"Hey! Are you my opponent?" some girl walked up to me from the river of people flowing by. Then she asked who I was and I said my name. "Okay, you ARE my first opponent! Good to meet ya! My name is Jenny!" she gleefully said as she laid down her pack.
"Well, let's duel! You ready?" I said about as happily as she was.
"Yup!" she said as she hoisted up her pack again.
We shook hands and proceeded towards different sides of the dueling arena. Jenny was fumbling around in her pack for something. I'm not sure what it was from the other side of the arena, but it looked like she took out this tournament's rulebook. I decided to think nothing of it and placed my deck on the special platform that transferred my deck to her for shuffling. She did the same.
"Remember all the rules?" I said aloud, still curious as to what that thing was that fell out of her bag.
"Of course, silly!" she responded a bit nervously as she placed my deck back on the platform. I did the same. In seconds, I had my deck back. And I drew 5 cards. So did she. Our life points were set to 8000, and we began.
The nice guy I am, I said, "How about you go first?" But she declined for some reason and insisted that I go first. I didn't mind. But if I were offered to go first, I'd take it up in a second.
"Okay," I thought to myself, "the rules say that tributes ARE required, there's no Main Phase 2, and two magic/ trap cards of the same name can't be on your side of the field at the same time, or you pay 550 life points. Then one of them is sent to the graveyard. Sounds easy enough." I knew there were more rules in that book that I STILL thought I saw her flip through, but they weren't important right now.
"I'LL PLAY THIS FACE DOWN AND SUMMON CANNON SOLDIER (1400/1300) IN ATTACK MODE!" I shouted to her. Though I still thought she could barely hear me.
Watching the spot that corresponds to the place where I put my Cannon Soldier, I watched in awe as a holographic replica of my monster was put onto the massive field. I thought it was cool that I could see right through it, yet it still sounded like a machine.
"Uh-oh," she thought. "A Cannon Soldier! That's how Jeffery won our last duel back home. I don't want to lose this one too! And by the same card!" So she glanced at her hand and instantly placed down "Brain Control! I get to control one of your monsters for one turn! Obviously, I pick your Cannon Soldier. Also, I place this monster in defense mode." I watched the field as my Cannon Soldier seemed to… dissolve… for a lack of a better word, from my side to her side, and watched a square next to it turn yellow and blink. "I guess that's how face down defensive cards are displayed," I thought.
"And now I attack! Cannon Soldier, attack his life points directly!" she yelled.
A ball of intense light gathered around my Cannon Soldier's cannon. I watched in amazement and horror. Amazement because these graphics were intensely awesome. Horror because I wondered if this would hurt, like I've heard direct attacks in Battle City did… But luckily I flipped over my trap card Waboku and the damage that would have brought my life points down to 6600 was negated.
"Good move!" she said in her usual happy voice. "Though I DO have another card on the field… However, I choose not to attack with it. Although the rules say that each monster can each attack once." (Unless otherwise stated on the card.)
"So it's your turn!" and with that, my Cannon Soldier… dissolved… again back onto my side of the field.
"Close call!" I thought to myself, "I didn't expect such a powerful card to be played so early in the game. Luckily, I did have that Waboku out, but I've only got one in my whole deck. It looks as if I'm going to have to play a bit smarter than usual." I thought as I drew my next card. "She has one face down monster on the field in defense mode. Since no tributes were made, its defense can't be very high. The most defense points in a low level monster I can think of is the Mystical Elf (800/2000), the Prevent Rat (500/2000), the Giant Soldier of Stone (1300/2000), or the Island Turtle (1100/2000). Are there others? Well, time to take my first big risk of this tournament…" I thought as I grabbed my wits, as well as another card and executed my next move.
"I, too will play one card face down in defense mode, and set TWO magic/ trap cards on the field. I'm keeping my Cannon Soldier in attack mode, but not attacking. Your turn, Jenny!" I said in a kind voice. She smiled as she looked at her next card.
"Are you ready? Cuz here comes my next splendid move!" she said with a commanding voice. "I use my face down card Petit Moth (300/200) to summon Illusionist Faceless Mage (1200/2200) in face-up defense mode!" she said with glee as she removed another card from her hand. "Why would she let me know what it is?" I asked myself. "And now I play this field card Chorus of Sanctuary. It raises the defense of ALL defense position monsters by 500 points! So now my mage's defense is 2700! Beat that!" she yelled with fire in her eyes.
"Good playing," I congratulated her. "But now it will be harder to get to her life points by attacking. But there ARE monsters and magic cards for an occasion such as this," I thought as I looked at my Cannon Soldier and drew my next card. "Hmm… the Labyrinth Wall. (0/3000) If I put it down, its defense will increase by 500 more to 3500. That's good for defense, but if we spend the whole day defending, the duel will go on forever! So maybe I'll save this card for when I need it," I said to myself as I glanced up at the sun, halfway covered by clouds.
"Okay! Bear with me because this may get confusing. First, I'm putting this card in defense mode. Next I sacrifice the defense card I played last turn to activate my Cannon Soldier's effect. But since this offered card has a flip effect, I must do that first," I said as she looked up from something she was reading, almost as if she was doing two things at once.
"It's Big Eye! (1200/1000)" She said, putting the book down on the dueling stand."
"His effect lets me see the top 5 cards in my deck and arrange them in any order I want," I said as I removed the top 5 cards from my deck and fanned them out. "Wow. Island Turtle (1100/2000), Dark Zebra (1800/400), Mask of Darkness (900/400), Hayabusa Knight (1000/700), and Fissure! They're all pretty good, but how do I arrange them?" I thought as Jenny examined the field. "I know! I'll put Fissure first, then Island Turtle, then Hayabusa Knight, followed by Dark Zebra, and Mask of Darkness." I finished my thoughts and assortment of the cards then went on to say. "Now I use my sacrifice to damage your life points by 500 points!" And after all that, the score became 8000 to 7500. And then it was Jenny's turn again.
"He'll probably use that Cannon soldier a lot to damage my life points as much as he can without actually attacking. I've got to prevent him from using that effect any more! So I guess I should attack his defense card. But my Chorus of Sanctuary is out! What if I LOSE life points because of this? And what if those cards are traps? I'd be springing them out of intimidation. I should just ride this out. Maybe things will go my way," she thought as she looked, disappointed, at the card she just drew, or at least that's how I was supposed to think she felt until she played it, "HA! I summon Battle Ox (1700/1000) in attack mode! DESTROY HIS CANNON SOLDIER!" The disgustingly smelly ox charged faster and faster, raising his axe high over his right shoulder. Luckily, I had a trap card set for such an occasion. "I activate trap hole!" I yelled as I swiftly flipped over my hidden card. Suddenly, the holographic "ground" below her ox spread open into a gaping chasm in which it plummeted to its death. "Hey! No fair!" she said in disbelief as she witnessed the massive hole shrink and disappear as if nothing had ever happened.
"My turn again," I said as I drew Fissure, like I knew I would. I seemed to notice, by this point, quite a crowd was gathering around our arena. Maybe it was the duel or just the intensity and excitement of it all. But something was drawing all these people to our duel like flies to rotten mayonnaise. In particular, I noticed two females dressed in black in the distance who seemed to be pointing and making directional gestures at me. They stuck out of the crowd like a sore thumb in their dark ensembles along with their deep dark shades and obvious low profile because of their avoidance of other duelists. But that's another thing. In the way they seemed to be looking at people and following them around with their faces, I knew that they were good duelists…maybe too good. I thought to myself, "There's quite a crowd gathering around here. It's making my paranoia worse. Do I have something on the back of my shirt or something?" But I quickly remembered that I was in a duel and looked back at my Fissure card.
It all seemed too easy. Though I wasn't thinking about that at the time. All I could think of was my next move. "I play the magic card Fissure! It destroys the face up monster on your side of the field with the lowest attack power. So, it's farewell to your Faceless Mage." I said as she removed her expired card from the playing field and into the graveyard with a frown. "And now I attack with both of my monsters!" I yelled as I flipped my other card into offense mode, "Cannon Soldier! Tongyo! (1350/800) Attack her life points!" My question of "does direct damage hurt?" was answered just then when Jenny braced herself against her platform for some kind of physical damage. In disbelief of what was about to happen she let out a cry, closed her eyes, and tilted her head down. The brilliant blast of the Cannon Soldier's cannon came into full contact with her dueling stand and resulted in a blinding display of light. And Tongyo whipped its tongue back and forth over the stand with immense force. I then became worried. "What did I just do? I don't even know this sweet girl!" I said to myself, eyes wide in fear for her safety. Numerous gasps and cries were heard from the crowd surrounding us. But that only added to the stress.
To my relief, hers, and the crowd's as well, the two attacks didn't hurt one bit. In fact, she even told me this by saying, "That was cool! It kinda tickled, I think!" she exclaimed in exuberance. I don't even think she cared for the rapid beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep… BEEP sound that we duelists are all too familiar with.
"I'm glad you're okay. Are you sure you aren't hurt?" I asked with major concern.
"Oh! I'm fine! Of course, I'm losing by a heck of a lot more, now, though," she said with a kind giggle.
It was true, though. The score was now 8000-me to 4750-Jenny. And it was Jenny's turn.
"It's time to begin my comeback!" she said as she put one card in face down defense mode and set one magic/ trap card on the field. "It's your turn," and she said my name.
"I don't know whether to attack or not! She seemed pretty confident in putting those two cards down," I thought as I drew my Island Turtle. Looking at it and then at her I said, "I'll put this monster card in defense mode and end my turn."
I anxiously watched her draw another card as I wondered what that hidden card was.
"And now! I flip over… 4-Starred Ladybug of Doom! (800/1200+500) Its effect lets me destroy all face up monsters on your side of the field with a level of 4 stars!" she glared at me with that same smile. I was laughing internally as I put Tongyo and Cannon Soldier in my graveyard, leaving but my Island Turtle alone on the field. "And I can still summon a monster, too! So I call forth Armored Zombie (1500/0) in attack mode! And now I attack your defense card," she said as the zombie lurched forward and scratched at my card with its bony claws and nails.
"Bad move…" I replied. As the turtle came into view on the field, Jenny gasped in shock. "Since Chorus of Sanctuary is still around, my Island Turtle gets a defense boost! And since that monster's attack points is 1500, you lose 1000 life points!" I said as the zombie staggered back, somehow knowing its own attack failed, "My turn now," I said as I drew my Hayabusa Knight. "I got this card two weeks ago from a booster pack. It was Pharaoh's Servant, I think. And its effect lets me attack with him twice in the same battle phase. I guess that explains the 1000 attack points. Maybe I can use him later for direct damage or something," I thought as I looked back at my hand, reexamining each card. "Only two cards in my hand- Hayabusa Knight and Malevolent Nuzzler. Wait! I can use these two in a combo. And since my knight can attack twice, he can eliminate both cards!" I thought to myself, wearing a smile. "Okay, Jenny. Here we go. I'm summoning Hayabusa Knight in attack mode. Next, I equip him with Malevolent Nuzzler which boosts his attack by 700 points! But though his effect enables him to attack twice in the same battle phase, your ladybug's defense is equal to my knight's attack. So! HAYABUSA KNIGHT! Attack the Armored Zombie!" I commanded.
My knight drifted across the holographic landscape as he slashed at the zombie with his elegantly made sword. The zombie fell and Jenny lost 200 life points.
"That's okay," she replied said as she drew a card. I had none in my hand. Though I knew that my next card would be Dark Zebra.
"Okay. I equip my 4-Starred Ladybug with Horn of Light. It powers up any monster's defense by 800 points! So now my ladybug's defense is 2500 points strong! Pretty good, huh?" she said as she fanned herself with her only card in her hand, choosing not to play it. "Yeah. That IS pretty good!" I replied in amazement. I even heard echoing sounds of surprise coming from the crowd surrounding us.
"So what do I do now? This time, I have no tricks up my sleeve for this situation. My face down card will help out, but only for a little bit. I don't know what to do right now. Maybe I should wait until I finish drawing the cards I know I'd draw," I thought as I stared at my Dark Zerbra. "I am doing absolutely nothing this turn, Jenny," I said.
"Okay. I'll draw, place this magic/ trap card down and end my turn, too," she replied.
I drew my Mask of Darkness and set it in face down defense mode, just in case. Then it was Jenny's turn once more. She put a monster in defense mode and ended her turn as well. And that's as boring as it got.
"My turn, once more," I said as I drew a card from my deck, hoping it would be good. "Hey! It's the Twin-Headed Fire Dragon! (2200/1700) With my face down card, I can get rid of her ladybug!" I thought.
"I sacrifice my Mask of Darkness and use its flip effect to bring back a trap card from my graveyard!" I announced as I silently brought back Trap Hole. "Next, because I sacrificed my mask, I bring forth the Twin-Headed Fire Dragon! And NOW! I flip over this trap card, Snake Fang, it decreases one selected monster's defense by 500 points, leaving your ladybug at 2000 defense. I attack your 4-Starred Ladybug with my dragon!" I called out to it. And obediently, it launched a massive fire assault onto the ladybug, frying it. "Next, I attack your defense monster with my Hayabusa Knight!" I said. I watched in anticipation as the knight approached the hidden card and attacked it. And in doing so, activated its effect. You've flipped my Man-Eater Bug! (450/600) And its effect lets me destroy one monster on your side of the field. So goodbye, Hayabusa Knight!" she said in happiness as she dropped her Man-Eater Bug in her own graveyard as well. I was actually shocked that I'd play so foolishly. But to be honest, I had it coming. I just laughed as I switched my Island Turtle to attack mode and further damaged her life points to 2450. Well, that was until she activated the trap card, "Numinous Healer! It increases my life points by 1000 after I take damage, either directly or by the destruction of a monster. HA HA! So now I have 3450, only 100 fewer than what I previously had!" she glared at me again as if to say, "This isn't over, and I'm not giving up without a fight!"
"Good playing, Jenny!" I replied. And now it was Jenny's turn. She had no monsters on the field. I don't know how she'd pull anything off. But I guess I thought too soon when, "I play Change of Heart! I get to control one of your monsters for one turn! So I gain control of your Island Turtle. I choose to sacrifice it to set THIS monster in defense mode onto the field," she said, as I witnessed her slap a monster into the center slot. "And don't forget about the Chorus of Sactuary! Hee hee!" she let out a giggle as my turn came about.
I drew a card and thought to myself, "I've got Trap Hole, Dark Zebra, and Shadow of Eyes, which I just drew. I wish I had this card face down already, so I can switch that hidden monster into attack mode so I can destroy it. So maybe I'll play it anyway…" "Jenny! I summon dark Zebra into attack mode and set two magic/ trap cards on the field and end my turn!"
Jenny looked at my zebra card a bit wide-eyed, but then shook her head as if to tell herself "no" and drew a card as the thought occurred to me that this duel was beginning to take too long. Some of the crowd actually began to leave, seeing no point in witnessing more boring plays. I felt stupid, and wished she would hurry up, not be mean or anything…
"I can't do anything. It's your turn," she said with a bit of sadness.
"Okay…" I replied as I drew my Giant Soldier of Stone (1300/2000). I felt kind of sorry for her for playing my Shadow of Eyes, but its all to win. "Jenny, I activate Shadow of Eyes which switches that card to attack mode," and I heard her let out a little gasp as she switched her Steel Ogre Grotto #2 (1900/2200) into attack mode. "I summon Giant Soldier of Stone into attack mode, and attack your steel ogre with my dragon!" I said as her life points decreased by 300 to 3150. Then I attacked with my soldier of stone and zebra to further damage her life points all the way to a measly 50. I saw a small tear in her left eye. I tried not to lose it, but this girl couldn't be more than 13 years old. And this is most probably her first ever tournament. She is really good for a duelist of her age group and experience, but it must be a real shock to be eliminated from your first ever tournament in the preliminaries.
Next thing I knew, I was standing next to her outside of the arena, shaking hands with her and telling her not to feel bad about the outcome of this duel. She somewhat took comfort in what I said and offered me a card of hers. (The rule book says that the loser must offer the winner a card with 2000 attack points or more, or a magic/ trap card with silver foil, not necessarily a rare card. Though the final 64 will have to offer rare cards all the time…) So, she said, "Here," and she said my name, "I'm giving you my Empress Judge (2100/1700). I never really used it, so it's practically new. Take good care of it, and make sure you remember who you got it from!" she said with a wink.
"Of course! And thank you so much. You put up a great fight. I hope we duel again!" I said as accepted the card.
"Oh yeah… one last thing," she said. "Just outta curiosity, what's your STRONGEST card?" she blinked at me with her innocent eyes.
A bit startled by the question of such information, I reluctantly said, "Uhh… that would be my Black Skull Dragon (3200/2500)," and I showed her the card, kind of protecting it by cupping my hands around it.
"WOW! That's amazing! And lookit! It's first edition too! That must be the rarest card on this whole penninsula!" she said, kind of allowed.
A bit nervous, I replied, "Heh. I dunno about that!" and I smiled.
As the conversation ended, she waved goodbye and I headed towards the main gate where Jack would be waiting, I hope. But, unbeknownst to me, Jenny was standing behind the arena, away from all the other people and speaking into a small microphone, "It IS him! The kid with the Black Skull Dragon! Take him out in the later rounds! …but as for me… I'm taking the next cruise outta here…"
I didn't know it then, but that one card would cause so much annoyance to me…