World 059: Redundant Loyalty
"Hikaru! Where are you!" The man from before had left Yoro-Himiko alone, stewing in her own ignorance. Where her friends really coming for her? And how? Before she thought that it might just have been a cruel trick, because she sensed hatred coming from him. But now she knew that things were happening here and now. She could feel a storm building up outside of her room, but the thunder sounded like nothing she ever heard. Static also clung to the walls, as if a great power had been charging nearby. But everything else looked the same, and she did not know what any of it meant. "?" Nor did she know why, without her input, the monitor of her computer switched on. She had tried to use it before, but could not get it to work. "Is this.. from STHEREA?" Someone had remotely activated it, and controlled what it showed her. She could not do anything with it but watch the footage it showed: footage of a standoff inside a dojo. "Is that.. Zettai? And Heleil?" She recognized but a few faces on one side.. and only on the other. "Zanbatou!"
...
Zanbatou's LP: 8000 Fisherman's LP: 8000
Zanbatou the former bodyguard of Yoro-Himiko defended the dojo underneath the Shintaro castle with silence, with the Silent Swordsman(4/1500/1500). The Legendary Fisherman would fight back with sound, and lots of it. "I summon the Deep Sea Diva! Who special summons level 3 seaserpent from my deck! I choose Yellow Gurnard Duonigis!" If the samurai wanted to build a wall with silence, Fisherman would break it with a torrent of noise. The pink-scaled Diva(2/200/400) [Zone 2] sang her song to lure in the the red and yellow seahorse-armored rockstars(3/1500/700) [Zone 3]. "Yellow Gurnard banishes two cards from my opponents deck for each water monster I control!"
"You're definitely making a lot of noise." Zettai remarked. The Gurnard Duo played an electric ballad with their guitars made of seashells. The male Gurnard's tune caused the opponents deck to lose two cards to the banished pile. "That is not all. Yellow Gurnard can double another water monster's level. Which prepares them for my preferred summoning method." The female Gurnard's tune backed up Deep Sea Diva(4/200/400), and she herself harmonized with the tuner. "Synchro summon! Diva and Gurnard will tune together to form Deep Sea Prima Donna!" Water crossed the dojo and swallowed the two seaserpents to combine them into Prima Donna the pink/white and fin-haired mermaid(7/1500/2700) [Extra Zone 2]. "If I let her return one banished card to your hand, she can special summon one level 4 or lower water monster from my deck! I choose Deep Sea Minstrel!" The first song had ended and been replaced with another couplet: Prima Donna's voice backed up by the harp melody of the blue-tailed sealady Minstrel(3/1200/1500) [Zone 3] in defense mode.
"..." Zanbatou in turn reclaimed one banished monster, Legendary Six Samurai Kizaru. But he still said nothing and did not look impressed. "I can respect a duelist of few words, but that does make it harder to fight you." The Fisherman activated the effect of the Deep Sea Minstrel: discarding three cards (Moray of Greed, Deep Sea Sentry, White Moray Eel) from the top of his deck. Since there were level 4 or lower water monsters, he had to return one of them (White Moray Eel) to the deck. "Your skill card is certainly no small matter either. But I have my own! The Shape of the Ocean! One water monster with less attack than all waters monster on my field is brought back to life!" With his current setup he could easily special summon the card he just now discarded, Deep Sea Sentry(2/400/2000) [Zone 2] the merman lance guard. It also discarded two cards from the top of the deck (Crystal Girl, Buzzsaw Shark) and added one Lowlevel WATER monster back to his hand. He chose Deep Sea Diva. "This one is a sentry, much like you are. But defense should not be matched with defense.."
"It will be paired with offense instead! When I control a highlevel water monster, I can special summon the Crystal Girl from my graveyard!" The top layer of water in the room froze and cracked open to reveal a pale blue-haired girl with armor of ice crystals and blue gloves. "That's cute." Crescent said softly, seeing a sort of resemblance between it and Miss Echo. She wondered if that was on purpose. "I synchro summon White Aura Bihamut!" Crystal Girl did not stay adorable for long however, she synchronized with the synchro tuner Prima Donna and the Deep Sea Sentry to create the two-headed white dragon(10/3300/3000) [Extra Zone 1] of the abyss. The Bihamut immediately awakened its second head, creating the Bihamut token(10/3300/3000) [Zone 2] in defense mode. "Zanbatou. Neither of these can be permanently destroyed while the other exists. Now you know what my card does, and I know what yours can still do.. That is why I will also activate the Fury of Kairyu-Shin! This lets me add one Torrential Tribute trap card from the deck to my hand." In this phase he would have to use as many spells as possible. It would be too late afterwards.
"Now I am ready to strike! I activate Rage of the Kairyu-Shin! For each highlevel water monster on my field, I can drown your monsters and collapse the zones they stood on!" He would whip them into a frenzy, which started a storming watery maelstrom. "!" A single wordless grunt left Zanbatou's lips as he flipped his spell card and made the Silent Swordsman(3000/3000) brace himself with an empowered sword. "What? Silent Sword Slash?" The Fisherman kept his eyes on the field in front of him and saw the quickplay responsible for the Swordsman's newfound agility. Silent Sword Slash added 1500 ATK and DEF to a Silent Swordsman-card and made it immune to the opponents card effects. He swung his blade once and cut the Raging maelstrom in half. Neither the Swordsman nor the ground he stood on would be shattered. "In that case. I will end it with my own hands. White Aura Bihamut attacks Silent Swordsman!" A single blast of white energy would be enough to break the Swordsman's silent defense at last.
"..." Though because he had been summoned in that mode, Zanbatou took no damage. And.. when the Silent Swordsman died, he could special summon another Silent Swordsman in attack mode. "Crud. Silent Swordsman Level 7." Charles winced. "Why is that bad?" Tycho wondered. "Because that one negates all spell effects that activate on the field." The seventh swordsman(8/2700/1000) looked identical to the LVL-less swordsman in appearance, but his powers were far more dangerous. Nevertheless the Fisherman still had more spells or even traps he wanted or even needed to use, but he could only set two of them face down for now. "During the end of a turn in which I summoned Crystal Girl, I can add one Level 5 or higher Water monster from the deck to my hand." He did not seem discouraged and kept going, grabbing the level 5 Seaserpent Lappis Dragon. "And when Lappis Dragon is added to my hand by an effect, he can be summoned to my field! In defense mode!" A long blue seadragon(5/0/2600) [Zone 3] emerged from a pool of shimmering water. Its body was covered in lapis lazuli gems.
-TURN 03-
"Nice moves, but nothing seems to get through to this guy. Are we sure this is the real man?" Heleil wondered out loud. Both attacks and words left the samurai duelist unphased. "I am certain. He lives, I can sense it. He is the same man who would once have done everything he could to protect lady Yoro-Himiko. But that has changed now. For what reason? If you are continuing on this path, I can only assume that you have abandoned your ideals and your devotion." Every word the Fisherman shouted landed on deaf ears. The taciturn Zanbatou ignored him to activate the continuous spell: Six Samurai United and to normal summon the Secret Six Samurai Fuma(2/200/1000) [Zone 5] of the wind. The purple-clad shuriken thrower certainly looked the least like a samurai card. "But I still have mine! And the one I am devoted too is in turn devoted to everyone in this world! If you will not protect Yoro-Himiko anymore, we shall! I activate Torrential Tribute!" Now that Zanbatou had completed a summon, the tidal wave trap could sweep all monsters on the field away. "And I can banish Fury of Kai-Ryu Shin from my graveyard to negate the destruction of my own Water monsters!"
"I have not abandoned my ideals. I never had them in the first place." Zanbatou suddenly declared, as he allowed the Torrential waters to destroy his Fuma Samurai. On the other side the Minstrel, Bihamut and Lappis Dragon endured the tidal wave thanks to the banished Fury spell. "I did as I was ordered at all times. I protected the daughter of the Shintaro family. The future of their lineage. Then I ceased to be her guardian, because that was also my order." When the Secret Samurai Fuma died, Zanbatou could special summon another Secret Six Samurai from his deck. He chose the darkhaired earth samurai Kizaru(4/1900/1000) [Zone 3] in his black and gold uniform. Kizaru's effect allowed him to draw another Secret Six Samurai with a different attribute. At the same time each samurai summon added Bushido Counters to the Gateway of the Six (6 counters) and Six Samurai United (2 counters).
But while he added the card (Legendary Secret of the Six Samurai) from his deck to his hand, Crescent spoke up. "But that is not true. You did do more for Himiko than you were told to do. You helped her escape, Zanbatou."
"...My orders were to follow hers. That is no longer the case." He claimed, and it took him a while to give that answer. "I activate Six Samurai United." After that though, he went right back to the duel to destroy his own continuous spell. Now that it held 2 Bushido counters, Six Samurai United could draw two more cards. "And Gateway of Six." As long as one could remove four Bushido counters from anywhere on the field, the Gate would add one Six Samurai from the deck to the hand. He used it to add the Grandmaster of Six Samurai to his hand. The silverhaired eyepatch-wearing samurai veteran(5/2100/800) [Zone 2] managed to special summon himself to the field with his own effect, since Zanbatou already controlled a Six Samurai monster. That in turn added more Bushido counters to the Gate (4 counters). "And Kizan." Those 4 counters were removed again just to add the third Earth-elemental Six Samurai to Zanbatou's hand: Kizan of the black armor. He(4/1800/500) [Zone 4] could special summon himself from the hand as long as other Six Samurai were alive.
"Tch. This guy duels more like a robot than a person." Tycho scoffed. "Do not speak about matters you have no knowledge of." Zanbatou had heard those insults before. He brushed them off as always, and sacrificed Kizan to activate Cunning of the Six Samurai. With that spell he could revive another Six Samurai, Hatsume [Zone 4], from the graveyard. "You think so? All I see is the same tricks you used in that tournament. But you had that woman to back you up then!" Tycho did not see Zanbatou being half as effective without her. "You do not know what you are talking about. I have held back all this time to uphold my lady's honor. But no more." Now that he'd summoned a Secret Six Samurai, he could also special summon the Legendary Secret of the Six Samurai from his hand. It appeared as the red armor of the shoguns, possessed by a purple ghost(4/500/2000) [Zone 4]. "Now all methods of battle will be wielded to achieve victory. I XYZ-summon Blade Armor Ninja!" The Legendary Secret Samurai combined with Kizaru as two level 4 XYZ-materials for a ninja knight(R4/2200/1000) [Extra Zone 1] in purple and gold armor...
Much to the shock of Crescent Aurora and everyone else. "A ninja?" Those were the kinds of cards Shuriken had used, the first agent Shintaro sent to retrieve their daughter. By detaching one of its XYZ-materials (Kizaru), the Blade Armor Ninja could give itself a second attack this turn. "Come back, Kizaru." By herself Hatsume could banish two Six Samurais (Fuma, Kizan) from the graveyard, to special summon another from the graveyard. And Kizaru's effect had no limiter on it either, so when he[Zone 2] returned, Zanbatou could add another Secret Six Samurai (Genbu) from the deck to his hand. "Finally. I activate Yaminabe Party and target Blade Armor Ninja." As he revealed his final continuous spell, he quickly turned his attention back to the Gateway spell and removed all of its (6 to 0 counters) current counters. For each pair of removed Bushido-Counters, Gateway of the Six could add 500 attackpoints to one Six Samurai monster on the field: Kizaru(4400/1000) in this instance. "And now I activate my skill! Unbreakable Blade!"
Unbreakable Blade, Continuous Skill
When a monster you control destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard:
Inflict damage to your opponent equal to half the destroyed monster's ATK.
"Hatsume destroys the Deep Sea Minstrel!" The weakest Samurai would lead the charge. Hatsume(2100) tossed two icy knives into the heart of the harp playing Minstrel and froze her to death. Then the Unbreakable Blade skill caused the Fisherman to lose lifepoints equal to half the attackpoints of the Minstrel.
Fisherman's LP: 7400
"That permanent skill. Zanbatou. Did you have that all along?" Charles could not hold back the questions which he already knew would not be answered. But just how long had these things existed, and why did they feel so different from normal skill cards? "I will not repeat myself, mister Adami. Kizaru attacks White Aura Bihamut." The secret samurai of earth performed the next strike with his glowing blade, which he tossed right at the white dragon to cut off its first head. The Bihamut could unfortunately not resurrect the main synchro body if it died in battle. And a casualty with 3300 attackpoints meant another 1750 lifepoints from the Fisherman's total.
Fisherman's LP: 4650
"Yaminabe Party's effect activates! When my monster strikes this turn, it will double its own attackpoints." The opponent decided the targets for a monster using the Party spell, but it no longer mattered what card the Fisherman would let die first. "Rgh." The sea duelist could only watch as the Blade Armor Ninja used his twin blades to cut down the Bihamut token and Lappis Dragon in two swings. At least losing the zero attackpower Lappis would not cost him any lifepoints, but the token's demise hurt him just as badly as the destruction of the real Bihamut. And he did not even get time to adapt to that pain, as the Grandmaster of the Six Samurai cut him directly his own blade's attack. "You fight well, but in vain. There is no standing up to the ones who can shape power like this." Those would be the last words spoken by Zanbatou for this turn
Fisherman's LP: 800
He turned silent along with his cards, as he banished Silent Sword Slash from his graveyard. The spell's final power allowed him to add another 'Silent Swordsman' from the deck. "Again?" The Fisherman felt like he was stuck in a time loop. Every time Zanbatou's turn ended, he also muted himself. Yet that did not seem to be his choice. "You.. are indeed a powerful duelist. And your masters can summon great power as well. But that does not mean you both enhance each other. I have memories of how you dueled with Yoro-Himiko, and that is why I know you are wrong. Because your skills have degraded since then. These cards your masters force upon you clash with your original style. And that is why, I cannot lose!"
Before the Silent Swordsman could be summoned, the Fisherman played his other face-down card: Call the Atlanteans. The quickplay spell summoned three level3 or lower seaserpents, Deep Sea Minstrel[Zone 3], Yellow Gurnard [Zone 2] and Deep Sea Sentry [Zone 1], back to the field at once. In rapid succession, the effects of the revived Deep Sea Sentry and Minstrel discarded five cards (Lifeless Leaffish, Gluttonous Reptolphin Greethys, Right-Hand Shark, Deep Sea Aria, Ice Dragons Prison) from the top of the Fisherman's deck. The Minstrel returned one level 4 WATER monster (Righthand Shark) to the bottom of the deck, while the Sentry placed another (Buzzsaw Shark) in the Fisherman's hand. "..." Only after that Zanbatou could special summon his Silent Swordsman(4/1000/1000) [Zone 4] in defense mode by sacrificing Hatsume. Though whether the Atlantean spell had surprised him, nobody could tell.
-TURN 04-
It surprised Zettai at the very least. "I am just doing what comes natural." The Fisherman stated and did the next logical thing, test a spell against the Silent Swordsman's ability. "I activate White Mirror!" Zanbatou could either block it, or allow the Mirror to revive one fish from the graveyard and add a second one from the deck to the hand. "..." The samurai duelist went with the first choice and had the Swordsman cut it down. "You can try and deny everything we say or do, but sooner or later you will be overwhelmed!" The Fisherman immediately used the opening to activate the Salvage spell instead and reclaim two WATER monsters with 1500 Attackpoints or less. He withdrew Lappis Dragon and Lifeless Leaffish. And with the latter being added to his hand by a card effect, he could special summon the blue gem Dragon(5/0/2600) [Zone 4] back to his field.
"But I cannot deny, the cards in my hand fill me with a strange sense of joy. This is the first duel where I have had to act as a sword and shield for someone other than Echo, and it pleases me to know.. that my feelings remain the same! I Link summon Mistar Boy! The Materials are two water monsters!" This is where the sea would fight back, Lappis Dragon and Deep Sea Minstrel transformed into the red mustache-sporting seastar(1900/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] who added 500 attack and defense to all WATER monsters. "Diva!" The next move needed no repeated explanation; he normal summoned the Deep Sea Diva(2/700/900) [Zone 3] who special summoned a seaserpent from the deck. "Deep Sea Artisan!" It was the last of the musical ensemble: the blue-skinned merman artist(1/500/1000) [Zone 4]. He discarded just one card from the top of the deck, and special summoned one lowlevel WATER monster from the graveyard. The Fisherman revived the same monster that got discarded: the mechanical silver-red Buzzsaw Shark(4/2100/1000) [Zone 5].
"Now, to deal with your skill card!" The Yellow Gurnard Duo reused their powers on the Artisan as well, doubling her(2/500/1000) level for the upcoming synchronization. "I synchro summon Ravenous Crocodragon Archethys!" The Deep Sea Sentry, Artisan, Yellow Gurnards and Deepsea Diva tuner joined together for one final song. The harmony of nine level stars led to the creation of Archethys, the sharp-scaled and spike-finned crocodile-saurian(9/4500/1500) [Zone 1]. "Archethys draws one card for each nontuner material I used to make it, and he gains 500 attackpoints for each card in my hand! However, by discarding two cards I can destroy one card on the field!" He targeted the card he had promised to get rid of the Unbreakable Blade. Greethys(3500/1500) absorbed two cards (Greethys, Lifeless Leaffish) and blasted them into the Skill card like torpedoes, cracking Zanbatou's eternal shield. "Hmph, so you figured out the weakness on your own." Tycho smirked. Now everyone knew that it could be done, skill cards were just as destructible as spells, traps or monsters.
"Now only he remains." The Fisherman expended one card though to activated the lowlevel fish reviving spell Surface. "I special summon Gluttonous Reptolphin Greethys! This sea monster can special summon one monster from my graveyard with a level equal to the number of cards in your hand!" A smaller crocodile-like fish emerged from the sea's graveyard: the reptilian dolphin Greethys(3/1500/1500) [Zone 2]. And since Zanbatou held one card in his hand Greethys could revive the Deep Sea Artisan(1/500/1000) [Zone 3], albeit with its effects blocked off this time. "And his Samurai! Who are all in attack mode. Which means.." The Fisherman expended another spell from his hand, Unisong Tuning. "I banish a tuner from my graveyard, and place its level on my monster on the field!" Prima Donna started singing from beyond the grave and harmonized with Greethys to level up this reptilian dolphin tuner(7/1500/1500). "A synchro summoned White Aura Whale will destroy them all!"
"...hg." A grim expression crossed the normally stoic face of Zanbatou. The leveled up Greethys and Deep Sea Artisan dove into the ocean and one great white whale(8/3300/2500) came back up. And when it broke the surface, large waves were thrown forward to slam the Grandmaster, Armor Ninja and Kizaru down into the depths of the dead. His defenses had been reduced to just the Silent Swordsman, and it would not aid him for long. "White Aura Whale can attack two monsters in one turn, and he inflicts piercing damage!" The first blast of pressurized water in the battle phase sent his silent warrior to a watery grave.
Zanbatou's LP: 5700
"My defense.. is broken." Zanbatou knew his time had run out. Ravenous Crocodragon(2500/1500), Mistar Boy and the Buzzsaw Shark could put out enough damage between the three of them to remove his remaining lifepoints. Even if he activated Silent Swordsman's effect to special summon another warrior, the White Aura Whale would use its second attack to pierce it into oblivion. "You have beaten me. I cannot continue this fight. Do with me as you wish." He kneeled down to acknowledge his loss, but he would let his opponent decide whether or not he'd accept a surrender through words or through attacks. "..This is enough then." The Fisherman chose the former victory, deactivating his dueldisk to let Zanbatou lose painlessly.
Zanbatou's LP: 0
"You showed him mercy? That was reckless. What if it had been a trick?" Zettai chided the victorious ADI. "I do not believe him capable of such deception. And this way we can move on at a faster rate." The Fisherman responded. "Perhaps you feel differently, but I do not see the point in harming a man who is subject to the whims of his masters." He felt the same way about Zettai in fact, though he did not have to say that to her. "I answer to no master." She got his meaning fine enough on her own. "And he answers to us now! Zanbatou! First you will show us what is hidden beneath this dojo! Then you will tell us how we can get to Yoro-Himiko!"
"Lady Himiko is not here. And I cannot show you the way to her. But I will let you see the site below." Zanbatou picked himself back up. The many Karakuri units that guarded every exit and entrance moved out of the way. "Follow me." He folded the screendoors behind him sideways to reveal another set of stairs. "Zanbatou. Even if you do not know where she is, you can still help us find her. She needs you." Charles took this time to try to converse with the now more talkative samurai duelist. "All that she needs is already provided for her by the family. I can do nothing for her anymore." His answers however had not become any less lifeless. "But.. you must want to save her too, don't you? You do not have to act this way anymore." He did not see why he kept pretending if he could not resist them anymore. Was he even pretending? "I do not know what you are talking about, mister Adami. I have only ever served the interest of Shintaro. Maybe she saw more in that than there really was. But I can assure you.. that was her mistake." It seemed less and less so.
"Charles. Something is wrong with him, isn't it?" Crescent approached the cyberduelist as the eight duelists started going down the stairs. "You do not believe that he's telling the truth either, do you?" He asked her back. "No.. He is. He thinks he is. But his expressions.. his voice.. they're not right." She could usually not read emotions well on a face, especially a digital one. But she'd never seen one as flat as his. Yet as far as they knew, they were talking to the real Zanbatou. "Maybe... they changed his memories? Echo said that Shintaro did not want project Flute back. What if they have their own? What if they can make people forget things like.. liking someone?" Even a vague explanation like this troubled her deeply. "It is.. unfortunate possible. Exeter has been subtly influencing our own memories for years now, to erase any negativity from our minds. But if they can do it to such an extent, what is stopping them from doing it to Himiko? Or to us?" Suddenly Charles did not want to stay in this place for much longer. "Zambatou? Are we there yet?"
"Yes." Zanbatou opened another door and headed into strange dimly lit underground lab that did not fit the time period of the virtual castle above. "Olympia!" And in front of them, in one of the many containment tubes lined up in rows, the Fisherman saw the Fire Princess. Zanbatou walked up to the pod and opened with it a set of commands on his dueldisk. "Hang on. I've got you!" Olympia slumped down to the floor, her eyes and body slowly adjusting to the light and freedom. "Who?" She could barely see the man who got her out. "It's me, the Fisherman." He announced himself. "Fisher? You still haven't... given yourself a name?" She groaned. It sounded like her alright. Even if her memories of recent events had been a bit scrambled. "Where am I?!" Her mood changed a little however, when she saw the crowd and the equipment around her. "That is a good question." Fisherman sighed. "What is this place?"
"This.. is where I was reborn." And the Samurai answered.
(To Be Continued in World 060: Just Because the Crime is Small)
New Cards used by the Legendary Fisherman
Yellow Gurnard Duonigis
Crystal Girl
Lappis Dragon
Gluttonous Reptolphin Greethys
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Ravenous Crocodragon Archethys
Abyss Dweller
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Fury of Kairyu-Shin
Call of the Atlanteans
Uni-Song Tuning
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Torrential Tribute
New Cards used by Zanbatou
Silent Swordsman LV7
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Blade Armor Ninja
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Silent Sword Slash
Yaminabe Party