Chapter Five: Search and Destroy: Type Zero Magic Crusher!
Three weeks later....
Nick was out of the hospital and life had nearly returned to normal, but.... Duo still was within Blackheart's grasp, and what became of him is stil unknown. After Laurna and Tony's little argument on that night, they haven't talked since. Laurna has even stayed away from Nick. They have gone their separate ways, but they will soon be reunited in order to help Nick find out what became of his brother, and to help each other get through the elimination rounds of the tournament. Duelists were afraid to duel, especially with the eliminators patrolling the city, and duels were usually played in places where it was safe from eliminators. Nearly every place had an Eliminator around, even the school. Nick was all too familiar with the school's Eliminator, Maggie Sheratt, the principal.
It was Saturday morning. Tony was sleeping in, not caring what the world had in store for him today. Laurna was up bright and early, getting ready to go to her Track meet. Nick was nowhere to be found. No one was sure where he was this morning. His Aunt only knew that he'd left really early this morning.
Laurna packed her athletics bag with her water bottle, a towel, a change of clothes, and her Duel Disk. She put on her jogging shorts and her Track Team shirt.
"Hey Mom!! I need a ride to my Track meet! I need to get there early to warm-up!"
"Okay honey, I'll be right down."
Laurna was on her way to the school, where her Track meet was taking place. She looked out the window as they were approaching the school, and she saw someone she hadn't seen in weeks. It was a guy in a blue and white shirt, with a Duel Disk on his arm, she could have sworn it was Nick.
"Mom, can you pull over real quick? I think I saw someone I know."
Laurna got out of the car, and chased down the guy, "Hey NICK! Is THAT YOU!?!?"
The guy didn't turn around or say anything. Laurna ran in front of him.
"Uhh do I know you?" It was Jason the computer lab aide from school.
"Oh no, nevermind." Laurna started to turn away.
"If you're looking for Nick, he's in the computer lab at school. I'm supposed to meet him there."
Jason turned around, but she was already gone.
---
Nick was frustrated. After his recovery, he was determined to find out what happened to Duo. He had been searching the internet for any possible information about the Blackheart Corporation and the Eliminators. Jason was going to help him in his search. He had come to the Computer Lab everyday, afterschool, and now on the weekends.
"Damn...nothing. At this rate, I'll never find Duo... Jason better get here soon. Maybe I should call up Tony. The more people we have working on this, the more likely we'll find something."
Nick called Tony, who was reluctant to get out of bed. He eventually was convinced to come help Nick and Jason in their search for information.
"Well, school on Saturday? I'll help you guys, but just give me a little while to get there."
"Okay, and umm could you stop by my house and get the folder of computer disks on my brother's desk? Those might help us."
"Sure, Nick, anything to help you out."
---
Tony arrived right before 2:30, around the time when the Track meet was ending.
"Hey guys sorry I'm late. Your Aunt cooked up some lunch for me when I stopped by."
"It's not problem we've got all day. And we're not going anywhere till we find something."
"Yeah, and as long as I'm here, you won't get kicked out as long as you don't cause any trouble. Just remember, as the Computer Lab aide, I can kick you out if I want to." Jason said with a smirk.
"Oh yeah, Nick, your Aunt said that these are yours." Tony handed Nick three booster packs.
"Hm...these must be the packs I bought the day of the incident. I never opened them."
"Yep. Your Aunt said that they were on you when the ambulence picked you up, and that she forgot to give them back since you never asked."
"Well, opening them would be a nice break from all reading I've been doing on the internet all day..."
"Open them later, we've got work to do. I know how distracted you get when you get a shiny new card in your hands."
"Alright, Tony. There's a free computer over there. Now get workin'!"
---
Laurna's Track meet had just ended. She was walking down the hallway coming from the Locker Room.
"What a long day...six miles can really take it out of you...I need somewhere to sit down and take a rest. Maybe...I'll go to the Computer Lab, there's a nice couch in there, and it's nearby. I know Nick and Tony will probably be there, but I've got to talk to them anyways..."
Laurna looked into the Computer Lab to see Nick, Tony, and Jason all working hard. She stepped into the room making sure everyone noticed her come in.
"Hey guys, how ya doin'?"
"Laurna! It's nice to see you." Nick greeted her nicely, while Tony turned away and kept working.
"Umm...Tony? Nick? Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure, Tony, c'mon, Jason is gonna keep looking so it's fine."
Tony hesitantly got up and joined Laurna and Nick.
"Now Nick, I'm sure you heard what happened between Tony and I the other night. And Tony, I know that I hurt you. But we're all friends here, and we've got to help each other pull through the tough times. And Nick is going through a very tough time, and I want to be there to help him. So how about the three of us just forget about all the dramatics and emotional crap, and help Nick find Duo!!"
"Sounds good to me."
"Whatever..." Tony still looked bitter.
"Tony, I know you want to help Nick as much as I do, so please. For Nick, can we get along again?"
Tony blushed fo a moment. "Oh sure...I can never stay mad at you!!"
"Okay then, I've got an idea. The three of us open one of these booster packs. We each use one of the cards from them as a symbol of our friendship. Here. Laurna, you take this one, and this one's yours Tony." Nick handed them the booster packs.
"Haha...I got Delinquent Duo. That sounds like you an me Nick."
"I got Goblin Attack Force! This card is great for my deck! And it also shows that the three of us are strong when we're a single force!"
Laurna had a small tear in her eye and sniffled.
"What's wrong Laurna? What card did you get?" Nick asked.
Laurna let out a small laugh.
"United We Stand. It's almost too perfect."
"Great!!! Now with the three of us searching the net for information about the Blackheart Corporation, we'll find out what happened to Duo, and we'll find him in no time!!"
"Actually, I'm kinda tired, can I take a rest for a while on that comfy couch over there?"
"Sure, Laurna, I know you just got back from the Track meet."
"Hee hee...Thanks."
"Okay Tony, let's get back to work."
---
It was nearly 5:40 and no one had found anything. The school was going to close the doors at 6:00, so they had to make sure they left before then. As they were gathering their materials, someone appeared at the door.
"Y'know, if I did the searching for you, you'd already know where your brother is, Nick."
"Who's there?" Nick couldn't see who was in the doorway.
"Let's just say that I'm a computer hacker. I can hack into the system and find out what they did to your brother and where he is. All I ask is that you duel me."
"You're on. Let's duel."
"Oh, I'd hate to interupt you while you finish your pointless efforts. Meet me outside when you're ready."
He stepped out of the doorway and left.
"Jason, any idea who that was?"
"No idea...I'll go ahead and wait outside. Maybe I can find something out." Jason turned away and left. He grinned.
"Well, guys, if you're ready to go, let's get outta here."
"Okay, Nick. Let's go so you can beat the crap outta that arrogant bastard."
"Umm...right. Let's go." Laurna rolled her eyes.
The three of them left and locked the Computer Lab doors behind them. As they walked down the hall, Nick felt a bit nervious, just as he did before any duel. This was good to keep him on his toes, expecting any possible move. They stepped out into the setting sun of New Mephisto City, walking towards the courtyard, where they saw Jason talking to the alleged computer hacker, a thin, short boy with glasses and bluish white hair.
"Alright you, I'm here. I'm ready. So let's duel!"
"Whoa, not so fast Nick." Jason said.
"Why? What's the problem?"
"Well, Hunter and I here have a little agreement." Jason looked more confident than usual. "Since Hunter's a computer hacker, he's gonna help me advance in this tournament. But in return, I agreed to duel with him in a handicap tag team match with the three of you."
"Jason...that's so underhanded of you. I'd never expected this from you. Maybe Tony..."
"Hey! Shut your mouth!"
"I'm just kidding...so the three of us against you and this Hunter guy?"
"That's right." Hunter said. "However, there's not much at stake in this duel. All I want is that you duel me so I can test out my deck. If I lose my Decoder here, it's no problem since I'll be able to aquire more later. I just need to see how my deck will work head to head against three top notch duelists. So just do me a favor, and I'll do you a favor."
"Sounds simple enough..." Nick said.
"But why don't we just inform an Eliminator of your illegal behavior?" Laurna questioned Hunter.
"I'm doing you the favor of hacking into the databases so that Nicky there can find his brother. In exchange I need your mouths zipped so that no one finds out that I hacked into it, and so that I can get away with whatever I wish. Plus, I can trace the hacking back to any of you, should you decide to betray me."
"Whatever, let's just get started."
Nick, Tony, Laurna, Jason and Hunter all strapped on their Duel Disks and prepared to duel.
Nick, Tony, Laurna: 10000
Jason, Hunter: 8000
"Oh man...that negative time penalty still hasn't worn off, and it's been three weeks. At least I've got 2000 to work with, but that doesn't separate us much from Jason and Hunter. I just hope that I at least get my normal lifepoints back by the time I get to do some serious dueling...."
"M'kay...Nick will take the first move." Hunter said. "Afterwards, my turn, then it's Laurna's turn, then Jason, and finally, Antonio. Go ahead Nick."
"Alright, I'll summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack mode and play 2 cards facedown. Now I end my turn."
"Hehe...Gearfried? My Uncle hates that card...It's the reason he got ejected from the Battle City Tournament of Domino City."
"Then that means..."
"Hehehehe...Yes, I'm Hunter Underwood. But don't think you'll know what to expect from me."
"Whatever bug-boy." Tony said. "Make your move already."
"I'll place a monster in facedown defense mode, and set three magic and traps facedown. Now I'll place Graceful Charity, drawing two cards from my deck and discarding two. So now I'll Monster Reborn on the card I just discarded, INSECT QUEEN!!!! WAHAHAH!!!!!" Hunter let out an incredibly annoying laugh.
"I guess it's my turn..." Laurna drew a card. "I'll play this monster in defense mode and set one card facedown."
"Okay, I guess this should get us started. I'll play Mechanical Chaser in attack mode, and then I'll set two cards facedown."
"Geez, this duel could take awhile. I'll summon White Magical Hat in attack mode, then play Messenger of Peace. Now I'll place a card facedown."
"I summon Dream Clown in attack mode and equip it with Heart of Clear Water. I end my turn."
"I'll play the trap card, Dust Tornado to destroy your Messenger of Peace, Tony. So now I'll flip summon my Flying Kamakiri #1 in attack mode and sacrifice it to attack Gearfried!!!"
"Hold on, I'll activate my trap, Gravity Bind!" Tony flipped over his hidden card.
"Well, then. Now I will activate my Type Zero Magic Crusher!! Now each time I discard a magic card from my hand, it will do 500 points of direct damage to your lifepoints!!!"
"What? But magic cards can't just be thrown away like that...You need them to help support your monsters..."
"Don't tell me what I need to do, Nick. I learned from my Uncle. Do whatever it takes to win...So I'll discard these three magic cards in my hand. That makes a total of 1500 points of direct damage!"
Nick, Tony, Laurna: 8500
Jason, Hunter: 8000
"I'll summon another monster in defense mode and end my turn." Laurna was unsure what to do in this situation so she decided to wait for her opportunity to strike.
"Okay kids, sorry to do this to you, but I'll use Harpie's Feather Duster to wipe out all your magic and trap cards, including Tony's Gravity Bind and Nick's Heart of Clear Water."
"I'll activate my Fake Trap to save this one trap from destruction." Laurna quickly winked at Nick.
"Now I summon a second Mechanical Chaser from my hand. I would attack...but then it won't do quite enough damage...It wouldn't satisfy me. Maybe if I added this card... Limiter Removal! It raises both of my Mechanical Chaser's attack power to 3700 each! Attack White Magical Hat and Dream Clown!!!"
Nick, Tony, Laurna: 3300
Jason, Hunter: 8000
"Since my Mechanical Chasers will be destroyed at the end of this turn, I'll put this card facedown and end my turn."
"Whoa...if I can't pull something outta my hat, we're gonna lose this, and I won't let that happen. I'll play a monster in defense mode and two facedown cards."
"Okay, my turn. I'll equip Gearfried with Fusion Sword Murasame! Now I'll attack your Insect Queen!"
Nick, Tony, Laurna: 3300
Jason, Hunter: 7600
"Hehehe, that brings back memories of my Uncle. And now since it's my turn, I play Pot of Greed and activate Jar of Greed. Now I'll discard four magic cards in my hand to add up to 2000 points of damage!"
Nick, Tony, Laurna:1300
Jason, Hunter: 7600
"Now, I'll activate Dark Piercing Light. All your monsters on the field are revealed!"
Nick's Gearfried was already face-up, and it was the strongest monster on the field. Laurna had a Giant Soldier of Stone and Harpie Lady in defense mode. Tony had a Yata-Garasu in defense mode. Everyone found that a bit odd.
"Ha! Now that all your monsters are face-up, I'll activate my other face-down trap! Skull Lair!! Since Type Zero Magic Crusher allowed me to send so many of my cards to the grave, this should really hurt... So I'll remove enough cards from my graveyard to destroy all the monsters on your field!! HEE HEE HEEEAAHH!!!!! Plus, since Yata-Garasu is a Spirit monster, and can't be special summoned, there's almost no possible way for you to get it back. I'll end my turn."
"Don't think this duel is over yet, Hunter. Even though we've been on the receiving end of most of the damage, you've left your fields completely open to attacks. And to make sure my attack goes through, I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon on Jason's facedown card."
"Ugh...there goes my Mirror Force..." Jason knew they would take some damage...but not enough to end the game.
"I'll play Monster Reborn on my Harpie Lady that was destroyed, and I'll summon Harpie Lady SB in attack mode! Then I play Elegant Egotist to summon Harpie Lady Sisters from my hand! And Hunter, you can't remove any more cards to destroy my monsters, since you don't have nearly enough cards left in the graveyard. And now, I equip Harpie Lady SB with United We Stand, raising her attack power to 4200! Now I'll send all my monsters to attack you, Hunter!!!"
"NOOOOO!!!! That leaves us with hardly any lifepoints!"
Nick, Tony, Laurna: 1300
Jason, Hunter: 150
"Whoa...that's hardly any room to breathe. All I can really do is play Raigeki...Sorry Laurna but there goes all your monsters!!! I don't have any monsters I can play, but I'll set four magic and trap cards facedown."
"Good one Laurna, you sent the two of them reeling...Now we just have to do a little bit more damage to end this game. This might be a risky move...But I'll play Confiscation on the cards in Jason's hand. At the cost of 1000 Lifepoints, I get to discard any card from your hand!"
Nick, Tony, Laurna: 300
Jason, Hunter: 150
"Go ahead...I doubt any of this will help you."
"That's what you think. Since this is a Team Duel, my Yata-Garasu lockdown method wouldn't work. But that's not what I'm going for this time...I'll choose to discard your Summoned Skull. Not only that, but I'll bring it back from your graveyard with Monster Reborn!"
"Hmm...so?"
"Don't be so confident, Jason. I'll attack you with Summoned Skull...Demon's Lighting!!"
"Well, I had this trap, Negate Attack, but you almost had me there."
"Looks like it's my turn again... I'll end this now... With Hunter's turn coming up, that means he can discard one magic card and win this duel. So I summon Hayabusa Knight and attack!"
"Ha, well thats too bad again, since I had another Negate attack."
"Ugh...I can't do anything else. It your turn, Hunter."
"There's not much I have to do to win this duel. So I'll just discard this one magic card for 500 points of damage. We win."
Nick and Tony looked incredibly disappointed. It was their first duel of the tournament, and they were all going to be ejected from it already.
"Not so fast Hunter!" Laurna surprised everyone. "This duel doesn't go to the two of you! I'll activate this trap!"
"What?! No!!! This can't be possible!"
"That's right...HELLISH TRAP DOOR GUN!!"
The card revealed itself to all the players as it shot a stream of energy towards Hunter, knocking him off his feet, and sending their lifepoints to 0.
Nick, Tony, Laurna: 300
Jason, Hunter: 0000
"But how did that happen Laurna?" Nick looked confused, he had no idea what the card did.
"Whenever we take damage that isn't battle damage, Hellish Trap Door Gun sends the damage right back into the opponent!"
"And that was the card you had facedown for most of the game...A clever move, Laurna. Saving that trap and waiting until the right time to activate it. Good game guys..." Jason looked somber, as he knew this meant the end of the line for him. "Hunter, I'd rather earn my Decoder Devices rather than you cheating the system for me. From now on, I'll just earn my way back into the tournament. It won't be easy, but I don't have much of a choice. And I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I cheated my way into the tournament's finals."
"Do what you want, Jason. That's quite the noble decision. We all have the choice what we want to do, and I choose my ways of getting into the finals. Even if I haven't earned it. So please, guys, let's both do each other a favor and keep this stuff to ourselves. I'll give Jason all you need to get into the database, and he'll get you the information so you can get your brother back. For winning this duel, Nick, Laurna, and Tony...You all get one Decoder. If it's all right with you, I want Jason to keep his."
"No arguments here. We all end up with two Decoders each, and Jason still has his one."
"I'll be around, so I'll see you all later. I have some business to attend to. Hee hee hee..."
"Thanks. I'll help you guys with the info on Monday. Right now, I wanna go earn myself a Decoder!"
"Okay, bye bye Jason."
Jason simply walked away, unphased by the loss.
"Well guys, looks like we're one step closer to entering the finals!" Nick had a huge smile on his face.
"No need to be so excited...There's still a long way to go." Laurna said, but she was still happy about their victory.
"Plus, Laurna really won the duel for us, Nick." Tony nudged Nick with his elbow.
"Hehehe...Yeah that's right! I won't always be around to save your butts! Hehe..."
"Either way, we all have two Decoders...So that means two more to go."
And so, the three of them settled any bad blood between the three of them, realizing that their friendship is what will get them through this tournament, and also it is what will let them stand strong in the face of darkness. Hopefully, their efforts will soon be rewarded, Nick will find his brother, and all will return to normal....