Chapter Thirty
Hatsuko: 4000 LP
Saburo: 4000 LP
Alessia: 4000 LP
Carter: 4000 LP
„So, how does this work now?" Saburo quietly whispered to Hatsuko, "do you lose the Crosspoint if you lose all your LP, or do I count on your side as well?"
"Why are you asking me that?" she replied, "No idea. I only act like I know everything."
"That would be one hell of an important detail though!"
"Quit your whispering over there," Alessia interrupted them, after she had been fiddling with her Duel Disk, "so apparently, we're on Battle Royale settings. Separate Life Points, separate fields, separate graveyards."
"Sounds like a blast," Hatsuko replied cockily, "now what does this mean for the two of us with Crosspoints?"
"As if I knew," the red-haired woman admitted, "Eva never mentioned Duels like this when talking about Contests of Champions."
"We have no time to waste, quit the chatter!" Carter yelled, before taking the first turn of the Duel, "I start by setting four cards face-down, before Normal Summoning Masked Sorcerer." The monster that appeared in front of him was a man with a metallic mask and purple garb – although only his upper half, the lower half severed at the torso.
Masked Sorcerer: DARK / Spellcaster / Effect / Level 4 / 900 ATK / 1400 DEF
"I then end my turn," he declared, before the turn marker switched to Saburos Duel Disk, indicating the turn order of this Duel to be Carter, then Saburo, Alessia and finally Hatsuko.
"I draw," the boy said, before taking a card out of his hand, "I Normal Summon my Smokestar Ray!" A small, black, humanoid bird emerged from his card, wearing a kimono.
Smokestar Ray: WIND / Winged Beast / Effect / Level 2 / 800 ATK / 800 DEF
"Really, ninja birds?" Carter tried to mock Saburo, but the boy just brushed it off.
"I activate its effect. Once per turn, I can inflict 800 damage to my opponent, but it will not be able to attack for the rest of the turn. Which, of course, is not an issue since I couldn't attack during the first round of a Battle Royal anyway." The monster leaped upward, launching some of its razor sharp feathers from its wings into Alessia.
Alessia: 4000 LP → 3200 LP
"And here I thought you would attack someone who had the time to prepare a defense instead," Carter said.
"She has the Crosspoint so she's the main target. Sorry if that insults your ego," Saburo replied, "and I'm not finished yet. I activate my Quick-Play Spell Smokestar Double Screen!"
His monster pulled out a smoke grenade and let it explode right in front of itself. When the smoke cleared, two more Smokestar Ray had appeared on Saburos field right behind the first.
Smokestar Ray: WIND / Winged Beast / Effect / Level 2 / 800 ATK / 800 DEF (2x)
"You see, if you take Damage from one of my Smokestars, Double Screen will pull two more from my Deck, although they will be permanently forbidden from attacking you. But not like that matters, since they can just do this."
On command, both new birds leaped up in the air, again throwing feathers straight at Alessia.
Alessia: 3200 LP → 2400 LP → 1600 LP
"Get some new material, boy," Alessia shrugged his attacks off, "are you done yet?"
"Almost," he replied, "I set one card face-down, then I end my turn."
"Then I'm up," Alessia said, "and I begin, by activating my Continuous Spell Card Violent Spread. It allows me to add a Level 1 Insect monster from my Deck to my hand on activation, like my Violent Virulence Queen. Then, I proceed to activate my Ritual Spell Card Violent Summoning, by tributing my Level 1 Bee List Soldier in my hand."
"Already going for it, honey?" Carter asked, with Alessia cracking a smile in response.
"We don't have time, you said it yourself," she said, "and now, Ritual Summon! Spread your wings and minions all across the field and make it your hive! Level 1, Violent Virulence Queen!" A swarm of wasps emerged from Alessias Spell Card, slowly forming into a giant monster behind her. It resembled a wasp in everything except the size and the fact that it had a Gatling gun mounted where the sting should be. It was continuously circled by a cloud of thousands of tiny wasps, wrapping it like an orange mist.
Violent Virulence Queen: DARK / Insect / Ritual / Effect / Level 1 / 100 ATK / 100 DEF
"This is what it all amounts to, my dearest," Alessia directed these words at Hatsuko, who immediately understood what she meant.
"This one has the Crosspoint," she remarked, "it's powered by the orange one."
"You'll soon find out," Alessia continued, "that the orange one is special on its own."
"I won't have that thing sticking around until I can figure it out," Hatsuko said, "but by any means, continue for now. You cannot attack anyways."
"You see, my Queen has a habit of spreading," Alessia said, "Once per turn, it can Summon a Violent Virulence Token to all players side of the field." The tokens that appeared in front of each of them resembled rather normal looking wasps, although still a little oversized and coated in an orange mist, although this one didn't seem like it was made of small wasp like the Queens.
Violent Virulence Token: DARK / Insect / Level 1 / 100 ATK / 100 DEF (4x)
"Now, as for these Tokens," she went on, "as long as you control one of them, my Queen will be unaffected by any card effects that you would throw at her. And also, she will gain 1000 ATK for each of them."
"She… what?" Saburo asked dumbfounded, as he watched the monsters stats rise.
Violent Virulence Queen: 100 ATK → 4100 ATK
"So this is why you brought your man," Hatsuko concluded, "you knew a Battle Royal would provide you with the advantage of four fields instead of just two."
"As a matter of fact, yes. You see, I just put each one of you into one-shot territory. You can be damn sure I will pick one of you off come my next turn."
"Not if I have something to say about it," Saburo butted in, "my monsters can easily take you out come next turn."
"We'll see about that," Alessia replied, "but for now, I'll just stick to this: I'll activate my Insect Barrier. It will prevent any of your Insect monsters from attacking, in case you wanted to get rid of them by ramming them into something else. I end my turn with that then, though."
"Here goes nothing," Hatsuko said as she drew her card, "I Normal Summon Psydame Aveline!" A girl with blue skin and a white dress appeared in front of Hatsuko, carelessly turning her mandolin. Four yellow rings of light orbited around her.
Psydame Avelina: LIGHT / Psychic / Effect / Level 4 / 1500 ATK / 1500 DEF
"When she is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a second Level 4 Psychic monster from my hand, like my Psydame Daniela!" Another female monster appeared on her field, with pink skin and a dancing dress.
Psydame Daniela: LIGHT / Psychic / Effect / Level 4 / 1900 ATK / 0 DEF
"Avelina, Daniela, overlay!" Hasuko yelled, as her monsters turned yellow and spiraled into a galaxy-like portal, "Xyz Summon! This magical girl will dance me towards victory! Rank 4, Psydame Angelique!" As the portal combusted, a dancing monster emerged from it, with blue skin and a golden dress. Whenever she moved, she created faint afterimages of her body.
Psydame Angelique: LIGHT / Psychic / Xyz / Effect / Rank 4 / 2100 ATK / 2000 DEF / 2 Xyz Materials
"I activate my Trap Card," Carter yelled, "Mask Salesman! When a monster is Special Summoned, I can immediate equip it with a Mask Equip Spell from my Deck. I hope your monster enjoys my Mask of Neglect!" As he pulled the Spell Card from his Deck, a gruesome mask appeared on the face of the female monster, looking like an old crying woman, covered with a shroud.
"As long as Mask of Neglect is equipped to your monster, its effects are negated and it will not be able to attack, plus, during every End Phase you will lose 500 LP."
"Wait," Hatsuko interrupted him, "during every End Phase? So that's another cheeky advantage you get from this duels setup."
"It's neat, isn't it?" Carter said, "I came here to support my woman, hence why I modified my deck a little since our last encounter. No matter the outcome, she'd have always been the one pulling the weight since she's the one with the Crosspoint-powered monster, but if I can help her just a little, its worth it."
"Too bad you missed one tiny detail," Hatsuko said, but was quickly interrupted.
"You mean the fact that you're gonna Rank that thing up as soon as you get around to it? Too bad I came prepared. Activate, Mask of Influence." Another of Carters Traps flipped up, "As long as Mask of Influence is face-up, monsters equipped with Mask Equip Spells will be unaffected by their owners card effects, and also cannot be used as materials for furthers Summons. So… too bad for you."
"Please tell me you brought such couple action cards as well," Hatsuko sighed towards Saburo.
"No can do," he replied, "but maybe I can get these out of the way come my next turn."
"I hope so," Hatsuko said, "I Set two cards, before switching my Token to Defense Position and then I end my turn."
Hatsuko: 4000 LP → 3500 LP
"Then I'm up again," Carter said, immediately playing the card he had just drawn, "I activate Mask of Brutality, which will increase my monsters ATK by 1000." A second mask attached itself to the one already on the monsters face. This one having arms sticking out of its eyesockets.
Masked Sorcerer: 900 ATK → 1900 ATK
"Now, Masked Sorcerer, attack Smokestar Rey!"
The monsters fingers crackled with black lightning, which it used to zap and destroy Saburos bird.
Saburo: 4000 LP → 2900 LP
"In response I activate my Trap Card Hexion Fusion!" Saburo said, "since my WIND monster was destroyed by battle, I can Fusion Summon my WIND Hexion Monster using materials straight from my deck."
He picked three monsters out of his deck before he continued: "I use my three Smokestar Pitch as material. Fusion Summon! Sweep up your storm and suck up our opponents Crosspoint! Level 9, Hexion Typhoon!" The new monster on Saburos field first appeared as a female figure tied upside-down to a stake. As it slowly started spinning, the winds picked up forming a storm around it, silencing the screaming of the spinning figure.
Hexion Typhoon: WIND / Spellcaster / Fusion / Effect / Level 9 / 2200 ATK / 3200 DEF
"If you're done Summoning useless monsters," Carter said, "I use the effect of my Sorcerer to draw a card, since it inflicted Battle Damage, before I end my turn."
Hatsuko: 3500 LP → 3000 LP
"You… okay," Saburo said, slightly taken aback, "I use the effect of my Smokestar Ray to inflict 800 damage to Alessia, but preventing it from attacking."
The monster launched several feathers at the red-haired woman, but before they struck, they were deflected by a huge steel mask.
"I activate my Mask of Impregnability, which allows me to prevent a player from taking damage for the whole turn. And for this, I choose my wife," Carter said, one of his face-down cards having just flipped up.
"I see."
"You'd think I'd let you defeat her right away, before she even had a chance to make an attack?"
"You know," Saburo replied, "for a moment there? Yes. But since I cannot touch her, I'll just use the rest of my material on you! First my second Smokestar Ray, which will inflict 800 damage to you!" The second bird leaped upwards, stabbing Carter with several sharp feathers.
Carter: 4000 LP → 3200 LP
"And following that, I will move to Battle. Hexion Typhoon can attack you directly even if you control monsters, but will be switched to Defense Position after it inflicted Battle Damage. So let's just go for this, shouldn't we?"
The spinning monster moved from behind Saburo across the field, catching Carter in its gale and sweeping him up.
Carter: 3200 LP → 1000 LP
"Now, I'll just Set one more card, then I'll switch my Token to Defense Position as well and end my turn."
Hatsuko: 3000 LP → 2500 LP
"Impressive how you fail even the simplest of tasks," Alessia mocked him, "you know your girl is going to get done in right now, do you?"
"Don't worry Saburo," Hatsuko intervened, "I have a plan."
"Well, so have I," he replied, "one of them better work."
"Oh well," Alessia said, "It's my turn however. And I immediately use the effect of my Virulence Queen to Summon a Virulence Token to each side of the field." Four more tiny wasps appeared on the field, one in front of each player.
Violent Virulence Token: DARK / Insect / Level 1 / 100 ATK / 100 DEF (4x)
Violent Virulence Queen: 4100 ATK → 8100 ATK
"Now, I'll move to the Battle Phase. Any last words girl?" Alessia said.
Hatsuko was about to say something when Saburo interrupted: "I have some. I activate my Set Card Icarus Attack! I can tribute one of my Smokestars in order to destroy 2 cards on the field."
"Are you dumb or anything?" Carter said, "You cannot affect her Queen with anything as long as you have your Tokens."
"Not like I would've tried that. I'm not targeting either of your cards, I'm targeting Hatsukos two Tokens!" One of Saburos birds was coated in orange flames, before it made a leap and crashed down onto Hatsukos field, obliterating both tokens.
Violent Virulence Queen: 8100 ATK → 6100 ATK
"So, you're not gonna lose as hard as before. Works for me. Virulence Queen, go on and attack Psydame Angelique!" The gun on the giant monster started to slowly spin, before shooting dozens of small wasps onto Hatsukos monster.
"I activate my face-down card as well: Offerings to the Doomed!" Hatsuko yelled.
"Yes!" Saburo let out a triumphant screech, "now you got her! Get rid of that pesky insect!"
"I can use it by forgoing my next Draw Phase, and it allows me to destroy the Attack Position Virulence Token Saburo controls."
"You what?" Alessia asked, with Saburo and Carter looking both equally dumbfounded.
"Told you I have a plan," Hatsuko calmly said, as one of the wasps in front of her team partner was wrapped in bandages and dragged into a chasm that opened in the ground, "I was counting you'd get rid of your tokens somehow, but this works just as fine."
Violent Virulence Queen: 6100 ATK → 5100 ATK
With the Queen still on the field, the attack continued, with the wasps punching holes into the masked Angelique until it shattered to pieces, while some of the wasps went and stung Hatsuko.
Hatsuko: 2500 LP → 500 LP
Except they actually stung her.
"OW! Ow, ow, what the fuck!" Hatsuko yelled, as the tiny insects had finally disappeared.
Both her arms were riddles with stings, itching and starting to swell all over.
"What the fuck? What did you do, you fucking bitch?" she cursed at her opponent, who answered with a laugh.
"Told you the orange Crosspoint it special," she chuckled, "anything I imagine will become reality. And you getting stung by a bunch of bees is certainly a pleasant thought for me."
"This can't be real," Hatsuko grunted as Saburo rushed over and helped her back onto her feet.
"This looks really nasty," he said while examining the stings, "can you go on?"
"It barely hurts anymore," she lied, "now go back to your spot, because I'm about to continue. I activate my second set card: Rank-Up-Magic Red Rising Force!"
"You had that Set?" Saburo asked surprised.
"Of course. I couldn't Rank-Up my monster the traditional way because it had that stupid mask attached. So… that bitch destroying it by battle was the only way I had for this. When one of my Xyz Monsters is destroyed, Red Rising Force immediate lets me Xyz Summon a monster with one Rank higher."
A graveyard portal opened up beneath her and her previously destroyed monster rose from it, only to immediately turn into energy and spiral into a galaxy-like portal.
"Rank-Up Xyz Evolution!" Hatsuko said, "The force of a thousand women singing in one voice will strike our greatest foes from the sky! Rank 5, Psydame Magi-Veronique!" The portal combusted in a flash of red light, before a single woman with bright red skin and a flowing golden dress appeared. As she opened her mouth however, hundreds more appeared all around them, surrounding the four duelists and their monsters in a veil of red and gold.
Psydame Magi-Veronique: LIGHT / Fairy / Xyz / Effect / Rank 5 / 3000 ATK / 3000 DEF / 1 Xyz materials
"This is bad. This is another Crosspoint powered monster," Alessia said, losing her confidence for the first time this duel. The monster behind her however roared as if anticipating to be finally matched against an equal foe.
"Indeed it is. And I'm not done yet," Hatsuko said, "even during your turn, I can use the first effect of Veronique, which I can activate as long as it has an Xyz Monster attached to it as material: I can choose any card on the field and make it Veroniques Xyz Material. And I got my eyes on that queen of yours."
The giant choir sung a single note, sounding the same from every direction they were standing, as Alessias monster shrunk in size and became a small yellow orb, that started to orbit the Xyz Monster alongside the second.
Psydame Magi-Veronique: 1 Xyz material → 2 Xyz materials
"I figured you'd have a way to bring your monster back in case I destroyed it, so I decided to take it as far out of your reach as I could."
"Don't flatter yourself," Alessia said, "I move to my Main Phase 2, and activate the second effect of my Violent Spread. By sending it to the Graveyard, I can revive any Level 1 Insect monster from my Grave. I choose my Bee List Soldier I used for my Ritual Summon."
"There it is," Saburo said satisfied, "looks like she was right."
Bee List Soldier: WIND / Insect / Effect / Level 1 / 500 ATK / 400 DEF
"I choose to activate its effect, tributing it as well as one of my Virulence Tokens to draw 2 cards." She quickly examined the two, before she slotted one in her Duel Disk, "I Set one card face-down, switch my remaining Token to Defense Position and end my turn."
"It's my turn then," Hatsuko said, "And I Normal Summon Krebons." A jester-like figure appeared in front of Hatsuko, its limbs only joined together by psychic energy.
Krebons: DARK / Psychic / Effect / Tuner / Level 2 / 1200 ATK / 400 DEF
"Let's end this quickly," Hatsuko said, desperately trying not to scratch the swollen bumps on her arms, "Krebons, destroy her remaining Token!" The jester flung the cubic elements it was juggling with at the wasp, blasting it to pieces.
"And now, for the grand finale," Hatsuko said, "Magi-Veronique, attack Alessia directly with your Song of Empowerment!" The choir drew in air in order to hit a high note, but before they could they were interrupted by Carter.
"I activate my Set Card Mask of Perplexity!" he yelled as one of his Traps flipped up, "It allows me to negate this attack and to move the attack target to any other monster you control!" A plethora of gas masks attached themselves to the heads of Hatsukos monster, causing it to look around in confusion.
"Run that by me again… my monster?" she replied dumbfounded, and Carter was quick to confirm.
"Oh yes. Psydame Magi-Veronique? Attack Krebons instead!"
"Just absorb it Hatsuko," Saburo barged in.
"I can't," she replied, "Veronique can only absorb my opponents cards, its useless here."
"Then I'll bite the bullet," he went on, "I activate the second effect of Hexion Typhoon as it is in Defense Position. Once per Battle Phase, I can make it the target of any attack of my choosing. Magi-Veronique, attack me instead of your owner!"
The choir immediately belted out an ear-splitting high note, but the Defense of Saburos Fusion Monster held steady.
Hatsuko: 500 LP → 300 LP
"Thanks," she said, "I thought that'd be it."
"No sweat."
"Does this mean you could've use that when Virulence Queen attacked my Angelique last turn?"
"Of course I could. But then I thought that, if you go to such lengths to make sure your monster gets destroyed but you don't lose the duel, who am I to barge in."
"How considerate. Bad news though."
"What, I should've still tanked that hit back then?"
"No, but you shouldn't have tanked this one. At the end of the Battle Phase, if Veronique battled, it will absorb all monsters that are still on my opponents field. That counts yours as well."
"Battle Royal continues to bite us in the ass," Saburo affirmed as his monsters, as well as Masked Sorcerer, were turned into yellow orbs of light and started to cycle Hatsukos monster. The Tokens that had remained on Carters and Saburos field simply vanished, as they couldn't become Xyz Materials.
Psydame Magi-Veronique: 2 Xyz material → 5 Xyz materials
"On this note, I will end my turn," Hatsuko said, passing the torch over to Carter.
The man simply drew his card, and, upon seeing what he had drawn, shared a sly look with his wife.
"I activate my Spell Card Choosing One!" He said, as a blue spinning top with three red faces on it appeared on his field. "This card is a variation on the card Chosen One. It allows me to pick three monsters from my deck, then my opponent can randomly chose one to Summon to their side of the field, and the other two will be added to my hand."
"Rebuilding your defenses I see," Saburo remarked, "won't help you as soon as my turn comes around. I have plenty of Effect Damage to dish out. So give your wife whatever monster you want."
"You see, that would be matter if we cared about you," Alessia barged in, "but it has all always been about her."
"So please little girl," Carter said, directed at Hatsuko, "here are your choices."
He presented her with the cards Grand Elder Tiki, Melchid the Four-Faced Beast and Rogue Doll, yet Hatsuko was still confused: "You're giving me a free monster?"
"Time to take your pick," Carter just said, as the three cards appeared face-down around the spinning top, which randomly picked one with one of its mouths. A flash of light followed, as a friendly looking doll with purple garment and a wand appeared on Hatsukos side of the field.
Rogue Doll: LIGHT / Spellcaster / Level 4 / 1600 ATK / 1000 DEF
"Now, with that on the field," Alessia picked up, Hatsuko still looking at her newest monster in confusion, "I activate my Trap Card Infestation!"
As her Trap Card flared to life, a myriad of tiny insects started to crawl up Hatsukos three monsters.
"You see," Alessia explained, "this card will reduce the ATK of all face-up monsters by 100 and then, every player will lose 100 LP for each monster they control. Sadly, thanks to your previous moves, you're the only one controlling monsters at the moment."
Krebons: 1200 ATK → 1100 ATK
Rogue Doll: 1600 ATK → 1500 ATK
Psydame Magi-Veronique: 3000 ATK → 2900 ATK
"No! NO!" Hatsuko screamed, her screams only growing louder as she felt small bugs also crawling up her own legs, "NO! Saburo do something! Get these things of me!"
As the little things bit and scratched Hatsukos legs, she stumbled back and fell, trying to get them off or at least squeeze them.
"I can't," the boy said with an empty voice after checking his hand and field, "I have nothing left."
Instead, he rushed over to Hatsukos side, trying to take the – actually living, thanks to Alessias Crosspoint-magic – bugs off of her, as her Life Point counter slowly ticked down to 0.
Hatsuko: 300 LP → 0 LP
As the two of them helplessly watched on, Hatsukos monsters disappeared and the forcefield around them slowly wrapped back.
"No!" Saburo yelled, "this isn't over! I'm still here!"
"She held the point, she lost," Carter simply replied, "this is over."
"You can't do this," Hatsuko pleaded, almost begged, "you're going to destroy this world."
"You've been the ones that were about to destroy this world," Alessia said, "I know it's hard to believe, but we will go down in history as the heroes."
The red Crosspoint was now gently hovering over Alessias Duel Disk before it entered her Deck. Hatsuko had reckoned that losing a Crosspoint would hurt, or would cause her to pass out but all she could feel were the bites and scratched on her legs and the stings in her arms.
Alessia on the other hand looked almost ecstatic, breathing heavily and staring emptily into the air.
"Honey are you alright?" Carter asked.
"I'm okay," she replied somberly, as the skin in her face started to crack open and flake away, "I feel a little strange. So… full of energy,"
Hatsuko almost screamed out loud as a wave of realization washed across her face: "She's holding two Crosspoints."
It took Carter a few seconds to realize what that meant, before he jumped to his wife's side and shook her in mindless panic: "Quickly give me one! Give me one or you're gonna die!"
"I feel fine," she said, still looking past him, her eyes fixed on a spot on the concrete where a blue light suddenly flashed.
"Do you have the red point?" Tian asked, his lantern now containing both a green and a blue light spinning around each other.
"She has both of them, you need to help her!" Carter yelled at the man, but he was just waved aside.
"She has to give them to me, we don't have time."
"Yes," Alessia just said, before a red and an orange light orb floated out of her Duel Disk and into the lantern, joining the other two colors in their slow spinning.
Without saying another word, the man vanished in a flash of blue light again, leaving the four of them behind.
"It's alright," Carter said, holding his emotionless wife in his arms, "they're gone, you're gonna be fine."
"I feel so… empty," Alessia just said, before her body crumbled, blown away by the wind like a cloud of ash, leaving only her clothes and Duel Disk behind.
Alessia: 1600 LP → [ERROR]
Carter just let out a mindless scream, while Hatsuko and Saburo watched in horror.
"If my previous attack would've went through," Hatsuko summarized, "that would've been me."
"You would've remembered it in time," Saburo tried to calm her as she started to cry, "you would've let me take it."
"No, I had forgotten about it until I noticed her acting weird," she cried, "I would've died like she did."
"This is your fault," the two of them raised their heads to see that Carter had risen from mourning on top of his wife's clothes, "first I'm gonna crush you with my monster and then I'll kill the little girl. I activate my last face-down card, Curse of the Masked Beast!"
"This is not the time to continue this duel," Saburo tried to persuade him, "your wife just died for fucks sake!"
"And I'm gonna make you pay for that," the man went on, his face red with rage, "Using Melchid and Grand Elder Tiki from my hand I perform a Ritual Summon! My hellraiser born from the curse of the mask! The Masked Beast!" The Spell Card emitted a cloud of purple smoke which then reformed into Carters disfigured Ritual Monster, with its humanoid torso and the grotesque animal legs.
The Masked Beast: DARK / Fiend / Ritual / Level 8 / 3200 ATK / 1800 DEF
"We're still dealing with real Solid Vision monsters all across the city. I think 3200 ATK is more than enough to beat you to bloody pulps." Without further command, the beast leaped forward, ready to kill both Hatsuko and Saburo.
"When I'm attacked directly," Saburo intervened, "I can banish Smokestar Pitch from my Graveyard to substract 1000 points from that damage! And since that effect can be used more than once per turn, I'm free to use the other two I used as Fusion Materials as well, meaning all your attack did was a measly 200 damage."
Three little white birds in ninja costumes appeared in front of the two of them, shielding them from the beasts attacks, letting nothing more than a slight push through to Saburo.
Saburo: 2900 LP → 2700 LP
"And once that is done," he continued, "the damage that I just avoided is dealt to you instead!"
The three birds each threw a smoke bomb in front of their field, with the smoke reforming into a vague mirror image of The Masked Beast, which raised its staff and punched Carter across the face with it, causing him to tumble to the ground.
Carter: 1000 LP → 0 LP
Both him and Hatsuko let out a sharp breath as The Masked Beast disappeared since the Duel was over, realizing that both of them held their breath during that last attack.
"I think you just saved my life like… twice, thrice today?" the girl breathlessly said, "this is getting out of hand."
"I'd say you saved my life at least once too so… I'd call this being even," he replied, "take it as an apology for being such an awful boyfriend."
"You weren't that awful," Hatsuko said, "I've known worse guys than you."
"My, my," Saburo laughed as well as he could, given the situation, "is that a sign that we might stop being exes?"
"Is this really the right place to discuss such a thing?"
"I know, I'm sorry."
"But you know… I may not be ready to call you my boyfriend again, but maybe we could be… pre-boyfriend and pre-girlfried? Until we know it works out when there's no civil war around us."
"Sounds good for me," Saburo smiled as he tried to stand up, "can you walk?"
"Barely," Hatsuko replied, her limbs still hurting, "can you carry me?"
"Of course," the boy replied, helping her climb on his back, "man, your arms still look nasty. We should get you a doctor."
"I'd have a place you should go," both of their heads darted back on the street as they saw that Carter has woken back up.
He looked pretty beaten nonetheless, blood spewing from his mouth and running down his head from a large wound on his temple.
"We should get you a doctor as well," Hatsuko said with just a slight bit of pity in her voice for the man who just tried to murder her.
"Don't bother finding a doc in this warzone," the man gurgled, clearly having trouble speaking, "besides, I'd rather be with her instead. But you two."
He started to fiddle in his pockets, before he pulled out car keys, "Take our car. It's yours. We won't need it anymore. You know the abandoned cathedral?"
"Yes."
"Go there. Go there and watch how we're winning. How we're gonna be the heroes." With that, he apparently lost consciousness again, his head sinking back onto the concrete.
Since the two of them had nowhere to go anyway – as much as they hated to admit he was right, they wouldn't find a doctor willing to treat wasp stings and bug bites in the midst of a civil war – the two got into the car and started to head towards the abandoned cathedral he mentioned.
Maybe it wasn't too late.
Maybe they could still make a difference.
Author-made cards:
Smokestar Ray / WIND / Winged Beast / Effect / Level 2 / 800 ATK / 800 DEF
This card can attack your opponent directly. Once per turn: You can inflict 800 damage to your opponent. This card cannot attack during a turn you use this effect.
Smokestar Pitch / WIND / Winged Beast / Effect / Level 3 / 1000 ATK / 1000 DEF
This card can attack your opponent directly. If you would take Battle Damage from a direct attack while this card is in your GY: You can banish this card; Reduce the damage by 1000, then, inflict 1000 damage to your opponent.
Psydame Daniela / LIGHT / Psychic-Type / Effect / Level 4 / 1900 ATK / 0 DEF
Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up Psychic monster you control that has a Level; Its Level becomes 4. If you control a face-up Xyz Monster that has no materials: You can attach this face-up card to that monster as material.
Psydame Avelina / LIGHT / Psychic / Effect / Level 4 / 1500 ATK / 1500 DEF
If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Psychic monster from your hand or GY. If you control a face-up Xyz Monster that has no materials: You can attach this face-up card to that monster as material.
Violent Virulence Queen: DARK / Insect / Ritual / Effect / Level 1 / 100 ATK / 100 DEF
Can be Ritual Summoned using "Violent Summoning". Once per turn: You can Special Summon 1 "Violent Virulence Token" (DARK/Insect/Level 1/100 ATK/100 DEF) to both players side of the field. This card gains 1000 ATK for each face-up "Violent Virulence Token". If your opponent controls a face-up "Violent Virulence Token", this card is unaffected by their card effects. If your opponent only controls face-up "Violent Virulence Tokens", this card can attack your opponent directly. There can only be 1 face-up "Violent Virulence Queen".
Hexion Typhoon / WIND / Spellcaster / Fusion / Effect / Level 9 / 2200 ATK / 3200 DEF
3 WIND monsters
Must be Fusion Summoned with "Hexion Fusion". This card can attack your opponent directly but if it does, change it to Defense Position at the end of the Damage Step. During your opponents Battle Phase, if they declare an attack: You can switch the attack target to this face-up Defense Position card but if you do, change this card to Attack Position at the end of the Damage Step. You can only control 1 face-up "Hexion Typhoon".
Psydame Angelique / LIGHT / Psychic-Type / Xyz / Effect / Rank 4 / 2100 ATK / 2000 DEF
2 Level 4 Psychic Monsters
If this card would be destroyed (by battle or by a card effect): You can detach 1 Xyz Material from it instead. If this card detached its last Xyz Material: You can target 1 card your opponent controls; Destroy it and if you do, inflict 1000 LP Damage to your opponent. This card cannot attack directly during the turn you activate this effect.
Psydame Magi-Veronique / LIGHT / Fairy / Xyz / Effect / Rank 5 / 3000 ATK / 3000 DEF
3 Level 5 LIGHT monsters
Must first be Xyz Summoned. Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up card your opponent controls; Attach it to this card as an Xyz Material. While this card has an Xyz Monster attached as a material, this effect becomes a Quick Effect. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card battled: Attach all face-up monsters your opponent controls to this card as material. If this card would be destroyed, you can detach 1 material from it instead. You can only control 1 face-up "Psydame Magi-Veronique".
Choosing One / Normal Spell Card
Take 3 monsters from your Deck and reveal them. Your opponent randomly selects 1 card among them. If it can be Special Summoned, Special Summon it to your opponents side of the field and add the remaining cards to your hand. If it cannot, send all the cards to the GY.
Smokestar Double Screen / Quick-Play Spell Card
If your opponent takes Battle Damage from a battle involving a „Smokestar" monster OR if your opponent takes damage from the effect of a „Smokestar" monster: You can target that monster; Special Summon 2 „Smokestar" monsters from your hand, Deck or GY with the same name as that monster, but they cannot attack. You can only activate 1 „Smokestar Double Screen" per turn.
Rank-Up-Magic Red Rising Force / Quick-Play Spell Card
If an Xyz Monster you control is destroyed (by battle or by card effect): Special Summon that monster, then, Special Summon from your Extra Deck, 1 Xyz Monster with the same type and 1 Rank higher than the target, by using the target as material. (This Special Summon is treated as an Xyz Summon.) The Summoned monster is unaffected by your opponents card effects until the End Phase.
Violent Spread / Continuous Spell Card
If this card is activated: Add 1 Level 1 Insect monster from your Deck to your hand. Once per turn, you can target 1 Level 1 Insect monster in your GY: Send this card to the GY; Special Summon the target.
Mask of Neglect / Equip Spell Card
The equipped monster cannot attack, also, its effects are negated. During each End Phase, the equipped monsters controller loses 500 LP.
Mask Salesman / Normal Trap Card
If a monster is Special Summoned: You can take 1 „Mask of" Equip Spell Card from your Deck and equip it to that Special Summoned monster.
Hexion Fusion / Normal Trap Card
If a monster you control is destroyed by battle: You can Fusion Summon 1 "Hexion" Fusion Monster with the same Attribute as the destroyed monster by sending the materials from your Deck to the GY.
Mask of Influence / Continuous Trap Card
If an opponents monster is equipped with a „Mask of" Equip Spell Card, that monster is unaffected by your opponents card effects.