"The Aid of the Masked Duelist"
By: Von Stupor
It was a terrible accident, and Yugi's not in the best shape, but now he is safe. It is three hours after Bandit Keith (while under Marik Ishtar's control) set a warehouse on fire in an attempt to steal Yugi's Millennium Puzzle. Yugi was nearly killed and the puzzle destroyed, but thankfully, he was saved by Joey and Tristan.
Yugi had just recently awakened. He had fallen unconscious from smoke inhalation. Though not fully coherent yet, he can move around well. He and his friends Joey, Tristan, and Téa, are at a local fast food restraint enjoying lunch.
"Guys… I can't thank you enough for saving me and my Millennium Puzzle," said Yugi, gratefully.
"No problem, Yugi! You know we always got your back!" replied Joey.
"How touching," said a deep and raspy voice. "It would be a shame to ruin the moment."
Next to their table was a man in a large, brown cloak. It had intricate designs on the hood and you could barely make out his face. There was no doubt that he was a rare hunter!
Two more rare hunters surrounded the table, preventing Yugi and friends from getting up.
"What do you guys want?!" Joey demanded.
"I have come to challenge Yugi to a duel for the Millennium Puzzle," said the rare hunter, coolly.
"He can't duel right now! Yugi just woke up from an accident!" said Tristan defended. "He can't even think straight yet!"
"Heh, heh, heh. I am well aware of the accident poor Yugi had to suffer, but tournament rules say that you cannot decline a challenge to a duel."
"Wait!" Joey intervened. "Let me duel you instead!"
"Your rare cards are of no use to Master Marik. Besides, you don't own the Millennium Puzzle, either. In addition to that, Master Marik desires the Dark Magician, Yugi's most prized card as a punishment for his resistance."
Soon, a familiar voice spoke. "Ha! Your dishonorable tactics only show your cowardice!"
The rare hunter wheeled around to see the masked duelist, Baron Von Stupor.
"What did you just say?" the rare hunter asked, irritated.
"Yugi is a threat, so you wait until he is weakened to challenge him," Von Stupor explained. "You, my friend, are a coward. That is why I ask you to challenge me in Yugi's place!"
"Perhaps you are not intelligent enough to process what I had just said. Master Marik wants the Millennium Puzzle and the Dark Magician and nothing else!"
"Fine, then. If you defeat me, you may have the Millennium Puzzle and Dark Magician. In addition, however, if you defeat me, I promise you a rare card that only I and two other people have laid eyes upon. Do you accept my challenge?"
"Hmmm. I am intrigued by your offer, and in the end, I will own those two things by defeating one whose skill can't even compare to Yugi, therefore I accept. Besides, this is a perfect opportunity for you to learn to fear the rare hunter so that you will never insult us again."
"Wait!" Yugi interjected. On saying this, he appeared dazed for a moment. The smoke inhalation had still not left his system yet. He recovered quickly. "How can you bet my Millennium Puzzle on the outcome of a duel??? How can you do such a thing???"
"Tell me, Yugi, would you honestly rather that I sit idly while the rare hunters prey on the weak and ignorant? I know you saw me at my duel with the boy in the school uniform. Do you truly doubt my skill that much?"
"But that's…"
"Ha, ha, ha… I understand your reluctance, but do yourself a favor and not underestimate the power of Baron Von Stupor. Now sit, for I shall defend your honor, Yugi!"
On saying this, Von Stupor stepped aside to duel the rare hunter.
"Show your face, so I may watch it twist in agony!" Von Stupor ordered.
"Very well, then." said the rare hunter as he obligingly removed his hood to reveal a pale face. The rare hunter had shiny blonde hair and a malicious grin. He looked to be older than Von Stupor, even. "You may call me Marx. I shall go first. I set one monster and four cards in my Magic and Trap zone and end my turn."
"Very well," said Von Stupor, drawing. "I can see you came prepared. I play 'Swords of Revealing Light'! This card flips any currently face-down monsters face-up, and prevents you from attacking for three whole turns!"
When the swords scattered across Marx's side of the field, his face-down card, 'Magician of Faith', was revealed, but remained in defense mode.
"It appears that because you have no cards in your graveyard, you cannot retrieve a Magic card from it, and thus, your effect is wasted!" gloated Von Stupor. Marx growled at this. "I set this monster and end my turn."
Marx drew a card and without saying a word, set a monster. "Go," he said.
After drawing, Von Stupor announced, "I play 'Mystic Plasma Zone'! This raises the attack of all DARK-type monsters by 500 points! I then sacrifice my 'Sangan', which activates his effect! When he is sent from the field to the graveyard, I am allowed to pull a monster with an attack of 1500 or less and place it in my hand! The card I choose shall be 'Senju of the Thousand Hands'! Now, I Tribute Summon the Summoned Skull! With the power boost given by 'Mystic Plasma Zone', Summoned Skull's attack is raised to 3000, bringing him up to par with even the mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
Yugi was stunned. He had never seen any other monster as strong as a Blue-Eyes White Dragon before.
"Baron Von Stupor is a little insane, but he sure is a serious duelist! I sure am glad he's on our side!" Tristan said, astonished.
"Idunno," added Joey. "For some reason, I just can't trust this guy all the way, you know?"
Marx was not affected at all by the situation. In fact, he found it quite funny.
"You fool!" he laughed. "You've just activated my face-down card, 'Trap Hole'! Since your monster's attack is 1500 or greater, it is automatically destroyed!"
"What???" cried Baron Von Stupor. "No! Now I have no defense for my Life Points!"
"Oh, no! That may have been a fatal mistake!" said Yugi. "Von Stupor needs a defense—and fast!"
"My turn," announced Marx. "I'll set this monster and Flip Summon the Vorse Raider! Since I still cannot attack, I shall end my turn. Only one more turn remains before you feel my wrath."
"Marx is also a powerful duelist," said Yugi. "The Vorse Raider has 1900 attack points, just like the Gemini Elf, making it one of the most powerful monsters in the game! What's even worse is that the Vorse Raider is a DARK-type monster, which gives him the power bonus from 'Mystic Plasma Zone' as well, giving him 2400 attack points!"
Von Stupor silently drew the next card.
"I shall summon Senju of the Thousand Hands! His effect lets me search my deck and place any one ritual monster card into my hand, and the card I choose is 'Relinquished'!"
Yugi broke into a cold sweat at the sound of that name.
I knew I'd heard it somewhere! Yugi thought. That was a monster only Pegasus owned! What is Baron Von Stupor doing with it?! Is he really trying to help me??? Furthermore, who is he???
"I'm not strong enough to attack the Vorse Raider yet, so I'll end my turn," declared Von Stupor.
"A wise move on your part," mentioned Marx. "I'll simply set this monster for this turn, since I still cannot attack. However, once I end my turn your 'Swords of Revealing Light' will be destroyed, and I will be free to attack."
Marx ended his turn and all the swords surrounding him dimmed out.
"Heh, heh…" Von Stupor chuckled after he drew his card. "My 'Swords of Revealing Light' have protected me well and I shall not let them do so in vain! I shall summon the Copycat!"
"What are you talking about? That monster only has 0 attack and defense!"
"He is right now, but when he is summoned, he automatically copies the attack and defense of one selected monster anywhere on the field! Now, guess which monster I'm going to copy?"
"Perhaps my Vorse Raider?"
"Ha, ha, I think not, O stinky cloaked one!"
"Then it would have to be Senju!"
"Guess again, O shamer of burlap sacks!"
"Surely it's not going to copy itself—"
"Indeed, you are correct! It shall copy the Vorse Raider!"
"What??? But you just said—"
"Silence! You will disrupt the potatoes."
"I'm dueling a fool…" Marx said, shaking his head. He was beginning to lose his patience. "It doesn't matter now, though. Since you copied my Vorse Raider, the Copycat's attack is over 1500, enabling me to activate my second 'Trap Hole', ha, ha, ha!"
"No! How can one get more than one 'Trap Hole' so fast?!"
Just as fast as the Copycat was summoned, it fell into the hole waiting beneath it, never to be seen again.
"Grrr…" Von Stupor growled. "Senju, attack the Magician of Faith with your Slap of a Thousand Hands!"
Marx was enjoying himself. "You have now activated another face-down card of mine! It is called 'Fairy Box'! It allows me to flip a coin whenever a monster of yours attacks! If I call it correct, your attacking monster's attack will become 0 for the remainder of your Battle Phase!"
This surprised Von Stupor. "Oh, no! That means if he calls it right, Senju will be destroyed and I will take 850 points of damage to my Life Points!"
Marx searched his cloak's many pockets for a coin, but to no avail.
"Harrumph!" he grunted. "Do you have a coin?"
"I have a token from "Bullwinkle's" that you may use."
"…What?? What are you talking about?"
"You know, "Bullwinkle's", it's a kids place, kind of like—"
"Never mind, just never mind. Let me see it."
Von Stupor handed over his token. As Marx flipped it, he called Heads. The token showed Tails.
"Blast!" Marx cursed.
Senju dashed to the Magician of Faith and wildly flailed its thousand hands at it until it exploded, signaling its destruction.
"Since I still cannot take on your Vorse Raider yet, I shall stall once more by playing 'Nightmare's Steel Cage', which prevents any monsters on the field from attacking for two more turns!" Von Stupor announced.
"I am beginning to lose my patience," grumbled Marx to his cohorts. "He is most fortunate to have drawn that card just as his 'Swords of Revealing Light' wore off. It doesn't matter, though; it's only a matter of time until he runs out of ways to bide his time."
The rare hunter drew, and sacrificed 500 Life Points to keep his 'Fairy Box' on the field. He then ended his turn.
"You have nothing to say? Perhaps you feel your impending doom surrounding you," Von Stupor joked.
"Those words come from one who has been too busy stalling for four turns to go on the offensive," Marx retorted.
The crowd oohed at Von Stupor.
"Eh?!" grunted Von Stupor in shock as he turned around to see a large crowd. I never realized we had spectators, he thought.
Von Stupor drew and activated his face-down card, 'Call of the Haunted'.
"I shall return Summoned Skull from the grave, and due to my 'Mystic Plasma Zone', his attack remains at 3000!" he said. "Next, I'll play the 'Black Illusion Ritual', sacrifice Senju of the Thousand hands, and Special Summon Relinquished!"
"Relinquished? What kind of monster is that?" Marx scoffed. "It only has 0 attack and defense!"
"Relinquished is a very special monster," Von Stupor said with an evil tone in his voice. "He's very much like Copycat, except he absorbs your monster and turns it into an Equip Magic card!"
"No!!! That means I'll soon have nothing to defend my Life points with!!!"
"That's right! Come to me Vorse Raider! Become one with my Relinquished and add to his might!"
Relinquished turned around and locked eyes with the Vorse Raider. It was frozen in fear. A beam shot from the hole in Relinquished's torso and grabbed the Vorse Raider, much like a tractor beam. The Vorse Raider struggled with all its might, but could not resist, and was sucked into the hole in Relinquished's torso. Relinquished's shoulder flaps closed over his body, and the Vorse Raider's face and body stuck out of Relinquished's shoulder flap.
"To get rid of your other monster, I shall play 'Raigeki'!" said von Stupor.
Marx then burst into laughter. "I'll counter your Magic card with 'Anti-Raigeki'!!! Your monsters are destroyed in place of mine!!!"
"No!!! That's not possible! That cannot be! How?!" Von Stupor shrieked. He was quite angry by now. "How can you possibly counter my strategies so many times?!"
"Don't you understand? That is why you cannot defeat me! My deck is full of many different traps, one for every occasion! Even your Relinquished cannot stand up to the might of my many traps! There is absolutely nothing you can do!"
Von Stupor growled. I've never faced anyone like this duelist, he thought. A trap for every occasion…
"Then I shall now summon the Sonic Bird, but I shall not use his effect! Now, I shall attack your face-down card! Sonic Bird, use you're Sonic Strike!"
"…And I shall flip your token once more to determine your monster's attack strength! I shall call Heads!"
Marx flipped the "Bullwinkle's token and it showed Tails once again. Marx grunted in disapproval and the bird soared straight through Marx's flipped card, 'Mask of Darkness'.
"This mishap shall actually prove to my advantage. The Mask of Darkness has a Flip Effect that allows me to recover one Trap card from the Graveyard and place it in my hand." Marx shuffled through his Graveyard and chose a card. "My 'Trap Hole' shall be my card of choice, if you don't mind."
"Perfect," Von Stupor muttered to himself sarcastically. "The last thing I'll need is another 'Trap Hole'."
Von Stupor ended his turn and Marx drew his next card.
"This card is useless; therefore I shall refuse to pay 500 Life Points to destroy 'Fairy Box'. Take your token back," Marx said.
He threw the token back to Von Stupor, and Von Stupor caught it.
"I'll set one card in my Magic and Trap zone and end my turn," he finished.
"Fine. I'll draw," Von Stupor said, and stopped to think a bit.
"What's the matter?" asked Marx. "Have you learned that victory is inevitably mine?"
"I have learned many things, one of which is the fact that the scent of which your cloak emits is much like worm castings, and that it can be picked up even by those without noses."
"You will regret those words!"
"The trees droop in your presence!"
"Stop it!"
"They shriek in pain!"
"Play the game!!!"
"Lest you want another verbal beating, I suggest you not interrupt my thinking."
Marx's eyes bulged, a vein popped out of his forehead, and he threw his hands into the air, as he yelled in a bloody, violent rage.
The crowd began laughing at the rare hunter. His two lackeys marched over to Von Stupor and stood to either side of him, menacingly. The crowd became silent and stared. Marx looked upon Von Stupor with a visual burning hatred. One of his goons spoke to Von Stupor.
"If you do not halt your insults, we shall end the duel and seize your cards by force," he said.
"If you end the duel and seize my cards by force, you will be seen by those cameras," Von Stupor replied coolly, pointing at various cameras strewn throughout the city.
"Cameras do not intimidate us, because we can easily report back to Master Marik before we are caught."
"Caught by the police, perhaps. However, do you truly believe you can outrun an entire mob of angry, honest duelists?"
Marx's goons looked around them to see a large group of duelists looking at them angrily. Seeing the predicament they were in, they slowly moved back to Marx's side.
"Continuing the duel," Von Stupor announced. "I shall attack your face-down card with the Sonic Bird!"
The card revealed itself to be the Slate Warrior.
"Once this card is flipped, it decreases one selected monster's attack by 500, which will bring the Sonic Bird's attack down to 900! My Slate Warrior is still destroyed, but now your Sonic Bird cannot penetrate any other defense of mine!" Marx bragged.
"Hmmm… I'll set this card in my Magic and Trap zone and end my turn."
"I'll draw and set one card in my Magic and Trap zone as well and end my turn as well."
"Taking no chances on your blasted traps, I'll shift Sonic Bird to defense mode and end my turn."
"I draw and… ha! I summon the Vorse Raider to wreak havoc once more!"
"Do your worst!"
"Attack the Sonic Bird with the Arts of the Raider!"
The Vorse Raider chopped the Sonic Bird in half with his mighty sword, but just as he did this, a javelin flew from nowhere and stuck him in his chest.
"What's this?" Marx asked, perplexed.
"You activated my trap, 'Enchanted Javelin'! It increases my Lie Points by the attack power of one attacking monster! Since your Vorse Raider gets the power bonus from 'Mystic Plasma Zone', I gain 2400 Life Points, instead of 1900, and that raises my Life points to 10,400!"
The crowd cheered in excitement.
"You're a clever boy, always finding ways to hold me off, but I'm willing to bet you're just about out of ways to do so."
He doesn't know how right he is, thought Von Stupor.
"Your turn," said Marx.
"I summon the Whiptail Crow!"
"I counter with 'Trap Hole'!"
"I'm glad I could entice you into getting rid of that card."
"What?"
"Whiptail Crow couldn't take down the Vorse Raider. You could have just saved it for later…"
"Hmph! Do you end your turn?"
"Unfortunately, I do."
"Heh, heh, heh. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Marx laughed. "Vorse Raider, attack him directly with Arts of the Raider!"
The Vorse raider's sword impaled Von Stupor while emitting a bright light and Von Stupor's Life points dropped back down to 8000.
"Like you said, because my Vorse Raider is a DARK-type monster, he gains the 500 point power bonus from your 'Mystic Plasma Zone'!" Marx added. "Your turn."
"I draw and… can't do anything. I end my turn."
"So, you've finally run out of ways to stall your demise. I had a feeling it would come soon. Vorse Raider, attack him directly!"
The Vorse Raider gave Von Stupor a hard overhead slash and his Life Points dropped to 5600.
"You may go now."
Von Stupor drew and promptly shook his fist at Marx.
"Your Vorse Raider shall embark on a journey to oblivion, for I play the 'Dark Hole'! All monsters on the field are destroyed!"
Marx appeared irked at this. His two monsters, Vorse Raider and the newly revealed Cyber Jar were sucked into a huge black sphere in the sky and disappeared.
"Next, I… end my turn."
Marx's irritation turned back into confidence.
"A bold move, but it's too bad you couldn't back it up. I'll set one Magic or Trap card and end my turn," he said.
"I activate 'Harpie's Feather Duster'!"
"I counter with 'Gryphon Wing'! All your Magic and Trap cards are destroyed instead of mine!"
"It's just my 'Mystic Plasma Zone'…"
"A small price to pay to preserve my precious traps!"
"Hm. Right, then. Your turn."
"I'll set another Magic or Trap card and end my turn. It appears that I am now wide open. Perhaps you should attack me now. Heh, heh."
"I'll not fall for such an amateur move! I can't attack without a monster on the field!"
Marx stared.
"Um, never mind. I summon the Whiptail Crow!"
"…And I activate 'Torrential Tribute'! All monsters on the field are now destroyed!"
A massive tsunami flowed through the arena and washed away the Whiptail Crow.
"Alright, then I'll end my turn," Von Stupor muttered.
"I'll set one more Magic or Trap card and end my turn."
"I draw and end my turn."
"I draw and end my turn."
"I draw… and summon the Man-Eating treasure Chest!"
"I activate a second 'Torrential Tribute'!"
"Damn you to Hell, Marx!!!"
"Don't you see my plan? If I can keep you from summoning any monsters, you'll run out of cards, and what a humiliating defeat that will be!"
Von Stupor growled. He's right, he thought. If I don't find a way to stop those traps, I'll run out of cards…
"I draw. Next, I set one Magic or Trap card and end my turn," said Marx.
"I draw and end my turn," said Von Stupor.
"I draw and end my turn."
"I draw, set one Magic or Trap card, and end my turn."
"I draw and end my turn."
"We seem to have hit a dry spell, talking cloak of stink. I set one Magic or Trap card and end my turn."
"I agree, masked fool. I discard 'White Hole' and end my turn."
"I draw… the card that spells doom for those who cannot spell it, and for those that can, it just kind of reminds them! I sacrifice my face-down card 'Kuriboh' to Tribute summon your bane, Jinzo!!!"
At the moment that Jinzo was summoned, the lower torso area of Marx's cloak became saturated with a strange liquid substance.
"No!!!" Marx shrieked. "Not Jinzo! He negates the effects of all Trap cards!!!"
The crowd went into an uproar. Even Yugi and his friends began cheering.
"I'm not finished yet, stinky! I'll combine my 'Sword of Dark Destruction' and 'Axe of Despair' and equip them to Jinzo, increasing his attack by 1400, giving him a grand total of 3800 attack points! Since you also have no monsters on the field, I shall attack you directly! Go, Jinzo! Blast of Dark Despair!"
Jinzo charged up a mighty bolt of mental energy within his fused weapon, Blade of Dark Despair, and launched it straight at Marx. It created an awesome explosion so loud that all of Battle City became silent. All within viewing distance came to see what was happening.
"Make your play, O wearer of feces!" Von Stupor jabbered.
Marx, hardly caring what Von Stupor said, and becoming quite frantic, drew his next card.
"I am assuming that because your five Magic and Trap card spaces are already filled up, you cannot play any Magic cards this turn!" Von Stupor said.
Marx dropped his hands to his sides and looked sorrowfully to the ground. He let his cards fall from his hand and ended his turn.
"Jinzo, finish him off," ordered Von Stupor.
Once again, another loud explosion from the Blade of Dark Despair and Marx was finished.
The crowd erupted into cheers as Marx sulked in place. He slowly became angrier and angrier until he finally snapped.
"That's enough!!!" he screamed. "Get his cards now!!!"
Marx and his flunkies then charged Von Stupor. Yugi covered his eyes while Joey and Tristan tried to force their way through the crowd to help Von Stupor. Meanwhile, Von Stupor reached into his coat/cape and began pulling things out.
"Eat mouse ball, sore losers of ignorance!" he shouted and pegged Marx's lackeys between the eyes, stunning them momentarily.
He then pulled out a handful of computer keys and threw them into the face of Marx. This surprised Marx and he stopped for a moment. Von Stupor seized this opportunity by taking off his coat/cape and clobbered Marx in the side of his head with it. Marx went down like a sack of potatoes. By now the other two rare hunters had recovered and came at Von Stupor once more. Von Stupor simply grabbed one, spun him around, and using the rare hunter's momentum, swung him into the other. They both fell to the ground.
By now, Joey and Tristan had made it to Von Stupor. They kept watch over Marx's cronies and made sure they didn't get back up. Von Stupor marched over to Marx and claimed his rarest card and locater piece.
Holding up a 'Mirror Force', Von Stupor said to Marx, "I do believe this card is now mine."
By now the crowd was roaring, patting Von Stupor on the back, and giving high fives as well as handshakes. When the excitement died back down, Von Stupor spoke to Yugi.
"I believe this card belongs to you," he said.
"No, keep it. You may have accepted that challenge in my place, but you won it fair and square. You can call it thanks for defending my 'Dark Magician' and Millennium Puzzle!" Yugi replied.
"Yeah you're alright in my book, Von!" said Joey.
"Many thanks," Von Stupor replied. "Well, I suppose I should be on my way."
"Wait!" Téa interjected. "Why not come with us? You don't seem to be traveling with anyone."
"Are you sure? I would not want to burden you..." asked Von Stupor.
"Naw, come and join us! We can always use another friend," added Tristan.
Well, in that case, I see not why not. I shall join you! Potatoes!"
Thus, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Téa, and Baron Von Stupor continued the Battle City tournament together.