This chapter and the next one aren't very long, but that can't be helped, seeing as there isn't much to say in either. Still, we get some nice dueling action, so I hope you enjoy them.
Epyon: Darn that Berial! Nevertheless, thank you for your comments.
Captain Obvious: He tried his best though. That makes up for his stupidity, right?
John: A butler? Ok… but nothing can stand against the Holy Hand Grenade. If Dark was still around, we could test that theory out!
Chapter 19: Rematch of Teams
"What do you mean, start? And just who the heck are you guys, anyway?" Miles asked.
Aya ignored Miles. "Yes, now is as good a time as we will get," she answered, stepping to the side. The three newcomers went next to her, spread out in a line so that the group could see them all at the same time.
"I am sure a few of you recognize us, at least," Adene said after nobody else spoke, everyone's questions being put aside when they had been observing the trio. "Why don't you go ahead and introduce us to the rest of your friends?"
Draken was the first to follow his advice. "The one who just spoke is Adene. As I said earlier, he works for Sarius, and he beat me in a duel earlier. I don't know the other two though."
"The one with the red hair is Shadow, and the other is Mach," Kisara added, who still seemed tired, but was able to keep up with the conversation. "They also are with Sarius, and they defeated Matt and me."
"So they're pretty good at dueling," Claire assumed.
"Considering they just began playing the game, they are not bad at all," Kazel confirmed.
"The last time we faced you, it was a pretest," Adene said. "Now you are taking the real thing. We will not hesitate to kill the ones that lose."
"You warned me of that before, and I'm betting the others were notified of that too," Draken responded. "However, despite how dangerous it is, we've been in situations that are much more treacherous! I, for one, am completely ready!"
"As am I," Kisara said, rising slowly.
In spite of his bold proclamation, Kisara's words caused him to hesitate. "Are you sure? You still seem to be in bad shape…"
"I will be able to handle this," Kisara stated. Kazel moved to her side, hissing softly.
Adene looked at all of them again. When nobody else stepped forward, he said, "Then we appear to only be missing one…"
"Don't worry, I'm ready too," Matt said, emerging from the forest.
"Matt! When did you get here?" Sakura exclaimed while everyone else watched, a bit surprised by the sudden appearance.
"Just now," Matt answered. "I wanted to give Brandi and Randall some time alone, so I came here to make sure everyone was all right."
"Randall?" Amy asked.
"Ah, right, you wouldn't know," Matt realized. "Randall is Max, Brandi, and Chasity's father."
"I still don't get this!" Rue said in frustration. "Wasn't Randall dead?"
"We can cover details later; these guys aren't just going to wait around all day for us," Matt stated, bringing out Masque.
"It looks as though we will be dueling first," Mach said, summoning Elric as Shadow did the same with Ishbal.
"The order doesn't matter to me," Adene shrugged. "Go ahead."
"This ought to be interesting to watch," Perseus commented as they moved back to give the players room.
"To say the least," Amy agreed. "I have seen very few tag team duels, so I'm looking forward to witnessing this one."
Kisara: 8000
Matt: 8000
Shadow: 8000
Mach: 8000
"Want to base who gets to choose the turn order on a coin toss again?" Miles asked.
"That would probably be best," Mach said. "Would one of you like to call it?"
Kisara nodded. "Tails."
Miles flipped the coin, and after slapping it against the back of his hand, announced, "It's tails. Kisara and Matt get to decide."
"I actually have the perfect order in mind, if it's ok with you," Matt said.
"What do you wish to do?" Kisara asked.
"Let Shadow go first, then yourself, then Mach, and have me be last," Matt told her. "This should make things work out the way I want them to."
"All right, I will agree to that," Kisara said, since she had not had a particular order in mind herself.
Shadow eyed them doubtfully. "If that's what you want, we'll go with it. I lay one monster in defense mode and end my turn."
Kazel snaked her long neck around Kisara's back so she could see her hand. "It seems that we are off to a good start."
"Yes," Kisara agreed. "I begin by summoning Lord of Dragons-Dragon Ruler. (1200/1100) Then I play Dragon Calling Horn, which only works when a Lord of Dragons is on the field. I am allowed to special summon up to two Dragon Sub-Types from my hand to the field. I choose Sapphire Dragon (1900/1600) and Red Eyes Black Dragon." (2400/2000)
"That was quick," Neo commented as the dragons emerged with roars.
"Kisara's deck is geared to getting out her Red Eyes quickly," Draken said. "To manage to summon one on her first turn is pretty average."
"So you already got out your strongest monster," Mach noted.
"Yes. Since I cannot attack this turn, I may as well have Kazel use her Deck Master ability so that the Red Eyes Black Dragon can destroy Shadow's defense monster," Kisara decided. Kazel obediently let her aura flow into the Red Eyes on the field. It flew up with a roar, spitting a fireball at the defense monster, incinerating it.
"That would be my Cave Dragon," (1300/2000) Shadow said.
"I end my turn," Kisara concluded.
"Let us see if I can even up the playing field a bit," Mach said. "I summon Iron Knight: Gear Freed. (1800/1600) Then I equip him with Thieving Smoke Bomb. His effect causes him to destroy it immediately though. That means its effect goes off."
The Gear Freed threw the grenade at the ground, causing an explosion of smoke to engulf the field. Kisara froze, unable to see anything, when she suddenly heard Mach's voice right in front of her. "When it is destroyed by a card's effect, I am allowed to look at your hand and choose a card to discard. Kisara, hold out your hand for me to see."
Kisara did so, letting him see her Doublecoston and Early Burial.
"Discard Early Burial," Mach commanded.
When she did so, the smoke cleared, revealing the field. Acting as though nothing had happened, Mach said, "I activate Remove Restraints and sacrifice Gear Freed to special summon Swordmaster-Naked Gear Freed from my deck!" (2600/2200)
"So that is the purpose of Gear Freed," Claire realized, staring at the new monster. "I had no idea it could become such a strong monster."
"That would be Mach's main monster," Kazel informed the spectators. "I believe you will be able to see what he does shortly."
"I equip Gear Freed with Demon Axe to raise his attack by 1000," Mach said. (3600/2200) "This also activates his effect. He automatically destroys a monster on the field when he is equipped with a card. I'll have him destroy the Red Eyes!"
"Yikes! That's one nasty effect," Rue winced as the Gear Freed sliced apart the Red Eyes.
"If you think that is bad, just wait until you see what Shadow can do," Kazel said dryly.
"Now I will activate Elric's Deck Master ability," Mach announced. "By removing an equip card, I can destroy a monster on the field. I'll remove Demon Axe to destroy Sapphire Dragon." (2600/2200)
The Gear Freed drew his arm back, and then threw the Demon Axe at his foe. It connected with the Sapphire Dragon's head, cleaving it in half.
"That is it," Mach said.
"And you say Shadow is worse?" Miles asked in amazement.
"Depending on the situation, yes, he can be," Kazel answered.
Matt did not seem worried in the slightest as he glanced over his cards. "I play Devil's Sanctuary. This magic card generates a Metal Devil Token for my use. I'll place it in attack mode." (0/0)
"What does that token do?" Mach inquired, looking at it curiously.
"Nothing of importance," Matt shrugged. Then he looked at his hand again, and with a smirk, said, "I also lay one card face down. That's it."
"You have something planned," Shadow accused as he drew.
"Maybe," Matt responded shortly.
"Let us see just what you were hoping to lure me into," Shadow said. "I activate Cyclone, destroying your magic or trap card!"
"Damn!" Matt growled. "My Magic Cylinder…"
Shadow shook his head. "That was all you had to protect yourself? Pathetic! Prepare to suffer the consequences of such feeble strategies! I summon Black Flare Dragon of Horus Lv 4!" (1600/1000)
"A level monster!" Hope exclaimed. "Then that means…"
"Yes, I can bring out even stronger versions of him," Shadow confirmed. "And I have just the method to do it. I activate a magic card, Level Up!"
"Level Up?" Amy echoed. "I haven't heard of that card."
"It allows me to sacrifice a Level monster to special summon its next Level from my hand or deck." Shadow pulled a card out of his deck and shuffled it before putting it back in his Duel Disk. "So I can now special summon Black Flare Dragon of Horus Lv 6!" (2300/1600)
"It looks like Matt's in a bad position," Perseus commented.
"I wouldn't lose faith in him just yet," Max said, his eyes locked on the duel. "Just watch."
"Horus attacks!" Shadow declared.
The silver dragon shot out a blast of dark energy, which went straight at the Metal Devil Token. But when it connected, it bounced right off it. The attack went flying back, narrowly avoiding Horus but hitting Shadow.
"What the hell?" Shadow managed to say as the Metal Devil Token vanished from the field.
Matt scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh, sorry about that. I guess I forgot to tell you that he could do that. Any battle damage you would normally do to me is instead inflicted to you. It was poor of me not to mention that. Still, since you did not fully tell me about your Soul Monster last time, it can be forgiven, right?"
Kisara: 8000
Matt: 8000
Shadow: 5700
Mach: 8000
"Cheap bastard," Shadow growled.
"I'm only repaying what was due," Matt replied. "Oh, and Masque's Deck Master ability activates. Since you destroyed my Metal Devil Token with a monster than was higher leveled than it, your monster is destroyed."
Ishbal brought up a barrier instantly, causing Masque's mask to crumble away as it connected.
"And again, Ishbal stops it with his own Deck Master ability," Shadow reminded him. "The only way you can destroy Horus is through battle."
"I know, but I did want you to explain it for our audience," Matt said. "Are you done?"
"Yes. I go to the end phase, and Horus' effect activates. Since he destroyed a monster in battle, I can sacrifice him to special summon Black Flare Dragon of Horus Lv 8 from my deck!" (3000/1800)
"Now I see why Kazel was concerned," Gen stated as Horus descended onto the field.
As Kisara drew, Shadow said, "I hope you remember Horus' effect. Any magic cards that you play I can choose to negate and destroy."
"What? That's beyond cheap!" Rue exclaimed.
"I'm more concerned about the fact that they have to destroy Horus through battle," Draken said. "Kisara, for one, doesn't have anything strong enough to do that."
"Matt does," Larka assured. "Let's just hope he manages to summon it."
Kisara thought for a moment before saying, "I lay one monster in defense mode and a card face down. That is all."
"I play Warrior's Return so that I can take a Warrior Sub-Type from my Cemetery and add it to my hand," Mach said. "I choose Iron Knight: Gear Freed and summon him. Then I equip him with The Fused Sword, Murasame Blade. It cannot be destroyed by effects that would destroy magic cards, so Gear Freed can safely hold onto it. Gear Freed's attack is raised by 800 thanks to it. (2600/1600) Then I will attack your defense monster with Iron Knight: Gear Freed!"
"My Doublecoston…" (1700/1650)
"Naked Gear Freed will attack directly! I end my turn after that."
Kisara: 5400
Matt: 8000
Shadow: 5700
Mach: 8000
"Now it's time to get my strategy going," Matt grinned. "I summon Troop Commander! (1200/400) When summoned, his effect lets me special summon a level four or lower monster as well. I'll bring out Melkid Four-Faced Beast! (1500/1200) Then I sacrifice both of them to special summon Masked Beast Death Guardius!" (3300/2500)
"Troop Commander? Just what kind of changes has Matt's deck gone through?" Sakura wondered as the huge Death Guardius appeared.
"I changed it quite a bit for this rematch," Matt explained. "I was waiting for Horus to show up, so I set a trap for it. It looks like it fell completely into it. Death Guardius destroys Horus!"
Horus attempted to charge up a beam of dark energy, but before it could, the Death Guardius tore it apart.
Kisara: 5400
Matt: 8000
Shadow: 5400
Mach: 8000
"I lay two cards face down and end my turn," Matt finished.
"You think you have won already? I still have many strategies to bring out!" Shadow said. "I activate a magic card, Level Adjustment! My opponents get to draw two cards, so do that first." Once they had done so, he continued. "However, I get to special summon a Level monster from my Cemetery." The Horus Lv 8 appeared at once. "Unfortunately, he cannot attack, nor can he activate and use his effects this turn."
"Then that was a poor decision on your part," Matt stated. He looked over at Kisara. "This is going to be a heavy blow for you. Do you mind if I go ahead?"
Kisara looked at her hand, and then nodded. "It is fine. I will be able to defend myself."
"Good. Then I can activate my trap card, Destruction Ring!" Matt declared.
"Fool! You cannot destroy Horus. Ishbal still prevents traps from killing him!" Shadow reminded Matt.
"Who said I was going to destroy Horus?" Matt said as a ring of grenades surrounded his own Death Guardius.
"What?" was all Shadow was able to say before the grenades exploded, the energy blast catching all four players.
Kisara: 2100
Matt: 4700
Shadow: 2100
Mach: 4700
After a few moments, they were all able to rise. Before anyone could question Matt's actions, he said, "When Death Guardius is destroyed, his effect activates. I take an equip card called Bequeathed Mask and attach it to Horus!"
The mask flew onto Horus. The dragon shook its head furiously, trying to dislodge it. Then its head drooped over and it slowly walked over to Matt's field.
"What is going on?" Shadow demanded.
"Bequeathed Mask lets me control the monster it was attached to," Matt explained. "Since you couldn't negate and destroy magic cards with Horus this turn, it was easy to be able to take him under my control!"
"Damn it…" Shadow snarled. "I can't do anything else."
"Wow! Matt did excellently with bluffing!" Hope commented.
"That's why Brandi and I always lost to him when we were younger," Max said. "Even at times when he had the poorest cards to work with, he could play us like flutes."
Kisara considered her options, and then said, "I lay one card face down and end my turn."
"I would not call this a good situation," Mach stated. "Still, I have a method of taking down Horus. Elric's effect will be able to take care of him…"
"But I will not give you the chance to activate it," Kisara told him. "I activate my trap card, Cry of the Living Dead. This lets me special summon a monster from my Cemetery in face up attack mode. I will bring out Red Eyes Black Dragon. Then I use my second trap, Burst Breath!"
"What does that do?" Mach inquired.
"I choose a Dragon Sub-Type on my field and sacrifice it. Then all monsters on the field with a defense strength lower than that monster's attack are destroyed," Kisara explained.
The Red Eyes took off, and then sped towards the ground at an amazing speed, shooting a fireball just before it hit. The explosion hit both Gear Freed and Horus, tearing them apart.
"I apologize," Kisara said to Matt.
"It's fine. We can finish this up easily enough without Horus," Matt assured. "Are you done, Mach?"
"Yes. Go ahead," Mach said.
"I'll be leaving Mach to you," Matt directed to Kisara.
Kisara nodded. "Right."
"I activate my trap card, Avatar of Apophis!" Matt said, flipping it over. "When I do so, it becomes a monster. (1600/1800) Then I summon Killer Tomato!" (1400/1100)
"…You must be joking," Shadow said in disbelief.
"Afraid not," Matt smirked. "After completely humiliating us last time, I only find it fair to do the same to you. Apophis attacks, and then Killer Tomato finishes you off!"
Kisara: 2100
Matt: 4700
Shadow: 0
Mach: 4700
"Insert the Price Is Right failure music here," Rue said in the dead silence after Shadow's Life Point counter had dropped to zero.
"…I do not know what that means, and I do not want to know," Shadow spat, looking disgusted.
"Are you done?" Mach asked, not seeming worried about his partner dropping out.
"Yep. It's all up to you, Kisara," Matt said.
Kisara responded by placing a card on her Duel Disk. "I summon Dark Dragon Hatchling." (800/500)
"How exactly will this assist you?" Mach questioned as an egg appeared on the field. The tiny black dragon poked its head out of a crack and squeaked at Mach.
"He is in my deck for his effect. I sacrifice him to special summon a Red Eyes Black Dragon from my hand," Kisara said. "Then I move Kazel to the playing field. My Red Eyes attacks, and Kazel concludes this duel."
The generic Red Eyes let out its blast first, and Kazel finished off Mach's remaining Life Points with an even more impressive explosion.
Kisara: 2100
Matt: 4700
Shadow: 0
Mach: 0
"Very good," Mach smiled. "Both of you have improved quite a lot."
"Thank you," Kisara replied.
"Even Shadow would acknowledge that," Mach said. "Right Shadow?"
"Screw you," Shadow growled, glaring at a particularly fluffy cloud.
Mach laughed at his response. "That is his way of saying yes."
"So, we're done," Matt said as he dismissed Masque. "If that's all I have to do, I'm going to go and check back with Brandi. Is that all right?"
"Go ahead," Max replied. "We might not return for some time. Please tell them that."
"Sure. See you guys later," Matt said, bringing up his menu and then vanishing.
To be continued…