So what IS next? I thought to myself as I looked around the room. The winners of the duels that we all just took part in looked around the room and at each other as Linda walked in. She looked, confused, at all of us and said in a slightly higher voice than normal, "What are you all doing here? I told you all to get a good night's sleep before these duels began tomorrow, remember?" she finished with a weak laugh. Many of us were already headed to the door when she suddenly spoke, "Oh, WAIT!" we all stopped short anticipating some sort of reward. "I can provide you all with a little bit of info for the final five sets of duels tomorrow!" expecting to hear something better, some of us eight groaned, but we all walked back into the center of the room. She continued, "As you are some of the best performers tonight, I'm allowed to tell you all that for the last duels tomorrow. I know the receptionist told you that for the final five you'd be beginning with 4000 life points tomorrow, but I've been cleared to tell you all that everyone will be starting with 8000 life points again," and she made a twisted face halfway between a smile and a sneer. I guessed it was supposed to be a "Heh, heh… they're not going to like that" face. But to her surprise, nobody said anything. So she went on, "…okay?"
"Sure…"
"Fine!"
"Okay by me," I heard random voices about the room as we all turned around and left. I was the third to last to leave.
Reentering the main duel room, which would be used for the final sets of duels tomorrow, unless the rain stopped, I noticed half of the dueling platforms down in the ground again. Jack and I searched for Doug or Andre. We found Doug, who was having trouble with his current opponent. It was Andre, of all people! I, for some reason, got the impression that he wouldn't be going from our conversation at around seven earlier this night. Yet it looks like I was wrong.
But anyway, the light above Andre was pretty bright. Doug had a semi-bright light above him. Even though I couldn't see their life points from this high up, I estimated that Andre was winning by at least 1000. They both noticed our presence and Andre finished his turn, "I'll set this card face down, leave my Gearfried (1800/1600) in defense mode, and end my turn. Your move."
Doug's face, literally, lit up when he drew his next card, "I play the magic card Tremendous Fire! You lose 1000 life points. I only lose 500!" Both of their lights got brighter, but it now looked like Doug's was brighter. Those familiar orange rings erupted from the center again, shaking each side's platforms. From up here, the graphics didn't look too great. But I suppose it's only supposed to be for the duelists and not spectators above the duel. "And now I'll attack your monster there with," and he played a card in attack mode, "Darkfire Soldier #1 (1700/1150)!" His soldier dashed across the field up until the point in which Andre activated his face down card, "Offerings to the Doomed. At the cost of my next draw phase, I get to destroy one of your monsters!" he announced happily. As soon as he flipped over his quick-play magic card, an altar filled with bright, goldly glistening chalices and jewelry was put in front of his darkfire soldier. His soldier reached for one of the beautiful pieces. As soon as he touched it, a dark cloud came into view above his head and shrouded the whole altar. And within a few seconds, everything was gone.
"THAT is not how I'd have pictured that card!" Andre laughed as Doug placed one card face down.
"Alright, I can't draw. But I've got four cards in my hand anyway. So I'll switch my knight into attack mode and equip him with this-" Andre was holding the card in front of him as Doug interrupted him, "But any equip card attached to him is immediately destroyed, right?" "…Yes. I know," Andre continued. "I'm equipping him with Black Pendant. And since it's being destroyed, you lose 500 life points. Next, I'll set a monster, and then attack your life points with Gearfried!" His warrior clanked forth and used the huge blade fused onto his arm to slice through Doug's platform and bring his life points down to zero. We could tell because the arena was beginning to rise with the light only shining on Andre.
"Crap. I was hoping you'd think my face down card was a trap so you wouldn't attack. But good duel!" Doug said a few minutes later as we were all together again.
"So I guess tonight's events are over…" I mentioned as we all watched people spread out and exit the room. "Well, good luck, Andre. We'll see you tomorrow!" I said. He waved to us as he left before we did.
"Can't you just tell us what your favorite card is now? I've been thinking about it since I met you on the first day of this whole tournament!" Jack said while he scratched the back of his neck, tilting his head slightly to the left with an uneasy face.
"Ha ha ha! Alright, if it's that important to you. I'll tell you!" I agreed as his eyes widened and stood up straight. Doug was even listening. "My favorite monster card is…!" The looks on their faces were pathetically anxious. "Well, I HAVE been thinking about changing it to the Summoned Skull…" I purposely dragged out their needless anticipation. "Tell us already!" Doug complained. At last I cut them loose from their ropes of tension, "Neo the Magic Swordsman." (Light-Spellcaster), lvl 4, 1700/1000
Their faces suddenly looked disappointed. And that was the end of that.
"Think we should go back to our rooms and prepare for the final five duels tomorrow?" Andre suggested.
"Yeah, probably. Let's go," Doug replied. We made it up the stairs and said goodbye. "Don't forget that tomorrow we're using arenas and beginning with 4000 life points," Andre reminded us. Hah, okay! I smugly thought to myself as Andre walked down the hall to his room.
I spent most of that night arranging my deck, filtering out cards that I didn't entirely need. These were the final five duels, after all. I didn't want to draw a Giant Soldier of Stone when I really needed something like a Change of Heart or Soul Exchange. So I don't know how I did it, but I managed to shorten my deck even more to an even 64 cards! I was fairly confident, but knew that it would get pretty ugly from here on out.
The next day, I woke up and noticed one of my Island Turtles at the foot of my bed that I forgot to put back in my pack. I stretched over and picked it up. I remember all the interesting times that this card used to provide. But I didn't feel the need to have it in my deck because these duels were serious now. Gazing up at the clock (which read 8:37) from my bunk, I considered losing the tournament today, only for a second, so that all these weirdoes after my Black Skull Dragon would stop hounding me. But then I thought about what that weird guy, who is yet to make a live appearance, said before this whole entire thing began. He said that the ultimate winner will be able to ask for anything he or she desires: cards, money, ANYthing, or so I assumed.
Ridding myself of these thoughts, I got out of bed and climbed down the ladder. I inspected my deck, put it in my pack and waited in a computer chair for a sensible time to go out into the lobby- I left five minutes later.
Silently, I traveled down the steps which made no noise to my surprise. Then I NOTICED the fact that no noise was being made anywhere, which meant that the rain had stopped and that I was either too early or too late. All the lights were on in the lobby, but the cranky receptionist wasn't at her desk. I began to panic and thought about running back up to the room. But from the side room with the loud door came the receptionist and Linda who were surprised to see anybody up so early.
"Didn't I see you with that one boy dueling against that team of fire and water?" Linda asked as she looked at me funny. Flashing back to the team duels yesterday, I remembered Alex and Christina with their powerful union cards Aitsu and Koitsu. It was a tough team. "Yeah, that was me," I replied.
"And you've got that Black Skull Dragon, right?" she asked as the receptionist looked up from her computer with a rather surprised look on her face.
I began to feel uncomfortable but wasn't really surprised that she knew. After all, she could have been walking around randomly surveying the duels every so often yesterday. "Uh… yes. I've got a Black Skull Dragon." I answered her slowly growing more and more paranoid.
Her face perked up, "Okay! I just wanted to know! Good luck today! Everyone should be down here soon," she cheerfully said.
…Uh, what? I thought nervously.
Soon enough, everybody was gathered in the lobby chattering away about this and that. Then Linda, that short blonde-haired lady, stormed in though the main doors and stood in front of the receptionist's desk. "It's time, everybody! The final five sets of duels will be taking place today!" Most of the duelists here cheered and clapped making the room sound like there was three times as many people in it. The commotion calmed down and she happily continued, "But they won't be happening at the same time. Instead, these duels will occur one at a time in the huge arena we've got setup on the island. If we're all ready, let's go!" she led the way as everyone followed her. I looked around the lobby for Andre, Doug or Jack. They were waiting for me out the door. I ran out and followed the others with them.
The air still smelled like rain as cool, refreshing breezes passed by. Among the bright sunlight and crisp sound of tree leaves rustling, Linda explained how these last five sets would be run, "I hope you've each got your numbered cards with you that I handed out yesterday. Whatever number you've got will determine who your opponent is for this first set. Right now, it's duelist one versus duelist two. Will you both please come forth and be ready to present your numbered cards as proof!" Linda commanded as parts of the small crowd shifted left and right to pave a way for us to go through. We didn't look at each other until she took our cards, "Remember your numbers, boys," Linda said almost in a warning tone. I looked to greet my opponent and was disgusted at who I saw. It was that conceited guy who beat Steve a few days ago! I secretly promised that I'd avenge his defeat, but figured that the odds of actually facing him were between zero and nothing. But now it was time to knock this guy out of the tournament. And I knew exactly which card I'd take from him once I won.
"You two can now go into the arena. The other thirty, and myself as the referee, will soon follow," Linda advised as we both went into the structure alone.
He spoke to me during the trip through the short tunnel, "So what name should I call my latest victim?" he taunted.
"(My name) will do just fine. What's your name?" I asked, trying to remain friendly.
"Call me Travis," he demanded as we exited the tunnel and gaped around at the amazing place around us. The dueling arena was huge! I instantly figured that this island wasn't only just for some duel tournament of a few days. This place was immense! The seating was set up how a football stadium is. Obviously, thirty people wouldn't even begin to fill it up. In fact, the thought of only 30 people in a stadium humored me. I looked back at Travis who already seemed to be making his way toward the red dueling platform. I shrugged and walked over to the blue side. Blue is my favorite color, as some useless info.
As I stood across the field from Travis, I remembered everything that the receptionist said: direct attacks and attacks on attack mode monsters hurt, fusion monsters can attack in the same turn they are summoned, and all the real rules- including the 8000 life point rule. But, since I didn't see Travis in the team-duel room last night, he thought we were beginning at 4000.
We shuffled each other's decks with that amazing machine and drew our first five cards. A gust of wind blew by us, making the distance between us seem even farther. Suddenly, a booming voice blasted from towers around the stadium with megaphones attached to them, "Look at the bottom card of your decks, boys. The owner of the card whose name is closest to the letter A will decide who gets to go first," Linda emerged from a secret compartment under the ground on a tower which was rising high so she could make sure nobody cheated. And to my left, the other 30 duelists began to walk in.
"This duel is about to start, folks. Find a place to sit down as the match of duelist #1 (me) versus duelist #2 begins!" Linda said into the microphone headset she had on. "Boys? Show me the bottom card of your decks!" she commanded.
"Malevolent Nuzzler," I reported.
"Man-eater Bug," Travis responded as we both held up our cards to her.
"Uh…. m…. a…. N? L? Oh! L comes before N… YOU get to decide who goes first!" she said as she pointed to me. "Place those cards back to the bottom of your decks, guys. #1? Who goes first?" she asked.
I looked at my first five cards: Princess of Tsurugi, Poison of the Old Man, Mask of Darkness, Warrior Dai Grepher, and Monster Reborn. It wasn't the greatest of hands, and I felt like using my Princess of Tsurugi's effect sooner than later, so I let him go first, "Travis will be making the first move," I requested as she turned to him and then shouted, "DUEL!" Instantly, our life points skyrocketed from the zero that was displayed to 8000. Travis gasped along with half of those in the stands. "WHAT?!? 8000? The cranky receptionist said that we'd be beginning with only 4000! Oh well, it will make this more fun. Alright, here we go!" he confidently announced. After he drew a sixth card, he immediately set two of them down. "Next, get ready for my Battle Ox (1700/1000)! And, in addition, I'm equipping him with both the Rod of the Mind's Eye and Gravity Axe- Grarl!" As he depleted his hand to only one card, his two equip cards took on visual form. The Battle Ox's original weapon slowly twisted into the dark gravity axe- grarl. It had an ominous green glow surrounding it. And that same green glow seemed to cover all of my monster zones, too. The Rod of the Mind's Eye showed evident by changing the engravings on the gravity axe to more mystical looking symbols. And the Eye of Anubis now appeared on both sides of it. I thought this new weapon looked pretty odd in the hands of a beast-warrior. "His attack has been boosted up to 2200 thanks to my gravity axe. It's your turn."
I drew my Polymerization and took a few seconds to wonder: Y'know, it's never often that I can ever summon my Black Skull Dragon using the Polymerization card. It's such a rare occurrence… Maybe I should consider removing this card and the two red eyes that I have from my deck…? I thought as I began my turn. "I'm setting one card face down and another card in defense mode, your move," I said as I chuckled at his future demise. The card I set was my Princess of Tsurugi. Once he attacks, his life points are dropping by 2000!
He drew a card, "I'm summoning Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600) and attacking your face down monster with him!" I smiled as he said that. His metal monster dashed forward with a single bound and cut up my princess, activating her effect.
"That was the Princess of Tsurugi! Oh crap, I know what's next!" Travis said as he braced himself for life point loss. Before my monster disappeared from the field, she looked up at him, and showed him the back of her right hand. She clenched her fist instantly causing four icicle knives to pop up out of nowhere. She smiled evilly and jumped high into the air thrusting her hand at his four cards in his magic/trap zone. She vanished, leaving only the four flying objects blazing towards his cards. They struck full force and broke apart. An electrical current began to surge through the cards and with immense energy, ached upward, striking Travis.
He withheld a yell inside him and reached down to flip over a trap card as his life points were sinking down to 6000, "It's the beginning of the end for you, with my Fatal Abacus!" Rising up from the ground was the ugliest piece of a Chinese counting tool I've ever seen. Its wires were all dark, dingy, and twisted. It had green… SKIN, it seemed and had a skull; on top with glowing yellow eyes randomly about it. "For every one of our monsters that is sent to the graveyard, the owner of that monster card loses 500 life points! And since your Princess of Tsurugi was sent to the graveyard, you lose 500!" He finished talking, and the beads of the abacus began to move about on their own. And with each movement, the abacus glowed a darker black until it stopped. The skull opened its mouth and launched the evil energy right towards me, surrounding me in darkness accompanied by a sting of pain.
"Yeah, Travis! That's teachin' that punk!" I heard a voice from behind him say. He looked behind him to see his other friends cheering for him with his recent damage to my life points. Behind me I heard, "Uh…? Keep it up, (my name)! You're still winning!" Jack said as the others nodded in agreement. They were standing behind me to the right by the corner of the dueling stadium's holographic emitters.
"Hah, and it's still my battle phase. So, attack him directly, Battle Ox!" he ordered. In compliance, his souped up beast-warrior ran forward and took a huge leap right for me. He then took a huge slash at me, causing a surprising amount of pain. I yelled a little bit because pain hurts, quite simply. But I remembered the direct attack I took from Em's Jirai Gumo also having 2200 attack points. This 2200 attack hurt significantly less.
My life points dropped to 5300 until I activated the quick play magic card, "Poison of the Old Man! Upon activation I can either increase my life points by 1200 or damage yours for 800. I'm increasing mine to 6500!" I happily said as he frowned a bit.
"It's alright, bud!" one of Travis's friends said, "You're catching up to him!" And with that, his turn was over.
I drew one of the newest that I added to my deck, Sakuretsu Armor! It's a powerful trap card that I'm glad to own. I set it down along with my Mask of Darkness. "It's your go," I said as he snatched the top card from his deck, smiling. He set his recently drawn card next to his gravity axe. "Now, Battle Ox, attack his face down card causing 500 more points of damage to him!" he ordered. And just as before, his monster dashed forward and was about to strike my card, but I activated the trap card, "Sakuretsu Armor! Once you declare an attack, I can activate this card. It destroys the attacking monster! So see ya later, Battle Ox. And it looks like you become the victim of your own trap card!" I announced at the sound of a shocked audience was sent through the stadium. The same black glow smothered Travis causing his to feel 500 points of damage.
"Ugh! You loser. But whatever, I still have Gearfried. Attack his face down card!" he ordered it. The metallic, black monster used its metal arms to deliver a devastating punch to my Mask of Darkness. I lost 500 life points, but I got to bring a trap card back into my hand. Travis wasn't happy about that. The score was tight. I was winning: 6000 to 5500. "Now it's your turn," he angrily said.
I drew my Magician of Faith and considered setting it so I could bring back my Poison of the Old Man. But it would cost me 500 more life points, and I cannot spend the whole duel defending, so I decided to go on the offense… for as long as I could, "I'm summoning Warrior Dai Grepher (1700/1600) in attack mode!" "And I'M activating trap hole! Your monster's gone, sorry! And you now lose 500 life points because your monster card was sent from the field to the graveyard," he reminded me. And so, the black force of energy drained my life points to 5500, even with his.
"Fine, whatever. I'll set this face down and activate Monster Reborn to bring my warrior card back once again. But his attack is weaker, so I'll let it be your turn now," I said as he looked at my face down card while he drew another card. He looked at it and set it down, where his Rod of the Mind's Eye used to be. Then he said, "I'm not attacking for obvious reasons. Your turn," he said as I secretly smiled. The card I set down was actually the Polymerization card that I got as I first drew.
"Here I go," I drew my La Jinn as Doug said, "Keep him sweatin', (my name). You've got this guy!"
Across the field, I could hear one of his friends say, "No he doesn't! Look at that powerful card in your hand! This duel is over!"
"Anyway," I began as I listened to the two begin bickering over who's better, "I'm setting another card face down and summoning my La Jinn (1800/1000)! It's your turn again," I said to him as that same friend called out to Doug, "Just you wait! I'll mess you up in the tournament!" as Doug laughed with Andre uncontrollably for some reason. I must have missed something… I thought as Travis drew a card.
"I'm setting one monster in defense mode and ending my turn. It may seem boring now, but I can assure you that my hidden surprises won't keep this place dull for long," he taunted as I drew my next card. I paused from looking at it for a few seconds so I could consider what type of duelist this guy was, He's played a beast-warrior and a warrior so far. And he seems to rely on equip cards a lot along with traps. I began to think as I looked at his creepy abacus. The entire zone space it occupied seemed to soak up all the light around itself and invert it into darkness. I could never look at it for long. Then I looked at the card I drew. It was one of the greatest draws I've ever had! In my hand was, "And now I summon the one and only Goblin Attack Force (2300/0)!" I proudly announced as an entire army of green skinned goblins dressed in purple and gold uniforms sprouted up from the ground wielding some pretty dangerous-looking weapons. I waited for Travis's reaction, "Whoa! Of all the beasts, warriors and beast-warrior cards that I have and want, THAT one card is the one that I've wanted the MOST! Tell me what booster pack you found it in!" he demanded as I looked at the three-lettered symbol.
"Looks like Pharaoh's Servant to me!" I responded as the sun reflected off of my army's shiny new helmets and maces. Now, guys, attack his warrior!" With that, the leader yelled something and led his army in a charge against his iron knight who seemed overwhelmed by the sudden force going against him. All together, they beat his warrior senseless until he was destroyed. They trudged back to where they started and all lay flat on the floor, in defense mode. He lost 500 life points because of the attack difference of the two monsters, and then another 500 due to his own Fatal Abacus. "I activate a trap card, Just Desserts. You lose 1500 life points, 500 for each monster you've got on the field!" he happily said as he temporarily gained the lead. "It's still my battle phase, and here comes la Jinn to attack your face down card, meaning a tie game at 4000!" I said as La Jinn focused a ball of dark purple energy in his palms and unleashed it towards his face down monster, "You've just destroyed my Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu (500/500). It's flip effect lets me take one equip spell card from my deck to add to my hand." As he searched and found one that he liked, he smirked, "Hah, you're finished. The card's effect doesn't even require me to shuffle my deck afterward, so I know what card I'm going to draw next!" he said as I lowered my eyebrows and crossed my arms at him as if to say 'so what!'
"A lot of good that's going to do you if you can't last long enough to draw it!" I laughed a little as I said, "Attack his life points directly, Dai Grepher!" Proudly, he lifted his sword high above his head and yelled loudly as a bright red, white, and yellow beam merged into one powerful ray of light focused at the tip of his sword. In one swift motion, he pointed the sword directly in front of him and let loose the powerful energy stored within his weapon. Submerging Travis in pure power, he yelled this time and fell to the floor of his platform. His life points made the beep beep beep BEEP sound until it reached 2300.
"Get UP, dude! You can't let this kid beat you! You beat his friend no sweat!" that friend of his said. I began to wonder if only one of his friends was left instead of the whole group I had seen him with. The edge of the dueling platform blocked my vision.
"Hey WAIT a minute, that's right!" both Jack and Travis sprung up and said at the same time. "I remember seeing you losers hanging around with that kid- before I beat him!" he taunted.
'Well then, prove to us all exactly how much of losers we all are by defeating me, hmm?" I antagonized him as he drew his next card.
"Here's a start: I'm summoning Amazoness Paladin (1700/300) in attack mode, equipping her with the card I had my blacksmith get for me: Lightning Blade! It increases this warrior's attack by 800 to 2500 and decreases all water monsters' attack by 500. But I'm not attacking because I just know your stupid trap card is out there. Go," he said as I drew one of my favorite cards ever, Kisetai! I immediately set it in defense mode, but he had to activate, "Shadow of Eyes! I KNEW you'd try a trick with some kind of effect card, and there's your famous Kisetai (300/800) ready to beef up your life points, well it isn't gonna happen!" he triumphantly announced.
"Alright, Trav! Now he's totally open for an attack! And look how weak his Kisetai is!" his friend cheered him on.
"Yeah, but what about (my name)'s trap card, genius?!" Doug yelled across from where he was standing to Travis's friend.
"Hey, shut up you little…" and the arguing just continued. But Doug WAS right. Travis knows my trap card is out there somewhere. And as long as it is out there to destroy one of his monsters, he won't attack.
"Well anyway, there's nothing else I can do. So it's your turn," I said to him as he looked pleased with the card he just drew.
"I'm activating Bait Doll! Its effect lets me force the activation of one face down trap card. If the trap's activation is at the wrong time for its proper use, then its effect is negated and destroyed. If not, the card I chose goes back face down. But either way, after its activation, my Bait Doll goes back into my deck, then I shuffle it. …Now… I know your stupid armor card is one of those two. So I'll…. pick…" he paused for a little while as sounds of tension surfaces from the audience randomly dispersed about the stadium. He was looking down at his field. There were two lit up yellow spots on the zone below his magic/trap zone. Representing my two face down cards. And the two slots my cards were on also glowed yellow.
Suddenly, he slammed his palm on one of the slots, making a choice. A yellow light beneath one of my cards turned red and blinked signifying that he had chosen that one. I lifted it up and was disappointed to see that he had chosen my trap card. I showed his choice to him, and he jumped, literally, for joy.
"Nice luck," I commented as he stopped laughing.
"Hah, now I've got nothing to fear. Amazoness Paladin, attack his puny Kisetai!" he commanded as his admittedly pretty warrior card toughened her grip on her newly equipped Lightning Blade. But suddenly and with unbelievable grace and speed, she dashed forth and sliced my Kisetai in half then electrically charged her sword, electrocuting both halves before it was destroyed. To make matters worse, most of that electric shock blasted from her sword and shocked me. It was pretty painful as my hair began to get frizzled.
"In all, you lose 2700 life points because of the monsters' attack difference and because your monster was destroyed; you've got 1300 life points left. For my main phase two, I think this is a good time to set my last card. And now it's your turn." He said. I looked up at Linda for some reason. She merely repeated, "It's your turn."
"Come on, (my name)! This is nowhere near over! Well… maybe it is- uh, but for HIM! Yeah, that's it. HE'S almost over! Fight him to the end, you can win!" Andre looked at Doug who was wearing the most uncomfortable face. You could tell, just by looking at him, that he had just said something stupid.
Well, I know what he MEANT I thought as I drew, to my relief, my Black Pendant! "I'm finally able to switch my Goblin Attack Force back into attack mode." My army lifted themselves off the ground and took deep breaths, ready to fight once again. "And now I equip it with Black Pendant! Their attack increases to 2800. And if you send it from the field to the graveyard, you'll lose 500 life points." A bunch of dark blue lines drew forth near the lead goblin's neck and slowly took on the form of the black pendant, which glowed a mysterious black luster. "And now I'm attacking your paladin with it!" I announced as the lead goblin's new dark power dispersed out to the others in his army. They all spread out and rushed toward his warrior card who just stood there staring at them. Suddenly, another army of humans appeared in the card zone corresponding to the card that he had set last turn. And they dashed ahead and slayed each one of the goblin warriors until it was just the Amazoness Paladin left.
"How?" I asked in surprised as I recovered from the recent pain I had experienced.
"That was my trap card Reinforcements. I boosted her attack power by 500 for that turn only, so she overpowered your whole army!" he said as our life points went down. Mine suck to 600. His went down to only 1800.
"For my main phase two, I'll switch my two monsters to defense mode," I nervously said. It seemed over for me. With his Fatal Abacus on the field, two monsters with weak defense, and life points enough for only one more of my monsters to be destroyed, I lost pretty much all hope. All he had to do was summon a monster with an attack greater than 1000 points, and he'd win… My heart sunk, and I looked to my left at my Black Skull Dragon, preparing myself for the possibility that I may lose it. I calmly said, "It's your turn."
He drew a card and held the tip of it to his chin, wondering what he should do with it. He then said, I'm ending my main phase one now and going straight into my battle phase. Amazoness Paladin! Attack his… Warrior Dai Grepher!" Nodding slightly, his warrior this time only pointed her sword at my warrior one-handedly. A small charge began to form at the tip and grow in power before exploding into an intense beam of electricity which fried my warrior, destroying him. Then his creepy abacus started moving around its beads again and formed another black shield around it before projecting it at me, causing 500 more damage, bringing my life points down to 100. But I thought it was weird that he chose my warrior card to attack instead of my La Jinn. Maybe he figured he'd take out the card whose defense could have turned into a problem?
"For my main phase two, I'm activating remove trap! Why, you may ask? Well, I figured I'd give you a fighting chance since I've got a good enough lead again. It'll be fun to see how desperate you can get!" He laughed as I wearily made a face somewhere between a smile and a frown. You never realize just how much 500 life points really are until you're around 3000. But I don't think I, personally, would have destroyed that trap in his situation. In fact, I was downright surprised when he did. Perhaps his ego surpassed his skill?
Anyway, as I drew my next card, I was glad he didn't destroy my La Jinn, "I'm switching my La Jinn back into attack mode and equipping him with Malevolent Nuzzler! It raises his attack by 700 to 2500, just like your card!" I proudly said as Linda suddenly blew a whistle that she had strapped around her neck. "Is that the same Malevolent Nuzzler you've got on the bottom of your deck?" she angrily asked. I showed her my bottom card, which was my other Malevolent Nuzzler, "I've got two," I commented as she calmed down, took a deep breath and said, "Okay, continue."
"Don't you know how many equip card I've got in my deck? Why else do you think I would have relied on my blacksmith? You better pray the next card I draw isn't an equip card!" he warned as I put my Magician of Faith in defense mode, therefore emptying my hand, and ended my turn.
He drew a card a bit anxiously and quickly looked it. "It's alright, man! You'll draw a better card next time!" his friend yelled to Travis. Travis's face developed a weak smile as he considered his options. Then he said, "I'll attack your face down card. And if it's one of the jars, your butt is in for a major kicking!" he yelled as a ball of electricity destroyed my face down Magician of Faith (300/400). I used her effect to bring my Black Pendant back into my hand. He ended his turn like that not to mention angry, because he knew what was coming next. But the card I drew on my next turn was an extra bonus! This duel was over!
"I'm first equipping my La Jinn with my Black Pendant to raise his attack power to 3000! Also, I'm summoning Dragon Zombie (1600/0) in attack mode. Perhaps you should let it symbolize your defeat. With nothing between my genie and your warrior, and then my zombie's direct attack you're toast! La Jinn, annihilate his paladin!" I ordered. Using his new black pendant, he held his hands to the left and right of it, not moving either of them. In an instant, a dark blue ball of energy was summoned forth from the piece of jewelry and was launched at his warrior. As it traveled, it grew in size and power, leaving behind a dark musk. It collided with his monster, leaving no remains. His life points went down to 1300 and I was smiling. He was on the verge of screaming it looked like. "Now, as the vengeance of Steve- Dragon Zombie, attack his life points directly to remove him from this tournament!" With that, my zombie took in a deep breath, not even moving his head and viciously opened it, exhaling and bathing Travis with its corrosive power.
"Ahhh! It stings!" Travis complained as it ended two seconds later.
His life points sank to zero, and the holographics instantly shut down.
"And the winner of this duel is," Linda whipped her right hand towards me, "Duelist #1!!"
All three platforms sunk to ground level and we both walked up to Linda. "Choose ONE card from his deck," she told me as he reluctantly fanned out his deck. I quickly located and chose the De-Fusion that he had won from Steve.
"And here you go, #2. For ending this tournament as one of the top 32, you are awarded," and she pulled an envelope out of her pocket, "Two hundred fifty dollars!" she warmly said as Travis, wide-eyed, accepted the money, counted it in front of us, and reluctantly said, "Th-thank you!" He turned to greet his friend who was walking up behind him. I noticed it was his only friend. His other buddies must have already been sent home. I thought with a secret smile.
"It looks like you're the only one of us left. Come on, thrash whoever gets in your way!" Travis said as his friend nodded in agreement.
I looked behind me and saw my three friends, all still in this tournament. I tried to force myself to see one of them not there as it may soon be the case. As a result, I, for some reason, imagined Jack not being among them. But he reappeared as he spoke, "Heh… I hate direct damage duelists," Jack reminded us all as they all congratulated me on my recent victory. But my attention suddenly was directed back to Linda, "Okay! This duel is over. Now will duelists 3 and 4 please come forth with your numbered cards. Duelists 1 and 2, you two may return to the seats now. #1, your next opponent will be whoever wins this next duel."
I watched as two people came down through the stands. One of them was Christina, the girl who used water cards along with Alex with his fire cards. I was very interested in watching the outcome of this duel.
However, it happened so quickly that the only thing I can really remember about it was when she "accidentally" left her Bottom Dweller (1650/1700) in attack mode, even with her Legendary Ocean out which boosted it to (1850/1900). Her opponent had a Koumori Dragon (1500/800) equipped with a Horn of the Unicorn in attack mode. She ended her turn after setting three cards face down below her fish card. Then her opponent set a monster face down, and attacked her Bottom Dweller. She then activated her middle face down card, Collected Power, which raised her Bottom Dweller's attack to 2550. And since the attack had already been declared, her powered up fish card withstood the puny-looking firebreath attack of the dragon and countered with a mighty, bone-shattering slash from its tail. The dragon was destroyed, causing her opponent to lose 1050 life points. Then she won on her next turn. But I must say, she was unusually calm during the whole duel, even when she was losing by 3000 after suffering a direct attack from her own Crab Turtle(2550/2500). But she caught up and passed him, winning the duel with 1900 life points to spare. She was a pretty good duelist, it seemed. And I would be facing her in the next round.
But before any of that, my friends still have to try their own skills…