THE INSECT KING
Curtis couldn't help but feel nervous as he stood in the center of the stadium. He didn't mind that he had nearly twenty thousand people looking at him; what tightened his stomach into a knot was that he was going up against someone who, according to Yugi and Joey, had once been a regional champion. That meant that Weevil had to be a good duelist. Sure, Joey had told him that Weevil liked to sabotage an opponent's deck to give him the upper hand, and as such Curtis had kept his deck on him at all times, but Weevil was a former Duel Monsters champion, and Curtis was still a novice.
He took a deep breath as his opponents entered the stadium, standing opposite of him, duel disk strapped to his arm. Weevil was wearing a smug, confident grin on his face. It didn't help Curtis's nervousness much. He took a few seconds to shuffle his deck, before putting it back in the deck slot of the duel disk.
"Hello, newbie," Weevil said. "Ready to lose?"
"I don't plan on it," Curtis replied. "But if it happens, it happens."
Weevil chuckled. "Whatever monsters you're running, they're just going to become food for my insects. I hope you know that."
Curtis said nothing; just listened as the commentator announced "Round One of the tournament begins now! Duelists, draw your cards; Weevil Underwood is making the first move!"
Curtis and Weevil both set their Life Points to 8000, then drew five cards from their decks. Curtis had picked up Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan, Shien's Daredevil, Shien's Smoke Signal, Temple of the Six, and Legendary Six Samurai – Shinai. Not a bad starting hand; of course, it all depended on what Weevil played.
"I'll start this off by summoning Ultimate Insect Level 3 in Attack Position," Weevil announced. He played his card; the duel disk's holographic imagers brought the monster, a large larva, to life. "Next, I'll put two cards face down, and end my turn."
Curtis drew a new card. It was The Six Samurai – Nisashi. "I'll begin by playing the Spell Card Shien's Smoke Signal to add one Level Three or lower Six Samurai monster from my deck to my hand," he announced. "And the monster I choose is Spirit of the Six Samurai." He searched his deck for the proper card, added it to his hand, and shuffled his deck before putting it back in the deck slot of his duel disk. "Next, I'll summon Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan in Attack Position, and then equip him with the Spirit of the Six Samurai I just added to my hand, increasing his Attack Points to 2300. To end Main Phase 1, I'll play the Field Spell Card Temple of the Six. Now, every time I summon a Six Samurai monster, I add a Bushido Counter to this card, and for each Counter, your monsters lose 100 Attack Points." He looked at Weevil's bug; it had only 1400 Attack Points. If he attacked, Weevil would lose 900 Life Points and be brought down to 7100, but then again, there were those two face down cards in his Spell and Trap Card Zone. Curtis had no way of knowing what they were; he didn't trust them.
He wanted to draw first blood – metaphorically speaking, of course – but what if Weevil had a Mirror Force variant down there?
Might as well take that chance, Curtis thought. "Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan will attack your bug." Kizan swung his sword, cutting the larva in half and decreasing Weevil's Life Points to 7100.
"Not bad," Weevil complimented him as he drew a new card. "I set one card face down, and then I'll activate the Trap Card DNA Surgery. I name one monster type, and all face-up monsters on the field become that type, and I name Insects!"
"Why am I not surprised?" Curtis asked.
"But that's not all," Weevil continued. "Since now your Samurai is an Insect monster, I activate this continuous Spell Card, Insect Barrier." A yellow grid of light appeared around Weevil. "Now Insect monsters can't attack me until this card is destroyed."
"Son of a bitch."
"I'll end my turn there. You're up."
"Looks like the new guy's in a pickle," the commentator said. "Hope he's got a Twin Twisters or Mystical Space Typhoon buried in that deck somewhere, or he's lost this duel already."
Tell me something I don't already know, Curtis silently grumbled as he pulled a new card from the top of his deck. "Well, how about that," he said as he looked at the card he just drew. "I'm going to play the card I just picked up, the Spell Card Twin Twisters. By discarding one card, in this case Legendary Six Samurai – Shinai, I can destroy up to two Spell and Trap Cards on your side of the field, and since you have two – your Insect Barrier and whatever your face-down is – they're gone." The two cards were hit with a tornado, destroying them; the barrier of light faded away from around Weevil. "Next, I summon Shien's Daredevil in Attack Position and add a Bushido Counter to my Field Spell. But I'm not done yet. Next, I'm going to perform an XYZ summon. I overlay Shien's Daredevil and Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan, to XYZ Summon Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien." A new Samurai appeared on the field as Curtis placed the proper XYZ card in the correct space. "That's another Bushido Counter onto my Field Spell, and Shien attacks you directly." Shien slashed, dropping Weevil's Life Points down to 4600. "Your turn."
"Talk about a stroke of luck," the announcer called as Weevil drew a new card. "Let's see Weevil's response."
Weevil grinned as he scanned the three cards in his hand. "I summon Petit Moth in Defense Position," he said. A small green caterpillar appeared on the field. "Next, I'll equip it with the Cocoon of Evolution." The Petit Moth sprayed itself in silk, covering itself in a massive cocoon. "Now, in five turn, the cocoon will hatch into my most powerful monster, the Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth."
"Your Cocoon of Evolution only has 2000 Defense Points," Curtis pointed out. "My Samurai can easily cut it to ribbons."
"Not if I set this," Weevil countered as he put a card face down in the Spell and Trap Card Zone. "Your move."
Curtis drew the Trap Card Shien's Scheme. "I set one card face down, and then I summon The Six Samurai – Nisashi in Attack Position and add a third Bushido Counter to Temple of the Six. Since I don't trust your face-down, I'll end my turn here."
"Then all I'll do is draw one card and pass my turn to you," Weevil said as he drew a card. "That's one turn down."
Curtis picked up a new card – the Trap Card Skull Dice. "Okay, I don't want to wait any longer, and whatever your face-down is, at least I'll have gotten you to get rid of it. So, Shadow of the Six Samurai, attack!"
Weevil chuckled. "I activate my Trap Card, Negate Attack, stopping your Samurai's attack and ending the Battle Phase."
"Damn. Your move."
Weevil picked up a new card. "I set one card face down, and that's two turns down. Three more to go."
"Curtis had better come up with something soon," the commentator said. "Three turns isn't much time."
Curtis ignored him as he drew a new card – Dark Mirror Force. "I'll hold onto this for later, and try to attack again. Go, Shien!"
Weevil glared at Curtis as Shien sliced the cocoon in half, spewing bug juices on the floor, and revealing the massive wing of a large green moth.
"You stopped the incubation process early!" Weevil cried. "The Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth wasn't finished yet!"
"Boo freaking hoo," Curtis mocked Weevil. "Nisashi, direct attack!" Nisashi slashed at Weevil, dropping his Life Points from 4600 to 3200. "And for Main Phase 2, I'll set one face down and pass the turn to you."
Weevil picked up a new card. "I set one monster in Defense Position and end my turn."
Curtis felt a wave of confidence flow through him as he drew a new card. "I just drew a monster, and I'm going to summon it. Bujingi Turtle, in Attack Position!" A turtle that looked like it was made of an ornate jewelry box appeared on the field next to Nisashi.
"That activates my Trap Card, Trap Hole!" Weevil called. A large hole appeared beneath Curtis's turtle, and the turtle plunged into the abyss.
"So much for the turtle," the commentator said.
"I can still attack," Curtis said. "Nisashi, destroy his face-down monster." Nisashi stabbed the holographic card.
"That was my Cockroach Knight," Weevil said. "When he's destroyed, he goes to the top of my deck instead of the Graveyard."
"Yeah, well, since I control a Six Samurai monster with a different name, Nisashi can attack twice, so Nisashi, Shien, double direct attack!" The two Samurai slashed at Weevil, bringing his Life Points down to 0.
"Wow!" the commentator cried. "Talk about a clean sweep! Curtis didn't lose a single Life Point! Curtis Miller is the winner!"
"How?!" Weevil cried.
"You were a regional champion?" Curtis asked incredulously as he gathered up his cards. "Well, you sure don't look like one right now. I guess if you don't have a chance at subterfuge you can't win, can you?"
"Hey, quiet!" Weevil shouted.
"You know I'm right," Curtis said. "If you don't have a chance to cheat, you can't hope to win. Take some advice from a noob and learn to play the game right."
Weevil said nothing; just glared at Curtis.
"Round Two will begin momentarily," the commentator called. "Yugi Moto against Mai Valentine."
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Ten minutes later, Curtis was sitting on the sidelines with Joey. He had spent the first several minutes after the duel talking to some reporters from ESPN and Fox Sports about the duel, and since he had never been on TV before – and he knew that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of people watching him through those cameras – he again couldn't help but feel nervous.
The questions he'd been asked were simple ones: "How does it feel winning the first round of the tournament?" "What were your strategies?" "Do you see yourself being in Weevil's former spot as a champion?" He'd given simple answers, like "It's a bit of a confidence boost for someone who's only been playing for six months", and "No, I don't think I'll ever end up going that far", and now that it was over, he could finally relax and wait for Yugi and Mai to start playing.
"Great game, dude," Joey complimented him.
"Thanks, Joey. Wasn't expecting to win, at least not like that. So, Yugi and Mai are next, right?"
"Yup. Should be a good duel. Mai's a great duelist; wait till you see her in action."
Curtis checked the time on his phone. There were only five minutes until 11:00. The duel was set to start then.