Chapter 4: Reina, Complicated Duelist

Saturday 2:01 PM

Nikki strolled happily down the main street of Domino City. Around her neck hung the talismans of fire and metal. She looked around for other duelists to challenge but they were nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, a familiar voice entered Nikki's ear.

"Now finish off that Judge Man! Attack Yamata Dragon!" A five-headed beast shot a blast of fire from each head that destroyed the warrior. "That means I win."

"Mark." Nikki groaned. She rushed over to look at his opponent whom now had no talismans.

"What's wrong Nikki? Too slow?" Mark insulted.

"What do you mean?" She asked. He motioned to his neck where 3 talismans hung. They were light, wind and earth. "Damn you!"

"That's right! In the time it took you to win one I have claimed two. But there's no point in dueling you because I'm saving my skill for pros." Mark strolled off as Nikki made a face.

"Darn it! I need to find another duelist." Nikki looked frantically around until she saw a girl with long brown hair with a duel disk on her left arm. "Hey you! Are you a duelist?"

"I am," the girl replied. Nikki noted the signs of light and metal around her neck.

"Well, how about we duel. If you win, you get my fire emblem (it's a good game) and if I win I get yours of light."

"Deal," the girl replied. "But I warn you, I don't go easy on anyone."

"Before we start, can you tell me your name?" Nikki inquired.

"Reina," the girl replied as they drew their hands.

Reina 8000/Nikki 8000

"I'll start by playing Card Destruction sending both of our hands to the graveyard and making us draw new ones," Reina said delightedly. "Now I'll set one monster in defense mode."

"Too easy," Nikki said as she drew. "I summon Harpie's Brother in attack mode!" A tall muscular harpie with red wings, mask and claws appeared. "Now attack her monster now!" Nikki's creature rushed and slashed the monster to shreds.

"Now that my Witch of the Black Forest has been destroyed, I can add one card from my deck to my hand with 1500 defense points or less." Reina pointed out. "And now I'll set another monster and end my turn."

"You're acting kind of cowardly," Nikki said confidently drawing her card. "Cool. I sacrifice my Harpie's Brother for Dark Magician Girl!" 2000/1800. A female version of dark magician wearing gold and pink arose and floated several inches above the ground. "Now attack her face down monster!" The mage fired a blast of energy at the monster destroying it.

"My Sangan. Now I can draw a monster with 1500 attack points or less." Reina said as she put a card into her hand. "Now for my turn. I set a monster in defense mode."

"And people call me an amateur," Nikki snickered. "I will set a monster also and have Dark Magician Girl attack your face down monster!" The female wizard shot a blast of energy. As it hit Reina's monster, it was deflected to the side. The monster rose up and was revealed as Prevent Rat. "Damn you. I end my turn."

"Well, it looks like I'll take and early lead," Reina chuckled. "I sacrifice Prevent Rat to summon Shadow Ghoul in attack mode!" 1600/1300. A multi-eyed demon with red eyes and green skin roared at Nikki. Suddenly, it began to glow a strange bluish color. 2400/1300.

"Hey! Cheater!" Nikki yelled. "It can't be that strong! You didn't equip it!"

"Wrong." Reina retorted. "If you remember, I have sent Sangan, Witch of the Black Forest and Prevent Rat to the graveyard. Also, when I played Card Destruction, I discarded 5 monster cards!"

So that's her strategy Nikki thought. She'll keep losing monsters to power up her Ghoul.

"Now Shadow Ghoul, destroy Dark Magician Girl with reaping claw slash!" The ghoul swung its claw cutting Dark Magician Girl to shreds.

Reina 8000/Nikki 7600

Nikki drew. "Darn it! I can't summon anything! I'll set one card and end my turn."

"Now who's scared? I will set a monster and equip my ghoul with Fairy Meteor Crush!" The Shadow Ghoul started to glow a rainbow hue. "Now attack and destroy her set monster!" As the Ghoul slashed the creature was revealed as Luster Dragon.

Reina 8000/Nikki 6800

"I'll activate Swords of Revealing Light and end my turn." Nikki said glumly.

"Well, I can't attack but I can still damage," Reina laughed. "I summon my Cannon Soldier. Now, I'll sacrifice my set monster to deal you damage!" The set monster rose up and appeared to be Big Shield Guardna. It loaded itself into the cannon and was fired at Nikki pushing her back.

Reina 8000/Nikki 6300

"Wait! I heard about this strategy!" Nikki realized. "I read about a girl who dueled like this...her name was....Rebecca!"

"Good work," Reina said clapping her hands in insult. "You finally figured it out. My full name is...Reina Hawkins. However, my mother is a bit...weaker than me as you shall soon see. So make a move."

"Fine!" Nikki snapped. Hmm...how was Rebecca beaten...oh yeah... I hope I draw it..."Yes! I did it! I'll play Monster Reborn to revive Dark Magician Girl! And now, I'll play Soul Release to remove 5 cards from your graveyard reducing Shadow Ghoul's attack points to 2000, equal to my Magician. Now I summon Gemini Elf!" 1900/900. "Dark Magician Girl, destroy Shadow Ghoul!" The two monsters charged but both were destroyed. "Now destroy her Cannon Soldier, Gemini Elf!" The elf twins punched the robot making it fall to pieces.

Reina 7500/Nikki 6300

"Oh well, all I can do is set a monster." Reina sighed.

"Ha! Now I'll set a monster. Now attack Gemini Elf!" As the elves punched the monster, it rose to show it was a strange box. It was metal and resembled a basic camera.

"My Dimension Jar allows each player to remove up to 3 monsters from the opponents grave. I won't remove any from yours."

"That was stupid! I'll remove your Shadow Ghoul and two others so you can't use it again." Nikki laughed.

"Don't worry, you have only helped me." Reina giggled.

"What do you mean?" Nikki inquired.

"I will summon my best monster, Gren Maju Da Eiza!" 0/0. A strange red dragon with a torso similar to an armored human appeared. "He may look weak but watch." Suddenly, pictures of all the cards removed from play began to appear and whirl around the new monster's head. 3200/3200. "By gathering the strength of all monsters removed from play, I have created an unstoppable creature. Now I play De-Spell to destroy your swords. Now destroy her Gemini Elf!" The beast shot a blast of flame wiping out the two maidens.

Reina 7500/Nikki 5100

"I'm not done yet," Nikki said as she drew. "Yes! I play Exchange so now I get to take one card from your hand and you take one from mine." They walked over as they each chose. Nikki selected Monster Reborn and Reina chose Seven Colored Fish. "Now I play Monster Reborn to revive Gemini Elf. But now I sacrifice it along with my set monster for Dark Magician!" 2500/2100. A mage clad in purple armor hovered above the field. "Now I'll set two cards and end my turn."

"Ha, that still isn't enough to destroy my monster," Reina snickered. "Now Maju attack her Dark Magician with Gathered Energy Blast!" The dragon raised its claws and gathered a pulsing orb of pure energy. It was hurled at the Dark Magician. However, the attack bounced off. "What?" Reina roared.

"I activated Negate Attack," Nikki said. "It defends my monster and ends your battle phase immediately!"

"Damn, I'll just set a monster and end my turn." Reina said with disgust.

"Now to see if I can destroy your monster," Nikki said as she looked over her hand. "Ok, this might work. I will activate my set card known as Magic Formula on my Dark Magician!" A strange tome appeared before Dark Magician and he began to study its pages. 3000/2600. "Now I'll set a card and end my turn."

"You are going to lose this turn," Reina said as she drew, "now Maju attack her Dark Magician!" The blast of energy flew at the Dark Magician. However, he dodged and shot a blast of energy destroying the beast.

Reina 7000/Nikki 5100

"How?" Reina asked in shock.

"I activated my face down card, Rush Recklessly. It increases my monster's attack points by 700 for one turn."

"No! I can't do anything! I end my turn."

"Now to beat you," Nikki smirked. "This is great. I play Soul Exchange and sacrifice your set monster for Mr. Volcano!" 2100/800. A man with fiery red hair in a white suit stood alongside Dark Magician. "Too bad I have to skip my Battle Phase so I'll end my turn."

"Gren Maju Da Eiza can't be beaten so easily," Reina laughed. "I play Premature Burial!"

Reina 6200/Nikki 5100

Suddenly, the ground shook. Then, the figure of Gren Maju Da Eiza reemerged. 3200/3200. "Now I'll play my own Soul Release to remove another 5 cards in my graveyard from play." As Reina discarded the cards, her monster began to grow in size and power. 5200/5200. "How will you stop him now? Gren Maju Da Eiza, attack and destroy her Dark Magician!" The beast gathered a ball of pulsing energy and threw it at the Dark Magician leaving now remnants.

Reina 6200/Nikki 1900

"Darn it," Nikki muttered. "She has almost all her life points and I have less that a quarter of mine. I have to believe..." Suddenly, Nikki remembered Raijouta and her promise. "I will see you in the finals! Yes! I have just drawn the card to defeat you. Now I equip Mr. Volcano with Megamorph!" Suddenly, the man began to double in size. His arms became more muscular and his suit began to tear. "Because you have more life points than me, Mr. Volcano's attack doubles. Now he's at 4200!"

"So what?" Reina scoffed. "Maju still has 1000 more attack points."

"Not for long. I'll summon Dunames Dark Witch in attack mode!" 1850/850. A teenage witch in red armor with purple hair emerged. "Now by equipping Mr. Volcano with Axe of Despair, his attack will be equal to Gren Maju Da Eiza!" 5200/4200. Suddenly, a great axe appeared in the man's hands. "Now attack her monster with Flaming Cleave!" The two monsters raced towards each other, Maju shooting energy and Mr. Volcano hacking wildly with his flaming axe. After the conflict, both lay dead. "Now attack directly Dark Witch!" The witch fired a shining energy beam from her hands that hit Reina.

Reina 4350/Nikki 1900

"So what? I can still win," Reina thought as she drew. "No! This won't work! I must end my turn."

"Looks like you're going to lose," Nikki smiled. "Now to defeat you! I play Zombyra the Dark in attack mode." 2200/1700. A zombie wearing a dark red cape posed on the field. "Now Zombyra and Dunames, attack her directly!" A blast of energy was followed by a quick punch. However, Zombyra began to shrink in size as his attack points decreased to 1900.

Reina 300/Nikki 1900

Reina drew, praying for a miracle. However, her hopes were dashed. "Nikki, there is nothing I can do. I concede; you are the victor." As the monsters vanished, Reina walked over and handed Nikki the sign of light. Nikki snapped it onto her necklace next to the signs of fire and metal.

"Thank you, Reina for an excellent duel," Nikki commented.

"You are so bad yourself," Reina chuckled. "Well, I only have one talisman, but I'll duel hard and maybe we'll meet again."

"Maybe," Nikki said. She then ran off, searching for her next challenge...

HES: Hi to all the readers. I hope you all have enjoyed these chapters. I know it took awhile to write this one but now that school is over I will try (not promise) to put out a new chapter every week.

Next time on Amateur Duelist: Nikki comes across Ryan, a former sergeant in the military with cards to match. Completely ruthless, and strategic, can she overcome this powerful duelist? Find out next time on Amateur Duelist.