Chapter 40: Brilliant Defiance

In the Ruins Field, Sora and Julia's duel got underway.

"Since this will be your last duel in your life, I'll be nice and let you go first."

"Gee, thanks. I'll begin by playing Gem Knight Alexandrite (1800/1200) in attack Mode! But I'll use his special ability to trade him in for a Gem Knight Normal Monster in my deck, so say goodbye to Alexandrite and say hello to Gem Knight Crystal (2450/1950) in attack mode!"

Sora laughed coldly at Julia's play.

"This is a joke, right? Not only are you using your pathetic Gem Knight Deck that I torched last time, but the best you can do is a normal monster?"

"Don't judge a book by its cover, Sora. I'll start by playing three cards face down and end my turn."

"Let me show you how a real Fusion duelist makes a first turn. I draw! And to start, I summon Fluffal Mouse (100/100)! And I can use his special effect to special two more to my field."

Julia's eyes narrowed as the three mice bounced onto the field.

"Three weak monsters in attack mode? You're up to something."

"Nothing gets past you, does it? I'll start by activating the Polymerization, using my Edge Imp Sabres and my three mice to Fusion summon Frightfur Tiger (1900/1200)! And I can destroy cards on the field up to the number of monsters I used to summon him, so I'll use him to wipe your entire field."

Frightur Tiger leapt, saws and blades ready for the kill, but Julia was prepared.

"I activate my Forbidden Chain, negating your kitty's effect and preventing him from attacking."

Strong chains wrapped around the tiger, forcing him back to Sora's field as it tried in vain to escape. Sora grunted, infuriated that his plan had been foiled.

"I'll end my turn with two cards face down. Your move."

Julia silently drew her card, barely looking at it before she put her plan into motion.

"I summon Gem Knight Tourmaline in attack mode (1600/1800)! But he won't be around for long, because I play Particle Fusion to fuse my two Knights into Gem Knight Topaz!"

Sora chukled as the bronze Gem Knight swiped his Tonfas at him.

"So what? Even without his attack bonus, my Tiger is still to strong, and unlike last time there's no Fusion Weapon in your hand to save him!"

"I don't need Fusion Weapon. Particle Fusion takes one of the monsters I used to summon Topaz and gives their attack points to him."

"What?!"

"So Crystal's 2450 attack points go right to him (1800-2450). This duel is over. Gem Knight Topaz, tear his tiger to shreds!"

Topaz swiped one of his weapons, sending a shot of energy right at the trapped tiger, but Sora was ready.

"You're right, this is over...for you! I activate Magic Cylinder, sending the attack right back at you."

Julia didn't even flinch as her attack got redirected, spotting an action card on a pillar nearby. Knowing she didn't have much time, she started hopping across the pillars to reach it. Realizing what she was after, Sora ran after her.

"Oh no you don't!"

Within minutes, they were both right across from it, the duel coming down to one last desperate grab. Leaping, Sora reached for it...

Only for Julia to grab it first, kicking Sora right int the gut as he fell.

"I activate the action card Acceleration, meaning I'm still in this duel!"

The energy wave swung away, hitting a collapsing pillar and reducing it to rubble. Julia glared down at Sora, who was spared by falling into a crevice by the barriers of the field.

"And don't forget, Topaz can attack twice per turn, so I win after all. Topaz, lets try this one more time!"

Topaz leapt forward, cleaving the chained beast with one fell swoop of his Tonfa, causing Sora to grind his teeth.

Sora: 1650

"And don't forget, when Topaz destroys your monster, you lose life points equal to your monster's attack points. Say goodbye!"

Topaz shot a beam of energy right at Sora, ready to finish him off, but Sora was quick to the punch.

"I activate Fusion Guard! Sorry, but by sending a random Frightfur from my Extra Deck to the graveyard, I get to keep in the duel."

An illusion of Frightfur Bear provided Sora protection from the attack before it shattered. Julia glared down at him before running off to find more action cards.

"My turn's over, and my Topaz's attack goes down to normal (4250-1800)."

Grinning like a mad ma, Sora jumped up, using the walls of the crevice to boost himself to the edge and back on solid ground.

"I draw! Perfect, I summon Edge Imp Frightfuloid. Now for the big finale, I activate Frightfur Fusion, banishing Edge Imp Frightfuloid, Frightfur Tiger, and Frightfur Bear! Remember this guy? I hope so, because he remembers you, and he's ready for revenge! Come forth, Frightufr Chimera!"

With a massive roar, the massive Chimera from their last duel emerged, cracking the Earth greatly. Julia, however, remained silent.

"Scared into silence, eh? I don't blame you, especially since you don't have-"

"Are you going to duel, or would you rather bore me into submission?"

Infuriated, Sora clenched his fist before continuing his turn.

"Alright, you asked for it! Frightfur Chimera, destroy her Topaz!"

Seeing an Action Card nearby, Julia ducked and grabbed it, glancing at it briefly before placing it in her hand.

"Grab a good one? Too bad, because you can't use it when Chimera attacks."

Chimera knelt down and grabbed the knight in its mouth, swallowing him whole, and yet Julia still remained stoic to Sora's fury.

Julia: 3000

"And when Chimera destroys a monster, it gets added to my side with half its attack points (1800-900), plus he gets a 300 point boost (2800-3100). Now Topaz, attack your former master!"

Topaz swung his tonfa at her, Julia just barely ducking underneath the swing.

Julia: 2100

"And again!"

Julia: 1200

Despite now being behind in life points, Julia refused to break a sweat, only infuriating Sora farther.

"I think I've caused enough suffering for now, but to be safe I equip Chimera with Rarengold Armor, making him the only monster you can attack. Go ahead and take your last turn, but just know that no matter what you do I'll when next turn."

Julia just drew her card, only breaking eye contact briefly to look at her card.

"I activate Pot of Greed, drawing two cards."

Julia looked at her new cards before returning her gaze to her opponent.

"This duel is over."

"Giving up already? Not that I blame you, but just know that if you do you'll spend the rest of your life as a piece of cardboard."

"On the contrary, I'm going to win. I activate the spell card Brilliant Fusion! This spell card allows me to Fusion Summon by sending Gem Knight monsters straight from the deck to the graveyard."

"What? From your deck?"

"I send Gem Knight Garnett, Sapphire, and Emerald to Fusion Summon Gem Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond (3400/2000)."

A beautiful woman draped in armor made out of dazzling diamonds emerged, swiping her sword boldly.

"There's no way you can fusion summon for free like that. There has to be some kind of catch!"

"For once, you're right. Normally, a monster summoned by Brilliant Fusion loses all of its attack and defense points, but by discarding a spell from my hand, such as the Evasion I picked up last turn, her points return to normal (3400-0-3400/2000-0-2000)."

When Sora realized what card she grabbed, something clicked in his brain.

"Wait a minute, why didn't you use that last turn? You would've stayed in the lead."

"Because I didn't need to, that's why. Why should I waste an action card on a wimpy attack like that?"

"Why I oughta-"

"I activate Fragment Fusion. With this trap card, I can banish from my graveyard monsters on a Gem Knight Fusion monster to Fusion Summon it! So I banish Sapphire and Tourmaline to Fusion Summon Gem Knight Prismaura (2450/1400). Next, I activate Prismaura's effect to discard Gem Knight Iolite to destroy your Chimera."

"What?!"

With a burst of lightning from Prismaura' sword, Chimera exploded into bits.

"This duel is over. Brilliant Diamond, take out Topaz and put Sora out of his misery."

Realizing he was screwed, Sora ran in an attempt to find an Action Card, only for Prismaura to block his way. With no way out, Sora could only watch as his monster, as well as his life points, disappeared.

Sora: 0000

Julia wins!

Sora collapsed to the ground in disbelief as Julia advanced on him. Realizing he was out of luck, Sora tried to escape back to the Fusion Dimension...

Only to have a duel anchor hit his duel disk dead on, disabling his escape route. with a sharp tug, Julia forced him to her.

"Now, time for you to speak up. What does Leo Akaba want with this campaign?"