And... welcome back guys! It's time for another chapter with more original content. This feels like a nice testing ground for original story beats I don't use all too often. But I have several episodes free to either have Maria do nothing but watch Yugi and Kaiba duel, or do her own thing. So, she's on her own this time.
Disclaimer: RDF1 doesn't own anything in this fic, technically not even the original content.
(Chapter Begin)
(Recap)
The Battle City Tournament entered its second day. Fewer duelists remain and every duel counts now more than ever. But, like every tournament, there are bound to be cheaters trying to get an easy method of reaching the finals, like one Weevil Underwood who was promptly defeated by Joey Wheeler and then punished further by Maria Tamashī. Now Maria's on the look out for other duelists wishing to cheat their way into the finals. Find out what happens next!
(Recap End)
With Weevil defeated and punished, Maria went her separate way from Joey, Tristan, Téa, and Solomon, looking for more duelists who think they could cheat the system. After Several minutes, she came across two duelists arguing over an ante card one of them won. Approaching, she introduced herself and asked them to 'calmly' explain what the problem happened to be.
The duelist who won, named Paul, was claiming that the loser had a Seiyaryu, but was given the less rare Meteor Dragon. The one who lost the duel, named Anakin, claimed that he already lost his Seiyaryu to another duelist.
(AN1)
Getting their names, Maria ran them through the Battle City duel records. After a minute to data analysis, it was true that the duelist who lost, also lost beforehand and gave up Seiyaryu as the Ante for the duel. The winner didn't accept it and demanded the card be handed over. Maria chose to intervene.
"This is your last warning. Stand down or be in violation of Battle City Rules," informed Maria.
"Oh yeah, what if I dueled you? If I win, I stay in the Tournament AND get another rare card from this chump," replied Paul.
"Oh?" smirked Maria, "Very well. When I win, then you give up your duel disk and return Anakin's card you won," remarked Maria.
"Deal!" agreed Paul.
Soon enough, Maria and Paul were ready to duel against each other, Paul taking the first turn.
Maria: 4000
Paul: 4000
"I'll go first! And I summon Darkfire Dragon! And I'll also set one card facedown."
(AN2)
"My turn," said Maria, "I summon Neo the Magic Swordsman, in attack mode! Attack Darkfire Dragon!"
Paul: 4000-3800
"I'll set two cards facedown and end my turn."
"I activate my facedown, Call of the Haunted, allowing me to bring back Darkfire Dragon, which I'll tribute for Summoned Skull! Now attack Neo the Magic Swordsman!"
"Not so fast!" countered Maria, revealing her Waboku, stopping any damage and destruction to her monster.
"Tch. I'll set this card facedown, for later."
"I draw! I tribute Neo for Trance the Magic Swordsman!" called out Maria, as Neo was replaced with a stronger version of himself, "Now attack, Summoned Skull!"
"You fell for my 'Sword and Shield'! Now Summoned Skull, counterattack with Lightning Strike!"
Maria: 4000-3000
(AN3)
"I'll set one card end my turn."
"Now, I summon Luster Dragon! This duel is over! ATTACK!"
"GO SCAPEGOAT!"
Four Scapegoat tokens appeared, allowing two of them to take the hits and save Maria's life points.
"Very well then, I'll play Graceful Charity, allowing me to cycle my cards and then end my turn."
"My turn," said Maria, "I'll play 'Pot of Greed,' giving me two cards. I play 'Soul Exchange,' allowing me to tribute both of your monsters for my Cosmo Queen!"
Summoned Skull and Luster Dragon disappeared, and Cosmo Queen appeared. This was Maria's strongest monster in her deck. Though it wasn't her only ace.
"Cosmo Queen, attack him directly!"
Paul: 3800-900
"Paul, this is your last warning. You won't like what happens if you lose," informed Maria.
"Heh... This duel isn't over yet, I play Swords of Revealing Light! This gives me three turns to stop you."
"Very well, I draw, and summon Aqua Madoor in defense mode. I'll also equip my Cosmo Queen with Book of Secret Arts. That ends my turn."
"My turn, and I'll play another Luster Dragon, only this time, I'll equip it with Dragon Treasure, allowing me to destroy that Aqua Madoor!"
Aqua Madoor was destroyed without preamble.
"Alright, I'll pass this turn."
"I summon Cave Dwelling Dragon in defense mode, set one card and end my turn."
"I'll set a monster and end my turn, and the Swords are done for. So, did you get the cards you wanted?"
"Here it is, read it and weep! I tribute Cave Dwelling Dragon and Luster Dragon for Red Eyes Black Dragon! I'll also use my second Call of the Haunted to revive Meteor Dragon!"
"Oh no!" realized Maria, as she realized his plan way too late.
"Now, go Polymerization, fuse Red Eyes Black Dragon with Meteor Dragon to summon Meteor Black Dragon!"
"So that was your big plan all along, huh," remarked Maria.
It was a good strategy. Meteor Black Dragon was on par with PUGM, so very few monsters could defeat it in battle.
"I'll equip my MBD with Dragon Nails, increasing its power by 600! And I play 'Quick-Attack,' allowing my MBD to attack immediately! Destroy Cosmo Queen!"
Maria covered her face as the shockwaves from her monster's destruction washed over her.
Maria: 3000-2100
"And don't think I'm done yet, I play 'De-Fusion,' bringing back Red Eyes and Meteor Dragon. Summoned Skull, attack!"
Maria's facedown monster, Sangan, was destroyed, allowing Maria to add one monster to her hand.
"Meteor Dragon, attack!"
Maria: 2100-300
"Red Eyes, end this duel!"
"GO KURIBOH!" called out Maria, stopping the damage from Red Eyes, glad that Paul used one of his stronger monsters to destroy Sangan and not Meteor Dragon.
"Tch, you survived," grunted Paul, "but you only have 300 Life Points left, and no monsters on the field. This duel is mine."
"You are a decent player, there is no doubt there," admitted Maria, "but it takes more than strength to win games. I still have 300 life points left, and it's my turn!"
Setting her hand on her deck, she felt the card she needed. She drew her card, and smirked at seeing her Spirit Monster. She had everything in place. She could achieve victory one of two ways, but she felt like one of them would be gimmicky and not accepted. Better to show him what the Heart of the Cards looked like.
"I play Monster Reborn to bring back Cosmo Queen! But don't blink, you'll miss me tributing her for DARK MAGICIAN GIRL!"
(AN4)
"Wait what!? Why would you summon a weaker monster than Cosmo Queen?" asked Paul, bewildered.
"Who said she's weaker?" smirked Maria, "I reveal my facedown, Graffitied Gravestones!"
Graffitied Gravestones
Continuous Trap Card
Effect: Declare one Monster name. All monsters in your Graveyard are considered that declared monster while this card is faceup on the field.
(AN5)
"And with five monsters in my Graveyard now bearing the name 'Dark Magician,' DMG gets a big boost in power, all the way up to 3500!" continued Maria, "Dark Magician Girl, DARK BURNING ATTACK!"
It didn't matter which monster was targeted, since Paul only had 900 Life Points left.
Paul: 900-0
Winner: Maria.
"You lose," said Maria, "Now give Anakin back his Meteor Dragon and turn over your Duel Disk."
Paul, depressed that he lost, did as told, taking his deck out of the Duel Disk before giving it over. Keeping his deck was a curtesy among duelists.
Maria sighed as she returned to her car several minutes later, putting the spare duel disk in the trunk and locking it. Some people didn't understand how to respect the game of duel monsters, and respect other duelists. But not everyone can be like Yugi and his friends. Just then, her phone went off.
"Talk to me," answered Maria.
"Ma'am, we were told to inform you and Mr. Kaiba if an Egyptian God Card was played, and One has been played. Yugi Muto won against a Duelist named Strings and defeated him by deck out, winning Slifer the Sky Dragon," informed one of the employees.
"Thank you for informing me," said Maria, "I still have rounds to do to personally and will report in later. If I don't report back to base, know that I joined Mr. Kaiba to watch the Finals."
"Understood Ma'am," replied the employee.
Maria then hung up and allowed herself a moment to relax in her car as she mulled over that information.
'So, Yami got himself Slifer. Marik now only had Ra. But Ra was arguably the most dangerous one. Seto had managed to summon Obelisk successfully because of his previous incarnation becoming Pharaoh after Yami sacrificed himself,' thought Maria. She doubted Slifer and Ra would be as easily acceptable to anyone not Yami or who could read the Egyptian Language.
Maria knew Marik wouldn't let anyone use Ra but himself, at least the real card. Fake Cards weren't entirely uncommon, but most of them were usually made for fun, or being submitted for an alternate artwork contest at best that Maximillion Pegasus chooses himself. After collecting her thoughts, she drove off to another part of the city, hoping to not find any other cheaters as the final numbers were winding down. The Finals were approaching and she needed to be ready to head to the correct location lest she be left behind. And she wasn't planning on being left behind, not again.
(AN6)
(Chapter End)
I'm sorry if this chapter is short. It's mainly to keep Maria busy with her own duel while Yami obtains Slifer. Since a Duel doesn't actually take several minutes when put into YGOPRO (seriously, look it up on youtube, you'd be surprised how fast some duels finish), Anime pads the time out. Since Maria isn't burdened by such outside influence, her duels feel like lightning speed, which is why I add in filler context.
Alright, on to Author Notes...
AN1: Random cards are random, though they technically hold significance because of their relation to Kaiba and Joey, given that they are power dragons and Meteor Dragon CAN fuse with Red Eyes, just we don't see it in the original anime. Random names are random too. So no references here.
AN2: I initially thought of using Karbonala Warrior, but that wouldn't make sense in a Dragon based deck with Red Eyes Fusion Monsters. Also, given that some 'Fusion' cards are considered regular monsters, Darkfire Dragon CAN be counted here as the same, especially since no one called out Joey for playing a Fusion Monster, just a Level 5 monster.
AN3: It worked for Joey, and Maria had no reason to suspect this guy using that same tactic.
AN4: I conversed with someone about the rarity of Dark Magician Girl and that it didn't make sense for Pegasus to only make one. They replied that because Arkana, the 'self-proclaimed' Master of Dark Magician didn't know about the card, Yugi had the only copy. Here's my counter argument to that: Yugi is the only one who 'successfully' uses Dark Magician Girl on a large enough stage to be the only one 'well known'. There could be others, but are unable to duel as well as Yugi/Yami and thus weren't as known for using it. Besides, Yugi found DMG in a booster pack. A Frickin' Booster Pack! You don't make a one of a kind card and just HOPE it gets to the correct person by putting it in a BOOSTER PACK! Heck, if Yugi got it instead of 'Ties of Friendship,' I wouldn't be making this argument. Then again, Yugi wouldn't be able to give Ties of Friendship to Rebecca, starting her crush on him because of that. It's weird logic, but my point is that there can't be just ONE DMG and that there are other copies of the card, but aren't used because no one else can successfully use the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl as effectively as Yugi/Yami.
AN5: This is a self created card for this deck. This is but one of three win conditions, the second being Cosmo Queen beatdown.
AN6: She was already left behind once before. She wasn't going to let that happen again, at least not when she wants to be there.
For those reading my other stories, I am working on them. I just tend to have other things take priority. I also forget at times. I AM HUMAN, okay! Until next time...
Later,
RDF1
