The elevator doors opened and Fader emerged from the lift. He was shocked
as he was greeted not by a Battle City competitor but by Evo.
"Well, it's about time you joined us," Evo said. He motioned behind him. "Miss Kaiba and I were wondering if your last duel was ever going to end." He steped to the side to reveal Serena standing behind him.
"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long," Fader said sarcastically.
"Not at all," Evo continued, ignoring Fader's attitude. "We were fortunate enough to be able to watch the end of your duel."
"You could see the match?"
"Of course. You didn't expect me to just sit up on Level Four and wait for the finals to finish without watching the best of the best compete in my tournament did you? I must say the two of you put on the best shows by far on your way to this point."
"So why are you here?" Fader asked.
"Boredom mostly," Evo replied. "That and the fact that I wished to see this duel in person. There's so much more satisfaction you get out of seeing something up close that you don't get out of a video feed. And I must say that witnessing this match will be a guilty pleasure for me, I've been watching the two of you duel all across Battle City. This is a tie-breaker for the two of you, isn't it?"
Fader walked past Evo and moved to Serena. He held out his hand to her sand smiled. "I'm glad to see you here," he told her.
Serena took his hand in hers and returned the smile. "So am I." Their hands lingered for a moment before they seperated, blushing slightly.
"Evo's right," Fader said. "This is a tie-breaker for us. One win for you, one for me."
"Not exactly," Serena replied.
"What do you mean?"
"You held back in our last duel. I could feel it. I'm telling you now that if you do that here you will lose."
"Fair enough," Fader answered.
"Well now that's settled," Evo interrupted stepping as he stepped between the two duelists. "Shall we get this show on the road?" Both nodded. "Each of you will shuffle and then cut your decks. Each of you will then reveal your monster card from your cut deck, the player whose monster shows the highest attack strength will go first in this duel."
Fader shuffled his deck and then cut it in the middle holding up the top half of the deck to Evo and Serena. "The Dark Magician," he announced.
Serena took her deck out of her Duel Disk, shuffled it, but instead of cutting it, she simply drew the top card off the deck and showed it to the two men.
"The Blue Eyes White Dragon," Evo announced for her. He then turned to Fader. "Looks like you're up second." He then gestured to the opposite ends of of the room. "Take your positions and let the duel begin."
Serena and Fader shuffled each others' decks once for good measure and assumed their positions across from each other activated their Duel Disks and launching the holoprojectors. With a nod they drew their opening hands.
Serena examined her hand and was surprised by one of the cards that she found there. She wasn't about to complain though, it was going to help her with hte plan that she had. "I'll lay a monster face down and the two other cards with it."
Fader thumbed through the cards in his hand. He was going to have to be at his very best right now. Serena had improved dramatically in her technique since they had dueled in his first Battle City match. She had been right, he did hold back last duel, even if he hadn't realized it at the time.
"I'll play the X-Head Cannon (1800/1500) in attack mode. And it will attack your face down monster."
"Spirit of the Harp (800/2000)," Serena told him. "You lose 200 Life Points."
Fader: 3800, Serena: 4000.
She continued, "I'll also use this chance to activate one of my face down cards, Solemn Wishes."
"First blood to Miss Kaiba," Evo said. "But I do believe that she forgot to return that Solemn Wishes card to Jaina after their duel."
Fader ignored Evo's comments and and continued his turn. "I'll throw a card face down then end my turn."
"I draw my card and gain 500 Life Points from the effects of my trap," Serena said. "Then I'll play Pot of Greed to draw two new cards and gain another 500 Life Points."
Fader: 3800, Serena: 5000.
"Then I'll summon the Volt Girl (1900/800) and attack your X-Head Cannon."
"Activate Magic Arm Shield," Fader declared. Two mechanical pincers shot forward from the trap card, grasping firmly onto the Spirt of the Harp and moving it to block the electrical attack of the Volt Girl.
Fader: 3800, Serena: 4900.
Serena lay another card face down onto the field. "Your move Fader," she said.
"I'll summon the Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600). And then I will Union it with my X-Head cannon to raise its attack power by 400. Now it will attack your Volt Girl."
"My Volt Girl may be destroyed but I can activate my two trap cards."
"Two?"
"I'll activate both of my Numinous Healers. I lose 300 Life Points from your attack but I gain 2500."
Fader: 3800, Serena: 7100.
"I'll end my turn," Fader said.
"And I will gain another 500 Life Points from Solemn Wishes."
Fader: 3800, Serena: 7600.
Concern was growing in Fader. Serena's Life Points were growing with every turn. His minimal attacks had only managed to make small dents in her score and she now had double the amount that he himself had.
"Getting nervous Fader," Evo said as he watched Fader's furrowed brow, the smugness seeping out of his voice.
"Evo, shut up," Serena said. She turned her attention back to Fader. "I'll sacrifice my Spirit of the Harp for Kia the Binding Angel (2200/1600). Then I'll set another card face down. Since our monsters have equal power it would be stupid to attack you, so I'll just end my turn."
"I'll play a Pot of Greed of my own and add two more cards to my hand. Then I'll summon the Z-Metal Caterpillar and merge it with my other two monsters to create the XYZ Dragon Cannon (2800/2500). Then I'll discard a card from my hand to destroy your face down card."
"I'll chain your monster's special ability with the trap that you were trying to destroy, Waboku. Now any battle damage that gets dealt this turn will be reduced to zero, preventing you from destroying my monster."
"I can't do anything else then. I'll end my turn."
"My turn, and my Life Points will rise even higher."
Fader: 3800, Serena: 8100.
"Now I'll equip Kia the Binding Angel with Malevolent Nuzzler magic card to raise its power by 700 points and destroy your XYZ Dragon Cannon."
"My turn," Fader announced. Serena's monster was strong but he had a card in his hand that could trump it. "I'll set a monster in defense mode as well as one other card. Then I'll play Chorus of Sanctuary to raise the defense of all monsters on the field by 500 points. Your move Serena." All she had to do was take the bait.
Fader: 3700, Serena: 8600.
"I'll attack your face down monster with my angel."
"Mystical Elf," Fader said as his blue skinned, white robed monster appeared on the field. "And I'll activate my face down card, Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Malevolent Nuzzler card, bringing your monster's attack power back to normal. You take 300 points of damage."
Fader: 3700, Serena: 8300.
"I'll set a monster Face down and then end my turn," Serena said, the loss of 300 Life Points obviously causing her no distress.
"My turn then. And I'll sacrfice my Mystical Elf for another monster that I play face down."
"My turn again," Serena said. "And after I gain another 500 Life Points from my trap card, I'll flip my face down monster, the Magician of Faith (300/400) and activate it's ability to retrieve my Pot of Greed and use it to draw not only another two new cards but to gain yet another 500 Life Points."
Fader: 3700, Serena: 9300.
"Careful Fader," Evo cautioned. "There's no limit to how high Miss Kaiba's Life Points will rise. They'll continue to rise higher and higher."
"Well, it's about time you joined us," Evo said. He motioned behind him. "Miss Kaiba and I were wondering if your last duel was ever going to end." He steped to the side to reveal Serena standing behind him.
"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long," Fader said sarcastically.
"Not at all," Evo continued, ignoring Fader's attitude. "We were fortunate enough to be able to watch the end of your duel."
"You could see the match?"
"Of course. You didn't expect me to just sit up on Level Four and wait for the finals to finish without watching the best of the best compete in my tournament did you? I must say the two of you put on the best shows by far on your way to this point."
"So why are you here?" Fader asked.
"Boredom mostly," Evo replied. "That and the fact that I wished to see this duel in person. There's so much more satisfaction you get out of seeing something up close that you don't get out of a video feed. And I must say that witnessing this match will be a guilty pleasure for me, I've been watching the two of you duel all across Battle City. This is a tie-breaker for the two of you, isn't it?"
Fader walked past Evo and moved to Serena. He held out his hand to her sand smiled. "I'm glad to see you here," he told her.
Serena took his hand in hers and returned the smile. "So am I." Their hands lingered for a moment before they seperated, blushing slightly.
"Evo's right," Fader said. "This is a tie-breaker for us. One win for you, one for me."
"Not exactly," Serena replied.
"What do you mean?"
"You held back in our last duel. I could feel it. I'm telling you now that if you do that here you will lose."
"Fair enough," Fader answered.
"Well now that's settled," Evo interrupted stepping as he stepped between the two duelists. "Shall we get this show on the road?" Both nodded. "Each of you will shuffle and then cut your decks. Each of you will then reveal your monster card from your cut deck, the player whose monster shows the highest attack strength will go first in this duel."
Fader shuffled his deck and then cut it in the middle holding up the top half of the deck to Evo and Serena. "The Dark Magician," he announced.
Serena took her deck out of her Duel Disk, shuffled it, but instead of cutting it, she simply drew the top card off the deck and showed it to the two men.
"The Blue Eyes White Dragon," Evo announced for her. He then turned to Fader. "Looks like you're up second." He then gestured to the opposite ends of of the room. "Take your positions and let the duel begin."
Serena and Fader shuffled each others' decks once for good measure and assumed their positions across from each other activated their Duel Disks and launching the holoprojectors. With a nod they drew their opening hands.
Serena examined her hand and was surprised by one of the cards that she found there. She wasn't about to complain though, it was going to help her with hte plan that she had. "I'll lay a monster face down and the two other cards with it."
Fader thumbed through the cards in his hand. He was going to have to be at his very best right now. Serena had improved dramatically in her technique since they had dueled in his first Battle City match. She had been right, he did hold back last duel, even if he hadn't realized it at the time.
"I'll play the X-Head Cannon (1800/1500) in attack mode. And it will attack your face down monster."
"Spirit of the Harp (800/2000)," Serena told him. "You lose 200 Life Points."
Fader: 3800, Serena: 4000.
She continued, "I'll also use this chance to activate one of my face down cards, Solemn Wishes."
"First blood to Miss Kaiba," Evo said. "But I do believe that she forgot to return that Solemn Wishes card to Jaina after their duel."
Fader ignored Evo's comments and and continued his turn. "I'll throw a card face down then end my turn."
"I draw my card and gain 500 Life Points from the effects of my trap," Serena said. "Then I'll play Pot of Greed to draw two new cards and gain another 500 Life Points."
Fader: 3800, Serena: 5000.
"Then I'll summon the Volt Girl (1900/800) and attack your X-Head Cannon."
"Activate Magic Arm Shield," Fader declared. Two mechanical pincers shot forward from the trap card, grasping firmly onto the Spirt of the Harp and moving it to block the electrical attack of the Volt Girl.
Fader: 3800, Serena: 4900.
Serena lay another card face down onto the field. "Your move Fader," she said.
"I'll summon the Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600). And then I will Union it with my X-Head cannon to raise its attack power by 400. Now it will attack your Volt Girl."
"My Volt Girl may be destroyed but I can activate my two trap cards."
"Two?"
"I'll activate both of my Numinous Healers. I lose 300 Life Points from your attack but I gain 2500."
Fader: 3800, Serena: 7100.
"I'll end my turn," Fader said.
"And I will gain another 500 Life Points from Solemn Wishes."
Fader: 3800, Serena: 7600.
Concern was growing in Fader. Serena's Life Points were growing with every turn. His minimal attacks had only managed to make small dents in her score and she now had double the amount that he himself had.
"Getting nervous Fader," Evo said as he watched Fader's furrowed brow, the smugness seeping out of his voice.
"Evo, shut up," Serena said. She turned her attention back to Fader. "I'll sacrifice my Spirit of the Harp for Kia the Binding Angel (2200/1600). Then I'll set another card face down. Since our monsters have equal power it would be stupid to attack you, so I'll just end my turn."
"I'll play a Pot of Greed of my own and add two more cards to my hand. Then I'll summon the Z-Metal Caterpillar and merge it with my other two monsters to create the XYZ Dragon Cannon (2800/2500). Then I'll discard a card from my hand to destroy your face down card."
"I'll chain your monster's special ability with the trap that you were trying to destroy, Waboku. Now any battle damage that gets dealt this turn will be reduced to zero, preventing you from destroying my monster."
"I can't do anything else then. I'll end my turn."
"My turn, and my Life Points will rise even higher."
Fader: 3800, Serena: 8100.
"Now I'll equip Kia the Binding Angel with Malevolent Nuzzler magic card to raise its power by 700 points and destroy your XYZ Dragon Cannon."
"My turn," Fader announced. Serena's monster was strong but he had a card in his hand that could trump it. "I'll set a monster in defense mode as well as one other card. Then I'll play Chorus of Sanctuary to raise the defense of all monsters on the field by 500 points. Your move Serena." All she had to do was take the bait.
Fader: 3700, Serena: 8600.
"I'll attack your face down monster with my angel."
"Mystical Elf," Fader said as his blue skinned, white robed monster appeared on the field. "And I'll activate my face down card, Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Malevolent Nuzzler card, bringing your monster's attack power back to normal. You take 300 points of damage."
Fader: 3700, Serena: 8300.
"I'll set a monster Face down and then end my turn," Serena said, the loss of 300 Life Points obviously causing her no distress.
"My turn then. And I'll sacrfice my Mystical Elf for another monster that I play face down."
"My turn again," Serena said. "And after I gain another 500 Life Points from my trap card, I'll flip my face down monster, the Magician of Faith (300/400) and activate it's ability to retrieve my Pot of Greed and use it to draw not only another two new cards but to gain yet another 500 Life Points."
Fader: 3700, Serena: 9300.
"Careful Fader," Evo cautioned. "There's no limit to how high Miss Kaiba's Life Points will rise. They'll continue to rise higher and higher."