Hello again, Tidegazer here and I'm sure you're all pleased to know I'm still kicking and working on this story. This will be the last of my revised chapters from the original story (thank goodness), the duel between Chunta and Carly with plenty of tweaks to this chapter
Anyway guys and gals, you know the drill. If you enjoy this chapter and want to see more, don't forget to show your support by following and favouriting this story and leave a review of what you thought, what you liked, what could be improved etc. and most importantly, don't forget to recommend this to your fellow readers and writers, the more, the merrier.
"Please, take a seat" the gravelly voice of Chunta gestured from his torn, stitched leather seat.
The violet robed form of Carly sat down in an exceptionally plush chair, decorated in silver and exotic furs. Across from her at his desk was mysterious Chunta Echoweave, his tribal robes and markings contrasted to the reporter's own violet midriff robes. She could only make out the lower half of his face thanks to his hood, but the look of concern was unmistakable.
"Before we get to business" the man in tribal garments began, "I must humbly apologise for Samantha's behaviour."
"is she usually like that?"
"only if it annoys someone she doesn't get on with, including the formidable Mistress of Illusions."
"Did something happen between her and Beguiler?"
"They used to work together in the theatre business, but the friendly rivalry turned sour. Samantha also grew jealous of Beguiler's interactions with Samuel."
"Samuel?" the reporter raised an eyebrow.
"a long story for another time, but to get down to business, I'm interested to hear why you've come to me all of people Ms Carmine."
Carly's eyes widen in surprise, despite the Scandinavian performer's earlier warnings. If he definitely was a divinator, how'd he find out? How long did he know?
"I have caught glimpses of you before, but you only caught my attention yesterday evening."
"you watched our duel?"
"of course. I never miss Beguiler's tourneys. Currently better than that stiff pro-league everyone's into these days" the divinator picked up a red apple from his desk.
"anyway... Beguiler said you were the one to talk to... "
"about what might I ask?" Chunta interjected, pulling a knife, peeling his grasped apple, "and do you believe I can make that happen?"
"I don't know what to believe."
"But do you know why you're here?" Chunta tilted his hooded head
"what? Of course I do" Carly's arms grew tense on the armrests of her chair.
"then please tell Ms Carmine. I know what you want to do, but there's no point investing resources in someone who doesn't know their own objective", he slipped an apple piece into his mouth, chewing as he waited for the answer.
"Well, I... I aspire to get the first exclusive with the duel King Jack Atlas, but I believe I would be more likely to get it as duelist... Rather than as a reporter."
There was silence for a moment, Carly unable to read Chunta's expression.
The divinator leaned forward, "to hear the words personally, even I didn't know what to expect. Most people wouldn't be that willing to push the boundaries like you are"
"so, will you help me?"
He cut and chomped upon another piece of apple, "normally my personal services require a small fortune... "
"I... "
"But given the circumstances, I'm willing to forgo the upfront fee."
"wait a moment, what's the catch? "
"I don't just blindly invest in just anyone." he rests his knife on the desk, "as such, to determine if you are worth my time, I must see your potential myself, "
"you want to duel me?"
"of course", Chunta reached into his fur robes, pulling free his personal deck of duel monster cards, "it's almost as if this was the only way to get anything done these days."
The tribal man glanced at Carly, the reporter certain his eyes were staring into hers despite being unable to see them under the hood, "now the only question that remains is which of you shall be appearing before the court?"
"I beg your pardon?" Carly asked in confusion.
"will the reporter Carly Carmine be conducting the investigation of her life? Or will Lady Kolibri swoop in, intent to steal the show? "
It suddenly clicked in Carly's head. She asked help from someone who runs a hub of potentially influential people, people who will spread word of nearly everything they hear. Yes, the argument could be made that while using an alas might hinder her progress getting an exclusive with Jack, it would so act as a safety net encase things didn't go to plan early on... Kolibri would take the hit while Carly would go scot-free. On the flip side, if her identity was discovered prematurely, it could set her back untold amounts.
She weighed the pros and cons of both options, unsure of what to do for the most part.
"Besides", Chunta's words seemed to echo, "For an outfit as remarkable as yours, I can see why our Scandinavian friend adores seeing you in it."
"well, I..." Carly couldn't help but let a small blush escape her expression, coupled with a small smile, "she did pick it out for me, it would be a shame to..."
Carly blinked, her flushed face replaced with determination, "Chunta, you'll have to find yourself comfortable losing to Lady Kolibri."
The Tribal man let a seemingly evil chuckle escape his lips, standing up from his desk, "Then let's not keep the court waiting, Lady Kolibri."
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen", a voice rang out across The Hall of Facades, "tonight we have a special show for you tonight, a duel sponsored by Divinators United."
A red spotlight alit, dancing around until it revealed the Chunta, decked in his hooded fur robes. "Standing in one corner is the head of Divinators United, parent company CreepyTech and the boss of the Hall of Facades, The Great Divinator ... Lord Chunta Echoweave."
Chunta watched in anticipation as a blue spotlight beamed, slashing around the hall until stopping upon the nervous woman.
"opposing him in the other corner is an upcoming duelist, determined to reach the top of the food chain. Please give it up for Lady Kolibri", the voice finished.
Carly felt drops of seat trickling down her skin. The reporter was no stranger to crowds, but the folk watching her duel with Beguiler the previous night were all common folk with no real influence. Now she was surrounded by people who, despite their masks and other facades, had a level of background pull that could help or hinder her efforts in scoring that exclusive with Jack.
"come on Kolibri, show Chunta you're no pushover", Carly looked across to the back railing, catching sight of Beguiler still in her costume echoing Necroworld Banshee. Strangely enough, that was all the encouragement the reporter needed to keep it together, knowing someone watching over her.
Chunta took a couple of steps forward, reaching the edge of the railing, red neon lights emitting along the edge, "I hope you've brought your A-game; otherwise, this little duel won't be any fun", the Divinator taunted, flicking his wrists, a set of hollow but curved panels appeared in an arc in front of him.
"to earn your support and make it to the top... I will defeat you", Carly clipped her duel disk on, taking a couple steps forward herself, her own railing bordered by blue neon lights.
"Duelists, shuffle your decks!" the announcer called out.
"so", Beguiler twisted her head to see the bunny girl Samantha approaching, resting against the railing a couple feet from her, "how delusional are you to believe that girlfriend of yours will beat Chunta?"
"with the deck she built, mixed with her skills? Chunta won't know what'll hit him", Beguiler beamed, having faith in her friend.
"I wouldn't be too certain about that", Samantha glanced down towards Chunta as both duelists began shuffling their decks, "My dear Chunta has always been quite the trickster."
Between both performers, they could already tell Chunta was shifty with his hands. The Mistress of Illusions, however, remained hopeful upon glancing upon the reporter. She wouldn't admit it, but a small part of Beguiler was worried, worried they both may have been in over their heads. Before long, both duelists had finished shuffling their decks, Carly's duel disk sprung to life while Chunta's duel panels glowed a soft light.
"Without further ado, it's time to duel!" the announcer finished.
A scoreboard lit up from the far side of the arena, Chunta and Carly, or Kolibri's, life points and turn count set.
"Duel"
Chunta 4000 x5
Kolibri 4000 x5
"Home Field advantage, I start", Chunta announced, reaching for his card.
_
Turn 1: Chunta x6
"I set a monster, and three cards face down", the Divinator hastily set the cards onto his panels, each of them going dark as the cards materialised before him, "now show me what you've got".
"I draw", Carly called out, reaching for her card.
_
Turn 2: Kolibri x6
"before you start playing any cards Kolibri, I activate a quick-play spell", Chunta swipes the centre-left panel of the bottom row, causing the corresponding facedown to flip up. "Hand Destruction forces us both to discard two cards and draw two to replace them.
Chunta effortlessly discards his remaining hand before redrawing. Carly takes a moment, nervously discarding two cards she believed she wouldn't be able to use this turn. Upon drawing her replacement cards, however, her frown flipped upside down.
"I drew Fortune Fairies Chee and En, allowing me to special summon them to the field."
Fortune Fairy Chee
0/0 Lv6 ATK
Fortune Fairy En
0/0 Lv2 ATK
"Chee allows us both to draw a card from our decks while En can destroy any set card on your side of the field", both duelists swiftly drew their card, "and since I can destroy a set monster with this effect, I'll be getting rid of your defence."
"not so fast, I activate my facedown Desert Sunlight", Chunta swiped another facedown as En charged her attack, "it forces all monsters on my side of the field into face-up defence!"
'huh, why would he waste a trap?' Carly wondered, dropping a sweat upon as she noticed Chunta crack a smile.
"and I'll use it to flood my field", Chunta expressed as En fired her blast. He looked down to his deck, twitching his fingers as his facedown flipped up, revealing a silver sphere with a single blue eye.
Cyber Jar
900/900 lv3 DEF
Beguiler gasped upon seeing the monster, "Skit, Cyber Jar."
Samantha glanced over, seeing the hooded Carly expressing an equal level of shock, but women too distracted to see the divinator closely wave his hand over the top of his deck.
The Divinator let out a light chuckle as En's blast impacted the most infamous jar in the history of duel monsters, "Cyber Jar's ability is twofold, first allowing me to combust all monsters on the field".
Cyber Jar exploded into fists full of shrapnel, the fragments lodging into the spellcasters, destroying them, "second, we both flip over the top five cards of our decks, summoning or setting all level four or lower monsters and adding the rest to our hands. It's only too bad you won't get much more than a single monster out from this"
Carly raised an eyebrow, taking the top five cards of her deck. Much to her shock, she picked up only one monster, Royal Magical Library. The rest were a mixture of spell cards.
"Looks like Chunta's got her figured out, given that expression", Samantha took note of Carly's reaction.
"Maybe so, but you haven't seen what Glad Kolibri's capable of", The Scandinavian performer snuffed in retaliation.
"I set four monsters facedown and summon Dicelops to the field", Chunta flooded his monster zones
Dicetops
1800/200 Lv4 ATK
As much as Carly wanted to go on the defensive, her current hand wasn't anything to write home about. She was thankful she went through each of her new cards before coming here and reminding herself the pros are exceptionally crafty.
"So, are you going to summon that library or what?" Chunta smirked, "I mean powering it up does sound tempting."
'how is he doing that?' Carly thought, now concerned. She didn't see Chunta attempt a scry, or even any kind of magic or ability at that moment, and somehow, she doubted Chunta was the kind of person to use cameras, given the lack of them in her corner.
"now make your move", he taunted.
"I summon Royal Magical Library in attack mode", she hastily declared
Royal Magical Library
0/2000 Lv4 ATK
"and I'll power it up with Spell Power Grasp and Power of the Guardians", Carly slashes her spells cards into her duel disk. "Spell Power Grasp grants a monster I control a spell counter and gives me a fresh copy of that spell to use later while Power of the Guardians gives my library a power boost each time it is involved in a battle."
"and because my Library gets a spell counter every time a spell is activated; I can have it at full power", the summoned library lit up with magical power in response.
Royal Magical Library
SC: 0 – 3
"but thankfully my library still has a use while in attack mode, for I can remove three of its spell counters to draw a new card", the library powered down as she drew a fresh card, smiling, "now I will..."
"discard everything. I activate Desert Sunlight', Chunta flipped his facedown up.
"you had another one?" Carly exclaimed at the very sight.
"now I reveal my monsters", Chunta held his arms out as the cards flipped, revealing two aroma jars, one morphing jar and one Night Assailant.
Aroma Jar
500/400 Lv1 DEF x2
Morphing Jar
500/400 Lv2 DEF
Night Assailant
200/500 lv3 DEF
"and now the fun begins", Chunta lets out with a wicked smile, "Night Assailant automatically targets and destroys one monster you control and Morphing Jar forces us to ditch our hands, drawing five fresh cards each."
Night Assailant lobs a series of knives, effortlessly destroying the magical library and the spell equipped to it, unable to protect its user.
Carly immediately looked down at her hand of eight cards. Now she was being forced to ditch them and draw five fresh ones, not to mention she just lost two more cards. Doing the math though scared her, 'I... I just went through half my deck over two turns', she mentally exclaims at the situation.
"and you'll be losing more cards through this duel", Chunta said redrawing five new cards, putting him back into suitable standing.
Carly regretfully sent her cards to the graveyard, swearing she heard the distant cry of the Medistric Magician, and drew a fresh hand, "I normal summon Crusader of Endymion in attack mode", she hesitantly declared, a spellcaster in bulky blue armour appearing at her command.
Crusader of Endymion
1900/1200 lv4 ATK
"now Crusader, destroy Dicetops with your Spellsurge Gauntlets" the reporter declared
The spellcaster rushed forward, armoured fists raised, pummelling the Dicelops into submission.
Chunta: 4000 - 3900
"half a deck and only 100 points of damage?" Chunta taunted, "if this is the best you can do against a trickster, then what hope do you have against a pro?"
"And that's why you are the best", Samantha comments over the tribal's taunt, her rival rolling her eyes in annoyance.
"I end my turn with a facedown", Carly throws down her card.
"then witness my Aroma Jars' effect, during the end of each player's turn, I gain 500 life points for each one on the field."
Chunta: 3900 – 4400 – 4900
"oh, come on", Carly frustratingly fumed
"and now, my turn", Chunta says, drawing his card.
_
Turn 3: Chunta x6
"I set five cards facedown in my back row and set another monster to replace the one you destroyed earlier", Chunta slotted his cards like keys on a piano, "that ends my turn."
Chunta: 4900 – 5400 – 5900
'five face downs? I had enough trouble when it was just three', Carly thought, looking at her hand, 'and with a new monster face down and half my deck missing, I don't know what I'm going to do.'
'Come on, Carly', Beguiler silently pleaded from the far end, 'don't lose faith yet, not while you still have a chance.'
The violet robed duelist went to draw, stopping momentarily she could have sworn that she heard a familiar cry. In a mixture of curiosity and desperation, she draws.
_
Turn 4: Kolibri x6
Carly looked down at her card, a little surprised to see it was Fortune Fairy Hikari. Admitted though, she was thankful she didn't lose one of her most prised cards yet. An idea came to her though, mentally cycling back through the cards she sent to the graveyard, smiling when she recalled what was still in her deck.
"I special summon Fortune Fairy Hikari in defence mode", the reporter declares, slashing her card front and centre onto her duel disk.
Fortune Fairy Hikari
0/0 lv1 DEF
"and let me guess you are going to..." Chunta smirked, confident of the reporter's plan.
"let me tell you something Chunta. You aren't the only one who dabbles in fortune", Carly counter smirked, "when Hikari is special summoned from my hand, I can send one monster from my field to the graveyard to bring out another level one monster from my deck."
Carly effortlessly takes the card of Crusader of Endymion, removing it from her duel disk, the monster despawning, "I'm getting rid of my Crusader to special summon the level on Effect Veiler from my deck.
Hiraki raised her staff up, a small but bright portal opening above. Descending from it was the white-coated tuner themselves
Effect Veiler
0/0 Lv1 ATK
"and now something I thought I would never do myself", the bearer of Lady Kolibri raised her hand, "I tune my level one effect Veiler with my level one Fortune Fairy Hikari to synchro summon"
Effect Veiler spun around in a circle, quickly morphing into a synchro ring which rotated around the Fortune Fairy herself. Unlike most synchro rings that were green, Carly's one was a brighter orange, something she wasn't used to seeing admittedly.
"the stargazer that embodies the two stars of destiny", Carly called out, "Celestial Double Star Shaman."
Both Hikari and the synchro ring exploded in a flash of light. Upon dissipating revealed a white-robed figure with two large wings upon their back
Celestial Double Star Shaman
100/800 lv2 DEF
The bunny girl expressed surprise upon seeing Carly's move, turning to Beguiler, "I see you taught your little girlfriend how to Synchro Summon?"
"She figured it out herself", The performer death-stared the guild leader, "and she has a name"
"my shaman allows me to bring back up to four of our old friends, as long as they are each level two or below", Carly stated taking three cards from her graveyard. "So not only will I bring back the two monsters I used to bring out Star Shaman, but I'll also be reviving fortune Fairy En, as well as a monster sent to the graveyard by you, Megistric Magician."
Fortune Fairy En
0/0 lv2 DEF
Fortune Fairy Hikari
0/0 lv1 DEF
Effect Veiler
0/0 Lv1 DEF
Megistric Magician
0/2000 lv1 DEF
"I can't believe it. I have five monsters on my field" Carly admired her handiwork, although she was only getting started, "and I now tune my shaman with my fortune fairies and magician to synchro summon again."
The shaman split apart into orange synchro rings, distancing themselves to create space. Hikari, En and Megistric all flew into the rings, creating stars within.
"you don't want to mess with her when she's angry. Tempest Magician", Carly declared.
Like last time the rings and stars exploded in light for a brief moment, upon vanishing revealing a woman in blue robes and carrying a scythe with both hands.
Tempest Magician
2200/1400 lv6 ATK
'you've got this Lady Kolibri, shown him what you're capable of', The Necro-Beguiler smiled seeing her friend's achievements.
"I commend the four-monster synchro summon, I'm afraid tempest won't be standing for long", Chunta flipped over a trap card, "bottomless trap hole destroys and removes from play a monster whose attack points are 1500 or more. So, it looks like your four-monster synchro summon was all for nothing."
A crack in the fabric of reality opens underneath the magician, threatening to suck her in.
"I activate my face down, Trap Stun", Carly declared, flipping over her laid card, "not only does this negate your hole from swallowing my monster, but it will also negate any other traps you try to activate this turn."
Tempest raised her scythe, unleashing a powerful jolt of lightning upon the trap hole, sealing it uptight.
"cleaver play, although your trap stun won't stop me", Chunta kept his gaze upon the reporter, rubbing his hands together.
"well first, since Tempest was synchro summoned to the field, she gains a spell counter."
Tempest Magician
SC: 0 – 1
"and since you were so kind to fill your field with monsters, I think I'll have the pleasure of removing them from the field", Carly activated a spell card from her hand, "Flash of the Forbidden Spell destroys all monsters on your side of the field."
Tempest swung her magical scythe around, gathering massive amounts of fire and darkness energy, ready to unleash a barrage of magic.
"I won't be losing my whole field, not with Forbidden lance", the Divinator flips over a quick-play spell card, "by permanently reducing one of my Aroma Jars' attack points by 800, I can protect it from all spell or trap effects."
Aroma Jar x1
500 – 0/400
As Tempest unleashed her flash of energy, a small force field appeared across one of the aroma jars. The forbidden spell leapt and jolted in between Chunta's monsters, effortlessly destroying all but one of them. The facedown monster revealed itself to be a destroyed dice jar.
"and now we battle", the reporter declared, "Tempest Magician, take down that Jar, Raging Darkstorm."
Again, the magician prepared a spell. This one, however, summoned a gale of dark wind around her. With a single flick, the storm flew across, threatening to tear apart whatever stood in its way. However, upon hitting Aroma jar, despite gaining several new scars and cracks, still held its ground.
"what?" Carly gasped
"were you expecting an easy takedown? As long as it was flipped up first, Aroma Jar can't be destroyed by battle" he explained with a smug look.
"well thankfully there's more than one way to get to you", Carly said, "I end my battle phase and use Tempest's effect. By removing her spell counter, I can deal 500 points of direct damage."
The dark winds expanded past the jar, seemingly threatening to cut into Chunta.
Chunta: 5900 – 5400
"your efforts were in vain, I'll just gain back those life points at the end of this turn", Chunta taunted with an off chuckle.
"you won't have those life points for long, not after I tune Effect Veiler to my Tempest Magician" Carly declared.
"again?" both Chunta and Samantha gasped.
Effect Veiler transmuted into the familiar synchro ring, gliding over and surrounding Tempest who closed her eyes, holding her scythe upwards with both hands, disappearing into a flash of light.
"no magician is a master of Spellcount magic like this one. Arcanite Magician", Kolibri raised her hands high.
Appearing from the light was a woman dressed in white and purple robes, flashing orange inlays as she slung around her emerald sceptre, the core glowing an emerald light. She kneeled in front of her summoner; stave held in defence.
Arcanite Magician
400/1800 lv7 DEF
"What are you playing at?" Samantha scorned her fellow performer.
Beguiler offered no words, only her signature smirk, knowing how frustrated she made her rival, balanced out by how proud she was of her friend.
"three synchro summons during the same turn, now even this, for all my abilities, could never foresee this", Chunta pondered at the result, "there may be hope for you yet."
"well, I'm not done yet. When Arcanite Magician is synchro summoned, she gains two spell counters to not only fuel her powers but give her 1000 extra attack points for each of them."
Arcanite Magician
400 – 2400/1800
SC: 0 – 2
"and now, so I can finally destroy Aroma jar, Arcanite Magician will use one of her spell counters so she can target and destroy..."
Carly hesitated briefly. She had every intention of destroying Chunta's remaining Aroma Jar, if not else, to clear his front row field and stop him regaining life points. Yet in the back of her mind, knowing the tribal man had facedown cards in his back row, it felt too obvious. Yes, that jar was annoying to work around, but the reporter couldn't risk all those face-downs going off later.
"... Destroy his left facedown, Emerald Spellblast", Carly pointed to the new target.
Arcanite Magician
2400 – 1400/1800
SC: 2 – 1
Chunta halted momentarily, hearing what Carly had declared. Despite his shifty move remaining hidden from everyone else, he wasn't quick enough to save his trap card, Sixth Sense, from being destroyed by Arcanite's bolt of emerald turned amber energy.
"oh, did you think you were getting off that easily Chunta", Carly dusted off her shoulder, "just because you can't use your traps this turn doesn't mean I'll let you activate them later."
"Well, that was unexpected", Samantha admitted, her eyes wide.
Despite being proud of Carly, Beguiler was equally surprised by her sudden change of action. They barely had time at both the cemetery and carriage to go through her newly constructed deck, and the reporter had adapted quickly. Was Carly hiding this potential all along? That rogue thought couldn't escape her mind.
"well, you won't be doing it any further this turn, not when I activate my middle facedown Book of Eclipse". Chunta declared, his move in full swing, "and thanks to my previous set up, not only will Arcanite Magician be forced facedown, but she loses her remaining spell counter."
Carly could only watch as the shockwave from the card neutralised Arcanite Magician, morphing her into facedown defence.
"but don't worry too much, she'll be flipped back up into at the end of your turn, and you'll get a card as compensation" Chunta mockingly reassured.
"I end my turn with two face downs" Carly declared, setting her cards and drawing a fresh one as per Book of Eclipse, Arcanite magician automatically flipped back face up. However, her sceptre no longer lingering with energy.
Arcanite Magician
400/1800 lv7 DEF
Chunta: 5400 - 5900
"and now it's come to my turn" Chunta declared, drawing his card
_
Turn 5: Chunta x1
Chunta glanced down across his board. One monster, one facedown and one card in hand. Not a good start for his third turn, but he wasn't out yet. "I activate Cup of Ace. With this, I can flip a coin, and if I get heads, I get to draw two cards".
The vessel appeared between both duelists, shooting a coin into the air. They waited intently for what seemed like forever before the coin landed next to Chunta, on the heads side. Without a word, he draws his two cards.
"from my hand, I activate The Shallow Grave", he slammed his card before him, "we both choose a monster in our graveyards and summon it in facedown defence."
Both Carly and Chunta reached into their respective graveyards, a card ejecting into their hands.
"I summon Dice Jar face down", Chunta's gravelly tone echoed.
"and I'm bringing back Royal Magical Library", Carly declared in response.
Dice Jar
200/300 lv3 DEF
Royal Magical Library
0/2000 lv4 DEF
"it doesn't matter what monster you brought back, for I am ending things here", Chunta smirked, "from my hand, I activate Book of Taiyou, which flips a facedown monster into face-up attack."
"Oh no", Beguiler figured what was about to unfold.
"I'm flipping over Dice Jar, which means this duel is over", Chunta declared as his monster revealed itself, "we both roll dice until one of us rolls higher, in which case, the loser takes 500 points of damage times the winner's result."
"But how? We both have more than 3000 life points each", Carly raised an eyebrow, "unless..."
"if the winner rolled a six... their opponent instead takes 6000 points of damage, and I know I'm rolling that six", Chunta confidently stood his ground.
Dice jar pointed upwards, shooting out two six-sided dice, one blue for Carly, the other red for Chunta. Both dice rolled mid-air towards their respective player, Chunta's die landing first. Much to Carly's dread, the Divinator's Die came up six.
"and I admit, I enjoyed our little match, but I'm afraid despite your impressive feats, you lose this duel".
Beguiler expressed a worried look of concern from above, starting to believe the Divinator had managed to outskirt the reporter. The Mistress of Illusions wanted to so badly help her friend, but deep down, every part of her was screaming, pleading, not to intervene. The ghostly dressed performer didn't want to admit it, but all the groundwork laid would have been for nothing if she interfered.
"come on Carly" Beguiler muttered under her breath. This, however, did not go unnoticed by the rival standing near her, the masked bunny girl raising an eyebrow.
Carly didn't want to admit it, but under the hood and robes, she was panicking. No card on her field or in her hand would be able to save her now in this game of skill turned luck. She didn't know what to do but closed her concealed eyes in shame, silently hoping.
The die bounced in mid-air, crashing into invisible walls. Slowly but surely, the d6 began to slow down, eventually reaching a corner, threatening to land in 5.
Everyone else, including Chunta, watched in complete shock as the square die instead fell backwards, landing on a 6, the crowd letting out a gasp.
Carly opened her eyes in a mix of fear and confusion, widening in shock as her die showed 6.
"a tie? No matter, we roll again and again until someone finally rolls lower than their opponent" Chunta raised his hand, almost as if commanding the dice to lift up.
Carly, instead of panicking further as she would have otherwise, she kept herself together, looking across with a serious look on her face.
"you might have been right about getting a six, but I'm still in this duel", Carly smirked as both dice began slowly spinning in every rotation, "I'm no stranger to fortune-telling, but I know there's every chance the teller will be wrong."
The dice dropped down again. This time, however, Carly kept a level head while her opponent expressed a look of uncertainty. Everyone watched as the violet robed reporter's die once again landed on a 6, as well as Chunta's opponent letting a smile escape as his own die hit a Nat 1.
Carly smirked to herself, confident she had won as Chunta's die exploded with smoke. Her smile however distorted into confusion when the smoke cleared. Both the divinator and his cards still standing, if a bit grazed.
Chunta: 5900 – 2900
"Sorry, but this duel is not over yet", Chunta declared as a trap card materialised before him, Damage Diet, disappearing into the void a couple of seconds later. "By removing from play my trap card from the graveyard, all effect damage I take this turn is cut in half, so I'm still in it."
'okay somethings not right here' Carly thought to herself, noting that Chunta's remaining facedown was still present, and she had seen every card Chunta has played or sent to the graveyard.
The more she thought on it though, the more suspicious Chunta having two Desert Sunlight traps from the get-go was. In a moment of brilliance, the reporter smiled, "you had me going there for a while, managing to get your more subtle tricks under the radar, but there was no way for you to stay in the game without slipping up."
Carly stared across to Chunta, who gave off a prominent faux innocent face, "you never had two desert sunlight traps". she raised her finger to the trickster. "you had cards hidden up your sleeves, and through your abilities, you manipulated the results of your luck-based cards, explaining your certainty of victory."
"so, your little lass has quite the venomous bite", the bunny girl glanced over to eccentric illusionist.
"that's my girl", Beguiler ignored her rival, too focused on Carly seeing her pull back.
Samantha raised an eyebrow at the statement, detecting a hint of passion underneath. She silently shook her head, glancing back down to the duel.
Chunta gave a light smile, despite not being a hundred percent sure on how he lost that last die roll, "you have a good mind, and an excellent deck, no wonder the Mistress of Illusions holds you in high regard", he swiftly ended his turn.
Chunta: 2900 - 3400
"oh, I'm just getting started, I draw", Carly confidently declares, her ego heightened.
_
Turn 6: Kolibri x4
"I flip Royal Magical Library into face-up attack mode and activate my last copy Spell Power Grasp, giving Arcanite Magician a needed boost, as well as my library."
Arcanite Magician
SC: 0 – 1
400 – 1400/1800
Royal Magical Library
SC: 0 – 1
"now, I remove that spell counter to target and destroy one of your remaining facedown", she pointed her finger to her target
Arcanite Magician's sceptre rekindled its emerald energy as she looked at the facedown.
"I chain with Book of the Moon, switching Dice Jar back into facedown defence", Chunta hastily activated his last spell.
"but don't forget, the royal library still gains another spell counter", Carly pushed back her glasses slightly.
Royal Magical Library
SC: 1 – 2
Arcanite Magician
SC: 1 – 0
1400 – 400/1800
"and now, since I have three Spell Power Grasps in my graveyard, I'll activate from my hand Spell Power Mastery", she brought up her spell card, "this lets me add one Endymion card from my deck to my hand, the Rogue of Endymion."
She added her card before facing Chunta, "but it comes with another ability, the one I'm after. It can give a monster I choose one spell counter for each spell power grasp or mastery in my graveyard. So, both by monsters shall now have three each."
Arcanite Magician
SC: 0 – 3
400 – 3400 ATK
Royal Magical Library
SC: 2 – 3
"and I'll remove the counters from my library to draw another card my deck."
Royal Magical Library
SC: 3 – 0
Carly took one glance at the card she drew, joyful of what she drew, "with two monsters left, no cards in your hand and your graveyard expanded, you won't stop me from winning this"
"oh please, do tell", Chunta knew he was going to lose this duel, but yet kept the act going.
"I activate the quick-play spell, Mythical Bestiary", she slashed the card onto her duel disk, "by sending the top two cards of my deck to my graveyard, I can give Arcanite Magician another two spell counters."
"now if you don't mind", Carly raised a finger, "I'm going to use those two counters to destroy your remaining monsters. Go Emerald Spell Blast"
Arcanite magician immediately glowed with power, swinging her staff radically before pointing at each of Chunta's jar monsters, destroying one after the other.
"and now your field and hand are wiped clean, I'll finish this duel, so I can climb the ranks and achieve my goal", Carly declared, raising her hand forward, "bring it for us Arcanite Magician, bring down Chunta with Heightened Emerald Strike."
The purple and white-robed magician raised her staff with both hands, swinging the empowered stave towards the Divinator, unleashing one last blast of green energy which engulfed Chunta.
Chunta: 3400 – 0
Kolibri: - Winner
"The Winner is... Lady Kolibri", the announcer called, having remained silent during the entire duel.
Carly jumped for joy as her field disappeared from the field, her duel disk retracting back into its inactive form.
Beguiler expressed a comforting smile, seeing the result, "and you say I don't know an ace when I see one", she remarked, glancing to Samantha.
"How could Chunta lose?" Samantha struggled to process what just happened, "even if he wasn't playing fair, your little girlfriend shouldn't have..."
"And you wonder why you're behind", the performer shook her head, "although we should be thankful you aren't like this during the day."
"Don't think this is over you little necro", Samantha hissed in anger, flowing from behind her half-mask, walking away in frustration.
With the duel officially over, many of the viewers in the arena slowly began to leave, their current source of entertainment finished. Chunta, despite his defeat, smiled towards his opponent, slowly making his way around to her.
"That was amazing", The reporter looked over to see Beguiler strolling up to her, "consecutive reversals and three synchro summons in a single turn. Where'd you learn to duel like that?"
"Well, I..." Carly flustered as she refocused, "I've seen a lot of duels on TV, most of them with Jack in them."
"But three synchro summons in one turn. I don't think anyone here has even heard of Jack Atlas performing such a feat", The performer spun swiftly around Carly, resting her hands on her shoulders, "you keep this up, even the king will bow before you."
Carly lost herself in thought for a moment. Could she defeat Jack Atlas if she had to? Did she even want to? She knew her original plan, dueling to get close to Jack for that exclusive. Right now, though, a part of her felt on top of the world, that same part slowly began to think she might be able to, especially if that was what it takes.
"I must say I'm impressed", both Carly and Beguiler turned to see Chunta approaching them, a small smile upon his face, "you both surprised me tonight."
"what can I say? We aim to surprise", Beguiler gave a smirk, resting a hand on her hip.
"I know you are always full of surprises oh mighty Mistress of Illusions", the tribal divinator swiftly turned back to the winner of his duel, "you, however, I thought I was in control the entire time, but you proved you have what it takes."
"does this means?" Carly could only wonder
"that I'll be helping you with your objective? Of course. I did say I would levy the upfront fee?"
"Just the upfront fee?" Beguiler raised an eyebrow, smirking hard at him.
Chunta lightly glared at the ghostly performer before resuming his hooded gaze to Carly, "it won't cost you anything personally unless you want to buy a round of drinks later."
"Yeah, I'm good thanks", Carly hesitantly replied, her hood slipping down.
"Regardless, you did well", Beguiler lifted her free hand, clasping her companion's shoulder, "I believe this is a victory worth savouring tonight."
"o... of course", Carly lightly stumbled, a little surprised by the Scandinavian's action, but surprisingly not disturbed by it.
"Then shall you ladies join me in the upper mess hall for food, drinks and banter? My treat", the Divinator offered
"now that's an idea", Beguiler spun her face to meet Carly's own, removing her hand, "shall we Lady Kolibri?"
Carly couldn't help but let a light blush vibrant her face. She wasn't sure what to do. She and Beguiler were little more than strangers an entire day ago, and now the performer treated the robed reporter like a good friend, but her mannerisms definitely hinted at flirtation. Was she just being friendly, or was there something deeper? Carly acknowledged that she had a crush on Jack Atlas and wanted to be with him, but now she couldn't help but shake the possibility that...
"Is everything alright?" Beguiler raised an eyebrow, slowly retracting her hand, "have you eaten properly today?"
"no, it's not that, it's just that..." Carly quickly played along, having snapped her attention back.
She hastily turned to Chunta, "I was just wondering, how exactly did you know what my cards were, even when I hadn't seen them yet?"
Chunta quickly glanced around them, seeing enough of the Hall of Facades' onlookers had broken away. In a tone a little less loud than normal, he spoke, "I conducted a quick scry of our bout, during our scene transition."
"you... saw our entire duel, before it was supposed to happen?" Carly's eyes widened at the revelation, "but did you actually know what I was going to win?"
The Divinator lightly shook his head, "when you changed targets with Arcanist Magician, any information I had become sketchy at best, unreliable at worst."
"I guess that explains a lot..." The violet robed woman pondered, quickly realising something, "wait a moment, what do you mean by scene transition? And also I don't recall seeing you do anything that indicated a scry, not that I would know what that would look like."
Beguiler expressed a slightly concerned look for her friend, "are you able to remember what happened up in the office?"
"well, one minute I had agreed to duel Chunta, next minute I'm suddenly dueling out here in a small panic."
"it's most likely you were so swept up with the duel you're simply having a lapse of memory. It happens to the best of us."
"Yeah, that's probably it", Carly felt herself almost slip over, clutching her forehead as Beguiler caught her, just barely managing to keep the reporter's hood up, "oh dear I don't feel so good."
"do you want me to take you home?" the usually flamboyant performer asked in concern.
"it... it's just a headache but..."
"you've come so far in such a short bit of time, and I don't want to see you topple like this"
The words finally seem to get to Carly, who lightly nodded her head in understanding.
"I apologise Chunta but will have to save the feast for another day", Beguiler softly expressed to Chunta.
"I understand, will you need a ride back?"
Beguile began escorting her friend off, "don't worry, I have one", she called back as both women made their way down the stairs, Carly gently assisted by the Mistress of Illusions.
"you... you don't need to do this for me", Carly let out softly
"you're my friend Carly, you and your wellbeing come first", Beguiler replied in the same tone.
The bearer of Lady Kolibri felt comforted by the response, one that was rare even for her. Even if her ambitions fell apart, it was good to know someone cared for her and didn't want anything in return. It was unusual but not unwelcomed. She just hoped their friendship would live on past this endeavour.
"damn you, damn you, damn you"... the voice of Samantha burst in anger as she furiously punched an excessively scratched and torn lounge, which was surprisingly doing better than the rest of her frantically messed quarters, "why do you have to out of your way to screw me over Beguiler?"
The bunny girl ripped off her half mask in anger, revealing a face that would otherwise be deemed cute if not for her current expression. Without as much as looking, she threw her mask in a random direction, although her ears atop her head twitched, realising the mask hasn't smashed into anything. Samantha turned and her anger almost faded upon seeing what, or rather who caught her mask.
"And you wonder why I'm reluctant to spend time with you, Samantha", the gravelly voice of Chunta echoed in her mind.
Samantha's ears drooped down, a light expression of sorrow on her face, "I'm sorry, Chunta, but I can't stand what that necro and her girlfriend did to you tonight."
"and how does that excuse your behaviour tonight? In front of a then potential client mind you... Rivalries are meant to be friendly, not cutthroat."
"well you've clearly never been in the theatre business", Samantha crossed her arms in frustration, "at least Samuel understood that"
Chunta tried his best to keep a calm voice, "but do you think he would approve of this kind of behaviour you're flush with at the moment?"
The bunny girl went to speak but couldn't bring herself to express any words, an embarrassed look upon her face. However, her ears peaked up went Chunta clasped his free hand with one of her own, rubbing it with his thumb. The hood slid slightly, just enough for Samantha to see his worried expression.
"you know I care for you, both of you, and I don't want to lose either of you, but for the name of every otherworldly being, please resolve the issue between you two. can you do that for me?"
Chunta let out a sigh of relief when Samantha expressed a slow but reassuring nod, "you're not going to make me check, are you?"
"no, I will resolve this rivalry, without it affecting your business."
"thankyou", Chunta offered a warm hug to his companion which was generously returned. although h quickly glanced around the room, seeing the state it was in, "want me to notify the cleaners?"
"Its alright Chunta, I'll call them myself than join you later."
"looking forward to it, see you then", The divinator gave a polite smile and left, the theatre performer waving for him.
Once Chunta left the room, Samantha glanced over to the chipped desk. Walking over and opening the drawer, she pulled out an older 80s phone. She lifted it up, revealing a contact card with a phone number and a single name, Janine M.
"a just hope I can count on you and your boys", she pulls the phone and number out, shutting the desk drawer with a muffled thunk.
And that brings us to the end of Chapter 3, boy did I have trouble trying to work out what changes I want to make this time around, but now it's finally done.
I wanted to keep the duel with Chunta and Carly up for this chapter, but unlike first time Carly opted to go by the pet name Beguiler gave her along with the costume and no otherworldly entities anywhere in sight. While I initially liked the idea of Carly getting Dark signer powers early, I quickly realised that is already adding to the problems I have to deal with for this story. I feel the story would be better if Carly was relying on her own cards and skills.
In case anyone has guessed, while Carly is the protagonist of this story, she won't be hogging all the spotlight. Beguiler will also get her fair share of bouts and challenges she'll have to face just like Carly will.
I'll still try to keep updating this story regularly but won't be able to work on it much during the Christmas holidays, which I hope you all enjoy along with a happy new year.