Dressed to Duel

By Crimson Blacksmith

"Shadow!" Numbuh 1 yelled. "We thought you disappeared after the last tournament?" No one but Father understood what he meant. Everyone just stood there, paralyzed by the evil look in the man's eye.

"Numbuh 1, it is a pleasure to see you again. And might I say you look as pathetic as ever." Shadow replied. He strolled down to the aisle of contestants and gazed around. After passing a few of them, he stopped.

"Ha! It's you, my great foe Father." He said in a sarcastic tone. Father just drilled a gaze into him. "You were one of the only people I let win in a duel."

"Last I saw, you were the one leaving the arena, not me." Father smirked. Shadow just narrowed his eyes and walked up to Roth.

"I think that I could be young Linny's opponent." He said. He stuck out is right palm and in a dark flash, a black orb appeared in Roth's hand. It circled Linny's orb, then it showed his picture next to Linny's.

"Match 8: Linny versus Me!" He exclaimed. He started laughing. Not as if it was funny, but as if he knew something was going to happen.

"Umm…well…yes." Roth replied. "We have our 8 matches. You have until tomorrow to look around and get the cards you need. Everything here is free. You just have to show them this…" In an instant, plastic ID cards appeared in each of the duelist's hands. It had their picture on them along with personal information. "You are now free to go." And with that, he disappeared."

"Well that was odd." Nigel remarked.

"WOW! That trick was soooo cool!" the Toilenator yelped.

"I know, wasn't that AWESOME!" Tuck replied.

"Ok Tuck, time for you and me to get some cards that we can use to sabotage each other's decks." Brad said.

"COOL" Tuck screamed.

Kyle strolled down the bazaar, eyeing each store as he passed by. He hadn't had any luck all day. He was about to give up, when he reached a certain card stand. It was an open stand with glass displays of cards, behind the shopkeeper was a tapestry of a large dragon breathing fire at a valiant knight. The shopkeeper looked up at Kyle. "Do you need anything?" He asked.

Kyle nodded, "I want those five." He said, pointing to a group of cards.

"There is a difference between 'want' and 'need', how will you be paying for them?" he asked. Kyle flashed his ID and the keeper nodded. He turned around an opened 5 small drawers in his cabinet. He pulled out 5 cards and handed them to Kyle. "Anything else?"

Kyle looked around and saw a display.

It was under the tapestry. It was on top of a golden pedestal in a glass case. It was inside a gold outer covering and there was a light shining above it, making it look like a divine card. "I'll take that one, too." He said pointing to it. The shopkeeper turned around and shook his head.

"That be a special card. I would only give it to a person who can pass me test." The keeper said. "What test?" Kyle asked. "If you can summon four monsters with over 2500 original attack points in 2 turns."

Kyle took out his deck, and in what would be two turns in a duel, he summoned 4 monsters with over 2500 attack points. The shopkeeper laughed a hearty laugh and handed him the card from the display. Kyle slipped the six cards into his pack and walked off.

Inside a dark room, Father was sitting on a bed with a single card in his hand. The only light in the room came from the outside window. His hand was clutching his head and he stared deeply into the card. "I never thought I'd have to use you again. After the last incident, I buried you away, but now, I have to call forth your power again." He started laughing crazily. Then he erupted on fire! As the fire dyed down, so did his laughter.

At night, the entire Nexus was lit up with torches as the contestants prepared to sleep. Kyle had perfected his deck to be like it had never been before. Just as he was about to go to sleep, a strange light appeared at his window. In a sudden burst of energy, a figure appeared in front of him.

"Who are you?" Kyle asked. The figure was dressed in a sand white cloak that covered his face. He looked up at him. "I am a messenger from someone in another dimension. He wishes you best of luck in the tournament, and he gives you this." He stuck out his hand, and in it was a card. "This card is special and will never be given to you ever again." He gestured and the card disappeared in a flash of light. Kyle's deck started to glow. "The card has been placed in your deck. You will not see it until your duel. Use it well." He started to vanish. "Wait!" Kyle screamed, but he had already vanished. Kyle was left there staring. The same thing happened to Brit and Tiff, only they were given a different amount of cards.

The stadium was packed full with strange creatures and humans alike. The ground was made with patches of Astroturf and cement. There was a pit where the contestants waited. It had a table with refreshments, 3 sofas, 5 chairs, and a large screen television that showed what was happening. Next to the announcer stands were large screen TVs, which let everyone see.

"Good afternoon everyone, I am your announcer for this match, Roth Gilfried. Today, we have an unusual match-up between Brit and Tiff and Kyle. Brit and Tiff said that they duel together as one duelist, but two brains… and looks" The crowd giggled. "Kyle accepted that challenge and he is going to take them down. Now… IT'S TIME TO DUEL!" The crowd cheered.

Kyle and the Crust Cousins walked out of the pit and walked to the ref. He explained the rules. All duels in the tournament would be special. The contestants would each have 6000 life points. Quick-plays can be played from the hand. A player can activate a trap only after the turn they played it (there might be cases where I wont use this rule). Some card affects have been modified a bit. Made up cards will be used frequently. Any other rules might come out in the story. The ref took out a coin. He flipped it up in the air.

"Tails!" called Kyle.

It landed on Roth's palm. It was tails. "You gals go first." He said. They walked to their positions on the field and faced each other. "Let's duel!" They said. Their disks flicked into position and their meters set to 6000. The crowd cheered.

"I'll start this off." Brit said as she drew her hand. "I summon Harpie Girl in defense mode!"

A young, cute blond appeared. She had claws like a bird and pink wings. She wore a one-piece suit that was completely bare in the middle. She winked at the crowd. 500/500

"She's cute!" Tuck said with hearts in his eyes.

"I saw her first" said Brad, pushing his brother aside.

"Cute…" Kyle said sarcastically, "But 'cute' wont beat me!" He exclaimed drawing a card. "I summon Troop Dragon in defense mode and lay 2 cards facedown"

A group of humanoid dragons sprung up with shields and swords and crouched down. 700/800 Two facedown cards appeared behind them.

"Hmm…none of us are going to win if we keep defending" Tiff started, "It's my move." She said as she drew from Brit's disk. She took the hand from Brit. They both started laughing. "You're about to see the coolest combo. First, we activate Monster Evolution!" A card appeared with the picture of Gigabyte transforming into Gagagigo.

"So what?" Kyle asked.

"This card lets us give one monster for another monster so long as it is the same type attribute and is two or less stars higher. That means we can tribute Harpie Girl, for Cyber Harpie Lady!" Harpie Girl grew in a pulse of light into a larger version with red hair and a skimpier suit. She had blue wings. 1300/1400

Brad put a hand over Tuck's eyes.

"Now, we can activate a quick-play spell Inferno Reckless Summon!" She slipped the card into the slot and the ground burst open with a ray of unholy light. Everyone in the crowd yelped. Kyle just stood there. "This card can only be activated when a monster with 1500 or less attack points is special summoned. Then we can special summon monsters from anywhere in our deck, hand, or graveyard with the same name, meaning…"

"Meaning that you can summon just about every Harpie in your deck, but don't forget, I can do the same with my Troop Dragons." 2 Troop Dragons popped out of the ground. 700/800 x2.

"At least we can summon more. We summon Harpie Ladies 1, 2, 3, and Cyber Harpie Lady!" 4 Harpies popped out of the ground. The first 3 that popped up looked like the Harpie Lady with a purple, one-piece jumpsuit. The first one had long red hair. The second one had orange hair that spiked downwards. The third one had spiky blue hair. Cyber Harpie Lady was like the original only with green wings, a metallic armor, and a long electro-whip. 1300/1400, 1300/1400, 1300/1400, 1800/1300.

"WOAH! That was a great combo!" Roth exclaimed.

"Now, for their effects. Harpie Lady 1 increases the attack of all Winged-Beasts by 300." Tiff smirked.

1600/1400, 1600/1400, 1600/1400, 1600/1400, 2100/1300.

"Now, Harpie Ladies 1, 2, and 3 destroy those fashion rejects." All three sisters flapped their arms and took flight. They extended their claws and swooped down for the attack.

"Not so fast!" Kyle shouted. "I activate Dragon Scale!" Kyle gestured one of his facedown cards lifted up. It showed the image of a dragon breaking a sword with his skin. "When I activate this card, one Dragon monster on the field cannot be destroyed in battle for the remainder of the turn." One of his Troop Dragons started to glow. When the light shined down, Kyle's monster had shiny and polished scales. The first two Harpies struck their mark and the two Dragons shattered. When Harpie Lady 3 attacked the shiny Dragon, her attack just bounced off.

Tiff smirked. "Ha! Even though you may have stopped that attack, you have just activated Harpie Lady 3's effect. The blue-haired Harpie's eyes glowed and the shiny Troop Dragon turned to stone. "Any monster that battles with Harpie Lady 3 cant attack for 2 turns, not like it will be staying for that long. I gotta end my turn here. Make your move."

"I will." Kyle replied as he drew. He grinned. "I play the magic card Offerings to the Spirits!" He played a card that showed the images of a spirit taking a gold chest from a king. "When this card is played, all I have to do is send one card from my hand to the graveyard," He discarded Grey Wing, "in order to bring to my hand a card with the same level, but with equal or less attack points." He took a card from his deck, and then he shuffled it. He took another card from his hand and placed it on the disk. "I now sacrifice Troop Dragon for Twin-Headed Fire Dragon." The rock dragon shattered and it was replaced by two huge red dragons that were conjoined in the middle. They had a long tail that ended in a claw. They bellowed loudly. 2200/1700 "Go my dragon! Destroy Cyber Harpie Lady." Both heads unleashed a scorching flame onto the Harpie. She shattered under the heat.

K: 6000 BT: 5900

"I end my turn." Kyle said.

"I don't understand, why didn't Kyle destroy any of the weaker Harpies?" Tuck asked.

"Because the Harpies have many equips, if they could play any one, then Cyber Harpie Lady could have destroyed the Dragon and the other Harpies would have swarmed on him." Jenny answered.

"Oh," Tuck said, "but why didn't he destroy Harpie Lady 1, that would have cut off their power boost, right?"

"That's what I'd like to know" she replied.

"It looks like Kyle takes first blood in the first match of the preliminaries!" Roth shouted.

Brit grunted, "Well it's my draw." She drew. "I play 2 cards facedown and shift all my monsters into defense mode. She placed in two cards and all the Harpies crouched down. Now I activate the field spell, Harpie's Hunting Ground!" The ground started taking shape into a weird effect. The grounds grew mountains and forests and strange creatures were running about. The three duelists were standing in a clearing. "This is the home of the Harpies," Brit stated, "All Winged-beasts gain 200 attack and defense points and whenever a Harpie is summoned, I can destroy one spell or trap on the field."

1800/1600, 1800/1600, 1800/1600, 1800/1600

"I end my turn a" Brit said.

"Fine, I draw" Kyle drew.

"I activate my trap, Icarus Attack!" A beam of energy came down from the sky and hit Harpie Lady. "I have to send Harpy Lady to the graveyard, but in exchange, I can destroy 2 of your cards on the field!" Harpy Lady was now engulfed in that beam. She flew over to Kyle's side and clawed his Dragon and his facedown (which was Dragon' Bead, which he couldn't use). All three of them exploded.

"Aww man!" Kyle exclaimed. "I could just play it…no. It would get killed out there. I have to draw that card NOW!" he thought. "I…play a card facedown and end my turn." He sighed. A facedown card appeared.

"I'm not falling for that bluff." Tiff said as she drew. "All Harpies attack!" All three Harpies flew at Kyle with their claws ready.

"NO, he's gonna get trampled!" Brad yelled.

"If that attack connects, he'll lose." Flora announced.

The Harpies closed in on Kyle. Just as they were about to connect… Kyle spoke, "I activate Nutrient Z!" Kyle started to glow. "This can only be activated if I'm about to lose 2000 or more lifepoints. It increases my lifepoints by 4000 before the attack."

K: 9000/BT: 5900

All three Harpies clawed at Kyle and flung him back 7 feet. He was kneeling at the ground and he winced.

K: 3600/BT: 5900

"It's my move!" He said getting up. He drew a card. "YES!" he thought. "I activate Swords of Revealing Light!" He said as many swords made of light came crashing down on the Crust Cousin's side. "Now you can't attack for three turns, meaning I can safely summon this." He placed a card on his disk. In the smoke that arose was a small dragon. It had orange and brown scales. It had many spikes around his body. He had stubby wings and beady yellow eyes. It puffed out some smoke. 1200/900 "Meet Armed Dragon LV3!"

"He's so adorable" Angie said.

"Your little beast is nowhere near as powerful as our monsters." Brit remarked.

Kyle replied, "True, it's not as powerful as your monsters. It's much stronger! I activate Passageway to the Treasure!" Kyle inserted the card that showed a picture of archaeologists discovering a secret entrance in a pyramid. This lets any monster with 3 or less starts attack your lifepoints directly!"

Armed Dragon LV3 puffed up its cheeks and blew a green fire ball at Brit and Tiff. They winced.

K: 3600/ BT: 4700

"Your turn." Kyle said.

Brit drew. She grinned. "I play Weather Forecast." She played a card that showed Weather Report reading a weather map. This means we can destroy your swords during your Standby phase. Kyle grinned. "We end our turn."

Kyle drew. "Perfect. Now feel the power of the Armed Dragon LV5!" Armed Dragon started to grow into a ferocious beast. The orange was now red and many more spikes had arrived on the body. There were also new drills and the wings were bigger. The menacing beast roared. 2400/1700 The swords on the field shattered.

"This creature has an effect in which if I discard a card from my hand, I can destroy one monster on your side of the field with equal or less attack points. Lucky for you, I have no monster that has a higher attack than your Harpies, so… Armed Dragon LV5 ATTACK!" The Dragon roared and it slashed Harpie Lady 1 with its claws. The Harpie shattered.

"Now my dragon will grow even more powerful!" The Dragon grew so large that it was almost as high as the stadium. It was covered in shiny metal armor. There were now twice as many spikes and drills. The talons were now razor sharp and the wings were now made of metal blades the head was completely covered in armor and the tail had a drill at the end. The spikes on his stomach were replaced by buzz saws. The huge mammoth roared a great roar! 2800/1000 "Meet Armed Dragon LV7. By the way, it's your turn."

"It's no longer adorable" Angie shivered.

"I…dr…aw." Tiff stammered. She drew. She stopped shivering and looked at her card with a grin so huge, it would make the Grinch jealous. "I lay a card facedown and end my turn." The card appeared.

"My move!" Kyle stated. He drew. "It doesn't look good for you." He showed them the card he drew. Cave Dragon. With this I can use my dragons power to destroy all monsters with less that the Cave Dragon's attack, which is 2000. Bye, bye Harpies." He discarded the dragon and Armed Dragons buzz saws roared up. They started to spin at a high RPM. Then, 2 blades flung out of the saw and struck the Harpies, who shattered. Brit and Tiff prepared for the attack. "Armed Dragon attack with Titan Talon Terror (Say that 10 times fast)." The dragon swooped down with his claw and slashed Brit and Tiff. They screamed as they were flung 10 feet away. When they got up, they were steaming. "You will PAY for that!" Brit screamed.

K: 3600/BT: 1900

"Kyle has just made an incredible move. He has just made a great comeback." Roth announced.

"We're not out yet!" Brit screamed. She drew. She just stood there with Tiff looking at the card. "I…activate…Pot….of …Greed." One of her facedowns lifted up. She drew two cards. Then, they stared at those two cards the same way as they stared at the first one.

"What are they doing? It's like they never…saw…that…card…before. NO! DON'T tell me that strange cloak guy went to them too. This is bad!" Kyle thought.

Brit and Tiff looked up from their daze with a devious smile. "First we activate our facedown, Battle against the Titan." It was a card that showed Marauding Captain fighting Blue-eyes. "This card can only be activated if there is a monster with over 2500 attack points on your side of the field. This lets us summon 2 monsters from our graveyard with less than 2000 attack points. Harpie Lady 1 and Cyber Harpie Lady appeared. 1800/1600, 2300/1500 Though, this special summon doesn't count towards the effect of Harpie's Hunting Ground.

"Now we are going to play the cards that that cloaked guy gave us." They slid a card into the slot. The first one is Victims of Fashion!" A card appeared that showed a woman wearing a dress with two pairs of glowing red eyes.

"I've never heard of this card before." Roth exclaimed. A bunch of agreements came from everyone.

"This lets us take two equip cards from our decks that increases the attack of a monster." Tiff started. They took out two cards called Wing Blade. "These increase the attack of Winged-beasts by 400. Now instead of increasing attack points, they now decrease them, and we can equip them to your monsters." The two cards appeared on Armed Dragon. 2000/1000

Brit continued, "Next, we activate Spirit Dress and Battle Dress." Two cards appeared. One showed a dress that was glowing white; the other showed a dress that was painted in camouflage. "Spirit Dress lets our weakest monster, if we discard our hand, attack your lifepoints directly!" They discarded their hand and the white dress appeared on Harpie Lady 1. She flew through the Armed Dragon and struck at Kyle.

"Battle Dress increases the attack of a monster by 200 and if the monster destroys another, and we used the effect of Spirit Dress, you have to discard your hand." Tiff said. The camouflage dress appeared on Cyber Harpie Lady (2500/1500) and she struck down the mighty behemoth that haunted the stadium. Kyle discarded his hand in shock. One of his best monsters was defeated by a 4 star monster. "You're lucky," Brit started, "After playing these cards, we can't attack next turn."

K: 1300/BT: 1900

"WOAH! That was one amazing move!" Nigel exclaimed.

In the corner, Shadow sneered. "Why on earth did the Master send that fool to give these brats some cards." He thought.

Kyle was bewildered. He had no idea how this could have happened. He had nothing in his hand, he was facing 2 great forces, and he needed to draw the right thing now. He reached for his disk and closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes, he had seen what he had drawn.

"I play Card of Sanctity!" He shouted. "This lets us both draw until we are both holding 6 cards." They all drew. Kyle's eyes opened in shock! He couldn't believe what he had drawn. If he draws the right card next turn, he can pull off something amazing. "I play Lord of Dragons to the field." A monster that looked like a man in a cape and dragon skeleton appeared. 1200/1100 "It's your move."

Tiff drew. "You're in for it now. You're about to meet our most powerful monster. We sacrifice both Harpies for SIMORGH, BIRD OF DIVINITY!" The Harpie's disappeared and a huge light enveloped the clearing. A bird as big as the Armed Dragon appeared. It had beautiful green feathers that were transparent at the wings. It had 4 sets of tails that were waving in the wind it made. It was adorned in much jewelry from anklets to a crown. It had a large circle of stone on its back. 2900/1200 "It gains 200 attack and defense points because it's a Winged-beast. After their end phase, the player loses 1000 lifepoints minus 500 for each spell or trap they hold. Meaning we lose 500.

K: 1300/BT: 1400

Kyle drew his card and looked down. "It doesn't matter how many cards you draw, the duel is over. I summon Final Magician in Attack Mode." A strange magician appeared. He was holding a large scepter. He was adorned in silver armor and his face was covered with a hood. 1700/600

"That guy is not nearly strong enough to beat our divine bird." Tiff stated.

"I know." Kyle said, still looking down. "I play Polymerization." The card appeared. "But in order to do the fusion, I need to introduce you to the ones being fused."

And as if on cue, three giants pillars of light shot out of the ground! They started blowing everything around and there were screams in the audience.

"What's happening!" Linny asked.

The three pillars started to fade and three mighty forms appeared in each one. They were large and white. Their scales were sharp and their talons were huge. The wings on each of them were remarkable and their eyes…were blue.

There was no mistaking what they were. Everyone in the stands, pit, and audience gasped and just stared at the might beasts before them. 3000/2500 x3

"Meet the BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGONS!" Kyle yelled! Everyone started screaming at the sight. "I will fuse all three of them, along with my Final Magician, in order to make the newest dragon!"

All three dragons and the wizard blended together. In a burst of dark light, a new dragon did appear. It had three long heads. Each head growled at the crowd. The scales were purple and it had yellow, red, and blue lines running along its body. Each wing was sharp, along with the talons. Its eyes were glowing white. 5200/4500 "MEET THE BLUE-EYES ULTIMATUM DRAGON!"

"I hate to break it to you guys, but your time in this tournament is over." The dragon roared at them. The two screamed and hugged each other. "Blue-Eyes Ultimatum Dragon, fry their overgrown chicken! FINAL FLARE LIGHTNING!" The three heads opened up and fired a white blast at Simorgh. The bird was fried and shattered. "And that's game." Kyle ended.

K: 1300/BT: 0

Everyone in the audience was silent as Kyle walked out of the arena. They were all just looking at the same spot that the dragon was once at. They couldn't believe what happened. Then after a while, Roth spoke up, "Well…in an exciting display, the winner of the first match is Kyle Dracus!" The crowd started to cheer. "Tune us in an hour as we get prepared for the next match as Nigel Uno faces Wolfgang Van Helsing!"

Continued in Chapter 3 "Dracula Bites Back"

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