Chapter 4

Violent Battle! Demons vs. Warriors!

Ryo and Hope had finally exited the canyon and had entered the beach area. The sun was setting over the horizon, creating a beautiful image in the sky and on the surface of the water.

"Wow," Hope said in awe. "It's pretty."

"Yes it is, but..." Ryo paused then began to speak again. "Will you bear my child?"

"Pervert!" Hope screamed and slapped him across the face many times. Hope and Ryo heard somebody laughing behind them. They turned around and saw Will leaning against the rock wall.

"Hey Ryo. Who is your little friend?" Will said mockingly.

"Who is that guy?" Hope inquired.

"That's Will. Another player in the game," Ryo said while holding his sore face. "I guess we are all here then."

"Nope," Will said. "There is somebody still not here dumbass. Remember, four people at the meeting. And I only count three people here right now."

"Okay..." Hope said. "Where is the fourth person?" As Hope said this, a huge Tidal Wave rose up from the water and drenched her. "Ahhh! Cold!" she screamed. A figure walked out of the water with a breathing mask on his face.

"Hahaha! That is what I call funny!" he said.

"How long have you been hiding there Max?" Will asked.

"Long enough," Max sighed. "I thought I would run out of oxygen before somebody would ask where I was."

"How did you do that?" Ryo asked, pointing to Hope who had been crushed by the wave and was still on the ground, paralyzed by the shock of the sudden soaking.

"It is called a Battle Summon." Max explained. "We can use Monster, Magic, and Trap cards to fend off wild duel monsters. I was saving my Tidal Wave trap for the person who asked where I was. You didn't know we could do that?"

"Obviously not," Will chimed in. "Otherwise that stampede wouldn't have been chasing him."

"^_^; Hehehehe," Ryo said with a red face.

Suddenly, Hope jumped up from the ground and charged straight towards Max. "Why in the hell did you do that!?" She screamed at him at the top of her lungs. Ryo, Max, and Will cringed at the loudness in her voice.

"It was a joke answer to the question you asked," Max said with grin.

"I'm going to kick your ass in a duel for that! You have no idea how cold that was!" Hope said with continued fervor.

"I except your pathetic challenge," Max said in a calm tone.

This girl is out of her mind, Will said to himself, she will get creamed by him.

(Max: 8000 Will: 8000)

"I choose Invader of Darkness for my deck master."

"And I choose Undefeated General Freed!"

"Would you stop yelling already?" Max barked at her.

"No! I won't! And I go first!" Hope screamed back at Max.

"Fine."

"I summon Executioner Makyura in attack mode (1600/1200) and place one card face down and end my turn."

"That was a crappy opening move," Max said with disgust in his voice. "I place two cards facedown and summon Gil Gars (1800/1200) and attack your monster!"

Gil Gars easily cut Hope's monster in half, but suddenly several chains erupted from the ground and tied up Gil Gars.

(Max: 8000 Hope: 7800)

"What the..." Max began to say.

"Whenever Executioner Makyura is sent from the field to the cemetery, I can activate a Trap card from my hand. And I chose Curse of Darkness, which lowers you Gil Gars' attack by 700! (1100/1200)"

"Shit! End turn," Max said.

"I activate my face down card, Cry of the Living Dead!"

"I chain your card with Ambush!"

Executioner Makyura returned to Hope's side of the field while Demon Soldier appeared on Max's.

"Now I sacrifice Makyura for Warrior of the Sun (2150/1400) and order him to attack Gil Gars!"

(Hope: 7800 Max: 6450)

"What the hell!" Max yelled. " I shouldn't have lost that many life points!"

"Yes you should. Warrior of the Sun gets plus 500 attack during damage step when in battle with a Dark main type."

Shit, Max said to himself. Almost every monster in my deck is Dark type.

"Well, it is your turn now."

"I set one monster, place one more card facedown and end my turn."

"Now what were you saying about a crappy move?" Hope teased.

"Shut up and play!" Max yelled back to her.

"Fine, I set one monster facedown and attack Demon Solider with Warrior of the Sun!"

"Attack Nullification!" Max said as he revealed his facedown card.

I should have known it was a trap, Hope said to herself.

"Are you done yet?"

"Yes, I'm done for this turn."

Max drew his draw, looked at it, and a wicked grin spread across face. "Hehe. Little girl, prepare to lose."

"Bring it on!" Hope said with a slightly scared tone.

"I reveal my facedown monster, X-E-N-O! (200/100) And now I take control of your Warrior of the Sun."

Shit, Hope said to herself, I'm going to be in major trouble.

"Now I sacrifice Warrior of the Sun and Demon Solider for Composite Beast Gazzetto! (?/0)"

A metal skeleton appeared on the field, and it began to absorb Warrior of the Sun and Demon Solider. The end result was a hideously deformed monster.

"(?/0)? What kind of moron uses a two sacrifice monster that weak?"

Wait a minute!, Will exclaimed to himself, another creature with Gazzetto in its name? If it does anything like Great Demon Gazzetto, Hope is in major trouble.

"Allow me to explain the effect of my monster," Max said. "It absorbs the attack points of the monsters that where sacrificed to summon him, so my Composite Beast Gazzetto is at 4050 attack power! (4050/0)"

Woah, Ryo said to himself. Hope has her work cut out for her.

"Now I attack your facedown monster!"

Max's monster giant right hand slammed down on Hope's facedown monster. It was Elven Swordsman, but miraculously, it didn't die.

"What?! Impossible! It should be dead!" Max said with shock.

"This is the Retrained Elven Swordsman, (1400/1200)" Hope said. "It can't be killed by a monster with 1900 or more attack power."

"Crap! I end my turn."

"I changed Retrained Elven Swordsman to attack mode and equip him with Fused Weapon Murasame Blade (2200) and attack your X-E-N-O!"

(Hope: 7800 Max: 4450)

"And I end my turn."

"Grrrr." Max had started to lose his temper. "I summon Newt! (1900/400) And equip him with Mask of Atrocities (2900) and attack your monster!"

(Hope: 7100 Max: 4450)

"And now Composite Beast Gazzetto attacks your monster as well!"

(Hope: 5250 Max: 4450)

"And I place one card face down and end my turn."

I can't beat him in attack power, but maybe I can outsmart him, Hope said to herself.

"I equip Retrained Eleven Swordsman with Thunder Sword! (3000) And attack your Newt!"

"That is what I wanted you to do," Max said. "I activate Torture Wheel!"

"Aw crap! One card facedown, then I end my turn."

"First, you lose 500 life points via Torture Wheel, and I choose not to pay for Mask of Atrocities."

(Hope: 4750 Max: 4450)

"I play the Magic card Force! It take have of your monster's attack and give it to one of mine. And I give the extra attack to Gazzetto! (5550)"

"My god," Hope said in awe. "That thing keeps getting more powerful."

"Now I have Newt attack your monster!"

(Hope: 4350 Max: 4450)

"And now, Gazzetto! Attack!"

(Max: 4450 Hope: 350)

"Yes!" Max exclaimed triumphantly. "I'm going to win this duel after all!"

"No you're not," Hope said weakly. It was obvious that the strain of the duel was getting to her. "I activate Sand Tornado and have it destroy your Torture Wheel!"

"Damnit!"

"My turn, prepare to lose."

"Whatever," Max said callously.

"I play Thunderbolt!"

"No!"

"And now I summon Surprising Matasa! (1300/800) Retrained Elven Swordsman, attack directly!

(Max: 1450)

"Surprising Matasa, attack!"

(Max: 150)

"Surprising Matasa, attack again!"

(Max: 0)

"Wow!" Will said in shock. "She actually beat him?"

"Never had a doubt in my mind. I knew she would win," Ryo said.

Max had fallen to his knees, in complete shock that he had lost, but he began to laugh.

"I haven't lost a duel like that in a long time. Thanks for the wake up call that I'm not invincible..." Max droned off.

Hope has grown extremely mad looking. Both Ryo and Will had backed up to the cliff in a spilt second.

"Now..." Hope began to say. "IT'S PAYBACK TIME!" Hope charged at Max and tackled him and pinned him. She sat on his back and began to pull his leg.

"SAY YOU'RE SORRY FOR SOAKING ME!" Hope yelled at him.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! OwWWWW!" Max said while writhing in agony.

Hope instantly got back up to standing position with a smile on her face. "You're forgiven," she said in a pleasant tone.

"Heh. You fools are finally gathered in one place. It's about damn time," a mysterious voice called out to them.

"Who's there?!" Ryo demanded.

"I'm the one who is going to put you out of your misery." A figured jumped down from the cliff. It was the Lord of Dragons. "Play time is over!"

End Chapter