladiator Beasts have the potential to have unlimited attack power and there's little Theresa can do about it."
"Don't worry about Theresa, she'll find a way out of this mess I just know it." Brandon reassured her and Chloe smiled.
"Yeah, so what if Axel's monsters have access to potentially unlimited power, so what if Axel has more pro-league experience than all of us combined, so what if Axel has the lead…" Lance said only to get punched in the back of the head by Brandon.
"Lance, Chloe's right you do suck at being motivational." Brandon said as storm clouds formed over his head, whilst that was being on Theresa was getting ready to play a spell.
"I activate Pot of Avarice, in exchange for returning five monsters that are currently in my graveyard to my deck this Spell Card will allow me to draw twice." Theresa played the card and retrieved Axe Dragonite, Sword Master, Lightning Warrior and her two Mecha Bunnies before returning them to her deck, or in the case of Lightning Warrior her extra deck, once that and the reshuffling of her deck was done she drew twice and sent Pot of Avarice to the graveyard. "You're coliseum's about to come crashing down."
"A bold claim, but how do you plan to back it up?" Axel asked and Theresa grinned.
"With this, I summon Chiron the Mage in attack mode!" Theresa played the card and the armored centaur appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1800/1000) and when Axel saw the card he frowned before folding his arms.
"Nice try but you can only use Chiron's effect once per turn and due to Field Barrier's effect you can only use it on one card." Axel pointed out as Theresa discarded a card from her hand.
"Just wait and see, like you said I can only use Chiron's effect of Field Barrier so I'll do just that!" Theresa said and Chiron threw the arm carrying the staff up, a pulse emanated from it shattering the barrier surrounding the coliseum. "Now the stage is set for my next card, go Mystical Space Typhoon!" Theresa played the card and a tornado washed over the field, whilst Axel shielded himself he found time to discard one of the cards in his hand and Theresa grinned. "Your field spell is destroyed and your monsters' strength goes with…." Theresa started but her eyes widened when she saw that the storm had subsided and the coliseum was still standing.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE? MYSTICAL SPACE TYPHOON SHOULD'VE DESTROYED COLISEUM!" Marcus shouted from the sidelines and Axel chuckled.
"Remember when I activated Terraforming's effect a couple of turns ago?" Axel asked and Theresa nodded. "When I said just in case I wasn't referring to the possibility of the Field Spell being destroyed, you see as long as I can discard another copy of Coliseum from my hand I can protect my field spell from destruction." Axel explained and Theresa frowned before picking up one of the cards she drew.
"I set one card facedown and end my turn." Theresa set the card and Axel drew his card. "At least I know one of the field spell's weaknesses, eventually he'll have to draw his third Coliseum and when he does I'll find a way to destroy the copy on the field thus forcing him to discard it…if I last that long." Theresa thought as Axel played a card.
"I start my turn by activating my own Card of Sanctity!" Axel played the card and both duelists drew until they had six cards in their hands. "Now Sanmite, attack Chiron the Mage!" Axel commanded and the beast warrior charged towards Chiron before cutting him in half with his sword and bringing Theresa's life-points down to 5600, once Theresa sent her monster to the graveyard Axel pointed to Andal. "Andal, attack her life-points directly!" Axel commanded and the bear charged towards Theresa who activated her trap just before the attack hit. "Well, it seems the tides have turned in….wait a minute, why hasn't your life-points decreased?"
"You can thank my Defense Draw trap card for that." Theresa said as she pointed to her activated trap. "This trap card reduces any damage I would've taken just now to zero and in addition to that I get to draw an additional card." Theresa explained before drawing another card bringing her hand total to seven, Axel frowned as Theresa sent her trap card to the graveyard.
"Smart move, by saving your trap card for when you'd suffer the most damage you kept our life-points close." Axel said as he picked up Sanmite and returned the monster to his deck. "However by letting me destroy Chiron you've allowed me to tag out Sanmite, his replacement monster is the mighty Gladiator Beast Darius!" Axel played the card and the horse like Gladiator Beast reappeared on the field and as soon as it appeared on the field the Coliseum gained another counter causing Axel's monster's attack points to rise to 2400 and 2600 respectively. "But I am not done with my special summons from my deck, you see when Darius is Special Summoned in this manner I can Special Summon another Gladiator Beast from the deck, however I cannot use that Gladiator Beast's effect and as soon as Darius leaves the field that monster is gone as well." Axel explained and Theresa frowned.
"Why do I get the feeling I know what you're going to summon?" Theresa asked as Axel searched through his deck, he found the card he was looking for and played it.
"Probably because you've seen me use similar tactics in two duels already, my monster of choice is Gladiator Beast Laquari!" Axel played the card and the tiger like Gladiator Beast appeared on the field (4/1800/400) and as the coliseum gained another counter the three beasts' attack increased to 2500, 2700 and 2700 respectively. "Now to summon my best monster, I contact fusion Laquari, Andal and Darius in order to summon Gladiator Beast Heriklinos!" Axel played the card and the three beasts disappeared as Axel had returned them to his deck, in the place of Andal stood Axel's strongest monster in all its glory (8/3000/2800) and thanks to the Coliseum's effect the beast's attack increased to 3800.
"Oh crap." Theresa muttered under her breath as she looked up at the monster. "What's worse is the fact that he has six new cards to discard if I try to destroy it with a spell or trap card and not many of the effect monsters in my Kaiba deck destroy monsters." Theresa thought as she somehow maintained her poker face.
"I end my turn at that." Axel announced and Theresa drew her card without a second thought.
"Well, she's doomed, looks like Chloe's facing Axel in the next round." Marcus said plainly only to; once again, find himself on the receiving end of a painful headlock this time however it was courtesy of Brandon.
"Would you care to rephrase that?" Brandon asked as Marcus struggled to get out of the headlock.
"Brandon I agree with him, are you going to put me in a headlock?" Chloe asked and Brandon hesitated before letting go off the headlock. "As much as I hate to admit it in his previous duels, the ones we've seen anyway, whenever he summons Heriklinos that opponent's days are numbered."
"No offense to his previous opponents but Axel was out of their league." Brandon pointed out as he sat back down. "No matter what Mike or Ray tried Axel had a counter for everything; Theresa on the other hand has had a pretty even match against Axel so far."
"Yeah, so far being the operative phrase." Marcus pointed out with a frown. "Okay, we know Heriklinos's effect will negate the activation off and destroy any spells or traps Theresa tries to play, that much is obvious, but does that apply to effect monsters?"
"No, it doesn't." Jeff answered with a thoughtful look on his face. "Brandon, you know Theresa's decks almost as well as she does so does she have any effect monsters in this deck that could help in this situation?" Jeff asked and Brandon shrugged.
"I never got a good luck at her Kaiba deck, as strong as it is it's also a constant work in progress." Brandon answered with a frown. "For example cards like the Mecha Bunnies and Prime Material Dragon where absent from previous versions of this deck so the only way to get a definitive answer from her is to ask her herself."
"And somehow I doubt that she would be willing to reveal any potential strategy she has in mind whilst Axel is in earshot." Chloe added and the other students nodded in agreement. "We'd better just hope that she can somehow defeat Axel."
"This move is risky to say the least." Theresa thought as she looked over her new cards. "But what other option do I have?" Theresa thought before playing one of the cards. "I activate Lightning Vortex, now by discarding a card from my hand this Spell Card will do away with Heriklinos."
"I'm afraid not, I discard one card from my hand to negate Lightning Vortex's effect." Axel discarded the card and lightning struck Heriklinos, however the mighty monster survived the attack with a mighty roar, apparently unfazed by this Theresa played another Spell Card and Dark Hole's Hologram appeared on the field. "Sorry but I can activate Heriklinos's effect as many times as I want, provided I have cards to spare of course." Axel said as he discarded a card and Heriklinos slammed it's sword into the ground and shattered Dark Hole's hologram before the black hole could open up.
"Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for." Theresa thought as she picked up another card and played it, much to Axel's, not to mention the whole stadium's, confusion the three golden swords of Swords of Reveling Light pinned down Heriklinos and Axel just as quickly discarded another card, with one swipe of his sword Heriklinos destroyed the three swords.
"What's Theresa up too? Is she trying to win by Repetitive Strain Injury?" Marcus asked as Theresa played another Spell, this time Scapegoat, and Axel discarded yet another card from his hand and the four sheep tokens where destroyed.
"I think I get it." Chloe commented as she rubbed her chin. "Emphasis on think but maybe Theresa's trying to force Axel to discard his entire hand?"
"Discard his hand in one turn? She'd need a hand full of Spell Cards to pull that off." Lance pointed out before realizing something. "Except for the fact that Defense Draw's effect gave her an extra card on top of her regular draw."
"Okay, this is getting ridicules." Axel thought as he discarded his last card to destroy Theresa's attempts to use Monster Reincarnation. "If that was some elaborate prank to test my discard speed then congratulations, you've succeeded. " Axel said before giving his sore wrist a shake, Theresa just grinned before folding her arms.
"Please, if I was pranking you you'd know." Theresa said before pointing to Axel's nonexistent hand. "See anything missing?" Theresa asked and Axel looked, it didn't take him long to figure out what she had done.
"I see, those Spell Cards where a diversion to get rid of my hand thus leaving me unable to use Hereklinos's effect." Axel said once it dawned on him. "Certainly one of the more…..unique maneuvers I've seen since I've started dueling."
"I'm not done yet though!" Theresa said as she picked up the last card in her hand. "I activate Pot of Greed which allows me to draw two cards." Theresa played the card, drew twice and sent her spell to the grave; she took one look at her new cards and set them both down. "Two cards facedown and that will end my turn." Theresa announced and Axel drew his card…..and frowned the moment he saw it.
"Blast, off all the times for me to draw my third Coliseum." Axel thought as he looked at his newly drawn Spell Card. "I'll need this to save Coliseum if one of the cards she set was something like Dust Tornado but I'll also need this card if one of her facedown cards is a particularly lethal trap." Axel thought before adding it to his hand. "Heriklinos, attack her life-points directly!" Axel commanded and the mighty beast charged towards Theresa….
"I'm afraid not, I activate my Trap Card Magic Cylinder which will send the attack right back at you." Theresa activated her trap and Heriklinos somehow fit in one of the cylinders, he soon came charging out of the other and slammed into Axel.
T: 6000
A: 3000
"That's weird, why didn't he activate Heriklinos's effect?" Chloe asked as she watched the duel clearly confused by this, the others shared her confusion before realization hit Brandon.
"Off course, the card he just drew must be another Coliseum." Brandon realized with a grin. "As much as he wants to protect his life-points I'm willing to wager that Axel doesn't want to lose his Field Spell, and the source of his beasts' power, just as much."
"Makes sense, besides he had more than enough life-points to survive the hit so it made sense in that context." Marcus added before noticing something. "And, call me crazy, but I think Theresa just figured that out herself."
"You're crazy." Chloe and Brandon said simultaneously causing Marcus to face fault, whilst he argued the fact that it was a figure of speech Theresa was waiting for Axel to finish his move.
"I shall end my turn at that." Axel announced and Theresa drew her card.
"I summon Mystic Piper in attack mode!" Theresa played the card and a man in a red jester's outfit appeared on the field carrying, as his name suggested, a pipe (1/0/0). "Don't let his weak attack fool you because his effect makes up for it, basically I can tribute this monster to draw and reveal one card, better yet if it's a Level 1 monster I get to draw again."
"It sounds fairly risky to me, especially since the move will leave you defenseless." Axel pointed out and Theresa frowned realizing he had a point.
"I guess it's better than nothing." Theresa thought before pointing to her monster. "Mystic Piper, use your magic to allow me to draw an additional card!" Theresa commanded and the piper played a few notes on his pipe before vanishing, Theresa drew her card and grinned. "Looks like the gamble paid off, the card I drew is the tuner monster Effect Veiler!" Theresa showed the card (1/0/0) and drew again, however it was her turn to be disappointed in a draw as what she drew was a trap card. "I set one card facedown and it's over to you Axel." Theresa announced and Axel drew his card.
"Great, I drew another tough choice." Axel thought as he looked at his copy off Gladiator Beast Sanmite that he had returned to his deck two turns ago. "Still, I can benefit from its presence on the field and once I tag it out the Coliseum will get another counter boosting the power of my beasts." Axel thought before summoning the monster. "Return to the field, Gladiator Beast Sanmite!" Axel played the card and the silver humanoid tiger returned to the field, and as soon as it did its attack power got a large boost from the Coliseum. "Go now my monsters, attack her life-points directly!" Axel commanded and the two beasts charged towards Theresa…..
"Sorry but Sanmite's attack won't make contact, I activate Sekeretsu Armor and use it to destroy Sanmite!" Theresa activated the card and the hideous armor attached itself to the weaker gladiator beast before self-destructing and taking it with it, with no obstacles in its way Heriklinos continued its charge and Theresa winced as the attack hit.
T: 2200
A: 3000
"Why didn't you use the trap on Heriklinos? The damage would've been much lower?" Axel asked and Theresa grinned as she got to her feet.
"Honestly? I like seeing how my ace monster holds up against the ace monster of other duelists and thanks to your attack I can do just that!" Theresa said as she activated her trap. "I activate my trap card Damage Condenser, this trap requires me to discard one card to activate it but in exchange I can Special Summon a monster from my deck as long as its attack is equal to or less than the damage I took, my monster of choice as Armed Dragon Level 3!" Theresa played the card after searching through her deck for it, once she played it the small orange dragon in armor appeared on the field (3/1200/900).
"Cute, but hardly a match for Heriklinos, let's not forget the fact that since you summoned him from the deck my field spell gets another counter." Axel pointed out as Heriklinos's attack increased to 3900. "I end my turn but I sincerely hope you can do better than that." Axel announced and Theresa drew her card, she added it to her hand before sending Armed Dragon Level 3 to the graveyard.
"Since Armed Dragon was present on the field during the standby phase after it's summoning I can bring out one of his older forms, Armed Dragon Level 5." Theresa played the card and Armed Dragon Level 3 vanished, in its place stood its older form ready for battle (5/2400/1000) but since it was summoned from the deck Heriklinos's attack increased to 4000.
"Nice try, but I am well aware of that monster's effect." Axel pointed out with a grin. "In order to level up the monster you must have it attack and destroy a monster on my side of the field, and as we can both see the only monster on my side of the field is Heriklinos." Axel added and Theresa looked at her drawn card before frowning.
"I added this spell card to help Chloe during the Battle Royal, guess I forgot to take it out since I didn't end up using it." Theresa thought with a frown before sighing. "I guess it's now or never." Theresa thought before playing the card.
"You're seriously playing Cup of Ace?" Axel asked as Theresa dug around her jeans pocket and produced a single coin. "That's one of the riskiest cards in the game."
"True but if it works this move could turn the tide of the duel in my favor, how it works is simple." Theresa said before tossing the coin. "If that coin lands on heads I get to draw twice, if it lands on tails you get to draw twice." Theresa explained as the coin landed on her outstretched palm, she placed it on her duel disk hand before looking at it. "Looks like luck's on my side, I get to draw twice." Theresa drew two cards and sent her Spell to the grave, once she had a good look at her new cards she grinned. "You know what I said earlier about breaking your streak?"
"Yes, you said you wouldn't tell me that because you believed it jinxed my opponents, why do you ask?" Axel asked and Theresa grinned.
"Why? I asked because I'm about to make history." Theresa said before playing her drawn card. "I activate Level Up and I use it to level up Level 5 to his Level 7 form!" Theresa played the card and after searching through her deck she found the card she was looking for and played it, as she said the dragon grew until it reached its Level 7 form (7/2800/1000) but, like before, Heraklinos's attack increased to 4100.
"If you intend to keep powering up my ace monster I certainly won't stop you." Axel grinned and Theresa frowned.
"Then maybe this will help, I activate One Day of Peace, now in exchange for neither of us taking any damage until the end of your next turn we get to draw another card." Theresa, seemingly not noticing the fact that her deck was running low, played the card and both duelists drew once. "I'm about to take Heraklinos down."
"Please, the only monster in your deck that can do that is Armed Dragon Level…you've drawn Armed Dragon Level 10 haven't you?" Axel asked and Theresa nodded before sending Level 7 to the graveyard, the dragon glowed and grew until it reached its gigantic final form, it roared mightily scaring several spectators in the process (10/3000/2000).
"And now I activate his effect, in exchange for discarding a card from my hand I can reduce Heraklinos to ash and I happen to know that his effect doesn't apply to effect monsters. "Theresa discarded the card and the dragon breathed fire at Heraklinos, the monster screamed in pain before being incinerated leaving the whole stadium in shock.
"I don't believe it; Theresa's done what many other duelists have dreamed off in taking down Axel's most powerful monster!" Bill announced as he and Bob's jaws dropped.
"Unfortunately due to One Day of Peace I can't take advantage of it." Theresa said as Axel sent Heraklinos to the graveyard. "So I end my turn." Theresa announced and Axel drew his card….and his usual cool persona dropped in an instant.
"Trojan Gladiator Beast, I can't use this." Axel thought before sighing. "It's finally over, after months of being undefeated I have been beaten." Axel admitted before frowning. "However I chose not to surrender, instead I merely pass my turn." Axel said honestly and Theresa drew her card, she didn't bother to look at it and merely pointed at Armed Dragon Level 10, the mighty dragon breathed fire at Axel who winced as the attack hit.
T: 2200
A: 0000
If the stadium wasn't in shock before they were now, Axel Loather, a duelist who many people had pegged to win the tournament, was out of the tournament and a virtual unknown was through in his place, not even the announcers could bring themselves to announce it as both duelists reshuffled their decks after returning the cards to them and approached each other, Theresa waited a couple of seconds before offering a handshake. "Thanks for the great duel Axel." Theresa thanked him and Axel didn't waste any time in accepting it.
"I'll say the same to you, and wish you good luck in the next round. "Axel said as he started to walk off. "Chloe is sure to give you a fight you won't forget." Theresa hesitated before looking in the direction of the duel academy students and seeing a nervous looking Chloe.
"Here's hoping our next duel will be a lot more competitive than our last duel." Theresa thought as she eyed Chloe, Chloe gulped as she thought back to the same duel.
"What am I getting myself into?" Chloe thought as she looked at Theresa. "No matter what happens though I will give it my all!" Chloe thought as a small smile crept onto her lips.