Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Magic: The Gathering.
Wow. Faced with the tidal wave of reviews of the last chapter, I am happy to announce the continuation of the #4x02z saga. (That says haxorz for you non-leetspeakers). HUGE props to Igor whose Gollum-inspired review was the best review I've ever received and the first review to make me LMAO (Laugh My Ass Off) as well as being the kick-start my brain needed for this chapter. Thank-you. Now, whenever I feel a writer's block, I read that review and my brain starts ticking. Yes, Chapter 26 was total crap. As I might say, it was my Star Wars Episode I of chapters. But with this behind us, the future looks bright for this fanfic! Oh yes, for those of you who don't know what Pocky is (I'm hoping this is only a few), it is a delicious Japanese treat consisting of a chocolate biscuit covered in chocolate. Many flavors are available such as strawberry, almond (my favorite), white chocolate, green tea, orange, coconut, and many more. It is very appreciated by anime fans and gamers. Pocky can be found in most Asian groceries as well as some large supermarkets (Sobeys' I know of). I buy my Pocky from a local comic book store. If you've never had Pocky, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? One box and you'll be addicted! Anyways, enough of my ranting and on to the fic!
Meanwhile, Joey and Mai had ended up in a very strange room. The floor was blue and covered in a white grid. There was a high-pitched whine and a strange motorcycle pulled up to them. It was bright yellow and had a covered top. The top opened and the driver clambered out. He was wearing a yellow jumpsuit and helmet assorted to his motorcycle.
"Welcome," he said, "I am Tron."
"So, what are we doing?" asked Joey.
"We're going to have a light-cycle game," said Tron, snapping his fingers. Two more motorcycles appeared, one bright red, the other green. "Choose a light-cycle and put on the gear inside."
Joey went to the green light-cycle and pulled on the green jumpsuit and helmet inside. Mai did the same with the red light-cycle.
"Now," said Tron "In this game, the light-cycles leave a trail of light behind them. This forms walls along the gridlines of the playing field. The object of the game is race around the field, trying to make your opponents crash into the walls. When a player crashes, they are out of the game, forever! The last player going wins. Ready?"
"You'd better not loose, Wheeler," said Mai.
"Don't worry, Mai. We can take this guy," said Joey, getting into his light-cycle.
"And they're off!" said Tron. The light-cycles took off at an incredible speed. Joey swerved wildly to avoid Tron who tried to cut him off. Mai took off in another direction, intent on trying waiting for an opportunity to take out Tron. She quickly realized that this was a contest of reflexes. At the speeds they were going at, she had only a few seconds to decide when to turn.
"Bring it on," she said.
Meanwhile, Khell was not doing well. He had drawn and summoned Kurgadon, a 1500/1500 that gained 500 attack and defense for every level 5 or higher monster he summoned.
"End turn," he announced.
"Very well," said Guru "I summon Black Hat (1600/500) and use my Worm's special ability to exchange control of your Crater Hellion and my Black Hat. Now, I attack with Crater Hellion and Worm!"
"Activate trap card," said Khell "Thunderclap, dealing 1500 damage to your Worm!" A thunderbolt came down and destroyed the attacking virus. Crater Hellion, no longer being under the influence of the virus, returned to Khell's side of the field, as did Black Hat to Guru's side.
"I set one card and end my turn," said Guru.
"I sacrifice Kurgadon to summon Jungle Wurm (2500/2500)," said Khell "When this creature attacks, each creature blocking beyond the first looses 500 attack and defense points. Now, I attack with Jungle Wurm!"
"Activate trap card," said Guru "Crack the Code. This allows me to place as many 500/500 hacker tokens as I have empty monster slots." Five hackers appeared on Guru's field. "I block your wurm with one of my tokens!"
"You loose!" said Khell "My wurm had 2500 attack points, while your token only had 500 defense points!" Khell's wurm effortlessly tore through the hacker and reached Guru. Guru's lifepoints dropped like a stone. Khell watched his opponent fall to the ground.
"Finally," said Khell, turning around. Suddenly, he heard his opponent moaning. Turning, he saw Guru getting to his feet.
"Activated…trap…card," gasped Guru "Reformat…resets…lifepoints…2000." Effectively, Guru's lifepoints were at 2000. "You'll pay for that," he said "I activate my magic card, Blue Screen of Death!" The playing field disappeared to be replaced by a giant blue screen bearing these words:
A fatal exception OE has occurred at 0167:BFF9DFF. The current application will be terminated.
Press any key to terminate the current application
Press CTRL+ALT+DEL again to restart your computer. You will loose any unsaved information in all applications.
Press any key to continue
"The Blue Screen of Death destroys all non-hacker monsters in play!" said Guru. One by one, Khell's monsters disappeared.
"Now I summon my Deckmaster to the field," said Guru "Next, I activate 1337 (leet). If I activate this card when I have five hacker-type monsters in play, I win the duel! Game over, Khell!"
GURU: 2000
KHELL: Lost by card effect
"No!" said Khell "I can't believe I lost!"
"Believe it or not," said Guru "You did! Now your mind will be trapped in this virtual world forever!"
Meanwhile, Joey was chasing after Tron. While Mai had opted to stay away from the hacker, Joey kept close to him, trying to cut him off. Tron did a quick right turn and Joey followed, sticking right beside Tron's wall. Joey was gaining when Tron suddenly opted for a quick u-turn. He zoomed past Joey who was going in the opposite direction, trapping Joey between his walls. Before Joey could react, he had crashed into Tron's wall ahead of him, his light-cycle exploding in a green ball of light.
"JOEY!" Mai screamed, but got no response. Joey's walls slowly disappeared off the game grid. "What did you do to him?" she asked Tron.
"Game over," said Tron "His mind is now trapped in the virtual world."
"Hang on, Wheeler," whispered Mai "I'll get this jerk and save you!" Mai sent her light-cycle on a sharp left turn and headed for Tron. Tron turned his light-cycle and headed straight for Mai. Now the two light-cycles were heading straight for each other, the two opponents playing a high-stakes game of chicken. As the distance between the light-cycles closed, Mai calculated her attack. At the last possible moment, the two light-cycles turned sharply to the left. They were now neck and neck, heading straight for the outer wall of the game grid. As the reached the wall, the two light-cycles turned, Mai going left, Tron going right. Mai quickly turned her light-cycle around and retraced her wall, silently willing her vehicle to go faster. Rounding a corner, she saw Tron's light-cycle heading for her again. This time, she turned left and then right, passing Tron's oncoming light-cycle. Tron was caught in a dead end! His light-cycle exploded in a yellow ball of light. Mai felt her light-cycle slow down and come to a stop. Trembling from the adrenaline rush, she got out.
The walls on the game grid disappeared as well as the light-cycles. Mai saw Tron lying on the ground. She walked over. Picking him up by the collar, she ripped off his helmet. "Where's Joey?" she asked. When he didn't respond, she slapped him and repeated her question.
"You have to beat the game if you want to save your friend," said Tron "And the next level is a duel, against me!"
Two Duel Disks appeared. Mai and Tron each put one on, slotted their decks and powered up the Duel Disks, the wings extending from the central piece and swinging forward to form the playing field. The duellists drew their hands and life meters clocked up to 2000.
"For this duel, we will use the Deckmaster system. Do you know how it works?" asked Tron.
"Yes," said Mai, flipping over the top cards of her deck "My Deckmaster is Harpie Lady SB!" The winged woman appeared beside Mai and let out a high-pitch screech.
"Nice," said Tron "My Deckmaster is Web Crawler." A small robot appeared beside Tron.
"Let's duel!"
"Ladies first," said Tron.
"Flattery will get you nowhere," said Mai "I summon Harpie Lady (1300/1400), in attack mode!" A winged woman appeared on the field "I set one card and end my turn."
"I summon Black Hat (1600/500), in attack mode," said Tron "Attack her Harpie Lady, Malware attack!" The hacker pulled out a keyboard and began typing on it. A black shape appeared and raced towards Mai's creature.
"Activate trap card," said Mai "Mirror Wall. This card halves the attack of your monsters. Harpie Lady, counter-attack!" The Harpie slashed through the hacker with he sharp claws.
TRON: 1500
MAI: 2000
"I set one card and end my turn."
"I summon Bird Face (1600/1600), in attack mode," said Mai "And now I play the magic card, Elegant Egoist. When I have one or more Harpie Ladies on the field, this allows me to special summon a Harpie Lady or Harpie Lady Sisters from my hand or deck. I special summon Harpie Lady Sisters (1950/2100)!" Two winged women appeared on the field "Now, Harpie Lady Sisters, direct attack!" The winged women charged forward.
"Activate trap card," said Tron "n00b! This card negates the attack of one monster."
"I set one card and end my turn," said Mai.
"I set one monster in defense mode and I set one card," said Tron. "Your move."
"I play Harpie's Feather Duster," said Mai. A whirlwind swept away Tron's facedown card. "Next, I tribute Harpie Lady and Bird Face to summon Harpie's Pet Dragon (2000/2500) in attack mode!" A giant dragon wearing a collar with a chain appeared on the field. "Harpie's Pet Dragon, attack his facedown card!" The dragon roared and spewed a torrent of flames at Tron's facedown card. Mai suddenly felt a burning pain and her dragon stopped its attack. Tron's card flipped over and a red brick wall appeared.
"You attacked my Firewall (0/2000) (A/N: The hackers seem to use this card a lot)," said Tron "This card negates battle damage done to this card and deals 500 points of damage to the attacking creature's controller."
TRON: 1500
MAI: 1500
"End turn."
"I tribute Firewall to summon Napster (2300/1900)," said Tron. A green-eyed cat's head wearing headphones appeared on the field. "When this monster is summoned, it allows me to take one card from my opponent's hand, but I must give them a card from my hand in exchange." He crossed over to Mai and looked at her hand. "I'll take this," he said, taking Monster Reborn "And you can have this," he gave her Spyware.
"Now, Napster, attack her Bird Face! MP3 attack!" The monster opened its mouth and from it fired a stream of music notes at Mai's monster.
TRON: 1500
MAI: 800
"When Bird Face is destroyed in battle," said Mai "I can put a Harpie Lady from my deck into my hand." She pulled out her deck and removed a Harpie Lady.
"Fair enough, I set one card and end my turn."
"I summon Harpie Lady (1300/1400), in attack mode" said Mai "My Harpie's Pet Dragon gains 300 attacks points for each face-up Harpie Lady on my side of the field. Next I play Rising Air Currents. This continuous magic card increases the attack of all wind-type monsters by 500 points and decreases their defense by 400 points." Harpie Lady's attack rose to 1800 while her defense dropped to 1000. "I set one monster in defense mode and end my turn."
"So our strongest monsters are at even strength," said Tron "Well then, I play Internet. This continuous trap card raises the attack of hacker-type monsters by 350 points. Then I'll summon Script Kiddie (550/200), in defense mode. When this card is summoned, I may reveal a trap or magic card on your side of the field. I activate your left-hand card!" Mai's card flipped up to reveal Trap Hole. "Now, Napster, attack her facedown card!" The card flipped up to reveal Magician of Faith (300/400). "I set one card and end my turn."
"I play Pot of Greed, drawing two cards," said Mai "And I summon Dancing Fairy (1700/1000), in defense mode." A small fairy appeared on the field. "I gain 1000 lifepoints during my Standby phase as long as this monster remains in defense position on the field. I set two cards, and play Harpie's Feather Duster, clearing away your traps and magic cards. Now, Harpie's Pet Dragon, attack his Script Kiddie!" The dragon obliterated the hacker in a torrent of flames. "Your move."
"I play Data Search, allowing me to draw three cards. If one of those cards is not a virus-type monster, I discard one card. And I've drawn a virus, good for me, bad for you. Next, I play the magic card, Take the Red Pill. This allows me to search my deck for a magic card called "The Matrix" and put it into play." Suddenly, the playing field was replaced by a dark void where green strings of changing alphanumeric characters descended horizontally from the ceiling before fading out. "Welcome to the Matrix. Thanks to this card, all hacker-type monsters gain 700 attack points and 200 defense points. As well, all non-hacker monsters loose 200 attack and defense points! Now I activate my Deckmaster's special ability. When the magic card "Internet" is in the graveyard, I may search my deck for two cards and put them in my hand. However, you must then randomly choose two cards for me to remove from the game." Tron pulled out his deck and placed two cards in his hand. He then spread his cards facedown for Mai to pick.
"That one," said Mai, pointing to the middle card "And that one," she said, pointing to the second card from the right.
Tron slipped the two cards in his pocket. "Now, I tribute Napster to summon Teh Master (1010/1010). Finally, I activate the magic card, 1337. If 1337 is activated when Teh Master is in play, I win!"
"I don't think so," said Mai "Go, Magic Jammer! I discard one card to negate the activation of your magic card!"
"I chain 404 onto your card to negate it."
"Then I'll activate Trap Hole, destroying Teh Master," said Mai. A hole opened up under Tron's creature and it fell in.
"I'll just use Monster Reborn to special summon Teh Master back to play," said Tron.
"You thought I forgot about you taking my card? No, activate final trap card, Thunder Break. This card allows me to discard one card to destroy any card on the field. I destroy Teh Master!" (A/N: The misspelling is intentional. Hackers use 'teh' instead of 'the').
"I set one card. End turn."
TRON: 1500
MAI: 1800
"Time for me to end this," said Mai "I play Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and discarding two. Next, I play Elegant Egoist, allowing me to special summon Harpie Lady Sisters (2450/1700). Now, Harpie Lady Sisters, Harpie's Pet Dragon, direct attack!"
"Activate trap card, 128-Bit encryption. I flip a coin and if I win the flip, I decide which of your monsters can attack. I call tails!" The giant coin tumbled through the air before landing on a tails. "So, of course, I say none of your monsters can attack," said Tron.
"I set one card, end turn."
"I play Soft Boot," said Tron "All monsters in play are shuffled into their owners' library." Mai shuffled her monsters into her library. "Now, I summon Type C Virus (1500/600), in attack mode. Type C Virus, direct attack!" Mai gasped as the virus brought her lifepoints down to 300.
TRON: 1500
MAI: 300
"End turn."
"I play Dark Hole, destroying all monsters in play." A black vortex appeared in the center of the field and sucked Tron's virus in. "Now I summon Harpie's Brother (2300/200) and I activate my Deckmaster's special ability, Call of the Harpies! This allows me to special summon two Harpie Ladies from my deck. Harpie's Bother, Harpie Ladies, finish this! This one's for Joey!" The flying creatures took out Tron's lifepoints with one swift blow.
TRON: 0
MAI: 300
"Game over!"
"Well," said Tron "I tried my hardest. You know, I'm not really into this for the money," he added "It's just I've been so bored and I wanted a good challenge. Thank-you for the great duel!"
"So how do I save Joey?" asked Mai.
"You have to reach the final level."
"What will I find there?"
"The duel of your life," said Tron "I won't be seeing you there, but I will be watching." With those words, he disappeared. Mai walked over to the door across the room and went through.
Kaiba was not having fun.
Fun was the last thing on his mind as he dashed around the corner, dumping the empty shells from shotgun, loading new shells and turning around to deliver another face full of lead at the pursuing zombies. Dropping the useless shotgun, he pulled out the pistol he'd found when entering this crazy place and unloaded a clip into the zombie's face. The zombie dropped with a sickening thud and Kaiba had just enough time to slap in another clip before the next zombie was upon him. He pumped that zombie full of lead until it fell along its dead compatriot. Kaiba leaned against the wall, breathing hard.
He had no idea where he was, only that the place was crawling with undead soldiers. He had been lucky to find some weapons before the undead had shown up, wanting some human flesh for lunch. Kaiba kicked the corpses to make sure they were dead, and leaved over to pick up the ammo from the bodies. These damn zombies could take a hell of a beating, and he only has so much ammo. Picking up the empty shotgun, he loaded a few shells he'd picked up from the corpses and walked on. Battered and bloodied, Kaiba eventually arrived at a locked door. Taking out the key card he had found, he opened the door, guns ready for what was on the other side. To his amazement, it was only a room with a woman in it. She was wearing a Duel Disk on her arm. There was also a Duel Disk on the ground.
"Well, Kaiba," she said, "You look like you've been having fun."
"Who are you?"
"You can call me Uma, and it's time to duel!"
"Fine," said Kaiba, picking up the other Duel Disk. "Battle City rules?"
"Yes," said Uma "Only we play with 2000 lifepoints and using the Deckmaster system."
"Fine," said Kaiba "My Deckmaster will be Lord of Dragons." A man wearing bone armor and a cape appeared beside Kaiba.
"My Deckmaster is Type C Virus," said Uma "Let's duel!"
"I'll go first," said Kaiba "And I summon Blood Vors (1900/1200), in attack mode." A warrior wielding a giant axe appeared on Kaiba's field. "I set one card and end my turn."
"I play Data Search," said Uma "I draw three cards and if one of those cards is not a virus-type monster, I discard one card." She drew and frowned, discarding one card "Now I summon Script Kiddie (200/200) in defense mode. When this creature is summoned, I may reveal a facedown card on your side of the field." Kaiba's facedown card flipped up to reveal Ring of Destruction.
"When this card is activated, I destroy one monster in play, dealing damage to each player equal to the destroyed monster's attack." A ring of grenades appeared around Scrip Kiddie's neck. The grenades exploded, taking a chunk out of both duellists' lifepoints.
UMA: 1800
KAIBA: 1800
"I set one monster in defense mode, set two cards and end my turn."
"I summon X-Head Cannon (1800/1500), in attack mode," A robot with two shoulder-mounted cannons appeared on the field. "And I set one card. Now, X-Head Cannon, attack her facedown card!"
"Reveal trap card," said Uma "Crack the Code. This allows me to place as many 500/500 hacker tokens in play as I have trap cards available." Four hackers appeared on her field. The robot charged up its cannon and fired at the facedown card. It exploded, revealing White Hat (1300/900).
"Now, Blood Vors, take out one of her hacker tokens!" The warrior charged forward and cleaved one of the hackers in half.
UMA: 400
KAIBA: 1800
"I activate my Deckmaster's ability," said Uma "It allows me to steal 300 lifepoints from my opponent and add them to my own."
UMA: 700
KAIBA: 1500
"Next, I activate the magic card, Pocky, gaining 500 lifepoints."
UMA: 1200
KAIBA: 1500
"Now I tribute one of my tokens to summon Snip3r (Sniper) (1200/1200)." A soldier with a sniper rifle appeared on the field "Once per turn, this monster man reduce one monster's attack by 1000 points, if it does, it cannot attack. Next, I play High Bandwidth. This card allows me to summon an additional monster this turn, so I tribute another token to summon Keyboard (1500/2000). If a hacker is in play, this monster's attack is increased by 1000 and its defense by 500." Keyboard shot up to a 2500/2500. "Now, Keyboard, attack his X-Head Cannon!"
"Reveal trap card," said Kaiba "Mechanical Magic Mirror. It allows me to activate a trap card from your graveyard. I activate Data Search, drawing three cards and discarding one."
UMA: 1200
KAIBA: 800
"I set one card and one monster in defense. Your move."
"I play Pot of Greed," said Kaiba "Drawing two cards, then I play Change of Heart on your Keyboard!"
"Sorry, Kaiba," said Uma, flipping up her facedown card "404, negating the effect of your magic card."
"Thank-you," said Kaiba "I wanted that card out of the way so I could play this: Monster Reborn to revive my Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) from my graveyard!"
"Wait," said Uma "When did you put that card in your graveyard?"
"When I activated Data Search," said Kaiba "Since I did not draw a virus-type monster, I discarded it. I could have kept it, but this was easier. I sacrificed Change of Heart, hoping your facedown card was a trap to negate magic cards. Now, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack her hacker token! White Lightning!" The dragon opened its mouth, charging up its attack. It fired a ball of white light at Uma's creature.
"Activate quickplay magic card, Forward," said Uma "This lets me redirect an attack at another one of my monsters. Now, I activate Snip3r's ability to reduce you dragon's attack to 2000." The sniper brought the rifle up and aimed through the scope at the dragon. There was a sharp snap and a flash of light as the gun fired. "The monster I've chosen to redirect the attack at is Firewall (0/2000). When this card is flip summoned, it negates all damage done to it and deals 500 points of direct damage to the attacking creature's controller."
UMA: 1200
KAIBA: 300
"I set one card and end my turn."
"I tribute my two remaining hacker tokens to summon Trojan Horse (2000/1800)." A giant wooden horse appeared on Kaiba's field. "This monster is summoned on my opponent's side of the field, but it allows my monsters to attack my opponent's lifepoints directly. Keyboard, direct attack!"
"Reveal trap card, Attack Nullification," said Kaiba "This card negates your attack and ends you Battle Phase."
"End turn."
"I tribute Trojan Horse and Blood Vors…" Kaiba started before Uma stopped him.
"Trojan Horse cannot be tributed, sorry."
"Then I'll play Enemy Controller, sacrificing Trojan Horse to take control of your Snip3r. Then I summon Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200). Now, I tribute my three monsters to summon the God of the stone tower, Obelisk, the Tormentor (4000/4000)!" The ground shook as the God appeared behind Kaiba, towering above the field with fists like anvils, ready to strike at its master's command. "Now, to avoid any surprises, I play Harpie's Feather Duster!" A giant whirlwind swept away all of Uma's facedown cards. "Now, Obelisk, show her your power! Fist of God!" Obelisk rose its giant fists and brought them crashing down onto Uma's monsters. There was a brilliant explosion and when the light had faded, Uma's field was empty and she was unconscious on the ground.
UMA: 0
KAIBA: 300
To be continued…
Author's note: Another chapter in the #4x02z arc finished! Hope you liked it! Keep the reviews coming, they really help!