Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards; I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.
Arc League Championship — Chapter 45: Xyz Lesson Complete; Yuya Sakaki vs. David Pietro
The next day is the beginning of the third round for the Arc League Championship. Fireworks popped in the bright day sky. The crowd is roaring with a lot of energy. The whole stadium is alive to see the top sixteen duelists in the junior class.
Yasuko stands beside Yuya. She looks to her left at the top sixteen junior class competitors for the Arc League Championship. The only one who hasn't shown is Shun Obsidian, leaving only fifteen competitors standing in front of the large crowd. She is surprised to find the Ninja brothers, Moon Shadow and Sun Shadow, all have advanced to the third round after her duel with Lightning Wolf. She notices the four overseas knight duelists, three LDS exchange students, Michio, and the other fisherman stooge that she doesn't know about.
What's been curious to Yasuko is that Shun isn't at the stadium like the other competitors. "Shun's gone missing," she said to Yuya and Zuzu.
"Yeah," said Zuzu. "He's not here."
"Where did Shun go?" Yuya asked, looking around if Shun is close by.
Yasuko is not sure of what is going on. Usually, the tournament would have to be following the standard procedures of tournament regulars—a one-on-one duel. Strangely enough, the sixteen competitors who appear before Nico Smiley is suspicious.
"Thank you for waiting, everybody!" Nico announced, standing in front of the sixteen duelists with a microphone in his hand. "Now, let's get started! But not like how you think because these 16 Junior Class heroes aren't dueling here at the stadium!" Yasuko was unprepared for what Nico had announced suddenly. "They'll be dueling out in the city in a Battle Royal!"
"What?" Yasuko, Yuya, and Zuzu chorused together, confusion comes to their minds.
The whole stadium was also confused about the match setup first before they were excited to hear more.
For Yasuko, she could've sworn that it has the Frontier Games all over again. It wouldn't make many differences. The only thing that matters in this tournament is to survive against other duelists.
"I'll explain the rules," said Nico. "Because when the clock strikes noon—" he turns his attention to the clock where it is already at eleven forty-five, "—the Action Cards will disperse. Now here is the important part. Pendulum cards, created by the Leo Corporation, are hidden throughout the city."
Yasuko can hear Yuya saying, "What?" as Nico continues with the third round rule. "The 16 contestants must each find 2 Pendulum cards before they can begin the duel."
Yasuko sags her shoulders down in disappointment. "Well, that sucks," she commented. "So, not only can Yuya and I aren't allowed to use our own Pendulum cards, everyone else will be getting one."
"Everyone needs Pendulum cards?" Zuzu inquired.
"Furthermore," Nico added. "Under the ante rule, they are allowed to wager their Pendulum cards in their matches. After deciding how many they can wager, the winner gets the loser's Pendulum cards. The time limit is 24 hours."
Yasuko is most shocked that the battle royal will be over more than what she used to last in the Frontier Games. "24 hours?!" she gasped, appalled at how long she must survive in a straightforward battle royal. "What the friggin' hell?!"
Nico didn't hear Yasuko's complaint as he explains more of the rules by showing the Action Field Spell: Quartet of Quandry. "The Field Spell, Quartet of Quandry, will soon activate, dividing the whole city into four forces. The contestants can battle in any area."
The more Nico explains the rules and the setup, the more infuriated Yasuko is. She was expecting a simple battle royal in the tournament, but to make her go out and duel for all day until the end with everybody using Pendulum cards is upsetting to her. "I can't believe this…" she growled. "24 hours? Are you kidding me? Who's the friggin asshole that came up with this shit?"
Yuya turns to Yasuko. "Hey, don't worry," he assured. "We'll be with you."
"Uh, we?"
Zuzu nodded. "Yeah, we'll make it through," she vowed.
Yasuko sighed. "This is not going to be worth my time."
"Alright, in less than five minutes, we will begin!" Nico called. "Contestants, get your duel disk ready!"
Yasuko doesn't have a choice but to roll with the rules that she hates in the Arc League. She swore that when the Arc League Championship is over, she will lay off on dueling for a week. She pulls out her forest green duel disk from her holster, throws it in the air, and catches it with her wrist, attaching itself to her arm. The blue blade forms out, giving an intense glow.
Once every duelist has their duel disks ready and rolling, the duel disks' computer connects everyone. "Battle Royal Mode! Engage!"
The clock is ticking. The countdown is about to come closer. "Now, open the gate!" Nico's word gives the cue for the stands to lift up, making a small narrow passageway over to the Maiami City. The lift stops to leave a wide gap in the passage. Yasuko narrows her eyes, focusing on the entrance of the city.
"Now, the time for talking is over!" Nico exclaimed. "The duelists meet on the battlefield! Along with their monsters, they'll kick the ground and fly in the sky to move around the field! Witness, the greatest evolution of dueling!" He lifts two fingers in the air. "Action…"
"DUEL!" Everyone shouted altogether to start the duel.
Nico snaps his fingers, and the Battle Royal duel begins. The duelists sprint out of the stadium, heading over to the city to find some Pendulum cards. The only person who stops before the passageway was Yasuko Yukihana. The girl knows what she needs to do but bids her time with all the setup—first the Pendulum cards, then the Action Cards, and the Battle Royal.
Yasuko turns her head up to face the LDS tower, probably thinking if Declan might have something to do about it. She can think that maybe he has something involved with the new set up since he is the CEO.
"Declan," Yasuko thought. "What in the hell are you up to?" She does not want to waste her energy as she walks to the city.
"The players cannot duel unless they acquire two Pendulum cards hidden in the city," Nico explained. "They'll wager them in the duel, and the winner gets the Pendulum Cards. IN the end, they'll be ranked on how many cards they have."
Yasuko didn't need to be reminded twice. She isn't in a hurry. It's a simple scavenger hunt to find Pendulum cards that are not of her own. She doesn't like it but learning her experience of the Frontier Games does have its perks. All she needed to do is find more Pendulum Cards and not duel until someone else is good enough. That's simple, right?
Yasuko comes across Yuya and Zuzu looking in some bushes for the Pendulum Cards. "Yello," said Yasuko.
They both turn up after hearing her.
"Hey, have you seen Shun?" Yuya asked.
"Not since this stupid tournament started," said Yasuko. "But he is one of the final contestants, so I would say that he'll show." She faces Zuzu. "Any luck?"
"No, nothing," said Zuzu. "These Pendulum cards could be anywhere."
"No friggin kidding," Yasuko replied. "And this city is huge. I am not going to be wasting my time just by looking for Pendulum Cards."
After finding nothing, Zuzu stands up. "It'll be faster to cover some ground if we split up and search." She turns the other way. As she runs, Yuya suddenly called to her.
"Zuzu!"
Zuzu stops and faces Yuya. "What?"
Yuya makes an assuring smile. "Be careful."
In return, Zuzu makes a smile of her own. "Yeah. You too, Yuya." She then turns over to Yasuko. "And you as well, Yasuko."
Yasuko nodded. "Yeah."
And with that, Zuzu runs off to head down the street to find herself some Pendulum cards, leaving only the two duelists on the street. With Zuzu out of the picture, Yasuko's eyes rove over to Yuya. "Alright listen, I'm not going to wait any longer, so it's time we talk about the Xyz Summon."
Yuya faces Yasuko in surprise. "What? But we're in a tournament," he pointed out.
"Hello? A twenty-four-hour battle royal," Yasuko clarified. "That means a whole day and night sticking my butt in this stupid region, and I'm sure, hell, will not be wasting my time just by doing this." She turns to the street opposite where Zuzu went.
Yuya blinks before deciding to follow through with what Yasuko has for him in the Xyz Summon lesson.
"Let's get the stage set for the players!" Nico's voice speaks off from the microphone. "Action Field on! I activate the Field Spell, Quartet of Quandry!" From above Yasuko and Yuya, two machines suddenly emerged from the building. They turned on along with the other ARC machines popping out everywhere.
The whole city is being turned into searing molten lava with a large volcano in the background.
Yasuko and Yuya are all surprised at how the Battle Royal turned the city into one-fourth of the Action Field consisting of a volcanic world of ashes and lava rivers.
"Well," said Yasuko. "This sucks."
"What?" Yuya inquired.
"About being in a duel tournament for twenty-four hours in the middle of those hazardous environments." She turns to see the lava river. "This really sucks."
Yuya had an unimpressed expression. "You complain about being in a duel for a day?"
"The max is six hours: I can take it, but twenty-four hours? I am not having it." Yasuko turns over to find herself a card in a crack. She stops, Yuya halting too. "What is it? Yuya asked.
"Hold on," said Yasuko. She comes over to the wall and takes out the Pendulum card. "Well, this must be my lucky day." Yasuko shows Yuya her first Pendulum monster that she found. "I found a Pendulum card."
"Same here." Ironically, Yuya also picked up a Pendulum card from a bush nearby. "So now, we each have one, which means we need to get another one if we are to duel."
"Uh no, hello? We're in the middle of a city? It's gonna be a while," Yasuko reminded. "And, I am not dueling you."
Yasuko turns and proceeds to follow the rock path next to the lava river with Yuya close behind. "Yuya, we need to talk," she said. "I want to make you learn the final test of Xyz Summon in a duel, but not from me," said Yasuko.
"And just how are we gonna do that?" Yuya asked.
"Other duelists will come to us, or hopefully to you," Yasuko replied. "As soon as this tournament is over, I am giving dueling a break."
Yuya turned to Yasuko and asked, "You're giving dueling a break?"
"Of course, I have other things in mind," Yasuko answered.
The boy watches Yasuko scout for anything that resembles a card. He has been wondering something that he should have asked a while back.
Dark Anthelion Dragon.
It was the dragon that is getting into his head. He wants to know where Yasuko got the card. Its special abilities are distinctively similar to Dark Rebellion's. He's never seen another monster with similar abilities before. He takes a mental note to compare the differences between his Odd-Eyes Pendulum and Yasuko's Odd-Eyes Phantom. They both are pendulum monsters, but they are unique in their own abilities. What makes Dark Anthelion so different than Dark Rebellion?
"Yasuko," he began. "Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
Yuya was about to ask her about Dark Anthelion Dragon, but he stopped himself because, somehow, it felt that it was something that Yasuko was expecting him to ask, so he questioned her, "Why'd you decided to give me back Dark Rebellion?"
Yasuko turns to the boy with a raised eyebrow. "Why I've decided to give you back Dark Rebellion?" she inquired. She seems to be focused, looking at the ground. "Because I wanted to see my results."
"Your results?" Yuya questioned.
"I've been training you differently than how I've trained Melania on the summoning methods. I wanted to see if this style of training is better than my other one," said Yasuko. "Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon isn't just your test; it's mine too."
Yuya is perplexed. He wasn't aware that Dark Rebellion made such an impact on her as well. It would seem that Dark Rebellion is a challenge that not only he must conquer, but also for Yasuko.
"Hey, you two!" someone called.
Yasuko and Yuya saw someone standing on the higher ground hill of the volcanic rock hill. It was a young man with flaming yellow and red hair flaring upwards and lightly tanned skin with his gold eyes staring down at the two of them with a smirk on his face.
"Looks like you two have two Pendulum cards," said the stranger.
"Uh, actually—" Yuya began.
"We have them," Yasuko interrupted. Somehow, She holds two extra Pendulum cards that she has in her possession.
"Alright!" He jumps to slide himself downhill with Yasuko and Yuya. "My name is David Pietro, and I am an LDS exchange student from Oahu," he introduced. "I've been looking forward to dueling the both of you, Yasuko Yukihana and Yuya Sakaki."
"Not me," said Yasuko, declining on dueling him. "It's Yuya you want."
Yuya is confused. He looks at Yasuko with surprise. "Wait, what?"
Yasuko turned to Yuya and said, "Yuya, David will be your opponent, and you will be on your own in this one."
Yuya is shocked. "What?"
"Oh, so you're going to sit this one out?" David questioned. He held a hand under his chin out of interest. "I'm intrigued. You two are from You-Show, and yet, you are not going to help him?"
"I'm not," said Yasuko. "I'm just expecting something out of him."
David has a satisfied smirk on his face. "Alright then, let's duel, Yuya Sakaki!" He takes out two of his own Pendulum cards he has. "I wager one of my Pendulum cards for a Pendulum card of your own! Will you accept?"
Yuya faces Yasuko, who gives him a nod to accept the duel. Yuya nodded back and takes one of the spare Pendulum cards that Yasuko has for him.
"I accept!" Yuya confirmed.
Yasuko moves back to lean against the rocky hill platform with her back as she folds her arms to watch the duel between Yuya and David.
Both duelists insert their acquired pendulum cards into the decks, and it shuffles them. Once the cards are set, David activates his blue duel disk to emit a yellow-green blade. Yuya responds by starting his own red duel disk, and it pops out the yellow glowing dueling blade.
DUEL:
Yuya Sakaki: LP 4000
VS
David Pietro: LP 4000
"DUEL!" Yuya and David chorused to start their Action Duel Battle Royal. With five cards in their hand, Yuya makes his move.
"I'll take the lead!" Yuya declared. "My turn!"
Turn 1: Yuya (5x cards)
Yuya takes a card from his hand and then Normal Summons Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (ATK 600/DEF 1500). "I summon Performapal Skeeter Skimmer!" The orange water mosquito with a blue magician hat and blue polka-dot bow tie that has a blue-green boat as the body emerges on the field. Yuya takes out another card and then activates the Spell Card: Upstart Goblin. "I then activate the Upstart Goblin spell! It lets you gain 1000 life points, and I get to draw a card!"
Yasuko raises an eyebrow with some intrigue. Like her, Yuya is taking the risk of increasing his opponent's life points to draw a card.
(David: LP 4000 → 5000)
Yuya takes a peek at the card that he has drawn and smirked with satisfaction. "Now, I activate this! The Continuous Spell, Bubble Barrier!" The Continuous Spell Card: Bubble Barrier appears on Yuya's field. "This card prevents my Performapal monsters from being destroyed by battle or card effects once per turn," he said. Yuya takes out one more card from his hand and Sets it.
"I Set a card face-down and end my turn," he concluded.
Turn 2: David (5x cards)
"My turn now!" David draws a card from his deck. He peeks over and makes a satisfying smirk on his face. He takes out two cards from his hand to show Yuya the two pendulum cards that he'd obtained in the field.
"Alright, Yuya!" David shouted. "This time, it will be me who will do the Pendulum Summoning! I Set the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 4 Pendulumstatue Green Talisman and Scale 8 Pendulumstatute Green Clockworks!" He sets both Pendulumstatute Green Talisman (Scale 4) and Pendulumstatue Green Clockworks (Scale 8) on both edges of his blade, forming the rainbow Pendulum word on it.
The monsters that David set are a bright stone with a single green gem in the center, and a clockwork device with a green eye at the left as the yellow gears spins like a real clock.
"Now, with these two monsters, I can Pendulum Summon monsters between levels 5 and 7 simultaneously!" he shouted. "I Pendulum Summon!" Like Yasuko and Yuya, the portal rips open above David and sends down two lights from the portal above the sky. David Pendulum Summons Gaia, the Magical Knight (ATK 2300/DEF 2100) and Curse of Dragon, the Cursed Dragon (ATK 2000/DEF 1500) in Attack Position. "I Pendulum Summon Gaiam the Magical Knight and Cursed of Dragon, the Cursed Dragon!"
The two monsters that David had summoned before him are a warrior knight wearing a purple cape that is outlined in red lines with blue armor holding two lances in his hands while riding a black crimson red stallion, and a gold serpentine dragon with large wings from the side and no eyeballs, but eyeholes on the face.
"Oh, yeah!" David cheered. "I've done it! I've done my first Pendulum Summon! Man, these cards are so cool!"
Yuya would have been surprised about seeing someone doing a Pendulum Summon before his eyes; however, it does not bother him anymore. He's experienced Yasuko's Pendulum Summon, seen Declan doing his Pendulum Summon, and witnessing Sylvio making his own Pendulum Summon in the championship. He does not care, not even by the slightest. The only thing that mattered to him the most is trying to exploit the concept of Pendulum Summon.
"Now that I've Pendulum Summon successfully, I can now activate Cursed Dragon's special effect!" David announced. "When this monster is summoned, I can add one Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand that contains the name, "Gaia, the Dragon Champion," in it." The cursed dragon glows in a bright orange to let David add one spell card. "And I think I'll add this! The Spell, Spiral Fusion!" David activates the Spell Card: Spiral Fusion. "This card allows me to Fusion Summon one Dragon monster from my Extra Deck using Fusion materials that are on the field or in my hand, and if the monster that I summoned is a "Gaia, the Dragon Champion," it gains 2600 ATK points and can conduct two attacks on your monsters!" The magical gaia and the cursed dragon floats into the air to be consumed by the red and blue swirling vortex.
"Magical Knight of Gaia, merge with the accursed dragon to become the slayer of all those who opposes its authority! I Fusion Summon! Appear! Gaia, the Magical Knights of Dragon!" David Fusion Summons Gaia, the Magical Knight of Dragon (ATK 2600/DEF 2100) in Attack Position. The Fusion monster that appears before Yuya is a magical gaia knight riding the cursed dragon that is twice as bigger than the last one with two huge red lances in the palm of his hand.
"And there it is, folk!" Nico Smiley announced from arena loudspeakers. "Not only has David Pietro pendulum summoned two mega level monsters, but he also went into a Fusion Summon right off the bat! Giving the monster the total edge over Yuya since it gains 2600 ATK points!"
The magical dragon knight glows in bright yellow aura to gain a power boost from the spell card.
(Gaia, the Magical Knight of Dragons: ATK 2600 → 5200)
"And let's not forget Cursed Dragon's other effect! When this card is sent to the graveyard, I can target one Gaia, the Dragon Champion on my field and negate the effects of all monsters that you control that have equal or less ATK points of the monster that I targeted!" He points at the water mosquito that Yuya has on the field. "And I think I'll do that right now!" The cursed dragon mirage appears before David before flying over to plant a curse on the water mosquito, effectively negating its special ability.
Yuya isn't afraid of the attack power because he is protected from anything that David might throw at him. "Even if you can increase your monster's ATK points, Skeeter Skimmer cannot be destroyed once per turn, and I don't take battle damage," he reminded.
"You would think so?" David asked, earning a surprised face from Yuya.
"I activate Gaia's special effect!" David declared. "Once per turn, during either of our Main Phase, I can target one card on the field and destroy it by reducing my Gaia's ATK points by 2600!" He raises his hand to the magical dragon knight hover above him. "Gaia loses 2600 ATK points to destroy your Bubble Barrier!"
The gaia may have loses its power boost, but it was enough to take down the continuous spell that Yuya has standing against him.
(Gaia, the Magical Knight of Dragons: ATK 5200 → 2600)
The magical dragon knight raises one of his lances and throws it at the continuous spell like a spear, destroying it in the process.
Yuya covers his face after seeing his only protection against the monster was destroyed by the card effect. "Oh, no!" he gasped.
"And that's not your only trouble," said David. "I activate the Continuous Spell, Spiral Spear Strike!" He activates the Continuous Spell Card: Spiral Spear Strike. "This gives my Gaia, the Dragon Champion piercing damage if you think you can save yourself by switching it to Defense Position."
Yuya is trapped. He's more vulnerable to David's attacks now. He turns around and starts running away from him. He has to hurry and find an Action Card that could save his monster.
"Let's battle!" David declared. "Gaia, attack that Skeeter Skimmer with Lance Pierce Strike!" The magical dragon knight swoops down with the other lance at the water mosquito.
Yuya takes the time to look around for anything that resembles an Action Card. He looked at the hills, but there was nothing. Then, he saw something near the lava river. There was an Action Card stuck in the cracks from the ground. He sprints over to get it, but it was too late. The magical dragon knight pierced the water mosquito and destroyed it with an explosion, sending Yuya flying over near the edge.
(Yuya: LP 4000 → 2000)
He lands with his two feet sliding across the ground and stops barely close to the lava river, but Yuay remains strong. He looks up to David, who is seen from the hills. "Hope that struck a nerve," he said. "Now, I activate Gaia's special effect. If it successfully destroys a monster in battle, it gains 2600 ATK points."
Yuya was caught by surprise, realizing that the dragon knight has regained its power boost.
(Gaia, the Magical Knight of Dragons: ATK 2600 → 5200)
"And my Spiral Spear's effect activates," he added. "When I successfully deal battle damage using Gaia, the Dragon Champion, I can draw two cards, but I have to discard one card." David draws two cards from his deck and then discards one card.
"You're dealing with the elite here," said David. "I'm a member of the LDS. You know what happens when you duel the elite."
"Yeah, but none of the elites have ever faced an opponent such as me," Yuya replied. "I activate the Trap! Smile Potion!" Yuya activates the Trap Card: Smile Potion. "This card can only be activated if you control a monster whose ATK points are higher than its original, and I control no monsters, so I get to draw two cards." Yuya draws two cards from his deck.
David takes out two cards from his hand and Sets them on the field. "You managed to use my strategy to get you two more cards, huh? Very clever," he commented. "I Set two cards, face-down, and end my turn."
Turn 3: Yuya (4x cards)
Yuya recovers himself and gets back up to glare at his opponent. He can see that David is looking in the other direction.
"You sure you don't want to help him?" David asked.
Yuya turns to spot Yasuko coming into view from the rocky hills. "No thanks," she declined. "I'm here to watch Yuya, nothing more."
He is annoyed that Yasuko won't be helping him, but she was expecting him to do the Xyz Summon. It was the test that he needs to do. "Of course, you wouldn't," he said. "It's my turn!" He draws a card.
"And so will my move," David stated. "I activate the Continuous Trap! Spiral Discharge!" He flips up his first face-down Continuous Trap Card: Spiral Discharge. "This card forces you to only attack my Gaia, and if a monster declares an attack, then I can target one card on the field and destroy it," he smirked. "C'mon Yuya. Let's see if you can break through this."
Yuya is pondering in his head, thinking of different ways to counter the card. "He's right," he thought. "None of my monsters aren't strong enough to take on that thing head on, but there is one monster that could be able to beat it." He looks over to his duel disk, thinking of the one monster that may be able to beat the dragon knight. "Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, but…" Yuya has second thoughts about the decision.
He looks down at his hand consisting of Pendulumstatue Red Fiend, Pendulumstatue Yellow Scarab, Pendulum Storm, Pendulum Impenetrable, and Spiral Flame Strike. "There's nothing that I have that can stop that thing unless…" Yuya takes out one card from his hand and then activates the Spell Card: Pendulum Storm. "I activate the Spell, Pendulum Storm!" Yuya declared. "This card destroys as many cards in the Pendulum Zone, and I can target Spell or Trap on the field and destroy it!" He points at the talisman and clockwork in David's Pendulum Zone. "And I'll destroy both of your monsters in your Pendulum Zone to destroy that Spiral Discharge!" The spell card flips up and blows a massive hurricane that destroys both of David's Pendulum monsters in the pendulum zone and then destroying the trap card.
"Oh no! My Pendulum monsters!" David gasped.
"If you think I know how to use Pendulum monsters, then you'd better expect me to counter them too," said Yuya. "I activate the Spiral Flame Strike Spell!" Yuya then activates the Spell Card: Spiral Flame Strike. "This card lets me add one level 7 Odd-Eyes monster from my deck to my hand!" A card pops out to let Yuya add his best monster: Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. "I'll add Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon from my deck to my hand!"
Yuya takes out two pendulum monsters in his hand. "I'll Set the Pendulum Scale with the Scale 1 Pendulumstatue Red Fiend and Scale 10 Pendulumstatue Yellow Scarab!" he announced. "I'm taking control of this duel starting now!" He sets Pendulumstatue Red Fiend (Scale 1) and Pendulumstatue Yellow Scarab (Scale 10) at the edges of his yellow blade, forming the rainbow "Pendulum" word on the board. The two monsters that hover above Yuya are the red fiend totem with horns from the top of the head and the yellow Egyptian scarab with a green gem on the back. A giant pendant mirage appearing at the center, swinging left and right.
"Nice try, but I have a counter against Pendulum monsters too," said David. "I activate Gaia's special effect! I decrease my monster's ATK points by 2600 to target and destroy one card on the field, and I choose to destroy your Red Fiend!" The magical dragon knight loses its attack power for the sake of destroying the pendulum monster that Yuya set up.
(Gaia, the Magical Knight of Dragons: ATK 5200 → 2600)
The magical dragon knight throws his remaining lance over to the red fiend totem; however, Yuya counterattacks by activating the Quick-Play Spell Card: Pendulum Impenetrable. "Not so fast! I activate the Quick-Play Spell! Pendulum Impenetrable!" The lance thrown at the red fiend was deflected by an invisible force field that made a loud clinging sound.
"This card makes you unable to target any of my cards in the Pendulum Zone with card effects and negates anything that targets a card in my Pendulum Zone!" Yuya stated. "You're not gonna stop my Pendulum Summon!" He can hear a low growl from David.
"Now, I can Pendulum Summon monsters between levels 2 and 9 all at the same time!" he announced. "Swing, my soul's Pendulum! Draw an arc of light in the sky! I Pendulum Summon! Come out, my faithful monster servant!" Yuya Pendulum Summons Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 2000) in Attack Position. "Appear, the wondrous red dragon with dichromatic red and green eyes! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" The Odd-Eyes Pendulum appears on the field with its red scales reflecting off the lava's heat as its backbone shines the orbs attached to it. The red and green eyes glow to life as Odd-Eyes Pendulum lets out a mighty roar.
From the hillside, Yasuko is watching the duel between David and Yuya. Her expectations are running low. She wants to see Yuya conquer the abilities of Dark Rebellion, but he is still using Odd-Eyes Pendulum. "Come on, Yuya," she thought. "Focus. Let me see you Xyz Summon."
Yuya has nothing strong against the monster like the gaia dragon knight, but he can inflict significant battle damage.
"Battle!" Yuya declared. "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack Gaia!" Odd-Eyes Pendulum charges forward with its massive feet stomping the rocks. Once it gets to the lava river, the dragon jumps up in the air and then prepares to fire off its laser.
"You're crazy," David accused. "My monster's got more ATK points than your dragon."
"That's what you think," Yuya argued. He sprints forward, leaping over rocks that formed a path for him to cross, letting the boy come swipe an Action Card from a boulder crack. "I activate the Action Spell, Zero Penalty!" Yuya plays the Action Spell Card: Zero Penalty. "This card targets one monster on the field, and it reduces its ATK points to zero!" He points at the magical dragon knight. "I target your Gaia!" The Action Card flips up and sends soundwaves that renders the magical dragon knight powerless.
(Gaia, the Magical Knight of Dragons: ATK 2600 → 0)
"Oh no, you don't!" David protested. He jumps off the hill and slides down to swipe an Action Card stuck in the rocky cliffs. "I activate the Action Spell, Attack Force!" David activates the Action Spell Card: Attack Force. "This card targets one monster that I control that is battling against one of your own that has the higher ATK points, and it gains 600!"
(Gaia, the Magical Knight of Dragons: ATK 0 → 600)
The magical dragon knight was obliterated by the red spiraling laser beam."But you are still going to take a big hit!" Yuya exclaimed. "Odd-Eyes can inflict double the battle damage if it battles a level 5 or higher monster!" He points at the gaia. "Reaction Force!" Odd-Eyes Pendulum increases its output of the beam to make a bigger explosion, inflicting massive battle damage.
(David: LP 5000 → 1200)
"And Yuya has turned the tables against David!" Nico Smiley announced from the arena. "Yuya Sakai has managed to even up the odds against his opponent and his monster!"
David lands on solid ground where he is being confronted by Yuya. "I activate my Trap! Spiral Reborn!" He flips up his Trap Card: Spiral Reborn. "This card lets me target one level 7 or lower Dragon monster from my graveyard and Special Summons it, and if the monster is a Gaia, the Dragon Champion, you cannot target it or destroy it with card effects!" The lava river wraps up a black hole, and the magical dragon knight with its cursed dragon rides out of the lava with two new lances.
"Not unless you can last long in this duel," said Yuya. He turns to his right and then snags an Action Card caught between two rocks after Yuya's last attack created an explosion. "I activate the Action Spell, Shot Bomb!" Yuya activates the Action Spell Card: Shot Bomb. "This card inflicts 1000 points of damage!" The action spell card shoots a large dart missile at David.
"Shit!" David cursed.
The dart missile was about to land a direct hit at David when, all of a sudden, a monster appears out of nowhere and ate the dart missile. The missile explodes inside, and the monster burps loudly. It was shaped like a giant purple bomb with a red cape wrapped around the bottom, an odd set of eyes, and a blue pointy magician's hat that has gold stars decorated around it, and
Yuya was surprised that his Action card was stopped before it can do any damage to David. "What the—?! What happened to my Action Card?!" he gasped.
A peal of short laughter came echoing from somewhere. Yuya and David found a young man standing on the hills with his activated blue duel disk and the red blade. "Pardon me, my fellow duelists," said the young man. "But there was no way we can't have a show end just like just yet that so…" He lifts his head to show everyone his face. "Mind if I join in?"
Yuya takes a good look at the younger man who has just entered the duel. He appears to have bright curly red hair hanging down to his chin in crumpled spikes, green eyes, and a beauty mark below his right eye. He wears a long-sleeved blue collared shirt with a purple bow tie underneath the orange jacket that is missing the right sleeve and a shortened hang on the right side, dark pants, and red shoes. His uniform is like one side was shorter while the other side was longer.
"What the hell?!" Yasuko's voice sounded off from one of the hills. Everyone turns to find her standing right on the hills on Yuya's side. "You can't just barge in on a duel like that!"
"I apologize, my fair young lady, but this is a battle royal, so what better way to keep the dueling longer with the Entertainment," said the young man.
"Damn it," said Yasuko. Because other duelists have joined in, Yasuko was forced to activate her forest-green duel disk, and her blue blade emerges from the device. Of course, it was a mistake that the two new duelists would make.
Both Yasuko and the young man's duel disk starts to beep, catching their attention.
"Penalty for Intrusion: 2000 points," the computer from their devices announced.
"What?" Yasuko inquired.
"What?" the young man questioned in broken English.
The next thing that happened came without warning. Yasuko and the young man were both electrocuted from their duel disk. She can feel the stinging sensation spreading all over her body. She grits her teeth to hold the sharp pain while the younger man was also grunting in pain, wailing in broken English, "Oh no!"
The young man was zapped that he did not compose himself as he slides down across the hills, and Yasuko starts to slide down from the top. She holds her left side while looking at the younger man. She finds the newcomer to be an odd one because it makes her get a sweat drop.
"Yasuko, are you okay?" Yuya asked, coming over to assist her.
Yasuko turns to Yuya, looking immensely infuriated at him. "Okay?! I just got electrocuted by my own duel disk!" she shouted. "And not only that, but I've also just lost 2000 life points the moment I got in! How do you think that I am okay?! What the hell was that about?!"
"Well, let me explain," Nico Smiley announced from Yasuko's duel disk, his face appearing on the screen. It would seem that the intrusion penalty is also a new thing to many of the audience watching the event too. "Before the semi-round for the Arc League Championship began, the rules for the Battle Royal had just recently been updated. In Battle Royals now, if another duelist, who was already dueling, enters another duel, then it would be considered a Battle Royal. However, because you and Dennis McField were not dueling anyone and you had just entered the duel, you and Dennis were both been given an intrusion penalty."
Yasuko felt her right eyebrow twitched with annoyance over the new rule that was updated. She turns to Yuya with a glare. "You never told me that the rules were updated!" she yelled.
"I never knew they updated the rule!" Yuya argued.
"How could you not know about the new rule update?! You're supposed to know about the rules because you wanted to be a pro!" Yasuko yelled back.
From Dennis and David's point of view, they could see that the two You-Show duelists argue amongst themselves and not pay any attention to the duel. They looked like little kids squabbling from afar.
Dennis gets back up, feeling nausea after the bad landing. "Ouch," he grunted. "Aww, did I make a bad first impression? I wasn't expecting a jolt like that."
"Is it me, or are they acting like children?" David inquired.
Dennis scratched the back of his head, making short laughter. "I wasn't aware of the new update too, so that was new," he chatted. "But that experience was…truly electrifying!"
David raises an eyebrow. "Uh, you're strange dude," he said. "Um, hey, we're in the middle of a duel here," David called to Yuya and Yasuko, who are still arguing amongst themselves.
"Shut up, extra character!" Yasuko yelled at David. She turns back to Yuya and points dangerously at the boy. "We're not done with this discussion."
Yuya and Yasuko stopped arguing over themselves and refocus their attention on the duel that they are in. Yuya wants to know something about his previous move. "Why didn't my Action Card worked?" he asked.
"Oh, why it was because of me, of course," Dennis answered. "When I joined this duel, I activate Performage Flame Eater's effect by Special Summoning it from my hand to negate the activation of any effect damage and reduce it to zero." Since Dennis Special Summoned Performage Flame Eater (ATK 1200/DEF 1600) in Defense Position, Yuya's Action Card effect was negated.
"That would've explained why Shot Bomb was negated," Yasuko realized.
Dennis regains his composure, ready to continue with the duel, and it was his turn now.
Turn 4: Dennis (4x cards).
"Well, now that we are all ready, let's get on with the duel magnificently!" Dennis draws a card from his deck. "My turn! I draw!" He takes out one card from his hand.
"I'm gonna guess that you're into musical, aren't you?" Yasuko assumed based on how Dennis is making a dramatic time to draw a card.
"I'll ignore that comment magnificently!" Dennis singed.
She turns to Yuya. "You focus on dueling David," she ordered. "Dennis McField is mine." She then starts running away from the scene to find herself an Action Card. She runs over to a hill and sideflips to the other side.
"Oh! Wonderful!" Dennis exclaimed in broken English.
Yasuko left so quickly that Yuya was left baffled. "Uh, hey! Wait!" Yuya then starts following Yasuko from behind.
Yuya was looking over the area around the lava river for any more Action Cards. He heard footsteps close to his ears and turns to his right, spotting Dennis running along with him. "Hey there! I apologize if I interrupted your match, but you're Yuya Sakaki, right? I forget to introduce myself! My name is Dennis McField!" he greeted. "And I am an exchange student from LDS Broadway School for Performing Arts!" He sings at the last note, which makes Yuya drop a sweat drop.
"Uh, hey," said Yuya, unsure of Dennis. Out of all the opponents he's faced, Dennis is an odd one. He turns back to find Yasuko on the high ground. She did a side flip over the rock platforms before she dives onto a parkour roll.
"I saw your first-round match, and it was wonderful and breathtaking," said Dennis. "Oh, that performance was so inspiring that it got me really excited!" He was practically crying in joy, much to Yuya's surprise.
"Uh, yeah," Yuya replied awkwardly. "But we are in the middle of a duel here, uh, Dennis, so can we do this later?"
"Yuya, duck!" Yasuko called from the high ground as she activates the Action Spell Card: Flame Ball. "I activate the Action Spell, Flame Ball! This card deals you 200 points of damage, Dennis!" The lava river pops up a fireball and shoots straight for Dennis.
Yuya jumps out of the way for Yasuko to deal effect damage to Dennis; unfortunately, the boy was well prepared to make his counterattack.
"Not to worry, because, from my hand, I activate my second Performage Flame Eater's special effect!" Dennis Special Summons Performage Flame Eater (ATK 1200/DEF 1600) in Defense Position. "When a card or effect activates an effect damage, I can special summon this one from my hand to negate that effect damage!" Dennis had summoned the monster; a second purple ball with a red cape and a pointy blue hat with stars and an odd set of green eyes.
The flame eater took a bite of the flame ball and ate it, making a burp loudly. "C'mon! Wait your turn! Can't you see I am trying to have a nice talk with Yuya here?! So please stop interrupting!" Dennis ranted, giving a pouty face, stomping his feet, and springing his hands up like a whining child. He stops when he sees his monsters on the field. "But wait. What do we have here?"
Yasuko sees that Dennis has two monsters with the same levels. She knows what's coming next. "Two level four monsters," she called. "Are you thinking of what I'm thinking?" She can hear Yuya giving a gasp, realizing what she is thinking right now.
Dennis held a finger. "And correct, you are," he approved. "So, you know what? I think it is time to set up the stage. With two level 4 Flame Eaters, I build the Overlay Network!" The two purple bombs transform into two red lights as they shoot up in the sky before descending into the galaxy portal on top of the lava river.
"Show must go on!" Dennis chanted in broken English. "Sky magician, travel across the stage magnificently! I Xyz Summon!Appear! Rank 4! Performage Trapeze Magician!" Dennis Xyz Summons Performage Trapeze Magician (ATK 2500/DEF 2000) (OU: 2) in Attack Position. The moment Dennis makes his Xyz Summon, there was laughter. The galaxy portal ejects a long stick that seems to be caught by two long yellow constructs that form from the thunder clouds above the sky. A figure reveals itself: a magician dressed in white tights with curly blue shoes, gold diamonds around the knee, pink fur around the waist, and the next and a white pointy hat laced with stars. He wears a red cape and a masquerade mask as he swings in the air with its staff with two hands at the end of the poles as two golden bright Overlay Units revolve around the monster.
"All right!" Dennis then leaps up in the air and catches the trapeze magician by the arm with his two feet supported by the pointy curl shoes. He was laughing with joy. The post struck a flashback from Yuya.
Yuya was utterly astonished at Dennis and his trapeze magician. "What?" The way Dennis was holding onto the monster reminded him of his father, Yusho Sakaki, and his own best monster when he was doing the Action Duels. The stars glittering from the monster makes him see some images of his father. He and his spectacular performance with his monster makes Yuya see double.
Yasuko was also taken back from Dennis. The boy was making an entrance that is so enchanting that it will captivate the audience. Dennis reminds her of how Yuya would've' done it in front of the audience.
"Okay," said Dennis. "Now watch this! A dramatic entry!" He jumps off from the trapeze magician and lands on Yasuko's side of the land.
The trapeze magician falls into the lava river before creating a big bright explosion that blinds Yuya and Yasuko, sprinkling the entire area with stars and colorful specks of light. They can see again and spots the trapeze magician standing in front of Yuya and Yasuko.
"What is with everyone here?" Yasuko murmured, low in her tone. She cannot decide which words to describe the tournament. Violent. Entertain. Funny. A mixture of both. It's so confusing to her. It's like everyone wants to be as very appealing as Yuya.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" David called to Dennis. "Stop with your spectacular entrance and duel them!"
"Ah, but I have to be spectacular for my fellow Entertainment Duelists," said Dennis. "Now let's begin, shall we? While Trapeze Magician is out on the field, I don't take any battle or effect damage that is less than or equal to this monster's ATK points." Dennis points at Yasuko. "So, therefore, you can't touch me with any of your effect or battle damage."
"Luckily for me, you've just given me an opening," Yasuko suddenly called, earning a surprised gasp from Dennis. "I activate Miradora, Skywing of the Whirlwinds' special effect from my hand!" she announced. "When my opponent Special Summons a monster with 2000 or more ATK points from the Extra Deck, I can Special Summon this monster!" Because Dennis had summoned trapeze magician from the Extra Deck, Yasuko can Special Summon Miradora, Skywing of the Whirlwinds (ATK 2000/DEF 2600) in Defense Position. The thunder clouds in the sky crack lightning to show the monster Yasuko has summoned; a serpentine dragon with feathers from the head to the wings with green scale dots on each side from the head to the end of the tail with blue fins at the tip.
"When Miradora is Special Summoned from my hand, I can target one monster my opponent controls that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, and as long as Miradora is on the field, you cannot activate its effect!" She points at Dennis. "And these effects cannot be negated as long as this monster is on the field!"
Dennis gaped. "Oh, brilliant, Yasuko," he said. "You've sealed my best tactics. That's pretty good. But never fear, for I have a plan." He then takes out to activate the one Continuous Spell Card that Yuya used in his last move: Bubble Barrier. "I activate my Bubble Barrier Spell!" he announced, much to Yuya's surprise.
"Bubble Barrier?" Yasuko inquired. "I thought it only worked on Performapal monsters."
"It does, but now, my Performage monsters cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects once per turn, and any battle damage involving my Performage monsters is reduced to zero," Dennis explained.
Yuya had no idea that the card he used before could also affect Dennis's monsters. "Wait, so it works on Performapal and Performage?" he asked. "How'd you about its effect."
Dennis adjusts his bow tie. "How, you might ask, is a trade secret, my dear Entertainment Duelist," he said. "Now, time for the main act!" Dennis takes out a card from his hand and activates the Equip Spell Card: One-Shot Wand. "I equip my Trapeze Magician with my Equip Spe,, Wonder Wand!" A staff with a green crystal orb in the crescent moon top spins out of the card. It spins rapidly as the trapeze magician leaps over and snags the wand to replace its staff, gaining a power boost.
(Performage Trapeze Magician: ATK 2500 → 3300)
"While this card is equipped to Trapeze Magician, he gains 800 ATK points," Dennis explained. "Now, let's battle! Trapeze Magician, attack Miradora!" The trapeze magician laughs loudly as the monster jumps up with its shot wand over its head, swinging itself forward to deliver a two-foot kick at the miradora dragon.
Yasuko sprints over the hill and front-flips over the air before landing with a roll to swipe one Action Card from the ground. "I activate the Action Spell! New Target!" Yasuko activates the Action Card: New Target. "When a monster declares an attack, I can target another monster on the field and switch it to another monster, and I choose…" She points over to Yuya. "Yuya's Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"
"What?!" Yuya gasped.
The trapeze magician diverts its direction to Odd-Eyes Pendulum. The magician double-kicks the dragon so hard that it was sent flying over Yuya's head and exploded right behind him, causing him to lose his life points.
(Yuya: LP 2000 → 1200)
Both LDS exchange students were shocked. "What?" Dennis inquired. "You would rather have your own partner take the hit instead?"
"Isn't he your teammate?" David asked.
"He will be fine after this duel," said Yasuko. "I wanted to make sure that I need that lesson to get into his head." She turns to Yuya with a frown.
Yuya turns to Yasuko with the same frown as she bears. "What was that for?" he retorted.
"You know why," Yasuko called.
"What do you mean?" Yuya questioned. "I just lost my monster, and you said that I will be fine."
Yasuko's frown deepened, giving Yuya something from a piece of her mind. "I want you to bring out Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon," she stated. "I want to see you conquer that thing with your might. I don't want Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon to be your only best monster that you've got."
Yuya is very annoyed. It's not a good thing for Yasuko to be entering the duel on short notice. Now, he has no monsters on his field.
"Well, someone's not so bright today," said Dennis. "Alas, I cannot bear to see such two amazing duelists from the same school fighting among each other, surely, this entertainment needs another…persuasion." Dennis takes out a card from his hand and Sets it on the field.
"I'll Set this card face-down to end my turn," he concluded.
Turn 5: Yasuko (4x cards)
"Alright, now it's my turn," said Yasuko. "I draw!" She draws a card from her deck. "And first off, I'm gonna set the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 4 Mythical Beast Garuda!" Yasuko Sets her Mythical Beast Garuda (Scale 4) to her left Pendulum Zone. From the left pillar of light comes a monster that is a half bald eagle and half blue fox spirit.
"Now, I can activate Garuda's pendulum effect!" Yasuko declared. "Once per turn, if there is no other cards in my Pendulum Zone, I can destroy this card to target one Spell or Trap card on the field and destroy it!" She points at Dennis's spell card that is on the field. "I target and destroy your Bubble Barrier!" The mythical garuda disappears from the pillar of light before reemerges as a mirage and flies over with blue flames from the fox spirit half and destroys the spell.
"Now, I Set the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 4 Mythical Beast Bashilik!" Yasuko Sets the Mythical Beast Bashilik (Scale 4) on her right Pendulum Zone this time. The monster that Yasuko has set up was a reptilian four-legged monster with aquatic fins from the back and a second mouth on top of the first one with huge sabretooth fangs.
"Bashilik's Pendulum effect activates!" Yasuko declared. "When this monster is in my Pendulum Zone, and I control no other monsters in the other zone, I destroy this card to target one Spellcaster pendulum monster that is in my Extra Deck, and shuffle it back to my deck to draw one card." The bashilik reptile disappears from Yasuko's Pendulum Zone. "I destroy my bashilik to target my Garuda and shuffle it back to my deck to draw one card!" She shuffles her Mythical Beast Garuda back to her deck and draws one card.
"What is the point of that?" David asked. "All you did was destroy your own Pendulum Cards when you could've used them."
"There's a lot to them than just Pendulum Summon," Yasuko replied. "Every Pendulum cards are unique to their own special abilities; you just have to know the full extent of their powers." She takes out a card from her hand. "And thanks to Bashiliks, I was able to draw this card! The Spell, Pot of Desires!" Yasuko activates the Pot of Desires Spell Card. "It lets me banish the top ten cards from my deck to draw two cards." She banishes the ten cards from the top of her deck and draws two cards. "Now, I can begin the Pendulum with these two cards!" She takes out two more cards from her hand. "I Set the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 5 Pendulumstatue Purple Shield and Scale 11 Pendulumstatue Purple Sword! I'm gonna show you how I control this duel right now!"
Yasuko Sets her Pendulumstatue Purple Shield (Scale 5) and Pendulumstatue Purple Sword (Scale 11) at both the edge of her blue blade, forming the rainbow "Pendulum" word on her board. A purple crystal stone shaped like a sword and a purple stone that is shaped like a shield floats above Yuya to hover with their respective Pendulum Scale numbers below them
"Now, I can Pendulum Summon monsters between levels 6 and 10 simultaneously!" Yasuko announced. "Hear my soul roaring upon thy! I call forth the energy of my heart to unleash the flame of solemnity from within! I Pendulum Summon! Bring forth, my monster!" Yasuko Pendulum Summons Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 2000) in Attack Position. "Appear, the blue dragon with heterochromia red and green eyes! Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon!"
The blue dragon with bone armor across its body appears on the field. Its red and glowing green eyes glow underneath the two massive horns along with the red and green orbs at the backbone, igniting its animalistic roar. "Now, I take my Miradora and Odd-Eyes to build the Overlay Network!" The miradora dragon turns into cosmic green energy while Odd-Eyes Phantom transforms into a purple light. Both lights zip up into the air before descending to the galaxy portal on the ground.
"From the pall of black and darkness, the fangs of halo will rise up to stand and fight all those who oppose its stupefied power! Ascend now! I Xyz Summon! Rise! Dark Anthelion Dragon!" Yasuko Xyz Summons Dark Anthelion Dragon (ATK 3000/DEF 2500) (OU: 2) in Attack Position.
From out of the galaxy portal came with a massive explosion to let a black dragon with purple and bone armor all over its body to the end of the two-end tail and four-panel plates underneath the wing supported by purple gemstones with two purple Overlay Units rotating around it.
Yuya has a dumbstruck moment when Dark Anthelion appears on the field. He started to see that Dark Anthelion is Yasuko's Dark Rebellion. He can see that Yasuko turning her head to him.
"You see," said Yasuko. "I've already taking Dark Anthelion under my wing. I'm not using just Odd-Eyes. I'm using every card that are new to my deck, including Dark Anthelion." She demonstrates her resolve to teach Yuya a lesson. "Battle! Dark Anthelion Dragon, attack Trapeze Magician!"
Dark Anthelion spreads out its four panels on the wings and flies straight for the trapeze magician with its sharp horn sticking out to pierce the monster.
"At the moment, I detach one Overlay Unit to activate Dark Anthelion Dragon's special effect!" Yasuko declared. "It targets one monster that you control, halve its ATK points, and Dark Anthelion gains those amount until the end of the turn!" The four panels on Dark Anthelion's wings opened, and turquoise electricity sparks out to zap the trapeze magician and reduces its attack power in half.
(Dark Anthelion Dragon: OU 2 → 1)
"Treacherous Discharge!" Yasuko shouted, watching Dark Anthelion gains more attack power.
(Performage Trapeze Magician: ATK 3300 → 1650)
(Dark Anthelion Dragon: ATK 3000 → 4650)
"Wow, so electrifying!" Dennis cheered.
"Go! Parhelic Mutiny of Revolution!" Dark Anthelion's horn glows from the turquoise sparks emitted from the panels, signifying the boost to strike down the trapeze magician.
"Whoopsie!" Dennis called. "Time for some Action!" The boy brings out his hand to let the trapeze magician catch it, swinging around with Dennis holding on as he swipes an Action Card from a nearby bridge. "Action Spell, Restore, activate!" Dennis activates the Action Spell Card: Restore. "This card targets one monster on the field and restores its original ATK points, so My Trapeze Magician regains its 2500 ATK points!" The trapeze magician laughs as the monster lets go of Dennis at the nearby hills and backflips to regain its ATK points.
(Performage Trapeze Magician: ATK 1650 → 2500)
"And for my final trick, I shall activate this! The Trap, Pinch Breaker!" Dennis activates the Trap Card: Pinch Breaker. "This card targets one monster that my opponent controls, and it's ATK points becomes the same as the DEF points of one monster that I control until the end of the Battle Phase!" Dennis gestures to his trapeze magician on the field. "And what better way than to turn the table around."
The trapeze magician makes another laughter as the monster leaps into the air with its new wand, ready to use it. He grasps it and swings itself to Dark Anthelion as the monster loses its ATK power thanks to the trap.
(Dark Anthelion Dragon: ATK 4650 → 2000)
Despite losing its strength, Yasuko wasn't backing down from the assault. She pressed forward. "You are not the only one who can do magic," she said. "I activate my Quick-Play Spell, Half Shut!" Yasuko activates the Quick-Play Spell Card: Half-Shut. "This card targets one monster on the field, and it loses half of its ATK points, but it cannot be destroyed by battle!" She points at Dark Anthelion. "I target my Dark Anthelion!"
"But you will take damage if you do that," Dennis informed.
"So be it," Yasuko replied.
Dark Anthelion loses half of its attack strength even more, but it will remain on the field.
(Dark Anthelion Dragon: ATK 2000 → 1000)
The trapeze magician swings over and double-kicks Dark Anthelion from underneath its chin, sending the monster flying over Yasuko's head. She watches Dark Anthelion hit the rocky hills behind her, sending debris over that knocked her to the ground with her life points taking the hit.
(Yasuko: LP 2000 → 500)
Yasuko stands back on her two feet, removing a strand of hair from her eyes. She keeps her eyes on Dennis. "That all you got?" she inquired. "Now that Dark Anthelion is still on the field, this monster regains half of its ATK points." Dark Anthelion gets half of its strength back due to the effect of the spell card.
(Dark Anthelion Dragon: ATK 1000 → 2000)
Yasuko takes out two remaining cards from her hand and Sets them face-down. "I Set two cards face-down and end my turn," she concluded.
"And since it was the End Phase, both our monsters' ATK points return to normal," Dennis informed.
(Dark Anthelion Dragon: ATK 2000 → 3000)
(Performage Trapeze Magician (ATK 2500 → 3300)
Turn 6: Yuya (0x cards)
"It's your turn now, Yuya." Yasuko turns back to her tag team partner. "This is it, your time to shine."
Yuya places two fingers on the top of his deck, holding his breath. "This is it," he thought. "I have to draw the right card that I can use to help Yasuko." He tightens his hold on the one top card. "My turn! I draw!" He draws a card from his deck. Yuya looks at the card that he drew and smiled with satisfaction. "Looks like it's time for the big finale," he said. "I activate the Spell, Magical Manipulation!" Yuya activates the Spell Card: Magical Manipulation. "This card can only be activated if I have no other cards in my hand, and I get to draw a card for every card that you guys control, but they are banished at the End Phase." He points at his opponent's field. "And since Dennis controls Trapeze Magician, the Equip spell, and David control that Gaia, I can draw three cards!" He draws three cards from his deck.
"Alright, time to step it up," Yasuko called. "I activate my Quick-Play Spell, Pendulum Shift!" Yasuko activates the face-down Quick-Play Spell Card: Pendulum Shift. "This card targets one Pendulum monster in the Pendulum Zone and change its Pendulum Scale from 1 to 10." She points at the purple shield totem. "I target Yellow Scarab and change its Pendulum Scale to 5!"
The yellow scarab has its Pendulum Scale reduced because of Yasuko's spell card.
(Pendulumstatue Yellow Scarab: Pendulum Scale 10 → 5)
"What?!" Yuya gasped, shocked that Yasuko purposely changed the pendulum scale on his pendulum monster. "Yasuko! Why would you do that?! You changed my Pendulum Scale to a Scale 5! How am I gonna use that?" He was yelling at Yasuko because of her selfish move.
"What the—what are you thinking?!" David called, also shocked by Yasuko's decision to reduce its Pendulum scale. "That's your teammate you're dueling with! This isn't a real battle royal!"
"Be quiet, side character! Can't you see that I am trying to get Yuya to do something!" Yasuko shouted. Turning back to Yuya, she said, "Come on, Yuya," said Yasuko. "You have them, don't you? Two level 4s?"
Yuya looks down at the cards that he's drawn. Yasuko guessed correctly. He has Performapal Whip Snake and Performapal Handsamuraiger in his hand, and they are both level four.
"Yeah, but…" Yuya protested.
"No 'buts' or 'whats' anymore, Yuya," Yasuko argued. "Just do it. Bring it out. Bring. Out. Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon." She emphasizes her point. "I want you to use it like you are using Odd-Eyes. Why aren't you bringing out Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon," she demanded.
"But Yasuko—"
"Damn it, Yuya!" Yasuko yelled. "Just bring out Dark Rebellion so I can get some better sleep!"
Yuya was surprised by Yasuko's outburst. He comes to realize that Yasuko is glaring at him as if she detests him. She sighs a loud breath to try and calm herself. "Ever since your duel with Kachidoki, I've been seeing your face in my sleep every night. It won't go away for some reason, and that's the reason why I played that spell earlier." She paused for a moment to let Yuya take in the talk that she wants to say. "I trust you to use Dark Rebellion with the shine in the eyes that you always have when you use Odd-Eyes. I can't imagine what that thing did to you, but you have to be stronger than before. I want to see you conquer Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. Show it that you are its new master."
Yuya took Yasuko's word inside of his heart. All this time, Yasuko wanted him to summon Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. He looks at Dark Anthelion, the dragon with similar appearance and abilities to Dark Rebellion. Yasuko seemed to have conquered the monster and its abilities. So why can't he? What will happen if he summons Dark Rebellion, especially when Dark Anthelion is on the field? He swallows a lump in his throat to begin the summoning.
"With…with the Scale 1 Pendulumstatue Red Fiend and my new Scale 5 Pendulumstatue Yellow Scarab, I can Pendulum Summon monsters between levels 2 to 4 all at the same time!" Yuya declared. "I Pendulum Summon! Come on out, my monsters are ready to swing into action!" Yuya Pendulum Summons Performapal Whip Snake (ATK 1700/DEF 900) and Performapal Handsamuraiger (ATK 1800/DEF 400) in Attack Position. "Appear, Performapal Whip Snake and Performapal Handsamuraiger!"
The pendant creates a small portal that expands outwards. The two lights fall down, revealing a purple cobra with a bow tie and a magician hat and a samurai wearing red armor around the black suit with a white cape that has an imprinted yellow star.
"Now, I activate Whip Snake's special effect!" Yuya declared. "Once per turn, I can target one monster on my opponent's field and switch its ATK points to its DEF points!" He points at the trapeze magician that is on Dennis' field. "I target Performage Trapeze Magician, Dennis!" The purple cobra takes out its pocket watch and hypnotizes the trapeze magician to make its attack power become its defense points.
(Performage Trapeze Magician: ATK 3300 → 2000)
Thump-Thump!
Yuya gasped all of a sudden. His chest was burning again, like the time when Yuto and Yugo appear, and both Dark Rebellion and Clear Wing occurred in their duel. He was clinging to the pain that was coming from his chest. It was like something's calling to him. He is having a difficult time breathing, clinging tightly until his fingers turned white.
"What…what's happening?" he thought.
He felt like something's calling inside of him to let it take control. He cannot stop this sensation from coming out. Yuya felt like seeping into the darkness like what happened with Kachidoki.
"Yuya." Yuya heard a voice. "Yuya." He heard it again. "Yuya, come on." It was Yasuko's voice echoing into his ears. He regains his vision and shakes his head, turning to the girl next to him.
"Yuya," said Yasuko, grasping his arm. "Relax."
"Y-Yasuko?" Yuya inquired.
"It's okay," Yasuko assured calmly. "I know what you are feeling."
"You do?"
"Yes," she replied. "You're afraid of losing control. That's why I'm pushing you to summon it." She gestures at Dark Anthelion that is on her side of the field. "Look," she said. "Dark Anthelion Dragon and I are with you right here and right now."
Yuya takes the time to look between Dark Anthelion and Yasuko. He can see in Yasuko's eyes that she is ready to see him do it. She wants him to use Dark Rebellion like how Yasuko is using Dark Anthelion. Then, Yuto's words ring back into his ears.
"Bring smiles to the world and to the future."
Yuto's words were reminding Yuya to never forget what dueling mattered to him. The more he thinks about Yuto and his words, the more Yuya felt his mouth curve to a smile.
"Thank you, Yasuko," he said. "Now, I know what I must do."
Yuya has figured out what he wanted to do. It was not out of confronting the fear of losing control over his dueling; it was his passion for the smiles through his dueling that makes him use it.
"Here I go! With my two level 4 Handsamuraiger and Whip Snake, I build the Overlay Network!" And so, the purple cobra and the samurai performer transform themselves into two bronze lights as they shoot up into the sky before falling into the galaxy portal on the lava river.
"From the pitch black of darkness! The fangs of rebellion will fight all of those who are foolish enough to oppose its stupidity powers! Descend now! I Xyz Summon! Appear! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!" Yuya Xyz Summons Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 2000) (OU: 2) in Attack Position.
The monster that Yasuko was waiting for has finally shown itself. Dark Rebellion rose from the galaxy portal with its purple scales underneath its black armor with turquoise underbelly scales mixed in. It spreads its wings out with the pink gemstones glowing from the summon. At the same time, its yellow eyes glare from underneath the smoky clouds. Two purple Overlay Units revolve around the dragon.
Dark Rebellion floats beside Dark Anthelion. The moment the two dragons are together, something happened. Right out of the bat, Dark Rebellion screeched loudly, and Dark Anthelion lets out a hollow roar. Both dragons' cries are so loud that it causes the rocks to vibrate from the soundwaves. The roar started to become irritating to the four duelists in the area, forcing them to cover their ears.
"Wha-what the hell are they doing?" David asked.
"How should I know? My ears are getting deaf," Dennis replied.
Yasuko is sure that her ears are going to be deaf again. "Oh, come on, not this again!" she shouted.
"What is going on?" Yuya inquired, loud enough for Yasuko to hear.
Dark Rebellion and Dark Anthelion were both roaring until they stopped altogether, leaving everyone lightheaded from the phenomenon.
Yasuko recovered and turns to Yuya. "Why does this keep happening?" she asked.
"It's like when Yuto, you, and I brought out our best monsters," Yuya answered.
"Whatever it was, I am not having it," Yasuko scowled. "Let's finish here and now."
"Right," Yuya agreed.
"I'll go first." Yasuko activates the Trap Card: Tyrant Wing. "I activate the Trap, Tyrant Wing!" she announced. "This card targets one Dragon monster on the field and equips it, so not only does that dragon gain 400 ATK points, but it can attack monsters twice during each Battle Phase!" She points at Dark Rebellion. "I target Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"
Dark Rebellion's wings are glowing due to the trap card's effect, gaining a small power boost.
"Thanks, Yasuko, now I'm up!" Yuya jumps up to hop onto Dark Rebellion's neck. "Now, I activate Dark Rebellion's special effect! By detaching one Overlay Unit, until the end of the turn, your level 5 or higher monster's ATK points is halved, and then it gains that amount!"
(Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: OU 2 → 1)
One of the Overlay Units burst like a bubble to allow two panels on Dark Rebellion's wings to opens and discharge pink static electricity to zap at the magical gaia monster.
"Not so fast! I activate Gaia's special effect!" David shouted. "It loses 2600 ATK points to target one card that you control and destroy it!"
"Oh no, you don't!" Yasuko argued. She climbs aboard Dark Anthelion and pats her feet on its neck, commanding the dragon to start flying straight for Dennis and David. They both duck as Yasuko and Dark Anthelion flies over their heads and glides alongside the hills. The girl then swipes an Action Card that was stuck between two rocks on the cliffside. "I activate the Action Spell, Protective Winds!" Yasuko activates the Action Spell Card: Protective Winds. "Your card destruction effect is negated!"
Dark Anthelion dives down opens its four panels to shoots bolts of aqua lightning at Dark Rebellion, forming a shield around the monster.
"Are you kidding me?!" David gasped.
Yasuko rides her monster to make a 90-degree pitch upwards before turning its body to make a dive toward Yuya. "Let's fly!" she called.
"Right!"
Yuya and Dark Rebellion flew upward to join Yasuko and Dark Anthelion. Both duelists are now in the air with their new monsters. Dark Rebellion opens its two panels again to shoot pink statics of electricity toward the magical gaia, effectively cutting its attack power in halve.
(Gaia, the Magical Knight of Dragons: ATK 2600 → 1300)
"Treason Discharge!" Dark Rebellion gains all its strength as
(Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: ATK 2900 → 4200)
"I activate Dark Rebellion's special effect again!" Yuya declared. "Treason Discharge!
(Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: OU 2 → 1)
The last remaining Overlay Unit bursts and Dark Rebellion shoots another volley of pink electricity over to the magical gaia.
(Gaia, the Magical Knight of Dragons: ATK 1300 → 650)
(Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: ATK 4200 → 4850)
"Let's battle!" Yuya declared. "Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, attack Gaia, the Magical Dragon Knight!" Dark Rebellion swoops down, close to the lava river, with its chin horn lightning up. The wings discharge blue afterburning energy to slice the magical gaia in halve, sending David off his feet with all of his life points going down.
(David: LP 1200 → 0)
"Oh wow, what a show!" Dennis cheered.
Yasuko and Dark Anthelion rose into the air and then focuses on the trapeze magician. "Now, it's my turn! I activate Dark Anthelion Dragon's special effect!" she declared. "Once per turn, I can detach one Overlay Unit to target one monster that my opponent controls; it loses half of its ATK points and Dark Anthelion gains that amount until the end of the turn!" The last remaining Overlay Unit around Dark Anthelion bursts like a bubble to activate its special ability.
(Dark Anthelion Dragon: OU 1 → 0)
"I target Trapeze Magician!" she declared. "Treacherous Discharge!" The four panels on Dark Anthelion opens up and sends down turquoise color electricity to shock the monster, effectively cutting its ATK points in halve like Dark Rebellion.
(Performage Trapeze Magician: ATK 2000 → 1000)
(Dark Anthelion Dragon: ATK 3000 → 4000)
"This is all I can do now, the rest of up to you," said Yasuko. "Let's make this one a good one."
"Thanks for the assistance, Yasuko!" Yuya praised. "Again, Dark Rebellion! One more time! Attack Trapeze Magician!" The aqua green electricity around Dark Rebellion is going crazy with Dark Rebellion diving down to make a lightning bolt shape out of itself. "Lightning Disobey of Rebellion!" Dark Rebellion swoops in and strike the trapeze magician out of the blue, create a show of lightning that cracks in the sky, knocking Dennis off the ground and into the sky.
"Oh my god!" Dennis wailed in broken English.
(Dennis: LP 2000 → 0)
Winner: Yuya and Yasuko
Yuya and Dark Rebellion land back on solid ground gently. Yuya can see that the lightning show from the sky hasn't ceased yet until another minute later. He was smiling, happy that he has managed to overcome Dark Rebellion.
"Yuya." The boy turns up to see Yasuko and Dark Anthelion landing on the ground. "You did it. You've finally managed to Xyz Summon," she said.
Yuya nodded. "Yeah," he said. He felt something jerked from underneath him. He notices that Dark Rebellion hasn't vanished yet. It was staring forward, specifically at Dark Anthelion as the latter was doing the same. Both dragons seemed very tensed, letting low growls that even Yasuko notices it. Dark Rebellion and Dark Anthelion both disappeared shortly after, leaving both duelists to drop.
Yasuko was just as confused as Yuya. They both look at each other with confusion planting on their faces.
"What was that about earlier?" Yuya asked.
"I have no idea anymore," Yasuko answered. "But I think it'll be best if we don't duel each other for a while." There was no explanation for why both dragons were acting up. At first, it would've been different than when Odd-Eyes Pendulum and Odd-Eyes Phantom acted toward each other for the first time, but now, Dark Rebellion and Dark Anthelion seemed to be behaving like them.
"Marvelous!"
Yuya and Yasuko turned to Dennis who jumped down from the hills and shakes both their hands. "Congratulations you two! You were spectacular, minus the part where you both had a bitter argument, but nevertheless, you were both amazing, as I expected from the student of Yusho Sakaki and Yusho Sakaki Jr."
Yuya was stunned, nearly forgotten that Dennis had cards that are just like his own. "Whoa, you know my dad?" he asked.
"Of course!" Dennis beamed. "Who doesn't? He is the duelist that I admire; he's my dueling hero."
"So, you knew him?" Yasuko asked.
"Why yes," Dennis agreed.
"Huh?" Yasuko raised an eyebrow. "Strange. It feels like, every day, I keep seeing Yusho everywhere and everything he did had influenced everyone in this tournament. First, it was Sylvio, then Sora, and now you." She turns to Yuya. "Is there anything else that you're not telling me about him?"
Yuya blushed and scratches his head. "Uh shucks," he chuckled. "I know that he was a great Entertainment Duelist, but I have no idea he was this famous." He looks back to Dennis. "You know what's funny? When I first duel you, it felt like you were my dad the whole time, and I was dueling him like how I wanted to be."
"I felt the same way too, Yuya," said Dennis. "I felt the same way." He extends a hand out to them. "I want to say good luck to the both of you in this tournament, Yuya Sakaki and Yasuko Yukihana of the You Show Duel School. Let's survive this and we can meet again in the semi-rounds."
"Yeah," Yuya beamed, shaking his hand.
"Uh…sure," Yasuko responded, shaking his hand back.
"Well, farewell, my fellow dueltainers, may we live until we meet again." And so, Dennis takes a stroll away from Yasuko and Yuya, leaving the both of them alone.
Yasuko then turns to Yuya. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
"I feel great," Yuya replied, a smile coming back to his face. "In fact, I feel a lot better now with Dark Rebellion on my side."
Ironically, Yasuko agrees with him. "Same here." She stretches her arms up. "Now, I can finally get some good night sleep, that is if I can get a godforsaken sleep in this twenty-four-battle royal." She turns to the other direction where there is a spot of a clear blue sky over the red magma clouds. "Anyways, this is where we split," Yasuko replied. "I'm going to be sitting out for a while because this battle royal is killing me." Yasuko starts walking out on Yuya to find herself somewhere to rest since there was no way she is staying at the lava sector.
"Hey, uh…Yasuko," Yuya called.
The girl stops to turn around. "What?"
Yuya gives Yasuko a peaceful smile that he mustered for her. "Thanks for sticking around," he said. "You mean a lot to me, and you are still a very strong duelist."
Yasuko felt that her mouth twitched once when Yuya made a comment about her. "Yeah, sure, whatever." Yasuko isn't sure about staying at the tournament any longer, but the only reason why she hasn't gone already was that she wanted to see if Yuya has the skills to be on her equal.
"Just be careful out there, alright?" Yuya has this energized beam that shows Yasuko how determined he is. "Because I really want to have a duel with you in the finals. That way, I can show you just how much my Entertainment Duel has improved and how it will help you smile."
Yasuko snorted. "Well then, I should say good luck, but…I wonder, Yuya." She places a hand on her hip. "Are we ready for each other again? To duel against each other in this tournament?"
Yuya raises an eyebrow, questions popping in his head to ponder what Yasuko said to him. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"I don't know," Yasuko answered. "I just had a feeling." And so, Yasuko stops talking and starts walking away from Yuya, feeling somewhat unhinged about dueling Yuya in any confrontations.
OC cards:
Pendulumstatute Green Talisman
Pendulum Effect Monster/EARTH/Rock/Pendulum Scale 4/ATK 1300/DEF 1300
Pendulum Effect: All Rock monsters gain 300 ATK and DEF points
Effect: If this card is Pendulum Summoned from the Extra Deck: You can add 1 "Pendulumstatue" monster from your Deck to your hand.
Pendulumstatute Green Clockwork
Pendulum Effect Monster/EARTH/Machine/Pendulum Scale 8/ATK 1600/DEF 1600
Pendulum Effect: Once per turn, all Machine monsters gain 200 ATK and DEF points
Effect: If this card is Pendulum Summoned from the Extra Deck: You can add 1 "Pendulumstatue" monster from your Deck to your hand.
Apologies for the Delay. Sometimes, it's not easy when you are focused on making the transfer from a community college to a four-year university. It's taking a lot of time for me to do that and my stories at the same time, so here is the updated chapter. I'll try to make up for the lost time. I usually post twice a month, and I will make it up to it. Normally, I post two chapters a month for stories depending on how far that I've gotten in different stories, so bear with me. I am still trying to get over my procrastination and writer's block. A pain.
Thank you readers for taking the time to read this story so far. If you like what you are reading about this story, then don't forget to favorite it if you would like to be keeping posted about the story. If you have any thoughts, comments, or anything you would ike to share about this story, then please go on ahead and leave down a review on what you think so far.
Thank you fellow readers, and have a Merry Christmas!
