I finally get to take a break from the tag dueling and get into the old fashioned one-on-one! And for those who followed my story from the beginning, you know who is coming!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or the rest of the franchise or any music in this story, I own Claudio Osbourne and the Jukebox Hero Archetype, aside from a select few made by all the authors/readers who submitted them. And all other OCs and cards submitted © original creators.
Chapter 38: Monarchs Combination!
At Isaac's apartment, Claudio woke up to a beeping sound in his blazer pocket. He, Jeremy and Alex were sleeping floors under blankets and pillows while Spencer slept on a couch. The J-Hero duelist and went into the bathroom to the keep the noise down and find out who was calling him. It was a recorded message of Allen who looked concern.
[You guys hearing this, listen up,] Allen stated urgently, [Earlier when the clouds were covering up Domino City, me and Lyra got called out by two girls using Monarch monsters and kidnapped Jethro, holding him where at the docks dueling site. We beat them and got Jethro out, but we also ran into this other girl who transformed into a vulture. I'm thinking this thing is not over... Meet us at the site where Slifer the Sky Dragon was first summoned.]
Claudio gasped, 'That girl who kidnapped Allyson and Vincent and possessed T-Bone into a more intense duel than normal! I better go meet them!'
Peeking out of the bathroom and seeing that everyone was still sleeping, the J-Hero duelist crept past the sleeping classmates and snuck outside the door.
"Sorry guys, but I gotta see what's up..." He whispered as he ran down the stairs, leaving the apartment building.
But as soon as he got a block away from it...
"You know, you could've asked for backup..."
The Ra jumped in fear and turned around to see Alexis leaning on a nearby building, tapping her right foot on the ground and with smirk. Claudio laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.
"I feel a sense of déjà vu, going," He muttered, "So how'd you find out?"
"Melody told me you'd try and find some way to look for Jaden and the others without us," the Obelisk girl stated, "And when we both got a message from Lyra about those Monarch users, we knew that would be your chance."
Claudio slumped down and sighed, "So I'm busted, huh?"
"Not until Melody gets a hold you," Alexis joked, "Now let's go and find where Jaden and the others are."
Both ran down the street towards their destination...
With Jaden, Aster, Masaki and Solomon, they found themselves at the canal under the bridge. Nearby, a white trailer was parked on the road above it with Aster and Masaki inside sleeping. The old man and Neos duelist were sitting by a bonfire. Jaden was feeling depressed.
"Some field trip this turned out to be," He said, feeling blue, "Syrus and Hassleberry being taken by some weirdoes and this message I got from Jethro earlier didn't brighten up my day either..."
"What did it say," Solomon asked.
Jaden held out his Duel Pilot and played back its message with Jethro's image speaking.
[Guys, we got some serious trouble,] Jethro said in an urgent voice, [Earlier, I got knocked out by some girls who forced Lyra and Allen to a duel by the site of the Yugi/Joey match at the docks. I learned from Allen that they had Monarch monsters and I saw the same thing in the skies. The girls maybe gone, but I think someone else is pulling the strings behind them. Meet us at the site where Slifer the Sky Dragon first appeared!]
"Looks like we weren't the only ones having a run-in with the Light Brigade," The Slifer stated, "I just hope the rest of us are alright..."
"Yeah, we're alright..."
The Slifer turned to see Jachin and Bastion walking up to them.
"Hey guys," Jaden greeted as held up his pilot again, "So you got the message?"
"We have," Bastion replied, holding up his pilot, "It was a good thing Jachin and I were fortunate not to jump into them."
"Yeah, no kidding," the Psychic duelist lied, knowing what really went down, 'But I don't want to tell them about what happened to the guys... especially if Bastion ends up recalling it...'
"Then I wonder what happened to them," the E-Hero duelist wondered, "Someone must have dueled them..."
"Who knows," Jachin stated, "Maybe someone like Joey Wheeler or Mai Valentine dealt with them."
"Well, they were in town today until they left somewhere," Solomon stated, "So it's a possibility..."
"Aw man, it would've been so cool to see them duel or duel them myself," Jaden exclaimed, "It's like I wished one of the Monarch duelists would've dueled me."
"From what Jethro stated in his message, I wouldn't," the intellectual duelist claimed, "I plan to hold on to my life."
"Don't we all..."
Next, Lyra, Allen and Jethro walked up to the group.
"So, I see you guys got the message," Allen stated, "But where's everyone else?"
"Don't know," Jachin replied, "Bastion and I just got here."
"Maybe we should've had told everyone to reply to see who didn't get captured," Jethro figured.
"Now we just sit here and wait for someone to come," Lyra stated as she sat near the fire, "And it could be the ones who're targeting us..."
"I can't believe the lengths these people were going through to take us out," the fairy duelist said, sitting next to Lyra, "I almost drowned if it wasn't for Jethro."
Bastion gasped, "So they did try and drown you?"
"I almost drowned myself because I forgot to take the shackle off my ankle," Allen admitted, "I didn't want to see anyone dying, so I convinced Lyra to save them."
"And that the girl who probably shackled us up had something to do with it," the Infernity duelist proclaimed, "She transformed herself into a vulture and flew off."
"You guys dealt with that, too!"
On cue, Claudio and Alexis ran up to the group with alarmed looks on their faces.
"You're saying that you saw a girl turn into a vulture," Lyra asked.
"We saw the opposite," Alexis stated, "but if you're talking about a black-haired girl in a red dress..."
"That's her," Allen exclaimed.
"Well, Aster, Masaki, Mr. Moto and I saw a little girl using a bear to trap people's souls," Jaden added on, "It was really freaky how cheerful she was when she did it."
"A little girl," Everyone asked.
"It's true," Solomon stated, "The bear floated up to this young man and sucked him inside a mirror it was holding."
"Very creepy," Alexis muttered.
"No kidding," Claudio said.
But little did they know that, all of them were now being watched by someone from the bridge. A white-haired man with bangs covering his eyes wearing a black trench coat and silver boots to go with it. On his left arm, he carried a pitch-black duel disk.
"If it isn't my little rock and roll brat," He sneered, "If I had my way, I'd go after him and tear him apart. But..." He then set his sights on the E-Hero duelist, "I've got orders..."
(Flashback)
It was a few days ago, the man was sitting inside a prison cell, preparing to spend his long sentence inside for his crimes...
"Prisoner #45930," A guard said, opening his cell, "You have a visitor to see you."
As the man left outside his cell while walking to the visitor's block, he wondered who knows him aside from Titan. He heard from some other prisoners that his former partner died at Duel Academy. He hoped it wasn't Crowler, he had enough of that girly teacher.
Once he entered the block and was pointed to the glass where his visitor was. Once he sat down, he got a good look at the person. It was a woman with her raven-colored hair arranged in ponytail. She wore the ceremonial red and white clothes of a miko with sandals and round earrings.
"Alright, who are you," he asked her, "And how did you find me?"
The woman smirked, "Let's just say I have a talent for searching out dueling mercenaries."
"Well, keep looking sweetie," He replied, "It's what got me landed in here."
"Oh yes, you tried to kidnap two kids in yellow uniforms of Duel Academy," The miko declared, earning a gasp from the prisoner, "Did I hit a nerve... Striker?"
A bigger gasp came from the prisoner who was now identified, "How did you know my name?"
"From my brother, a talented tarot reader who's cards told me about you."
"Okay, I don't know whether to be freaked out or angry," Striker said, holding in his anger, "Just get to whatever you're here for..."
"Alright, I'm here to bail you out of jail," the miko stated, "Provided you work for me... consider it a community service on your part."
"And what exactly do I have to do as far as working for you," Striker asked.
"I have a group of eight young people who need some education on the Monarch monsters. That's where you come in... And seeing as you're an expert..."
"I'm the perfect guy for the job..." Striker figured, "Sounds promising..."
"And just to show you my gratitude, I can even give you the highest power of the Monarchs to serve you well."
The Monarch duelist developed a big grin, "You got yourself a deal, Miss..."
"Sarina..."
(End Flashback)
"It's time to introduce and reintroduce myself to the kids," Striker grinned as he leapt off the bridge and started to flip acrobatically into the dark skies, "OH CHILDREN!"
That shout got everyone's attention, even waking up Aster and Masaki in the trailer. The Monarch duelist landed perfectly on the bonfire with such force, he put out the flames and left the area in the dark again.
"Hello everybody!"
"Hey, what's the big idea," Claudio snapped.
"Yeah, bro," Jaden added, "Ever hear of asking to invite yourself?"
"Hey, what's going on," Masaki asked as he and Aster ran over.
"This guy decided to butt in on our conversation and nearly burned us with the bonfire," Jachin snapped.
"Who is this guy, anyway," Aster wondered.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Striker apologized, but with a grin, "You don't who I am right? Well here's a hint..."
The Monarch duelist activated his duel disk that activated its tray like a scythe and set five monster cards on it. In five flashes, he summoned Mobius the Frost Monarch, Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, Granmarg the Rock Monarch, Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch and Raiza the Storm Monarch!
Everyone gasped, "The Monarch monsters!"
But Claudio growled and narrowed his eyes, "Striker!"
"We have a winner," Striker grinned, "I was sure that my Monarchs would give it away... after all I don't have my blindfold on for dramatic effects!"
"You mean that's the guy who had it in for you and Melody," Jethro asked the J-Hero duelist.
"The same," Claudio replied, "Back in that Abandoned Dorm, Jaden and I had to deal with two guys passing themselves off as Shadow Duelists when they kidnapped Alexis and Melody. I dealt with him then, but Melody had to deal with a second time. Luckily, Jethro and Kenji saved us and had him hauled away to the prison."
"So I'm guessing he's an escaped convict now," Alexis figured.
"Just say the word, guys," Jachin said as he activated his duel disk, "I'll bring out the Calvary."
Striker grinned as he pulled another black device, "No play time for you, any of you!"
When the Monarch duelist pressed a button the device, it emitted a red electromagnetic wave that stunned the Persona duelist's duel disk and shut it down completely!
"Hey, my duel disk," Jachin cried as he tried to reactivate it, "What!"
"Sorry kids, I'm only allowing one person to fight me," Striker stated as he pointed out to the one he wanted, "And that's you, Jaden!"
The E-Hero duelist pointed to himself, "Me?"
"I didn't stutter, little man," the Monarch duelist smiled as he took his Monarch cards off the duel tray and reshuffled them into his deck, "Because, I have more of advantage over you... four of your friends!"
"So, are you the leader of this Light Brigade group that came after all of us," Lyra asked angrily.
"More like students of mine to wield just one each," Striker stated, "Now Jaden, duel me and I'll tell them where your friends are... lose and you'll be imprisoned with along with them! And don't worry, your duel disk works, I just shut down the rest..."
"Fine then," Jaden declared as he activated his duel disk, "Get your game on!"
Striker laughed as he back-flipped a few feet away to give some room for the duel, "Let's see what you're made of kid! My ultimate Monarch deck will destroy you!"
Both players drew their opening hands.
Striker: 8000
Jaden: 8000
"But I'm going first," Striker announced as he drew his sixth card and quickly set two on the disk, "I set monster facedown in defense mode and one card facedown..."
A reversed monster appeared in front of Striker, along with another facedown card.
"It's your move, kid..."
"You brag about your ultimate deck and this is the best you got," Jaden wondered as he drew his sixth card and took another card to place on his duel tray, "Whatever works for you, I suppose. I'll start with Elemental Hero Heat in attack mode!"
In a flash of light and flames, the male hero of fire appeared, flexing his muscles and roared. (4/1600/1200)
"And for every Elemental Hero on my field, he gains 200 extra ATK," The Slifer continued as Heat's core started to flare up and surrounded him in a burning aura. (4/1600-1800/1200) "Now burn up his facedown monster and let's see who it is!"
Heat's right arm was set aflame as he rushed the facedown monster and slammed it down, destroying the card image in pixels. But before Jaden could cheer, the pixels reformed itself into a small, pinkish-white blob with an upside-down face and blushing cheeks. (3/300/500)
"Uh oh, Jaden revealed Marshmallon," Masaki gasped.
"And that means Jaden will lose 1000 life points, plus that monster still gets to stick around," Aster added, "Already he's off to a bad start..."
Striker grinned as he pointed at Jaden, "Now Marshmallon, take a bite out of the little squirt!"
Hearing its master's command, the blob launched itself in the air and then opened its mouth to reveal its razor, sharp teeth. Everyone started to freak out as the blob took a huge bite into Jaden's leg, making him cry out.
Striker: 8000
Jaden: 7000
"That had to be painful," Solomon cringed.
The Neos duelist shook off the pain and then inserted another of his cards into the duel disk, "I'll throwdown a facedown to end my turn."
A reversed card appeared in front of Jaden's feet.
"Let's see you get out of this," Striker yelled as he drew his next card and scanned his hand. 'This will be good if I can get out the right cards...' "I'll place two cards facedown..."
The monarch duelist set two reversed cards right next to his first, and immediately played another one from his hand...
"And let the fun begin, with Card of Sanctity," He continued as he played a spell card showing two soldiers using their helmet to catch gold coins raining from the sky, "But before we get to that, I'll activate a quick-play spell card from hand known as Double Cyclone," Striker played another cards showing a red tornado and a yellow tornado, crossing each other's paths, "And finally, I'll activate the final card in my hand, Chain Summoning!"
Everyone gasped seeing the final spell card showing Field-Commander Rahz pulling the Invader of Darkness out of the Dimensional Fissure in the artwork.
"I could only use this card during a Chain Link 3," Striker explained, grinning, "But this is worth it for now, I can Normal Summon three times this turn!"
"And when Card of Sanctity resolves, there's no telling what he'll bring out next," Jachin exclaimed, "Jaden's in for a rough night!"
Chain Summoning shined blue as it vanished...
"Now for Double Cyclone's effect," the Monarch duelist continued, "I'll destroy your lone facedown card and one of my own cards as well, like Card of Sanctity! Lucky for me, the effect will still resolve, letting us both draw..."
Suddenly, a red cyclone flew in from behind Striker and destroyed Jaden's facedown card, revealing to be Mirror Gate. Then, a yellow cyclone flew in from behind and destroyed Striker's Card of Sanctity. Finally, Striker drew a full six while Jaden drew 2 cards from Card of Sanctity's effect. The former grinned like a madman at his hand.
"Kid, you are dancing on thin ice with me," Striker said as he played his first card, "I'll summon forth the Phantom Skyblaster in attack mode!"
Flying to the field, was a small winged demon with blue wings and shoulder armor. On its back were two small cannons. (4/1100/800)
"And by summoning him, I can summon duplicates with 500 ATK and DEF for every monster I currently have... meaning two more are coming!"
Rising out of the ground, two small duplicates of the Phantom Skyblaster appeared and crouched down on the field. (4/500/500) x2
"He's easily summoned three monsters without losing anything," Aster stated, "This guy is good with his main monsters are 8 Level 5 and 6 Monarchs which aren't easy to summon..."
"And that Phantom Skyblaster was just the first summoning," Bastion added on. "Meaning he has two more Normal Summons left to use...
"Your friends are right, red," Striker stated as he held up his second card, "One of the tokens must go as I summon Mobius the Frost Monarch in attack mode!"
The Skyblaster token shattered into pieces as a cold blizzard settled in.
"What's going on here," Masaki asked as he shivered from the cold, "A-A blizzard and it's not even winter!"
The Monarch duelist grinned as his white armored and blue caped Monarch appeared, walking through the thick of the storm. (6/2400/1000)
"Is he somehow making the blizzard come to life with these Monarchs?" Alexis wondered.
"I hope the cold isn't too brisk for you all," Striker smirked, "And I'll activate Mobius' special ability to destroy one of my facedown cards, my Dormant Volcano!"
Everyone watched as the blizzard converged onto one of his facedown cards and broke it down into shards of ice.
"Now because it was destroyed, you take 300 points of damage!"
Suddenly, a red crack in the ground appeared under Jaden and blasted him with a searing heat as he covered his face with his arms.
Striker: 8000
Jaden: 6700
"Next, for my third and final Normal Summon, I summon Caius the Shadow Monarch by sacrificing my second Skyblaster Token!" Striker announced again as the token got sucked into a dark vortex which appeared in the sky and the demon-faced Monarch emerged and landed on the ground with a giant stomp. (6/2400/1000)
"And I'll use his effect to remove one card on the field from play..." He continued, pointing up to the dark vortex that still inhabited the sky.
Jaden cringed as he looked at his Elemental Hero with remorse, 'Without Heat, I'll be wide open for a triple attack!'
"Phantom Skyblaster, out of my sight..."
Jaden and the spectators raised an eyebrow as the dark vortex violently sucked in the main Skyblaster fiend into the void.
"Why would you remove your own monster like that," Jaden asked.
"Since I removed a DARK monster from the game, you take another 1000 points, kid," the Monarch duelist grinned, "I like to make the best of my monster's effects, and I'll introduce you to world of hurt now!"
The dark vortex launched a black lightning bolt, shocking the Slifer Red duelist.
Striker: 8000
Jaden: 5700
"Now, let's bring out the pain to your monster... Caius, destroy his Elemental Hero with Shadow Spirits!"
The Monarch created a dark, glass orb above him and fired vengeful spirits to strike down the flaming Elemental Hero, leaving Jaden defenseless.
Striker: 8000
Jaden: 5100
'This is gonna hurt...' Jaden thought as he put his duel disk as a shield.
Striker then pointed up to his Frost Monarch and laughed, "And Mobius, put the freeze on him with Ice Lance!"
The Frost Monarch conjured up a sharp lance made of ice and then threw it right through the Neos duelist's gut as it went transparent. Still, Jaden felt the aftershocks of the attack, making him fall to his knees.
Striker: 8000
Jaden: 2700
The Monarch duelist shook his head with disgust and said to himself, "This is the kid my clients want me to test? He's not even worth my time... In one more move, I'll rip this kid's life points apart..."
"What's your rush, pal," Jaden asked as he staggered to his feet, "I still have life points left and last I checked, this game is still on."
"Whatever kid... you expect to save your friends but I'm dropping you like a fly," Striker stated. "And if you think you can change things around in one move, I'd like to see it... I end my turn here."
"Alright, my turn," Jaden grunted as he drew his next card, he then scanned his seven-card hand, "Alright, I'll have some sweet moves coming at ya soon..."
"I hope you do," Claudio said, unsure of the Slifer's moves, "You're going up the creek without a paddle on this turn."
"Okay, first, I'll summon Elemental Hero Stratos in attack mode," Jaden announced as he placed the card on his disk, bringing the blue armored, flying hero took to the skies. (4/1800/300)
"And his special ability brings out another Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand," He informed as he took out his deck and searched through it, taking one card from it and showing it off. "I'll bring Elemental Hero Neos to my hand!"
"That's good, he's got his new ace in his hand," Masaki stated, "If he can easily summon it out to the field with his Neo-Spacians, he'll get himself out of the gutter."
Jaden then held up another spell card in his hand, "Then, I activate Miracle Fusion to fuse my Stratos on the field and Heat in my graveyard!"
Heat emerged from the graveyard and entered a blue vortex along with Stratos and merged together.
"I summon my new Elemental Hero Nova Master!"
The blue vortex turned red as lava poured out of it and created a puddle in front of Jaden. Next, it rose up and started to form a human-shape that solidified into black coal. It then broke apart to reveal a red armored warrior with shoulder, armguards and helmet fashioned to look like flames and carried a red cape on the back. (8/2600/2100)
"Another Nature-based hero," Bastion exclaimed, "And with those attack points, he has the strongest monster on the field."
"But the problem is that he can't get rid of all the monsters," Aster pointed out, "Especially that Marshmallon, since it can't be destroyed in battle no matter what."
"Finally, a monster to provide a challenge for my Monarchs," Striker stated as looked at the flame-based hero without emotion. "So, which one are you going to take down?"
"I plan on taking down both with the spell card, Hero Heart," Jaden announced as he played a spell card, showing a blue haired and red caped soldier with arrows stuck inside its armor. He had a determined look on his face as he carried a broken sword and a dagger for battle. "This will cut my Elemental Hero's attack power in half, but allows it to attack twice!"
A crimson aura surrounded the Nova Master, draining his strength. (8/2600-1300/2100)
"Okay, where are you going with this kid," Striker wondered, narrowing his eyes, "You drained your monster's power for a double attack that won't even scratch both my monarchs."
"Just wait and see," The Neos duelist stated as he inserted another spell card into his disk, "I play Elemental Sword and equip it to Nova Master, so when he battles a monster that's not the same attribute as he is, he'll gain 800 ATK!"
A black sword handle suddenly materialized into Nova Master's right hand as he gripped it. Then Jaden, immediately opened up the Field Spell slot of his duel disk to place a card in, "And finally, I activate the field spell, Skyscraper!"
At his word, the slot closed up and all around the city, more Skyscrapers appeared around the buildings that were already there.
"Now I see it," Alexis realized, "Jaden's hero will gain 1800 ATK points when it attacks, meaning both Monarchs are about to bite the dust!"
Striker growled as he braced himself for the fight.
"Okay Nova Master, let's take out his Monarchs starting with Mobius," Jaden announced as Nova Master flew up into the air, "Attack with Magma Blade!"
The E-Hero raised his sword to the sky and a blue light emerged from the handle. (8/1300-3100/2100) Then it dove straight down and sliced at the Ice Monarch with a burning slash, making Mobius burst into flames before shattering into pixels.
Striker: 7300
Jaden: 2700
"And when Nova Master destroys a monster in battle, I can draw a card," The Slifer informed as he drew his card, "Alright Nova Master, time to take down Caius!"
Nova Master took to the skies and changed the blue light on his sword into a black one and then struck down Caius with another burning slash, melting the Shadow Monarch. Jaden then drew another card as his hero's power dropped down again. (8/3100-1300/2100)
Striker: 6600
Jaden: 2700
"And then, I'll set a card facedown to end my turn," Jaden concluded as he put a card into his disk, letting a facedown card appear at his feet, "Also, the effect of Hero Heart is gone, meaning Nova Master's points go back to 2600."
Nova Master's crimson aura vanished, giving him back his original strength. (8/1300-2600/2100)
"Now we have a game, kid," Striker declared as he drew his next card, "Now, remember that Dormant Volcano kid? Its second effect now activates, letting us both pick out a FIRE monster from our decks and put it in our hands!"
Both players then took out their decks, fanned through them and took a monster card out before re-shuffling the decks and putting it back in their duel disks.
Striker held up his card announced, "I pick Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch!"
Jaden did the same and announced, "And I got my Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab!"
"If Striker summons Thestalos, Jaden will possibly lose his monster and get damaged more," Lyra stated.
"I set one monster in defense mode and end my turn," Striker announced as he placed a set monster on his disk, letting it appear next to Marshmallon.
"I'm guessing he'll hold onto it since he doesn't have monster that can topple Jaden's Nova Master," Jethro figured, "Or he may not have a card to boost its strength up."
"Now I'm in the driver's seat," Jaden cheered as he drew his next card, "I summon Elemental Hero Knospe in attack mode!"
After Jaden placed the monster card on the field, the flower bud hero jumped onto the field, waving her arms to the side. (3/600/1000)
"And then Nova Master, destroy his facedown monster! Magma Blast!"
Hearing his master's command, the flame caped hero created a flaming spear and launched it at the facedown monster, revealing it to be a small skeleton in a purple cape, holding up a scythe. (2/300/200) Once the spear struck it, creating a flaming ring around it, the zombie used its scythe to blow it all away.
"Sorry kid, my Spirit Reaper can't be destroyed in battle either," Striker announced, "Even that little plant could hit, but it can't destroy it."
"That's okay, she'll just have to go through you instead," Jaden smiled, "When Knopse is with a fellow hero she's able to attack directly!"
"Great..." The monarch duelist muttered sarcastically.
"Knopse, attack Striker directly with Seed Shot," The hero duelist commanded as the little flower hero launched two giant, yellow seeds from her hands and struck Striker's head.
Striker: 6000
Jaden: 2700
"And whenever Knopse does battle damage, she gains 100 ATK and loses 100 DEF points," Jaden stated as Knopse gained a green aura around it (3/600-700/1000-900), "And I'll leave it at that!"
"Lucky for Jaden, Knopse can't be targeted for an attack if she's with another hero as well," Solomon stated.
"My draw," Striker drew his next card and immediately played it. The artwork depicted a lightning bolt striking through a city, "I use the spell card Lightning Crash, letting me add a Thunder-Type monster to my hand from the deck!"
Claudio gasped as the Monarch duelist retrieved his monster card, "I already know who he's bringing..."
Striker grinned as he held up his monster card, "And here's Zaborg the Thunder Monarch! But don't worry I can't summon it on the turn I play Lightning Crash, so you're free to go on this turn..."
"He passed again," Aster asked, "What's his deal?"
"Yeah, he starts to summon swarms of those things, but then he's holding them out," Masaki added, "Something's up..."
'That's right kids, I've got something else planned for this hero brat,' Striker thought as he eyed his two Monarch cards in his hand and his facedown card, 'I've already got two of the monsters I need and the trigger to pull my ultimate monster into the mix. Two more Monarchs and you're dead!'
"My turn then," Jaden announced as he drew his card again, "I'll send Knospe to attack directly again!"
The flower bud launched another two seeds at the Monarch duelist, who had more common sense to dodge them this time by ducking.
Striker: 5300
Jaden: 2700
Also, Knopse's power continued to shift... (3/700-800/900-800)
"And I'll throwdown a facedown and call it a turn," Jaden concluded as he laid another facedown card on the field.
"And it's my turn again," Striker declared as he drew his next card and grinned, "I place one card facedown and use Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy it!"
As Striker set his facedown card, it was immediately blown away by a typhoon and ripped apart.
"And that was my Drowsing Point trap card! When it's destroyed, I can move a monster from my deck into my hand!"
The Monarch duelist once again searched through his deck and took his choice card before he reshuffled his deck back into the duel disk.
"And it's my Delg the Dark Monarch," He announced, "But I'll keep him in and sacrifice Spirit Reaper for my Zaborg!"
The purple caped skeleton vanished into pixels as a thunderbolt crashed into the earth and brought out the thunder Monarch. (5/2400/1000)
"And by Tribute summoning him, I can destroy one monster on the field," Striker grinned, "Like that Nova Master!"
The thunder monarch charged up and raised his arms to the skies summoning a thunder cloud to smite Jaden's fusion monster.
"And without a hero to protect your weaker one, your plant's going down!"
"Not quite, I reveal my facedown card, Rookie Fight," Jaden interrupted as he flipped over one of his facedown cards. The artwork depicted a Battle Ox charging at a small hero, powering up, "When one of my monsters is sent to the graveyard, I can summon another Elemental Hero that's level 3 or below from my deck!"
"He just saved himself from losing a large amount of points, and he can't afford anymore," Lyra said, looking on.
"And I summon out Elemental Hero Ice Edge in defense mode," The E-Hero duelist declared as he placed the card on his disk. It summoned out a child-like hero wearing white armor, shaped like ice and blue tights. He crossed his arms over his chest to defend himself. (3/800/900)
Striker let out a growl of frustration as he made his next move, "Zaborg, destroy that little ice kid with Electric Judgment!"
The Thunder Monarch once again gathered up a large amount of electricity and fired it at the ice hero.
"And here's trap number two," Jaden said, activating his second facedown card, "Hero Ring! I can equip it on to my Elemental Hero Ice Edge, and he's immune to attacks from monster with 1900 ATK or higher!"
A large red shield appeared on Ice Edge's right arm and used it to block Zaborg's attack.
"Jaden's got himself a wall now," Jethro cheered, "Now Knospe isn't in danger of getting destroyed!"
"That was a close one," Bastion sighed, "Jaden sure has a flair for the dramatics..."
"I'll end my turn," Striker concluded.
"Okay, I draw," Jaden stated as he drew his next card, "First, I'll switch Ice Edge into attack mode..."
Ice Edge stood up, ready to strike...
"Next, I'll discard Elemental Hero Neos to activate Ice Edge's effect," the Slifer continued as he discarded his monster into the graveyard. "It allows him to attack directly and destroy one of facedown spells or traps when he deals battle damage!"
Striker gasped as he looked at his facedown cards, 'One of my cards is key to my plan, if he destroys it, I'm through!'
"Now, Ice Edge, Knopse, double direct attack," Jaden commanded as the plant hero launched another two seeds to Striker's disk, followed by two ice shards fired as his shoulders and shattering Striker's left facedown card.
Striker: 3700
Jaden: 2700
Knopse's green aura continued to grow more power as she did... (3/800-900/800-700)
"Alright, Jaden made it a close game," Allen cheered, "And he even kept it so, he can't be attacked!"
"He's got this duel won," Claudio grinned, "I guess Striker couldn't handle it after being beaten by Melody and I."
Striker narrowed his eyes at the J-Hero duelist, 'Keep talking brat, that card your friend destroyed was something that can be activated in the graveyard... when the time is right... I just need one more card...'
"I'll set these two cards facedown, and take a little break," Jaden concluded as a he put two cards facedown on the field.
"It's my turn," Striker announced, drawing his next card, "I use Pot of Greed to draw two cards!"
The green grinning pot appeared as the Monarch duelist drew two cards, and then shattered.
"It's time kid; I activate Monster Reborn from my hand to revive Mobius the Frost Monarch from the graveyard!"
The ankh of the spell card emerged and shined bright blue, releasing the Frost Monarch from the graveyard. (6/2400/1000)
"And next, I'll sacrifice Marshmallon to summon Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch!"
The white blob jumped into the air and ignited in flames, unleashing the Monarch of Fire onto the field. (6/2400/1000)
"And since you have some cards in your hand, I can destroy one card in your hand," Striker smirked, "And if I hit a monster, you'll lose 100 life points x the level! Ignite!"
The fire monarch snapped his fingers...
"WHOA!"
Suddenly, a flame ignited one of Jaden's cards, turning out to be Bubble Blaster.
"Sorry, but that was a spell card you hit," the Slifer announced as he waved the rest of hand, "Better luck next time!"
"Oh, I have the luck now," The Monarch duelist stated as he held up a spell card from his hand, and I activate the spell card 7 to show it!"
The spell card image appeared, showing a reel slot of a red number 7.
"Now let's end this kid! I activate my facedown card, the Shadow Moon spell card," Striker announced loudly as his facedown card flipped up. It revealed an artwork of a mountain area at night with a full moon in the sky as the water reflected the area on its surface.
"Any idea what that does," Masaki asked Aster.
The D-Hero duelist shook his head as he replied with, "No clue; I never thought he had something that works with all Monarch monsters... that's what I'm gathering from one it does for now."
"Then let's hear about what it does," Solomon suggested as all eyes turned back to the duel.
"Here's how this card works, so pay attention," Striker said as the spell card in question shined, "Since I have 4 monsters on the field and in my hand, that's over level 4 and each of them having different attributes, I can send them all to the graveyard to do two things! So first, adios boys..."
Suddenly, Thestalos, Mobius and Zaborg erupted into pillars of fire, ice shards and thunder. Soon, Striker discarded Delg and a pillar of darkness was added into the mix. The four pillars crossed and covered the Skyscraper field spell.
"Now I can activate the Blue Moon field spell from my graveyard, taking us out of the city," the Monarch duelist shouted as the pillars tore apart the holographic buildings and created a mountain range that was bathed by the blue light of the moon above. "And when this field spell's activated, I can destroy one face-up spell or trap card on both players' fields and turn them into Homunculus Tokens in defense mode!"
Jaden gasped as Ice Edge's shield was destroyed and its remains created a feminine, blue haired stone statue. (2/0/800)
Next, Striker's 7 was destroyed and created another female stone statue on his side. (2/0/800)
"Finally, I can summon my ultimate weapon from my deck, Demiurge Ema!" Striker announced loudly as he slapped the card on his disk. From the blue moon, a golden bird-humanoid monster flew down to the field. Its two large winged arms were equipped with claws on the tip of the right and five spears that served as the entire left arm. It flew on two, clear wings and let out a large 'caw!' (8/3300/2000)
"A monster with 3300 ATK," Jaden gapsed, "That's insane!"
"No, it's just the beginning," Striker grinned, "Demiurge Ema gains 800 ATK for every Homunculus Token on the field, so that means it gains 1600 more attack points. Do the math now!"
Both Homunculus Tokens started to glow blue and transferred their energy to the golden humanoid bird, increasing his own power to an immense number. (8/3300-4900/2000)
"And that's more than enough to destroy your Ice Edge and end this duel," The Monarch duelist grinned as he turned to his golden monster, "Demiurge Ema, destroy him!"
As Demiurge flew up the skies, Jaden revealed his facedown card, "I activate my trap card, Swamp of the Fallen!"
The trap card's artwork showed a warrior being drained of his energy by a white ghost as he trekked through a swamp.
"Now Demiurge loses half his attack points, meaning my life points don't hit zero," Jaden stated as a black aura surrounded Demiruge as it flew straight down at Ice Edge. (8/4900-2450/2000)
"No you don't kid," Striker announced placing a card into his disk, "I activate the quick-play spell card, Cleansing Water from my hand and use it on my Demiurge!"
The spell card revealed a soldier pouring a crystal colored water over his body, washing the fatigue away.
"This allows me to negate all point changes to one face-up monster on my field," He explained as the skies started to get cloudy and rain crystal clear water on Demiurge, restoring its power to normal. (8/2450-3300/2000) "Lucky for you, it means you stay in the game, but Ice Edge is... dead! Along with most of your life points!"
Demiurge fired a yellow lightning bolt from its wings and zapped the small ice hero into pixels. But the damage didn't stop as the lightning struck Jaden, blasting his life points into the red zone.
Striker: 3700
Jaden: 200
Striker laughed, "See all of that kids? My power is absolute now, thanks to those three sisters! And once I'm done with Red, I'll take down the rock and roll brat and the rest of you soon enough!"
"Well, I still got 200 life points to change that," Jaden stated, rising to his feet.
"Then, let's see you do something about it after this facedown card," Striker concluded as he placed a facedown card near his feet. 'Even if he decides to create a powerful monster to best my monster, my Prideful Roar trap card will tear him apart, because I have life points to spare. Once he attacks, I'll activate, pay whatever life points to match his score, then get an extra 300 ATK for the trouble.'
"Jaden, you still got this man," Claudio said to the Slifer, "You always have that saying..."
Jaden turned back to the Ra and nodded, "A duel's not over 'til the last cards played! And I still got faith in my cards as well!"
Solomon gasped once those words left the Neos duelist's mouth, 'That's something Yugi would say,' He thought, seeing the King of Games' image in Jaden.
"Now Striker, watch this," Jaden shouted as he drew out his next card, "I activate O-Oversoul!"
A giant purple O emerged from the spell and dug itself into the ground.
"This revives a normal Elemental Hero from my graveyard, like my Elemental Hero Neos!"
In a bright flash, the Neo –Spacian Hero emerged and raised his fist into the air. (7/2500/2000)
"Next, I'll summon Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird, in attack mode as well!" Jaden continued as a red light zoomed from the skies and struck the ground, revealing the red feathered Neo-Spacian female. (3/800/600)
"Now it's time for a little Contact Fusion," He said as he looked to both of his monsters and shuffled their cards back into the deck, "Go guys, and merge to form Elemental Hero Air Neos!"
Air Hummingbird and Neos took to the skies and combined in a rainbow light. Then, Neos emerged and flew back down, showing off his new look. It was like a tall, muscular version Air Hummingbird except with without the feminine features of her. (7/2500/2000)
"You just summoned a monster with the same points as the original," Striker asked and then laughed, "He still won't hold a candle to Demiurge!"
"He'll burn the whole wax down, because of Air Neos' special ability," Jaden grinned, "Since I'm behind in points, the difference between your score and mine gets added to Air Neos' ATK!"
"And with Striker's 3700 to Jaden's 200, his monster gains 3500 points," Bastion deduced.
"Meaning, Striker's in for a world of hurt," Jethro added on with a grin as Air Neos' power boost skyrocketed by a light green aura around it. (7/2500-6000/2000)
'No, I can't pay that much for Prideful Roar now,' Striker cringed as he looked at the immense power of Neos. But then he calmed down and looked at the lone card in his hand, 'But I'll have some life points left, and once I play this monster on my next turn, I'll have it in the bag...'
"Finally, I'll activate Double Summon to bring out my Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab!"
Striker was interrupted out of his thoughts as the Neo-Spacian of fire appeared in a flaming circle. (3/500/500)
"And for each spell or trap card on your field, she gains 400 extra ATK," Jaden continued as two fireballs from Striker's facedown card and Blue Moon Field Spell ignited from them and fueled Scarab's power. (4/500-1300/500)
Striker gasped, 'I'm sunk!'
"Speechless, right," Jaden asked with an angry glare at the Monarch duelist. And then he pointed to his Neos monster, "Now Air Neos, attack! Destroy his Demiurge with Cosmic Wind!"
Neos flew up into the skies to meet Demiurge and then beat his wings at sonic speed, creating a razor, white windstorm, tearing the golden monster into ribbons. Striker defended himself from the smoke and debris that blew past him with his disk.
Striker: 1000
Jaden: 200
"And since your Demiurge bit the dust, your tokens have to go as well," Jaden stated as both Homunculus tokens shattered, "And that means your life points are wide open for Flare Scarab's Flaming Arrow attack!"
On cue, Scarab took to the skies and gathered up fire in the palms of her hands and launched it straight into Striker's body, making him fly back a few feet land on his back with a thud.
Striker: 0
Jaden: 200, Winner
All the holograms disappeared as the nighttime city came back into view.
"Jaden wins, yet again," Masaki grinned.
"Yeah, yeah," Aster added.
Solomon looked at Jaden in thought, 'Does he possess the same spirit as Yugi?'
Jaden and Claudio then ran up to the Monarch duelist and held him up.
"Alright spill, where did you hide our friends," Claudio asked with an angry tone in his voice.
Striker groaned, "I have no clue..."
"No use lying," Jaden countered, "Now where are they?"
"It's true, I don't know," the Monarch duelist protested, "I was just told by those three sisters just to say that, beat down my opponents and leave no witnesses..."
"Great, now who do we turn too," The J-Hero duelist grumbled.
Suddenly, a sinister pink light flashed behind Striker. The Monarch duelist gasped as he slowly turned his head around seeing the Mirror of Duality behind him, casting the light.
"Oh crap..." He muttered.
"It's that light," the Hero duelists exclaimed, but then were surprised that the other one knew.
"AAAHHH!"
Everyone gasped as Striker was sucked inside the mirror and vanished. Then, tiny white sparkles flew across the skies and created numerous rectangular mirrors around.
"Aster..." Masaki whispered.
"I know, it's them...," Aster added.
Three of the mirrors closest to Jaden and Claudio revealed a little girl and two young women. The left-side mirror showed the little girl with short, black hair wearing a grey sweater dress, black stockings and dress shoes. She carried a red teddy bear close to her that was carrying a hand mirror close to it.
The right-side mirror showed the raven-haired woman wearing a red, long sleeved dress that went down to her knees and knee-length boots. She had a cold stare in her eyes.
Finally, the middle mirror revealed a woman with her raven-colored hair arranged in ponytail. She wore the ceremonial red and white clothes of a miko with sandals and round earrings.
"Jaden, we finally meet," the middle woman greeted, "An impressive victory over our strongest subordinate, it shows the incredible power you have..." She then turned to Claudio, "And you Claudio, my sister has told me all about your victory over T-Bone."
Claudio glared and growled at the miko, "So you guys are the ones who did that! For what?"
"To see why our dear brother is so interested with the two of you," the woman in the right-side mirror stated.
"And you two are very strong," the little girl smiled, "Even Mr. Bear thinks so!"
"Who are you," the E-Hero duelist demanded.
"Oh, forgive our indiscretion," the miko smiled as she bowed slightly, "I'm Sarina..."
"Makoto," The woman in the right mirror introduced.
"My name's Hanabi," the little girl in the left mirror exclaimed.
"Alright, what do you want with us," Claudio demanded.
The sisters chuckled as they showed another mirror, revealing Syrus, Hassleberry, Vincent and Allyson strapped and sealed inside a purple virtual reality pods, not moving an inch.
Jaden and Claudio gasped, "It's them!"
"Would you like to see them again," Makoto asked, "They are waiting for you two to rescue them."
"And Aster and Masaki have to come too," Hanabi added.
"Say what," Masaki gasped.
"Why us," Aster asked.
"For the tests, we set up for all four of you," Sarina replied, "You see, Sartorius may have been wrong and that you two maybe the ones he needs, if Jaden and Claudio prove to be mediocre..."
"But we'll find out, once you all get to Kaibaland in the morning," Makoto stated.
"And once you get there, we all get to play," Hanabi cheered.
Then, all the mirrors around them shattered in the sky.
"Just what was that all about," Bastion asked.
"We found out who sent those duelists after us," Jethro stated.
"And we also know where the others are being kept," Jachin added.
"And the final part of it all is that we can get them back by going to Kaibaland," Claudio stated.
"But it's probably closed by now," Lyra stated, "So like they said, we'll have to wait until the morning."
"Now we all just need to find a place to crash," Allen added.
"I can have you all sleep over at my place," Solomon offered, "But some of you must sleep on the floor...
"Fine with me," Jaden stated, "Before the Slifer Dorm got an upgrade my mattress could pass off as the floor!"
"If we're in a safe and secure neck of the woods," Bastion said.
"Don't worry, it's away from the Society," Claudio assured him. "I got the ultimate protest push from them once we got to the hotel."
"Bad, huh," Masaki figured.
"At least I have a trailer," Aster said as he walked off, "And you don't want me locking you out, Masaki, get a move on."
The S-Hero duelist shrugged as he followed the Pro duelist, "Later guys!"
"Looks like we'll have to bunk with them," Alexis said to Claudio, "Beats running a lot of blocks away towards the apartments where everyone else is at."
"At least we'll be alright," the J-Hero duelist said.
"Then it's settled," Solomon finalized. "We go to Kaibaland in the morning."
"Right!"
Alright, it's almost time baby, the final tag matches of the Domino City Arc!
Elemental Hero Nova Master
FIRE
Warrior/Fusion/Effect
Level 8
2600/2100
1 "Elemental Hero" monster + 1 FIRE monster
This monster cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, draw 1 card.
(This is card is not yet released in the US, but in Japan for the OCG version. All rights go to the creators.)
Lightning Crash
Normal Spell
Effect: Add 1 Thunder-Type monster from your Deck to your hand. You cannot Summon that monster this turn.
Shadow Moon
Normal Spell
Effect: Send 4 Level 5 or higher monsters with 4 different Attributes from your hand or your side of the field to the Graveyard. Activate 1 "Blue Moon" from your hand, Deck or Graveyard. Then, Special Summon 1 "Demiurge Ema" from your Deck or Graveyard.
Blue Moon
Field Spell
Effect: This card can only be activated with "Shadow Moon". When you activate this card, destroy 1 face-up Spell or Trap Card on each player's side of the field, then Special Summon 1 "Homunculus Token" (Fairy-Type/LIGHT/Level 2/ATK 0/DEF 800) to each player's side of the field in Defense Position. "Homunculus Tokens" cannot be Tributed for a Tribute Summon.
Demiurge Ema
LIGHT
Fairy/Effect
Level 8
3300/2000
This card gains 800 ATK for each "Homunculus Token" on the field. When this card is destroyed, destroy all "Homunculus Tokens" on the field.
(These four cards were used by T-Bone in the GX episode: J-Dawg and T-Bone. All rights go to the creators of the episode.)
Next Time: Off to Kaibaland! But first, they have to get through the ticket booth and with some SOL members deployed as the security. And that's where Jethro and Alexis come in