Things are about to get interesting.
Chapter Four
Lesson in Honor
The MC spoke up. "Welcome to the finals! Please welcome our contestants! Put your hands together for Apollo Agrotera!" No one applauded him, but the MC took no notice. "And his opponent, Akiru Hirasu!" Akiru stared down Apollo, as the latter accepted the mic. "Hope you're a good loser." Akiru replied, "You'll regret those words." They activated their Duel Disks, drew their cards, and stared each other down. "Let's Duel!" The MC spoke up. "The first move goes to Akiru!"
(Akiru: 4000)
(Apollo: 4000)
Akiru drew his card. "My turn! First, I'll activate Graceful Charity! It allows me to draw three cards, as long as I discard two cards to the Graveyard after." He discarded the two cards, then said, "I'll Summon Trident Warrior in Attack Mode!"
(Trident Warrior appeared: a level 4 monster with 1800 ATK)
Apollo commented, "Not a bad start, but let me-." Akiru continued. "My turn's not finished yet. I'll use his ability, to Summon Shine Knight from my hand in Defense Mode!"
(Shine Knight appeared: a level 3 monster with 1900 DEF)
(Shine Knight's level: 4)
Apollo was shocked. "How did its level go up?!" Akiru replied, "Its own effect. While it's in Defense Mode, Shine Knight becomes level 4. That means I can Overlay level 4 Trident Warrior and Shine Knight, to Xyz Summon Number 39: Utopia!" The two monsters sailed into the air as white and blue lights, before colliding into a galaxy portal, which then exploded, with an object rising from the explosion, a cocoon-like object shaped like angel wings with a blue gem in the center. It then began to transform, taking on the form of an armored warrior, the number 39 glowing on its left shoulder like a crest.
(Number 39: Utopia appeared: a Rank 4 Xyz monster with 2500 ATK and 2 Overlay Units)
Apollo looked at his opponent with interest. "Maybe this will be fun." Akiru took three cards in his hand, and said, "I'll end my turn by setting three cards Face-Down." As the three face down cards appeared in front of Akiru, Apollo gripped his card and drew it. "My turn!" Akiru made his move. "I activate a Trap!" Apollo's eyes widened. "Huh?" Akiru's Trap flipped face up. "The Trap Card Dealer's Choice has three effects! First, it requires both players to shuffle our decks, so you won't be cheating your way to Exodia this time!" Apollo's eyes widened. "H-How did you know?!" The audience gasped.
Akiru answered, "You were never concerned during your Duel with Drake. That alone made me suspicious. It was when you Summoned both Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragons in your deck on your first turn during that Duel that showed me that your deck was stacked from the very beginning. People like you give Dueling a bad name." The MC blew into his whistle. "For his cheating, Apollo Agrotera is-!" Akiru interrupted him. "No! Don't disqualify him. I'm gonna teach him a lesson about playing fair and square." Turning to Apollo, he said, "Now shuffle your deck."
Staring at Akiru with amazement, Apollo did as he was told. Akiru continued. "The second effect of Dealer's Choice is that both players draw a card." Akiru drew his and Apollo drew his, the latter looking at the card he drew. 'Gil Garth.' Akiru then called out, "The third effect of Dealer's Choice is that both players discard a card." He discarded a card, and nodded to Apollo to do the same. Apollo discarded his Dragon's Mirror, since he needed to keep the rest of his hand.
Looking over his options, he said, "I'll activate my Polymerization, to fuse my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons into Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
(Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon appeared: a level 12 monster with 4500 ATK)
Akiru simply stared at the monster. Apollo continued. "I'll now Summon Gil Garth in Attack Mode!"
(Gil Garth appeared: a level 4 monster with 1800 ATK)
"I'll activate my Heart of the Underdog. As you know, whenever I draw a Normal monster, I can reveal it to you to draw again. My hand's empty now, but that doesn't really matter now. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack his Utopia!" Akiru was ready. "I activate Utopia's ability! By using one Overlay Unit, it negates the attack! Go, Lightwing Shield!" A massive shield appeared from Utopia's wings, blocking the attack. The audience cheered. Apollo sighed. "Not bad. But it can only do it one more time. I'll just clean it of its last Overlay Unit next turn."
Akiru drew his card, and said, "I'll activate my Pot of Greed! This will let me draw two cards!" Drawing the two cards, he made his plan. "I now activate the spell card called Raigeki!" Apollo's eyes widened. "Raigeki?! That's one of the rarest Spells in the game!" Akiru continued. "Every monster my opponent controls will be destroyed on the spot!" As his monsters were destroyed, Apollo began to sweat. "E-Even with that, I still have enough Life Points to survive!" Akiru replied, "Don't be too sure. I activate my last card, Dragon's Mirror!" The MC called out, "He has a Dragon's Mirror?!"
Akiru continued, undeterred. Removing three cards from his Graveyard, he said, "By Banishing my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons from my Graveyard, I can Fusion Summon their combined form!" As the audience and MC alike stared in shock, Apollo's mind flashed back to when Akiru had activate Graceful Charity and Dealer's Choice. 'He discarded two of them with Graceful Charity, and the last one with Dealer's Choice...' "Appear now, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
(Same as before)
Akiru called out, "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, finish this Duel! Neutron Blast!" Apollo was sent flying by the blast, taking the attack at full force.
(Apollo: 0)
(Akiru: WIN)
As his opponent fell to the ground, Akiru simply stared, as the MC and crowd cheered for his victory. The MC approached him and said, "Here's the prize card for winning the tournament." Akiru accepted the card and looked at it. "Thank you." Looking at Apollo, who was getting back up, he said, "I hope you learn from this. Winning fair and square feels a lot better then winning while cheating." He walked away with the card, leaving Apollo to stare at his back, looking at his hand after.
A/N
Akiru reuses a strategy to catch his opponent off his guard. Don't worry. Apollo and The Shadow will be back soon enough.