Tournament Stories part 24

And so Andre was up. Right after I defeated Jon, Andre was to duel that rare hunter Josh. And if he were to win he would be dueling me in the next round. But we'd see who my next opponent is soon enough.

Linda gave Andre and Josh the last two cards with at least 3000 attack points. I looked at what Andre received and wasn't surprised to find that it was about as strong and also about as useless as the Ultimate Obedient Fiend that I had received. It was Theinen the Great Sphinx (3500/3000). He's a beast of light who can, basically, NOT be summoned. He can't be normal summoned or even set. In fact, he can only be special summoned by paying 500LP after Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia are destroyed at the SAME TIME? Ever since Raigeki has been made into a forbidden card, I doubt that it will happen too often... The odds of that are less probable than having no cards in your hand and magic/trap zone- therefore allowing the Ultimate Obedient Fiend to attack. Josh was equally disappointed with his card and looked at Linda after he was done being disgusted.

"Ready, then?" she suggested as she made a motion for them to switch decks for shuffling. As they were shuffling each others' decks, I realized that as this duel would be going on, I would be all alone with nobody else around to watch it with me. So I took out my deck and began to modify it. My next duel would be against the winner of this duel. And either one, Andre or Josh, wouldn't be playing around- so I had to make sure that I had no extraneous cards in my deck...

Josh and Andre rose up in their platforms. They each drew five cards and Josh spoke, "I always let the hunted go first."

Andre drew his sixth card. I backed from the arena so I could see both duelists' faces clearly. I didn't care about trying to see Andre's hand- I would find out what cards are in it soon enough...

But first, Andre set one monster in defense and set FOUR cards face down. His hand was already down to one? Either Andre was trying to bluff (which he seldom does) or he's got a rock solid wall of defense already lined up.

Josh drew his sixth card and looked darkly at the cards he set face down, "I wonder as to which trap you're going to activate first?" Josh said as he set only two cards face down. "And I think I shall begin things by summoning... Harpie's Brother (1800/600) in attack mode," Josh silently slipped his card onto the field, but then Andre aggressively activated a face down card, "No, I'm activating Bottomless Trap Hole! Your monster is a goner!" Andre boasted his trap card of normal rarity. But then Josh also activated a card of normal rarity, "Well then, I think that I shall return this favor; I'm now activating Michizure which destroys YOUR monster as well."

Andre flipped over another trap, "I don't think so. Now I'm activating Seven Tools of the Bandit which negates and destroys that card at the cost of 1000 of my life points," Andre seemed to have control of this duel!

"You would rather pointlessly lose 1000 life points than let that monster be destroyed when you could simply summon another on your next turn? That is poor judgment, I'd say," Josh had somewhat of a point there; with no monsters on the field, Josh wasn't too much of a threat. He may have activated his counter trap card a bit too early. But now it was Andre's turn again. Maybe he wanted to summon a high level monster?

Andre drew his next card and said, "I'm summoning Gagagigo (1850/1000)," definitely NOT a high-level monster, "in attack mode!"
"Very well..." Josh silently interrupted.

"Attack his life points directly!" Andre commanded. This reptile which we've all seen a lot of slithered forward and sliced through Josh's platform, taking his life points down to 6150. Andre had 7000.

Josh began his next turn. He drew a card, set it in defense and activated a magic card, "Perhaps you are not going to like this, but I activate the card Creature Swap! We each now must select one monster on our side of the field and switch the control of it to our opponent for as long as it's on the field. And the monsters' battle positions cannot be changed this turn. So here, have my face down Prevent Rat, and what do I get in return?" Josh gave Andre a tough choice. It was obvious in that his face twisted into a pondering expression.

"You're getting... my Gagagigo," Andre made his decision and watched him hover away to Josh's side of the field.

"Perfect," Josh commented as he examined his hand and looked content, "And now your Gagagigo attacks the first monster you set," Josh watched Andre's monster rush toward the first card Andre had set in an almost hypnotized trance. The reptile slashed at it and revealed a Man-Eater Bug (450/600). Obviously, Andre chose to destroy his own Gagagigo, but once again Josh had no monsters and that one face down card.

It was Andre's turn again. He drew a card and set it below the face down Prevent Rat (500/2000) he had received from Josh. He decided to keep it face down defense and ended his turn there.

Josh drew his next card and instantly activated it, "I'm now activating the magic card Nobleman of Crossout. I get to destroy and remove from play one face down monster. And if it has a flip effect, we must go through our decks and remove all cards with the same name from play. But since I know already that I'm using this on my Prevent Rat, there is apparently no need to-" Josh was cut off by Andre activating his newly set trap card, "No! I'm activating Magic Jammer! At the cost of one card from my hand," and Andre discarded his hand's final card, "I can negate and destroy that magic card!" Andre had another spot-on defense lined up. Although, that one had more to do with luck in my opinion.

"My my, SO reckless! That's another card you've activated with such a tremendous cost!" Josh set a monster in defense and ended his turn, "You better hope this next card you draw is a monster!" Josh warned. He kept his evil composure all the while.

Andre drew his next card and heaved a breath of relief. It was like he had drawn the fifth part of Exodia or something; he was SO happy, "I'm activating Pot of Greed! It lets me draw two cards from my deck!" Andre was just about to touch the top card of his deck when Josh replied, "That is where you are mistaken. I'm activating my face-down Mystical Space Typhoon. It destroys your Pot of Greed, so you're still out of a hand!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I want to thank the reviewer publicly who brought to my attention the error that I made in my story about two chapters ago. I thought that Mystical Space Typhoon was only effective against magic cards. He told me my mistake and was really embarrassed because I actually own the card. I suppose the reason why I didn't know is because I have never used it in a duel. But yes, Mystical Space Typhoon works against both magic and trap cards. Now back to the story...

Andre was shocked. He still had that face down Prevent Rat and those two face down cards. But for how long would this defense last?

My question was answered on Josh's next turn. After he drew a card, which he immediately set, Josh flipped over his own hidden Man-Eater Bug (450/600). And he picked the only other monster on the field to be destroyed. Suddenly, Andre's field was bare and Josh looked, unforgivingly, across the field at Andre. Josh set another monster in defense and ended his turn.

Andre drew a card and sarcastically waited for a few seconds in case Josh had a trick up his sleeve. But he carried out this pause for a bit too long. Josh looked at him evilly, yet puzzled. "Have you become a statue just now?" Josh asked.

Andre continued his turn. He looked at the card he had drawn and looked at the sky above Josh's head for a second. Andre was definitely considering what to do. I guessed that Andre wasn't quite used to being behind like this... Andre summoned his Tribe-Infecting Virus (1600/1000) in attack mode, but did nothing with it, "Now it's your turn," Andre tried to sound as unintimidated as he could.

Josh simply drew his next card and activated it, "I'm increasing my life points by 1000 by activating Dian Keto the Cure Master. Now I have 7150. And, next, I shall show you some mercy. I flip my other face down monster, Hiro's Shadow Scout (650/500). You now get to draw three cards. Then we both look at them. Any magic cards among them MUST be discarded to the graveyard. So go ahead; I know you must be heart broken since you didn't get to use your Pot of Greed, right?"

Andre resentfully drew the top three cards of his deck.

Josh waited for a second before saying, "Now- let's see what you've got..." Andre had no choice but to put the three cards face down onto the special card image-reading spaces where, on the huge scoreboard could clearly be seen a Skilled Dark Magician, Malevolent Nuzzler and a Megamorph. Oh man, what a shame! He really could have used those cards. But Andre was happy enough to have a reasonably strong monster in his hand after he discarded those two magic cards to the graveyard.

Josh ended his turn. And so Andre happily drew his next card and summoned it, "I summon Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500) in attack mode. My soldier attacks your Man-Eater Bug!" The fiend zipped across the fiend and sliced the insect with his sword. Then Andre got another great idea, "And now I discard the Skilled Dark Magician from my hand to use my Tribe-Infecting Virus's effect. I declare one type of monster, then monsters of that type are destroyed. So, what type is Hiro's Shadow Scout?" Andre asked.

I couldn't believe it! Andre really wasn't playing with a full deck, was he? (No pun intended...) Hiro's Shadow Scout has been around forever. I guess I can't blame him for not knowing about every single card. I mean, there are quite a few cards that I've never heard of as well, but I'm familiar with most of the noteworthy fiends out there and then some- a lot.

"Ha ha ha, why, it's a fiend of course..." Josh answered Andre's question simply yet still in his trademarked evil tone.

"Uh... ha ha, it's a fiend?" Andre repeated the answer he was told a bit shocked.

"Yes. So what type monster would you like to declare? You've already discarded your Skilled Dark Magician; ...what type monster?" Josh grilled Andre to make another decision. It seems that when things aren't for certain, Andre pauses a lot.

"I'm still getting rid of fiends. That way, I still have a monster on the field," Andre reasoned, rather well. So the green gas expanded to cover all of the arena's monster zones. The two fiend cards were destroyed, leaving Andre's Tribe-Infecting Virus behind. "And now he'll attack your life points directly!" Andre made an attempt to reduce Josh's life points more, but they were thwarted, "Oh no, no, no. This can't be. I'm activating my Sakuretsu Armor trap card. It destroys your monster as soon as you declare the attack, so my life points remain the same." As soon as he activated the lethal trap card, holographic armor of spikes manifested around Josh. The spikes exploded off of him and pierced the monster and destroyed it. Both players had no cards on the field or in their hands and each had about the same life points. And it was Andre's turn...

He drew his next card and was relieved to see that it was summonable, "I summon Maha Vailo (1550/1400) and attack your life points directly!" Andre was extremely excited to get another decent hit on this guy's life points. Now he had 5600 while his own were still at 7000.

Josh drew his next card and smiled, "I set one monster in defense. And I think that I will end my turn now," Josh said.

Andre drew his next card and he loved the outcome! "I sacrifice my Maha Vailo to summon Jinzo (2400/1500)! And now he attacks your defense monster!" The ever famous Jinzo gathered a sphere of black energy in his hands and unleashed it towards Josh's defending Penguin Soldier (750/500)- not good. Penguin Soldier was destroyed and Jinzo was returned to Andre's hand. This Josh guy was a deceptively good duelist. He doesn't appear strong initially because he allows so many of these easy hits. But he can always use every card he draws. It's strange, he must have the perfect deck!

"And now I do believe that it is my turn," Josh needlessly dragged out his sentence as he drew his next card. Surprisingly, he just kept the card in his hand and ended his turn, which disproves the statement I just made.

Andre drew a card and set it in defense mode. Was Andre about to make another comeback?

Josh drew a card again and set it in defense mode. What was this? I think defense mode is the mode of choice of both of these guys. It's like they're each trying to undermine the other trying to undermine the other. All this undermining is going to make them both blow up.

So Andre drew his next card, and finally this duel picked up, I sacrifice my face down Magician of Faith (300/400) to summon my Jinzo (2400/1500) again in attack mode. My Magician of Faith lets me get a magic card back from the graveyard, so I'm choosing my Pot of Greed AND I'm activating it so I can finally draw two cards from my deck. So Andre happily drew two cards and smirked at Josh. I recognized that smirk. That was his "you're really screwed now" smirk, "I activate my Premature Burial! At the cost of 800 life points, I can bring back a monster from my graveyard and special summon it in face up attack mode then equip it with this card. I'm getting my Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500) back. And now he'll attack your face down monster. The recently revived fiend slashed apart Josh's hidden Crimson Ninja (300/300). "This ninja guy has quite the special flip effect. I get to destroy one trap card. If it's face down, I flip it face up and look at it. And if it's a trap card, it's gone. If it's a magic card, I turn it back face down. So let's try the card all the way to YOUR left, shall we?" Andre reluctantly flipped it over and revealed the selection to Josh.

"Ha ha, excellent. I'm sure you can get along fine without a MetalMorph, right? Anyway, it's still your turn. So please, continue," Josh practically invited Andre to attack him. So after a direct attack from Jinzo, Josh's life points were at 3200. Andre's were still strong at 6200.

Then it was Josh's turn. He wasted no time drawing a card and summoning a monster, "Now to the field I summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600). Secondly, I equip him with Malevolent Nuzzler. That will boost his attack strength to 2600. Now he can attack and destroy your fiend, there. It's so sad that he has to leave us again. Luster Dragon, attack his fiend right now!" Josh calmly commanded his glowing blue dragon. Above the sapphire dragon formed a scintillating orb of white and gray. Then without warning, countless icicles shot out of it and spread randomly around the fiend's monster zone. Some of the icicles missed in their twisting paths, but most of them definitely made contact. It was so cool. I don't care if this was the enemy- if something looks cool, I'm gonna say so!

So the Archfiend Soldier was destroyed again. But this time, Andre lost 700 life points, bringing his total to 5500. "My turn is over. But now it is yours!" Josh spoke as if he knew that the card Andre was about to draw wouldn't help him. It looked like he was wrong, I think, judging by the way Andre reacted to his new card. He set the card in defense and ended his turn.

Josh set his card next his Malevolent Nuzzler, attacked and destroyed Jinzo with Luster Dragon, damaging Andre for 200 more life points leaving him at 5300.

Then Andre's turn began again. After drawing a card which he quickly looked at, he flipped over the card he set last turn. "It's time for Cyber Jar (900/900)'s flip effect!" Andre said happily.

"Are we that desperate for options?" Josh asked as if he was expecting this to happen. All monsters were destroyed by that violent explosion of the Cyber Jar. Then each duelist drew 5 cards and showed them to each other.

Andre drew Mad Dog of Darkness (lvl 4), Gearfried the Iron Knight (lvl 4), Mask of Darkness (lvl 2), Penguin Soldier (lvl 2), and Giant Trunade

Josh drew Giga Gagagigo (lvl 5), Tremendous Fire, Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness (lvl 4), Gyaku-Gire Panda (lvl 3) and Cemetery Bomb.

"You know the drill, now we special summon the level four or lower monster in face up attack or face down defense," Andre said just in case any of the four of us in the whole arena forgot. Andre summoned his Mad Dog of Darkness (1900/1400) and Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600) and set his other two cards.

Josh summoned his Sea Serpent Warrior (1800/1500) and his panda (800/1600).

"Wha, what? Why'd you summon that thing with only 800 attack points?" Andre sounded concerned and confused.

"I take it you've never heard of this little one. He's certainly a potentially power card. For every monster you control on the field, HE gets 500 extra attack points! So his attack total is actually 2800!" Josh loved shocking Andre like this. I was a little shocked too. That means that its attack can go all the way up to 3300 without equip cards!

"Anyway, it's still my turn. I'm activating my Giant Trunade magic card. It returns all magic and trap cards on the field to the hand of their owner," So after a huge hurricane came barreling through, the two got back their one card they had set, "now I'm setting these two cards. And Since I haven't yet normal summoned a monster yet, I'm gonna do that now. I sacrifice my face down mask of Darkness (900/400) to summon my Summoned Skull (2500/1200). And I get to use my monster's flip effect and bring back a trap card to my hand... which I'll now set," Andre was back. Even though Josh had that super powerful panda card, he had almost a full field of monsters and three cards face down. This was the Andre we were used to! "And now it's my battle phase. Summoned Skull, attack his sea serpent!" The Summoned Skull zapped the heck out of the aquatic monster. Upon its destruction, Josh lost 700 more life points. His total was a low 2500. But something wasn't right... At such a huge score difference, why was Josh still smiling as if he still had 8000?

"Aha ha ha... foolishness must be entertaining at times..." Josh taunted as he drew a card. "I'm activating the magic card Tremendous Fire. We both lose 1000 life points!" Suddenly, a huge firestorm rained down from the sky and torched both players' platforms. Andre's total sunk to 4300. That was still high, though, in comparison to Josh's 1500. "I'll just set these three cards face down and attack your Penguin Soldier with my panda," Josh said in a smooth, evil voice.

"You're what? Don't you know that he returns monsters to your hand?" Andre argued.

"Of course I know; I used one against you earlier, did I not?" Josh sounded really confident that whatever plan he had would work...

The panda punched the penguin which was destroyed and josh's panda was indeed returned to his hand. But suddenly, Andre's life points took a sharp drop to 2000- now only slightly higher than Josh's 1500. "HEY! What's going on? He was in defense!" Andre protested his sudden low number of life points.

"Oh yes, we are all quite aware. You see, my panda has another effect that I've not told you. When it destroys a defense position monster, the difference between his attack and your monster's defense is subtracted from your life points. Do the math: he had 2800 attack points, then subtract your penguin's defense of 500 equaling 2300 points of damage. Oh but don't worry. It looks like you can claim this duel now since I have NO monsters on the field!" There it was again- an open invitation to directly assault him. I, personally, would not have accepted this invitation and I wished that Andre wouldn't.

Andre drew a card, didn't even look at it, which is unlike him, and attacked with his Summoned Skull. But Josh was prepared. Oh, was he prepared! "It figures that you wouldn't catch on to an obvious trap... I activate Draining Shield. It negates your Summoned Skull's attack and adds the same number of his attack points to my life points. So now I have an even 4000!" Josh laughed as a green bubble appeared around him while the Summoned Skull tried relentlessly to touch him with his lightning bolts. But he soon gave up and Josh's life points skyrocketed. But the trap wore off and it was still Andre's turn, "Care to attack me again?" Josh invited.

Andre took him up on his offer and attacked him first with his Mad Dog of Darkness. Josh's life points dropped to 2100. In response to this, Josh activated his Solemn Wishes trap card, "Every time I draw a card, I gain 500 life points!"
Then Andre attacked with Gearfried, taking Josh's life points down to a measly 300. But this proved to be fatal for Andre. Josh activated his face down Cemetery bomb which he had drawn as a result of Andre's Cyber Jar. There were exactly 20 cards in Andre's graveyard, leaving him with exactly 0 life points... Andre lost!

The unsympathetic holograms vanished into thin air and both duelists collected their cards and descended to the ground. I was genuinely shocked, but not as much as Andre. How could he lose? Wasn't he doing well? I thought for sure that we'd face off in that final duel, but I guess not.

In front of Linda, Andre received that G I/P T envelope with $1000 dollars and Josh took Andre's Tribe-Infecting Virus. Josh, my next opponent, said to me, "I know that you duel with mostly fiends. This card should help me out quite nicely." And he crossed his arms and waited for Andre and me to finish talking, "Hey- you've made it this far and you got $1000 in the process! You won some cards from people, you made friends... right?" I thought I was helping him out by talking to him supportively.

But Andre never was one for support, "Listen- it's fine. I just drew bad cards, that's all. And everybody loses sometime. This time, I lost. Just... whatever. I'll see you on the boat," and he stiffly walked out of the arena.

The air got colder. I was alone with my rival and the short blonde-haired lady. She spoke, "So do you guys just wanna get started?"