Disclaimer: Its not really summer until you've had your ballpark...err...I don't own Yu-gi-oh?
Chapter Five: Opening Duel, Twin Mages Arise!
The week's wait was over, Drake's deck was ready, and Malik had ordered the Rare Hunters to be prepared to take their pick of cards at Battle City. It was to be the largest gathering of Rare Hunters in one place ever, and not a single card would be safe from them. Having made his way out to the general area where Kaiba had specified the tournament would begin he walked around, trying to pick his first opponent. By putting in the name of a duelist in any computer on the Battle City website you could get their star rating and their rarest card, but of course he didn't know everyone's name, nor did he happen to have a laptop he could bring with him.
It wasn't long before Kaiba came on and explained the Locater Cards that everyone had, and how the whole thing would work out. It was simple enough, it also meant that speed was a key. If you won the six locater cards you needed but were slow in doing it, you could arrive to discover that the finals had already started. "It's time to get going, but who am I going to duel?"
"What about me?" At the sound of a the thick German accent that slaughtered the Japanese it was spoken with Drake instantly knew who it was. He whirled around to find none other than Lucas Braunam, Germany's Champ. Drake grinned when he saw Lucas. He knew more about the professional duelist then he had at their previous meeting, because he had deliberately checked out his stats on the website to know just what he might expect if he met Lucas either in the tournament or in the finals. Lucas was counted as a five star duelist, whose rarest card was 'Twin Mages' a card that Drake didn't recognize.
"I'll duel you, and then I'll take your Twin Mages card. Should be interesting to face the best duelist in all of Germany. Oh yeah, and I hope this will be a good one, I owe you that just for the little bit of help you gave me last week." He grinned at the German who flashed him a grin of his own. They were seeing eye to eye on one thing at least, neither was going to give anything less then their best in this duel, or any other.
"Yes, after I defeat you then I will have your Wizard Mentor card. Do not worry Drake, even a four star duelist like yourself might manage to put up a fight against an expert like myself. The best duelist in all of Germany as you said yourself."
Drake smirked and cracked his knuckles. "You're forgetting one thing Lucas."
"What is that?"
"You're not in Germany anymore." Drake and Lucas faced each other, both sizing the other one up, trying to decide just what kind of duelist they would be facing, and whether they had any obvious weaknesses to exploit.
As of yet, both had come up with nothing. All that was left for them, was to begin the duel and go from there. "Germany or no, I still intend to..." Lucas stopped momentarily and reached into his pocket, flipping through a booklet.
Drake face faulted, but recovered quickly and queried his would-be opponent. "What in the world are you doing?"
"Be quiet would you! I'm looking up how to say something!" Drake rolled his eyes realizing that though Lucas spoke very good Japanese, even with his terrible accent, he wasn't perfect at the langauge.
"Just forget it and lets duel already!" Lucas harumphed and tossed the booklet down, extending his arm to launch the projectors. Drake did the same. Projectors launched and field ready, both's counters raised to 4000 LP each. The duel was ready to start.
"I'll be nice since your a tourist and give you the first move."
Lucas nodded and drew his sixth card and added it to his hand. "I thank you, now we'll just have to see if you can handle this. I summon Rocket Warrior(1500/1300) in attack mode and lay one card face down." With surprising realness the green machine warrior shimmered into view on the field, behind him hovered a holographic image of a Duel Monster's card. Kaiba had outdone himself this time, these versions were even more realistic then the Dueling Platform versions.
It took Drake a moment to remember Rocket Warrior's effect, and it was a dangerous one. He'd have to get rid of the little warrior quickly, so he wouldn't have to worry about its effect. Unless of course he let it use its effect..."One monster in reverse defense mode and a card face down." The warriors had been summoned and the field was set, it was set up in a way that made the area in between them seem like a dueling mat. On Lucas' field there stood a small warrior with a shield and a sword, who didn't look all that impressive, and a card floating behind him. On Drake's field was a card in the turned position face down, representing the monster he had placed. Behind it was also another hovering card.
"I'll summon Crazy-Eye Beast(1700/1200) in attack mode. Then I'll play this magic card, Double Meaning, which works on any effects that alter a monsters stats. Rocket Warrior will attack to bring down your monsters attack and defense by 500 points and Crazy-Eye Beast will attack as well!" The tiny warrior shifted into the form of a rocket and launched itself at Drake's defense monster, striking and rebounding.
From within the card materialized a strange looking creature with no face, and two dolls heads beside the main head. The No-Face Illusionist(1200/2200) was decreased in attack and defense by Rocket Warrior's effect to 700 attack and 1700 defense. Crazy-Eye Beast, a massive monster with eyes on its chest, swung its nasty looking claws at No-Face Illusionist, to no effect. The attack of the beast was equal to No-Face's defense.
Lucas: 4000
Drake: 4000
"Well that was a brilliant play Lucas, but not even remotely effective. Now No-Face Illusionists attack and defense are back to where they should be, and your beast can't destroy it." Drake drew without even glancing at his deck and then placed the card in his hand. He was at 5 cards again, and he knew exactly what to play.
"I'll set another card face down, and summon Skilled Black Magician(1900/1700) the best overall level 4 in the entire game. Skilled Black Magician, Black Magic blast Rocket warrior into oblivion!" The black robed spellcaster aimed his baton-like staff and let loose a beam of black energy, shattering Rocket Warrior like a pricked soap bubble.
Lucas: 3600
Drake: 4000
"Well if that doesn't just beat all. But your still playing kiddy style, I'm about to show you real skill. I'll flip my magic card, Lost Freedom, which means that any destroyed defense monster, will still count against your life points. Then I'll tribute my Crazy-Eye to summon Blubber Force Soldier(2300/1100). Better yet, Crazy-Eye's effect is that once it goes to the graveyard it does direct damage to my opponent, equal to half of its attack at the time of its destruction." Drake winced in horror as a bloated man, whose skin seemed to be leaking out of his armor was summoned onto the field in Crazy-Eye's place, and even more so when the effect activated.
Drake: 3150
"Blubber Force Soldier will destroy your Illusionist and his effect will activate. He doubles the life point damage afflicted when he goes into battle with one of my opponent's monsters!" With one heave of his bloated body, the obese warrior crashed down upon the faceless mage and then hopped off, leaving No-Face Illusionist intact, and upon his forehead was a glowing horn.
"You fell into my trap, one of my face down cards was the equip card, Horn of Light, which increases a monster's defense by 800, now your the one who's losing life points. And not only that, but your magic card sets a counter on my magician, as does my own magic card." Two small glowing jewels appeared above the spellcaster and floated there, untouched by anything.
Lucas: 2600
"What does a magic counter do?" Drake smirked at the worried look upon his face, not only because of the double damage he just dealt to himself, but because he obviously didn't know anything about magic counters. Drake had realized that advantage early on, since cards that used magic counters had only recently been released.
"You'll have to find out for yourself." So far the duel was going in Drake's favor. He had a powerful level four out on the field, a monster with 2800 defense points, and a 550 life point lead. His opponent had a decent level six, and two magic cards, neither of which were a huge threat.
Now it was Drake's turn, and he was ready to do what he could to finish the duel here and now. He drew and then looked over his hand, a decent hand, but not quite good enough. "I swith No-Face Illusionist into attack mode, and then I'll equip him with Black Pendant raising his attack to 1700. That places a third magic counter on my magician. Watch and be amazed as I use his effect to sacrifice the three magic counters and himself to special summon the Dark Magician(2500/2100). My Dark Magician will attack Blubber Force Soldier! The powerful spellcaster raised his wand and the color on the field inverted, blowing the tubby warrior into smithereens.
Lucas: 2200
"Now No-Face Illusionist will attack you directly!" But to Drake's shock Lucas didn't lose any life points from the attack. The only damage he had recieved, despite the direct attack, was the doubled damage his Dark Magician had done when destroying Blubber Force Soldier.
"What happened? The duel should have been over!" Lucas shook his head and tossed a card from his hand into his graveyard.
"I used the effect of Kuriboh to bring down the life point damage from your second attack to zero." Lucas was definetely pissed, and he was willing to show it. He couldn't believe that he was losing to a four star duelist, and one from Japan! He knew for certain that the Germans were in every way superior, so how could he be losing? Snatching desperately at his deck for something to turn the tide he grinned in delight when his eyes fell upon the card.
"I'll summon Spinning Top of Doom(700/600) in attack mode and then play a very special magic card, Randomizer Turkey!" A giant top, like the ones that were in the children's game appeared...but this one had spikes poking out of it. And a strange looking turkey with a shimmering aura about it appeared on the field, and as soon as it did all the other monsters on the field began to flicker, and it Drake quickly noticed that the counters for attack and defense of each monster that he possessed was no longer fixed, in fact they were changing so fast he couldn't keep track of them.
"This is where the fun really begins, you see Randomizer Turkey randomizes the stats of every monster on the field, and in a moment they will be finalized, and who knows what'll happen then!" Finally the counter stopped, and Drake could only sigh heavily at the results.
Spinning Top of Doom(3039/86)
No-Face Illusionist(1034/473)
Dark Magician(1647/2745)
"Spinning Top of Doom, attack No-Face Illusionist!" It spun over and crashed into his mage, tearing it and Drake's life points apart. Only the Dark Magician was left to defend Drake's life points.
"I finish my turn by playing Clairvoyance, which for 100 life points lets me check the top card of your deck and then replace it." Lucas grimaced at whatever he saw, and motioned for his turn to end, but he didn't manage to get the words out before his life points took a dip.
Lucas: 1600
Drake: 1145
Drake grinned as he drew. "You should have aimed for my Dark Magician, see when Black Pendant goes to the cemetery it deals 500 life points damage to you. I know you know what I just drew, which means you're expecting this. So enjoy the sight when I play Megamorph on the Dark Magician to double his attack points setting them at 3294! Dark Magic Attack!"
And with one burst of purple magic, the Spinning Top of Doom was destroyed. But Drake knew not to celebrate, because there was no telling what Lucas would pull next. He had to remain on guard for anything.
Lucas: 1345
Lucas smirked and shook his head in disgust. "You're better then I thought, but you overlooked the obvious. That all my monsters so far have had effects, that doesn't take Spinning Top of Doom out of the mix. And its effect is to let me special summon any level 6 or higher monster from my hand to the field. You should be worried, especially since I'm summoning my Twin Mages!"
The duel was just about to reach what seemed to be the final stage. The stage was set for whatever deadly or strange monster Lucas could send out, specifically his rarest card, the Twin Mages. Any defense monster Drake played could be destroyed and Drake would lose life points for it, and any equip card Lucas played on his monsters would effect both their stats, no matter what the card said. To make it worse, every turn Lucas could check the card on the top of Drake's deck and then replace it.
"Now be prepared to witness the power of my rarest card, Twin Mages!" He slammed the card down on the duel disc and from the card erupted the image of two small figures, both in brown robes covering their entire bodies. Neither one's face was visible, but twin yellow eyes glowed beneath the hoods. One was shorter then the other.
But the real strange thing, were the stats that showed. Twin Mages registered as (1400-1400/1000-1000). And those stats made no sense whatsoever to Drake. No monster had stats set up like that. "What makes this monster so special that its so rare and yet so weak?"
Lucas chuckled as he placed another card down on his field, bringing the total number of magic cards on his field to four. Then he checked Drake's top card and replaced it. "Oh its far from weak. In fact its damned near impossible to beat. Especially since I'm powering it up with the Book of Secret Arts."
Twin Mages(1700-1700/1300-1300)
Drake shook his head in wonder. "I still don't understand, it still isn't powerful enough to defeat my Dark Magician...so why is it so rare?"
Lucas began to laugh, quietly at first but soon growing into a full belly laugh, resounding far and wide. "The effect is what gives it such strength. The Twin Mages count as two monsters when it comes to tributes and their attack power is separate, but by sacrificing one card from my hand or deck I can combine their attack or defense points for one mighty strike! Now I'll do so to destroy your puny magician, Twin Magic Attack!"
Drake cried out as a beam of light seared into his eyes, blinding him momentarily. When he was able to see again only smoke remained where his Dark Magician had once stood, and Drake's life points had payed the price.
Lucas: 1245
Drake: 1039
And as it suddenly became Drake's turn, he knew that he had only one way to keep from losing this duel right here and now. But even that wasn't much of a chance. "One monster in reverse defense mode, and then I play Swords of Revealing Light!"
Lucas drew and then added the card to his hand, but he grimaced at his hand as if it were the worst hand ever. "I play Resurrect to special summon Spinning Top of Doom from my graveyard and then sacrifice it for Blubber Force Soldier(2300/1100). That ends my turn, at least after I check your next card."
Lucas: 1145
There was no room for mistakes in this duel, and Drake had to make this next move count. And he was fairly certain that it would. He drew his next card and smirked when he saw Graceful Charity, that must have pissed Lucas off when he saw it. "Lucas, you shouldn't have kept checking my cards, its going to cost you the duel."
"Oh shut up and make your move so I can end this."
Drake used the Graceful Charity first. "I use Graceful Charity to draw three more cards, but I have to discard two of them. Watch and learn as I revive the Dark Magician with Monster Reborn! Now I flip my defense monster, Magician of Faith, and I recover Megamorph, which I now equip to the Dark Magician to double his stats a second time!"
Lucas' dropped to his knees and closed his eyes as the Dark Magician raised his wand for one final strike. For the last time in the duel, the field inverted colors, and Twin Mages was annihilated under the stream of raw power.
Lucas: 0
"Damn you! How could you possibly have that much luck? I had this thing won, I'm the best duelist in all of Germany, I can't lose to some Japanese nobody!"
Drake shook his head and sighed, deactivating the projectors and reattaching them. "You shouldn't assume things about your opponents. I'm not a nobody, I'm Drake Ihachi, and I'm going all the way to the top in this tournament. So hand over the Twin Mages and your Locater card."
Drake grinned at last as his defeated opponent, the best duelist in all of Germany, handed over his rarest card and his locater card. All Drake had to do now was get four more cards and then he'd be on his way to the finals. As he walked away Drake was unaware that he was far from the only person to be certain of his rise to the top, such was the way of duelists.
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He walked the city alone, unchallenged, untouchable. He was a god. Nothing could challenge his great skill and his incredible powers. And yet at the same time he was alone, afraid, and unready. He was just a boy who liked a game, whose skill was nothing fantastic and powers nonexistent. He was both at the same time, and yet neither. He was Taichi Nobuki and yet something else entirely.
But one thing was for certain. The first duelist who challenged him, would lose their rarest card and locater card. He couldn't wait to see what sort of fool would challenge him first. And he got his wish. "Hey kid! You look like your trying to find an opponent, I figure we could give each other a warm-up. I haven't dueled anyone else yet and it doesn't look like you have either."
Taichi hid his smile as he turned to face the taller boy who was addressing him. Yet another fool. The best part was that nobody was around to see what would happen. "I'll duel you, but I've only got one locater card to put up."
"That's fine, same here. My rarest card just happens to be the unstoppable Undefeated General. What about you?"
Taichi once more hid his smile, oh he knew what the Kaiba corp. system said his rarest card was. Of course that wasn't true. Not with his deck it wasn't. "The Firewing Pegasus." The big fool grinned and raised his arm, launching his projectors, Taichi did the same. Both counters rose to 4000 and the duel was on.
"I'll take the first turn," Taichi drew and let his magic flow. He didn't even glance at the card he had drawn, he simply layed down two cards and played Cannon Soldier in attack mode. "That's all."
His opponent drew and surveyed his hand, then began laughing. "That little thing is about to lose you a lot of life points, bad first move kid. I'll set down Wyvern Warrior(1500/1200) in attack mode and play Gaia Power. Boosted Wyvern Warrior(2000/800) is taking down your soldier."
The almost snake like lizard creature, powered because of its Earth type by Gaia Power, charged at Cannon Soldier to destroy it. "I activate Reverse Trap and Mask of Loss. Wyvern Warrior drops to 1000 attack and Cannon Soldier raises to 2100." With a set of blasts from the cannons on the monster's shoulders, Wyvern Warrior was destroyed.
Earth deck guy: 2900
Taichi smirked and drew again. "I'm about to end the duel right here. I play Scapegoat, creating four goat tokens. I will sacrifice each of them to Cannon Soldier's effect, dealing 2000 life points damage to you."
Earth deck guy: 900
"Now watch the end as I attack you directly with Cannon Soldier!" His opponent handed him the locater card and that finished up his part. Of course there was one last thing left to do. "I've got a truly rare card that I want you to see, just because of the good fight you put up." The larger boy obviously thought he was being insulted, but was willing to endure it to see what kind of card Taichi had.
Taichi slipped the card out and held it up to show it. "But its blank."
There was a flash of light and Taichi walked away, once more alone...or maybe not so alone. "Not anymore."
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A few hours later Hinata and her accomplice into an alley where they had seen Ryu disappear into a few seconds ago. As they turned the corner, they saw the last diminishing seconds of a duel as a Jirai Gumo attached with a Megamorph attacked an opponent's life points directly, the sign of a very short battle. The duelist fell to the floor as Ryu walked over to him, pulling him up by his coat, "Tell me where my card is. Now!"
Hinata walked over to him as Dalin walked to take a stairwell to the top of a building, looking down at the alley. When Hinata got close enough, she reached out and put her hand on his shoulder, "Ryu?"
Startled, he turned around, dropping the Rare Hunter to the ground. He then realized who the intruder was, "I thought I told you to stay at my place."
"Yeah, I'd really stay there and worry about you."
Ryu turned back to the Rare Hunter who was still on the ground, "Where is it?" The man began to smirk and Hinata tapped Ryu on the shoulder. When he looked at her, she pointed to a similarly dressed person, holding a giant sword. Ryu threw down the Rare Hunter, who was instantly knocked out, to face the other one. Things just getting better and better...
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Next Time: As Ryu, Dalin, and Hinata face off against the Rare Hunter Drake enters into a duel against an opponent that he has been hoping to duel against for some time...
Chapter Five: Opening Duel, Twin Mages Arise!
The week's wait was over, Drake's deck was ready, and Malik had ordered the Rare Hunters to be prepared to take their pick of cards at Battle City. It was to be the largest gathering of Rare Hunters in one place ever, and not a single card would be safe from them. Having made his way out to the general area where Kaiba had specified the tournament would begin he walked around, trying to pick his first opponent. By putting in the name of a duelist in any computer on the Battle City website you could get their star rating and their rarest card, but of course he didn't know everyone's name, nor did he happen to have a laptop he could bring with him.
It wasn't long before Kaiba came on and explained the Locater Cards that everyone had, and how the whole thing would work out. It was simple enough, it also meant that speed was a key. If you won the six locater cards you needed but were slow in doing it, you could arrive to discover that the finals had already started. "It's time to get going, but who am I going to duel?"
"What about me?" At the sound of a the thick German accent that slaughtered the Japanese it was spoken with Drake instantly knew who it was. He whirled around to find none other than Lucas Braunam, Germany's Champ. Drake grinned when he saw Lucas. He knew more about the professional duelist then he had at their previous meeting, because he had deliberately checked out his stats on the website to know just what he might expect if he met Lucas either in the tournament or in the finals. Lucas was counted as a five star duelist, whose rarest card was 'Twin Mages' a card that Drake didn't recognize.
"I'll duel you, and then I'll take your Twin Mages card. Should be interesting to face the best duelist in all of Germany. Oh yeah, and I hope this will be a good one, I owe you that just for the little bit of help you gave me last week." He grinned at the German who flashed him a grin of his own. They were seeing eye to eye on one thing at least, neither was going to give anything less then their best in this duel, or any other.
"Yes, after I defeat you then I will have your Wizard Mentor card. Do not worry Drake, even a four star duelist like yourself might manage to put up a fight against an expert like myself. The best duelist in all of Germany as you said yourself."
Drake smirked and cracked his knuckles. "You're forgetting one thing Lucas."
"What is that?"
"You're not in Germany anymore." Drake and Lucas faced each other, both sizing the other one up, trying to decide just what kind of duelist they would be facing, and whether they had any obvious weaknesses to exploit.
As of yet, both had come up with nothing. All that was left for them, was to begin the duel and go from there. "Germany or no, I still intend to..." Lucas stopped momentarily and reached into his pocket, flipping through a booklet.
Drake face faulted, but recovered quickly and queried his would-be opponent. "What in the world are you doing?"
"Be quiet would you! I'm looking up how to say something!" Drake rolled his eyes realizing that though Lucas spoke very good Japanese, even with his terrible accent, he wasn't perfect at the langauge.
"Just forget it and lets duel already!" Lucas harumphed and tossed the booklet down, extending his arm to launch the projectors. Drake did the same. Projectors launched and field ready, both's counters raised to 4000 LP each. The duel was ready to start.
"I'll be nice since your a tourist and give you the first move."
Lucas nodded and drew his sixth card and added it to his hand. "I thank you, now we'll just have to see if you can handle this. I summon Rocket Warrior(1500/1300) in attack mode and lay one card face down." With surprising realness the green machine warrior shimmered into view on the field, behind him hovered a holographic image of a Duel Monster's card. Kaiba had outdone himself this time, these versions were even more realistic then the Dueling Platform versions.
It took Drake a moment to remember Rocket Warrior's effect, and it was a dangerous one. He'd have to get rid of the little warrior quickly, so he wouldn't have to worry about its effect. Unless of course he let it use its effect..."One monster in reverse defense mode and a card face down." The warriors had been summoned and the field was set, it was set up in a way that made the area in between them seem like a dueling mat. On Lucas' field there stood a small warrior with a shield and a sword, who didn't look all that impressive, and a card floating behind him. On Drake's field was a card in the turned position face down, representing the monster he had placed. Behind it was also another hovering card.
"I'll summon Crazy-Eye Beast(1700/1200) in attack mode. Then I'll play this magic card, Double Meaning, which works on any effects that alter a monsters stats. Rocket Warrior will attack to bring down your monsters attack and defense by 500 points and Crazy-Eye Beast will attack as well!" The tiny warrior shifted into the form of a rocket and launched itself at Drake's defense monster, striking and rebounding.
From within the card materialized a strange looking creature with no face, and two dolls heads beside the main head. The No-Face Illusionist(1200/2200) was decreased in attack and defense by Rocket Warrior's effect to 700 attack and 1700 defense. Crazy-Eye Beast, a massive monster with eyes on its chest, swung its nasty looking claws at No-Face Illusionist, to no effect. The attack of the beast was equal to No-Face's defense.
Lucas: 4000
Drake: 4000
"Well that was a brilliant play Lucas, but not even remotely effective. Now No-Face Illusionists attack and defense are back to where they should be, and your beast can't destroy it." Drake drew without even glancing at his deck and then placed the card in his hand. He was at 5 cards again, and he knew exactly what to play.
"I'll set another card face down, and summon Skilled Black Magician(1900/1700) the best overall level 4 in the entire game. Skilled Black Magician, Black Magic blast Rocket warrior into oblivion!" The black robed spellcaster aimed his baton-like staff and let loose a beam of black energy, shattering Rocket Warrior like a pricked soap bubble.
Lucas: 3600
Drake: 4000
"Well if that doesn't just beat all. But your still playing kiddy style, I'm about to show you real skill. I'll flip my magic card, Lost Freedom, which means that any destroyed defense monster, will still count against your life points. Then I'll tribute my Crazy-Eye to summon Blubber Force Soldier(2300/1100). Better yet, Crazy-Eye's effect is that once it goes to the graveyard it does direct damage to my opponent, equal to half of its attack at the time of its destruction." Drake winced in horror as a bloated man, whose skin seemed to be leaking out of his armor was summoned onto the field in Crazy-Eye's place, and even more so when the effect activated.
Drake: 3150
"Blubber Force Soldier will destroy your Illusionist and his effect will activate. He doubles the life point damage afflicted when he goes into battle with one of my opponent's monsters!" With one heave of his bloated body, the obese warrior crashed down upon the faceless mage and then hopped off, leaving No-Face Illusionist intact, and upon his forehead was a glowing horn.
"You fell into my trap, one of my face down cards was the equip card, Horn of Light, which increases a monster's defense by 800, now your the one who's losing life points. And not only that, but your magic card sets a counter on my magician, as does my own magic card." Two small glowing jewels appeared above the spellcaster and floated there, untouched by anything.
Lucas: 2600
"What does a magic counter do?" Drake smirked at the worried look upon his face, not only because of the double damage he just dealt to himself, but because he obviously didn't know anything about magic counters. Drake had realized that advantage early on, since cards that used magic counters had only recently been released.
"You'll have to find out for yourself." So far the duel was going in Drake's favor. He had a powerful level four out on the field, a monster with 2800 defense points, and a 550 life point lead. His opponent had a decent level six, and two magic cards, neither of which were a huge threat.
Now it was Drake's turn, and he was ready to do what he could to finish the duel here and now. He drew and then looked over his hand, a decent hand, but not quite good enough. "I swith No-Face Illusionist into attack mode, and then I'll equip him with Black Pendant raising his attack to 1700. That places a third magic counter on my magician. Watch and be amazed as I use his effect to sacrifice the three magic counters and himself to special summon the Dark Magician(2500/2100). My Dark Magician will attack Blubber Force Soldier! The powerful spellcaster raised his wand and the color on the field inverted, blowing the tubby warrior into smithereens.
Lucas: 2200
"Now No-Face Illusionist will attack you directly!" But to Drake's shock Lucas didn't lose any life points from the attack. The only damage he had recieved, despite the direct attack, was the doubled damage his Dark Magician had done when destroying Blubber Force Soldier.
"What happened? The duel should have been over!" Lucas shook his head and tossed a card from his hand into his graveyard.
"I used the effect of Kuriboh to bring down the life point damage from your second attack to zero." Lucas was definetely pissed, and he was willing to show it. He couldn't believe that he was losing to a four star duelist, and one from Japan! He knew for certain that the Germans were in every way superior, so how could he be losing? Snatching desperately at his deck for something to turn the tide he grinned in delight when his eyes fell upon the card.
"I'll summon Spinning Top of Doom(700/600) in attack mode and then play a very special magic card, Randomizer Turkey!" A giant top, like the ones that were in the children's game appeared...but this one had spikes poking out of it. And a strange looking turkey with a shimmering aura about it appeared on the field, and as soon as it did all the other monsters on the field began to flicker, and it Drake quickly noticed that the counters for attack and defense of each monster that he possessed was no longer fixed, in fact they were changing so fast he couldn't keep track of them.
"This is where the fun really begins, you see Randomizer Turkey randomizes the stats of every monster on the field, and in a moment they will be finalized, and who knows what'll happen then!" Finally the counter stopped, and Drake could only sigh heavily at the results.
Spinning Top of Doom(3039/86)
No-Face Illusionist(1034/473)
Dark Magician(1647/2745)
"Spinning Top of Doom, attack No-Face Illusionist!" It spun over and crashed into his mage, tearing it and Drake's life points apart. Only the Dark Magician was left to defend Drake's life points.
"I finish my turn by playing Clairvoyance, which for 100 life points lets me check the top card of your deck and then replace it." Lucas grimaced at whatever he saw, and motioned for his turn to end, but he didn't manage to get the words out before his life points took a dip.
Lucas: 1600
Drake: 1145
Drake grinned as he drew. "You should have aimed for my Dark Magician, see when Black Pendant goes to the cemetery it deals 500 life points damage to you. I know you know what I just drew, which means you're expecting this. So enjoy the sight when I play Megamorph on the Dark Magician to double his attack points setting them at 3294! Dark Magic Attack!"
And with one burst of purple magic, the Spinning Top of Doom was destroyed. But Drake knew not to celebrate, because there was no telling what Lucas would pull next. He had to remain on guard for anything.
Lucas: 1345
Lucas smirked and shook his head in disgust. "You're better then I thought, but you overlooked the obvious. That all my monsters so far have had effects, that doesn't take Spinning Top of Doom out of the mix. And its effect is to let me special summon any level 6 or higher monster from my hand to the field. You should be worried, especially since I'm summoning my Twin Mages!"
The duel was just about to reach what seemed to be the final stage. The stage was set for whatever deadly or strange monster Lucas could send out, specifically his rarest card, the Twin Mages. Any defense monster Drake played could be destroyed and Drake would lose life points for it, and any equip card Lucas played on his monsters would effect both their stats, no matter what the card said. To make it worse, every turn Lucas could check the card on the top of Drake's deck and then replace it.
"Now be prepared to witness the power of my rarest card, Twin Mages!" He slammed the card down on the duel disc and from the card erupted the image of two small figures, both in brown robes covering their entire bodies. Neither one's face was visible, but twin yellow eyes glowed beneath the hoods. One was shorter then the other.
But the real strange thing, were the stats that showed. Twin Mages registered as (1400-1400/1000-1000). And those stats made no sense whatsoever to Drake. No monster had stats set up like that. "What makes this monster so special that its so rare and yet so weak?"
Lucas chuckled as he placed another card down on his field, bringing the total number of magic cards on his field to four. Then he checked Drake's top card and replaced it. "Oh its far from weak. In fact its damned near impossible to beat. Especially since I'm powering it up with the Book of Secret Arts."
Twin Mages(1700-1700/1300-1300)
Drake shook his head in wonder. "I still don't understand, it still isn't powerful enough to defeat my Dark Magician...so why is it so rare?"
Lucas began to laugh, quietly at first but soon growing into a full belly laugh, resounding far and wide. "The effect is what gives it such strength. The Twin Mages count as two monsters when it comes to tributes and their attack power is separate, but by sacrificing one card from my hand or deck I can combine their attack or defense points for one mighty strike! Now I'll do so to destroy your puny magician, Twin Magic Attack!"
Drake cried out as a beam of light seared into his eyes, blinding him momentarily. When he was able to see again only smoke remained where his Dark Magician had once stood, and Drake's life points had payed the price.
Lucas: 1245
Drake: 1039
And as it suddenly became Drake's turn, he knew that he had only one way to keep from losing this duel right here and now. But even that wasn't much of a chance. "One monster in reverse defense mode, and then I play Swords of Revealing Light!"
Lucas drew and then added the card to his hand, but he grimaced at his hand as if it were the worst hand ever. "I play Resurrect to special summon Spinning Top of Doom from my graveyard and then sacrifice it for Blubber Force Soldier(2300/1100). That ends my turn, at least after I check your next card."
Lucas: 1145
There was no room for mistakes in this duel, and Drake had to make this next move count. And he was fairly certain that it would. He drew his next card and smirked when he saw Graceful Charity, that must have pissed Lucas off when he saw it. "Lucas, you shouldn't have kept checking my cards, its going to cost you the duel."
"Oh shut up and make your move so I can end this."
Drake used the Graceful Charity first. "I use Graceful Charity to draw three more cards, but I have to discard two of them. Watch and learn as I revive the Dark Magician with Monster Reborn! Now I flip my defense monster, Magician of Faith, and I recover Megamorph, which I now equip to the Dark Magician to double his stats a second time!"
Lucas' dropped to his knees and closed his eyes as the Dark Magician raised his wand for one final strike. For the last time in the duel, the field inverted colors, and Twin Mages was annihilated under the stream of raw power.
Lucas: 0
"Damn you! How could you possibly have that much luck? I had this thing won, I'm the best duelist in all of Germany, I can't lose to some Japanese nobody!"
Drake shook his head and sighed, deactivating the projectors and reattaching them. "You shouldn't assume things about your opponents. I'm not a nobody, I'm Drake Ihachi, and I'm going all the way to the top in this tournament. So hand over the Twin Mages and your Locater card."
Drake grinned at last as his defeated opponent, the best duelist in all of Germany, handed over his rarest card and his locater card. All Drake had to do now was get four more cards and then he'd be on his way to the finals. As he walked away Drake was unaware that he was far from the only person to be certain of his rise to the top, such was the way of duelists.
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He walked the city alone, unchallenged, untouchable. He was a god. Nothing could challenge his great skill and his incredible powers. And yet at the same time he was alone, afraid, and unready. He was just a boy who liked a game, whose skill was nothing fantastic and powers nonexistent. He was both at the same time, and yet neither. He was Taichi Nobuki and yet something else entirely.
But one thing was for certain. The first duelist who challenged him, would lose their rarest card and locater card. He couldn't wait to see what sort of fool would challenge him first. And he got his wish. "Hey kid! You look like your trying to find an opponent, I figure we could give each other a warm-up. I haven't dueled anyone else yet and it doesn't look like you have either."
Taichi hid his smile as he turned to face the taller boy who was addressing him. Yet another fool. The best part was that nobody was around to see what would happen. "I'll duel you, but I've only got one locater card to put up."
"That's fine, same here. My rarest card just happens to be the unstoppable Undefeated General. What about you?"
Taichi once more hid his smile, oh he knew what the Kaiba corp. system said his rarest card was. Of course that wasn't true. Not with his deck it wasn't. "The Firewing Pegasus." The big fool grinned and raised his arm, launching his projectors, Taichi did the same. Both counters rose to 4000 and the duel was on.
"I'll take the first turn," Taichi drew and let his magic flow. He didn't even glance at the card he had drawn, he simply layed down two cards and played Cannon Soldier in attack mode. "That's all."
His opponent drew and surveyed his hand, then began laughing. "That little thing is about to lose you a lot of life points, bad first move kid. I'll set down Wyvern Warrior(1500/1200) in attack mode and play Gaia Power. Boosted Wyvern Warrior(2000/800) is taking down your soldier."
The almost snake like lizard creature, powered because of its Earth type by Gaia Power, charged at Cannon Soldier to destroy it. "I activate Reverse Trap and Mask of Loss. Wyvern Warrior drops to 1000 attack and Cannon Soldier raises to 2100." With a set of blasts from the cannons on the monster's shoulders, Wyvern Warrior was destroyed.
Earth deck guy: 2900
Taichi smirked and drew again. "I'm about to end the duel right here. I play Scapegoat, creating four goat tokens. I will sacrifice each of them to Cannon Soldier's effect, dealing 2000 life points damage to you."
Earth deck guy: 900
"Now watch the end as I attack you directly with Cannon Soldier!" His opponent handed him the locater card and that finished up his part. Of course there was one last thing left to do. "I've got a truly rare card that I want you to see, just because of the good fight you put up." The larger boy obviously thought he was being insulted, but was willing to endure it to see what kind of card Taichi had.
Taichi slipped the card out and held it up to show it. "But its blank."
There was a flash of light and Taichi walked away, once more alone...or maybe not so alone. "Not anymore."
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A few hours later Hinata and her accomplice into an alley where they had seen Ryu disappear into a few seconds ago. As they turned the corner, they saw the last diminishing seconds of a duel as a Jirai Gumo attached with a Megamorph attacked an opponent's life points directly, the sign of a very short battle. The duelist fell to the floor as Ryu walked over to him, pulling him up by his coat, "Tell me where my card is. Now!"
Hinata walked over to him as Dalin walked to take a stairwell to the top of a building, looking down at the alley. When Hinata got close enough, she reached out and put her hand on his shoulder, "Ryu?"
Startled, he turned around, dropping the Rare Hunter to the ground. He then realized who the intruder was, "I thought I told you to stay at my place."
"Yeah, I'd really stay there and worry about you."
Ryu turned back to the Rare Hunter who was still on the ground, "Where is it?" The man began to smirk and Hinata tapped Ryu on the shoulder. When he looked at her, she pointed to a similarly dressed person, holding a giant sword. Ryu threw down the Rare Hunter, who was instantly knocked out, to face the other one. Things just getting better and better...
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Next Time: As Ryu, Dalin, and Hinata face off against the Rare Hunter Drake enters into a duel against an opponent that he has been hoping to duel against for some time...