Alucard watched on as Allan slept... while it still hasn't been a full week yet since His crew joined him (tomorrow would make it one full week), Alucard noted a few things that seem to be some notable habits Allan had, like how he wakes up at 6 am, something that stayed true even over the weekend despite the lack of school... it was now 6:30 and Allan was still sleeping.
"Allan, sweety.", Allan's mom called from the other side of the bedroom door... she normally is out by this time, she must have noticed Allan hadn't moved and came to check on him. "Are you up?" Allan slept through it, so Mrs. Burton opened the door and let herself in. "Allan?" Walking over to his bed and feeling his forehead for a bit before shaking him gently, "It's time to wake up." It wasn't hard to see the look on concern on her face.
Thankfully, the gentle shakes did wake Allan up, as he grumbled and said "Hey, Mom."
"How are you feeling?" She asked, her concern not wavering for a bit. "You slept in for quite a bit."
"Just really tired." Came the reply as he took a look at his clock before beginning to get up.
Mrs. Burton didn't seem to buy that, the fact that he wasn't in his usual Halloween-themed pajamas might have had something to do with that. "Is that it? I can call the school if your sick."
"That shouldn't be necessary." Allan replied as he climbed out of bed, the side opposite where his mom was. "I can still go."
"Okay," she relented, not seeing any obvious reason to keep Allan home today, "But if you start to feel worse, you better head to the Nurse and let me know." she then added with more authority in her tone.
"Will do." he said with a smile as she left. He then walked over to his closet and started pulling out clothes almost at random (it was all basically the same outfit, so he didn't need to think about which shirt to wear or anything like that.) Before turning to Alucard and saying, "So, is Sebastian alright with the new residents?"
"As far as I can tell." Alucard replied, "Though that can change when Nekomusume finds him, and everyone was more subdued then usual after we got you in bed. Are you sure you're okay to go today?"
"Unless Specter is helping me move right this moment then I am already providing proof that I am better then I was after those direct attacks." Allan said as he put all of his clothes on and reached for his belt. "I should be Okay... assuming there is no further issues those attacks caused, is there?"
"Physically, no."
"Then for now, the biggest problem that came from last night... or is it this morning?... would be that I can't watch a full episode of Mythbusters before I have to go to school." He said, "So instead, I'll settle for some Scooby Doo."
"I highly doubt that's actually the biggest problem."
Allan gave a Yawn, not to insult Alucard, just because he was still sleepy and needed to yawn right there and then, "It's the biggest thing we can do anything about right now. Anyway, I got to go have breakfast and finish getting ready for school." He said as he left the room.
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Thankfully, nothing out of the ordinary happened during school... well, there were some pranks pulled that weren't by the Ghostricks and weren't ones Allan would have approved of (he insisted they replace all instance of thumbtacks on the seats with whoopee cushions, same basic prank but one doesn't have a sharp metal object being stuck into someone's rear end), but none of that happened near Allan, so for him nothing out of the ordinary happened during school.
For the most part, that meant Allan was right in the fact that he should be fine... in fact he was looking better and better as the day went on. To those that weren't aware of what happened overnight (basically everyone except Allan and the Ghostricks) they would probably not be able to tell that anything was off about Allan at all. Though a big clue did come in when Allan was dueling during recess. While he won easily enough (Allan got him to deck out through Ghostrick Skeleton's effect and stall tactics) there was a moment where he let a direct attack through for Mary's effect and while it was just a hologram, the flinch on Allan's face as the attack came in, the slight hesitation when making the choice to do so, and the way he grabbed the spot he was shot at by Caduceus after the attack was finished (extra notable since it is not where the attack that just happened hit) made it clear to Alucard that Allan was not as fine as he seemed. Even so, when Alucard questioned Allan about it after the duel, he claimed to be fine and that it wasn't anything to worry about.
"It's not like duels like that one are going to be a regular thing for me." Allan said. "Hey, that may just be the only time I get caught in that type of duel. So there is no point in letting the events of that duel get to me, right?"
"Well, there is not much issue with the logic." Alucard replied, "But you could make things worse if you try to jump back in so quickly, there are other ways to get us out on the field for you. Mary will understand if you hold of on using her method for a bit."
"Alright." Allan said with a sigh, and then the day continued.
Linebreak
When Allan got home, he was genuinely surprised to see his Mom's car in the driveway. When she works she normally doesn't get home till a little bit after he dose. For her to beat him for once was rare... in fact this might have even been the first time it happened 'Maybe she called off early or asked Dad to handle some after work errands on account of how I was this morning?' he thought to himself. 'I know she was worried enough to come check on me before leaving, but I don't think I worried her enough to cause that, did I?' With the only way to find out for sure being to walk in and ask Allan opened up the Door, unlocked, as expected despite him locking it as he left, and called out "Hello."
"Ah, good. You're home." Mrs. Burton said as she appeared upon Allan announcing himself, "First up, How are you feeling?"
'Wow, literally the first thing she dose as I walk in... guess that is no surprise.' Allan thought to himself before saying "Perfectly A-Okay. Is that the same with you? You normally arrive after me."
She smiled a bit, "I'm Okay, I just have something planned. Do you have any unfinished homework due tomorrow?"
"No homework at all." Well, that's not entirely true... he did get a worksheet from his History class on Friday that is due tomorrow, but the teacher leaves a 10 minutes of class time at the end each day to the students to work on it some... and Allan did it all during that 10 minutes, so it might as well have just been an in-class assignment to him.
"Good, then put your backpack down and keep your shoes on. Were going for a trip today." She replied.
'Hmm, so that something planned involves me then? Guess that explains why she is here early.' Allan though to himself before saying "Will Dad be joining us?" Normally when one of his parents has something planned that involves him, the other parent is involved as well.
"Sadly, no. He's got a couple of other things to do today." She replied as Allan put his backpack down and pulled his duel disk out of it to keep on his arm.
'She said "Things", not "work." so it isn't job related.' Allan noted, 'and if those things were errands, they could have been done sooner to leave him open because this was planned.' A smile graced his face as he came to a conclusion, "He is going to be getting a lot of Birthday related stuff in the house while we are gone, and this trip is to keep me out of the house long enough for him to do it without giving me a hint as to what is coming. Is that right?"
His mom then sighed a bit before laughing some, "I told him you were going to figure out what was going on."
A big grin showed up on Allan's face at that... this isn't something he expected, he thought all that stuff would have been done last Saturday while he was helping the dueling club set up that booth, but when something surprises him, it dose often feel good for him when he proves to be able to figure out exactly what is going not long after it came.
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Of Course, juts because Allan figured out the reason for the trip, didn't mean he knew where they were headed... turns out it was to the other side of town, outside of the suburban areas and right to the part that looks far more like a major city... and then right into the parking lot of the biggest Card/dueling store in Duellum city, and one of the biggest chains of dueling stores across the country, 'The Perfect Draw'. 3 Stories high with access to almost every card that can be bought alongside other accessories and dueling equipment, If you were nearby and needed something dueling related, this place was the best shot you had at it. The only Issue Allan had with it, was that it was so likely to have what you need, that everyone went here, making it crowded very regularly, and today was no exception.
"So, you think we will be able to get what you need to finish off that deck of yours?" Mrs. Burton asked her son.
'Right, she doesn't know I was able to fill it out.' Allan thought, 'Still, duel spirits or not, it is still far from being a solid Ghostrick deck... having duplicates of everyone would be a good place to start.' But then he smirked and said, "Possibly, depending on how lucky I am with the packs."
And so the two went in... but sadly they weren't able to stick together all that well. Instead of headed straight to one area of the store, Allan's Mom had them go through several areas, probably to delay things and give her husband more time, Sadly with the big crowed, this meant Allan lost track of his mom at some point between the area holding the Duel disk accessories and the Duel Runner displays. Thankfully they had their phones with them.
"Okay, good to know nothing happened when we got split." Mrs. Burton said over the phone.
"Yeah, I'm going to try and find my way to the card packs." Allan said as he spotted a display case (picked clean) for the special edition Halloween themed card packs that only show up around this time of year.
"Okay, remember, you are being limited to just getting 6 at most. Okay?" She replied.
"Uhh, the special Halloween packs are half-off. Can getting 2 of those count as just getting 1 regular pack since the prices equal out that way."
"Dose that pack have the cards you need?"
"Well, I'm trying to make a Ghostrick deck... that's like, THE Halloween deck, and I see 10 of them right here on the advertisement for the pack so, pretty sure."
"Okay, then, see you there."
Allan grinned, "Thank you, see you soon." He responded as the two hung up. Allan then started making his way around the store, going up a floor since he was sure the pack section was up on the second floor of the store. Then the ghostly image of Witch appeared next to him following by.
"Didn't you say something about having back luck at pack openings?" She asked, "Why not just go to the individual cards section and buy from there so you know you are getting what you want?"
"Doing that to build your deck can make the price tag skyrocket really fast, so my parents won't allow it." Allan said, not worried about being overheard since everyone was wrapped up in there own business, "Course, buying a potentially unlimited amount of packs can also do that, which is why I think they fall to the Gambler's fallacy on that one."
"Good thing neither of them appear to be Gamblers then." came the voice of Dullahan as he showed up nearby. "Though it dose seem weird that your mother is willing to let you go off on your own at your age."
"Years of building up trust by being a good boy dose have it's advantages." Allan said, "But anyway, do anyone think they can use there duel spirit advantages to find out which packs will have Ghostrick cards in them."
"You first brag about being a good kid... and then ask if we can help you cheat the system." Witch stated before laughing, "Oh, that is just too good."
Mummy also appeared right around this time saying, "Yes, we can do that."
Allan grinned at that, twice the pack grabbing capacity and a guide to boost his luck meant he was going to score big this trip.
Linebreak
Three men walked out of a van parked in front of 'The Perfect Draw'. All with Guns and duel disks, none with any type of badge present on them. One of them spoke up saying, "We all know the plan?"
The second one answered as he pulled out some large bags for the three, "McGuire heads to the single card section, bags all the cards our client wants from there. Gayle heads to the pack section, bags every pack one of the cards could be in. I head to the back and start bagging things there, the two of you come and join me when you are all done, to speed up my process since I also have to run interference on the alarms, and we get out before the cops arrive. Am I wrong on anything?"
"That's how I remember it." The third one said.
"Good, then lets go."
Linebreak
Unfortunately finding the card pack section proved to be difficult (Why do they have to keep on moving the sections around?... Oh right, so Customers will stay in longer an maybe buy more things), and Allan could have sworn he checked the entire second floor and the pack section wasn't there at all. "Oh, great, was it the third floor then?" Hopefully he wouldn't take too long, he knew there was a good chance his mom would be waiting for him there.
"Looking for something?" came a voice from behind Allan, slightly fearing what he would see when he turned around turned around to face the unknown voice. He jumped a bit when he noticed it was coming from a ghostly werewolf-like figure with a chain on it's arm. "Surprise."
"What the-" Allan muttered while trying to keep his composure and not make a scene. Only for his eyes to drift as he saw Specter, and Lantern nearby to the werewolf's side.
"Hey guys, look who we found." Lantern stated.
Witch spoke up "Warwolf, is that you?"
"Yep," The new duel spirit said, and not just me either. "Doll and Socuteboss are here as well."
'Three more Ghostricks, and I just run into them again?' Allan thought, "Well, this is a surprise."
"Yep, you don't mind bringing me and the others along with you when you leave right?" Warwolf said, "It's been weeks since I've been in here and no on wants a copy of me so I'm basically trapped."
"I do have some rules."
"We already filled them in on that." Specter interjected.
"And I'm Okay with them. As long as Socuteboss and Doll are coming with then I am fine with them." Warwolf stated.
"Okay then, can to lead me to the card pack department?" Allan asked, "I was already about to grab a bunch of them, so you three can just bind yourselves to cards in the packs I pick up and join everyone else in the fun."
Warwolf's face lit up at that, getting super animated and even howling in joy, "Awesome, let's go!"
Allan had to smile at that, it was hard not to when you get surprised with good news.
Alucard and Jiangshi watched from afar... well Alucard watched, Jiangshi slipped a Whoopee cushion under the seat of an employe right before they got on it. "This is concerning." Alucard said.
"Why is that?" Jiangshi asked, "Isn't it good that so many of our old friends are being found?"
"That it is." The taller vampire said, "But the rate is alarming, three days back to back, more allies are found, and all in less then a week of someone meeting and being able to see us. The odds of that happening have got to be catastrophically low."
"You think something is up?" Jiangshi said, realizing what Alucard was getting at.
"Maybe, but let's hope not." came the reply. "Allan shouldn't be put into situations where fate starts weaving groups together, not as his age."
The smaller vampire nodded, "Yeah, agreed. Last night was bad enough."
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Neither Mrs. Burton nor her husband were big on duels, and neither of them had jobs heavily related to it, but you would be foolish not to at least have a deck in this day and age. Since being a good duelist is respected enough to do things like get you some more vacation time from your job, she and her husband's were able to assure that they could get the 31st off when they normally wouldn't get so they could celebrate their son's upcoming birthday. And now here she was, looking over cards in the single card section of 'The Lucky Draw' trying to see if she could spot anything that might be helpful so she could assure the same thing next year and for any other holidays.
"Let me make this is clear as I can." said a voice from behind her. Mrs. Burton turned around to see a grown man with a gun in his hand talking to a scared employee behind the counter. "I got a client that is wanting every copy of every card in this store that is apart of the Ghostrick archetype. So you can either make things easy for me and do what I say, or things can get messy. What do you choose?"
'Ghostricks? Wait, that's the deck Allan is trying to make.' Mrs. Burton realized, 'And if it is every card I the store, then they won't stop here, they'll head to the pack section!'. She quickly and quietly slipped away, thankful she wasn't noticed. She pulled out her phone, if no one had done it yet, the cops needed to be called, but first, she had to make sure her son was as safe as he could be.
LineBreak
Allan made it to the card pack section, third floor apparently... surprisingly his Mom wasn't already there, maybe she wasn't sure where it was either. Or maybe she was just chilling out in some other area waiting out the clock while trusting that Allan would be able to keep himself out of trouble. But either way Allan was here, the duel spirits of Ghostrick Doll and Socuteboss were present (the latter looked like she was about to go to sleep), and the special Halloween pack was just getting restocked onto the shelves.
"Perfect, " Allan said to himself as he saw the employee finish restocking, "Full set on the shelves." As the employee moved on, Allan got to work, pulling the set out a bit so he could see all the packs in the various boxes and he waited as the Ghostricks worked their magic.
"Hoping for a sign?" Allan heard a voice say, turning a bit to see another boy by himself wearing a blue jacket, "You know that the odds of any one pack having a good card are the same as any other pack of the same set, right?"
Allan put on a big smile, "Ah hah, but you see, the cards will speak to me. They will tell me what packs contain what I seek." he said in a overly dramatic voice, before dropping it altogether and adding "I hope." in a meeker voice.
The boy laughed. "Oh, so you are hoping for a sign." he then laughed a bit more before saying, "Eh, I guess it is as good a method as any other. Names Rem by the way, Rem Frigus."
"I'm Allan." he then said, before turning back to the packs, "Now, will the cards speak?" As he said that, the present Ghostricks gave a thumbs up as Specter started pointing at some seemingly-random packs. "Lets go with these." Allan said as he started picking them up.
Rem raised an eyebrow at seeing how many packs Allan was grabbing. "Well, I guess swiping half a box's worth of packs is a good way to get some good cards out of it. Either that or you get a whole lot of nothing for all the money sunk into it."
"Hey, maximizing my chances." Allan replied, "The more you get, the more likely you are to get what you need, so I grab the maximum amount my Mom will let me get for the best shot."
"Makes since." Rem replied, "That's that's probably why 'Snipe Hunter' is considered one of the few good gambling cards now that I think about it. Not being once per turn means you can just use it over and over again until you get a good roll as long as you can pay the cost."
"Exactly." Allan said.
Right after that he felt is phone ring vibrate and saw that it was his Mom, 'Huh, maybe she got a bit lost and wants to know where I am?' He thought before answering, "Hello."
"Allan, where are you?" His mom said... in a very urgent tone that was not hard to pick up.
"At the packs, Third floor, just grabbed a bunch of packs." Allan replied, worry coming into his voice, there wasn't to many thing he could think of that would put that urgency in his mom's voice, and none of the ones Allan could think of were good.
"Get out of there. Now." She replied, "Head to some part of the store that doesn't have cards on the shelves and hide. I'll explain latter but it is not safe in here right now, got that?"
"Yes." He said walking out of the Isle, leaving Rem a little confused, "Getting out of the area now."
"Good. Stay safe." She said as they wrapped up there short conversation and hung up.
"Whoa, You're suddenly in a hurry?" Rem commented as he went after Allan to keep up, "What, is the fire alarm on the building busted or something?"
"Ehh, or something." Allan stated, "That was my Mom, and she said it wasn't safe here and to get to some spot that doesn't have cards on the shelves and hide."
"There are some bathrooms nearby." Warwolf said, even if Rem couldn't hear him. "That might make a good hiding spot."
Allan thought that was a good idea, if only certain areas of the store were a danger zone (which he assumed was the case due to his mom specifying a place where there are no cards on the shelves) then whatever was going on probably wasn't here to kill everyone it can like in the case of a shooter.
Unfortunately, he wouldn't get the chance to exercise that idea, as before he got to much farther a voice called out and said, "Stop it you two." Allan froze and looked behind him to see a grown man, Blond hair cut in what Allan always thought of as a Military-style haircut, a cruel smirk on his face, a duel disk on his left arm, with a half-full rather large bag of sorts in his left hand, and in his right had ... he was holding a gun, pointed straight at Allan and Rem. "You really shouldn't be all alone right now without your parents, something bad might happen. How about to follow along with me right for now so we can prevent that?" The man said, though the tone gave away that his words did not reflect his intentions.
Doll decided that was the perfect moment to speak up, "I'd like to point out that complying doesn't guarantee that he still won't fire that thing at you."
Doll didn't need to say that, Allan knew about it already (hearing his dad mention it in a rant at some point). Allan glanced off at Rem's direction, who seemed to be in an identical state as Allan and glanced back, and the two knew they were on the same page... Run.
The Kids darted off in opposite directions and the man frowned before sprinting forward and immediately focusing his efforts on Allan. The kid could run pretty quickly for short bursts, but the nature of the isles made it hard if not impossible to hide from the man's sight... and in a speed contest between a kid and an adult, well it was hardly a contest, not that the man was interested in that. He just lifted the arm with the gun, aimed and fired...
LineBreak
Allan heard the gunshot, he knew what that meant, what he didn't know was, How did that lead to this?
Before the bullet reached Allan, some sort of Purple barrier of sorts appeared an inch from his body and deflected the bullet. Then another barrier showed up blocking Allan path right in time for him to run into it, proving it as a rather solid barrier, and then that barrier expanded to trap both Allan and the man that fired at him in a dome, shoving some shelves to the side as it formed.
The Ghostrick present blinked in surprise at those events before Witch spoke up saying, "You're a Mystic?"
Allan got himself back up saying, "A what?" As he said that, both his and the man's duel disks turned on by themselves, entering duel mode.
"Great," The man groaned, "The one with the packs happened to be a Mystic. Wonderful." He was making no attempts to hide his sarcasm, "Okay, Look kid, about about a deal? You hit 'surrender' on the duel disk, hand over those packs you grabbed from the shelf, and I leave you alone and get back to my job. Make it easy for both of us."
"Don't." Alucard appeared right there and then before Allan, "What's going on is similar to the duel from last night. If you surrender or loose, there is nothing stopping him from firing another bullet and having it connect."
"Can I get an explanation for what is going on here a little latter?" Allan said, hoping the man didn't hear his talk to the Ghostricks.
"Latter, yes. But now, you got yourself another duel to win." Dullahan stated.
Allan set the packs on the ground, grabbed his deck, and put it in his duel disk as he faced the man... who according to the duel disk (that got linked to the man's when they activated) was named Johnny Gayle.
Gayle put a hand to his ear and said, "Gayle here, I'm going to get delayed a bit, a kid grabbed some of the packs and happened to be a Mystic."
"Need any back-up?" a voice on the other end of his earpiece said.
"Wouldn't do much good." He replied, "Intrusions aren't easy in a Mystic defense duel, proper tech or no. Just go on without me, I'll catch up." He then pulled out a deck of his own and put it in his own duel disk.
"Roger that."
'So much for staying safe.' Allan thought.
"DUEL!"
Allan's duel disk gave a ding, indicating that he was to go first. 'That's good.' He thought as he looked at his hand; 'A Feint Plan', 'Ghostrick Skeleton', 'Final Countdown', 'Jackpot 7', and 'Ghostrick Museum'. 'Looks like I will be going for a stalling strat... wait, that's perfect! Mom knew something was up, so if she could call me to tell me that, then she must have called the cops as well to get them here... if I can stall long enough, they may be able to come in time to save me even if I loose.' Allan realized, before making his move, "I activate the spell card, 'Final Countdown'!"
Gayle scowled upon seeing that card, "Well, aren't I just lucky."
"Guess you know what this cards is, if I stall out for a total of 20 turns, this cards lets me call it my win." Allan replied, "all I got to do is pay off 2,000 life points."
Allan's LP: 8000 – 6000
"Next I'll set 1 monster and 2 other face-down cards." Allan continued, "Turn end." A single fireball appeared behind Allan, on the edge of the Dome. '1 down, 19 to go.'
"My Turn." Johnny said as he drew a card, "I'll start things off by activating 'Lightning Storm'! With no face-up cards on my field, I can wipe out both of your face-down cards."
'Good thing he is playing it now and not latter then.' Allan thought, "I chain my Trap card! 'A feint Plan'! Now until the next end phase, no face-down monsters can be attacked." As he said that, a stream of Lightning came over and eradicated both of Allan's cards, who only smirked in response. "Oh, and that other set card was 'Jackpot 7', since it hit the graveyard from your effect, it banishes itself."
"You're using Multiple win conditions?" Johnny asked.
"Guess you know this one too," Allan replied "And Yes, I am, If you wind up allowing me to Banish the other 2 copies by that effect, I can win that way as well."
'That's just wonderful, I have to duel a Mystic that runs multiple win conditions, while already on a time limit.' Johnny thought, 'and because he already used that Trap, I can't attack his only monsters right now. Aw well, at least I can set up my own defense.' "I set 1 monster and end my turn." At that, a second flame appeared next to the first.
"My Turn." Allan declared, drawing a card. 'Card of Demise'... not as strong as it was when it first came out (thanks to errata's) but still a good card for him to have. "I set 1 more card." He said as the Field zone got a card image slipped into it. "I now I activate 'Card of Demise'! With this I can draw until I have three cards in my Hand." Sure he won't be able to Special summon nor do any damage this turn, but at the moment he didn't need to, and if the Ghostricks were assisting his draw, loosing them at the end of the turn may not be an issue either. Picking up his new cards and seeing them to be 'Spirit Barrier', 'Ghostrick Jiangshi', and 'Ghostrick Scare', he gave a small grin. Maybe it would have been better to wait till latter in the turn before playing it, but this was still good draw. "Next I flip summon my Ghostrick Skeleton!" He declared as the Skeletal figure emerged from the image of the set card.
Ghostrick Skeleton... Attribute:Dark, Type:Zombie, Level:3, ATK:1200 DEF:1100
"Ghostricks?" Johnny said with a smirk of his own, "Well, ain't that a fun coincidence."
"Uhh, Allan, I don't like that look in his eye." Skeleton said.
'Me neither,' Allan thought, 'And he was after the packs I grabbed, that should have more Ghostrick cards inside of them. Was he here to collect Ghostricks? If so then now he definitely won't leave me alone now that he knows I have some in my deck.' "I activate Skeleton's effect! For each Ghostrick I have face-up, I banish a card off of the top of your deck face-down." he then declared "I only have 1 out right now, so you loose your top card."
"Please hit something good." Skeleton said as he released a purple beam from his scythe to hit Gayle's deck. It was face-down, so Allan couldn't see what he hit, but there was also almost no way his opponent could get it back that way, so if it was a combo piece or something Vital to the way his deck worked, it might just be the difference between a win and a loss.
"Now I set 1 more monster and 2 more face down cards." Allan said, emptying out his hand. "Next up, Skeleton, head back face down."
"You got it!" The Duel spirit replied as his effect flipped him over again.
"Now I'll activate the field spell I set earlier. 'Ghostrick Museum'!" Allan continued as the area around them turned into the inside of a cartoonish Museum. "Turn end." A third flame joined the other 2.
"My Turn, I draw." Gayle said. "First up, I activate, 'Pot of Extravagance'." He declared, revealing the card he drawn, "I banish 6 random cards from my extra deck face-down to draw 2 more cards."
'Man, he wasn't even low on hand advantage.' Allan thought, 'Hopefully I can holed out against what he's got planning.'
"Next I'll play a Field spell of my own. 'Vendread Nights'!" The opponent declared as the area shifted again, with his half of the field now looking rampaged by some sort of Zombie virus.
Allan frowned at that, trying not to seem to scared. He knew of the Vendread cards, released In tandem with a video game series, but he never got interested enough in the cards to look them up (the M-rating of the games certainly didn't help, as it meant he wasn't allowed to do much with the games), so all he knew was that as cards, they were a Ritual focused Zombie deck... meanwhile it seemed like his opponent knew quite a bit about how Ghostricks worked, so Allan at a disadvantage.
"With 'Vendread Nights' effect, once per turn I can discard a card to add any Vendread monster from my deck to my hand." Gayle continued, "I'll discard 'Vendread Anima' to add 'Vendread Chimera' to my hand." He continued as Allan was able to briefly see that the added monster was Blue in coloration. "Next I'll play the Ritual Spell, 'Revendread Evolution'! With this I can Ritual Summon any Vendread Ritual monster by tributing monsters from my hand or field, and as a bonus I can use 1 Vendread monster in my deck as well. So I'll tribute the 'Vendread Striges' I have set and use the Vendread Houndhorde in my deck." The set monster changed to reveal itself as an infected set of Crows while an infected pack of Dogs appeared next to them before breaking apart into 5 blue stars that let themselves aflame and swarmed together. "You prepared to deal with this kid? I Ritual Summon my 'Vendread Chimera'!" A new monster arose from the blue flames, a Hulking brute with no visible head and looking like it was ready to eat anything in it's way.
Vendread Chimera... Attribute:Dark, Type:Zombie/Ritual, Level:5, ATK:2300 DEF:0
"And Joining it is 'Vendread Revenants'!" he continued, this time a shambling zombie in ever since of the phrase showed up looking right at Allan as though it just found it's next meal.
Vendread Revenants... Attribute:Dark, Type:Zombie, Level:4, ATK:1800 DEF:200
Gayle smirked, "Ghostrick don't have much offensive power, and since your field spell can allow my monsters to attack you directly I can take out over two thirds of your remaining Life points, as far as I can tell, after this, you just have 1 turn left, and no real way to take me out in that turn. Vendreads, Attack!"
The zombie charged first. And for a brief moment Allan felt like he was back at the museum last night as the Figure was launching it's direct attacks at him, but thankfully Allan had responses and didn't yet have to learn if this duel being similar to that one meant the monsters could give real pain. "I activate a Trap! 'Spirit Barrier'!" A yellow Barrier surrounded Allan deflecting the Zombie's swipe before it got to close to Allan. "Allowed by effects or not, if you want to do any damage through a direct attack, you won't be able to do it while I have monsters in play, this attack means nothing!" Allan declared, putting as much confidence as he could into it.
"Err, well, no damage means Museum won't do anything to my battle positions either." Gayle stated, "I end my turn." A fourth flame appeared, adding to the line of them that was slowly making it's way clockwise around the battlefield.
"My Draw." Allan said, before looking at his new card, 'Ghostrick Vanish'. 'He's got a point though,' He thought to himself, 'I don't have many ways to get rid of stronger monsters... and by the looks of it, the Ghostricks are either unable to or are unwilling to let me draw one of the cards that can. Maybe they just want me to focus on defense? Keep myself safe and wait out the clock? Well it is as good of a plan as anything right now.' "I flip summon my set 'Ghostrick Jiangshi'!" he then declared as the Hopping vampire hopped out of a Floorboard.
Ghostrick Jiangshi... Attribute:Dark, Type:Zombie, Level:3, ATK:400 DEF:1800
"When Jiangshi is flipped face up I can add a Ghostrick monster to my hand as long as it's level is no greater then the number of Ghostricks I have on the field." Allan continued.
Jiangshi then turned to face Allan and said, "If I may, I would like to recommend Jackfrost as your target. Assuming you plan on moving us face-down again, he can help stop an attack that's either going directly at you or at us in case the field spell is taken down."
Allan nodded before saying, "I add 'Ghostrick Jackfrost' to my hand." He said before showing the card after it got ejected out of the duel disk. "Now I flip summon, Skeleton again."
The reaper came out of the shadows, saying, "Time to get reaping." as he aimed his scythe.
"I have 2 Ghostricks out," Allan said, "so Skeleton can take out 2 cards off of the top of your deck instead of just 1." The reaper fired his beam, hitting the top of Gayle's deck once again.
"Now I'll set one card and use my Ghostrick's effects to flip them face down again." The Ghostrick duelist concluded. "Turn end." A fifth flame appeared, making the line now stretch a quarter of the way around the battle field.
At the same time, the Monstrosity of a Ritual monster also went up in flames, causing The Vendread Duelist to blink in slight confusion and then Groan some, "That's right, during the next End phase after summoning a monster through the effect of 'Revendread Evolution' that monster is destroyed."
Allan blinked as well at that. 'Dose this guy not know his own deck?'
"My Turn." Gayle then Drew his card. 'Okay, this is going to be tough.' He thought, 'The way that little Jiangshi moved when summoned was not a way that would be animated by the programmers, so it is probably a duel spirit. Upside, that means getting that deck should make my employer very happy. Downside, it meas he has better control over what cards he draws. If I am to reckless with destruction effects, 'Jackpot 7' will get me. Go through to many resources to quickly, and I might deck-out because of that Skeleton. Take to long, and 'Final countdown' will finish me off.' "I use the effect of 'Vendread Nights' again," He declared, "I discard the 'Vendread Core' in my hand to add another Revenants. The I play, 'Reload' to shuffle up my hand into my deck and draw again."
'He deck thinned to boost his odds of getting a better hand.' Allan realized.
Johnny smirked, "I discard the Vendread Battlelord in my hand to use the effect of the Houndhorde in my in my graveyard to revive it." He then said as the Wolves from before showed up on his field.
Vendread Houndhorde... Attribute:Dark, Type:Zombie, Level:3, ATK:0 DEF:2100
"Next I play this card, 'Revendread Origin'!" He stated as he played another card. "This card lets me tribute the Houndhorde and Revenants on my field to Ritual Summon, and Here's a fun fact for you, These Vendread Ritual spells let me Ritual summon monsters that are in my GY."
"Oh Shoot." Allan commented. As he saw the two monsters break apart into 7 blue stars that lit themselves on fire.
"Say hello to 'Vendread Battlelord'!" he then declared as the monster he discarded rose up to the field through the blue fire, wielding a large sword and ready to fight.
Vendread Battlelord... Attribute:Dark, Type:Zombie/Ritual, Level:7, ATK:2700 DEF:0
Johnny stumbled a bit feeling a little lightheaded, 'Okay, so the geezer was right, there is a little difference between a regular Ritual summon and a Necro-Ritual summon. Ehh, shouldn't be to big of a deal to work with.' "Since Houndhorde left the field after being summoned by it's own effect, it get's banished." He then stated, "But since I was able to have it on the field when tributing it, It grants a new ability to my Battlelord, allowing my to banish 1 spell or rap card every turn. So I'll be getting rid of that 'Ghostrick Museum' of yours."
'Well there went the main protection for the monsters' Allan thought to himself, as his part of the field returned to normal away.
"And since I know you have that Jackfrost in your hand," Johnny continued, "I'll Banish the Striges in my GY to use Battlelord's normal effect. Now I can keep you from playing any one of the three card types of my choice for the rest of the turn. This turn, I choose monster." He said as his monster stabbed it's large sword into the ground and generated an aura of energy. "Now Battle! Battlelord attacks that set monster, he said pointing at the set image where Skeleton was."
"Hold it! I activate a trap!" Allan declared as the older of the two set cards revealed itself. "'Ghostrick Scare'!"
'It wasn't another 'Jackpot 7'?' Gayle thought.
"With this, I flip up as many set monsters as I can and for each Ghostrick I flip up, I can force one of your monsters face-down." Allan declared, normally he would try to flip both of his monsters up, as this sets of their effects, but with Battlelord sealing those effects for now, he'll avoid exposing to many of them. "I reveal Jiangshi and flip Battlelord face-down!" At that, The little hopping Vampire rose up and unleashed darkness from it's hands covering Battlelord and forcing it down again.
"Dam it. I set a card and end my turn." Gayle stated as the sixth flame appeared.
Allan took a couple of breaths to calm himself, but it did not help that much in putting his heart-rate at a better pace. 'Come on Burton, calm down.' He told himself, 'You're the one in control right now'. "My Turn!" He said. Drawing 'Ghostrick Nekomusume', he got a plan of attack in mind. "First I'll use Jiangshi's effect to flip his down before immediately flip summoning him again." He said as the hopping vampire vanished briefly before reappearing in the exact same spot. "With this I can add another Level 1 Ghostrick to my hand, I add 'Ghostrick Lantern'." He took another deep breath, "Next I summon, 'Ghostrick Nekomusume'!" Upon saying that, A familiar looking (to him anyway) Black haired Cat girl rose up to the field.
Ghostrick Nekomusume... Attribute:Dark, Type:Spellcaster, Level:2, ATK:400 DEF:900
"Lets wrap this up." Nekomusume said. "To sooner we get this done the sooner I can get back to finding that scaredy cat Sebastian."
"Actually," Jiangshi interjected "we are trying to stall things out to give time for the cops to arrive."
"I now flip summon 'Ghostrick Skeleton'!" Allan stated as the reaper came up again. "So now you loose more cards off of your deck." He followed up with as Three more card got banished from a beam from Skeleton's scythe. '23 cards left in the deck, I may not be able to deck him out, but I've got to be putting on more pressure... and those Ritual monsters hes played so far have 0 DEF so anyone can get over them.' "Battle! Jiangshi attacks the set Battlelord." He then said as the little vampire charged toward the set monster, revealing Battlelord's crouching stance, but without even putting it's own arm up to defend himself it was taken out to easily.
"I activate a Trap!" Gayle said, "'Urgent Ritual Art'! With No Ritual monsters on my field, I can banish a Ritual spell from my GY to use it's Ritual summoning effect. I banish the Revendred Evolution from my GY to Ritual Summon the Battlelord in my Graveyard by using another one in my deck as a resource." Erupting onto the field was the vanquished Battlelord, but Allan didn't show any fear to it.
"When you summon a level 4 or higher monster while Nekomusume and at least 1 other Ghostrick are face up, that monster goes into face-down defense position." Allan stated.
"What!?" The Ritual user asked, only for his reply to be the cat girl leaping into action, forming some purple fire on it's tail and flinging it at the Battlelord that then compressed itself back into face-down defense position.
"Nekomusume, take out the Battlelord." Allan ordered.
"With pleasure." She replied as she summoned a small army of shadowy cats that then pounced on the set monster, vaporizing it.
"Skeleton now Direct attacks!" Allan declared.
"Oh Boy, aren't we just unleashing a small Cat-astrophe on this guy?" Skeleton said as he did what he was told and sliced the man in front of him with his scythe.
Johnny's LP: 8000 – 6800
Johnny showed no pain at the attack, but Allan wasn't sure if it was because there was no pain to feel or show, or because he was just able to get himself to ignore it. "I use Skeleton's effect to flip it face-down, and End my turn." Allan concluded as a seventh flame appeared around the arena.
"My Turn," Gayle said as he drew a card. "I activate 'Pot of Extravagance'!" he then declared, revealing his second one. "I banish 6 more cards from my extra deck face-down and draw 2 more. Then I use 'Vendread Night's effect and discard 'Vendread Revolution' to search out 'Vendread Houndhorde'."
'Less then half of the cards in his deck are left.' Allan noted.
"Now I set a monster and another card and end my turn." Gayle stated as an eighth flame showed up.
'That set monster has got to be Houndhorde.' Allan deduced, 'and it has got to have enough defense points to hold off my Ghostrick's attacks. Else he wouldn't search for it.' "I Draw." Allan stated as he saw his card, the second 'Jackpot 7'. "I flip summon Skeleton and activate it's milling effect to remove anther 3 cards from your deck." 'leaving just 15 left.' He thought to himself, not waning to let his opponent realize how many cards he had left. "Then I'll use Jiangshi's effect to flip down and up again so I can add another Ghostrick to my hand, I'll add 'Ghostrick Witch'. After that I'll use Skeleton's effect to make him go face down again, set 1 card and end my turn." At saying that, a ninth flame appeared.
"I activate my trap. 'Vendread Reorigin'!" Gayle declared, "With this I can force Tribute one of your monsters to summon a Token with it's level. So I'll be getting rid of that Vampire you have out."
"No no nononono!" Jiangshi said as a beam of energy came out from the trap, turning him into gold dust... that then reformed into a mindless zombified version of him over on Gayle's field.
Vendread Token... Attribute:Dark, Type:Zombie, Level:3, ATK:0 DEF:0
"My Turn." Gayle said, drawing a card and smiling. "Just the card I was hoping for. But first, I got to activate the effect of the 'Vendread Core' in my GY, and special summon it at the cost of banishing one of my Battlelords and itself once it leaves the field." As he said that, a small pulsating blue orb appeared on his field.
Vendread Core... Attribute:Dark, Type:Zombie, Level:1, ATK:0 DEF:500
"And then I activate my second copy of 'Vendread Reorigin'." He followed up. "Now I can Tribute my Token, Houndhorde and Core to Ritual Summon my other Battlelord from the GY." He concluded as the monsters dissolved into Blue stars, then flame as the monster rose again.
'And he used another Houndhorde, which means he can be banishing spells and traps again.' Allan thought. 'But it still has 0 def, so Witch should be able to take care of it easily.'
"Oh, and if you think that Witch you added last round is your out to this. It isn't, since Core was on the field when it was used, it gives Battlelord immunity to all targeting effects." Gayle added, as if reading Allan's mind.
'Bleep.' was Allan's mental response.
"Now I'll use Battlelord's other effects." Johnny stated, "I'll banish the Chimera in my GY to lock out your monster effects again and through Houndhorde, I'll Banish that Spirit Barrier."
'Shoot, none of my face-down can stop an attack.', Allan realized. 'Ohhh, why did I have to mentally use that word when facing someone willing to use a gun on me?'
"Now I banish the 'Vendread Anima' from the Gy to activate it's effect and revive Revenants." He continued, as the shambling Zombies from before showed up again. "Battle. Revenants attacks the set Skeleton." He said as the Zombies obeyed. Rushing forward and forcing the Skeleton out of the shadows before taking a big bite out of him and turning him to dust.
"Jokes on you! I have no flesh." The duel spirit cried out before hitting the GY.
"Battlelord attack Nekomusume!"
Seeing the large Ritual monster approach her, Nekomusume gave a week laugh and said, "Sooo, no hard feelings about the cats?" Her answer came in the form of a fast sword swing, rendering her to dust before her expression could change at being decapitated.
Allan's LP: 6000 – 3700
"I end my turn." Gayle said with a smirk, as the tenth flame lit up... leaving the battlefield half-way surrounded by the small flames.
"Well, this would be a good time to draw a monster that is really hard to beat in battle." Allan commented, while glancing off to see the spirits of Jackfrost, Lantern, and Witch by his side.
"Give us a second." Jackfrost said as they dived into the deck.
'Gee, real subtle singling there.' Gayle thought to himself, 'So what dose he got planned?'
Coming back up with the other two, Witch said, "Assuming you meant Spirit Reaper, I'd have to apologize because he's to far down for us to move to the top. But we found this other guy you might like."
"I Draw." Allan said before seeing his card and laughing a bit... he did mean to go for Spirit Reaper, but he totally forgot that this card was added into the deck. "Oh Yeah, this will do." he then hit a couple buttons on his duel disk to pull up the cards in his extra deck and selected 5 of them, namely 5 Fusions monsters that he couldn't actually summon but did make excellent fodder. "I Banish 5 cards from my Extra Deck, face-down."
"5 Extra-deck cards?" The Ritual user repeated before it hit him. 'Where did a kid get a card like THAT?!'
"Say hello to the all consuming glutton, as I special summon 'Eater of Millions'!" Allan declared. As he slapped his drawn card onto the duel disk, A small gremlin-like quadruped appeared on his field, licking it's lips like everything before it was a meal.
Eater of Millions... Attribute:Dark, Type:Fiend, Level:1, ATK:? DEF:?
"This guy's attack and defense points are equal to the number of cards that are banished times 100." Allan began to explain, "And if memory serves we both banished quite a bit of cards face-down with our earlier effects, I banished 5 to summon my Glutton, you banished 12 through your Extravagances, and with Skeleton, I took out 9 from your deck, leading to a total of 26 cards to fuel it."
Eater of Millions... ATK: 2600
Eater of Millions... DEF: 2600
"Now Battle! Eater of Millions attacks Vendread Battlelord!" Allan declared as the monster leaped forward with it's jaw opening wide.
"Damit!" Gayle muttered before making another declaration, "I use the effect Houndhorde gave Battlelord to banish another card on your field." he said pointing a the face-down card, which happened to be his second 'Jackpot 7', as it instantly vanished from Allan's side.
"Aw shoot." Allan muttered.
"What's the problem, didn't we want him to get those banished?" Specter asked.
"We wanted him to put them in the graveyard, so they can banish themselves." Witch explained, "If one got banished by a different means, it doesn't count. So if the third one goes now, that win condition won't go off even if all three are banished."
"Oh."
"That won't stop my attack." Allan stated, "and wile 'Eater of Millions' doesn't have the attack points to get over your monster, it's effect more then makes up for it. As once per turn, it can banish any monster it battles right at the start of the damage step, Take 'em out!" He explained as the monster's jaw got big enough that it was literately able to shove the Battlelord right into it's mouth and swallow it whole. "Oh, and this banishing also happens face-down so doing this makes it even stronger." Allan quickly added.
Eater of Millions... ATK: 2600 – 2700
Eater of Millions... DEF: 2600 – 2700
"I now set a monster and end my turn." He then concluded, saddened slightly at the fact that he couldn't flat out summon Witch and remove the other monster since he had no Ghostricks on the field. Though that saddening didn't last long, as his eyes spotted an eleventh flame add itself to the forming ring.
"I draw!" Johnny declared before looking as his card and scowling. "I use the effect of the Vendread Revolution's effect in my GY, by banishing it, I can take 5 of my Banished zombies and return them into my deck to draw 1 more card."
"Shame that since it specifies Zombies you can't get back any of your face-down banished cards, even if they fit the bill." Allan taunted, though he then mentally scolded himself for doing so against a guy who has already shown that he is willing to use a gun on a child.
Gayle growled a bit at that, wanting a retort, but having none so he instead said "I return the banished, Battlelord, Chimera, Striges, Anima, and Houndhorde to my deck." He then drew another card but his scowl didn't go away. "I set 2 cards and switch Revenants into Defense mode. Turn end." he then declared as he emptied his hand and a twelfth flame showed up to extend the curved line.
"My Turn," I draw. Allan declared as he draw into 'Ghostrick Stein'. "Alright. I flip summon 'Ghostrick Witch' and then Normal summon 'Ghostrick Stein'." He stated as the two monsters made themselves known on Allan's field.
Ghostrick Witch... Attribute:Dark, Type:Spellcaster, Level:2, ATK:1200 DEF:200
Ghostrick Stein... Attribute:Dark, Type:Zombie, Level:3, ATK:1600 DEF:0
"And Now, Battle! Eater of Millions attacks 'Vendread Revenants'!" Allan declared as his monster lunged forward again, "And while I can just beat it over in battle, I know Zombie decks have a lot of good revival, so I'll instead use the Eater's ability to Banish it face down and keep you from re-summoning it." he added as the set of Zombies was eaten and swallowed all in one big bite by the Gremlin.
Eater of Millions... ATK: 2700 – 2800
Eater of Millions... DEF: 2700 – 2800
"Now Stein, Witch, how about a double direct attack?" Allan asked. A little worried about the face-downs, but thinking they were bluffs if his opponent's constant scowl was anything to go off of.
"I'm game." Stein said, as he through out a lightning bolt.
"Always." Witch commented, firing magic from her hands.
Johnny's LP: 6800 – 5200 – 4000
'Still not in the lead in terms of life points.' Allan thought to himself, 'But with the field and hand presence, I'm unmatched.'
'Right now...' a cynical part of his mind added.
"Since Stein dealt battle damage, I can use it's effect to add a Ghostrick spell or trap to my hand." Allan declared, shaking that other thought from his head. "I add 'Ghostrick Mansion' to my hand and activate it immediately." The area around him turned to match the inside of a cartoonish house... though Gayle side remained looking like it was in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. "Then I use Stein and Witch's effects to turn them face-down. Turn end." He concluded as flame number 13 showed up in line with the others. 'Now even if he gets a bit more daring and tries to go on the offensive, he can't attack anything but Eater right now, and since that effect of his can work when being attacked, he would need to attack it twice to take it out. I should be safe from battles.'
"I draw." Gayle stated starting his turn and smirking. "I activate the spell card, Raigeki! So all your monsters get destroyed." As he said that Lightning started coming from the card he drew and placed down, ready to fry all of Allan's monsters.
Allan grimaced at that, "No they don't." He countered, "Cause I have a Trap, 'Ghostrick Vanish'! I reveal a Ghostrick in my hand to activate this, and this turn no Ghostrick cards, or Set monsters I control can be targeted or destroyed by card effects." Revealing that 'Ghostrick Lantern' was in the hand was no big deal, since both him and Jackfrost were added there earlier.
"But at least that Glutton is out of the way." Gayle commented as the Lightning bolt vaporized Allan's main threat on the field. "Now I activate my set card, 'Book of Life', with this I can banish that Skeleton in your GY to revive the Houndhorde in my own." He continued as the pack of Wolves reared up in Defense position. "Turn end." Another flame joined the bunch.
'Okay, he is still on the defensive, good'. Allan thought "I draw." The Drawn card was 'Ghostrick Specter'... "Okay, first up, I Flip summon 'Ghostrick Witch'." He then said as Witch came out from hiding. "And Next I will use her effect to flip that Houndhorde face-down."
"Not gonna happen." Gayle interrupted, "I use the Trap 'Tutan Mask'! This will negate your Witch's effect and destroy her."
Upon seeing the Magic that Witch launched be deflected back at her and turn her into dust, Allan heart started to pick up the pace again. 'Dammit, last time a Houndhorde stook around he got a supped up Battlelord to his field... and I got nothing to end it here to get that thing off the field.' "I end my turn." he then conceded as another flame joined the bunch.
"My Turn." Johnny said as he drew a card, "And would you look at that, 2 good draws in a row. I activate 'Pot of Greed' to let me draw a bit more." Picking up his 2 new cards, he smirked. "I also activate the effect of Vendread Nights and discard my drawn Chimera to search out my other Revenants."
'Ah shoot. It's coming again.' Allan realized.
"I activate my second 'Revendread Evolution'!" He then declared. "I'll use the Houndhorde on my field and the Striges in my deck to Ritual summon the Chimera in my GY!" He then said as a very Familiar set of Flames made the monster from the start of the duel rise up again. "I'll then Normal summon my remaining Revenants and use the effect my Chimera obtained from Houndhorde to Banish your Mansion." At that, the area around Allan returned to normal yet again... not counting the part that was altered by Gayle's field spell. "Now battle, Chimera attacks the set monster!" The beast charged ready to clamp it's body-sized mouth on the set Stein.
"Hold it! I still have hand-traps!" Allan declared, "And My Ghostrick Jackfrost can activate when you attack a set monster, summoning itself face-down and forcing your guy there as well." He then said, revealing the monster that has been in his hand since Jiangshi searched it and making a small blizzard appear to force Chimera down.
"But now it has been disconnected from the Ritual spell, so it won't be destroyed latter, and your monster is still easy prey for Revenants!" Gayle said as his other monster slashed right through the set card that refereed to Stein.
"Then I use the effect of the 'Ghostrick Specter' in my hand!" Allan countered, "Since you destroyed my monster, this card can summon itself face-down and let e draw another card!" Drawing his card and seeing it as 'Ghostrick Yuki-onna'. 'Not that I don't appreciate all the help you guys try to do' he then thought to himself, 'But aren't there better cards you could get me for the situation?'
"I end my turn." Gayle said, as yet another flame showed up in the circle that was nearing completion.
"I draw!" Allan declared, starting his turn and seeing is next draw as 'Ghostrick Mummy', "First up, I flip summon my 2 set Ghostricks! Jackfrost, Specter come on out!" he then said as the two monsters showed up.
Ghostrick Jackfrost... Attribute:Dark, Type:Fiend, Level:1, ATK:800 DEF:100
Ghostrick Specter... Attribute:Dark, Type:Fiend, Level:1, ATK:600 DEF:0
"Next I'll summon 'Ghostrick Mummy' who's effect lefts me have a second Normal summon exclusive to just Ghostricks, so I can bring in Yuki-onna as well." He followed up, bring in two more Ghostricks.
Ghostrick Yuki-onna... Attribute:Dark, Type:Spellcaster, Level:2, ATK:1000 DEF:800
Ghostrick Mummy... Attribute:Dark, Type:Zombie, Level:3, ATK:1500 DEF:0
'He is putting everything he has out now huh?' Johnny thought, 'But none of them can match my Revenants, so I should be fine.'
"Next I will overlay my Level 1 Jackfrost and Specter!" Allan declared as the two hand trap Ghostricks turned into purple streams of energy.
Johnny's eyes widened at that, "Say What?" 'Since when were kids his age able to preform Xyz summons!?'
"Let's Go!" Jackfrost said.
"Time to pull out the big guns!" Specter agreed.
"Ride through the night, and embark on the battlefield! Not Even death can stop this Soul! XYZ Summon! Rise up! Rank 1! Ghostrick Dullahan!" Allan chanted, slightly thankful that remembering the chant was able to distract his mind ever briefly from the situation. And at that The Headless Horseman of the Ghostricks came up and out, 2 purple Xyz materials orbiting it, and ready to fight!
Ghostrick Dullahan... Attribute:Dark, Type:Fiend/Xyz, Rank:1, ATK:1000 DEF:0
"Dullahan gains 200 ATK for every Ghostrick card on the field." Allan Continued, "With three out, that means he gets 600 ATK."
Ghostrick Dullahan... ATK:1000 – 1600
"Battle! Yuki-onna attacks the set Chimera." Allan declared.
"Still not use to attacking things to, well attack them." Yuki-onna said as she formed a giant Icicle that impaled the image of the set monster on Gayle's field. Shattering the image that concealed the Ritual monster.
"I still have Revenants!" Gayle shouted out.
"Not for long, Dullahan, Charge!" Allan responded, "And Thanks to Dullahan's effect, In the Damage step I can detach an Xyz material to halve your monsters attack!" He added on.
Absorbing an Xyz material into his sword' Dullahan declared, "You shall not be winning this Fight!" As it proceeded to cut clean through the set of shambling zombies.
Vendread Revenants... ATK:1800 – 900
Johnny's LP: 4000 – 3300
"Revenants effect activates!" Gayle interrupted, "When it is taken out by your card, either in battle or by effect, it can Revive itself at the cost of being Banished the next time it leaves the field!" The Zombie, while cut in half then started to pick themselves back up and put themselves back together again.
"Darn, that was close." Allan muttered, but he couldn't get another direct attack through. "I end my turn." Another flame joined the circle.
"My Turn!" Johnny said as he drew a card, "I activate my third 'Revendread Origin'!" he said immediately playing the card in his hand.
"But Your only other card is Revenants, that doesn't have a high enough level to summon Chimera back!" Allan retorted.
"Like that Matters," Gayle said "Origin can let me banish materials in the GY to use as tributes, So I'll Banish my Houndhorde and Striges in the GY to bring Chimera back!" he said as the monster rose again. "Revenants attacks Dullahan!" He shouted out as the shambling Zombies went forth.
"Dullahan's effect can be used during either players Turn!" Allan countered, "I detach a material to halve Revenants ATK."
The other Xyz material got absorbed into Dullahan's sword as he shouted "This time, Stay Down!" As he slashed again and rendered the zombies to dust.
Vendread Revenants... ATK:1800 – 900
Johnny's LP: 3300 – 2600
"But Now it can't defend itself from Chimera's attack!" He shouted as the Ritual monster charged again.
"Good thing other's can pick up the slack then," Allan responded, "I still have 'Ghostrick Lantern' in my hand, and his effect can negate the attack and while summoning himself face down." At that, the cloak of Lantern appeared immediately and scooped up Dullahan to get him out of the way of Chimera's grasp, before turning into the image of a set monster.
"Thanks for the save, Lantern." Dullahan stated.
"Seriously, just how many layers of defense do you have!?" Gayle shouted.
"A lot." Allan answered while trying to calm himself... truth be told, he was running out, but hopefully, he wouldn't need much more. 'He's mad.' Allan then noted, 'Probably pissed off at trying to get things done quickly only to be met with the Ghostrick's uncanny ability to stall things out. That's good, maybe he will slip up soon.'
"Grrr, I end my turn." The Vendread Duelist said, as another flame appeared to add to the line.
"I draw." Allan said as he saw his next card to be 'Ghostrick Yeti'. Best thing he could do is try to get around that Chimera, but how to get rid of it?
"It's Okay." Yuki-onna said, "You can use my effect for this."
"You sure?" Allan whispered hoping only Yuki-onna heard.
"We are so close to victory, we can risk the loss in Life points. And I am used to it, I'll be fine." She said.
"No Please don't!" Cried out Yeti's duel spirit... only for him to get slapped by Witch.
"She'll be fine, she suffered much worse that this."
Yeti continued to Cry, and Allan made his decision, "I'll have Yuki-onna switch herself to defense position with her effect!"
"What!?" Yuki-onna asked as she went face-down.
'I could win right now... but our victory is coming soon enough anyway.' Allan thought, 'I won't put someone on a suicide mission just to close that small of a gap.' "I'll also summon Ghostrick Yeti to the field." He then declared as the Giant snow-colored monster showed up.
Ghostrick Yeti... Attribute:Dark, Type:Zombie, Level:3, ATK:300 DEF:2000
Meanwhile Warwolf, Doll, and Socuteboss... who were all watching but were unable to do anything in the duel due to not being apart of Allan's deck yet, all blinked in surprise.
"If Yuki-onna crashed into Chimera, her effect could have forced it face down." Doll stated.
"And with 0 DEF, even Lantern could then take it out, leaving the way for Dullahan and Mummy to attack for game." Warwolf added.
"Yuki-onna herself even brought it up and said she was Okay with it." Socuteboss noted, before smiling, "Looks like our friends have found quite the person to pal around with."
"I now Overlay my Level 3 Yeti and Mummy." Allan declared as the two turned into 2 more purple streams of energy and he chanted, "May the watcher of the playful pranksters appear hear and now, and with his royal blood make himself known as one to not be trifled with! XYZ Summon! Descend! Rank 3! Ghostrick Alucard!" At that, The Vampire Xyz of Allan's deck rose out of the the overlay network, Kneeling in Defense position.
Ghostrick Alucard... Attribute:Dark, Type:Zombie/Xyz, Rank:3, ATK:1800 DEF:1600
"Sorry for making you into a wall this turn." Allan mumbled under his breath.
"It's Okay." Alucard said.
"Stop it right there!" Came a voice from behind Allan. Turning around he saw Several people in uniform right there, Badges with the word 'Police' on them on the upper left side of their outfits. "We're gonna need both of you to get down right now." Several of the had guns out and aiming, others seemed to have duel disks at the ready. All were super serious and were even surrounding the two.
Allan complied, kneeling down, the Police were the good guys after all, at east they were suppose to be. Gayle on the other hand, had other ideas. Pulling his own gun back out he said a word Allan knew was an obscenity and said, "Congratulations, you delayed me enough for the cops to arrive. Happy Kid?" He pointed the gun straight at Allan again. It wasn't done in the way you were suppose to aim it, but at the distance they were at, Allan doubted it would matter much.
"Put the weapon down!" One officer ordered Gayle. As the Majority of the officers took aim at the man.
"Like you can do anything about it." came the reply, "This kid here started up a Mystic Defense Duel, and you all should know there is close to impossible anyone to interfere in one of those." Several officers tried to take action, some even pulling out a device that Allan would guess was suppose to allow them to get through the barrier, but it didn't seem to be working. What seemed to be the head officer held a curse under their breath as Gayle only smirked. "Well, kid, you can bring the barrier down by surrendering to let them in. Go ahead if you want."
Remembering Alucard's words from earlier, Allan replied with "I switch Dullahan to defense position and end my turn."
"Kid, if there is a way you can let my men through this barrier, it would be appreciated." The Officer said addressing Allan directly.
"I don't have a clue how his things works, but if it get's lowered when the duel is over, then it will come down soon enough." Allan said as he eyed one more flame join the circle. Grabbing the packs he set down again and holding them closer to his body.
"Would be a lot easier if you just gave up." Johnny said drawing a card and scowling at it. "Chimera attacks Alucard!" He declared as the Ritual monster charged at the Vampire and ripped him into dust.
"When Alucard hits the GY, I can add any other Ghostrick from my GY to my hand." Allan said, as he took some more deep breaths, it will all be over soon. "I bring back Jackfrost."
"Big Whoop, No matter how many defensives you bring up, I'll tear them all down." Gayle said as he thought, 'If my Job's a bust all because of one kid, I won't leave until I get a bullet through that Kid's head.' "Now take your next turn."
Allan took one more deep breath, trying to calm himself as much as he can, 'My Jobs done, now the Police can handle this.' "There wont be a need to do that." He then declared as a black flame appeared to complete the circle. "This was the last turn." All the other flames in the circle now turned black, one after another in rapid succession. "I guess you forgot about it, but I did play 'Final Countdown' 20 turns ago."
Gayle's expression changed as soon as that was said, suddenly realizing what that meant. He Didn't say a word, but he didn't need to. He immediately started firing all of his bullets at Allan, but another Barrier of sorts appeared between them and deflected every shot. The Black Flames started moving and encroached around Gayle as he fired off all the bullets in his clip, before spinning around into a ring of black fire and then a flaming geyser with Gayle at the center.
Linebreak
The rest of the day was a total blur for Allan... he knew that at least a couple of the Ghostricks (maybe it was Witch and Nekomusume) used their abilities to immobilize Gayle to make it easier for the police to apprehend him. One officer stayed with Allan to ask him a couple question (though he forgot what they were, he knew he answered them to the best of his ability). He got himself reunited with his mom, and they headed home (after going to the check out to buy the packs he was clutching... he couldn't remember the time at the checkout but he did open the packs as he got home so they were bought). He couldn't quite remember much of what his Dad thought when he learned of the news, but he did remember that he agreed with his mom about making sure he get's counseling (or something like that) and to contact the school about it. For Allan he just wanted the day to end... he had enough surprises for the day.
As Allan slept, Alucard watched on before Dullahan phased through the floor. "The News is on... apparently the whole event made it there." the headless horseman said.
"Any information we don't already know?" Alucard asked.
"There were two more men that were taking all the Ghostrick cards they could in the store... those two are still at large but the police are tracking them down. Apparently they are apart of a three man mercenary-like team that will steal just about anything for a client that pays well." Came the answer.
"Will we have to worry about those two or anyone else coming after Allan?"
"Not likely, at least not in the foreseeable future. Looks like Mrs. Burton requested for Allan's identity to not be disclosed to the media. All they know is that Gayle wound up getting roadblocked by a Mystic until the police could finally arrive." Dullahan answered, "So it is unlikely that Gayle allies or his client would know who Allan was."
"That's good." Alucard said. "He'll be needing a break, between today and last night."
"Yeah, plus we still need to explain what him being a Mystic means, as well as figure out how he is one." Dullahan added, "There is certainly no magical objects here to turn him into one."
"Which leaves me worried about the other reasons." Alucard said, "But let's all rest for now. We do got some more immediate issues to deal with, as mundane as they may be."
At that a cat was heard screeching as a dark mess of fur bolted into the room and hid under Allan's bed, the child to far asleep to notice. "Like getting Nekomusume to take it slowly with Sebastian?"
"Yep."
"KITTY!?" called out the titular cat girl's voice.
Linebreak
"Thankfully, one of the three men would up getting blocked off when he tried shooting at someone that turned out to be a Mystic, getting himself trapped in a Mystic defense duel where he was delayed long enough for the authorities to apprehend him. The other two however are still at large."
"Any information about who the Mystic is?"
"Sadly, no, they would prefer to remain anonymous. We are not even being allowed to see any footage of the duel from the security cameras."
Rem Firgus wasn't one to watch the news, it wasn't something most grown up adults he met were really interested in most of the time (normally just having it as background noise), but considering the current topic on the air and the fact he was there when it happened, he would make an exception. "Man, sure is different hearing about it as opposed to actually being there... good thing no one was hurt.", looking up to see the image of the man that threatened him, he thought for a bit, "If he was the one stopped... dose that mean he was the Mystic that stalled him?" he then said to himself thinking about Allan, "Sure hope he is Okay."
The news changed the topic and Rem turned the TV off, he should probably get to bed by now. As he made his way to his room his head started to hurt, he held his head trying to ease the pain but it eventually became unbearable and he collapsed to the ground, "Not, again..." he muttered for a bit, "Why dose this keep happening?"
Eventually his posture on the ground relaxed, he picked himself up... and a dark aura that only special eyes could see formed around him, "Hmm, a Mystic, interesting." 'Rem' then said, with a second more demonic voice speaking in unison with him. "It may be a good idea to try and find him again... a Mystic would be a nice addition to the collection." A sinister grin formed on 'Rem's face... but his eyes were dull and distant, as if not fully there.
AN:
Oh, forgot to mention that I made some mistakes with Goro's last play in Chapter 3. As Ancient Ruins IS in fact a once per turn and you can only control 1 Overlord at a time... thanks to Randomperson2021 for pointing it out in the reviews.
Anyway, if you are wondering if this thing with Gayle is about... I DO have more thought about it. But I do not have it in the plans to write up a situation where Allan would be made aware of it just yet. Which means no one will be getting any more on it in this story. Besides, Allan has something else he is going to need to worry about soon enough.