James looked at his opening hand. His card hand was pretty decent, some
strong monsters and a few magic cards. His real hand was a bit sweaty.
The screen on the table began flashing. Through a random selection, Thomas was picked to take the first turn. James took a deep breath, slightly worried abut what was Thomas would do.
"Ok, I will make my first move short and sweet. I set a monster in face down defense mode, and that's it."
James let out a sigh of relief. This wasn't that bad. He held onto his cards with his left hand, drawing his new card with his right hand and putting it with the others.
"For my first move I will summon the Twin-Headed Fire Dragon." James plucked the card from the others and set it onto the table before him. A strange noise emitted from the table, but in just a few seconds the dark red scales of the Twin-Headed Fire Dragon (2200/1700) materialized before him. It wasn't long before James ordered the monster to attack, and Thomas' card dematerialized before him.
Thomas became silent and his face seemed a bit flushed. He set another monster in face down defense, and another card face down. He never uttered a word.
James drew another card, and smiled again. A good card that could save his life points later. "Ok, attack his face down again." James commanded, although this time he was in for a bit of a surprise.
"You attacked my Bite Shoes, and by doing so, you activated his effect. While it is still sent to the graveyard due to your attack, your dragon is put in defense mode."
James said nothing. While his monster's defense points were weaker then his attack points, he would still lose no life points if the beast was destroyed. James just gave a subtle nod and ended his turn.
"While that may have looked harmless at first, you will soon see it was only the first part of my plan to win this duel!" Thomas said, almost shouted, with more confidence then James had heard from him yet. "First, I summon my powerful Parrot Dragon (2000/1300). Next I activate my trap card, Skull Invitation. Now my Parrot Dragon will attack your Two-Headed Fire Dragon!". That was a bit for James to take in at first. Before he could question effect of Thomas' trap card, his Parrot Dragon swooped in and destroyed the Fire Dragon with its huge beak. Next, the life point counter on James' dueling table lowered by 300 points.
"What just happened? My monster was in defense mode!" James objected. "My trap card is responsible for that." Thomas stated proudly. "So your trap makes it so I lose life points even if my monsters are in defense mode?" "No, that's only a mere illusion. The actually effect is much, much worse for you." "Ah, that's good. Wait a second, worse?" "Indeed." Thomas nodded. "My trap card makes it so when a card is sent to the graveyard; the card's owner loses 300 life points. My whole deck is based around destroying your cards, so you will have to protect them as well as your life points. Now that I am done teaching you how to play this game, I will set one more card face down and end my turn."
James: 1700 Thomas: 2000
James thought about his current situation. He had nothing on the field, but there had to be a way to turn the current situation around. He drew a card: Sword of Deep Seated. Ah, things were looking up. He could tell this Thomas wasn't new to the game, but James refused to believe Janson was unable to be beat.
"Ok, I summon Neo the Magical Swordsman in attack mode. And then-" "Not so fast newbie." Thomas grinned a grin that James knew meant bad news. Thomas flipped his face down card over. "I activate my Trap Hole. Your Swordsman is destroyed, and you lose even more life points."
James was worried now. He couldn't summon another monster this turn, and without any monsters, his life points were wide open to a direct attack. And even more; James realized from the 'newbie' comment that he looked as nervous as he felt. "No, it can't be over yet." he thought. His hands were even sweatier now. But then he remembered his card he drew last turn. He set it face down on the field.
"Make your move." He said, trying to sound as calm as possible.
James: 1400 Thomas: 2000
"For my turn, I will summon the Dark Elf (2000/800) in attack mode." Thomas bellowed. "You look worried? Is that sweat I see?" Thomas let out a laugh. "I thought you were experienced? Let's get this over worth, Parrot Dragon, attack him directly."
The green large beaked beast flew directly at James. He started the monster straight in the eyes, and flipped over his face down card. "I activate my trap card, Waboku! It protects me from any of your attacks for a whole turn."
"That will protect you for this turn, but you can't stall forever. I end my turn."
James put his hand on his deck. Maybe he had made a mistake coming here? After all, he had just started this game, and had he honestly expected to compete with those who had spent a lot more time playing and mastering this game? What was he thinking? He might as well give up now. "No!" he thought. If he gave up, he would be letting not only himself down, but his friends and Solomon Motou too. He had to keep going, if only for them. He drew his card, and put it on the field almost immediately in an excited frantic motion.
"I summon the Judge Man (2200/1500) in attack mode. And now he will attack your Dark Elf!" James found a comforting feeling in having his strongest monster on the field. On command Judge Man leaped forward to Dark Elf, and with one powerful punch, destroyed her. Finally, James was making going forward in this duel instead of backward.
James: 1400 Thomas: 1500
"Very nice, newbie." Thomas laughed. "But now I will activate my magic card, Swords of Revealing Light, which will stop you for attacking me for three turns! And with that, I end my turn."
James drew his next card, but there was nothing he could do. "He must be worried if he is stalling like this." He thought. "But what if he is able to make a comeback in these three turns." James ended his turn.
Thomas picked up his next card. "Ah, just the one I needed. I summon this Dream Clown (1200/900) in attack mode. And that will do it for this turn."
James drew a card and set his Magical Hats card face down, and summoned his Beaver Warrior in attack mode. "Let's hope you have something good planned, for your sake Thomas. Or this duel will end quite quickly. I am finished with my turn." James found himself becoming more and more confident.
"Oh, you are both right and wrong there. I do have something planned, and the duel will still end quite quickly." Thomas drew a card and reached for the table. "I will put my Dream Clown in defense mode. Tell me James, do you know that Dream Clown has a special ability?"
James felt his newfound confidence fading quickly. "No." he muttered dishearteningly. "Ah, then allow me to explain." Thomas offered with a grin, it was obvious he was enjoying this. " See, when my Dream Clown is changed from attack mode to defense mode, one monster on your side of the field is destroyed. I choose to use his effect on your Judge Man." Almost instantly, James saw his Judge Man combust and dematerialize right in front of him. James then heard the all too familiar sound of his life point counter decreasing.
"Ah, but that's not all, not even close." Thomas said. James felt his hands dampening all over again. "I will summon Don Zaloog (1400/1500). Now, first my Parrot Dragon will attack your Beaver Warrior."
For the third time this game, James watched the Parrot Dragon swoop in on him. But for the second time this game, James was prepared. "I will activate my Magical Hats!" James cried out, flipping his card over. Instantly a large black top hat appeared over the Beaver Warrior, and the hat split into four different hats. "My Beaver Warrior is in one of those hats." James stated. "The hat which hides him is up to you to discover."
The Parrot Dragon flew at the large magical hat on the left, flying straight through and destroying the hat. But luckily for James, the Beaver Warrior was not hiding in the hat on the far left.
"That's a nice trick you pulled, but I still have one more attack. Don Zaloog, attack the middle hat!" Thomas commanded. The infamous warrior known as Don Zaloog dashed to the middle hat and sliced it in two with his sword. The sword not only cut the hat in half, but also the Beaver Warrior hiding within. "Ah poor newbie, it seems I found your Beaver Warrior. I assume since you didn't know Dream Clown's affect, I am right in saying you don't know this monster's effect either?"
James mumbled another "No".
"Ah, it's quite simple. Whenever an attack from Don Zaloog lowers your life points, one card at random is discarded from your hand at random." The screen on the dueling table flashed for several seconds, and when it stopped, a small mechanical arm came out of the table and grabbed a card from James hand, placing it in the card graveyard. The familiar sound of lowering life points sounded.
"Now, let's review, shall we?" Thomas asked. He was practically dancing with glee. You lost 300 life points for the destruction of Judge Man, 300 life points from the destruction of Beaver Warrior plus 200 more for being in battle with Don Zaloog, and 300 more for the destruction of the card from your hand. By my calculations, you aren't doing so hot."
James: 300 Thomas: 1500
James was too nervous to be angry, and too angry to be completely nervous. He hated this Thomas person, and wasn't exactly sure if he trembled with rage or embarrassment. This was not how he planned things at all. He drew his card, in which he had a bit of difficulty due to his trembling fingers. He set his monster he drew in face down defense mode, and ended his turn.
"I will attack your face down monster with my Parrot Dragon." Thomas informed his opponent, as the green winged beast zoomed in at James. "Well, I can hardly say you were a worthy opponent-" Thomas was stunned at what he just saw. As the Parrot Dragon zoomed in on the holographic image of a face down card, the card flipped up to reveal the monster Giant Soldier of Stone (1300/2000). The Giant Soldier repelled the Parrot Dragon's attack, and James' life points remained intact.
"This match isn't over yet. As long as I have life points, I will continue to fight!" James said. Thomas ended his turn, and James drew his card: Card Destruction.
James spent a moment in deep concentration. There had to be a way to win this. But it looked so hopeless. He had only 300 life points left, and if another one of his monsters were destroyed, he would lose this match. Meanwhile his strongest monsters had already been destroyed. What could he do?
James looked at the life point scores. Thomas had five times as many life points as James did. What could he do? "Wait a second." James thought. "I only attacked Thomas once, and that was for 200 damage. Yet he has lost 500 life points." Then it hit him. If Skull Invitation worked on Thomas as well as James, then he could use this to his advantage. James looked over and saw that Thomas has five cards in his hand. Not enough, not yet at least.
"I will equip my magic card Horn of Light to my Giant Soldier of Stone, raising his defense to 2800. Then I will end my turn." James informed his opponent, waiting for his opponent's move.
His opponent did very little. "I will just draw my card and pass this turn."
There! Thomas had fallen right into James' trap. He drew a card. "Excellent," he thought. "A magic card.". James summoned Rude Kaiser (1800/1500) and set his entire hand of magic and trap cards onto the field, face down, except for one.
"Now Thomas Janson, you will be destroyed by your own trap card! I activate the last card in my hand, Card Destruction!" A grim expression crossed Thomas' face, a grim and silent expression. James took this silence to make his opponent look like the "newbie".
"Allow me to explain what this card does. It destroys every card in our hands, and we draw a brand new hand. But since I have no cards in my hand at this time, no cards of mine are destroyed. But you, on the other hand, have a full hand of six cards. They are all sent to the graveyard, and you take 300 damage for each one sent. I do believe that's game."
James: 300
Thomas: 0
The screen on the table began flashing. Through a random selection, Thomas was picked to take the first turn. James took a deep breath, slightly worried abut what was Thomas would do.
"Ok, I will make my first move short and sweet. I set a monster in face down defense mode, and that's it."
James let out a sigh of relief. This wasn't that bad. He held onto his cards with his left hand, drawing his new card with his right hand and putting it with the others.
"For my first move I will summon the Twin-Headed Fire Dragon." James plucked the card from the others and set it onto the table before him. A strange noise emitted from the table, but in just a few seconds the dark red scales of the Twin-Headed Fire Dragon (2200/1700) materialized before him. It wasn't long before James ordered the monster to attack, and Thomas' card dematerialized before him.
Thomas became silent and his face seemed a bit flushed. He set another monster in face down defense, and another card face down. He never uttered a word.
James drew another card, and smiled again. A good card that could save his life points later. "Ok, attack his face down again." James commanded, although this time he was in for a bit of a surprise.
"You attacked my Bite Shoes, and by doing so, you activated his effect. While it is still sent to the graveyard due to your attack, your dragon is put in defense mode."
James said nothing. While his monster's defense points were weaker then his attack points, he would still lose no life points if the beast was destroyed. James just gave a subtle nod and ended his turn.
"While that may have looked harmless at first, you will soon see it was only the first part of my plan to win this duel!" Thomas said, almost shouted, with more confidence then James had heard from him yet. "First, I summon my powerful Parrot Dragon (2000/1300). Next I activate my trap card, Skull Invitation. Now my Parrot Dragon will attack your Two-Headed Fire Dragon!". That was a bit for James to take in at first. Before he could question effect of Thomas' trap card, his Parrot Dragon swooped in and destroyed the Fire Dragon with its huge beak. Next, the life point counter on James' dueling table lowered by 300 points.
"What just happened? My monster was in defense mode!" James objected. "My trap card is responsible for that." Thomas stated proudly. "So your trap makes it so I lose life points even if my monsters are in defense mode?" "No, that's only a mere illusion. The actually effect is much, much worse for you." "Ah, that's good. Wait a second, worse?" "Indeed." Thomas nodded. "My trap card makes it so when a card is sent to the graveyard; the card's owner loses 300 life points. My whole deck is based around destroying your cards, so you will have to protect them as well as your life points. Now that I am done teaching you how to play this game, I will set one more card face down and end my turn."
James: 1700 Thomas: 2000
James thought about his current situation. He had nothing on the field, but there had to be a way to turn the current situation around. He drew a card: Sword of Deep Seated. Ah, things were looking up. He could tell this Thomas wasn't new to the game, but James refused to believe Janson was unable to be beat.
"Ok, I summon Neo the Magical Swordsman in attack mode. And then-" "Not so fast newbie." Thomas grinned a grin that James knew meant bad news. Thomas flipped his face down card over. "I activate my Trap Hole. Your Swordsman is destroyed, and you lose even more life points."
James was worried now. He couldn't summon another monster this turn, and without any monsters, his life points were wide open to a direct attack. And even more; James realized from the 'newbie' comment that he looked as nervous as he felt. "No, it can't be over yet." he thought. His hands were even sweatier now. But then he remembered his card he drew last turn. He set it face down on the field.
"Make your move." He said, trying to sound as calm as possible.
James: 1400 Thomas: 2000
"For my turn, I will summon the Dark Elf (2000/800) in attack mode." Thomas bellowed. "You look worried? Is that sweat I see?" Thomas let out a laugh. "I thought you were experienced? Let's get this over worth, Parrot Dragon, attack him directly."
The green large beaked beast flew directly at James. He started the monster straight in the eyes, and flipped over his face down card. "I activate my trap card, Waboku! It protects me from any of your attacks for a whole turn."
"That will protect you for this turn, but you can't stall forever. I end my turn."
James put his hand on his deck. Maybe he had made a mistake coming here? After all, he had just started this game, and had he honestly expected to compete with those who had spent a lot more time playing and mastering this game? What was he thinking? He might as well give up now. "No!" he thought. If he gave up, he would be letting not only himself down, but his friends and Solomon Motou too. He had to keep going, if only for them. He drew his card, and put it on the field almost immediately in an excited frantic motion.
"I summon the Judge Man (2200/1500) in attack mode. And now he will attack your Dark Elf!" James found a comforting feeling in having his strongest monster on the field. On command Judge Man leaped forward to Dark Elf, and with one powerful punch, destroyed her. Finally, James was making going forward in this duel instead of backward.
James: 1400 Thomas: 1500
"Very nice, newbie." Thomas laughed. "But now I will activate my magic card, Swords of Revealing Light, which will stop you for attacking me for three turns! And with that, I end my turn."
James drew his next card, but there was nothing he could do. "He must be worried if he is stalling like this." He thought. "But what if he is able to make a comeback in these three turns." James ended his turn.
Thomas picked up his next card. "Ah, just the one I needed. I summon this Dream Clown (1200/900) in attack mode. And that will do it for this turn."
James drew a card and set his Magical Hats card face down, and summoned his Beaver Warrior in attack mode. "Let's hope you have something good planned, for your sake Thomas. Or this duel will end quite quickly. I am finished with my turn." James found himself becoming more and more confident.
"Oh, you are both right and wrong there. I do have something planned, and the duel will still end quite quickly." Thomas drew a card and reached for the table. "I will put my Dream Clown in defense mode. Tell me James, do you know that Dream Clown has a special ability?"
James felt his newfound confidence fading quickly. "No." he muttered dishearteningly. "Ah, then allow me to explain." Thomas offered with a grin, it was obvious he was enjoying this. " See, when my Dream Clown is changed from attack mode to defense mode, one monster on your side of the field is destroyed. I choose to use his effect on your Judge Man." Almost instantly, James saw his Judge Man combust and dematerialize right in front of him. James then heard the all too familiar sound of his life point counter decreasing.
"Ah, but that's not all, not even close." Thomas said. James felt his hands dampening all over again. "I will summon Don Zaloog (1400/1500). Now, first my Parrot Dragon will attack your Beaver Warrior."
For the third time this game, James watched the Parrot Dragon swoop in on him. But for the second time this game, James was prepared. "I will activate my Magical Hats!" James cried out, flipping his card over. Instantly a large black top hat appeared over the Beaver Warrior, and the hat split into four different hats. "My Beaver Warrior is in one of those hats." James stated. "The hat which hides him is up to you to discover."
The Parrot Dragon flew at the large magical hat on the left, flying straight through and destroying the hat. But luckily for James, the Beaver Warrior was not hiding in the hat on the far left.
"That's a nice trick you pulled, but I still have one more attack. Don Zaloog, attack the middle hat!" Thomas commanded. The infamous warrior known as Don Zaloog dashed to the middle hat and sliced it in two with his sword. The sword not only cut the hat in half, but also the Beaver Warrior hiding within. "Ah poor newbie, it seems I found your Beaver Warrior. I assume since you didn't know Dream Clown's affect, I am right in saying you don't know this monster's effect either?"
James mumbled another "No".
"Ah, it's quite simple. Whenever an attack from Don Zaloog lowers your life points, one card at random is discarded from your hand at random." The screen on the dueling table flashed for several seconds, and when it stopped, a small mechanical arm came out of the table and grabbed a card from James hand, placing it in the card graveyard. The familiar sound of lowering life points sounded.
"Now, let's review, shall we?" Thomas asked. He was practically dancing with glee. You lost 300 life points for the destruction of Judge Man, 300 life points from the destruction of Beaver Warrior plus 200 more for being in battle with Don Zaloog, and 300 more for the destruction of the card from your hand. By my calculations, you aren't doing so hot."
James: 300 Thomas: 1500
James was too nervous to be angry, and too angry to be completely nervous. He hated this Thomas person, and wasn't exactly sure if he trembled with rage or embarrassment. This was not how he planned things at all. He drew his card, in which he had a bit of difficulty due to his trembling fingers. He set his monster he drew in face down defense mode, and ended his turn.
"I will attack your face down monster with my Parrot Dragon." Thomas informed his opponent, as the green winged beast zoomed in at James. "Well, I can hardly say you were a worthy opponent-" Thomas was stunned at what he just saw. As the Parrot Dragon zoomed in on the holographic image of a face down card, the card flipped up to reveal the monster Giant Soldier of Stone (1300/2000). The Giant Soldier repelled the Parrot Dragon's attack, and James' life points remained intact.
"This match isn't over yet. As long as I have life points, I will continue to fight!" James said. Thomas ended his turn, and James drew his card: Card Destruction.
James spent a moment in deep concentration. There had to be a way to win this. But it looked so hopeless. He had only 300 life points left, and if another one of his monsters were destroyed, he would lose this match. Meanwhile his strongest monsters had already been destroyed. What could he do?
James looked at the life point scores. Thomas had five times as many life points as James did. What could he do? "Wait a second." James thought. "I only attacked Thomas once, and that was for 200 damage. Yet he has lost 500 life points." Then it hit him. If Skull Invitation worked on Thomas as well as James, then he could use this to his advantage. James looked over and saw that Thomas has five cards in his hand. Not enough, not yet at least.
"I will equip my magic card Horn of Light to my Giant Soldier of Stone, raising his defense to 2800. Then I will end my turn." James informed his opponent, waiting for his opponent's move.
His opponent did very little. "I will just draw my card and pass this turn."
There! Thomas had fallen right into James' trap. He drew a card. "Excellent," he thought. "A magic card.". James summoned Rude Kaiser (1800/1500) and set his entire hand of magic and trap cards onto the field, face down, except for one.
"Now Thomas Janson, you will be destroyed by your own trap card! I activate the last card in my hand, Card Destruction!" A grim expression crossed Thomas' face, a grim and silent expression. James took this silence to make his opponent look like the "newbie".
"Allow me to explain what this card does. It destroys every card in our hands, and we draw a brand new hand. But since I have no cards in my hand at this time, no cards of mine are destroyed. But you, on the other hand, have a full hand of six cards. They are all sent to the graveyard, and you take 300 damage for each one sent. I do believe that's game."
James: 300
Thomas: 0