Beezy didn't seem to look distressed at losing his monster as he drew his
card. "I honestly didn't think it was going to go this far between us, you
know? I figured that it'd be over by now. I know I can't beat your Dark
Magician with a direct attack but I do have a few surprises left. I'll
sacrifice my GearFried the Iron Knight to set another monster in face down
defense position. Your turn."
Fader looked at Beezy's face down monster card. Beezy was obviously baiting him to attack, but what Fader didn't understand was why. Beezy didn't have any other cards on the field, other than the Quick Summon Vortex field magic card. "I'll lay one card face down and set a monster in defense mode." He thought for a second. Whatever monster Beezy had set down wasn't going to matter. There were only a handful of monsters in all of Duel Monsters with enough defense strength to stand up to the 3300 attack points of the Dark Magician, and none of them could be summoned with only one tribute. At least that's what he thought. He was going to call Beezy's bluff. "Dark Magician, attack his face down monster."
"You just attacked my Shadow Barrier (0/3000)."
"Why wasn't it destroyed?" asked Fader. "It only has 3000 defense points."
"That's only until its special ability is activated."
"Special ability?"
"Shadow Barrier gains 100 defense points for every monster in my card graveyard. Since my Total Defense Shogun was placed out of play, I count four; Justice of the North, Gearfried the Iron Knight, Skillful White Magician and Buster Blader. This brings my defense score up to 3400, 100 points highter than your magician's attack."
"So I lose 100 Life Points."
Fader: 1175, Beezy: 2300.
"That's not all you lose. Just look," said Beezy pointing to the field. Fader watched as hands shot out of the Shadow Barrier and grabbed his Dark Magician dragging it into a mouth that had formed in the Barrier.
"My Magician!" fader shouted. "What happened?"
"Any monster attacking Shadow Barrier with an attack value less than my Barrier's defense is automatically destroyed. I may have to pay 500 Life Points each turn to sustain my monster, but as you can see from its abilities that it's well worth the cost."
"I end my turn," Fader said dejectidly.
"My turn and now I pay the 500 point cost for my Barrier."
Fader: 1175, Beezy: 1800.
"You're fighting the clock now Beezy," Fader pointed out. "I might not be able to beat your Shadow Barrier right now, but since it doesn't have any attack points you won't be able to attack me with it either. All I have to do is wait and your Life Points are going to destroy themselves thanks to your monster."
"My Shadow Barrier isn't going to cost me anymore Life Points."
"How do you figure?"
"The Shadow Barrier may be the ultimate defensive monster, but as you so handily pointed out it has no attack power, fortunately it has the potemtial to be so much more. I potential I'm about to tap into. I play Polymerization!"
"A fusion?"
"That's right. I'll fuse it with the Shadow Ghoul (1600/1300) from my hand to create the Soul of Shadows (2000/1500)!"
"It doesn't appear that strong."
"Looks can be deceiving," Beezy warned. "Like my Shadow Barrier, Soul of Shadows is powered up by the number of monster cards in my graveyard. Unlike the Barrier though, Soul of Shadows doesn't just increase its defense strength but its attack as well; combining the best abilities of its fusion component monsters. Now for every monster I have in my graveyard will increase Soul of Shadows' attack and defense by 100 points, making it 2600 attack points strong. And now it will attack your face-down monster thanks to my Quick Summon Vortex."
"My Z-Metal Caterpillar (1500/1200)!" Fader exclaimed as his monster was destroyed.
"Every monster you bring into play will get destroyed, nothing you summon from your deck will be able to stop me."
"I don't need a monster to stop you," Fader said. "Not when I have this. Double Magic. I'll discard a magic card from my hand to copy your own Nitemare Steelcage, holding you restrained for two turns. How does it feel to be on the recieving end of your own card Beezy?"
"Have it your way. You want two turns then you can take them. It's not going to make any difference in the end. I'll just pay the magic card Cheerful Coffin."
"Cheerful Coffin?"
"This magic card allows me to discard up to three monster cards from my hand to the graveyard, increasing the attack and defense of my Soul of Shadows another 300 points to 2900. Then I'll lay another card face down and end my turn. One more turn Fader."
"I'll set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."
Beezy drew his card and then smiled. "You're out of time Fader. If you though that my Soul of Shadows was strong before then just watch this. I'll activate my face down card, Reversed Worlds!"
"What is that card?" Fader asked.
"When I have fifteen cards or more in my graveyard I pay 1000 Life Points to switch both of our decks with our graveyards. And since I had more monster cards in my deck then were in my graveyard my Soul of Shadows' attack is going to be even higher. 4100 to be precise. Then I'm going to play De-Spell to destroy the Nitemare Steelcage you copied and then have my monster attack your face down monster."
Fader: 1175, Beezy: 800.
"You destroyed my Dunames Dark Witch (1800/1050)."
"Take your turn Fader."
"You just did me a favor Beezy."
"How do you figure?"
"The cards I needed to beat you were in my graveyard, and now thanks to your trap they're back in my deck."
"You're going to have to draw them first."
"Not a problem. I'll lay one card face down, and then play Card Destruction to discard my current hand and draw four new cards." Fader looked at his deck with tight focus and determination. He already had a few of the cards he needed on the field, there was just one more card that would be nessesary to hang on to this match. Fader was confident that he could draw it though.
Beezy discarded his own hand and drew three replacement cards. After examining them he looked at Fader. "I just drew three more monster cards, including my Shadow Ghoul. Soon I'm going to have two monsters on the field with over 3500 attack points."
"I'm afraid not Beezy, this game is going to end on this turn. And I will win."
"Not going to happen. My monster's power is unbeatable. There are only a few rare monsters that can beat 4100 attack points. How do you think you're going to stop me?"
"With a little confidence, a little faith, and," he paused for a second and smiled, "A little magic."
"What?" Beezy asked confused.
"I'll play the Dark Magic Curtain once more, paying half of my Life Points to summon my Dark Magician to the field again." A deep, velvet black curtain appeared in front of Fader and then triumphantly the curtain parted down the middle and the Dark Magician stepped forward onto the battlefield.
"Your magician was destroyed once already. What makes you think that its going to be any different this time?"
"Because my Magician isn't going to be attacking this time. And because of the two cards that I have on the field," Fader said pointing to the two cards that lay on the field in front of him. "I'll even make this more interesting. I'll let you choose which one I activate. One of them is the Mystic Box, which I could use to destroy your Soul of Shadows right now and then attack you directly."
"And the second card?" Beezy asked.
"Is the magic card, Ethereal Doors. If that one is used, then there's a fifty percent chance that either of us could lose."
"I'll take my chances with Ethereal Doors. What does it do?"
Fader activated the card and two large doors appeared on the field in front of each of their monsters. "First, both of our monsters enter the doors in front of them." Each of the doors then opened and the Dark Magician and Soul of Shadows entered; the doors closing behind them. There was then a flash of light and Fader and Beezy both covered their eyes.
"What was that?"
"The second part of the cards effect," Fader explained. "The positions of our monsters have now been randomly rearranged. They may not be behind the same door which they entered. Then again, they may be in the same place."
"Now what happens?"
"You choose which door to open. Once a door is opened and the monster behind it emerges then the other door will be destroyed taking the other monster with it to the graveyard. Not only that, but whatever mosnter is destroyed will deal damage to its owner equal to half of its attack points."
"Meaning that whichever of us loses our monster, will also lose the match."
"That's right. So what's your choice Beezy? Door number one, or door number two?" Fader watched as Beezy's gaze darted back and forth between the two doors, the tension on his face obvious. Fader couldn't help but feel a little aprehension himself, but Fader had faith in the Dark Magician and he was confident that he would win. There was some connection he felt on a deeper level with that card. It was silly when he thought about it, but it was like he could feel himself behind the Magician's eyes.
"I choose the door infront of me," Beezy announced after a few moments deliberation. The large door slowly opened and a low hanging cloud of smoke began to billow out from underneath the door as it did so. Fader and Beezy both stared intently at the doorway, waiting for the monster to emerge. Finally a shape appeared as it stepped forth from the doorway.
The Dark Magician.
Beezy dropped to his knees and lowered his head as his Life Points hit zero.
Fader: 587, Beezy: 0.
Beezy then got up and walked over to Fader, "That was great."
"It was," Fader said nodding his head. "But it could have been either of us. It ws anybody's game."
"No it wasn't, you could have just used the Mystic Box and won."
"Actually I was bluffing. The other card I had face down was Multiply."
Beezy was silent for a second and then began to laugh. Fader joined him and the two shared a moment of laughter after a hard fought duel. Afterwards, Beezy handed to Fader the Buster Blader card.
"I guess I was just holding on to this card for you," he said.
"I look forward to seeing you again," Fader said as he took the card. Thwn with a final wave of his hand he turned away and stepped into the elevator and ascended to Level Three and to the Battle City championship match.
Fader looked at Beezy's face down monster card. Beezy was obviously baiting him to attack, but what Fader didn't understand was why. Beezy didn't have any other cards on the field, other than the Quick Summon Vortex field magic card. "I'll lay one card face down and set a monster in defense mode." He thought for a second. Whatever monster Beezy had set down wasn't going to matter. There were only a handful of monsters in all of Duel Monsters with enough defense strength to stand up to the 3300 attack points of the Dark Magician, and none of them could be summoned with only one tribute. At least that's what he thought. He was going to call Beezy's bluff. "Dark Magician, attack his face down monster."
"You just attacked my Shadow Barrier (0/3000)."
"Why wasn't it destroyed?" asked Fader. "It only has 3000 defense points."
"That's only until its special ability is activated."
"Special ability?"
"Shadow Barrier gains 100 defense points for every monster in my card graveyard. Since my Total Defense Shogun was placed out of play, I count four; Justice of the North, Gearfried the Iron Knight, Skillful White Magician and Buster Blader. This brings my defense score up to 3400, 100 points highter than your magician's attack."
"So I lose 100 Life Points."
Fader: 1175, Beezy: 2300.
"That's not all you lose. Just look," said Beezy pointing to the field. Fader watched as hands shot out of the Shadow Barrier and grabbed his Dark Magician dragging it into a mouth that had formed in the Barrier.
"My Magician!" fader shouted. "What happened?"
"Any monster attacking Shadow Barrier with an attack value less than my Barrier's defense is automatically destroyed. I may have to pay 500 Life Points each turn to sustain my monster, but as you can see from its abilities that it's well worth the cost."
"I end my turn," Fader said dejectidly.
"My turn and now I pay the 500 point cost for my Barrier."
Fader: 1175, Beezy: 1800.
"You're fighting the clock now Beezy," Fader pointed out. "I might not be able to beat your Shadow Barrier right now, but since it doesn't have any attack points you won't be able to attack me with it either. All I have to do is wait and your Life Points are going to destroy themselves thanks to your monster."
"My Shadow Barrier isn't going to cost me anymore Life Points."
"How do you figure?"
"The Shadow Barrier may be the ultimate defensive monster, but as you so handily pointed out it has no attack power, fortunately it has the potemtial to be so much more. I potential I'm about to tap into. I play Polymerization!"
"A fusion?"
"That's right. I'll fuse it with the Shadow Ghoul (1600/1300) from my hand to create the Soul of Shadows (2000/1500)!"
"It doesn't appear that strong."
"Looks can be deceiving," Beezy warned. "Like my Shadow Barrier, Soul of Shadows is powered up by the number of monster cards in my graveyard. Unlike the Barrier though, Soul of Shadows doesn't just increase its defense strength but its attack as well; combining the best abilities of its fusion component monsters. Now for every monster I have in my graveyard will increase Soul of Shadows' attack and defense by 100 points, making it 2600 attack points strong. And now it will attack your face-down monster thanks to my Quick Summon Vortex."
"My Z-Metal Caterpillar (1500/1200)!" Fader exclaimed as his monster was destroyed.
"Every monster you bring into play will get destroyed, nothing you summon from your deck will be able to stop me."
"I don't need a monster to stop you," Fader said. "Not when I have this. Double Magic. I'll discard a magic card from my hand to copy your own Nitemare Steelcage, holding you restrained for two turns. How does it feel to be on the recieving end of your own card Beezy?"
"Have it your way. You want two turns then you can take them. It's not going to make any difference in the end. I'll just pay the magic card Cheerful Coffin."
"Cheerful Coffin?"
"This magic card allows me to discard up to three monster cards from my hand to the graveyard, increasing the attack and defense of my Soul of Shadows another 300 points to 2900. Then I'll lay another card face down and end my turn. One more turn Fader."
"I'll set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."
Beezy drew his card and then smiled. "You're out of time Fader. If you though that my Soul of Shadows was strong before then just watch this. I'll activate my face down card, Reversed Worlds!"
"What is that card?" Fader asked.
"When I have fifteen cards or more in my graveyard I pay 1000 Life Points to switch both of our decks with our graveyards. And since I had more monster cards in my deck then were in my graveyard my Soul of Shadows' attack is going to be even higher. 4100 to be precise. Then I'm going to play De-Spell to destroy the Nitemare Steelcage you copied and then have my monster attack your face down monster."
Fader: 1175, Beezy: 800.
"You destroyed my Dunames Dark Witch (1800/1050)."
"Take your turn Fader."
"You just did me a favor Beezy."
"How do you figure?"
"The cards I needed to beat you were in my graveyard, and now thanks to your trap they're back in my deck."
"You're going to have to draw them first."
"Not a problem. I'll lay one card face down, and then play Card Destruction to discard my current hand and draw four new cards." Fader looked at his deck with tight focus and determination. He already had a few of the cards he needed on the field, there was just one more card that would be nessesary to hang on to this match. Fader was confident that he could draw it though.
Beezy discarded his own hand and drew three replacement cards. After examining them he looked at Fader. "I just drew three more monster cards, including my Shadow Ghoul. Soon I'm going to have two monsters on the field with over 3500 attack points."
"I'm afraid not Beezy, this game is going to end on this turn. And I will win."
"Not going to happen. My monster's power is unbeatable. There are only a few rare monsters that can beat 4100 attack points. How do you think you're going to stop me?"
"With a little confidence, a little faith, and," he paused for a second and smiled, "A little magic."
"What?" Beezy asked confused.
"I'll play the Dark Magic Curtain once more, paying half of my Life Points to summon my Dark Magician to the field again." A deep, velvet black curtain appeared in front of Fader and then triumphantly the curtain parted down the middle and the Dark Magician stepped forward onto the battlefield.
"Your magician was destroyed once already. What makes you think that its going to be any different this time?"
"Because my Magician isn't going to be attacking this time. And because of the two cards that I have on the field," Fader said pointing to the two cards that lay on the field in front of him. "I'll even make this more interesting. I'll let you choose which one I activate. One of them is the Mystic Box, which I could use to destroy your Soul of Shadows right now and then attack you directly."
"And the second card?" Beezy asked.
"Is the magic card, Ethereal Doors. If that one is used, then there's a fifty percent chance that either of us could lose."
"I'll take my chances with Ethereal Doors. What does it do?"
Fader activated the card and two large doors appeared on the field in front of each of their monsters. "First, both of our monsters enter the doors in front of them." Each of the doors then opened and the Dark Magician and Soul of Shadows entered; the doors closing behind them. There was then a flash of light and Fader and Beezy both covered their eyes.
"What was that?"
"The second part of the cards effect," Fader explained. "The positions of our monsters have now been randomly rearranged. They may not be behind the same door which they entered. Then again, they may be in the same place."
"Now what happens?"
"You choose which door to open. Once a door is opened and the monster behind it emerges then the other door will be destroyed taking the other monster with it to the graveyard. Not only that, but whatever mosnter is destroyed will deal damage to its owner equal to half of its attack points."
"Meaning that whichever of us loses our monster, will also lose the match."
"That's right. So what's your choice Beezy? Door number one, or door number two?" Fader watched as Beezy's gaze darted back and forth between the two doors, the tension on his face obvious. Fader couldn't help but feel a little aprehension himself, but Fader had faith in the Dark Magician and he was confident that he would win. There was some connection he felt on a deeper level with that card. It was silly when he thought about it, but it was like he could feel himself behind the Magician's eyes.
"I choose the door infront of me," Beezy announced after a few moments deliberation. The large door slowly opened and a low hanging cloud of smoke began to billow out from underneath the door as it did so. Fader and Beezy both stared intently at the doorway, waiting for the monster to emerge. Finally a shape appeared as it stepped forth from the doorway.
The Dark Magician.
Beezy dropped to his knees and lowered his head as his Life Points hit zero.
Fader: 587, Beezy: 0.
Beezy then got up and walked over to Fader, "That was great."
"It was," Fader said nodding his head. "But it could have been either of us. It ws anybody's game."
"No it wasn't, you could have just used the Mystic Box and won."
"Actually I was bluffing. The other card I had face down was Multiply."
Beezy was silent for a second and then began to laugh. Fader joined him and the two shared a moment of laughter after a hard fought duel. Afterwards, Beezy handed to Fader the Buster Blader card.
"I guess I was just holding on to this card for you," he said.
"I look forward to seeing you again," Fader said as he took the card. Thwn with a final wave of his hand he turned away and stepped into the elevator and ascended to Level Three and to the Battle City championship match.