I walked back to where Jack said he'd be waiting for me. To my surprise, I was actually there for about fifteen minutes before he showed up with a smile on his face. I'm glad he made it past the first preliminaries.
"I'm guessing it went pretty well?" I asked.
"It sure did. And I got this kick-butt card from that guy I dueled, too! Though I must say, it wasn't too easy," Jack said to me as he shuffled around in his deck in search of his newly acquired card. "Here it is," he said as he whipped out a card and showed it to me. I tried not to laugh, "Ryu-Ran (2200/2600)?" I asked with a held back giggle.
"Yeah! Isn't it so- hey! What are you trying not to laugh at?" he asked me as his smile turned into a disappointed frown.
"I dunno, it's just funny, that's all. It's such a high level monster for its attack points. You'll need to sacrifice TWO monsters to get that thing on the field," I said. "So?" he replied in detest. "It's that I WON it," and he said my name, "What card did YOU get?" he demanded. I showed him the Empress Judge (2100/1700) I got. "That's pretty good. Only you'll have to sacrifice two monsters to summon her also," he said with a smirk. "What? WHY? It's only got six stars!" I replied confused as to why he'd say that.
"It's in this tournament's rule book. A fusion monster CAN be summoned to the field even without the necessary parts. But if you choose to normal summon it, you have to offer one more monster than you usually would according to its stars," he said to me as he put his card back in a random spot in his deck. "CRAP! That means I'll have to sacrifice THREE monsters to summon my Black Skull Dragon!" I thought to myself, "I guess I didn't study the rule book well enough," I said as I had a flashback of the night before when I awoke from that weird duel. "Anyway, sorry I sounded kinda mad," he finished as he looked at me apologetically.
"That's alright. You were probably psyched from winning your first duel!" I said.
"Sure am! …so now. How about another clue as to your favorite card?" he asked, completely changing the subject.
"Okay… you want another clue! Its name has the letter o in it," I said with a smirk.
"Do you realize exactly how little that narrows things down? I can already think of TWO monsters with 1700 attack points with an o in their name! You sure do know how to give hard clues…" he said as the loudspeakers towering over the arenas buzzed on with some static, "Attention! Will all remaining duelists please report to the front desk for determining your next opponents!" some lady's voice boomed. Off the bat, I recognized it as that short lady from the registration desk. And slowly, we all made our way over there.
As we got there, half of us were handed a card with a number on it and then lined up parallel to the front desk. And the other half of us were taken to the front desk to draw a card. Luckily, Jack and I were ones drawing cards. So we couldn't possibly go against one another according to what she said, "When someone up here," and she pointed to the line at the desk, "draws the card with the number that corresponds to the card you were given, that determines who will play each other next. Get ready for the last round of the preliminaries!" she yelled in sarcastic enthusiasm.
So the lines got ever smaller as people drew cards and sought numbers. Soon, it was Jack's turn to draw. He slowly approached the deck and randomly chose one out of the deck. The short lady glanced up at the number he drew and yelled, "NUMBER 67! THIS IS YOUR NEXT OPPONENT!" A disappointed groan could be heard in the line of number holders from some kid with an uneasy look on his face. He had to be, at most, 14. "Here I am," he said a bit dejectedly. Jack approached the boy and friendly asked him which arena he wanted to duel at. The boy said something that sounded like "eighty four" I think. But then I couldn't hear anything more.
"NEXT!" the lady yelled. Her voice minutely cracked at the end, which I found amusing, as I plainly drew the top card off of the deck. This time using a megaphone, the woman said, "Number 2! Meet your next opponent!" she said as the megaphone squeaked, hurting many of the younger duelists' ears. I watched a boy who had to be at least my age and height step forth and greet me with an eager smile. We walked away from the crowd in search of an open dueling arena.
His dark black hair, blue eyes, and intimidating height made him look like a tough duelist, alone. But putting aside all extraneous details, the boy who introduced himself as Craig asked with a smirk "How about the loser gives the winner their favorite card, to make this final preliminary EXTRA special!??"
"Are you serious? You DO know that one's favorite card is more than a card with attack and defense points. It's a special beacon of who you compare yourself to be or, in my case, would like to be," I said as I tried to imagine my deck without my favorite card in it. I shuddered to the mere thought of it. But then he responded, "Ha ha! No way, dude. I was kidding! I couldn't ever possibly part with my Mr. Volcano (2100/1300)."
I let out a sigh of relief and commented, "Heh, yeah. I couldn't imagine my deck without my," and then I said my favorite card's name. "So should the loser just offer one card with attack of 2000 or more, like the preliminary rules say?" I asked as I began considering what card I could give him…
"Works for me. Hey, there's a free arena. Let's duel there," he said as he pointed to an arena far off the path to the right of us. So we ran to the arena before anybody else could have laid claim to it. Then we stepped onto the platforms that lifted each of us up, high above the ground. We shuffled each other's deck and had them back in seconds. I, to this day, still wonder how those things work without losing a single card!
"All set? How about you go first?" Craig said to me. I noticed that he was speaking regularly, since there was no foot traffic or anything nearby to disrupt our dialogue.
"Sure! Here I go!" I said as I drew another card, adding it to my five. (In my duel against Jen, you could only start with five and not draw another new card on your first turn…)
"Great first hand! La Jinn, Remove Trap, Crab Turtle, Solomon's Lawbook, Dark Zebra, and Sonic Bird!" I thought to myself.
"I put these two cards face down and summon Sonic Bird (1400/1000) in attack mode!" I said. "And the Sonic Bird has a special effect when I summon it to the field in a face up position. It lets me take one ritual magic card from my deck and add it to my hand! Then I get to shuffle my deck!" So I gleefully took Turtle Oath out of my deck and slipped it into my hand. Then I cut my cards once or twice, reshuffled the deck and slapped my deck back on its spot. "There, all done. Your turn!" I told him as my Sonic Bird filled the arena with cries of readiness to fight.
Of his six cards, he set one of them down and set one in defense mode and silently signaled it to be my turn.
I drew a De-Spell and played "Turtle Oath! It lets me summon the ritual monster Crab Turtle by sacrificing as many monsters it takes to total eight level stars from my hand OR the field! So I sacrifice Sonic Bird from the field, and Dark Zebra from my hand, totaling 8 level stars, to bring forth Crab Turtle (2550/2500)!" I announced as the giant aquatic monster rose from the arena, towering over both of us and letting out a mighty yell of triumph. "And since that was a special summon, I get to normal summon another monster to the field as well. So here comes La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp (1800/1000)!" I said as my team of monsters glared down at Craig who was taken by surprise by the sudden onslaught of powerful monsters, "NOW! La Jinn! Attack his defending card!" I ordered as he gathered a ball of energy in his palm and released it in a powerful blast. It sped toward the yellow, blinking light representing the defense card. It struck the space with intense force, but the card remained. It was the Mystical Elf (800/2000)! "Crap. Now I lose 200 life points for that brilliant maneuver," I said as my face turned sarcastically happy, "Okay. Crab Turtle! Attack the Mystical Elf!" I commanded. The massive turtle lunged forward and used its huge scissor-like hand to dice the holographic image of the elf. After that whole thing, Craig was winning 8000 to 7800.
"Pretty good," he said with a little laugh as he drew a card from his deck, making his total 5. "But now it's my turn!" he said as he smiled at the card he drew. "I summon The Bistro Butcher (1800/1000) in attack mode!" he said as he slapped his card into attack mode on his side of the field. A weird purple faced thing wearing red clothing and having a hook for a hand rose from a glowing spot on his side of the field. But I wondered why he summoned THAT card, "You realize that The Bistro Butcher's effect lets ME draw 2 cards every time he inflicts damage to my life points, right?" I asked in confusion.
"Yeah. But lemme finish my move, first, huh?" he looked up at me, a bit annoyed. "Along with my Bistro Butcher, I play the field card Mystic Plasma Zone. Any dark monster on the field gets an attack power boost of 500 points. It also lowers their defense by 400. And now I reveal my face down card. I equip my butcher with the Sword of Dark Destruction! It increases his attack by 400 points and lowers his defense by 200 more points! So now my Bistro Butcher has 2700 attack and defense power of 400. Bistro Butcher! Annihilate his Crab Turtle!"
"Damn it!" I instinctively yelled in reply. I watched in amazement as the seemingly slow butcher jumped considerably high and used his recently equipped sword to slice at my powerful Crab Turtle, eliminating it from the field, and me losing 150 life points. Now the score was 8000 to 7650- still a far way from over.
"I guess I'll draw those two cards now, and one more because it's my turn," I said as I analyzed possibilities to perform with the De-Spell and the newly added Sword of Dark Destruction (how ironic), Hane-Hane (450/500), and Deepsea Shark (1900/1600). I glanced up at Craig's hand of 3 cards. What other surprises are lurking in his hand? Not that I'm worried, though. I'm only losing by 350 life points…
Looking at my La Jinn (1800b+500/b/1000b-400/b), I glanced at the two magic cards in my hand again. Then I got a great idea.
"First, I'm putting this card in face-down defense mode," I said as I silently placed my Hane-Hane in defense position. "Next I equip my genie with Sword of Dark Destruction too, further increasing his attack power to match your Bistro Butcher's 2700! But now I play De-Spell!" I said as I slammed my magic card onto the field, to the right of my sword. "I choose to eliminate YOUR Sword of Dark Destruction, reducing your card's attack power back to 2300!" I said as Craig watched in amazement. "And now I attack!" I ordered my genie as he let another energy ball fly and collide with Craig's Bistro Butcher with immense force. His monster was destroyed, and Craig lost 400 life points, bringing his total down to 7600.
"I wish these tournaments started us off with 4000 life points instead of 8000. This is going to take long, don't you agree?" Craig said as he drew his next card. "Yeah. But at least we don't take long making our moves, right?" I replied as I watched his hand grow to 4 cards.
"Okay," and he said my name with respect, "My next move is this. I place two of my four cards face down on the field, and put Girochin Kuwagata (1700/1000) in attack mode! And now I command him to attack your defense card!" he said as the attack revealed, "My Hane-Hane's special effect let's me return one monster card on the field to it's owner's hand, after its been flipped. So, I return your card to your hand, Craig," I announced as I dropped off my Hane-Hane in my graveyard.
"Ugh… Okay," Craig said with a look of distress on his face as he returned his card to his hand.
I drew my next card, Trap Master (500/1100) and set him on the field, thinking I'd need him later. Craig looked at the yellow blinking spot on my side of the field with anger figuring it's a card set to his disadvantage. But I just continued my turn and ordered La Jinn to attack his life points directly. A brilliant sphere of electrifying energy zapped his entire side of the dueling arena. Thankfully, we both knew that direct attacks didn't hurt. So he acted all dramatic while laughing by sounding like he was being electrocuted. He was a good sport about it all. I don't think either one of us even clearly heard the rapid beep beep beep beep sound bringing his life points down to 4900. But he just HAD to activate, "Attack and Receive! When I take damage to my life points, either directly or by monster destruction, YOU lose 700 life points!" he shouted as some of that beep beep beeping brought my life points down to 6950.
"Not a bad move, there, Craig!" I complimented him as he mumbled something incoherent with a smile. I could have sworn it sounded like "I'm doomed…" but I will never know.
"Anyway, it's my turn now," Craig responded as he swiftly swiped the top card off of his deck. "Yes! I was waiting for this card!" he said as he glared at my La Jinn. "First, I put Girochin Kuwagata back onto the field in attack mode. Next, I reveal one of my two face down cards, Armored Glass. Any equip magic cards currently equipping a monster this turn are temporarily negated! So you can kiss 400 of your genie's attack points goodbye!" He said as I noticed him grab his recently drawn card from his hand of only two cards. "And I'll replace Mystic Plasma Zone with Rising Air Current! All wind type monsters' attack power is boosted by 500 points! So my card's attack climbs to 2200! His defense goes down by 400. But big deal! ATTACK LA JINN!" he commanded his insect card. It sped toward La Jinn and sliced him to bits with its teeth and claws. I was really surprised! Not only did he take out one of my most powerful low level cards, but he also decreased my life points to 6550 all in a skillful turn.
"That was a good move. I must say, it's gonna be harder to get to you, now!" I congratulated him.
"Yes, thank you. Oh, and Armored Glass has worn off now," he responded as I drew my next card, Weather Report (950/1500).
"I was hoping for a magic card," I thought to myself. "Oh well, It has good defense. So I'll put it out anyway," I thought as I slid it into defense mode, and signaling my turn to be over.
"Looks as though you are running out of options?" Craig asked with a smirk as he drew another card, "Hmm… out of these two cards, I really can't play any of them. But I'll just attack the defense card you played," he said as his insect made quick work of my Weather Report. "Weather Report?!?? Do you realize exactly how rare Swords of Revealing Light is? Why do you even have that card in your deck? Oh well," he said to me as he fanned out his two cards.
"Yeah… I know. But you never know when I'll need him…" I said, realizing he was actually right. So I drew a card, Swordstalker (2000/1600). "Okay, first I flip over my Trap Master!" I said as I quickly flipped my card over. "It's effect lets me attempt to disable one face up or face down trap card on your magic/ trap zone. So, since it's the only one there, let's attack THAT one!" I said as he looked at it. "Yeah, it was my Respect Play. I was going to activate it next turn so I could see what that card is that you haven't played since you drew it a few turns ago," he said as he dropped his trap off in the graveyard. "My Deepsea Shark," I though. "It's a fusion. So I'd need two offerings instead of just one like its five stars would otherwise require me to. Oh well," I thought as I put it under my Swordstalker. "It's your turn again, Craig!"
He drew a card and set it in defense mode. Then he attacked my Trap Master, leaving me with a bare field, "Your turn!" he said.
I drew a card praying for a low-level monster. I didn't get one. But at least it wasn't TOTALLY useless. I immediately activated it, "Nobleman of Crossout! It destroys one face down monster card and completely removes it from play. Also, if it has a flip effect, we must search our decks and take all monsters of the same name out. And whether we had the same card or not, we shuffle our decks!" I said as he flipped over his face down card, The Stern Mystic (1500/1200). "It's got a flip effect. And since your magic card doesn't say that flip effects can't be activated, I'll activate it. ALL face down cards are to be turned face up, and then returned to their original, face down positions, but no effects are activated," he said as stared at the two cards I had face down on the huge, holographic field. I revealed them, the Remove Trap and Solomon's Lawbook. "Okay, now we search our decks for the Stern Mystic and shuffle our decks," Craig recited from his memory.
I have a Stern Mystic and it was second to the top, behind my trap hole. Oh well, it's useless now. I shuffled my deck, as did Craig and his turn began. I felt so helpless with no monsters on the field. I prepared for two direct attacks. But to my surprise, "I sacrifice my Girochin Kuwagata to summon my favorite monster of all, Mr. Volcano (2100/1300)!" he said as some calm-looking man rose up from the digitalized arena. "Attack him directly!" Craig commanded him. Suddenly, the man opened his eyes, and fire seemed to erupt from everywhere he was. He stood still and gathered a huge storm of fire in his palm and let it fly right towards me. I had never been under a direct attack before, so I let out a little yell and felt rather stupid. But come on, a huge ball of fire? What would YOU do? Anyway, that attack had heavily lowered my life points to 4450. He had 4900. It wasn't by much, but he was winning!
"My turn now!" I said as I drew Enchanted Javelin I put it face down and ended my turn, unfortunately.
"Can't do anything else? Okay, I draw, do nothing and attack your life points AGAIN!" he commanded his favorite card. His eyes opened again with as much fury as last time.
"Not so fast!" I mentally slapped myself for saying something so corny, "I activate Enchanted Javelin. It increases my life points by however many attack points an attacking monster has!" So my life points rose, and then fell back down to 4450. I suppose it was better than having 2350, though. So it was my turn again. The card I drew almost made me cry out of happiness. It was Dragon Zombie (1600/0)! In this tournament, zombie monsters are considered invincible for one full turn. But they must be in face up attack mode for this effect to occur. It thought it was a stupid rule… until now. So I happily summoned it to the field and ended my turn. With nothing to attack, Craig drew a fourth card and ended his turn.
I drew my Mystical Elf (800/2000) and set it defense mode, then I switched my zombie to defense mode and ended my turn.
Craig put a card face down and attacked my zombie like I knew he would.
My turn, I drew Armored Zombie this time and summoned him to the field as well. I could tell that Craig was getting annoyed. But he just drew a card, attacked my Mystical Elf and did nothing else. We both were very aware how long this was taking. If it wasn't for the next card I drew, I probably would have screamed out of boredom. I was my Labyrinth Wall (0/3000)! I quickly sacrificed my zombie to set it in defense mode and ended my turn.
"AHHH! I'm so bored! No offense, but this is taking long! I hope the REAL tournament after the preliminaries start us off with 4000 life points, don't you?" he yelled as he set one monster on the field and attacked my wall. "Whoa! A Labyrinth Wall! Pretty good, there," he said as his life points dropped by 900.
I drew my next card, Dragon Piper (200/1800) and set it in defense mode. "Your turn again," I said with a small yawn.
He drew a card to boost his hand to six cards. Out of them all, he put one more face down and attacked my Dragon Piper, destroying it. As his turn was ending, he lost 550 life points, bringing his total down to 3450. "WHAT?" he yelled angrily.
"Your magic/ trap zone," I said, "You lost 550 life points because you have two cards of the same name face down. As a penalty, you lose life points and one of them are destroyed," I said as I drew my Summoned Skull (2500/1200). "Fine, I'll put this one in my graveyard," he said his detest. Then he looked at me signaling he was ready for my next move.
"I sacrifice my Labyrinth Wall to summon Summoned Skull!" I said. "Oh great," Craig said quietly. "ATTACK!" I watched in amazement as my Summoned Skull launched a lightning bolt in the sky and resulted in many lightning bolt shocking Mr. Volcano and ultimately destroying him. His life points went down to 3050.
He drew a card, set one in defense mode, and activated Toll. "This card makes us pay 500 life points for every one of our monsters to attack!" he said as he glanced at his graveyard. Mine was quite a pile, too.
So, I drew Wall of Illusion (1000/1850) and set it down. I didn't attack because the game was close enough. Besides, I had a plan with my defending card. I ended my turn.
Craig summoned a Cannon Soldier (1400/1300) and used its effect to decrease my life points to 3950. I didn't really care. This duel was almost over. I drew my next card, Metalmorph. I was surprised about the drawing of a really powerful card so late in the game but I decided to keep it in my hand. This duel was over! "And now I sacrifice this card, Wall of Illusion to summon Swordstalker! I attack your Cannon Soldier with it!" His life points sank to 2450. And I directly attack YOU with Summon Skull!" I commanded the frame of bones. It was amazing how quickly the the lightning stroke. I only blinked twice, I think. Sure, I lost 1000 life points to bring my total to 2050…
…but Craig's was at 0. I complimented him on how tough a duelist he was. He didn't believe me, but I explained to him that used his cards well and was the toughest I had been against that far. He felt better and gave me his Mr. Volcano.
"Whoa! Craig, are you absolutely sure you want to give me this card?" I asked in shock.
"Sure. Why not? I have two more in my 'useless deck' at home. So go ahead. But take care of it. And you better remember WHO you got it from!" he ordered me as I agreed. We shook hands, said goodbye and I headed back to the front gate…