Okay, just some notes about this chapter. The deck that Rex uses in this duel was designed by Alan Wilkinson, so props to him. Also, some of the cards have been modified for this duel, so don't point out any apparent card effect mistakes, please. Other than that, enjoy.
Tournament of the Millennium!
Chapter 18: Last of the First – Monsters Deep and Tall"Hey guys, how'd ya sleep?" Joey burst into the lobby of the hotel looking very energized. He'd had a great night's sleep and was eager to go. Round 2 beckoned!
Yugi looked almost as excited, however, he was doing a better job of keeping it under control. He was wrapping up a duel with Mai, who seemed crestfallen. Apparently, she'd lost.
"We're great! I slept like a log! And now I've had my warm-up, I'm ready to duel seriously!" Yugi chirped happily as he slid his deck into his dueldisk. Mai grinned as she prepared her deck as well.
"Those chumps won't know what hit them when I get there!" Mai declared proudly.
As most of the gang chattered happily, Ryou struggled into the room, holding his head tightly. He felt like a bomb had been set off in his mind. And to make matters worse, his Yami wasn't in a very good mood. All his answers to Ryou's questions had been abrupt, rude and uninformative. The only thing he'd said of any interest had been that Ryou was to address him as Ba-Khu-Ra.
Ryou slumped into a chair and massaged his temples gently. He groaned when someone started to yell above the general level of noise in the room. It was too early for loud noises. He opened his eyes and glared at Grandpa, who was the culprit.
"Attention everyone! Pay attention. I have a message for you Yugi. And you Joey, and Mai and Ryou as well. I have been informed that we, the Millennium Duelists, have been challenged to a clan feud against the Duelist Traps!" Grandpa seemed very excited by his announcement. Everyone else just looked confused.
"Um Grandpa? Can you explain that just a little better?" Yugi piped up.
"Two weeks ago, I registered us, along with Seto and Mokuba Kaiba, as a dueling clan. Due to the rankings of the duelists within our clan, we are ranked 2nd in the world clan ladder! We would have been number one, but Mokuba's unranked percentage lowered our overall ranking a bit. And now we've been challenged by the number one clan of duelists in the world, and also one of the largest, the Duelist Traps! Their best duelists are at this tournament, and they've challenged us!" Grandpa said breathlessly. Mai, Yugi and Ryou nodded in understanding, as did Tea. However, Tristen and Joey still seemed confused.
"Could you vague that up just a little more, Gramps?" Joey questioned sarcastically. He wasn't quite sure what a clan was, why he was in on, why they were being challenged, and most of all why Kaiba was there as well. Kaiba plus any team equaled bad. Grandpa ignored his question and pulled two cards from his pocket. He handed one to Yugi and one to Joey.
"These are for you. Mokuba told me to give them to you."
Yugi's mouth fell open slightly as he looked at his card, however, he silently slipped it into his deck. Joey looked at his card and his eyes narrowed.
"Hang on a moment. This is Hellmos. I remember this from when we…" Joey was cut off by Yugi, who elbowed him, and pointed to a group of people sitting nearby.
"No one apart from the people here, Kaiba, Mokuba and the Doma Warriors know what they are, so just keep quiet."
"Aw, c'mon Yugi! Don't you wonder why we've got them? I mean, these are really weird cards. And… don't look at me like that. Those people don't even understand Japanese. Look at em. They sound American to me." Joey pointed out, but dutifully slipped the Claw of Hellmos into his deck.
"We'll talk about it later, okay?" Yugi stressed. "Let's just go and see what these Duelist Traps are like."
Grandpa looked very happy with this sentiment.
"Oh yes, let's go! Then, when you beat the Duelist Traps, we'll get a clan elimination reward, and I can buy that new home entertainment system I've had my eye on."
Yugi frowned. So that was what Grandpa's plans were. Yugi had already expressly told him that any prize money won would not be going to home entertainment systems. Seems Grandpa wasn't to be kept from his television so easily. However, Yugi resolved to bring it up with Grandpa later, and get the Duelist Traps sorted first.
"So what's this challenge all about Gramps?" Yugi asked curiously.
"We have to go to the BattleDome and there we'll be met by the Duelist Traps at 11:00. Until then, our time is free."
Yugi tapped his finger against his chin and pondered what to do. Since he'd done all his duels, there was no reason to search out any duelists to duel. But maybe he could catch some exciting duels in action.
"I'm gonna go to the BattleDome and watch some of the duels there while I wait. A lot of people were hanging around there yesterday, so I guess it's a popular spot. Especially since Round 2 takes place entirely within the BattleDome, so any duelists nearby won't have to waste time in transit if they qualify." Yugi explained his reasoning to the rest of the gang, who nodded in mutual agreement.
"Boring! Who wants to watch the chumps duel? I'm going shopping. This city has a great fashion district!" declared Mai as she stood to leave. There were only 2 hours until they had to face the DTs. No point in wasting shopping time.
"Can I come with you, Mai? I'd like to check out the fashions down this part of the world." Tea picked up her handbag and followed Mai out towards the taxi depot once Mai had nodded her consent.
Joey and Tristen seemed to be planning a trip to the BattleDome as well, for trading purposes though. And Grandpa was going to visit a friend he had in Sydney, whom he hadn't seen for many a year. Yugi was starting to think he'd have to go watch the duels alone when Ryou offered to go with him. Glad of some company, Yugi accepted the offer.
Joey, Yugi, Ryou and Tristen headed out to grab a taxi to the BattleDome, where they would go their separate ways. After a few minutes waiting, they managed to find a cab and jumped in. They were off!
--------------
"Hey Yugi, looks like a duel's about to start already!" Ryou grabbed Yugi's shoulder and pointed to some very familiar characters. Joey pulled his head from the cab window, where he'd been arguing about the fare. He hadn't been getting very far though. The driver didn't speak Japanese. When Joey shot a look at the duelists, his face stretched into an excited grin and he pointed to them, smacking Yugi in the back of the head as he did so.
"Check it out! Mako an Rex are gonna go at it! Forget trading, I gotta see this! Oh man, Rex is gonna go down!" Joey charged off towards the duel, followed swiftly by the others.
Joey shoved through the crowd and burst out in the front line of spectators, where Rex and Mako were eying each other cautiously. Rex and Mako were both clothed in their traditional gear, Rex with his beanie and green jacket, Mako with his blue vest and shorts. They seemed to have only reached the stage of choosing DeckMasters and swapping insults, so Joey, Yugi, Ryou and Tristen didn't seem to have missed anything.
"I shall choose the wonderful Poseidon's Handmaiden as my DeckMaster, to transform my field into a permanent Umi field card," Mako declared proudly. As his aquatic mistress appeared, the field became covered in water. Rex didn't seem to be overly concerned by this.
"Oh yeah? Well I choose Hungry Uraby, my tournament prize card, my deckmaster. Based on his effect, I think your little fishies are doomed to become extinct."
As Rex taunted Mako, a growling brown raptor appeared on the field, and slashed at the air furiously.
"I'll start, fishboy. I draw and play Tomozaurus (500-400) in Defense Mode. And now I'll play this card facedown and end my turn." Rex laughed confidently, his gravelly voice resonating within the dueling arena they were playing at. Joey seemed suspicious of Rex's play.
"Weird. Ol' Dino Breath doesn't seem to be running his big monsters anymore. I mean, he once told me you should never play defense your first turn, but he's doing it!"
"I think he has something planned for that dinosaur Joey," Ryou muttered softly.
Mako drew his card and set it with supreme confidence.
"Now I'll summon Flying Fish (800-500) in Attack Mode, set one card and destroy your Tomozaurus. Naught can stand to the force of the ocean!" Mako placed his hands on his hips and laughed as his fish appeared and flapped its fins. It flew over the ankle-deep water and dived at Rex's card. However, Rex had a trick up his sleeve.
"Activate Restriction Map B! Now all Level 4 or higher monsters are permanently shifted to Defense Mode! So your attack is prevented."
Rex looked highly pleased with himself as he drew his card and smirked.
"I'll summon Godzuki (0-0) in Defense Mode. Now, I'll shift Tomozaurus to Attack Mode and attack your Flying Fish!" commanded Rex boldly. Tristen and Joey seemed confused by Rex's play.
"Hang on a moment. There's something fishy going on here. Why'd Rex attack if the fish has a defense equal to his monster's Attack?" Tristen questioned with bemusement.
"Just a hunch, but I think we're about to see the DeckMaster effect of Hungry Uraby," stated Ryou calmly. He watched as the small red dinosaur caught the fish by the throat, threw it into the air and the raptor behind Rex leapt forward, caught it in its jaws and tore it apart. Mako looked shocked.
"Heh. My Hungry Uraby allows my monsters to destroy any Fish, Insect or Winged Beast they battle with," explained Rex calmly. Yugi seemed impressed.
"Interesting. Rex seems to have finally developed some kind of strategy. Who would've thought?" wondered Yugi out loud. Joey agreed readily.
Mako scowled and drew his card, then calmly placed it on the field.
"I'll set one monster facedown, along with two Trap cards. End turn."
Rex glanced warily at the new cards on the field, then drew his card and played it.
"Activate Dino's Scale Duster. If I have a Dinosaur on the field, I can destroy 2 Traps on the field. So say goodbye to your cards. Now I'll play Eye for an Eye! This card lets me destroy any number of my cards on the field and you must destroy a respective amount."
Rex discarded his Restriction Map B, forcing Mako to destroy his remaining facedown Spell-Trap card. That left Mako's monster unprotected.
"Wow, I didn't think Rex could even spell respective, what with his tiny dino brain," quipped Joey, moderately impressed with Rex's performance.
"Now I'll sacrifice Godzuki to Tribute Summon Dark Driceratops (2400-1200)! When this destroys a Defense Mode monster, the difference in points is done to your Life Points!" called Rex energetically. Mako's monster flipped up to reveal a curious-looking fish with glowing red eyes.
"Oh no, but Souleater has 0 Defense! So that must mean I take 2400 Life Points of Damage!" stressed Mako. Rex nodded affirmatively and grinned as a large dinosaur with a bird-like face emerged and charged at the small fish. Mako looked worried as his life points dropped to 5600.
"Excellent, you have no monsters on the field, so Tomozaurus could attack directly. Or I could use its evolution ability." Rex smirked as his dinosaur began to grow and turn green. Its scales toughened, and a metallic eyepiece metamorphosed around its face. On its left arm, metal began to grow and warp until it had turned into a laser cannon.
"Behold, Cyber Saurus (1800-1400)! Now, Cyber Saurus, attack directly!" called Rex confidently. It hefted it's arm and took aim, then a swarm of small laser bolts, like needles, rained down onto Mako's body. Mako winced as he was pummeled and his life points dropped again to 3800. It didn't look promising.
Joey was gaping at Rex's display of power and tactics, and he made it very obvious.
"No way! Check out the bronto bully! He's whooping Mako, and even I had trouble with Mako," Joey declared in an authorative tone of voice.
"And the fact you had trouble with Mako means what, exactly?" replied Tristen dryly. He wasn't that interested in this duel, since none of his friends were playing, and he wanted to trade some cards and improve his deck.
"I'mma gonna go and trade some sweet cards. Catch you guys," called Tristen to the others as he turned and struggled against the crowd to get out.
Ryou, Yugi and Joey shrugged and turned back to watch what Mako was about to do.
"Nice play, my friend. This has been an incredible duel so far. But now I must turn the tide in my favour. I set one card. And now…" Mako confidently pulled a card from his hand and played it.
"I'll summon Lekunga (1700-1500) in Attack Mode and now I'll remove the two Water monsters in my Graveyard from the game to Special Summon a Lekunga Token in Attack Mode (700-700)!" instructed Mako calmly. In front of him, a plant with creeping tentacles appeared and dunked some of its tentacles into the water. From the water sprouted another, smaller, tentacle plant. He glanced at the card in his hand and smiled. Now was the time to play it.
"I'll activate Sunken Treasures. I may draw a number of cards equal to the number of cards on the field." Mako drew five cards and when he saw the last one, his grin turned complacent. When he glanced up at Rex, he appeared supremely confident.
"I have drawn my ultimate monster. While not strong, it has great significance to me, and always makes me strong when I duel. So now I shall place it onto the field, so everyone else may see the source of my strength."
Joey had the feeling he knew what card it was Mako was talking about, and so did Yugi. Both of them had seen only one card that evoked such sentiment from Mako.
"I activate Big Waves, Little Waves to destroy my two water monsters in order to Special Summon up to 2 Water Monsters from my hand. So I shall summon The Legendary Fisherman (1850-1600) and Levia-Dragon Daedelus (2600-1500) in Attack Mode!" called Mako triumphantly. In front of him, a tanned and muscle-bound man atop a dolphin burst from the water's surface, waving a deadly harpoon. However, it immediately dived back into the water.
Also, a huge sea serpent reared out of the water, swinging it's head and screeching viciously. It roared again and pounced on the terrified Driceratops. It ripped it in half in one bite, reducing Rex's Life Points to 7800. Almost as suddenly, and definitely catching Rex by surprise, the harpoon of the Legendary Fisherman flew from a spot in the water, spearing the Cyber Saurus and splashing back into the water.
Joey jumped in the air and pumped his fist happily.
"Yeah! Go Mako! Go Mako!" Joey began to dance wildly, but almost fell over as someone pushed him from behind. He swung around angrily and swung his fist up in front of the offender's face.
"Damn it Tristen, I was this close to pounding you," he yelled angrily, enraged by the smug look on his friend's face.
"Then don't dance so badly."
"Hang on a minute, Tris. I thought you went to trade some cards?"
Tristen rubbed the back of his head and smiled in an embarrassed fashion.
"Wouldn't you know, the crowd's too thick for me to get out. I gotta wait till the duel's finished. Pretty intense though."
Joey nodded his silent agreement and turned back to watch the duel. Rex seemed to be twitching slightly. Mako had set one card and ended his turn, and it didn't seem like Rex had anything to defend with.
"No, my dinosaurs! They're extinct!" yowled Rex melodramatically. However, it was a pretty bad turn of events. Mako drew his card calmly and placed it on the field.
"I'll sacrifice Levia-Dragon Daedelus to summon Great Leviathan: Kairyuu-Shin (2000-1500)!" announced Mako steadily. "Now it summons a great tidal wave, with which to destroy a number of your Monster Zones!" called Mako as the great red seasnake burst out of the water, sending a great wave of it rolling towards Rex. It splashed over him and, although the number of affected Monster Zones couldn't be seen due to Umi, Rex saw with a sinking feeling that four of his Monster Zones were now unusable.
"Next I play Monster Reborn to recall my Levia-Dragon Daedelus. Now, my aquatic lords, attack Rex directly!" shouted Mako brashly. All three monsters bored down on Rex, and ripped 6450 Life Points from him, leaving him with 1300 Life Points. Rex moaned desperately.
"Ah no, it can't be! I can't lose this, not with my ancient behemoths!"
Rex desperately drew his card and activated it immediately.
"I'll play Amber Revival. I shuffle my deck and draw a card. If it's a Dinosaur, I get to Special Summon it!"
Rex shakily drew the top card of his deck, glanced at it nervously, and then smirked. He slapped it down onto the field.
"I'll summon Tomozaurus in Attack Mode and set one card facedown, then I'll end my turn." Rex folded his arms and motioned for Mako to draw. Yugi looked worried.
"That's gotta be a major trap card. No way would he be so happy about drawing such a weak monster unless he had a plan."
Mako drew his card and looked at it, then confidently played it on the field.
"I'll activate Polymerization to fuse all three of my monsters together to summon the Legendary Leviathan Daedelus (3850-2950)!" shouted Mako dramatically. The duel was his.
In front of Mako, the water began to swirl and whirl, until it had formed a vortex that sucked the three monsters in. Then, after a moment's peace, the water burst upwards in a boiling rage, into a huge waterspout. From the waterspout rushed an absolutely enourmous snake, big enough to almost rival Slifer the Sky Dragon in size. Its full height was revealed momentarily as the waterspout reached higher and higher, stretching a full 250 metres at the very least. Then it slammed back down to earth and the bulk of it disappeared back into the water.
The crowd around Mako cringed and shrieked as the huge monster burst forth, such was it's realism, but Rex didn't even bat an eyelid. However, Mako didn't seem to notice this.
"Ha ha ha! This is the means to your defeat! Let me explain. While Umi is on the field this monster cannot be destroyed, nor can it be affected by any effect in the entire game. Basically, while Umi is on the field, it's invulnerable. And due to my DeckMaster, Umi is always on the field. So you can't beat it." Rex seemed to be slightly concerned by this statement, and Yugi and co was suitably impressed.
"Wow, what a play, hey Yugi?" cheered Ryou as he watched the duel with increased passion.
"Now, attack with Deepest Wave of Oceana!" shouted Mako confidently. Since Rex's facedown card couldn't affect his monster, he had nothing to worry about. He was going to win. In front of Mako, the water swept forward in one huge, solid mass. It didn't curve down, or break. It was literally a wall of water, 50 metres high. Behind it, all the water was drained away, revealing shells and wrecked boats on the ocean-bed.
"Hah, activate Multiply!" shouted Rex just as the wave was about to crash over him. The small red dinosaur replicated into hundreds and locked together as the wave slammed into them. The first set of dinosaurs burst instantly, such was the pressure that rocketed onto them, however, and the dinosaurs were regenerating more quickly than the wave could force them aside. Eventually the tidal wave subsided, leaving a dry and smug-looking Rex standing confidently, surrounded by an army of dinosaurs.
"My turn. I draw and now," Rex snickered as he looked at his card, "time for you to become extinct, Squidbrain." Rex grabbed one card from his hand and placed it onto the field.
"Activate Jurassic Park! This field spell has many abilities, but I really don't care about any of them. I just played it so I could activate this," Rex slid another card into his DuelDisk.
"Activate Burning Lands. This lets me destroy 1 Field Spell, then I may equip it to one monster. For one attack afterwards, that monster can attack directly."
In front of Rex, his raptor leapt into the air and unleashed a torrent of flames at a huge gate that had risen from the water, instantly withering the vines that ensnarled it. Then all of the many hundreds of raptors tilted their heads towards Mako and opened their mouths. There were little balls of fire in each one.
"Oh man! Infinite direct attacks! Looks like Rex's got this one in the bag!" shouted Joey excitedly. It was such an incredible duel; he didn't know who to cheer for.
"Now, Tomozaurus, infinite fireballs direct attack!" commanded Rex sternly.
"Noooo! My mighty beast cannot save me! Defeated again!" Mako fell to his knees and stared at the incoming wall of flames. Just before they hit him, Mako whispered something inaudible. "Thank you father, for getting me this far."
--------------------------------
Yugi, Joey and Ryou walked over to the two duelists to console and congratulate them, while Tristen rushed off to get cards. The five duelists who were now qualified for round 2 went to get milkshakes, and Rex, feeling elated over his unexpected win, even offered to buy Mako one. However, Mako politely declined and walked away, his honour still intact, since everyone admitted it was a hard-fought duel.
The duelists chatted for a while, until Rex decided to ask them something.
"Hey guys. Do you know where Mai is?" he questioned inquisitively.
"Sure. She's gonna meet us at eleven," replied Joey from around a mouthful of burger. Since he'd been reminded of the time, Ryou glanced at his watch. Then he scooped up his dueldisk and started to jog backwards away from the table.
"Um guys, we gotta be there in two minutes. See you there." With that, Ryou swung round and jolted. Yugi and Joey glanced at each other, then dropped their food and chased after him. Rex was left sitting there dumbly. They hadn't even told him where they were meeting Mai. A waitress tapping on his shoulder interrupted his thoughts.
"Excuse me, sir, but this is the bill." She waited for Rex to pay. Rex glanced down at the bill and paled. The food had been expensive. Joey had been eating. That meant… the bill would be phenomenal. He stared at the total and gulped.
"Um… I don't have this much money. The people I was eating with bolted."
"Well sir, that means that only one thing can be done."
Rex sighed, reached into his backpack and pulled an apron from it. He tied it round his waist.
"Okay then. Where are the kitchens?" he sighed with resignation. The waitress pointed down the hallway. Mumbling curses, Rex headed for the kitchen.