This story was done in collaboration between me and Jriddle41 (Sodormatchmaker on DeviantART), and we both own the OCs that are used in the story. Credit to author AaronCottrell97 for a few ideas and character suggestions (especially the duel layout for the story). Everything else belongs to their respective owners:
Thomas and Friends (c) Hit Entertainment and Mattel
The Railway Series (c) Rev Wilbert Awdry
Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Konami
Song used in Intro and Outro (c) Unknown
WARNING: Again, this story is rated T for fantasy violence, suggestive themes, and some mild language.
NOTE: While reading the chapter, be sure to, for at least the first half of it until the chapter's title shows up, listen to the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's song 'Clear Mind'.
Opening up within the Boxford Land Stadium, the duel between Thomas and Matt was growing more and more exciting by the minute. Both players had the following monsters and stats on their respective fields:
-Thomas (LP: 2750): 'Dark Magician' and one facedown card.
-Matt (LP: 3800): 'Stardust Dragon'
"'How to completely surpass one's own limits'?" Rosie seemed to repeat, having overheard Matt's declaration like everyone else did. "What could that mean?"
"I'm... I'm not sure." admitted Edward. "Even then, it has to mean something or another."
"But, what, exactly?" came from Ashima.
Discord, Michael, Carlie, James R., and Zack all just smiled; they all knew exactly what Matt meant by 'How to completely surpass one's own limits'. Back in the duel field, Matt finally continued with his turn...
"To continue with my turn, I'll activate the effect of the 'Jet Synchron' resting in the Graveyard." The dirty blonde-haired boy declared, holding out and discarding one card ('Stardust Xiaolong') to the Graveyard. "By sending one card from my hand to the Graveyard, I can immediately bring 'Jet Synchron' back onto the field in attack mode."
In a burst of light, the jet-like machine reappeared on the field (Level: 1/ATK: 500/DEF: 0).
"If 'Jet Synchron' leaves the field after being Special Summoned like this, it will be removed from the game." Matt went on, just as 'Stardust Dragon' let loose a loud roar like it was commanding something or another... "In addition, I'll activate theeffect of the 'Stardust Xiaolong' also sleeping within the Graveyard! Because I control a 'Stardust'-named monster, I can Special Summon 'Stardust Xiaolong' from the Graveyard." His Graveyard started shining white light. "Come forth - 'Stardust Xiaolong'!"
A small creature resembling a Chinese Dragon-like version of 'Stardust Dragon' appeared on the field in a burst of stardust-like light (Level: 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 100).
"'Stardust Xiaolong'..." whispered Thomas to himself. "And 'Jet Synchron'... What could Matt try to create with those two monsters?"
"In addition, I'm Tuning my Level 1 Effect Monster, 'Stardust Xiaolong', with the Level 1 Tuner Monster, 'Jet Synchron'!" announced Matt, holding his right hand out. "This will begin the next step in showing everyone here how to surpass one's limits!"
'Jet Synchron' turned into a Synchro Ring that overlapped with 'Stardust Xiaolong'. The symbols 1 plus 1 equals 2 were shown as a Summon Chant began...
"Clustering wishes will call out a new speed's horizon! Become the path its light shines upon!" chanted Matt, just before raising his right hand into the sky. "Synchro Summon! The power of hope - Synchro Tuner, 'Formula Synchron'!"
Appearing onto the field was a robotic monster with a top body that resembled a racing car... The monster immediately posed for battle (Level: 2/ATK: 200/DEF: 1500). The audience gazed in admirement...
"That's a cool-looking racing car." commented Percy.
"It kinda reminds me of something from a movie I once saw in theaters." added James, recalling a film he saw. "Just wish I can remember what exactly the name of the movie was."
Discord, Michael, James R., Carlie, and Zack, however, were all shocked with the sight of 'Formula Synchron'.
"What's wrong, you guys?" asked Toby, taking notice of the looks on his five friends' faces.
"Is something the matter?" came from Rosie.
"'Formula Synchron'..." whispered Zack. "Could this mean what I think it does?"
"I think I do, Zack." agreed Discord.
Rosie blinked. "What about it? 'Formula Synchron' only has 200 Attack Points."
"Don't you get it, Rosie?!" exclaimed James R.. "The sign of 'Formula Synchron' means Matt's about to Synchro Summon IT!"
"Synchro Summon what?" blinked Gordon, clearly not exactly getting it.
"One of his best monsters, Gordon!" Carlie answered anxiously.
"One that nobody has ever been able to beat!" Zack pointed out. "One that requires both a Tuner Synchro Monster, and..."
Back in the duel field, Thomas was surprised by the appearance of 'Formula Synchron'. According to the card's text, it was something called a Tuner Synchro Monster.
"So, there is a such thing as a Tuner Synchro Monster." The blue-haired boy said in admiration. "That's actually quite the surprise."
"The effect of 'Formula Synchron' activates!" announced Matt, drawing a card. "When it's Synchro Summoned successfully, I draw one card from my Deck."
His drawn card was a Trap Card called 'Zero Force'. After staring at the card for a few seconds, the dirty blonde-haired boy started to feel something glow underneath his coat's sleeve.
"Huh?"
It was his Signer Mark that was glowing. Over within the audience, the rest of Matt's friends/siblings found their Signer Marks beginning to glow, as well.
"Rumble my legs!" gasped Rosie. "What's going on?!"
"Could the Markings of the Crimson Dragon be...calling out?" added Ashima, who had heard the full story from her boyfriend. "Matty..."
Nobody else in the audience said a word about it—well, not at first, anyway. Eventually, however, Michael stood up from his seat and called out to his longtime best friend/rival whilst full of faith and encouragement.
"Matt, win!" he echoed.
"We're rooting for you, man!" came from James R..
"Go get 'em!" cheered Carlie.
"You go, bro!" finished Zack.
Even Ashima got in on it. "Matty, I know you can win!"
"As do I, Matty-boy!" put in Discord. "You can most certainly pull it off! Show everyone here why you're one of the greatest duelists around."
Back in the duel field, Matt, feeling the power of the Crimson Dragon flowing through his veins, had overheared the encouragement from his friends and loved ones, and this brought a smile of thanks to his face as he closed his eyes softly. Thomas, however, was reacting with a mixture of shock and admiration to the light show.
"M-Matt..." The blue-haired boy stuttered. "H-How are you...doing this?"
Matt Fudo, not paying any attention to his opponent's surprise, felt parts of his friends/siblings' Signer Marks combining with his own into a more full-looking version of the marking. Before long, the fuller marking of the Crimson Dragon appeared on his back (as shown from the marking glowing there).
"What I have..." Matt thought to himself. "What I have is the unbreakable bond with my friends!" The dirty blonde-haired boy then imagined himself within a whole different dimension (with his whole body bluring all white). "My body...has entered the 'World of Speed'... I'm one with the wind." While floating through the dimension, he slowly opened his eyes, finding himself gazing before an unknown Synchro Monster Card—the Synchro Monster Card's artwork consisted of a massive, majestic-looking, bluish white-colored dragon that seemed to look like an evolved form of 'Stardust Dragon' (its Level was 10, its Attack Power was 3300, and its Defense Power was 2500). "We won't let any of our friends down in this great fight... No matter what happens, partner, we'll BOTH win the match with our combined might!"
A teardrop fell within the the darkness... Outside of the 'World of Speed', Matt finally opened his eyes fiercely. The powerful and determined look in those eyes seemed to startle Thomas a fair bit.
"This...is a different look for you." The blue-haired boy commented wearily.
"Thomas... the time has finally come!" began Matt, speaking to his opponent. "The time has finally come for me to show you, and everyone else here in the stadium, the true power of my Deck... And this is perhaps the best way to demonstrate it... CLEAR MIND!"
With that last bit being said (or screamed), Matt pointed upwards to the sky, unleashing a powerful blast of wind in the process. The force of the blast of wind was so strong that Thomas had to brace himself to prevent himself from being thrown back.
"I'm Tuning my Level 8 Synchro Monster, 'Stardust Dragon', with the Level 2 Tuner Synchro Monster, 'Formula Synchron'!"
Almost everyone in the audience reacted with shock towards that announcement.
"Tuning 'Stardust Dragon', by using 'Formula Synchron'?!" exclaimed one teenage boy.
"What could Matt possible make by using 'Formula Synchron' as Tuner material?!" A teenage girl added.
"Could the move even be legal?" asked Noor Jehan, who was also in the audience alongside her husband (Rajiv).
Back in the duel field... With the command given, a large green cyclone of energy began to envelope around Matt's side of the field. 'Formula Synchron' turned itself into two balls of light and was absorbed into the tornado as the symbols 8 plus 2 equals 10 were shown.
"What is the monster Matt's about to bring out?" Thomas asked himself, looking up at the green cyclone of energy. "Even then, will I even be able to stop it?"
"Behold, Thomas Billinton!" called Matt, becoming overwhelmed by fire of some sort. "Behold the next evolution of the Synchro Summon technique!"
Thomas could only cry out in complete shock as he took a step back out of reflex, watching as his opponent began to speak a new Summon Chant while 'Stardust Dragon' roared and got itself completely surrounded by the green energy.
"Clustering crystal dreams, open the door to a new evolution! Become the path its light shines upon!"
Before long, Matt, as the flames around him grew bigger and thicker than ever, opened his eyes fiercely and gave quite possible the strongest, most hot-blooded scream everyone in the stadium could ever hear...
"ACCEL SYNCHRO!" The dirty blonde-haired boy echoed, raising his right hand out at the end of the scream.
Very quickly, a new card materialized out of thin-air and in-between Matt's fingers (it was the exact same one from the 'World of Speed'). From there, the cyclone of green energy began to grow more and more intense as a new, holy-like roar could be heard from within.
"What was that?!" demanded Emily, having heard the roar. "Where's the new monster?!"
The dark green-haired girl's answer was to come... Within seconds, the cyclone of green energy exploded as a brand new monster began to take form and rise from the stadium.
"Be born - 'SHOOTING STAR DRAGON'!" boomed Matt.
Finally... emerging from the green energy and stadium was what appeared to be a bigger, much more evolved form of 'Stardust Dragon'. The new, majestic-looking dragon soared through the sky, doing magnificent aerial dynamics before bursting through the clouds above the whole city of Atlanta with another holy-like roar.
(elsewhere...)
Cut to different spots all-across Atlanta, various citizens were looking up into the sky at 'Shooting Star Dragon', wondering who the owner of the monster was.
"Could that be...a dragon?" wondered one man, with his kids standing by his side.
"It has to be, Daddy!" A young girl proclaimed, with her two brothers silently nodding in agreement (in an awestruck-like way). "Although I do wonder who owns it..."
(elsewhere...)
Down another busy street, a couple was looking into the shining sky...
"I've never seen something like that before..." murmured one young woman, clearly amazed with the sight. "The light sure is pure and beautiful, though."
"No kidding." A young man (the boyfriend) agreed, standing beside the same young woman while looking equally amazed.
(elsewhere...)
In the playground of one Memorial School, several kids, plus one of the teachers, were looking into the sky...
"What a monster..." whispered a young boy.
"Wish I could reach out and touch it." added another young boy.
The teacher, still gazing upward, started to wish he knew about the Duel Monsters card game.
(elsewhere...)
The various citizens around Atlanta all continued to look up into the sky at the new Synchro Dragon-Type monster.
(elsewhere...)
Back within the Boxford Land stadium, 'Shooting Star Dragon' finally touched down in the middle of the stadium until it was behind Matt. The whole audience (minus Discord, Michael, James R., Carlie, and Zack) all around the stands of the stadium gazed in wonder and amazement at such a monster. Thomas was especially awestruck by the magnificent-looking creature.
"A-Awesome..." The blue-haired boy whispered. "This dragon... I can feel the great power emanating from it."
Yes, I can agree with you on that, Thomas... Matt, on the other hand, had one thing to say...
"Let's rev it up, 'Shooting Star Dragon'!"
'Shooting Star Dragon' responded by standing tall, and letting loose a roar in agreement with its master/friend. The sky began to brighten with rays of light emerging from the clouds, which was a sign the intense battle between Thomas and Matt was going to grow more and more fierce and memorable from there...
Title: The Semi-Final Frontier, Part 3
Matt and 'Shooting Star Dragon' (Level: 10/ATK: 3300/DEF: 2500) were both facing off against Thomas and 'Dark Magician' (Level: 7/ATK: 2500/DEF: 2100).
"Thomas, what you, and everyone else here in the stadium, have witnessed was a Synchro Summon that could be achieved by only the use of Synchro Monsters." The dirty blonde-haired boy was explaining. "A Synchro Summon that specifically requires a Tuner Synchro Monster and one or more non-Tuner Synchro Monsters." Again, he raised his hand into the sky. "This was an Accel Synchro Summon! By successfully performing one with a clear head and mind, I've called upon one of the most powerful monsters in my whole Deck - 'Shooting Star Dragon'!"
Over with the audience in the stands...
"Such... such a magnificent dragon!" breathed Ashima. "This has to be the monster I sensed when touching his Deck before our duel."
"Mama Mia..." agreed Gina. "It is-a beautiful monster..."
"Not to mention it's extremely powerful!" added Percy. "'Shooting Star Dragon' has 3300 Attack Points!"
"And I bet it has a powerful effect behind it." put in Edward. "Maybe it even has more than one effect."
Back over in the duel field...
"BATTLE!" shouted Matt, entering the Battle Phase. He then thrust his left hand forth. "Go forth, 'Shooting Star Dragon'... Take flight, and attack 'Dark Magician'!"
'Shooting Star Dragon' rose high into the sky as it was commanded to do, and began charging towards 'Dark Magician'. From there, as while beginning to move faster and faster, it started burning like a shooting star.
"I won't let 'Dark Magician' fall like this!" declared Thomas, just as his last set card flipped face-up and revealed itself to be... "'Trap Card, open - Magic Cylinder'!"
"That won't work!" thundered Matt, immediately taking and holding out a card from his hand. "I activate the effect of the 'Junkuriboh' card from my hand!"
The robotic 'Kuriboh' Monster appeared on the field.
"What?!" Thomas winced from the sight.
Matt grinned. "Since you've activated a Card Effect that would inflict Effect Damage to my Life Points, I'll send 'Junkuriboh' from my hand to the Graveyard in order to negate the activation of 'Magic Cylinder' and destroy it!"
Thomas's face-up 'Magic Cylinder' Trap Card glitched out and was destroyed just like that, and it was compliments of 'Junkuriboh'.
"'Magic Cylinder' was destroyed!" wailed Mavis.
"Great, what's Thomas gonna do, now?" asked James, not looking any better.
Sadly, the answer to that question would have to come later... Back in the duel field, Matt was still on the offensive with his best monster.
"Destroy 'Dark Magician' at once, 'Shooting Star Dragon'!" he commanded once more.
The attack from the Dragon-Type Synchro Monster immediately continued, and 'Dark Magician' was sadly struck down (shattering into shards of glass in the process) by the much bigger, much stronger 'Shooting Star Dragon'.
"'Dark Magician'!" cried Thomas (LP: 1950). Fortunately for him, the Battle Phase was finally finished... "I activate the effect of the 'Kuribohrn' card in my hand!"
"'Kuribohrn'?" Matt blinked.
"By discarding this card at the end of the Battle Phase-" The blue-haired boy explained, taking the mentioned Monster Card from his hand and discarding it into the Graveyard. "-I can revive one monster that was destroyed in battle during this turn." The 'Dark Magician' Monster Card materialized face-up on the field once more. "And so, 'Dark Magician', return to me!"
The purple-haired, male Spellcaster reappeared on the field (Level: 7/ATK: 2500/DEF: 2100). From there, four facedown cards materialized on the field behind 'Shooting Star Dragon'.
"I set four cards facedown and end my turn." finished Matt. In his mind... "With my combo finally set, all I need is for Thomas to try and spring my trap."
Back on Thomas's side of the field...
"'Shooting Star Dragon'... I'll admit it's truly a powerful monster." Thomas thought to himself. "However... no matter what tricks it may have, I still have a monster in my Deck that can easily take it down!" He finally drew a card. "It's my turn!"
Turn Seven: Thomas Billinton (LP: 1950)
Deck: 43
Current Hand (2): "Card of Sanctity" and "Tuning Magician"
Thomas's eyes widened when he saw the drawn 'Tuning Magician' Tuner Monster Card.
"Tuning Magician... This is the one card Discord had given me before the tournament began..." From there, Thomas added the drawn card into his hand and took out another card to play instead. "I once again activate 'Card of Sanctity'!"
With that said, Thomas drew five cards, while Matt drew six more cards... With another fresh hand all prepared (it consisted of 'Tuning Magician', 'Kuriboh', 'Multiply', 'Buster Blader', 'Fusion Recovery', and 'Dark Magic Vase'), Thomas had a new plan to hopefully turn things back into his favor. Within seconds, he took and held out one of the cards.
"From my hand, I'll activate the Spell Card 'Fusion Recovery'!" announced Thomas. "Using it, I'm able to take one copy of 'Polymerization' and one Fusion Material monster from the Graveyard and add them back to my hand."
The 'Polymerization' Spell Card and 'Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts' Monster Card both returned to Thomas's hand. From there, he took and held one of the two returned cards out.
"From there, I'll activate 'Polymerization' once more! Using it, I will fuse 'Dark Magician' with the 'Buster Blader' in my hand!"
The purple clad swordsman briefly appeared on the field before fusing with 'Dark Magician'. Everyone in the stands watched as the light in the duel field grew stronger than ever before.
"Fusion Summon!" exclaimed Thomas, just as the Fusion Summon sequence came to an end. "Appear, Level 8 - 'Dark Paladin'!"
The mighty combined form of 'Buster Blader' and 'Dark Magician' appeared on the field in place of the two previous monsters (Level: 8/ATK: 2900/DEF: 2400).
"'Dark Paladin' gains 500 Attack Points for every Dragon-Type monster either player has ever used." Thomas explained briefly. He then pointed forth at his opponent. "'Shooting Star Dragon' is one such monster, and there are three additional Dragon-Type monsters in your Graveyard, Matt!"
Four glowing orbs suddenly emerged from Matt's Duel Disk floated around the field for a couple of seconds, before finally entering 'Dark Paladin's' scepter-like sword, causing the weapon to glow as the Dragon Slayer-like Spellcaster's Attack Power then rose to much greater heights (ATK: 2900 - 4900).
"That's 4900 Attack Points!" exclaimed Michael.
"Enough to take 'Shooting Star Dragon' down!" added Ashima.
"Go, Thomas, go!" cheered the blue-haired boy's friends.
Back within the duel field...
"Go forth, 'Dark Paladin'!" commanded Thomas, immediately entering the Battle Phase. "SUPER MAGICAL SHADOWLESS SLASH!"
'Dark Paladin', obeying the command, readied his blade-like scepter for an attack that would take 'Shooting Star Dragon' down. Finally, he leaped up into the sky in an attempt to finally slay the majestic-looking Synchro Dragon-Type monster.
"This is the end of your ace monster!" declared Thomas.
"Are you sure about that?" smirked Matt, speaking one of his most famous of catchphrases.
"Huh?"
The dirty blonde-haired boy then became serious. "By declaring an attack, I'll activate the third effect of 'Shooting Star Dragon'! Remove yourself from the game, my dragon!"
Before the final blow could strike, 'Shooting Star Dragon' roared and vanished in a flash of stardust-like particles, causing 'Dark Paladin' to miss the mark.
"What?!" gasped Thomas, while 'Dark Paladin' immediately landed on the ground due to his attack being a failure. "'Shooting Star Dragon' disappeared?!"
"That's right." Matt confirmed. "Once per turn, I can Banish 'Shooting Star Dragon' when it's selected as a target for an attack by the opponent. When that happens, the enemy's attack gets negated!"
"It can't be... My 'Dark Paladin' actually failed to defeat your dragon!"
The dirty blonde-haired boy nodded. "Not only that... but once the End Phase is reached, 'Shooting Star Dragon' will be Special Summoned to the field, again!"
In the audience, Percy and the likes were very disappointed that 'Dark Paladin' failed to defeat 'Shooting Star Dragon' (and that it'll return to the field, soon enough).
"Man, this sucks!" groaned James.
"You can say that again." put in Gordon. "'Dark Paladin' was Thomas's one hope in defeating that dragon."
"Unfortunately-" echoed Matt's voice. "-the worst has also come for you."
"What?" blinked Toby, having overheard those words. "The worst has come?"
"I don't like the sound of that." worried Rosie.
"Me neither." agreed Molly.
Back in the duel field...
"It's time to reveal my secret weapon!" declared Matt. "This facedown card, funnily enough, actually works great with 'Shooting Star Dragon'!"
"Trap Card?" quizzed Thomas.
From there, the first of Matt's four facedown cards flipped up and revealed itself to be...
"Correct." The dirty blonde-haired boy admitted. "I activate a Trap - 'Zero Force'!"
"'Zero Force'?" Thomas repeated.
"It can be activated only when a face-up monster I control has been removed from play. From there, the Attack Points of all other face-up monsters on the field becomes zero!"
Suddenly, 'Dark Paladin' collapsed onto his knees while suddenly finding himself becoming very weak. Scratch that; he actually lost all of his Attack Points (ATK: 4900 - 0).
"'Dark Paladin'!" Thomas gasped. "He's... he's..."
"He's lost all of his Attack Points." Matt pointed out. "And so, has become weakened enough to be destroyed!"
Thomas gritted his teeth in frustration. He had been so close... SO close! Now, with 'Dark Paladin' being crippled and unable to attack or defend himself, Thomas had to be ready for an attack come Matt's next turn.
"I set this card facedown-" The blue-haired boy began, slotting a card into his Duel Disk. From there, he placed another card onto a Monster Field slot (sideways). "-and then I call upon, in defense mode, the one monster I've added to my Deck before the duel began - 'Tuning Magician'!"
Appearing onto the field, whilst striking a cheerful pose, was the new pink-haired, female Spellcaster-Type monster that Thomas received from Discord just before the tournament first begun (Level: 1/ATK: 0/DEF: 0).
"That's the Monster Card Thomas received from Discord shortly before the tournament began!" Emily immediately realized.
"Really?" questioned James, raising an eyebrow.
"There's just one problem..." Rosie pointed out. "It's at Level 1, and has zero in both Attack and Defense Points!"
Back in the duel field, 'Tuning Magician' cheerfully radiated harmonic waves from the staff that hovered next to her. The waves struck Thomas and...reduced his Life Points (LP: 1550)?
"W-What?!" gasped Matt, suddenly gaining Life Points (LP: 4200). "Your Life Points have dropped, and mine have increased?"
"That's 'Tuning Magician's' effect." explained Thomas, not looking worried about his monster's seemingly weak effect. "When my monster is either Normal or Special Summoned, I have to transfer 400 of my Life Points to you."
Over with the audience...
"No matter how one looks at it, Thomas made a mistake by Summoning 'Tuning Magician'." objected James.
"There has to be a reason for that move." insisted Molly. "I just wish I knew exactly what the reason was."
"Discord, why in the world would you give Thomas a card like that?" asked Gordon.
"What were you thinking?" added Stanley.
"I gave Thomas that card because she wanted me to." insisted Discord.
"She?" asked Emily, sounding a bit puzzled. "Wait a moment... are you saying that 'Tuning Magician's' spirit..."
"...is female?" finished Axel.
"Of course 'Tuning Magician's' female." said Mavis, sounding like she knew all along. "Can't you tell by her appearance?"
"Besides..." Discord went on. "I know Thomas-boy will find 'Tuning Magician's' true purpose. That's why I gave the card to him; 'cause I know he'll succeed in figuring it out."
"I hope you're right..." whispered Emily, resuming her focus on the duel.
Back within the duel field...
"Thomas... Even though I absolutely hate it when other people treat or refer to their cards as if they're only trash and such, I have to ask you this..." said Matt slowly. "Why would you even play such a card like 'Tuning Magician'? What would you possibly gain from Summoning it?"
"It's like you've said before, there's no such thing as a useless card; every card in a duelist's Deck has its purpose." explained Thomas. "I believe that if I listen well, the card will respond to me... I want to prove something like that in this tournament."
Matt smiled, but said nothing in response.
"There's no way that 'Tuning Magician' is a card that is only capable of hurting its user... I just KNOW that there is another purpose for her."
'Tuning Magician' looked back and smiled at Thomas's words. The blue-haired boy briefly smiled back before looking back towards his opponent with a stern expression on his face.
"I end my turn!" he announced.
Within the stands...
"I sure hope Thomas knows what he's doing." prayed Gordon.
"As do I." agreed James.
"Now with it being the End Phase-" added Scott. "-'Shooting Star Dragon' will be immediately Special Summoned to the field."
True to the dark green-haired young man's words, 'Shooting Star Dragon', with a holy-like roar, returned to Matt's side of the field in a flash of stardust particles and light.
"'Shooting Star Dragon' has returned to the field!" The dirty blonde-haired boy announced, drawing a card. "Now, with it being my turn, you will taste its true power!"
Turn Nine: Matt Fudo (LP: 4200)
Deck: 36
Current Hand (7): "Big One Warrior", "Synchro Striker Unit", "Cosmic Compass", "Synchro Gift", "Earthquake Giant", "Prevention Star", and "Battle Waltz"
His hand now contained 'Big One Warrior', 'Synchro Striker Unit', 'Cosmic Compass', 'Synchro Gift', 'Earthquake Giant', 'Prevention Star', and the drawn 'Battle Waltz'. Within seconds, the 'Battle Waltz' Spell Card materialized face-up on the field.
"First, I'll activate the Spell Card 'Battle Waltz'!" Matt exclaimed, with two fingers braced on a Spell/Trap. "It lets me Special Summon a 'Waltz Token' with the same Type, Level, Attribute, Attack Power, and Defense Power of one Synchro Monster on my side of the field."
"No, it won't!" cut in Thomas, sending a card into his Graveyard. "I activate the effect of 'Dark Paladin'! Since a Spell Card was activated by you, I'll discard a Spell Card, like 'Dark Magic Vase', from my hand to negate the activation of 'Battle Waltz' and destroy it!"
'Dark Paladin raised his scepter-like sword up as it crackled with magic.
"Your attempt to block my strategy won't work!" interrupted Matt, making Thomas gasp. From there... "Trap Card - 'Synchro Barrier Force', activate!"
The dirty blonde-haired boy's next set card flipped face-up and revealed itself.
"What?!" winced Thomas.
"Thanks to this, I get to negate a card or effect that would destroy one or more cards on the field and inflict 500 damage to the opponent for each face-up Synchro Monster I control."
'Dark Paladin' felt himself growing numb as his effect glitched out, while Thomas sustained more Life Point damage (LP: 1050).
"That also means the effect of 'Battle Waltz' will continue and resolve!" Matt pointed out.
Just then, an exact duplicate of 'Shooting Star Dragon' appeared on the field from specs of stardust (Level: 10/ATK: 3300/DEF: 2500), joining the real one for battle. 'Dark Paladin', meanwhile, gained 500 more Attack Points due to its own effect (ATK: 500 - 1000). Unfortunately, this was what Matt had been waiting for...
"And now, I activate the main effect of 'Shooting Star Dragon'!" The dirty blonde-haired boy declared, drawing and readying five cards. "Once per turn, I can excavate the top five cards of my Deck and show them to the opponent. And each Tuner Monster I draw allows one additional attack from my monster during the Battle Phase."
"Additional attack?!" grimaced Thomas.
"ADDITIONAL ATTACK?!" Percy and the likes exclaimed at once.
This happened to be a serious serious problem for Thomas; although if Matt drew no Tuner Monsters, 'Shooting Star Dragon' would not be able to attack that turn, which would save the blue-haired boy for the moment. Unfortunately, it was about to get a whole lot worse for him when Matt carefully looked at his five drawn cards, before looking at his opponent with a small, confident smile on his face.
"Unfortunately for you, Thomas, you will not even survive one of these incoming attack." Matt said at last. He then held out his five drawn cards for everyone to see. "As you can see, I've drawn five Tuner Monsters successfully!"
The five cards were shown to consist entirely of Tuner Monsters; 'Unknown Synchron', 'Nitro Synchron', 'Mono Synchron', 'Steam Synchron', and 'Changer Synchron'. From seeing the drawn cards, Thomas could only gasp in horror, while most of the audience wasn't looking any better.
"Five Tuner Monsters?!" spluttered James. "What're the odds of drawing them that easily?"
"That allows 'Shooting Star Dragon' to attack up to five times!" came from Percy.
"Unfortunately, Thomas won't even survive one of them!" put in Stanley.
"Thomas, no!" cried Emily.
Back in the duel field, the Battle Phase had finally begun...
"'Shooting Star Dragon', attack 'Dark Paladin', now!" commanded Matt, revealing his monster's attack/effect name... "STARDUST MIRAGE!"
'Shooting Star Dragon' obeyed... rising into the sky, and, with a roar, splitting itself into five-colored images. Before long, the first, orange-like image dove towards 'Dark Paladin' like a falling star. Within seconds, the first dragon had turned itself into (what else?) a shooting star, striking and destroying 'Dark Paladin' just like that.
"It's over! I win!" declared Matt.
"Don't be so sure!" The voice of Thomas retorted, making the dirty blonde-haired boy ease up slightly. The blue-haired boy, meanwhile, was shown to still be standing strong (LP: 1050). "'Dark Paladin' may be gone now, but my Life Points aren't going anywhere."
"What?!" Matt gasped in surprise. "How did you survive?!"
Just then, to the dirty blonde-haired boy's shock, the spirit of 'Kuriboh' appeared beside Thomas.
"'Kuriboh'?!"
"Yes." said Thomas. "By discarding 'Kuriboh' during the Damage Step, I was able to make the damage from your attack become zero."
Back in the audience...
"But why wasn't 'Dark Paladin' protected, too?" asked Percy, recalling some previous moments 'Kuriboh' had been used.
"Percy?" sighed Zack, shaking his head. "Card Effects and their rulings do get changed once in a while by Discord J. Crawford, you know."
"'Kuriboh's' effect in protecting both Life Points AND monster were made kaput by yours truly." explained Discord. "'Kuriboh' no longer prevents the monster from also being destroyed; only reducing Battle Damage to zero for ONE attack. Thomas-boy knew full well that keeping 'Dark Paladin' alive after that first attack would only make him a target for 'Shooting Star Dragon's' next attack, and that would be very, very bad."
"Oh, okay..." Percy nodded slowly. He then panicked. "W-Wait a moment, 'Shooting Star Dragon' still has additional attacks left!"
"Four of them, to be exact." put in Gordon.
True to the tall, blue-haired boy's word, 'Shooting Star Dragon' still had four colorful, spectral copies remaining on the field.
"'Shooting Star Dragon', attack again!" ordered Matt. "Take down 'Tuning Magician' next!"
The second of the 'Shooting Star Dragon' copies (yellow) dove and struck 'Tuning Magician', destroying her effortlessly. Thomas braced himself as shards of glass from the destroyed monster soared past him.
"With no monsters protecting you-" Matt went on, clenching his fist. "-this duel is about to be mine!" He motioned his right arm about and gave the final command... "'Shooting Star Dragon', direct attack!"
The third, colorful copy of 'Shooting Star Dragon' (green) dove towards the defenseless Thomas, but the blue-haired boy's Graveyard then began releasing white light of some sort.
"I activate the effect of the 'Kuribohrn' in my Graveyard!" he announced, just as the spirit of 'Kuribohrn' briefly appeared on the field before fading away into oblivion. "By removing it from the game, I'm able to Special Summon any number of 'Kuriboh'-named monsters from the Graveyard."
On cue, the 'Kuriboh' Monster Card materialized face-up on the field.
"Come forth - 'Kuriboh'!"
'Kuriboh' then appeared onto the field in defense mode (Level: 1/ATK: 300/DEF: 200).
"So be it!" scowled Matt, still not finished with the Battle Phase (thanks to replay). "'Shooting Star Dragon', attack 'Kuriboh'!"
The third 'Shooting Star Dragon' copy (green) once again took to the skies in an attempt to bring down the opponent. Unfortunately, it was not gonna hit little 'Kuriboh'...
"Facedown card, open!" cried Thomas, just as his set card flipped up and revealed itself to be... "'Multiply'! With one 'Kuriboh', comes a whole bunch of them!"
'Kuriboh' immediately found himself splitting into five 'Kuriboh Tokens'. Unfortunately, Matt still wasn't about to back down from attacking.
"Take down a 'Kuriboh Token'!" he ordered.
One of the five 'Kuriboh Tokens' took a hit from the third copy of 'Shooting Star Dragon' (green), getting destroyed in the process.
"Now, 'Shooting Star Dragon', attack another 'Kuriboh Token'!"
The fourth 'Shooting Star Dragon' copy (red) obeyed; striking and destroying a second 'Kuriboh Token' while moving like a powerful falling star. That left only three more 'Kuriboh Tokens' to go.
"Strike down a third 'Kuriboh Token'!" commanded Matt. From there, he poked a button on his Duel Disk. "In addition, I'll activate a Continuous Trap Card - 'Synchro Blast'! It inflicts 500 damage to your Life Points once per turn whenever one of my Synchro Monsters attacks you directly or one of your monsters!"
The attack from the fifth 'Shooting Star Dragon' copy (blue) destroyed the third 'Kuriboh Token', causing Thomas to receive more damage to his Life Points (LP: 550). With Matt's monster having used up its attacks, Thomas seemed to be safe.
"'Shooting Star Dragon' has used up its five attacks." said Edward.
"But 'Battle Waltz' can still attack, Edward." reminded Toby. "That means Thomas isn't out of trouble just yet."
Back in the duel field...
"Thomas, I have one more facedown card to play before I attack again." Matt pointed out, just as his last set card flipped face-up and revealed itself. "And this is it - 'Miracle Locus'!"
"'Miracle Locus'?" repeated Thomas, which was all he could say, too.
"This Trap Card allows you to draw one more card." explained Matt. "In doing so, however, my 'Waltz Token' gains 1000 Attack Points and an additional attack."
Thomas drew his card, which he saw was the 'Swing of Memories' Spell Card. From there, the command for 'Waltz Token' to attack was given...
"ATTACK!"
The 'Waltz Token', powering its Attack Power up to much greater levels (ATK: 3300 - 4300), took to the skies, dove, struck, and destroyed not one, but TWO of the remaining 'Kuriboh Tokens' instantly. The force of the attack from the replica of 'Shooting Star Dragon' was so great, that Thomas was struck by the blast of wind and got thrown to the ground.
"THOMAS!" Percy, Rosie, Axel, Gina, Liz, and Ryan all called out at once.
"GET UP!" James, Gordon and Henry each added.
Back in the duel field, Thomas slowly got back to his feet. Once he was all the way up again, he looked down at his Duel Disk.
"T-Thank you, 'Kuriboh'..." The blue-haired boy groaned, but sounded very thankful. "Even at the cost of all my monsters and most of my...Life Points, you've saved me from certain defeat once again..."
The spirit of 'Kuriboh' briefly appeared and gave a cheerful 'Kuribi' before fading away once more.
"Well, Thomas, I'm impressed." smiled Matt. "Despite the odds, 'Kuriboh' has saved you from losing."
Back in the audience, Emily was deeply relieved that her boyfriend had survived over SEVEN deadly attacks from both 'Shooting Star Dragon' and 'Waltz Token'.
"Thank goodness..." she said to herself. Just then, the dark green-haired girl felt another presence near her... "Huh? Kuribon?"
The spirit of the female 'Kuriboh' Monster appeared next to Emily. She was gazing over at Thomas (or rather his Graveyard, where 'Kuriboh' was currently sleeping in) with admiration. 'Kuriboh' saved Thomas from SEVEN deadly attacks from 'Shooting Star Dragon' and 'Waltz Token'... It was so brave to protect its friend from such a dangerous-looking monster...
"Hmhmhmhm." giggled Emily, finding Kuribon's reaction to seeing 'Kuriboh' saving Thomas to be positively cute. "I kinda know what you mean there."
Back in the duel field...
"I place one card facedown." said Matt, slott a card into his Duel Disk. On cue, a facedown card materialized on the field before him. "My turn has officially finished." He then smiled. "Once again, Thomas, I'm impressed that you've survived. In hindsight, I shouldn't have expected any less from the likes of you."
"'Shooting Star Dragon' is quite the powerful...dragon." admitted Thomas. "You know how to use it well."
"Unfortunately for you, you're stuck in an unwinnable situation." Matt went on, pointing forth using his left hand (which had the Duel Disk equipped). "If you try anything to protect yourself or defeat my monsters, I'll use the following effect of 'Shooting Star Dragon's'..."
He then started to go over what 'Shooting Star Dragon's' effects were like...
-"Once per turn; you can excavate the top five cards of your Deck, shuffle them back in, also this card's maximum number of attacks per Battle Phase this turn equals the number of Tuner monsters excavated."
-"Once per turn, during either player's turn, when a card or effect is activated that would destroy a card(s) on the field: You can negate the effect, and if you do, destroy it."
-"Once per turn, when an opponent's monster declares an attack: You can target the attacking monster; Banish this card, and if you do, negate that attack. During the next End Phase: Special Summon this card removed by this effect."
'Shooting Star Dragon' gave a roar of agreement. Matt then turned his focus to 'Waltz Token'.
"With 'Waltz Token'... If you try to even attack it, any Battle Damage involving it will be reduced to zero and the monster who destroyed the Token will have its Attack Power reduced by the 'Waltz Token's' own Attack Power."
'Waltz Token' (as 'Shooting Star Dragon') also roared in response.
"So, no matter what move you try to plan, I will always have a way to counter it." finished Matt. "My combo is nearly unbreakable!"
Over in the audience, much of the spectators were all looking quite worried... The American Duel Monsters champion seemed to be too much for Thomas Billinton to handle. If Emily Stirling couldn't even defeat the likes of Matt Fudo, then what hope did Thomas have against him? Over with Percy and the likes, they had grown very distressed with their friend being seemingly locked in an unwinnable situation...
"Does this mean Thomas...is about to lose?" Percy asked with dismay.
"It would seem so." said Mavis quietly.
"Matt is simply too powerful a duelist." came from Edward. "Regardless of what Thomas has tried throughout, Matt was always one step ahead of him."
"Oh, the indignity..." groaned Gordon.
"No!" The voice of Emily snapped. With all eyes on her, the dark green-haired girl looked back out into the duel field. "I just know Thomas still has a chance to turn things around and win! I just know it!"
"Emily..." Gina mumbled.
"No offense, Emily, but how can you be so sure?" asked Toby.
Before Emily could answer the question, the sounds of chuckling could be heard from somewhere.
"Huh?" Henry looked around. "Who's laughing?"
"Not me!" Gordon proclaimed. "I'm innocent."
As it turns out, the one who was chuckling was...Thomas? And the chuckling was growing louder and louder—until Thomas was actually laughing. And it was genuine, sincere laughter. Nobody could believe what they were hearing. Matt also couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Why are you laughing, Thomas?" he asked. "You're locked into a position where you'll lose on my next turn."
Finally, Thomas stopped laughing and smiled. "I'm laughing because it was the only thing I 'can' do in my situation."
When Matt said nothing back, the blue-haired boy, continuing to smile, went on with his speech...
"Matt Fudo... you really are an amazingly strong duelist, and are one of the most challenging opponents I've ever had to face... You're a True Duelist." From there, Thomas clenched a fist. "But no matter how much you push me into an inescapable corner, no matter how certain my defeat seems to be, I will come out on top and win the duel." The next thing he said seemed to shock everyone to the core... "Besides, I'm having far too much fun to even think about losing this duel."
Cue a big, collective gasp! Did everyone in the audience hear that correctly?
"Did Thomas actually say...he's having genuine fun?" asked James R..
"He...did." answered Discord. "Thomas-boy is enjoying himself greatly."
"Oh, Tommy..." Emily was beyond delighted. "He's having fun again! I'm so happy to hear that from him!"
"It's an actual miracle!" came from Percy.
Back in the duel field, Matt was also very happy to hear that Thomas was finally having fun while playing Duel Monsters once again.
"You've no idea how glad I am to hear that, Thomas." The dirty blonde-haired boy said, clenching a fist. "THAT'S is the Thomas Billinton everyone has come to know and love." He then had a big challenge for his opponent... "And if you think you can break my combo, then show me your true power, right now!"
"I'll definitely do it!" insisted Thomas eagerly. "Somehow, someway, I'll break it and win!"
With that said, Thomas drew a card from his Deck with the good, old Destiny Draw technique. The audience remained very excited in seeing what the blue-haired boy was gonna try and do.
Turn Ten: Thomas Billinton (LP: 550)
Deck: 36
Current Hand (3): "Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts", "Swing of Memories", and "Monster Reborn"
Just then...
"Facedown card, open!" Matt suddenly announced, just as his facedown card flipped up and revealed itself to be... "'Synchro Striker Unit'! When activated, it gets equipped to a Synchro Monster I'm controlling. From there, the monster gains 1000 Attack Points, but will lose 800 Attack Points during the End Phase of my turn."
'Shooting Star Dragon' gave a roar as its already great strength grew to greater heights (ATK: 3300 - 4300), much to the audience's concern.
"With 4300 Attack Points in total, you'll have a much harder time taking 'Shooting Star Dragon' down in any way, shape, or form!"
Without uttering another word, Thomas finally noticed his drawn 'Monster Reborn' Spell Card, and this allowed the confident smile to stay on his face.
"'Monster Reborn'..." he thought to himself. "With it, I can revive a fallen monster from the Graveyard... But which one?" The blue-haired boy closed his eyes. "Okay, let's go over the options I have..."
Images of the total amount of monsters currently in the Graveyards of himself and Matt appeared before him...
-Thomas: Eight
-Matt: Nine
"I know I can't Special Summon 'Dark Paladin' due to its effect... 'Buster Blader' would get much more powerful if I chose him, but thanks to 'Shooting Star Dragon's' effect, the attack would be negated. Attacking 'Waltz Token' would do no good, as I wouldn't inflict any damage to Matt's Life Points." Thomas then saw images of the 'Dark Magician' Normal Monster Card and the 'Stardust Dragon' Synchro Monster Card were both shown. "The most powerful monsters besides that are both 'Dark Magician' and 'Stardust Dragon'... I could revive 'Dark Magician' through 'Swing of Memories', but it would only last for one turn." An image of the 'Dark Magic Vase' Spell Card was then shown. "On the other hand... With 'Dark Magician', I could at least activate the effect of 'Dark Magic Vase' to draw a card."
Just then, before he could say anything else, a blinding light started to shine and cause Thomas to cry out and cover his eyes. When the light faded, the blue-haired boy could hear a sad sigh of some sort.
"Hmm?"
(elsewhere...)
Thomas, within the darkness, could see a very sad 'Tuning Magician' sitting down on a park-like bench and feeling sorry for herself. Curiously, Thomas approached the upset-looking Spellcaster-Type monster.
"Hey there..." Thomas greeted gently, sitting down beside the female monster. "W-What's the matter?"
'Tuning Magician' looked up at the blue-haired boy with big, wet-looking eyes. Although she couldn't speak, Thomas knew 'Tuning Magician' was feeling very sad at being seen as useless by others.
"Don't cry." Thomas soothed, as he knelt down and wiped some tears from the female monster's eyes. When he touched 'Tuning Magician's' face, something began to happen. "Wha-?"
The whole area of darkness began to shine with light, making Thomas wince slightly. When the light faded away, he saw a new monster standing nearby.
"What...is that?" Thomas asked himself, taking a good look.
The monster in question looked like a robed swordsman. It was a monster Thomas had never seen before in his life. From there, images of certain cards began to appear before the blue-haired boy and the saddened 'Tuning Magician'. These were the following cards:
-'Synchro Striker Unit' (Matt)
-'Dark Magician'
-'Swing of Memories'
-'Dark Magic Vase'
-'Monster Reborn'
-'Rainbow Veil'
-'Gap Power'
Thomas gazed at the images of the cards, just before the new monster turned and looked at him with only one eye. After what seemed like forever, the monster gave Thomas a Monster Card. After looking at the card for what seemed like forever, the blue-haired boy started to finally realize the answer he had been seeking about 'Tuning Magician'...
"I'm... I'm beginning to understand, now..."
(elsewhere...)
Shaking his head, Thomas found himself back in the Boxford Land Stadium. With a plan formed, the blue-haired boy took and held out a card from his hand.
"First, from my hand, I'll activate the Spell Card 'Swing of Memories'!" he declared. "Using its effect, I can Special Summon a Normal Monster from my Graveyard for the rest of the turn."
On cue, 'Dark Magician' returned to the field. From there, Thomas allowed a card ('Dark Magic Vase') to emerge and fade away into oblivion.
"And by removing 'Dark Magic Vase' while it's in the Graveyard and I control either a 'Dark Magician' or 'Dark Magician Girl', I'm able to draw an extra card from my Deck!"
He drew another card, which was shown to be an Equip Spell Card called 'Rainbow Veil'. Not even close to being done yet, Thomas took and held another card out.
"With the power of 'Monster Reborn'-" he continued. "-I'll use it to revive 'Tuning Magician' from the Graveyard!"
The pink-haired, female Spellcaster-Type monster reappeared on the field. From there, without any warning, she radiated harmonic waves from the staff that hovered next to her. The waves struck Thomas and reduced his Life Points even more dangerously low (LP: 150), while Matt's Life Points rose even higher levels (LP: 4600).
"He only has 150 Life Points left!" gasped Philip. "Thomas won't last another big attack from Matt!"
In another part of the audience...
"Has zat boy lost his mind?!" exclaimed Frieda.
Pretty much the whole audience was murmuring and wondering what in the world Thomas was thinking by playing such a useless card against the American Duel Monsters champion. Thomas, however, wasn't at all bothered by the damage he sustained. Instead, he began speaking to his opponent.
"All of the pieces to ensure my victory have been assembled." The blue-haired boy began. When Matt said nothing in response, he closed his eyes and continued... "It's just as you once told me, Matt - if I believe in my potential, I will be able to surpass and challenge my limits."
Back within the audience...
"Could he have figured it out?" Discord thought to himself. "Could Thomas-boy finally have figured out 'Tuning Magician's' true purpose?"
"Tommy..." Emily thought to herself.
(elsewhere...)
Inside Spencer's office...
"Billinton..." The silver-haired boy thought to himself.
(elsewhere...)
Back in the middle of the duel field within Boxford Land Stadium... After what seemed like forever...
"I..." Thomas mumbled quietly. Finally, he opened his eyes fiercely and made the most unexpected command... "I'm Tuning my Level 7 Normal Monster, 'Dark Magician', with the Level 1 Tuner Monster, 'Tuning Magician'!"
"WHAT?!" screamed Matt.
"HE'S WHAT?!" came from Emily.
(elsewhere...)
Inside Boxford Corp's main office...
"TUNING 'DARK MAGICIAN' AND 'TUNING MAGICIAN'?!" Spencer recoiled in complete shock.
(elsewhere...)
Back in the Boxford Land Stadium, 'Tuning Magician' struck her tuning fork before turning herself into a Synchro Ring. The whole audience was beyond aghast when they heard that Thomas was performing a Synchro Summon. From there, as the symbols 7 plus 1 equals 8 were shown, 'Dark Magician' leaped into the Synchro Ring as Thomas performed a Summon Chant...
"Hero's blade that sets forth unyielding light! Now, awaken with a flash!" The blue-haired boy spoke. From there, it was his turn to scream in a powerful, hot-blooded tone. "SYNCHRO SUMMON!"
Raising his hand into the air, a new card materialized out of thin-air and in-between Thomas's fingers (it was the exact same Monster Card he had been given in that earlier vision). From there, the light began to fade away and reveal a whole new monster.
"Appear, Level 8... Magical Swordsman of Awakening - 'Enlightenment Paladin'!"
Appearing onto the field, in a burst of light, was the same robed swordsman Thomas had seen in his vision. Brandishing his swords, the new monster gave a battle cry and posed for battle (Level: 8/ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000). The whole audience was amazed, and this included Matt.
"'Enlightenment Paladin'..." The dirty blonde-haired boy murmured.
In the audience...
"'Enlightenment Paladin'..." People in the audience were whispering to each other. "'Enlightenment Paladin'..."
"I can't believe Thomas actually Synchro Summoned something!" said Philip in amazement.
"Mein Gott!" Frieda cried out in the German language.
"Amazing!" admired Noor Jehan. "Dear, did you see that?"
"I have, and I'm absolutely speechless by it!" admitted Rajiv.
"Same here."
Up at one of the exits...
"Holy crap... That shrimp just..." Vinnie gawked. "He just performed a freakin' Synchro Summon!"
(elsewhere...)
Inside Boxford Corp's main office, even Spencer was downright amazed at such a feat his friend/rival was able to pull off.
"You really are full of surprises, Billinton... It makes me proud to actually call you my rival."
(elsewhere...)
In the stands inside Boxford Land Stadium, Discord was standing up and clapping joyfully at the show Thomas had just put on.
"Bravo, bravo!" The creator of Duel Monsters applauded loudly. "Well done, Thomas-boy, you have succeeded in figuring out 'Tuning Magician's' true purpose... She is used for a Synchro Summon."
"Isn't that what Tuner Monsters are for?" asked James R.
"This was something Thomas-boy had to figure out for himself. And, judging from what we've all seen, this is just the beginning of his attempt to win the duel."
Back in the duel field...
"While I'll give you hefty credit for such a surprise Synchro Summon, Thomas-" Matt finally spoke up, before pointing forth at his opponent. "-it won't be enough. 'Shooting Star Dragon's' Attack Power far exceeds that of 'Enlightenment Paladin'."
'Shooting Star Dragon' (ATK: 4300) and 'Enlightenment Paladin' (ATK: 2500) both stared each other down.
"My turn's not over yet, Matt." Thomas pointed out, just as 'Enlightenment Paladin' brought both swords together. "The effect of 'Enlightenment Paladin' now activates! Since it was Synchro Summoned using a 'Magician'-named monster as Synchro Material, I can add one Spell Card from the Graveyard to my hand."
The field seemed to turn blue from the power of 'Enlightenment Paladin', and time appeared to rewind itself to another part of the duel or something.
"W-What on Earth?!" gasped Matt. "What's going on?"
Adding a card back to his hand, Thomas smirked. "This is the card I've chosen to retrieve..." He then held it out. "'Gap Power'! As your Life Points are higher than my own, 'Gap Power' will increase the Attack Points of a monster I control by half of the difference between my own Life Points and the opponent's Life Points until the end of the Battle Phase."
The mentioned Spell Card materialized face-up on the field. Within seconds, 'Enlightenment Paladin' found himself growing much more powerful than ever before (ATK: 2500 - 4725).
"4725?!" Matt exclaimed.
"The repeated use of the effect of 'Tuning Magician' enabled the gap in our Life Points to widen, thus allowing the Attack Power of 'Enlightenment Paladin' to surpass that of 'Shooting Star Dragon'." Thomas explained carefully. "I was able to Synchro Summon thanks to 'Tuning Magician'. After all... Like you've said before, every card in the game has a purpose. As long as I believe in the potential of a card, then that card will always respond."
A spirit of 'Tuning Magician' appeared next to Thomas and smiled at her. The blue-haired boy smiled back before resuming focus on the duel.
"Haven't you forgotten?" Matt spoke up once more. "If you attempt an attack, I'll just Banish 'Shooting Star Dragon' and negate your attack. And destroying 'Waltz Token' won't help either, since it'll just get your monster weakened while dealing no Battle Damage to me. No matter what you do next, the results will always be the same!"
Thomas kept his smirk. "Are you sure about that?" he asked confidently, using his opponent's catchphrase against him.
"W-What?!"
"I still have one more card to play." The blue-haired boy pointed out, readying another card in his right hand. "And this will enable me to slay 'Shooting Star Dragon' for good!" He slotted the card into a Spell/Trap slot on his Duel Disk. "I activate an Equip Spell Card..."
On cue, an Equip Spell Card called 'Rainbow Veil' materialized face-up on the field.
"'RAINBOW VEIL'!"
"No... Not 'Rainbow Veil'!" Matt cringed hard.
A rainbow aura glowed around 'Enlightenment Paladin', which almost everyone in the audience seemed to find beautiful. Matt, however, knew that it wasn't a good thing for him.
"Now, if 'Enlightenment Paladin' battles a monster, the attacked monster will have its effects negated during the Battle Phase only." explained Thomas. "It's all over, Matt... Once I declare an attack, 'Shooting Star Dragon' will finally fall!"
"This...can't be..." whispered Matt in total shock.
"BATTLE!" Thomas finally announced, entering the Battle Phase. He then pointed forth in triumph. "Go forth, 'Enlightenment Paladin'... Take down 'Shooting Star Dragon', once and for all!"
'Enlightenment Paladin' obeyed the command, readying both of his sabers to attack and strike the opponent's monster. Before long, he finally rushed forth to attack, and 'Shooting Star Dragon' quickly blocked the strike with its tail, before roaring and trying to punch its opponent. 'Enlightenment Paladin' blocked the huge fist with one of his swords, and struck a pose before joining the swords at the hilt and spinning them through the air. This created a symbol similar to a clock face before going and slicing through 'Shooting Star Dragon', causing the monster to roar in agony before finally exploding massively into particles of stardust.
"'S-S-Shooting Star...Dragon'..." Matt stuttered in disbelief (LP: 4175), as the stardust specs rained down upon him and his side of the field.
In the audience...
"I...don't believe it!" gasped James R..
"Thomas...actually defeated 'Shooting Star Dragon'!" came from a spellbounded Carlie.
"It's never been done before!" came from Zack. "And...yet, we've just seen it happen."
Back in the duel field...
"The next effect of 'Enlightenment Paladin' activates!" Thomas went on, still not being done yet with his game-winning play. "Because he's successfully destroyed an opponent's monster by battle, you're dealt damage equal to the destroyed monster's Attack Points!"
"NO!" panicked Matt (LP: 4175). "I remember how high I made-!"
"'Shooting Star Dragon' had 4300 Attack Points when 'Enlightenment Paladin' attacked and destroyed it." said Ashima grimly. "As a result, Matty will lose that many Life Points."
'Enlightenment Paladin' (ATK: 4300) raised both swords and blasted an energy surge in the shape of 'Shooting Star Dragon' at Matt, who could only watch in horror as he was about to be defeated. First, the attack seemed to consume 'Waltz Token' for dramatic effect... At long last, the blast of energy finally struck Matt head on.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" The dirty blonde-haired boy, bracing himself, screamed in agony and defeat (LP: 0).
Before long, he was overwhelmed by the devastating energy surge and got thrown back a distance until he landed on the ground and laid perfectly still.
DUEL RESULTS: Thomas Billinton wins!
It took a bit for everyone in the audience to react to what had just happened.
"Did he actually...do it?" peeped a young boy.
"Was Thomas...victorious?" came from another man.
"Thomas...won?" spluttered James. "Against one of the greatest duelists ever?"
"This just HAS to be a dream!" added Gordon, who was absolutely speechless. "I must be asleep or something!"
Before anything else could be said by anyone, Emily stood up from her seat in quite possibly the happiest mood anyone ever did see or hear from her.
"He did more than just win the duel-" she announced. "-Thomas has finally regained his passion for Duel Monsters!"
"This can't be real..." said James R. in disbelief.
"It's... it's real, mate..." Michael pointed out, looking dismayed himself.
"Matty...lost." added Ashima, looking sad for her boyfriend. But then, she seemed to smile over the performances of both duelists. "But that doesn't matter... I'm very proud of both him AND Thomas!"
Before long, the entire crowd finally roared into thunderous applause for both duelists in the arena (quickly becoming a standing ovation like no other). It definitely was a match for the books, and one nobody would be forgetting anytime soon. Over in one of the arena exits, Vinnie seemed to smirk over Thomas's win.
"So... the shrimp won..." The blue-haired young man commented to only himself. "Heh! Totally saw that one coming a mile away!"
(elsewhere...)
Inside Boxford Corp's main office, Spencer was still watching the duel on the HD TV monitor. He smiled when the monitor showed that Thomas had won the duel.
"Hmph! I should have expected no less from the 'Supreme King'." The silver-haired boy said to himself. He, while turning around, then heard the door open. "Ah, good... Did you bring my gear?"
A suit, not saying a word, entered the room carrying a metallic briefcase and some clothing. Spencer took hold of everything the man was carrying and entered the nearby bathroom to change. Five minutes later, Spencer emerged wearing his usual outfit instead of the nice-looking suit.
"Master, I also wish to inform you that your transportation is also ready to leave when you give the word." reported the suit.
"Good to hear." nodded Spencer. He then started to leave. "It's time to show Frieda that her actions in this tournament have serious consequences."
(elsewhere...)
Back in the duel field within Boxford Land Stadium, Thomas walked over to the place where Matt was laying down on.
"Need a hand?" The blue-haired boy offered politely.
Matt, sitting up, gladly accepted it. "Yeah..." The dirty blonde-haired boy was soon pulled back onto his feet, although he was unsure what to feel like after losing the duel. "Well, it's official... I'm no longer the American Duel Monsters champion..."
"Maybe not, but I still would like to thank you for a truly great duel." replied Thomas, still smiling. "You really were one of the most powerful duelists I've ever had the chance to go up against."
"That Synchro Summon was the last thing I would ever expect you to pull off." admitted Matt.
"It was all thanks to you for teaching me about surpassing one's limits, and also believing in 'Tuning Magician's' potential."
"I guess with enough hope-" The dirty blonde-haired boy went on, before finally smiling and giving a thumbs up. "-anything IS possible for you."
"Heeeeeey!" The voice of Skiff called out.
Thomas and Matt both turned and saw the young boy, along with both Mr. and Mrs. Gresley (Boxford), running over to speak to the both of them.
"That was an amazing match, you two!" congratulated Skiff. "It was one for the ages!"
"Well done." praised Mr. Gresley (Boxford).
"You two dears have fought so long and hard to get this far." added Mrs. Gresley (Boxford).
"Everyone..." whispered Thomas. In his mind... "Thank you..."
And the audience continued to thunder with applause for both Thomas Billinton and Matt Fudo. But, right now, we have a second match coming right up, and it was Frieda Krupp against Philip Altoona. Who do you think will win that duel? Oh, I don't know... although there could be a few surprises here and there...