Chapter 7: The Fourth Member of the Big 5 Strikes Part 1: Tristan's Sacrifice
In a grassy area of the virtual world Tristan, Duke, and Serenity were trying to find their way out of the world they were in as Duke and Tristan were arguing about what direction to go.
"Will you two please stop arguing? Are we supposed to work together? And don't forget that we might be in danger at any moment, given that the Big 5 can go after us at any point," Serenity said to Duke and Tristan, who shut up.
"She's right, Tristan. Fighting with each other will only make things worse, especially if one of us has to duel," Duke said to Tristan, who nodded in agreement. "Or worse, Serenity."
"Hey, don't worry about it. Tristan has taught Joey how to Duel, and I have taken you to have as well, Duke?" Serenity asked Duke, who looked at Tristan with a questioning look.
"I had dueled your brother before and won, but that is something I am not going to talk about, Serenity. I know more than enough about how the game works. Not sure about Tristan here, but I have the most experience among us," Duke said to Serenity Tristan was trying not to deck Duke in the face for that statement.
Serenity noticed Duke's reaction to what she said about Tristan, and she also noticed that Tristan was sweating and wasn't happy that Duke said that about Duke's Duel against Joey.
"Tristan, tell me the truth. What are you hiding from me?" Serenity said to Tristan, who held his hands out, trying to calm her down. "You want to tell me, or should I ask Duke or my brother when we find him," Serenity pressed Tristan, who sighed. Tristan told the truth, much to his dismay.
"Look, while I have earned cards, I know how to Duel and have seen enough to," Tristan was interrupted by Serenity.
"And what was the aim of telling me all these lies? To make me like you Tristan, what would happen if I followed your lead in a Duel where we are in danger? Are you lying to me as well, Duke, or did you know about this?" Serenity pressed Duke.
"I'm not lying about dueling your brother. He challenged me at my card shop. As for Tristan, I'm not getting involved with that, but if any of us are going to Duel, we need to work with each other because these old geezers won't let us take forever to make a move," Duke said to Serenity who calmed down. Duke was right. This is what Noah and the others wanted from the group to get at each other to the point that they would cost their match if they dueled.
Before Serenity would say something suddenly, the entire area shifted from an area with a lake to what looked like a warehouse. It seemed like it was their turn to face a member of the Big 5 as a robot with what looked like a hat had dropped to the ground.
"Greetings, humans. My name is Nesbitt, the fourth member of the Big 5 and the one responsible for building the war machines for Kaiba Corp and its R&D department," Nesbitt said in what sounded like a robotic voice.
"Oh, great! Why am I not surprised that we would be targeted for one of the members of the Big 5, and it had to be someone who speaks like a robot," Tristan said out loud.
"Correct young Tristan, you three will be dueling me one at a time to keep your bodies here in this virtual world, and given that none of you aren't very well inverse in how the game works, this should be an easy duel to win," Nesbitt said to the group which they glared at him. "Now ladies, first, you, Serenity, will be the first to duel."
Serenity was taken aback by this as he knew she would be the easiest to beat, given that she had never dueled before. "Hey, leave her alone. If you want to duel someone, why not duel me? At least I can give you a better duel," Tristan said to Nesbitt, which Serenity was taken aback.
"No, make that Tristan and myself, actually," Duke said to Nesbitt. "That way, you can duel with one experienced duelist and a non-one."
"Duke, this is what Noah wants us to fight with each other and," Tristan was interrupted by Duke.
"I'm aware of that, Tristan, and did you not listen to what I just said? Both of us could duel, and it would make keeping Serenity safe easier," Duke said as Tristan shut up. "You may know the rules of how to duel Tristan, but I have at least won a duel, so arguing with each other won't be a good thing," Duke said. "This way, we can focus on our strategies and work together than trying to protect Serenity during the duel," Duke said.
"As much as I hate the guy, he has a point, and I would rather not have Serenity fight a losing duel," Tristan thought.
"Interesting idea. Normally I wouldn't let this happen, but instead of 2v1, it will be a 3v1 duel," Nesbitt said, pointing to the three soon-to-be duelists who were taken aback. "Once you three are eliminated, we will have three bodies, not that it matters. Even if you two had dueled me, I would still go after Serenity shortly after I have beaten you two, so why not?"
"Are your screws loose? It's a two-on-one duel," Duke said to Nesbitt as Serenity interrupted.
"No, it will be a three-on-one duel," Serenity said to Duke, who was taken aback. "Look, just because Tristan lied to me doesn't mean that I haven't learned from him how to play the Duel either. I'll follow your lead, Duke, please, Tristan. We need him to win as well," Serenity said to Tristan, who sighed.
Suddenly a duel disk appears on all three of their arms. "Duelists with a duel disk are only allowed to participate in this match," Nesbitt said, now tired of hearing this. "I'm going to make one exception to this Duel. You will not share your strategies with one another. You are allowed to help each other, but that won't help you," Nesbitt said as massive amounts of cards were shown in front of the group. "Now, pick your cards."
"What will I do now, given that we can't tell our strategies?" Serenity asked Tristan and Duke.
"Trust your instincts and pick a 40-card deck with a balance of Monster, spell and trap cards, don't pick cards that look pretty either, Serenity. Every card matters in your deck," Duke said to Serenity, who nodded as she started to pick her cards.
"Please take what duke said to heart, Serenity, for our sake, this isn't a fun game," Tristan thought Duke had a point as Tristan noticed a few cards that caught his eye, namely a few spell cards that might come in handy.
Duke noticed a particular field spell and picked that as well. He knew he would use a deck similar to how his dungeon dice monsters game would work as a deck.
"Now, pick your deck masters. A reminder that it can be any monster in your deck that you feel represent your deck entirely," Nesbitt said to the group.
"Alright, my deck master will be Strike Ninja," Duke said, pulling the card out of his deck as Tristan and Serenity decided.
"I choose Goddess with the Third Eye," Serenity said.
"Mine is Super Roboyarou," Tristan said.
The three monsters that they picked were standing beside the three duelists. "And I will be using the Monster known as Robotic Knight. Now shuffle your decks, and we can start this Duel," Nesbitt said to the trio, who shuffled their decks and put in into the duel disk as the life points were shown.
(S: 4000)
(T: 4000)
(D: 4000)
(N: 4000)
"The female will start first. Now engage in your first turn, young lady," Nesbit said to Serenity, who was already tired of hearing this guy talk to her like that.
"Okay, I'll start by drawing a card," Serenity said as she looked at her hand and remembered what Duke said about not just using cute monsters and noticed that one of her first monsters. "I summon Lady Panther in attack mode," Serenity summoned her first monster. (1400/1300).
"Impressive for your first monster, young lady, I'll give you that," Nesbitt said to Serenity, who glared at him as Serenity ended her turn as it was Tristan's turn.
"My turn, I draw," Tristan drew for a turn. Sadly his hand wasn't too much, but he noticed one of the two spell cards he picked was in his opening hand. "I summon Cyber commander in Defense mode," Tristan summoned his monster. (750/550). "I also set one card facedown and end my turn."
"Either Tristan had a bad draw, or he drew something else with his facedown card," Duke thought, wishing that he saw what Tristan picked or that Nesbitt didn't make the rule of no telling their strategies. "My turn," Duke drew his card. "I summon the 13th grave in attack mode," Duke summoned his monster. (1200/900)
"Way to make me feel bad, you guys. It's not my fault that this was the only monster I drew for turn," Tristan thought, as he didn't want that to be announced.
"Humph, impressive that you would summon monsters that strong, but I won't make this easy for you," Nesbitt said as he drew for a turn. "I summon Cyber Falcon in attack mode," Nesbitt summoned his first monster. (1400/1200). Tristan and Duke knew that the monster was stronger than their monsters.
"I'll set a card, and then I'll activate my deck masters ability. By sending up to three Machine monsters, I can deal 500 points of damage to my opponent's life points," Nesbitt said as the group now understood why he chose this monster for a deck master to make their Duel more excruciating. As he sent three monsters to the graveyard, the three said monsters fired at the three duelists.
(S: 4000-3500)
(T: 4000-3500)
(D: 4000-3500)
(N: 4000)
"With that, I end my turn," Nesbitt said as the group recovered from the attack.
Serenity drew to start her turn. "I should summon this in defense mode. I summon The Forgiving Maiden in defense mode," Serenity summons her Monster; however, it was in the wrong position. (850/2000)
"Serenity, you summoned it in the wrong position. It should be similar to my Cyber Commander's position," Tristan said to Serenity, who was now taken aback.
"Ugh, thanks a lot, Tristen. You made me mad earlier that I ignored your Monster's position, but it should be enough to get some damage on him," Serenity said to Tristan. "Lady Panther, take out that Cyber Falcon," Serenity said as the Monster took out the Falcon, which had the same attack points as both were destroyed. "Now, direct attack," Serenity said as the Unforgiven Maid managed to damage Nesbitt.
(S: 3500)
(T: 3500)
(D: 3500)
(N: 3150)
"My turn, I draw," Tristan drew another spell card that he picked. This time he would be able to make a comeback. "I set another card facedown and switched my Commander to attack mode. Now attack him directly," Tristan commanded his Monster, who directly attacked Nesbitt.
(N: 2400)
"Time to end this, my turn. I draw and summon Yuranzo in attack mode" (1300/1500). Duke summoned his Monster in attack mode. Duke hesitated to attack, figuring the Nesbitt didn't activate his facedown card, he decided to attack with The 13th Grave.
"Sorry, me going easy on you is done. I activate my facedown card. Negate Attack," Nesbitt activates his facedown card stopping the attack.
"Ugh, I place one facedown card and end my turn," Duke placed a card in the spell and trap card zone.
"Now it's time to take this duel to the next level." Nesbitt said drawing a card. "I activate the spell card Cost Down this lowers the level of monsters in my hand by 2. I can now summon Machine King without a sacrifice." (2200/2000)
"Oh great," Duke groaned "of course he has that of all cards."
"Correct, it seems like you've heard about this Monster. I should thank Tristan for the power bonus because he gets 100 additional attack points for each Machine monster on the field," Nesbitt said as Machine King gained attack points. (2200-2300). "Now, Machine King, attack the females' The Forgiving Maiden. This is for that attack, young lady," Nesbitt said as Machine King destroyed The Forgiving Maiden.
(S:3500-2050)
(T: 3500)
(D:3500)
(N:2400)
"Now, for my deck master's ability again I will activate it by sending three more monsters, you will take even more damage," Nesbitt said as he sent three more monsters to the grave and dealt more damage to the group.
(S: 1550)
(T: 3000)
(D:3000)
(N: 2400)
"Lastly, I activate the spell card Card of Sanctity, which allows us to draw until we all have six cards in our hands. Think of it as recharging your batteries," Nesbitt, who then used his deck master's ability again, blasting the group once again.
(S: 1050)
(T:2500)
(D:2500)
(N: 2400)
"I set one more facedown card and ended my turn. Luckily I don't have any more monsters to activate my ability once more, so you can sigh of relief, but my next turn will be the end," Nesbitt said as he looked at his hand and saw the cards that would win the Duel for him.
"Ugh, this is bad, I'm wide open next turn," Serenity said. Tristan worried about her as he knew he had to do something. "I summon another, The Forgiving Maiden, this time in defense mode," Serenity summoned her second one, this time in the correct position.
"I summon Command Angel in defense mode," Tristan summoned his monster in defense mode. (1200/1900)
Duke was worried. Why didn't Nesbitt didn't target any of Tristan's or my monsters, meaning he has something big planned, and summoning another monster wouldn't be a good idea, Duke thought. "I switch my two monsters to defense mode and end my turn. Sorry, Nesbitt, I know you are planning something big, and I'm not going to fall for it this time," Duke said to Nesbitt.
"Clever, you figured it too late. I activate my facedown card Backup Solder to return my three normal monsters to my hand and then activate my deck masters ability again," Nesbitt said as he sent three more monsters to the graveyard.
(S: 550)
(T: 2000)
(D: 2000)
(N: 2400)
"Time to end this duel from my hand I activate the continuous spell card called Clockwork Night," Nesbitt activated his spell card, which Tristan recognized when he selected it. "This spell card turns all non-Machine monsters into Machine monsters as long as it remains on the field and they lose 500 attack points in the process," Nesbitt said as every monster turned into a machine and lost attack points. "And thanks to Machine King's ability, he gains an additional 400 attack points for every machine on the field, plus citrusy of my Clockwork Nights second effect, he gains an additional 500 attack Points for as long as this remains on the field.
(2300-3300)
"Not good this monster has enough attack points to slaughter all of our monsters," Tristan said.
"Calm down, Tristan. We have our monsters in defense mode, meaning he can't touch us," Serenity said.
"Not for long, engage Short Circuit," Nesbitt said as this affected everyone on the field. "All machine monsters will change their battle positions and their effects are negated for the rest of the turn. Also, if you are planning on using traps, best of luck, as this negates them for the turn," Nesbitt said as the group groaned. "Now attack her Forgiving Maidan once more,"
"Serenity!" Tristen said in alarm.
"She'll lose the duel if that attack hits," Duke said as the attack was launched at Serenity.
"I know I can use my Deck master to intercept the attack," Tristan thought. "Go Super Roboyarou," Tristan said, commanding his deck master, who went to protect her monster. (1200/1200)
"Tristan, don't. If your deck master is destroyed, you lose the" Duke was interrupted by Tristan.
"I'm fully aware, my deck master's ability allows me to set this card from my deck facedown and he gains an additional 1000 attack points," Tristan said. (2200/1200)
Nesbitt was about to say something, but Tristan continued. "Your spell card may stop traps but not spell cards. I activate my facedown card Limiter Removal. This doubles my monster's original attack points so it goes from 2200 to 2400 and the additional power bonus makes it 3400, thanks to his ability," Tristan said. (3400/1200)
"Your calculations is off young man you as your deck master is a machine so my monster gains another 100 attack points making him as strong as your monster," Nesbitt said. "Meaning even if you have beaten it, you still lose,"
"If I'm going down, I'm taking it with me. Attack Super Roboyarou," Tristan commands his monster as the two monsters attack causing an explosion. However, Super Roboyarou is still on the field, and Machine King is destroyed as well as Clockwork Night.
"What just happened," Nesbitt said as the smoke cleared. The second facedown card on Tristan's side of the field was shown to be Mystical Space Typhoon. "You mean this whole time you were holding on to those cards," Nesbitt said.
"Sorry to break this to you, Nesbitt, I saw that spell card while picking my deck, and as you said before, the monsters turning into machines only works when that spell card is on the field," Tristan said. "Meaning your monster loses not only the 500 attack points but the additional power boast from the changing of the monsters, dropping it by 900 attack points which is what you will lose," Tristan said.
(N: 2400-1500)
"Clever, but you do know what? That first spell card you activated has a side effect when I end my turn," Nesbitt said as Tristen nodded. "I set one monster facedown and end my turn."
Super Roboyarou was destroyed. "Sorry for lying to you, Serenity. Stay strong. I did my part now. it is up to you two to win this, Duke. Make sure that Serenity is safe and win this, both of you," Tristan said as a trap door where he was standing on vanished causing Tristanto fall into the lava below.
"TRISTAN!" both Serenity and Duke cried. Serenity fell to her knees, distraught.
"How touching? But his sacrifice is in vain, sadly. I have ways of reviving Machine King, and you didn't realize it, this was all part of my plan from the start." Nesbitt said as the two turned to him in surprise. "The arguing and bickering shown earlier clouded his judgment. My main target wasn't Serenity but to get Tristen, the weakest of the bunch, out of the way," Nesbitt said.
"So you mean you were spying on us earlier," Duke said to Nesbitt, who nodded.
"Come on, he had the worst hand from the beginning of the duel, not to mention he could've planned better. Now that he's gone, you will lose on my next turn, as I have ways to get Machine King back to the field," Nesbitt said, laughing.
To Be Continued.