Being sick really sucks. I couldn't fall asleep, so I stayed up until 5:30 AM working on this. You'd all better appreciate it. _ _
John: I'm glad you liked it. Here's the thing: Claire doesn't use Card Destruction. Your comment could be used in various spots in the fic. Like, Will could have won against the Child if he had Tidal Wave. Did he? No. Kind of get my point? _
*Chapter 27: Free Duels*
As usual, Neo was the first one up. He had remerged from his Soul Card after resting, and slipped out of the room quietly, making sure he did not wake up the others. He did not know the house well, and he was well aware of what Will's reaction would be if he destroyed another kitchen, so he decided that he had better relax in a room other than that one. He could recall where the family room was, so he walked there, and was surprised to see someone else already there.
"Oh, it's you. Good morning!" Mana greeted him cheerfully.
"Same to you," Neo replied. "Why are you up so early?"
"I usually get up to make breakfast, but I just recently destroyed Brandi's newest blender. She's still mad at me, so I decided to steer clear of the kitchen for some time."
"Sounds a lot like what I usually do. Every time I attempt to cook, for some reason, the device I am using blows up. It's quite annoying."
"I agree! Have you ever made any edible food?"
"I'm afraid not."
"The few times I managed to actually produce food, it was actually good, or so Brandi claimed. She ate all of it anyway." Mana shrugged. "I recently got some tapes I've wanted to watch. That's what I am going to do now. Care to see them?"
"I have nothing better to do… sure, why not?"
*****
Will wasn't sure he was actually awake. He got up slowly,
looking at the clock in Max's room. He immediately jumped up.
"Nine in the morning?! We overslept!"
Rue got up, yawning. "Good morning to you too…"
"How did we oversleep?" Gaston asked.
"My usual alarm clock is Neo blowing up something, but all was quiet today… that's what worries me."
"Then let's check on him," Rue suggested.
Max got up as well, looking very tired. "Are the others up yet?"
Of course… his emotions were out of control again… "I don't know, let's see," Rue replied.
They walked across the hall, and encountered a closed door.
Will smirked. "Hey Rue, want to go in and tell them to get up?"
"Very funny," Rue grumbled as he knocked on the door. "Come on you four! We can't sleep all day!"
"We'll be right there!" Hope called back. "I don't know what you mean by four though; Mana woke up early."
"Oh great," Will groaned. "If those two are together, Brandi won't have a kitchen sooner than later. Neo's gone as well," he told the three girls, who stepped out of the room fully dressed.
"This isn't good…" Brandi muttered. "Let's go look for them."
They walked down the hall, and soon found them watching TV.
Will stared at the screen for about three seconds before he got an awful suspicion.
"Neo… what are you watching?"
Neo turned around to view them. "Hi Will. Just a show called Home Improvement."
"TO HELL YOU ARE!" Will yelled as he ran up to the TV and turned off the VCR. He ejected the tape and looked at how much they watched. "You watched almost all of it?"
"We also watched the three right next to you," Mana pointed out.
"…I'm doomed," Will stated. He dropped the tape he was holding. "Max, do you have any books on how to keep your Soul Monster out of your kitchen?"
"…No."
"Yep, I'm doomed."
*****
Keeping to simple meals, Brandi made them some bagels, and poured everyone a glass of orange juice. She watched Max out of the corner of her eye the whole time, seeing how tired he was. Olympion seemed bad tempered; he snarled when Gaston walked a little too close for his likings.
It looks like he had a nightmare again… poor Max. Brandi forgot her musing as Will made the plans of the day.
"Well, now I want to stay in Teknisk Wereld as long as possible, seeing as Neo will absolutely destroy the next kitchen he finds." Ignoring the look of protest on Neo's face, he continued. "So let's get back to Teknisk Wereld and try to find more Generals. Now we know that something bigger than what we see on the outside is going on; Zenith's diary told us this much. We need to try and find this master of his as soon as we can. So Claire and Brandi, will you come with us?"
"There's no way you are keeping me here," Brandi declared.
"I'm defiantly coming!" Claire assured.
"Then let's get our Envoyant Machines," Rue suggested. "We have no time to waste."
They all went into their rooms, and attached the Envoyant Machines. Soon, they were all unconscious, their minds in the virtual world.
*****
"It looks like we are back in the town," Neo said as they all woke up.
"Thanks for telling us, Captain Obvious," Will responded. "Are there any officials nearby?"
"I don't see any…" Hope said. "We can't let our guard down though."
"Don't worry, they aren't here. They had to go after some criminal or another."
Everyone spun around to see three newcomers. One was a girl with brown, shoulder length hair. She had blue eyes, and wore a light green shirt. She wore blue jeans as well. Around her neck was a small, silver clasp that held a tiny, beautiful pearl. The monster that floated beside her looked like a cross between a bird and a woman. She had wings that ended in clawed hands, and her feet were that of a bird's. Her hair was red, her legs purple, and her skin and wings were blue. Her top half had something blue on it, although Hope was not sure it was a shirt.
The boy that stood next to her had light-brown skin. He wore a casual orange t-shirt and blue jeans. His eyes were brown, and his short hair was black. His Soul Monster was a man, but he wore a blue cloak that concealed most of his features. On each of his arms was a gold bracelet.
There was another boy as well. Like the first boy, he had light-brown skin. He had black hair, and brown eyes. He also wore glasses. He wore a blue t-shirt, and blue jeans too. His Soul Monster looked like a tiny dog. It had light-brown fur and light-blue claws. It had a small, dark-blue horn coming from the top of its head, and sharp-looking light-blue teeth. On its forehead, below the horn, was a dark-blue jewel. It also wore a dark-purple scarf, and an earring in each ear. They were purple hoops with a diamond on the end.
"Julia! Samuel! Toan!" Hope cried. "Hi! What are you all doing here? The government banned Teknisk Wereld until further notice!"
"I could ask the same thing of you!" Julia replied. "We came here out of curiosity, and boredom. It was either this or get dragged to see The Matrix: Reloaded by Samuel for the fifth time!"
"Come on Julia!" Samuel was apparently the boy with the orange t-shirt. "We've only seen it three times!"
"I would have liked to seen Lord of the Rings: Return of the King more…"
"The tickets were already sold out, as I told you!"
"Which is why we came here."
"You're so mean!"
Toan cut through their bickering. "What are you doing here Hope? And who are your friends?"
She pointed to each person and Soul Monster as she named them. "Rue, Ruecian, Max, Olympion, Will, Neo, Brandi, Mana, Claire, Perseus, and Gaston, meet my friends from school: Julia and her Harpy Lady, Maria, Samuel and his Weapon Summoner, Carl, and Toan and his Milus Radiant, Cow."
"…Cow? What kind of a nickname is that?" Will asked.
"A good one, considering I love cows." Toan then changed the subject. "You never told us what you are doing here."
"Yeah, and why have you been gone from school? We have been worried!" Julia said.
"Well, I went to South Carolina to visit a sick friend of mine. He's doing ok now though, so I decided to come to Teknisk Wereld with a few friends," Hope explained.
"Well, those officials won't be coming back any time soon," Julia assured. "Hope, we've never dueled each other with Duel Disks before. How about we do that now?"
Hope shrugged. "I could use some practice. No stakes?"
"None."
"Then let's begin!"
Hope: 8000
Julia: 8000
"You can go first," Julia invited.
"Gladly. I lay one monster in defense mode, and two cards down. Your turn."
"I'm going to use Maria's Deck Master ability right now. By skipping my Draw Phase, I can search my deck for a card with the name "Harpy" in it and add it to my hand. So I add Harpy's Feather Sweep to my hand and use it to destroy both of your face down cards!"
"I activate Imperial Decree to save this other trap I have."
"Ok. I summon Harpy Lady (1300/1400) and attack your monster."
"You attacked Twilight Zone Female Warrior. (1500/1600) I could have her remove your Harpy from the game, along with herself, but I don't think I will."
Hope: 8000
Julia: 7700
"I lay two cards down before ending my turn."
"I won't pay for Imperial Decree. I switch my Twilight Zone Female Warrior to attack, and attack your Harpy Lady!"
"I activate Emissary of Harmony, making your attack harmless."
"Then I'm done."
"I will draw this turn. Now I activate Ten-Thousand Reflections! When I have a Harpy Lady on the field, I can special summon either another Harpy Lady or Harpy Lady Triplets from my hand or deck. I will search my deck and special summon Harpy Lady Triplets! (1950/2100) I switch Harpy Lady to defense mode, and attack with my Harpy Lady Triplets!"
"I activate my Twilight Zone Female Warrior's effect. Both monsters are removed."
"Alright, I'm done."
Hope: 7550
Julia: 7700
"I summon Blindly Loyal Goblin! (1800/1500)"
"I will activate Tidal Wave, destroying all of the monsters on the field."
"I guess I am done." Hope was slightly concerned; she had nothing to guard against a direct attack.
"I will search my deck for Harpy's Pet Dragon and put it into my hand. Now I play Angel's Gift. I draw three cards, and then discard Harpy's Pet Dragon and Harpy Lady Triplets. Now I play Raise Dead on Harpy's Pet Dragon! (2000/2500) I attack you directly!"
Hope: 5550
Julia: 7700
"Hey Hope, you're getting owned!" Rue joked. "You had better put some more effort into this duel!"
"I know what I'm doing!" Hope yelled back as she looked at her hand. "I lay one monster in defense mode, and a card down."
"I will search my deck for Harpy Lady SB. Now I summon it to the field. (1800/1300) She counts as a Harpy Lady card. Also, my Harpy's Pet Dragon gets 300 more attack points for each Harpy Lady on the field. (2300/2500) I attack your defense monster with Harpy's Pet Dragon!"
"You attacked my Retrained Elven Swordsman! (1400/1200) Any monster that has 1900 or more attack cannot destroy him in battle!"
"It looks like Hope is putting my card to use," Max remarked.
"In that case, I will destroy it with my Harpy Lady SB!"
"I activate the trap card Curse of Darkness to snare your Harpy. She loses 700 attack points, and cannot attack. (1100/1300)"
"I lay one card down then…"
"I activate Cyclone on it."
"My Holy Barrier-Mirror Force was destroyed."
"Good. I lay one card down, and summon Command Knight! (1200/1900) When he is on the field, all of my Warrior Sub-Type monsters get 400 more attack points. (1800/1200) (1600/1900) I will switch my Retrained Elven Swordsman to attack and have it attack your Harpy Lady SB! I will also pay 1000 Life Points to use Gaston's ability. Now my Command Knight can attack you directly!"
Hope: 4550
Julia: 5400
"Pretty even match," Brandi commented.
"I lay one monster in defense mode, and a card down. Then I attack your Command Knight with Harpy's Pet Dragon! (2000/2500)"
"You can't attack Command Knight as long as I have another monster on the field."
"Oh. In that case, attack Retrained Elven Swordsman. Your turn."
Hope: 4350
Julia: 5400
"I equip Retrained Elven Swordsman with The Fused Weapon, Murasame Blade! This raises his attack points by 800. (2600/1200) I attack your Harpy's Pet Dragon with him. Then Command Knight attacks your defense monster."
"You attacked my Bird Face. (1600/1600) They are evenly matched. His reverse effect also lets me add a Harpy Lady from my deck to my hand, so I'll get one."
Hope: 4350
Julia: 4600
"I will lay one card down, and then end."
"I summon my Harpy Lady. Next I play Cyber Bondage on her. This raises her attack by 500. (1800/1400) I then activate Power of Magicians, raising her stats by 500 for each magic or trap I have. Since I have three, she gets a 1500 bonus. (3300/2900) She attacks Retrained Elven Swordsman!"
"I activate Reactive Armor! When you declare an attack, and I activate this card, your attacking monster is destroyed. So your Harpy Lady is gone."
"I'm done with my turn."
"I will attack your Bird Face with Retrained Elven Swordsman."
"I activate Emissary of Harmony, to live another turn…"
"Your move then."
"It looks like Hope has this in the bag," Neo commented.
"So it seems," Perseus agreed.
"Not if I can help it," Julia stated. "I activate Black Hole, destroying all of our monsters. Then I lay one monster in defense mode."
Hope drew, and nodded.
"I activate my face down Cry of the Living Dead to bring back my Retrained Elven Swordsman. Then, I sacrifice him to summon Undefeated General-Freed! (2300/1700) He attacks your defense monster!"
"That was my last Harpy Lady."
"Your move."
"I lay another monster in defense mode."
"In that case, I will use Freed's ability. I search my deck for a Warrior Sub-Type at the cost of skipping my draw phase. I get Initiate Troops, and summon them! (1000/1000) I sacrifice them to kill your face down monster."
"There goes my Harpy's Brother. (1800/600)"
"Freed attacks you directly."
Hope: 4350
Julia: 2300
Julia drew, and looked at her new card. "I play Theft on Freed! This equip magic card lets me take one of your monsters as my own!"
"Want to rethink that?" Hope asked. "Freed can't be targeted by magic cards."
"Rats… I end…"
"Freed attacks for the win!"
Hope: 4350
Julia: 0
"Good game," Julia smiled. "I didn't know you were so good."
"Thanks. It was a good game," Hope agreed.
"Are any of you as good as her?" Samuel asked. "I could use a duel myself."
"I'm up for one," Will volunteered.
"Great! Let's get ready."
To be continued….
