Note: The only thing from Yu-gi-oh that I am using is the game, Duel
Monsters and Kaiba's Duel Discs. Forget all the creation concepts and
characters from the show when reading this. The card names are all
translated from Japanese, and the translations are from Edo
(www.stormpages.com/edhrzic/Yugioh.htm), and the cards are all copyrighted
by Kazuki Takahashi. Also, please do not reproduce the characters or the
story without my consent.
____________________To Fight By The Sword____________________
Lucas wandered down the hallway, looking at the doors as he passed until he arrived at his room. Checking his watch, he stood calmly before the door and took a deep breath. The doors reacted to him once he moved towards them and he walked into another domed duel arena, like the ones he had entered before. Standing across the main stage was a teenaged girl about the same age as Lucas was.
"It took you long enough." The girl said coolly, checking her watch. "I've been waiting for quite a while. My name's Cassandra."
"Sorry for keeping you waiting, I'm Lucas." Lucas said, pulling his wrist-piece up, showing his deck to his opponent. "I'm going to be risking the Goblin Strike Team in this duel." He pulled the card out and showed it before returning it to the rest of his cards.
"Fine, I'll put up the Injection Angel Lily." She pulled the card and returned it, switching the on button on her Duel Disc while Lucas did the same. "Let's Duel." The walls of the dome wavered and they were suddenly standing in a huge field, wind ripping through the grass and whole area move like an ocean of green. The life point counters appeared above them and a large spinner materialized, rotating quickly and stopping on the girl.
Lucas felt the deck shuffle on his wrist and pulled it up, drawing his first cards. He smiled widely as he looked them over. He had pulled both of his Red Eyes Black Dragons and the Lord of Dragons, Dragon Rular. He also had the Lamp Spirit, Ra Djinn and his trap card Burst Breath. If he could pull one of his Dragon Calling Horns this game could really change.
Cassandra took a long look at her cards and drew, then placed two cards down on her Duel Disc. "I'm going to play one monster face-down and one magic or trap card." She announced, tossing her disc out. The disc created a large panel where the face down card was, and the holographic grass ruffled beneath it. "Your move."
Lucas drew his card and looked over to it. It was the Demon Summon! He thought it over, best to save that for when he could pull Fusion, for now he'd have to abandon waiting for the Dragon Calling Horn and play a monster. "I play the Red Eyes Black Dragon, and put one magic or trap card down." He tossed his disc out and the wicked looking dragon appeared once more. "I'm going to attack your face down monster." Lucas said, and the dragon fired a ball of fire at the panel. The panel was shattered and Lucas saw a brief glimpse of a woman dressed in battle gear. "The Amazon Chain- Wielder?" Lucas asked out loud.
"That's right, and since you destroyed it I can take one monster card from your hand." Lucas saw all his cards flip towards her, or at least his monsters. "I'll take your Demon Summon." She said, and the card was pulled over to her own hand.
"Wait, I know the effect of that card too, and you have to pay 1500 life points." Lucas told her.
"I know that, but I only lose 750 in the tournament." Her life points quickly dropped to 3250.
"Your move." Lucas said calmly. This was still early in the battle, there were plenty good cards in his deck. And Lucas looked down at his trap card, something he had forgotten about.
"I'm play the Demon Summon (2500/1200), your Demon Summon, to the field." She said, and the huge beast appeared.
"Not so fast, I'm activating my trap, Burst Breath, and sacrifice my Red Eyes to destroy all monsters on the field with less defence than its attack of 2400, and that means the Demon Summon is gone." The dragons disappeared and a burst of wind hit the demon, shattering it into its own small shards.
"Fine then, I didn't need your monster anyway. Your move." Cassandra said, unshaken by the attack.
Lucas drew his card, the EvilKnight Dragon. He had the urge to put his Red Eyes on the field but he was slightly afraid of the trap card the girl had played down. "I'm going to play the EvilKnight Dragon (2350/2400) and attack you directly." Lucas said, playing the card down. When his disc was tossed out, the black serpentine dragon appeared, and fired a ray of black energy towards the girl. The attack was stopped suddenly as the girl played her trap card.
"Attack Nullification, I'm not going to be taking any life point damage this round." She looked directly at Lucas and he waved her on, letting her take her turn. She drew her card and placed a card down on her Duel Disc. "I'm going to play the Warrior of the Sun (2100/1400)!" She called out, and the ready fighter appeared on the field.
"Wait, the Warrior of the Sun? What was its effect?" Lucas asked quietly.
"It gets 500 more attack points when battling a Dark-type monster, and I think that all of yours are. Attack the EvilKnight Dragon." Cassandra said to her monster, and it attacked the dragon, its attack rising to 2600. The dragon was quickly destroyed and its fragments flowed into the artificial wind over the field.
Lucas' life point counter quickly changed to 3750 and he looked to his hand. With that kind of boost, he didn't have too many monster that could beat it. "My move?" He asked, and the girl nodded. He pulled his card. It was the God of Destruction - Vasago, which he had taken from Bailey. He put his Ra Djinn down in defence mode so he could stall for a turn and then tossed his disc out. "I can't make any other move this turn, so it's your move." He said.
Cassandra pulled her disc back in and drew her card. "I'm going to play the Command Knight (1200/1900) in attack mode, and it gives all warrior monsters an increase of 400 attack points, raising its attack to 1600 and my Warrior of the Sun to 2500." She smiled. "Then I'll destroy your face- down card." The warrior once again rose up and shattered the panel, nothing more then a flash of light appearing as the monster dissolved. "Your move."
Lucas looked carefully at his deck. He wasn't too sure about what could save him, it was only a few turns into the game and already he was on the run. For the fact that this was for the district title, he felt very weak. Drawing his card, he could only sigh. It was the Jar Demon (200/1800), just another card he could put into defence for now. Placing the card he tossed his disc out and motioned to the girl. "Go right ahead."
Cassandra drew her card but didn't bother to play anything. "I'm going to destroy your next card." She declared, and the Jar Demon was shattered by the attack of her Warrior.
Lucas drew his next card. The Jar of Greed, a lucky draw for him. "I'm going to play the Jar of Greed and draw two more cards." He declared, and drew two more cards. Fusion, a card he could have used rounds ago when he had his Demon Summon, and the Tyrant Dragon. Lucas smiled, his Tyrant Dragon was Fire-type, not Dark, and that made it more powerful then the Warrior of the Sun. "I'm going to play the Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500)!" He called out, and the huge dragon appeared in a burst of flame. The holographic fires didn't burn the equally false grass, but the embers did glow long after the dragon had appeared. "And I'm going to use him to destroy the Warrior of the Sun!" The dragons breathed deep and let out a cone of fire that concealed the fighter, leaving nothing but shards behind after the blast had passed.
She looked fairly amused as her life points dropped to 2850. "My move?" She questioned, and Lucas shook his head.
"The Tyrant Dragon is very powerful, because he can attack monsters twice. So I'm going to use him to destroy your Command Knight too. The dragon again fired a blast at the weaker monster. As the monster was destroyed the girl's life points fell farther to 1550. "It's your move." He said proudly.
Cassandra drew her card and looked over to Lucas. "First I'm going to play the Wave Motion Cannon," The girl told Lucas, "It starts slow but I can do 1000 damage to you for every turn I have it in play. All I need is a couple of turns and I can take out most of your life points. I'll also put this trap or magic down." She smiled at him and pulled up another card. "Next I'm going to play the Ritual Of Chaos." The sky grew dark as two black altars appeared and she placed one monster on each altar. "Then I'm going to summon the ultimate warrior, Chaos Soldier (3000/2500)!" The armed fighter moved out from between the altars, the monsters forming balls of light that it absorbed. "Your Tyrant dragon is gone." The warrior raised its sword and tore the dragon in half, the halves disintegrating as the hologram ended and Lucas' life points fell to 3650. "Your move."
Lucas looked again at his deck. He needed to draw just the right card. He reached over to his deck and prepared to draw his card. He pulled the card out face down and slowly turned it toward himself. He was staring directly into the face of the Demon Summon. Lucas turned to his opponent and grinned, playing his cards. "I'm going to use the magic of Fusion to combine the Red Eyes Black Dragon and the Demon Summon." Both monsters appeared on the field and slowly moved towards one another. They began to warp until they created a single new form. "The Black Demon's Dragon." Lucas said, looking at his new monster. "Attack the Chaos Soldier!" The dragon responded by lifting itself into the air and firing huge balls of fire at the warrior. The figure was engulfed in fire and the girl's life points fell to 1350.
"I should have known that you'd play something like that after I knew that you had both the Red Eyes and the Demon Summon." She said, blaming herself for the mistake.
"It's your move, let's see what you can do to my most powerful monster." Lucas said proudly.
The girl drew her card and smiled. "I'm going to play my own Jar of Greed, and draw two more cards." She continued to smile as she drew her cards, and then placed both of them onto her Duel Disc. "I'm going to play Gaia the Fierce Knight (2300/2100) in attack mode, and equip him with the Demon Axe!" The horseman appeared on the field and the hideous weapon was placed on his back. His attack slowly began to rise to 3300 from the power of the axe and he discarded his lances for the weapon. "Before I attack though, I'm going to use Fusion Cancel to turn your Black Demon's Dragon into the Red Eyes and the Demon Summon. Attack the Demon Summon!" The girl called out, and the soldier ran forwards, carving a gash into the monster, the wound destroying it. Lucas watched his creature dissolve and his life points move to 2850. "Your move."
Lucas drew his card and took a quick glimpse at it. He try to hide his regret as he pulled his second Fusion card, but for now he needed to play a monster. He moved his Red Eyes to defence mode and played his Lord Of Dragon onto the field face down. "I can't make any other moves, your move." He said calmly.
Lucas' opponent drew another card and looked over to Lucas. "You'll remember that I've had my Wave Motion Cannon on the field for two turns now, so I'm going to use its effect and inflict 2000 damage to your life points." The cannon rose from the depths of her field and blasted a beam at Lucas. His life points quickly dropped to 850, and her as now losing the battle. "I'm going to play this monster down and attack your face-down card with Gaia." The warrior rose again and destroyed the Lord of Dragons, its figure only flashing as it was instantly destroyed. "Make your move."
Lucas drew his card carefully and looked at it, the Harpies Feather Sweep. This would take care of the Demon Axe, but his Red Eyes was only a little more powerful than Gaia, and he was sure that the girl could pull another powerful warrior. What did he have that could turn this around? He took another look at his hand. The Feather Sweep was there, his Fusion and Vasago. Why was it that he had taken Vasago from Bailey's cards?
"I'm waiting for your move." The girl said impatiently. "Stalling won't get you anywhere."
Lucas looked up at her and then at his hand. Fusions. That was it. Vasago could replace a monster for Fusions. Lucas thought back, he could play another Black Demon's Dragon but he had an evil thought. One monster he hadn't been willing to play originally. "Okay, I'm ready to make my move." Lucas said proudly.
"Finally, get it over with." Cassandra called back.
"I'm going to use the magic of Fusion to combine the powers of The God of Destruction - Vasago, and my Red Eyes Black Dragon to form the ultimate evil Dragon." Lucas spoke out loud, feeling that unleashing this needed the same fan fare as her Chaos Soldier had. "The Meteor Black Dragon (3500/2000)!" He tossed his disk out and the huge hulking beast appeared in the glow of the Duel Disc. The monster took over a huge amount of the field, towering over Gaia. "I'll add the Harpies Feather Sweep to destroy your magic cards and then destroy Gaia the Fierce Knight!" The dragon drew in a huge amount of air and hurled a giant ball of fire and rock at the weakened warrior. The girl stood back from the blast as her life points fell to 150.
"Your monster won't do too much good in the end." The girl commented.
"Why not show me, your move." Lucas replied, crossing his arms.
Cassandra drew her card and looked to Lucas. "I just drew my second Demon Axe." She declared. "I currently play with three or so monster recovery cards, all of them still in my deck. All I have to do is draw one of them and I can equip this on a reborn Chaos Soldier. All I have to do now is wait. And I'll play this monster down too." Two of her panels now glowed side by side as a pair of monster remained face down. "Your move."
Lucas felt slightly panicked as he drew his card. If either of those monsters had a reverse effect like the Man-Eating Bug that Bailey had. Wait, this girl played with warriors and tactics, something like that wouldn't match her persona. It could be safe but he should be careful. His card was a Dragon Orb, not something he wanted to bother equipping on his Meteor Black Dragon right now. "I'm going to attack the left card." Lucas declared, and the monster was destroyed without any major effect. "Your move." Lucas said, partially relieved.
Cassandra drew her card and put it down on her trap field, and then she shrugged. "Your move." She said calmly.
Lucas once again felt paranoid as he drew his card. It was the Dragon Rage trap, and he realized that he might need it. He played the card and looked over to his opponent. "I'm not going to attack this turn." He told her. "Your move."
Lucas watched her drew her card and she placed it down. "That was Cry of the Living Dead, sadly it's a trap card. I'm going to end my turn." She smiled over the Lucas and he had a chill in his spine.
He drew a Fallen Angel: Mari card, but it was too late for it to make an impact of the game.
"I'm going to activate my trap, Cry of the Living Dead and revive my Chaos Soldier from the cemetery." His opponent said as Lucas prepared himself. The monster grew out of the ground, he was slightly scuffed, no doubt an effect of being reborn after a lost battle.
"You just wasted your card, there's nothing to stop me from tearing through your soldier." Lucas told her proudly.
"Oh yes there is." The girl said, tapping a trap on the field. "This card is Shift Change, a card that allows me to move another monster in front of the attack. You'll end up destroying my face-down card, and then I'll destroy you."
Lucas stood back, this definitely wasn't something he had expected. He looked down to his own trap field and smiled. "It's too late for that, I can already counter it." Lucas said happily.
"What?" The girl yelled at him.
"I'm going to activate my own trap, Dragon Rage. It allows me to do the difference between my attack and a weaker defence monster's defence in life point damage. That means that even with your card in defence, I'll still hit your life points." Lucas smiled wide and let this sink into the mind of his opponent, and she began to look angry. "Meteor Black Dragon, attack the defence monster!" He called out, and the dragon responded by firing a fireball at the glowing panel. The monster couldn't be seen in the dust of the blast. His opponent's life points dropped quickly to 0.
Cassandra stood looking at Lucas as the holograms faded and they both pulled in their Duel Discs. She walked calmly over to Lucas and handed him the card. "A warrior knows when they've been defeated. Congratulations on winning the district title." She said in a complete calm, and she walked out the door.
Lucas stood alone in the dueling arena and sighed audibly. He felt like he had been holding his breath the entire duel, tired from the battle. Then the thought hit him. He hadn't just won the duel; he was now the eastern district champion! Lucas couldn't stop himself from smiling. He walked out of the arena and saw Chance standing to the side of the door.
"Hey Lucas, I heard that you won!" Chance exclaimed when he friend exited. "Congratulations."
"It was a tough duel but I won it." Lucas said calmly. "I guess we're both champs now, right?" He asked.
"Yup, and they called all of the district title winners to go to the front hall. If they're waiting for us we're late." Chance told Lucas. He hurried along the hallways and Lucas followed behind, and when they got to the front desk they found a different young lady from the morning standing there, and she nodded to both of them.
"You're both the champions in your districts?" She asked them both.
"Yup, I just took the Eastern title and Chance here has the Northern title." Lucas said happily to her.
"Don't worry, I recognize you both." The woman said. "I just have to go over the rules for the final rounds."
"That's okay." Chance told her.
"First of all, you won't be facing another district champion first, you'll be playing against an eliminator that was selected randomly from other top duelists." The woman began. "If you fail to win the duel, the eliminator has to face your next opponent, and you'll be taken out of the tournament." Lucas and Chance exchanged glances. "Also, since you've made it this far, you have already been slotted for a new version of the Duel- Gear, which you can keep." She dug underneath the desk and brought of to boxes.
Lucas and Chance opened their own boxes and were greeted by brand new Duel-Gears. The new models were slightly different, with twin rows of places on the Duel-Gear for monsters card and magic or trap cards to go. Underneath the wrist pieces were the Duel Discs, which had been redesigned, as cards would go onto the Duel-Gear instead of on the disc itself. Both units shone silver with slight differences in colour; Chance's was lined with a violet and Lucas' with deep red. Both units already had a card in them.
"We really get to keep these?" Lucas asked the woman, who nodded happily. Lucas continued to look over the unit, moving his deck to its new home and switching the unit on.
Chance pulled out that lone card that was in his Gear and looked at it carefully. The card had a picture of Chance on it, with an odd image of the Black Magician. The image was different from the normal artwork on the card; it looked almost like a real person in the outfit.
"Those cards are individually made for each of the district champions. They represent the favoured card of the Duelist plus a image of the Duelist." The woman said, noticing Chance looking at his card. "I don't know what they're really for, but I understand that they have been programmed to work if you play it." She smiled again and moved back from the front of the desk, typing on the computer.
Lucas pulled his own card, it represented him standing beside a Red Eyes Black Dragon, a different look for it but he could tell what it was.
The woman turned back to them and handed them each a slip of plastic, with a room number clearly labelled on them. "These keys will open the elevator to the next floor. The room number is where you'll be meeting your next opponent. The matches will all begin at the same time so I suggest that you both leave now."
Lucas and Chance walked away from the desk and towards the elevator. Chance had strapped his old Duel-Gear to his thigh and slipped his extra cards into it. The elevator beeped as they slipped the cards through the scanner and the elevator shook as it began to move back up.
"So this is the first time we've been on the fifth floor, right Lucas?" Chance asked, listening to the elevator moving upwards.
"Yeah, they haven't even opened the floor in the past seven months, the last time was when they tested that last set of new cards." Lucas commented, leaving against the back of the tube-shaped car.
A beep ran through the car as it stopped at the highest floor. The floors were farther apart than most buildings, since most of the rooms needed extra space for the holographic players and other wiring. As the doors opened, both teens could see the skyline of Cerlanta City through the one-way windows. They stood at the crossroads of the floor, each way wrapping a different way around the center of the entire Duel Dome.
"Ready for this Chance?" Lucas asked. He turned slightly towards where his room was.
"It took us a long time to reach here," Chance told him, "but I know that I'm ready. We've both worked too hard to be beaten by an eliminator."
"I'll see you after the duel Chance, good luck." Lucas said, walking off.
Chance stood at the crossroads, and watched his friend walk off. He moved slowly towards his own room, ready to fight in his challenge.
_________________________________________________
End Transmission
____________________To Fight By The Sword____________________
Lucas wandered down the hallway, looking at the doors as he passed until he arrived at his room. Checking his watch, he stood calmly before the door and took a deep breath. The doors reacted to him once he moved towards them and he walked into another domed duel arena, like the ones he had entered before. Standing across the main stage was a teenaged girl about the same age as Lucas was.
"It took you long enough." The girl said coolly, checking her watch. "I've been waiting for quite a while. My name's Cassandra."
"Sorry for keeping you waiting, I'm Lucas." Lucas said, pulling his wrist-piece up, showing his deck to his opponent. "I'm going to be risking the Goblin Strike Team in this duel." He pulled the card out and showed it before returning it to the rest of his cards.
"Fine, I'll put up the Injection Angel Lily." She pulled the card and returned it, switching the on button on her Duel Disc while Lucas did the same. "Let's Duel." The walls of the dome wavered and they were suddenly standing in a huge field, wind ripping through the grass and whole area move like an ocean of green. The life point counters appeared above them and a large spinner materialized, rotating quickly and stopping on the girl.
Lucas felt the deck shuffle on his wrist and pulled it up, drawing his first cards. He smiled widely as he looked them over. He had pulled both of his Red Eyes Black Dragons and the Lord of Dragons, Dragon Rular. He also had the Lamp Spirit, Ra Djinn and his trap card Burst Breath. If he could pull one of his Dragon Calling Horns this game could really change.
Cassandra took a long look at her cards and drew, then placed two cards down on her Duel Disc. "I'm going to play one monster face-down and one magic or trap card." She announced, tossing her disc out. The disc created a large panel where the face down card was, and the holographic grass ruffled beneath it. "Your move."
Lucas drew his card and looked over to it. It was the Demon Summon! He thought it over, best to save that for when he could pull Fusion, for now he'd have to abandon waiting for the Dragon Calling Horn and play a monster. "I play the Red Eyes Black Dragon, and put one magic or trap card down." He tossed his disc out and the wicked looking dragon appeared once more. "I'm going to attack your face down monster." Lucas said, and the dragon fired a ball of fire at the panel. The panel was shattered and Lucas saw a brief glimpse of a woman dressed in battle gear. "The Amazon Chain- Wielder?" Lucas asked out loud.
"That's right, and since you destroyed it I can take one monster card from your hand." Lucas saw all his cards flip towards her, or at least his monsters. "I'll take your Demon Summon." She said, and the card was pulled over to her own hand.
"Wait, I know the effect of that card too, and you have to pay 1500 life points." Lucas told her.
"I know that, but I only lose 750 in the tournament." Her life points quickly dropped to 3250.
"Your move." Lucas said calmly. This was still early in the battle, there were plenty good cards in his deck. And Lucas looked down at his trap card, something he had forgotten about.
"I'm play the Demon Summon (2500/1200), your Demon Summon, to the field." She said, and the huge beast appeared.
"Not so fast, I'm activating my trap, Burst Breath, and sacrifice my Red Eyes to destroy all monsters on the field with less defence than its attack of 2400, and that means the Demon Summon is gone." The dragons disappeared and a burst of wind hit the demon, shattering it into its own small shards.
"Fine then, I didn't need your monster anyway. Your move." Cassandra said, unshaken by the attack.
Lucas drew his card, the EvilKnight Dragon. He had the urge to put his Red Eyes on the field but he was slightly afraid of the trap card the girl had played down. "I'm going to play the EvilKnight Dragon (2350/2400) and attack you directly." Lucas said, playing the card down. When his disc was tossed out, the black serpentine dragon appeared, and fired a ray of black energy towards the girl. The attack was stopped suddenly as the girl played her trap card.
"Attack Nullification, I'm not going to be taking any life point damage this round." She looked directly at Lucas and he waved her on, letting her take her turn. She drew her card and placed a card down on her Duel Disc. "I'm going to play the Warrior of the Sun (2100/1400)!" She called out, and the ready fighter appeared on the field.
"Wait, the Warrior of the Sun? What was its effect?" Lucas asked quietly.
"It gets 500 more attack points when battling a Dark-type monster, and I think that all of yours are. Attack the EvilKnight Dragon." Cassandra said to her monster, and it attacked the dragon, its attack rising to 2600. The dragon was quickly destroyed and its fragments flowed into the artificial wind over the field.
Lucas' life point counter quickly changed to 3750 and he looked to his hand. With that kind of boost, he didn't have too many monster that could beat it. "My move?" He asked, and the girl nodded. He pulled his card. It was the God of Destruction - Vasago, which he had taken from Bailey. He put his Ra Djinn down in defence mode so he could stall for a turn and then tossed his disc out. "I can't make any other move this turn, so it's your move." He said.
Cassandra pulled her disc back in and drew her card. "I'm going to play the Command Knight (1200/1900) in attack mode, and it gives all warrior monsters an increase of 400 attack points, raising its attack to 1600 and my Warrior of the Sun to 2500." She smiled. "Then I'll destroy your face- down card." The warrior once again rose up and shattered the panel, nothing more then a flash of light appearing as the monster dissolved. "Your move."
Lucas looked carefully at his deck. He wasn't too sure about what could save him, it was only a few turns into the game and already he was on the run. For the fact that this was for the district title, he felt very weak. Drawing his card, he could only sigh. It was the Jar Demon (200/1800), just another card he could put into defence for now. Placing the card he tossed his disc out and motioned to the girl. "Go right ahead."
Cassandra drew her card but didn't bother to play anything. "I'm going to destroy your next card." She declared, and the Jar Demon was shattered by the attack of her Warrior.
Lucas drew his next card. The Jar of Greed, a lucky draw for him. "I'm going to play the Jar of Greed and draw two more cards." He declared, and drew two more cards. Fusion, a card he could have used rounds ago when he had his Demon Summon, and the Tyrant Dragon. Lucas smiled, his Tyrant Dragon was Fire-type, not Dark, and that made it more powerful then the Warrior of the Sun. "I'm going to play the Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500)!" He called out, and the huge dragon appeared in a burst of flame. The holographic fires didn't burn the equally false grass, but the embers did glow long after the dragon had appeared. "And I'm going to use him to destroy the Warrior of the Sun!" The dragons breathed deep and let out a cone of fire that concealed the fighter, leaving nothing but shards behind after the blast had passed.
She looked fairly amused as her life points dropped to 2850. "My move?" She questioned, and Lucas shook his head.
"The Tyrant Dragon is very powerful, because he can attack monsters twice. So I'm going to use him to destroy your Command Knight too. The dragon again fired a blast at the weaker monster. As the monster was destroyed the girl's life points fell farther to 1550. "It's your move." He said proudly.
Cassandra drew her card and looked over to Lucas. "First I'm going to play the Wave Motion Cannon," The girl told Lucas, "It starts slow but I can do 1000 damage to you for every turn I have it in play. All I need is a couple of turns and I can take out most of your life points. I'll also put this trap or magic down." She smiled at him and pulled up another card. "Next I'm going to play the Ritual Of Chaos." The sky grew dark as two black altars appeared and she placed one monster on each altar. "Then I'm going to summon the ultimate warrior, Chaos Soldier (3000/2500)!" The armed fighter moved out from between the altars, the monsters forming balls of light that it absorbed. "Your Tyrant dragon is gone." The warrior raised its sword and tore the dragon in half, the halves disintegrating as the hologram ended and Lucas' life points fell to 3650. "Your move."
Lucas looked again at his deck. He needed to draw just the right card. He reached over to his deck and prepared to draw his card. He pulled the card out face down and slowly turned it toward himself. He was staring directly into the face of the Demon Summon. Lucas turned to his opponent and grinned, playing his cards. "I'm going to use the magic of Fusion to combine the Red Eyes Black Dragon and the Demon Summon." Both monsters appeared on the field and slowly moved towards one another. They began to warp until they created a single new form. "The Black Demon's Dragon." Lucas said, looking at his new monster. "Attack the Chaos Soldier!" The dragon responded by lifting itself into the air and firing huge balls of fire at the warrior. The figure was engulfed in fire and the girl's life points fell to 1350.
"I should have known that you'd play something like that after I knew that you had both the Red Eyes and the Demon Summon." She said, blaming herself for the mistake.
"It's your move, let's see what you can do to my most powerful monster." Lucas said proudly.
The girl drew her card and smiled. "I'm going to play my own Jar of Greed, and draw two more cards." She continued to smile as she drew her cards, and then placed both of them onto her Duel Disc. "I'm going to play Gaia the Fierce Knight (2300/2100) in attack mode, and equip him with the Demon Axe!" The horseman appeared on the field and the hideous weapon was placed on his back. His attack slowly began to rise to 3300 from the power of the axe and he discarded his lances for the weapon. "Before I attack though, I'm going to use Fusion Cancel to turn your Black Demon's Dragon into the Red Eyes and the Demon Summon. Attack the Demon Summon!" The girl called out, and the soldier ran forwards, carving a gash into the monster, the wound destroying it. Lucas watched his creature dissolve and his life points move to 2850. "Your move."
Lucas drew his card and took a quick glimpse at it. He try to hide his regret as he pulled his second Fusion card, but for now he needed to play a monster. He moved his Red Eyes to defence mode and played his Lord Of Dragon onto the field face down. "I can't make any other moves, your move." He said calmly.
Lucas' opponent drew another card and looked over to Lucas. "You'll remember that I've had my Wave Motion Cannon on the field for two turns now, so I'm going to use its effect and inflict 2000 damage to your life points." The cannon rose from the depths of her field and blasted a beam at Lucas. His life points quickly dropped to 850, and her as now losing the battle. "I'm going to play this monster down and attack your face-down card with Gaia." The warrior rose again and destroyed the Lord of Dragons, its figure only flashing as it was instantly destroyed. "Make your move."
Lucas drew his card carefully and looked at it, the Harpies Feather Sweep. This would take care of the Demon Axe, but his Red Eyes was only a little more powerful than Gaia, and he was sure that the girl could pull another powerful warrior. What did he have that could turn this around? He took another look at his hand. The Feather Sweep was there, his Fusion and Vasago. Why was it that he had taken Vasago from Bailey's cards?
"I'm waiting for your move." The girl said impatiently. "Stalling won't get you anywhere."
Lucas looked up at her and then at his hand. Fusions. That was it. Vasago could replace a monster for Fusions. Lucas thought back, he could play another Black Demon's Dragon but he had an evil thought. One monster he hadn't been willing to play originally. "Okay, I'm ready to make my move." Lucas said proudly.
"Finally, get it over with." Cassandra called back.
"I'm going to use the magic of Fusion to combine the powers of The God of Destruction - Vasago, and my Red Eyes Black Dragon to form the ultimate evil Dragon." Lucas spoke out loud, feeling that unleashing this needed the same fan fare as her Chaos Soldier had. "The Meteor Black Dragon (3500/2000)!" He tossed his disk out and the huge hulking beast appeared in the glow of the Duel Disc. The monster took over a huge amount of the field, towering over Gaia. "I'll add the Harpies Feather Sweep to destroy your magic cards and then destroy Gaia the Fierce Knight!" The dragon drew in a huge amount of air and hurled a giant ball of fire and rock at the weakened warrior. The girl stood back from the blast as her life points fell to 150.
"Your monster won't do too much good in the end." The girl commented.
"Why not show me, your move." Lucas replied, crossing his arms.
Cassandra drew her card and looked to Lucas. "I just drew my second Demon Axe." She declared. "I currently play with three or so monster recovery cards, all of them still in my deck. All I have to do is draw one of them and I can equip this on a reborn Chaos Soldier. All I have to do now is wait. And I'll play this monster down too." Two of her panels now glowed side by side as a pair of monster remained face down. "Your move."
Lucas felt slightly panicked as he drew his card. If either of those monsters had a reverse effect like the Man-Eating Bug that Bailey had. Wait, this girl played with warriors and tactics, something like that wouldn't match her persona. It could be safe but he should be careful. His card was a Dragon Orb, not something he wanted to bother equipping on his Meteor Black Dragon right now. "I'm going to attack the left card." Lucas declared, and the monster was destroyed without any major effect. "Your move." Lucas said, partially relieved.
Cassandra drew her card and put it down on her trap field, and then she shrugged. "Your move." She said calmly.
Lucas once again felt paranoid as he drew his card. It was the Dragon Rage trap, and he realized that he might need it. He played the card and looked over to his opponent. "I'm not going to attack this turn." He told her. "Your move."
Lucas watched her drew her card and she placed it down. "That was Cry of the Living Dead, sadly it's a trap card. I'm going to end my turn." She smiled over the Lucas and he had a chill in his spine.
He drew a Fallen Angel: Mari card, but it was too late for it to make an impact of the game.
"I'm going to activate my trap, Cry of the Living Dead and revive my Chaos Soldier from the cemetery." His opponent said as Lucas prepared himself. The monster grew out of the ground, he was slightly scuffed, no doubt an effect of being reborn after a lost battle.
"You just wasted your card, there's nothing to stop me from tearing through your soldier." Lucas told her proudly.
"Oh yes there is." The girl said, tapping a trap on the field. "This card is Shift Change, a card that allows me to move another monster in front of the attack. You'll end up destroying my face-down card, and then I'll destroy you."
Lucas stood back, this definitely wasn't something he had expected. He looked down to his own trap field and smiled. "It's too late for that, I can already counter it." Lucas said happily.
"What?" The girl yelled at him.
"I'm going to activate my own trap, Dragon Rage. It allows me to do the difference between my attack and a weaker defence monster's defence in life point damage. That means that even with your card in defence, I'll still hit your life points." Lucas smiled wide and let this sink into the mind of his opponent, and she began to look angry. "Meteor Black Dragon, attack the defence monster!" He called out, and the dragon responded by firing a fireball at the glowing panel. The monster couldn't be seen in the dust of the blast. His opponent's life points dropped quickly to 0.
Cassandra stood looking at Lucas as the holograms faded and they both pulled in their Duel Discs. She walked calmly over to Lucas and handed him the card. "A warrior knows when they've been defeated. Congratulations on winning the district title." She said in a complete calm, and she walked out the door.
Lucas stood alone in the dueling arena and sighed audibly. He felt like he had been holding his breath the entire duel, tired from the battle. Then the thought hit him. He hadn't just won the duel; he was now the eastern district champion! Lucas couldn't stop himself from smiling. He walked out of the arena and saw Chance standing to the side of the door.
"Hey Lucas, I heard that you won!" Chance exclaimed when he friend exited. "Congratulations."
"It was a tough duel but I won it." Lucas said calmly. "I guess we're both champs now, right?" He asked.
"Yup, and they called all of the district title winners to go to the front hall. If they're waiting for us we're late." Chance told Lucas. He hurried along the hallways and Lucas followed behind, and when they got to the front desk they found a different young lady from the morning standing there, and she nodded to both of them.
"You're both the champions in your districts?" She asked them both.
"Yup, I just took the Eastern title and Chance here has the Northern title." Lucas said happily to her.
"Don't worry, I recognize you both." The woman said. "I just have to go over the rules for the final rounds."
"That's okay." Chance told her.
"First of all, you won't be facing another district champion first, you'll be playing against an eliminator that was selected randomly from other top duelists." The woman began. "If you fail to win the duel, the eliminator has to face your next opponent, and you'll be taken out of the tournament." Lucas and Chance exchanged glances. "Also, since you've made it this far, you have already been slotted for a new version of the Duel- Gear, which you can keep." She dug underneath the desk and brought of to boxes.
Lucas and Chance opened their own boxes and were greeted by brand new Duel-Gears. The new models were slightly different, with twin rows of places on the Duel-Gear for monsters card and magic or trap cards to go. Underneath the wrist pieces were the Duel Discs, which had been redesigned, as cards would go onto the Duel-Gear instead of on the disc itself. Both units shone silver with slight differences in colour; Chance's was lined with a violet and Lucas' with deep red. Both units already had a card in them.
"We really get to keep these?" Lucas asked the woman, who nodded happily. Lucas continued to look over the unit, moving his deck to its new home and switching the unit on.
Chance pulled out that lone card that was in his Gear and looked at it carefully. The card had a picture of Chance on it, with an odd image of the Black Magician. The image was different from the normal artwork on the card; it looked almost like a real person in the outfit.
"Those cards are individually made for each of the district champions. They represent the favoured card of the Duelist plus a image of the Duelist." The woman said, noticing Chance looking at his card. "I don't know what they're really for, but I understand that they have been programmed to work if you play it." She smiled again and moved back from the front of the desk, typing on the computer.
Lucas pulled his own card, it represented him standing beside a Red Eyes Black Dragon, a different look for it but he could tell what it was.
The woman turned back to them and handed them each a slip of plastic, with a room number clearly labelled on them. "These keys will open the elevator to the next floor. The room number is where you'll be meeting your next opponent. The matches will all begin at the same time so I suggest that you both leave now."
Lucas and Chance walked away from the desk and towards the elevator. Chance had strapped his old Duel-Gear to his thigh and slipped his extra cards into it. The elevator beeped as they slipped the cards through the scanner and the elevator shook as it began to move back up.
"So this is the first time we've been on the fifth floor, right Lucas?" Chance asked, listening to the elevator moving upwards.
"Yeah, they haven't even opened the floor in the past seven months, the last time was when they tested that last set of new cards." Lucas commented, leaving against the back of the tube-shaped car.
A beep ran through the car as it stopped at the highest floor. The floors were farther apart than most buildings, since most of the rooms needed extra space for the holographic players and other wiring. As the doors opened, both teens could see the skyline of Cerlanta City through the one-way windows. They stood at the crossroads of the floor, each way wrapping a different way around the center of the entire Duel Dome.
"Ready for this Chance?" Lucas asked. He turned slightly towards where his room was.
"It took us a long time to reach here," Chance told him, "but I know that I'm ready. We've both worked too hard to be beaten by an eliminator."
"I'll see you after the duel Chance, good luck." Lucas said, walking off.
Chance stood at the crossroads, and watched his friend walk off. He moved slowly towards his own room, ready to fight in his challenge.
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End Transmission