Chapter 9: Tag Duel Mayhem
Ricardo's Turn
Ricardo & Jared's LP: 4500
Ricardo's Hand Size Before Draw Phase: 4 Cards
"I draw! I switch Element Doom to defense mode and set this monster face-down. After that, I set this card face-down to end my turn." Ricardo increased his defenses. He's putting both of his monsters in defense mode... What can we do against that? Sure, we can get through them eventually, but those two will get face-down cards on the field to use against us. Jack, please get us through this...
Jack's Turn
Nepgear and Jack's LP: 4100
Jack's Hand Size Before Draw Phase: 3 Cards
"Alright! Better watch out, cretins! It's my turn, I draw! Red Dragon Archfiend may be removed from the game, but that doesn't mean you're safe from me and Nepgear. I activate the spell card, Polymerization! I'm able to fuse two or more monsters together that are either in my hand, or on our side of the field. I fuse Big Piece Golem and Medium Piece Golem together from my hand! I fusion summon... Multiple Piece Golem!" Jack brought out his latest behemoth. A fusion summon... so that's what it looks like... "I think it's time that I grind one of your monsters into dust. Multiple Piece Golem, attack Element Doom!" He declared. "Hrgh-!" Ricardo's body jumped slightly. "With that abomination destroyed… I end my turn." He finished.
Jared's Turn
Ricardo & Jared's LP: 4500
Ricardo's Hand Size Before Draw Phase: 2 Cards
"I draw! Hah! ... I set a monster, switch Field Commander Rahz to defense mode, and end my turn. No more, no less. Bring it." Jared set down. This is getting annoying… but there's nothing we can do to alleviate this monster roadblock. Regardless, I must try and break this as quickly as possible!
Nepgear's Turn
Nepgear and Jack's LP: 4100
Nepgear's Hand Size Before Draw Phase: 3 Cards
"We'll… break your defenses somehow, I draw! Psychic Nightmare, attack Jared's face-down monster!" I attacked. "Hrgh-!" Jared covered himself. "I end my turn from there and Psychic Nightmare's attack points return to normal." I said.
Ricardo's Turn
Ricardo & Jared's LP: 4500
Ricardo's Hand Size Before Draw Phase: 3 Cards
"I draw! … I activate the spell card, Harpie's Feather Duster! This spell destroys all of the spell and trap cards you two have built up." Ricardo activated. "What?! You've gotta be kidding me!" Jack reacted to that. "Oh, but I don't kid…" He said. "Dammit, there goes our defenses…!" Jack covered himself from the wind produced by Ricardo's spell card. I did the same, feeling the incredibly strong wind. "That's not all, Jack. I activate another spell card: Lightning Vortex! By discarding one card from my hand, all face-up monsters you two control are destroyed. "Ah-! Multiple Piece Golem, no...!" Jack lost his golem. "Psychic Nightmare...!" I shielded my eyes from Lightning Vortex's flash. "Next, I flip summon Newdoria and also switch Opticlops to attack mode. With that, I will have both of my monsters attack you two directly!" He sicked his fiends on us. "Gyaaaaah!" Me and Jack screamed as we both hit the ground. "How pathetic, you two only have 100 life points left… It looks like you will be taken into our custody. I end my turn.
Jack's Turn
Nepgear and Jack's LP: 100
Jack's Hand Size Before Draw Phase: 1 Card
"*pant* ...I draw! ... When desperate times come, cards like this one are warranted to be used! I summon Backup Resonator! When this monster is summoned to the field, I can summon a level four or below non-tuner fiend type monster from my deck. Come forth, Mad Archfiend! The catch though is that when the monster summoned with Backup Resonator's ability leaves the field, it's banished instead of being sent to the graveyard. But that is perfectly fine for me; Backup Resonator is a tuner monster. I tune level three Backup Resonator with level four Mad Archfiend... Synchro summon! ... Appear, Exploder Dragonwing! You two better be afraid, because if Backup Resonator is used as synchro material; it grants my synchro monster protection from being destroyed by any special abilities from monsters, or by any trap cards until the end of my next turn. Exploder Dragonwing, attack and destroy Ricardo's Newdoria!" He performed. "Gyah-! I-I would use Newdoria's effect to destroy your dragon, but it can't be destroyed right now... damn...!" He uttered. "Alright! Go, Jack!" I gained some hope. "Unfortunately for me, this is all I can do for now. I end my turn." He ended.
Jared's Turn
Ricardo & Jared's LP: 3300
Ricardo's Hand Size Before Draw Phase: 2 Cards
"I draw! ... I set this monster face-down and end my turn." He set on the field. The amount of set monsters is never going to get lower... there has to be something that we can do to stop that.
Nepgear's Turn
Nepgear and Jack's LP: 100
Nepgear's Hand Size Before Draw Phase: 4 Cards
"... I draw! I set two cards face-down and activate the spell card, Monster Reborn! With this, I can bring back a monster from either side's graveyard. I choose to resurrect my Psychic Elementalist! Furthermore, I summon out Mind Protector in attack mode. Remember that my elementalist is a tuner monster, because I tune level two Psychic Elementalist with level three Mind Protector! I synchro summon… Magical Android!" I summoned. I planned on using it to recover life points, since me and Jack needed more. Hopefully, this can allow us to gain enough life points to wait for Jack to make a comeback… "I end my turn, but not before activating Magical Android's ability! For every psychic type monster that I control, me and Jack gain 600 life points. It's your turn, Ricardo… don't disappoint us." I smirked and taunted him.
Ricardo's Turn
Ricardo & Jared's LP: 3300
Ricardo's Hand Size Before Draw Phase: 1 Card
"... You dare taunt me at a time like this...? Please, you are nothing more than a pathetic girl with no powers in this world, Nepgear! I draw! ... Tch. I switch Opticlops to defense mode, set this monster face-down, and end my turn…" He scoffed. "No... I am NOT pathetic, Ricardo! You'll see! When we get through both your Opticlops and Jared's Field-Commander Rahz, you two will quickly lose this duel!" I made a face that screamed "determination".
Jack's Turn
Nepgear and Jack's LP: 700
Jack's Hand Size Before Draw Phase: 1 Card
"Alright, scumbags... I draw! ... Nepgear, mind if I activate one of your face-down cards?" Jack asked me. "Um... sure?" I allowed him, for I knew he had a plan of sorts. "Thanks. I activate one of Nepgear's traps, Psychokinetic Sacrifice. "In order to activate this: I need to pay up half of our own life points. Hrgh-! Then... I banish a psychic type tuner monster, as well as one or more non-tuner psychic type monsters from our graveyard to summon one of our banished synchro monsters. This will act as though we're doing a synchro summon. I banish level two Psychic Elementalist, and level six Psychic Nightmare...! Return to the field, Red Dragon Archfiend!" Jack summoned back to the field. "N-nice!" I smiled. "Oh no…" Jared shook. "Oh yes... Red Dragon Archfiend, show that Opticlops what you're made of! Attack!" Jack attacked. "I won't allow you! I activate the trap card, Sakuretsu Armor! When you declare an attack with a monster, that monster is destroyed." Ricardo played. "No!" Jack was about to lose his dragon again. Oh no, he's about to lose his Red Dragon Archfiend again! What can I do?! At this moment, I started to hear a voice in my head. This voice was telling me to have Jack activate my other face-down.
Jack's POV
Dammit, I'm gonna lose Red Dragon Archfiend again! There's nothing I can do to stop- "Jack, activate my other face-down, now!" "Wha-?! What good will that do, Nepgear?!" "Just trust me! It's either that or we'll soon lose!" "... Okay, I trust you... ... I activate Nepgear's other face-down card, Mind-Bending Transformation! All I need to do to activate this is to banish a psychic type monster from our graveyard. Next, this card permanently transforms itself into another random trap card! ... Please let this work! We need a good one!" I activated, then prayed. I watched as Mind-Bending Transformation turned into a trap card that I never heard of before. "...! What is this? Assault... ... Heh... Hehehe... HAHAHAHA! It looks like we got lucky, Nepgear! Mind-Bending Transformation has turned into... Assault Mode Activate! Since I have a synchro monster, I can tribute it to summon an Assault Mode version of that monster. I sacrifice Red Dragon Archfiend to fulfill this! And, since I tributed my monster just now... your Sakuretsu Armor no longer has a valid target and it goes to the graveyard!" I rained on Ricardo's parade. "Damn!" He cursed. "Here I go... I assault summon, Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode! Now, since it's still my battle phase… I can still attack with my new dragon. Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode, attack and destroy Ricardo's Opticlops with Assault Powerforce!" I declared. "Hrrgh-!" Ricardo was pushed back. "And now that my new dragon has successfully attacked one of your monsters… all of you and your partner's other monsters are also destroyed! Do it, Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode! Destroy them all with your special ability: Crimson Divebomb!" I used its effect. "Gh-aaaaargh!" Both Ricardo and Jared could barely keep themselves standing.
Nepgear's POV
"G-goodness, Jack... that was incredible!" I was stunned. "We're not out of the woods just yet, Nepgear. Remember: It cost us half our life points to be able to summon back Red Dragon Archfiend. And had we not gotten the perfect trap card from Mind-Bending Transformation… it might've been the end for us." Jack said to me. "Damn you, Jack! You and Nepgear managed to do something that we could never anticipate!" Ricardo grew angry. "Then maybe you two shouldn't have challenged us in the first place, you idiots! ...I end my turn." Jack exclaimed, then sighed.
Uni's POV
"... …" We all looked at the duel that went on, involving Nepgear, and we were shocked. At this moment, we were still inside of that stupid bubble. "... I thought Nepgear had lost this for the both of them…" I gave out a sigh of relief. None of us want to be held in Sylpher's custody. Besides, I don't wanna lose my only true rival when it comes to Shares. … But I... feel like I'm missing something here… I don't know what, but it's this… nagging feeling. It's like my mind is ignoring whatever this thing is and it has to do with Nepgear. Just... what is it? "Uni? Is there something on your mind?" Noire asked me. "Um... well, yeah... ... I was just thinking about what would happen if we do end up in Sylpher's hands." I sort of lied. "My, you shouldn't be fearing the worst outcome, Uni... Nepgear and those guys will get us out of here. Just look at the other duel over there." Vert told me. "Huh? ..." I looked. That Yusei guy has this... white dragon by his side... and Crow has a dragon as don't look like they're having that easy of a time against their opponents either... Still they're better off than how Nepgear and Jack are doing. ... Why does my heart make me...? No. I'm sure that it's nothing. What matters is that Nepgear has to win, otherwise... we're all screwed. "I'm sure that Nep Jr. can pull through somehow." Neptune said calmly as she placed her faith on Nepgear. "I'd hate to be bursting your bubble, Neptune... but it seems unlikely that she will." Noire doubted. "Noire, I have my doubts too... but we can't afford to not have faith in her. We might as well as place some in Nepgear... if we wish for her to win." I said. "Yeah, I'd rather not get screwed over by Sylpher. I don't even wanna think of what they'll do to us if they win." Blanc nodded. "I second that, I didn't even hear one female voice from that bunch. The fact that they seem to be all male is..." IF pointed out before stopping. "..." We stayed silent for that moment, feeling disgusted. "Maybe you should have not said anything about that, Iffy..." Compa told her, feeling awkward. "That sounded rather disturbing to say the least... Anyway, all we can do is cheer Nepgear on, even if she can't hear us." Histoire spoke. "Yes. I don't want Nep Jr. to be coughing out any more blood like what happened earlier, it scares me." Neptune calmly agreed.
Yusei's POV
It was my turn and I thought we were in a rough spot; however, I didn't know at the time how much worse Jack and Nepgear had it than me and Crow. Stardust Dragon was with me and our opponents had no monsters left to defend themselves with. "Stardust Dragon, attack them directly with Cosmic Flare!" I declared. "Auuuurgh!" Our opponents were knocked down. "That's it, Yusei! One more attack, and we win!" Crow cheered me on. "Yeah… ... Hyper Synchron, attack them directly and end this duel!" I attacked once more with my other monster at the time. "Gaaaaaaagh!" Their life points went down to zero. "You two may have won... but if you want the girls in the bubble to be freed, then Jack Atlas and Nepgear need to beat the other team from our side. *cough* *hack*" One of them said. "Oh please, Jack would never lose to the likes of you." Crow told him. The two then faded away. "Let's go find Jack and Nepgear, we need to see how they're doing." I told Crow. "Of course!" Crow nodded. We ran all over the place, trying to find them.
Uni's POV
"I think Yusei and Crow won…" I saw them moving away from where they did their tag duel. "It looks like they did and I can imagine that they are trying to find Nepgear." Histoire assumed. "If only they can see us, we could point them to where they are... but, we're just up too high in the air…" IF was bummed out. "It is unfortunate that we are…" Vert frowned. "Nepgear's duel is making a lot of noise… maybe they can find them with that." Blanc hoped. "That's a possibility, but…" Noire stopped. "Yeah… it's not exactly likely, given how they are searching about." I sighed. "They'll find them eventually, don't worry." Compa tried to lighten up the mood. "For all of our sakes... I hope you're right, Compa." IF said to her.
Jared's Turn
Ricardo & Jared's LP: 3300
Jared's Hand Size Before Draw Phase: 2 Cards
"It's not over yet, I draw! You might have that powerful dragon on your side, but doesn't mean squat in this grand scheme of our leader's. I summon Marauding Captain in attack mode and activate his ability. Since he was summoned to the field, I can summon a level four or below monster from my hand. Here's Rose, Warrior of Revenge! She happens to be a tuner monster as well. I tune level four Rose, Warrior of Revenge with level three Marauding Captain! I synchro summon, Driven Daredevil… in defense mode!" He summoned. "Tch. What's the point of summoning that monster when it's weaker than Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode?" Jack scoffed at it. "Oh, you will see why... I end my turn." Jared ended his turn.
Nepgear's Turn
Nepgear and Jack's LP: 350
Nepgear's Hand Size Before Draw Phase: 0 Cards
"I draw! ... I'll pass my turn, but not before heading over to my end phase where Magical Android's ability grants us 600 more life points. ... From there, I end my turn." I said. I don't need to attack with Magical Android when Jack has Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode. His monster is better for destroying other monsters and it's less risky for me if I don't attack. In addition, we need to recover enough life points to last.
Ricardo's Turn
Ricardo & Jared's LP: 3300
Ricardo's Hand Size Before Draw Phase: 1 Card
"I draw! … I set one card face-down and end my turn. That may be all that I'm doing, but don't underestimate Jared's Driven Daredevil! If you do, you WILL regret it." He told us. "Hah! Like I'm scared of it! It's about to be obliterated by my dragon!" Jack said.
Jack's Turn
Nepgear and Jack's LP: 950
Jack's Hand Size Before Draw Phase: 2 Cards
"I draw! … I summon Twin-Sword Marauder and then attack Driven Daredevil with Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode! Go, Assault Powerforce!" He declared. "Gh-! ... It looks like it didn't work for you. Driven Daredevil can't be destroyed by battle from a monster with higher attack points than it. And... after the battle, Driven Daredevil destroys that monster!" Jared explained. "That doesn't matter, your monster will still be destroyed by my dragon's ability! Crimson Divebomb!" Jack used. Both monsters were destroyed at the same time, causing a big explosion to erupt. "W-woah!" I covered myself. "... Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode may be gone, but it leaves behind a gift for me. Namely: I can summon back Red Dragon Archfiend from my graveyard after Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode is destroyed. Come back to the field, my trusted partner!" Jack summoned it back. "...!" Ricardo and Jared both looked worried. "And lucky for me... I can still attack. Twin-Sword Marauder, attack Ricardo and Jared directly." He attacked again. "Gaaagh!" They screamed. "One more attack... Red Dragon Archfiend, finish these two off with Absolute Powerforce!" He made one final attack. "I will not have us lose! I activate the trap card, King's Consonance! Your attack is negated, then I can banish a tuner and one non-tuner monster from our graveyard whose total levels equal eight or less. Why? So that I can synchro summon a monster, that's why. I banish level four Rose, Warrior of Revenge and level four Field-Commander Rahz to synchro summon... Horax - Dragon of Fiends!" Ricardo stopped the attack and summoned a very scary dragon. This one was more terrifying than Red Dragon Archfiend. "What in God's name…?! That thing is just as strong as Red Dragon Archfiend!" Jack's eyes widened. This new dragon roared with such ferocity and had such an imposing look to it. I shook in fear with what just happened. Not only did he block Jack's attack, but he also summoned this... THING! I take back EVERYTHING I thought about Red Dragon Archfiend! It's approachable compared to Horax! "Horax has a couple of tricks up its sleeve too. As one of them: It gains 200 attack points for every fiend type monster in our graveyard. Well, you do the math... there are five fiends." Ricardo explained one of its tricks. "That's 1000 extra attack points...!" I counted. "Correct. Once again, the girl proves to be a smart one… Horax's attack points go up to 4000!" His dragon's attack points shot up. "Even Red Dragon Archfiend is no match for this… ... I'll place this face-down and end my turn." Jack began to lose himself as he went ahead to set one card down.
Author's Notes: The tag duels still went on, causing issues for Nepgear, Jack, Yusei, and Crow. As it turned out, Yusei and Crow won their tag duel and are now looking for Nepgear and Jack. Ricardo and Jared proved to be tough to defeat, with both of them bringing out their own synchro monsters. All isn't bad though, Jack was able to unleash the power of Assault Mode Activate to convert his Red Dragon Archfiend into an even stronger monster; all thanks to Nepgear's trap. He used it to destroy multiple regular monsters, and even took out Driven Daredevil with its effect. But, that came at the cost of losing Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode. When Jack attempted to deal the final blow, Ricardo activated King's Consonance to negate the attack. This member of Sylpher then used the other quirk of this trap card to summon a synchro monster. The monster came to be known as Horax - Dragon of Fiends. With one of its effects: Horax gained 200 attack points for each fiend that Ricardo and Jared had in their graveyard. This bonus totalled out to be 1000, which added itself to the base 3000 attack the dragon already had. What other tricks could this potentially powerful dragon be hiding? How will Nepgear and Jack take out something like Horax? Next chapter, Chapter 10: Eliminating the Dragon of Fiends.
Story Exclusive Card Bios
Backup Resonator
Card Type: Monster
Level 3 Dark Fiend Tuner Effect
1100 ATK / 200 DEF
Effect - When this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Fiend monster from your Deck. If the monster Special Summoned from this effect leaves the field, banish it instead. A DARK Dragon Synchro Monster that used this card as Synchro Material cannot be destroyed by monster or Trap effects until the end of your next turn.
Psychokinetic Sacrifice
Card Type: Normal Trap
Effect - Pay half of your LP, then banish 1 Psychic Tuner and 1 or more non-Tuner Psychic monsters from your GY; Special Summon 1 of your banished Synchro Monsters whose Level is equal to the total Level of the banished Tuner and non-Tuner monsters. This is treated as a Synchro Summon.
Mind-Bending Transformation
Card Type: Normal Trap
(Had to change up the effect for this one, outside of the story, so that it can be usable for the physical card game, should it ever be made for custom duels.)
Effect - Banish 1 Psychic monster from your GY, then send one Normal Trap from your Deck to the GY; this card's name and effect become that of the sent Trap's.